A/N: Man, life is complicated. I can't tell you what I would give to have a nice, calm, peaceful few months. As it is, you were lucky to get this chapter tonight.
Let me tell you about my life recently.
As you know, Par is a good, catholic girl.
HEY! No snickering in the back row!
Anyway, at my church, we recently went through a very rough time when our beloved pastor was taken and moved to another parish and we got a new priest. To say I was a little unhappy was an understatement. I loved this priest a great deal. He had been at our parish for over a decade.
Well, next thing I know, my mother and I are being booted out of the place we have sat for years in church because some fool decided to move the choir out of the choir loft and down with the congregation. They then tore out the alter of the patron saint of our church to make room for this move.
Basically, a lot of changes in a very short amount of time.
Then, just when we thought things were settling down, we got word that our assistant pastor was transferred as well. He will be leaving us the end of November.
Trust me folks, you want to really get peoples backs up? Mess with their religious stability. It tends to upset them.
Anyway, that's my little rant for this week.
And I would just like to take a moment to make a comment on something that for some reason people are missing. This was originally part of Silverfox's answer, but I decided to included it here for the general populace, (despite the fact for a reason that still eludes me to this day, you people seem to enjoy reading all of the Q&A's). But just so it isn't missed, allow me to say this; folks, yes, Bo is a tremendous amount of fun. I enjoy working with him, putting him in stories, and if he's there, you can almost be sure it's just for fun. However, keep in mind just what Bo really is. He is the source of a power that nothing in the wizarding world (or muggle, for that matter,), can match. He is a frightening potential for use, good or evil. One of the main reasons Orion and his father never 'used' Bo was simply because they weren't sure exactly what the outcome might be if they did, aside form the fact The Power drove it's hosts insane if they overused it. Now, yes, in this story Orion does 'tap into' The Power. But even there, keep in mind, you aren't seeing, as Orion said, 'even a small fraction' of what he can do.
So what does that all boil down to? Just this. Whereas Bo is a great deal of fun, is rather simplistic in nature, and appears to somewhat harmless, he is ultimately one boggart you do not want to get pissed off. Just remember that.
Oh, and yes, there is an inside joke with the title of this chapter which has nothing whatsoever to so with the contents of the chapter itself.
And if you want someone to blame for this being late, go to Sweets, who told me where to find the POA trailer.
Guess what I was doing all week instead of working on this chapter?
As always,
Enjoy.
Disclaimer: Although this is a completely original story in and of itself, and that fact I sweated blood over it, and it caused me a few sleepless nights trying to sort it out so it made sense, the setting of said story is so plagiarized any person with an ounce of intelligence could see through it. Therefore, I am pleased to announce that while I am grateful to JK 'Who should I kill off next go round?' Rowling for not suing me, I am equally pleased her mercenary publishers haven't got a clue what I'm up to.
Chapter 25: Potential
Charly stood in the doorway of Orion's office, watching as his partner sat at his desk, staring straight ahead at nothing imparticular.
Charly was starting to hate these sessions more than anything in the world. Because each time he would find his partner this distracted, there was usually only one reason. But thinking back to his conversation with Treaks in the alley, he allowed himself a little bit of hope that the seed he had planted a few days ago had taken root.
"Oy! Black!"
Orion looked up suddenly as Charly stepped causally into the room.
"You know, mate," Charly stated as he seated himself on the corner of the desk Orion sat at, 'I'll bet there's something you actually do not know about me."
Orion sighed quietly as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Charly, listen, if I've told you once, I've told you a hundred times, you're very nice," Orion replied, leaning back in his chair as he stared up at his partner, "but I don't date men."
Charly sat staring back at him for a moment with a completely deadpan look. "Hysterical." He said finally in a tone as flat as his expression. "And you're not my type. No, Orion, my friend, what you do not know about me is that I am, in fact, psychic."
Orion gave him a skeptical look. "Psychic?"
"Yes. And to prove it, I'm going to tell you what you're thinking about right now."
