Chapter 13 – Return of the Dragon
It was Michael. Next to him was Rachel. The rest of them filed in, eyes dull and unfocused from the spell. Chris's breathing came harsh and ragged. "Get out, Liz. Go."
"Where is there to go?" she breathed.
His eyes darted from the cabinet that held his Snap potion to the window, too high for either of them to read. "You're right. We can't escape."
"We've got to get the potion," Liz said.
"How?"
Liz thought. "Give me a minute."
"We don't have a minute!"
Liz was silent for a second. "Wingardium Leviosa."
"What?"
"Wingardium Leviosa. Float me up there. You have your wand with you, don't you?"
Chris tore his eyes away from the Dragon's advancing minions to stare at her in disbelief. "You aren't serious?"
"Completely. We've got to do it."
Chris hesitated for a moment. "Fine. Ready?"
"Ready."
"One, two, three. GO! Wingardium Leviosa!"
Liz was lifted bodily and hurled at the open cabinet. She reached out, caught, and hung on the edge. Chris tried to yell out, but Rachel caught him around the throat and throttled him. Many of the others closed in behind her.
"I wish we had more of this. We'll need it," Liz thought. Then something bubbled, welling up inside of her. It was that same invincible power that had overtaken her the night of her birthday. It shifted through her body and burst. The next thing Liz knew, there were a hundred or so bottles of the potion in the cabinet. Without a thought as to what this could mean, Liz dropped to the counter, opened a bottle, and sent it spiraling at Rachel, whose fingers were tightening around Chris' throat. Rachel immediately snapped out of it.
A dozen of the hypnotized students were groping at Liz's ankles. She dumped the contents of another bottle on them. Michael was next to wake, then John, then Alberta, then the rest of them. They blinked confusedly. A few stared at Chris, who was panting hard against a wall.
"What happened?" Michael wondered aloud.
"Professor Nilworg's book. It hypnotized you. And what happened to Hagrid?" Liz said.
"I don't know," said Rachel. "I remember seeing him unconscious under a door...but it's all so fuzzy..."
"Everyone is still out there, taking down the teachers," Liz said worriedly. "We've got to do something about this."
A few of the first-years looked petrified.
"The Dragon is trying to take over Hogwarts! Don't any of you understand?"
"Liz is right," said Michael. "We can't just let this happen. We should fight back."
A murmur of dissent passed through the crowded kitchen. A tiny first-year voice whimpered, "But it's the Dragon..."
"I know it's the Dragon! He's trying to torture and kill us all! What do you not get?"
"Let's go find him," said Rachel. "Who's with us?"
Only Chris came forward.
"Fine," said Liz angrily, "just fine. Stay in here and watch your school get blown to bits. Watch as he makes this place just as evil as him. We're going to do something about it!" And the four of them marched out, making sure to step carefully over Hagrid.
"We'll be back. Don't worry," Liz assured Chris, seeing him look worriedly back at his unconscious friend.
No sooner had they made it outside than a whirlwind, whooshing sound filled the air around them and the Dragon emerged from nowhere. Rachel backed up tensely. Professor Nilworg appeared next to him.
"You, Elizabeth Potter, you manage to do it again," the Dragon said softly. "Twice in a row you try to take me on. Why do you believe you can beat me at my own game? No, Pansy, I have unfinished business with this one." Professor Nilworg had advanced on Liz, drawing her wand.
"Pansy?" Liz asked. Maybe if she kept him talking, she could formulate a plan before he did anything.
"Pansy Parkinson," Professor Nilworg said. "Aid to the Dragon. I was placed here to keep watch over the future army of ours. Penny Nilworg is a pseudonym. I thought surely Elizabeth Potter, the one who was reputed to have top marks in her class, would figure it out, but you didn't suspect a thing. Even when your best friends turned on you over the other book, you didn't see farther into it."
"The Mind Revealed," the Dragon growled.
"That threw a wrench into our plans," Professor Nilworg, or Pansy Parkinson, spat contemptuously. "You, the lone resister of our scheme, you read that book and refused to read mine. The Squib would be dead if it weren't for that, and I would have had you see to it."
Liz swallowed dryly. The thought that, without her mother's Christmas present, she would have killed Chris was appalling. Michael joined Rachel and stepped back.
"I will still rule Hogwarts," said the dragon, his voice low and menacing. "Like the Dark Lord before me, I will attempt to bring the next generation of evil to the world, but I will succeed!" He was roaring to the sky now, and then stars flickered at his voice. Then he dropped his gaze to Liz. "You first. Crucio!"
Liz screamed, a thousand white-hot knives pounding into her flesh. The pain, the pain was agonizing, it was the opposite of death, it was life, thirteen years of pain and suffering in only a few minutes...
