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For copyright and disclaimers, please see chapter 1
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13 - Classes, Week Twenty, First Year
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Unknown Date:
Unknown Location
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"...vate, ener..." I stopped mumbling as someone squeezed my calf.
"Did you say something, Nott?"
"No, sir, Mr. Malfoy."
I felt the peculiar floating sensation of the mobilicorpus spell as a door creaked open, and Malfoy said, "Put them in here for now, Nott. We'll retrieve the youngest females for the Dark Revel. Just like old times."
Nott replied, "Yes, Mr. Malfoy, sir. Just like old times."
I felt the weight of several bodies on me, and then Malfoy's voice called "Accio wands." I felt several thumps as wands slithered past me, then Malfoy called, "Incarcerous!" He chuckled, then said, "Your wand, Nott."
"Thank you, sir." I heard the swish of robes, and then Nott's saddened voice, "A Dark Revel. Why couldn't I have been Kissed? Maybe I should kill them now."
"NOTT!"
"Coming, Mr. Malfoy!" Nott called. With a whispered, "Merlin, I'm sorry," I heard the swish of robes, and the boom of the door closing.
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"Anyone get the name of that lorry?" someone asked. I opened my eyes to a dim cell, a bit of moonlight entering through a barred window. I could see shapes around me, so I started to work my bound hands under my Quidditch robes to get at my tools.
Karen asked, "Can anyone get free?"
I replied, "Working on it. Give me a minute." With a snick, my switchblade was working at my wrist ropes.
"Anyone have a wand?" someone asked, and there were mostly negative grunts.
I could feel mine, still in my sheath. "Doesn't anyone else here use a spell-shielded wand sheath?"
"Un-necessary expense," someone said.
"That 'un-necessary expense', means I have a wand," I said. "Ah, that's got it. Now for the chest." I mumbled. "Be glad the Bosom Fairy hasn't visited me yet, guys. I'll probably be a Double D like my mom." I wiggled out of my ropes. "Now then, 'Lumos!'" my wand tip lit up the stone cell, "Ian, where are you?"
"Over here, lil' sis," he called.
I moved to cut him free, then gave him my wand; "I'm lousy with spellwork. Professor McGonnegal said you're the best of the seventh-years at Transfig. Get people awake and do what you can, and I'll get the rest free."
"What can we do without wands?" someone fretted.
I snorted, and said, "Think like a muggle, you idiot. You've got two hands and two feet. Shaundra, Roshawn, where are you?"
"Over here," they said. I moved to cut them loose, then gave them the sheathed carbon blades from my boots. "Those are really sharp, think of them as flat diamonds."
"Cool!" they chorused as I cut ropes. I continued, "Look, these idiots were wizards, not muggles. I heard them use accio for our wands, then incarcerous and locked us in here."
One of the Cortez twins said, "If I had captured us, I would have done a thorough search, and would have found Mattie's wand, as well as whatever she's using now."
"How do we know you Slytherins aren't in league with them?" the whiner said.
"Given the circumstances, I'll ignore that insult. For now," Karen said with a cold voice. "After we're out of here, we'll have satisfaction."
"Thanks," Orla Quirk told me. She shifted, and said, "Ackerly, if they were in league with the Death Eaters, would they have armed us?"
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"What next?" someone asked.
"We get out of this cell, find our wands, find out where we are, and call for help," Karen said. "If we can take out a few Death Eaters, so much the better." She looked at Quirk, adding, "We should team up."
"That means revealing a Slytherin secret, guys." I sighed. Karen shrugged, so I asked, "Who's the most flexible in Ravenclaw?" While they dithered, I walked over to the wall under an air vent, and started to climb the stone walls.
"Wayne, what are you doing?" Quirk asked. I looked down, and said, "Getting information. Who's coming?"
"Fawcett is." I looked at the little second-year seeker, held open the grate, and motioned to her.
"I can't climb up there!"
"We'll gi' ye' a boost, lassie," Frank said. "Ian? James?" They made a human pyramid, and she was able to scamper up their backs to where I could grab her and haul her in.