Orion settled back in his chair. "O.K.. Shoot."
"You're fluff." Charly answered without hesitation.
Orion reached over and grabbed a piece of parchment off his desk. "Amazing. Why you're wasting your time with the Department I'll never know, Charly. Really."
"So what's up?" Charly asked as Orion buried his attention in the parchment. "She finally dump you?"
Orion froze for a moment, then sighed as he leaned back in his chair, tossing the parchment back on his desk. The truth was, he wanted someone to talk to about what was running about in his mind, and who better than the person who started the thought in the first place?
"I've been thinking about what you said the other day, Charly. About where Katlin's loyalties would lie in regards to the baby."
"Really?"
"But past her loyalties, I've begun to wonder how Katlin ended up a Deatheater at all."
"She joined?" Misser put in quickly. The path wasn't the one he had set his partner on, but it might still work in his favor.
Orion shook his head. "She doesn't fit the profile, mate."
"She's a spy, an assassin, has no morals or conscience, and would tell a lie as quickly and easily as she tells the truth." Charly slapped himself in the forehead. "Why that woman isn't a nun I'll never understand. Oh! Wait! Because she's slept with half the men on earth."
Orion frowned up at the man. "I don't think Katlin picked Voldemort, Charly." He said. "I think Voldemort chose her."
Charly considered the statement for a moment. "Meaning?"
"Katlin told me that when she was a little girl she lived in a small village, and that one day a man came to her village and convinced the people there that Katlin and her family were evil magic users. He managed to turn the people of the village against Katlin and her parents, and they eventually killed her parents. But Katlin was rescued. Katlin says she never saw the man again and she has no idea who he was." Orion turned his gaze back to his partner. "I think the man who came into her village and turned those people against her family was Voldemort. And I think he did it to get Katlin."
"Then why not just take her? That would have been simpler."
"The reasons you laid out the other day. So he could mold her into what he wanted. And to do that he needed her trust. Her loyalty. And he gained those by being the one who saved her from the mob that killed her parents. He also set himself up to hand her the revenge she craved against the people who murdered her parents."
"But why her?"
"Because she was everything he needed. She was innocent, impressionable, trusting, and still young enough to be manipulated. She was a blank slate for him to write on, Charly. He could make her into anything. And because she saw him as some 'white knight' coming to her rescue, she would do anything he asked of her. You said maybe Katlin left something out of her story. Maybe what she left out, she doesn't know. What if he set the whole thing up from the start? That he manipulated the whole situation so Katlin would willingly became what he wanted."
"So," Charly said, thinking over the information just handed to him, "you think Voldemort was the man who came to Kaltin's village?"
"I think he either was the man in some disguise, Charly, or he was controlling whoever the man was."
"But you don't know for sure?"
Orion shook his head with a deep frown.
Charly quickly grabbed onto an idea. Maybe it wasn't the original idea he had fed to his partner. But it was close enough, and it had some interesting possibilities of its own.
"Orion!" Charly stated enthusiastically. "Come on, mate. This isn't a problem."
"No?"
"All you need to do is put some feelers out. Someone will bite on it."
"Charly, this was years ago. Even Katlin can't remember what the man looked like anymore."
"Maybe. But it sure sounds like the kind of story that makes the rounds for a while."
Orion stared back at his desk for a moment. "Maybe."
"Look," Charly said, hoping to give Orion's curiosity the little nudge it needed as he walked back over to the door, "you've got the resources, mate. All you have to do is use them."
Orion watched his partner disappear back out into the hallway. Charly was right. The story was the type people likely talked about for years. There was always the possibility that there was someone out there who knew something. It was just that no one was asking them.
By the following day Orion had thrown out lines to nearly every informant he knew, telling them he was looking for any information at all on the destruction of the small village in northern England some fifteen years ago. Charly was right. He had the resources. He just had to use them.