And as suddenly as it started, it was gone. Liz didn't get up, just lay there breathing hard and fast, hoping he wouldn't do it again.
"May I have a turn?" the woman named Parkinson inquired of the Dragon.
"Certainly."
She raised her wand, but before she could get any words out, a huge rock following an incantation of, "Wingardium Leviosa!" came flying at her, knocking her over and causing a patch of blood to seep through her robes.
"Chris!" Rachel cried. "You can do it!"
"I know I can! Run! RUN!" Chris yelled. They did. Liz thought faintly, "Too much running," before the Dragon began firing Stunners. "Stupefy! Stupefy! Stupefy! Stupefy!"
"Duck!" yelled Michael, lunging at Liz. He bowled her over as the spell shot over their heads. Liz smelled singed hair.
"Get up, get up, run!" he urged. Liz scrambled to her feet behind him. Just ahead, Rachel had tripped and Chris was helping her up.
"Stupefy!" yelled Parkinson. Liz bent her head at exactly the right moment. It shot above her and hit Chris in the back of the head. He pitched forward and landed facedown.
"Chris!" Liz and Rachel shrieked together.
"Get up, get up, run, they won't kill him," said Michael.
"What makes you so sure of that?" said the Dragon. In two long strides, he was at Chris' side. He grabbed his hair, wrenched him up, and pointed his wand at his heart. "Try me."
The three of them stopped. They couldn't let the Dragon kill their friends.
"Stupefy! Stupefy!" yelled Parkinson as soon as their guard was down. The spells were one until a moment before they struck Liz; they split and hit Rachel and Michael in the face.
"Now it's only you. Crucio!" The pain began again. Then it stopped abruptly. Liz wondered dazedly what had happened when she saw it. It was a huge stag, antlers sticking out at odd angles. It charged at Pansy Parkinson, knocking her unconscious and out of the way. Then it came at the Dragon, stabbing him with the antlers. With a cry of rage, the Dragon grabbed at the animal and missed. Liz started to rise from her place on the ground, but the Dragon, trying to keep his leg from bleeding, raised his wand threateningly. "Don't move," he warned.
Liz's mind was spinning. She knew, if she waited too much longer, she would pass out and not know when the Dragon killed her. So she took another step.
"Impedimenta!" the Dragon yelled. The force of the spell threw Liz back. Before she lost consciousness, she saw the stag ram the Dragon one more time, and then everything went black.
It was Michael. Next to him was Rachel. The rest of them filed in, eyes dull and unfocused from the spell. Chris's breathing came harsh and ragged. "Get out, Liz. Go."
"Where is there to go?" she breathed.
His eyes darted from the cabinet that held his Snap potion to the window, too high for either of them to read. "You're right. We can't escape."
"We've got to get the potion," Liz said.
"How?"
Liz thought. "Give me a minute."
"We don't have a minute!"
Liz was silent for a second. "Wingardium Leviosa."
"What?"
"Wingardium Leviosa. Float me up there. You have your wand with you, don't you?"
Chris tore his eyes away from the Dragon's advancing minions to stare at her in disbelief. "You aren't serious?"
"Completely. We've got to do it."
Chris hesitated for a moment. "Fine. Ready?"
"Ready."
"One, two, three. GO! Wingardium Leviosa!"
Liz was lifted bodily and hurled at the open cabinet. She reached out, caught, and hung on the edge. Chris tried to yell out, but Rachel caught him around the throat and throttled him. Many of the others closed in behind her.
"I wish we had more of this. We'll need it," Liz thought. Then something bubbled, welling up inside of her. It was that same invincible power that had overtaken her the night of her birthday. It shifted through her body and burst. The next thing Liz knew, there were a hundred or so bottles of the potion in the cabinet. Without a thought as to what this could mean, Liz dropped to the counter, opened a bottle, and sent it spiraling at Rachel, whose fingers were tightening around Chris' throat. Rachel immediately snapped out of it.
A dozen of the hypnotized students were groping at Liz's ankles. She dumped the contents of another bottle on them. Michael was next to wake, then John, then Alberta, then the rest of them. They blinked confusedly. A few stared at Chris, who was panting hard against a wall.
"What happened?" Michael wondered aloud.
"Professor Nilworg's book. It hypnotized you. And what happened to Hagrid?" Liz said.
"I don't know," said Rachel. "I remember seeing him unconscious under a door...but it's all so fuzzy..."
"Everyone is still out there, taking down the teachers," Liz said worriedly. "We've got to do something about this."
A few of the first-years looked petrified.
"The Dragon is trying to take over Hogwarts! Don't any of you understand?"
"Liz is right," said Michael. "We can't just let this happen. We should fight back."
A murmur of dissent passed through the crowded kitchen. A tiny first-year voice whimpered, "But it's the Dragon..."