"I'm scared," she whispered.
I waved to the others, then closed the grate. "So am I," I whispered. "Our friends are counting on us, though. We're the smallest, we've got to get it done." She sneezed, and I said, "No noise. Breathe through your mouth. We have to find out how many and where our enemies are." I started to belly-crawl through the small airshaft, and after a minute, she followed me.
I paused to draw another arrow in the dust, and Fawcett asked, "What are you doing?"
"Directions," I whispered. I peeked through a grate, then held a finger across my lips and motioned for her to move up. Below us, Professor Harry was tied to a chair, bloody and beaten. Fawcett squeaked, and I clapped a hand over her mouth. The professor looked up and saw us, and I gave him a 'thumbs up'. We moved back out of sight, and listened.
"Potter, I grow weary of your defiance. We want Our Lord's body returned to us, or we will continue killing the children. Their blood is on your hands, Potter, not ours. Pettigrew?"
"CRUCIO!"
Professor Harry screamed, while we moved back to see. Pettigrew stopped, and I made a circle, then an OK sign. He grinned, then spat in Pettigrew's face.
"CRUCIO!"
As he screamed, we backed off, moving a few hundred feet away.
"We've got to do something!" she whispered.
"We are," I replied. "Professor Harry spat in Pettigrew's face to cover our escape. We've let him know we're ok, we've found out what they want, we've seen four Death Eaters, we need to find the others, and our wands." I thought for a minute, then asked, "How did Pettigrew look to you? He's the one with the silver hand, did he look a little weak to you?"
She shrugged, and asked, "I think so, why?"
"I threw a knife at him at the Pitch. I think I scored on him, if so, he's bleeding internally." I looked at her, and said, "It's another weakness we can exploit."
------------------------I heard the crackle of a fire, and peeked through a grate. Lucius Malfoy sat in a leather armchair in a library, a snifter of brandy on a table next to him. I gave the sign for silence, and Fawcett moved up next to me. The fire changed color, and a head appeared, asking "Malfoy?"
"Minister Fudge. How nice of you to call this evening."
"What have you learned from Potter?"
Malfoy sighed. "No taste for the finer things in life, Cornelius? Always impatient, typical Ravenclaw." He leaned forward, and said, "What of my need for a healer? We dare not remove the blade from the wound, yet with every breath it sinks a bit deeper. It is not metal, it is a material I have not seen before. The healer need not be anyone of import, it serves better if they are disposable afterwards."
Fudge snorted, and said, "If you need someone like that, a trainee from St. Mungo's will have to suffice. Now, what about Potter?"
Malfoy took a contemplative sip, and said, "Regretfully the brat continues to defy us. We will take some of the mudbloods and perform a Dark Revel with them, the others continue to hold value as hostages we can ransom." He swirled his snifter of brandy and took an appreciative sip.
"How do you know Potter won't escape?"
"I have his wand, Minister." Malfoy raised it, then touching a box, adding, "Along with those of the hostages. They remain at my mercy. Now what of Dumbledore?"
"Dumbledore has been besieged by the parents, and I've added Undersecretary Umbridge there as my personal representative to 'assist' him." He smirked, and added, "Rita Skeeter is not helping his situation. However, some parents are creating problems." Malfoy took a sip, and Fudge continued, "That Lovegood fellow with his newspaper, and the Wayne brat's family. They've already started nosing around, asking questions."
"Then you will shortly have some corpses to hand back," Malfoy said, and Fawcett looked in horror at me. I covered her mouth as he continued, "Such a terrible tragedy, but the Ministry was unable to do anything. That should teach the mudbloods to stay out of our world." He smiled thinly, adding, "Until it is time we rule theirs."
------------------------"Now it's personal," I whispered. I touched the earworm, and asked, "Karen, this is Mattie. Can you hear me?"
"Barely, Mattie."
"Situation update. We've seen a total of ten Death Eaters, they want Voldie's body back. They have Professor Harry; they're torturing him for the location. We let him know we're ok, he's toughing it out."