Charly sat on the park bench watching people go by. Some were casually strolling down the walkway while others were hurrying by so fast they were nearly running to try and get wherever they were going.
The town he was in was situated nearly a 100 miles away from London and remote enough to make the site a good meeting place.
Charly watched people passing by him for nearly an hour when one finally approached him and took the seat next to him on the bench. Most people would have quickly scooted over a space or so to distance themselves from the scruffy looking man now seated next to Charly. But Charly held his seat, still staring straight ahead.
"And?" Charly asked without once looking at the man.
"The line's out." The man replied. "And your friend is casting all over the place. Whatever he wants to know, he wants to know it real bad."
"What is he asking for?" Charly inquired as he watched a nice looking young woman pass by in front of him.
"The story is that some years ago a couple from a small village, a witch and a wizard, was murdered by the muggles in the village. The only one of the family what survived was the couple's young daughter. Set up is that the villagers acted on the word of a man who came to the village preaching 'bout witches and wizards bein' evil and needing to be killed. Your friend wants to know who that man was and if he's still alive."
"And?"
The man turned to Charly. "The line may be out, but so far there ain't so much as a nibble. Even though I'm told your friend is offering quite a pretty sum for that information."
"Really?"
The man nodded. "But it was a long time ago. People forget. Honestly forget. And what I hear is that there ain't many people what even know about this happening, much less remember it. And those what do only heard about it second or third hand themselves. No one who was there has come forward yet. And it ain't likely any of the muggles are going to, now is it?"
"Well," Charly answered after a brief pause, "how very fortunate for my friend that someone just happened to step forward with the information he wants."
The man turned to him. "Who?"
Charly gave the man a small smile. "Whoever you choose to repeat what I'm going to tell you to."
The man quickly moved back on the bench. There wasn't one ounce of warmth in the smile of the man sitting next to him.
Orion looked up from his desk the next day to see his partner hurrying into his office. But he quickly cut the man off before he even got started.
"Yes, I'm still single. No, I'm still not dating men. Go away, Charly."
Charly parked himself on the edge of Orion's desk. "You're hysterical, you know that?"
Orion looked up briefly from the report he was trying to finish. "What is it, Charly? I'm busy."
Charly lowered his voice. "I'm here with a fishing report, mate." He replied. "And word is you got one on your line."
Orion's head snapped up. "Who?"
Charly shook his head. "I don't know his name. He stopped me last night at the pub I was in. Asked if I was still partnered with you. The man knew all the right words, Orion. I think he's legit."
Orion's interest continued to peak. "What did he have?"
Charly shrugged slightly. "Wouldn't say. But he swore it would be worth your time to meet with him."
"When?"
"Tonight. At the pub we were in last night. But he says he'll meet with just you. Said he didn't want to be talking in front of witnesses."
Orion shrugged the comment off. Informants rarely wanted to meet with anyone else around. He shoved a piece of parchment over to Charly. "Write down the address and the time."
Ought had been working the streets for several years. And in those years he had been asked to do a lot of very crazy, if not often very dangerous, things. But this had to be the strangest thing he had ever been asked to do. But the scruffy looking man who had approached him with this particular job said the pay would be worth his time. Just to repeat a story to some Auror about some witch and wizard that were killed over a decade ago. What made the job dangerous was that this wasn't just 'some Auror'. This was an Unspeakable. And from what the scruffy looking man had told Ought, a high ranking one at that.
Ought looked about the pub as he came in. He knew the man he was looking for on sight. The scruffy looking man who had hired him had showed him a picture. But in his line of work that really meant very little. A little polyjuice potion and a person could be anyone.
Ought worked his way slowly over to the table and sat down.
"You Black?" He asked the man.
Orion simply nodded to him.
Ought didn't particularly like the man on sight. Something about him gave him the creeps. All he had been told was that the man was looking for information, and that the man who had past the story on to him didn't want to be connected with it. But he had told Ought that if he would meet with the Auror, pass on the information, he'd be paid very well.
