Chapter 37
"So you're saying we're going to invoke the protection of the elements and to seal the deal we're going to give our blood" Amber stated.
"Simplified but correct" Hermione confirmed.
"Wicked" Kalliope snickered.
"We need symbols for the 4 elements and for the 4 houses." Zara said. "So remember to bring something that symbolizes your house" The pretty Ravenclaw looked around and all the girls nodded in confirmation.
Before they went back to their different common rooms, they decided to perform the ritual Friday night at the astronomy tower.
Sirius was pacing back and forth in the Shrieking Shack. "FUDGE GOT TO BE MENTAL" he shouted, while Ron, Harry and Kelsey winced at his outburst. "HOW CAN HE SACK DUMBLEDORE NOW THAT MY COUSIN IS ON THE LOSE" Sirius banged his firsts against the stone walls and howled.
"He doesn't believe that Bellatrix escaped from Azkaban. Dumbledore told us that Fudge went to the fortress on Sunday and the dementors convinced him that everything's ok." Kelsey stated.
"Yeah but Neville's seen.."
Harry interjected his godfathers' tirade "I know and Stephen has seen her too, but this is a fact Fudge totally ignores. In his point of view, Neville is just as daft as I am"
"Now Cornelius finally shows his true colors. No matter what he told you before, he never liked you. You're too much like James and Fudge despised him. Did you know that your father was the minister before Fudge?" Sirius called, his face red of fury and his blue eyes glittering..
Harry's jaw dropped. He had no idea that his dad had been minister. "But I... I thought that...he was a auror like you Sirius." Harry stammered.
"Wicked" Ron gasped, while Kelsey tried to look surprised. James had already told him about it during their time in the hospital.
Sirius sat down on the bed between Harry and Ron and took a deep breath. Kelsey looked at the wizard and saw almost the same expression of fury mixed with disappointment and frustration he had seen on James' a few weeks ago.
"We decided to become aurors in our 6th year and after graduation we started with the training. They didn't take Remus, because of his condition and Peter didn't have the required N.E.W.T.s. James and I soon proved our talent for the job and Moody started training us personally. Together with Moody, James was the most successful auror and well respected. When the minister for magic died, they asked Dumbledore to take the job, but he declined and suggested your father, Harry. Coming from a well respected pure-blood family, he had everybody's support and turned out to be the best and fairest minister we've ever had, but Fudge felt ignored. He had been working for the ministry for a lot longer than James and thought, he'd deserve the position more. Fudge did everything to make James' life miserable and for a while we thought he was Voldemorts' spy."
Harry and Ron looked amazed at Sirius, during his narrative. "Blimey! Why didn't anybody bother to tell me? Snape keeps telling me what an arrogant git my father was." Harry spat.
"You know why Snape didn't like James. Not only because of the incident in the Shrieking Shack, but also because everything was always so easy for your father. James had a loving and wealthy family, he was very successful in everything he was doing and to top it he married the prettiest girl in school and started his own family. Snape had to struggle for everything and wasn't half as successful. He's full of envy and doesn't want to acknowledge James' good sides." Sirius sighed.
"And this is the reason why Snape is so mean to Harry?" Kelsey asked. "Exactly" Harry answered gloomily.
"McGonagall told us, they have set up a floo-connection with Dumbledore's mansion for emergency situations." Ron said.
"Oh Dumbledore went home?" Sirius said asked very surprised. "I thought he'd never leave the school."
"He had to; the minister insisted." Kelsey explained. At this moment the old fireplace of the Shrieking Shack trembled and with a bang, an envelope flew out of it in high-speed and landed in front of Sirius. With a curious look on his face, the wizard picked it up and broke the seal
"It's from Dumbledore" he said. Sirius read the letter several times before he folded it together and put it in his robes. His emaciated body seemed very tense and his face was grey.
"Dumbledore said he received a letter from Snape and it's no good news. He has a job for me to do so I need to go and see him" Sirius said when he recognized the bewildered faces staring at him.
"This is too dangerous...and you don't even know where Dumbledore is" Harry cried, as he watched his godfather grabbing his few possessions and storing them away in his pockets.