"I know it's the Dragon! He's trying to torture and kill us all! What do you not get?"
"Let's go find him," said Rachel. "Who's with us?"
Only Chris came forward.
"Fine," said Liz angrily, "just fine. Stay in here and watch your school get blown to bits. Watch as he makes this place just as evil as him. We're going to do something about it!" And the four of them marched out, making sure to step carefully over Hagrid.
"We'll be back. Don't worry," Liz assured Chris, seeing him look worriedly back at his unconscious friend.
No sooner had they made it outside than a whirlwind, whooshing sound filled the air around them and the Dragon emerged from nowhere. Rachel backed up tensely. Professor Nilworg appeared next to him.
"You, Elizabeth Potter, you manage to do it again," the Dragon said softly. "Twice in a row you try to take me on. Why do you believe you can beat me at my own game? No, Pansy, I have unfinished business with this one." Professor Nilworg had advanced on Liz, drawing her wand.
"Pansy?" Liz asked. Maybe if she kept him talking, she could formulate a plan before he did anything.
"Pansy Parkinson," Professor Nilworg said. "Aid to the Dragon. I was placed here to keep watch over the future army of ours. Penny Nilworg is a pseudonym. I thought surely Elizabeth Potter, the one who was reputed to have top marks in her class, would figure it out, but you didn't suspect a thing. Even when your best friends turned on you over the other book, you didn't see farther into it."
"The Mind Revealed," the Dragon growled.
"That threw a wrench into our plans," Professor Nilworg, or Pansy Parkinson, spat contemptuously. "You, the lone resister of our scheme, you read that book and refused to read mine. The Squib would be dead if it weren't for that, and I would have had you see to it."
Liz swallowed dryly. The thought that, without her mother's Christmas present, she would have killed Chris was appalling. Michael joined Rachel and stepped back.
"I will still rule Hogwarts," said the dragon, his voice low and menacing. "Like the Dark Lord before me, I will attempt to bring the next generation of evil to the world, but I will succeed!" He was roaring to the sky now, and then stars flickered at his voice. Then he dropped his gaze to Liz. "You first. Crucio!"
Liz screamed, a thousand white-hot knives pounding into her flesh. The pain, the pain was agonizing, it was the opposite of death, it was life, thirteen years of pain and suffering in only a few minutes...
And as suddenly as it started, it was gone. Liz didn't get up, just lay there breathing hard and fast, hoping he wouldn't do it again.
"May I have a turn?" the woman named Parkinson inquired of the Dragon.
"Certainly."
She raised her wand, but before she could get any words out, a huge rock following an incantation of, "Wingardium Leviosa!" came flying at her, knocking her over and causing a patch of blood to seep through her robes.
"Chris!" Rachel cried. "You can do it!"
"I know I can! Run! RUN!" Chris yelled. They did. Liz thought faintly, "Too much running," before the Dragon began firing Stunners. "Stupefy! Stupefy! Stupefy! Stupefy!"
"Duck!" yelled Michael, lunging at Liz. He bowled her over as the spell shot over their heads. Liz smelled singed hair.
"Get up, get up, run!" he urged. Liz scrambled to her feet behind him. Just ahead, Rachel had tripped and Chris was helping her up.
"Stupefy!" yelled Parkinson. Liz bent her head at exactly the right moment. It shot above her and hit Chris in the back of the head. He pitched forward and landed facedown.
"Chris!" Liz and Rachel shrieked together.
"Get up, get up, run, they won't kill him," said Michael.
"What makes you so sure of that?" said the Dragon. In two long strides, he was at Chris' side. He grabbed his hair, wrenched him up, and pointed his wand at his heart. "Try me."
The three of them stopped. They couldn't let the Dragon kill their friends.
"Stupefy! Stupefy!" yelled Parkinson as soon as their guard was down. The spells were one until a moment before they struck Liz; they split and hit Rachel and Michael in the face.
"Now it's only you. Crucio!" The pain began again. Then it stopped abruptly. Liz wondered dazedly what had happened when she saw it. It was a huge stag, antlers sticking out at odd angles. It charged at Pansy Parkinson, knocking her unconscious and out of the way. Then it came at the Dragon, stabbing him with the antlers. With a cry of rage, the Dragon grabbed at the animal and missed. Liz started to rise from her place on the ground, but the Dragon, trying to keep his leg from bleeding, raised his wand threateningly. "Don't move," he warned.
Liz's mind was spinning. She knew, if she waited too much longer, she would pass out and not know when the Dragon killed her. So she took another step.
"Impedimenta!" the Dragon yelled. The force of the spell threw Liz back. Before she lost consciousness, she saw the stag ram the Dragon one more time, and then everything went black.