"Well?" Ought asked.
Orion sighed and reached into his jacket and pulled out and envelope, which he slid across the table. Ought picked it up and quickly flipped through the bills, counting off to make sure the amount was correct. It was a quick check if the man was who he said he was, but not a fool-proof one. But the information, in Ought's opinion, didn't really warrant much more of a security check than that.
"What have you got?" Orion asked decisively.
Ought made to look around carefully before leaning over the table a bit and lowering his voice. "Word is out you're looking for information 'bout what happened to a wizard and his little witch in a small village about 15 years ago."
"And what do you know about it?" Orion asked.
"Back 25 years ago, mate, I was a Deatheater...."
"And today you're not?" Orion asked.
The man paused briefly. The scruffy man had warned him that Orion was suspicious just on principal. He could and should expect a barrage of questions that were as automatic to Orion as breathing was to most people.
Ought pulled up the answer he had been given and repeated it to Orion, sounding as convincing as he could.
"That's not important to what I have to tell you. The point here is that 25 years ago, I was."
"Go on." Orion replied stoically.
Good. Ought made it past the first hurdle. All he had to do was keep making the man believe him and he was home free.
"Back then, the dark lord was coming into his power, but not like he was right before the fall. Back then he was looking for people to take into his ranks. People who could help him. Who would be loyal to him and add their power to his."
Orion gave the man a very bored look. "And what great power did you have to offer the dark lord that he took you into his fold?"
"Every leader needs soldiers." Ought replied. "That's all I was to the dark lord."
Ought could practically feel the man trying to read him. But finally he gave him a slight nod and Ought went on.
"Back then, the dark lord heard of a young witch who lived in a small village with her parents."
"What was the village's name?" Orion snapped out suddenly.
Well, that was anticipated. And the answer was standard. "I don't remember. It was a long time ago, Mr. Black. Been a lot of villages and a lot of little witches since then."
"Go on."
Ought sighed inwardly and continued with the story just as it had been told to him. The village was remote. They knew nothing of the growing tensions in the world outside of their own. The people, although they knew about the wizarding family living in their village, were simple and naive. The dark lord saw them as no problem to his plan. He thought they might even help. He formulated a plan to go to the village as a wandering preacher-type man. He went into the village and established himself there. A slightly annoying, but amusing and harmless local oddity. Something new for the villagers to listen to.
But as he amused and entertained them, the dark lord began working spells on the villagers, disguising his spells as just talking to them. Just....being annoying."
"What spells?"
Again, anticipated.
"Manipulation Charms mostly. He worked his dark magic on enough of the villagers to sway the others when the time came. He waited until the girl absently worked her magic in front of him. Then he sprung his trap. He went to the village square again, and this time began strengthening the spells he had cast. He told the people that Witches and wizards were evil. That they only appeared to help those around them to make them weak and finally enslave them. Those he had cast spells on believed him. And they were set to work on convincing others that the preacher-man told the truth. Then one day soon after the girl's father came to the square. The dark lord managed to goad the man into cursing him. A fatal mistake for the girl's father. As soon as the man left, the dark lord told the people there was the proof they needed that the witch and wizard were not harmless. That he was threatening their hold on the villagers and he was warning the preacher-man off.
The villagers began to listen more and more to the preacher-man. More and more were swayed by their neighbors until the dark lord had control of most of them. Those he manipulated to going to the house of the witch's parents. There he had them kill the girl's parents but leave her unharmed.
The dark lord made a very good show to this little witch of being a great hero come to save her from the evil villagers who had killed her parents."
"And your dark lord took the girl and left?"
Ought smiled at the Unspeakable across from him. This was actually the part of the story he liked. "What? And leave all those witnesses about? Oh no. The dark lord had a suitable reward ready for all those muggles what helped him kill that witch and wizard. As well as work it so he would look the avenging angel in the eyes of that little witch. He told her he would help her get revenge on that village for what they did to her parents. And he did."
"Did what?"