"Oh I do know where I have to go." Sirius replied. Then he turned towards Harry and grabbed his godsons' shoulders. "You need to promise me something" he said deadly serious. "You need to stay away from trouble. With my cousin running around this is no joke. She is dangerous and maybe creepier than Voldemort himself. Listen to your teachers and stay close to Remus. Understand"
Harry nodded mutely. He had never seen his godfather so serious and nervous. "You all get better back to the castle and please stay away from Malfoy. I'll be back as soon as possible." Sirius changed into Snuffles and left the Shrieking Shack, Harry, Ron and Kelsey close behind. The boys decided to walk over to Charlie and his colleagues to distract them and give Sirius the chance to escape.
"Hey Charlie!" Ron called when they passed Hagrid's cabin. The older Weasley came over and tousled his little brothers' hair.
"Did you have any problems with the dragons lately?" Harry asked.
"No, not since the first attack. We still couldn't figure out, how Lestrange got into the castle. We have watched the grounds very carefully and never seen a living soul pass" the dragon trainer replied.
Harry turned around to Ron and whispered "Do you think there's another secret passage the marauders never found out about?" Ron shrugged and looked back at his brother. "Charlie can you show us the dragons, please?"
"Yuck...Ron, never dare to try puppy dog eyes on me" Charlie laughed. "Where are the girls?"
Kelsey rolled his eyes and said "Some secret girls' meeting I guess. They didn't say what they're up to"
"Stephen can show you around. I dare say you've met him before" Charlie chuckled and beckoned his colleague to come over. "Mate, could you give my brother and his friends some insider info?" he asked.
"Sure" Stephen winked at the boys and walked over to the first dragon. "That's a German Bluetail and you better stay away from her. She's a bit moody today. "
Harry looked at the huge green dragon in awe. "Why is she called a Bluetail? She looks green to me"
"Yes Harry, normally she is green, but when she spits fire, her back and tail turns dark blue" Stephen explained.
"Cool" Kelsey sighed when they walked to the next dragon.
"Oh look at that... is she dangerous?" Ron shouted.
"At first we all would appreciate it if you'd keep your voice down. My brother Sean had his buttocks burned off from her when he yelled at me once. Indian Shivas are very skittish, you know" the dragon trainer said hastily.
Ron blushed while his hands instinctively moved to his backside, as if he was trying to protect it. Harry and Kelsey were holding on to each other with fists in their mouth, trying desperately to stifle their laughter.
The younger Weasley glared daggers at his friends, who shrugged with innocent looks on their red faces. "She looks...erm kind of pretty with that blue eyes and she's so dainty" Ron mumbled.
"That's what my brother thought before she showed her mean side, besides she's not fully grown yet." the dragon expert stated. They walked a little further and Kelsey recognized all the little scars on the man's skin, undoubtedly signs of previous encounters with the dragons' deadly blazes. He was tall, his skin tanned from working outdoors and he seemed very confident.
"This is my brother Sean" Stephen pointed at a wizard, who was tending to a colleague. "Stay away from the Shiva" their guide chuckled and then everybody broke out into hilarious laughter when they watched Sean holding on to his butt just like Ron a few minutes before, his face screwed up in mock pain.
"How do you like this one?" Stephen asked when they approached another dragon, which was, in contrast to the others, bound in heavy chains and moving forcefully in every possible direction, trying to break them.
"What is that?" Harry gasped. He moved several steps backwards when the dragon glared at him with emerald green eyes.
"That's a Scottish Blazer, my friends and this name suits him. He and his mate on the other side of the camp are the most dangerous dragons we brought here. Extremely hard to control and impossible to tame. In case of a major attack, we release him and then hell breaks lose." Stephen explained gloomily. T
he boys gasped and swallowed hard. The black dragon jumped forward and stretched his long neck in their direction, baring four long sabre-like fangs. Harry, Ron and Kelsey turned around and ran back to the castle in high-speed.
"Hey, where are you going? I wanted to show you the English Greyfire next" the dragon trainer yelled after the boys, but they were already out of earshot.
"Dammit... that was close. Can you believe that monster was maybe four inches away from my face" Kelsey shouted scared to death, holding up 4 fingers to emphasize his statement.
"This is something I don't want to encounter alone at night" Harry admitted. Ron was still a little shaky and pale "This is something I never want to encounter again... under no circumstances... this was even worse than spiders" he gasped.
Severus was roaming the gloomy castle, looking for Celeste. After their meeting, he had asked Prince Gregorius privately that he needed to inform his master about the proceedings of his mission. His host had sent him to Celeste who would forward the letter for him. He found the young witch in a room next to the kitchen, reading in an old, leather-bound book. Severus walked slowly up to the antique sofa, she was sitting on and cleared his throat.
"I don't want to bother you mademoiselle, but Prince Gregorius informed me that you could forward a letter for me"
"Yes I sure can. Do you have it with you, then I can send it of right away, monsieur."
"Call me Severus" he corrected her. It was the first time Snape heard her talking and he was stunned. Her voice sounded warm, silky and exotic, despite or maybe just because of the accent.
Celeste smiled at him friendly and beckoned him to follow her. She walked out of the room and entered the kitchen. Snape watched her curiously. So many questions were on his mind; how did she get here, why did she stay and how did she learn wandless magic?
The beautiful witch stretched her hand out in front of the fireplace and snapped her fingers. Green flames blazed up immediately and Celeste turned towards the potion master, looking expectantly. Snape hesitantly handed her the letter, she waved her hand over it and suddenly the parchment glowed golden. Severus watched her in awe when she threw the letter into the flames.
"Who is Albus Dumbledore?" Celeste asked and faced the potion master.
"It's better if you do not know." Severus said calmly. This woman looked so friendly and innocent; he couldn't risk getting her involved. Celeste recognized his reluctance and looked straight into his chocolate brown eyes. The intensity of her glare made him shiver.
"I know you can't be one of them, not really. I see kindness in your eyes and understanding, but also frustration, disappointment and sorrow. There is no malice and no fear, but love hat you keep well hidden" she said calmly.
Severus just stared at her, wondering how she could see all that in his eyes. "Can we go and sit down to talk?" the potion master asked and followed her to a different room.
It appeared to him that this was her chambers. Everything was decorated in pastels and light fabrics. They entered a small sitting room, furnitured with a delicate, blue sofa and matching chairs. Celeste sat down on one of the chairs and beckoned Severus to the sofa. "Can I offer you something?" she asked friendly.
"Tea would be fine" he answered. Celeste put both of her palms on the table and a tray with a tea set appeared. After she poured them both a cup of the hot liquid, she sat back in the chair and looked at the wizard expectantly. "So why are you here, negotiating with those savages?"
"I can't tell you much about my mission, because I don't want you to get involved in that" Severus said calmly. "My master sent us here to ask Prince Gregorius for his support."
"He is not your master" she looked deep in his eyes and continued. "You're serving a much greater wizard. A very kind, old man, with white hair and beard." Then she chuckled "he wears half-moon glasses and has a partiality for sweets"
"How do you know all that?" Severus gasped.
"I can see him clearly in your mind; this man... Dumbledore you call him?... why isn't he helping you? I know the Prince; if he doesn't fully trust you, you won't leave the castle alive" she stated.
Severus was baffled that this woman could enter his mind so easily, although he was a skilled occlumens. "Please tell me more about you". He relaxed visibly and all the tenseness fell off in her presence. Although she was so young, almost a child and maybe two years older than his daughter, he felt comfortable and attracted to her.
"My father is Yuri Maldinadow, the innkeeper. My mother died when I was just a few weeks old and my father didn't know what to do with me. My aunt took me home, raised me and taught me everything I know. She was the one who discovered my talent for wandless magic and supported me.
Two years ago she died of typhus and I had to return to my father. The night after I arrived, one of the Prince' henchmen came to collect the rent, but my father had gambled away everything. Afraid he would lose the house and inn, we went to Prince Gregorius to beg for mercy" she explained, her voice totally emotionless.
Snape looked at her calmly while she continued the story of her life. "The prince laughed hysterically when he watched my father going along on his knees, craving for a suspension." she said disgustedly. "Unfortunately, the prince was attracted by me and suggested a deal"
Severus unconsciously moved closer to her and took her hand, as silent tears started running down her face.
"He offered to exempt my father from all his debts and the rent for the next 2 years when I stay here and serve him in every aspect." Her voice sounded terribly hollow and sad when she finished and looked at the potion master.
"Is there no way you could get out of here?" he asked her. "The two years are over now, after all"
"My father made a new contract for 4 years just last week. He told me to stay here until I'm 21...then, he wants to find a husband for me" she said gloomily.
The potion master shook his head in disbelieve; how could somebody do that to his own child.
"If I could find a way out of here, I'd take you with me" he stated, stroking her hand gently.
"So who is Albus Dumbledore?" she asked again.