"All that's left of that village to this day is a grass field. Not one person walked away from there alive. Muggle authorities said it was a massive fire of some kind. An explosion. Wiped out the whole town. And because it was so remote, there was no getting any help to them in time."
Ought sat staring back at the Unspeakable for a few moments. But abruptly Orion reached out and snatched the envelope out of his hands.
"Your lying." He stated firmly.
Ought held his ground. "I'm not! That's the truth as sure as I'm sitting here telling it to you." Sort of an ironic answer, Ought thought. But the scruffy man had warned him that Orion wouldn't believe the story just on principal.
"Then prove to me that this isn't just some fanciful tale you thought up to get this money." Orion replied, holding up the envelope in front of the man.
"All right." Ought stated. "This girl...this little witch the dark lord wanted so badly.....he brought her back to the lair. Raised her like his own. But he didn't want no tangle-ups with her. So he changed her name. Her name was Hekren. Katlin Hekren. But the dark lord changed her name to Griss. She's now the head of the Deatheater Elite. But you check your muggle records, and you'll find no record of a Katlin Griss before that village burned." The man leaned across the table. "Voldemort created her."
The scruffy man had told Ought that it was a name that would convince Orion. But not Katlin's. It was Voldemort's. Ought had to use the dark lord's name at least once. No muggle would know it. No wizard or witch would use it. But a Deatheater would say it without so much as flinching.
The trick seemed to work as Orion paused, then slowly slid the envelope back across the table.
"If I find out this story was a lie in any way," he warned the man, "you won't have enough time left to enjoy that money."
Ought grabbed the envelope and this time stuffed it in his own coat pocket. "I knows enough not to muck about with you lot."
He didn't wait to see if the Unspeakable had anything else to say. Ought got up and headed for the door, trying to look as casual as he could. But the truth was he couldn't wait to get out of the pub and find another. What he needed more than anything right then was a good stiff drink.
Charly stood in an alleyway across from the pub. He watched as Ought left the bar, practically running down the street like a scared rabbit. A few minutes later he watched his partner leave and head down a nearby alleyway, likely apparating home from there.
Pure luck had allowed him to find out about Katlin's name. Treak's had let it slip one day, and Charly had filed the seemingly trivial piece of information away for a day it might come in useful. Tonight it had proved just that. As surely as he had had to arrange things to make Orion believe the informant, his partner would need some small, seemingly unknown piece of information to give Griss to make her believe the information as well. Hopefully the knowledge about her name would do the trick.
As for the rest, Charly had little doubt things went as he had planned them out. His contact had passed the story Charly had told him on to Ought, telling him he only needed to repeat the story to the Unspeakable. Ought knew nothing more about the story other than that he had to tell it to the Unspeakable. So to him, there was no consideration even if the story was the truth or a lie. He was simply repeating something told to him. That left no trail and nothing for Orion to seize onto to tell if the story was the truth or not.
Charly sighed, his breath rising in a thin, white cloud before him. Looking about once more, he headed off across the street towards the brightly lighted doorway of the pub. It was a cold night, and a strong shot of something would help warm him up before he headed home.
Q&A
Enemies
Silverfox: I don't know why I'm starting with you. You're definitely one of the harder people to answer. But your questions are good and I suppose that is why I like them so much.
So, you adore Bo? Join the club. Most people seem to like him. But he is such an interesting character. And in this story, he's the most dependable. Guaranteed, with Bo what you see is what you get. The only problem is, you haven't seen the half of him yet (so to speak).
Now, I thought we had agreed to give poor Charly a chance. He is trying to help. Unlike Treaks, who's just trying to help himself.
Charly's working for the wrong allies? I disagree. Most of what Charly has been able to do was made possible by information he got from Treaks. If you want to know what your enemy is up to, make him a friend. Works wonders.
Has Charly ever met Bo? Interesting question. Charly knows Bo exists, obviously. Has he ever met him face to robes? Never really thought about that. Interesting story idea though. *PAR runs off to make notes.*
Being the author, I would say 'yes', the two have met. How would the two get along? Probably the same way Bo treats most people who aren't a threat. 'You're here. That's nice. Moving on to something more interesting now.' Keep in mind, Bo does not distinguish between people based on their personalities, as so many of us do. As Orion pointed out to Katlin, to the boggart there are only two types of people in the world, those that belong in the house, and those who don't. He just doesn't get much deeper than that. It tends to make life so much simpler.
Now, back to that answer I promised you last chapter. Who really is Bo? The Power or the boggart?
That is a tough question, Dear. And I hate to give you a cliche answer like 'Well, neither. And both'. But that is what it boils down to.
Keep in mind, The Power is a symbiotic spirit. It actually exists, physically (sort of). So, what you have is two 'articles' in one container. Bo is 100% boggart. But the boggart got combined with something it doesn't understand. Suddenly it has a greater intelligence than its counterparts, greater power, and an overall enhancement of it's original abilities. Now, even though The Power is very intelligent, and very powerful, what happens when you take that intelligence and power and stick it in a creature that basically functioning on instincts?
Well, you get a hyperactive three year old...., who could destroy the world. And doesn't know it.
And if that ain't frightening, I don't know what is.
And this is part of what you see in Orion's actions with him. Orion never out-rightly goes out of his way to upset Bo, or frighten or confuse him. He, if anything, treats the boggart that exact same way you would treat a person with a IQ of about 75, but who happens to be six foot four and weighs in at 300 pounds.
This is why he was so cautious with the situation when he found Katlin in the cellar trying to talk to Bo. The situation had a great deal of potential for going suddenly very bad. Bo had never 'met' Katlin. In the cellar the first time he saw her as an intruder in the house. And the second time, he still didn't know her well. And Katlin had no idea how to act around Bo. The worse thing she could have done, she was doing., She was getting too close to him, trying to see under the hood of his robes. Bo, being a simple-minded creature, sees encroachment into his 'personal space' as a hostile move. And that was what Orion was so worried about. There were no sudden moves, and Orion handled everything going on around him like it was a hand-blown glass ball. One wrong move, and everything shatters. But by taking her by the hand and leading her out of the cellar, Orion was showing Bo (which was a better method than trying to 'tell' him) that Katlin was special to him, and any act against her would not be tolerated.
Now, wasn't that a simple answer?
Sailor Sol: Yes, things are going very well with Mom. She is now taking turns between the walker and the cane.
I'm glad you liked the chapter, Dear. It was one of my favorites.
As to whether or not the hit did any real damage remains to be seen.
Sweets: Thank you for thinking of my Mom. She is indeed doing very well and this week we go back to see the doctor.
I had a very hard time closing that chapter. But the final line worked very well.
I think the mirror will be just a mirror, just a Sirius described it to Harry. But I'm pretty sure it will have a grander role to play in the scheme of things than just being broken. And on that note, yes, it can be repaired even though it is broken.
And I do hope you read the A/N's at the top. In regards to that, it took me forever to catch the dog transformation, it happened so quick. I wish I could get the size larger. *Sigh* But I LOVE the trailer. I never thought it would be out this soon. Thanks for the tip. You're the best!
Hope you had a good Thanksgiving.
Ode To Harry Potter Summaries
Raiining: Strange way to spell 'raining'.
Thank you, Dear. I am glad you liked them. And yes, it is hard to get them all in. After I wrote that I found some more. So I'm not sure if there will be a 'part two'.
Family Life
Elodie: In French?! Oh!!!!!!!!!! That would be so cool!
Dear, if you have THAT much time on your hands, be my guest. Just let me know when you put it up. I would like to read the story that way and see how you did translating it.
Reviews are as of 11272003.
And just remember;
Life is hard,
And life is tough.
Things get hairy.
And things get rough.
But just remember,
ninety-nine per cent true,
There's always someone,
Worse off than you.