"Got it, what else?"
"Parents are raising hell with the Ministry, Fudge is stonewalling them and Dumbledore. Protect the muggleborn and Lovegood, Malfoy is planning to kill them as examples."
"What about the rest of us?"
"Plans to ransom you as hostages. Also, Pettigrew may be injured, Malfoy's trying to get him a healer."
"Got it, try not to kill Nott, he may be sympathetic to us."
"Right, we have a location for the wands, we're going to try to steal them."
"Good luck, Mattie."
"You too. Out."
I looked at Fawcett, and said, "Try not to kill Nott, he may be sympathetic." She nodded, and I added, "I hope like hell your transfiguration is better than mine."
------------------------The room was dark and cold, the fire banked to embers. I checked again with my IR goggles, then silently popped open the grille, and whispered, "Jump!"
"I ... I can't!"
"You have to! I have to replace the grille! Look, just hang from your hands, it will only be about four or five feet then!" With a thump, she dropped, and I secured the grille, then dropped to the floor. I moved to the wooden box of wands, and pulled one out, giving it to her.
"This isn't mine."
"Then accio yours, but get transfiguring! I'll watch the door."
"What about Professor Harry's?"
I swished it, and no sparks came out of it. I showed it to Fawcett, and whispered, "It's a fake, leave it!"
------------------------"Down!" I watched the low, moving form in the torchlight, then whispered, "Shadow?"
"Isn't that Ginny's familiar?"
I nodded as the black form moved toward us, and then clicked my tongue. I whispered again, "Shadow, what are you doing ... Professor Harry?" I stroked the soft fur, then said, "If you're Professor Harry, what did you do on the train when Ginny asked if you were Snuffles?" He rolled over on his back, raised his paws, and did a soft miaow.
"It's him," I said. He got back to his feet, and moved back the way he came, looking over his shoulder.
"We should follow him," Fawcett said.
------------------------We followed Shadow to the bloody interrogation room. Inside, there were two dark young forms slumped in chairs. I checked them, saying "Alive, but they need medical help."
"Mattie? Susan?"
"Yeah, we're here with Professor Harry."
"Didn't talk."
"We know. How'd they get you? Let's get you out of those chairs. You did good."
"Thanks. Everyone fought. Pretended they were Klan." They drifted off, and Fawcett stunned them, then did mobilicorpus.
"Fawcett, give me the box of wands, and I'll get everyone else, you go to the library with Professor Harry and call Hogwarts. We'll meet you there." Shadow picked up something and carried it in his mouth. It was a bloodied rat with a silver paw.
------------------------I eyed the heavy wooden door. There was no lock, a simple locking bar secured it, but it probably weighed as much as I did. "Where's Uncle Clark when you need him?" I muttered, then drew a wand from the box, drew a breath, then said, "Wingardium Leviosa!" The bar quivered in its brackets, and I tried again, "Wingardium Leviosa!"
------------------------"Almost ..." Another elbow strike, and the bar rotated, popping free of the bracket, and I was able to pull on it.
"Lil' sis!" Ian pulled me into a bearhug, and I said, "First things first. Here are your wands, and we have people that need medical attention."
"Aye," he passed the box back into the room, and asked, "How are the girls?"
"Weak. They need Pomfrey, they've been tortured," there was a growl, and I said, "We found an office Malfoy was using to talk to Fudge."
"Bloody arse Fudge. Lead the way, lil' sis, an' if ye see Malfoy, he's mine."
"Leave him to the muggleborn," someone said.
------------------------"The floo's communication-only. Nothing can pass through it, it's warded," Karen said dejectedly. "We need to break the wards, or get Malfoy to give us the password to release the wards."
"What about the girls and Professor Harry?"
She waggled a hand. "They need Pomfrey. We've tried every spell she can suggest, but they need to be in the Infirmary, or St. Mungo's."
"With the Ministry in control, I wouldn't trust St. Mungo's," Quirk said. "What about our captives?"
I glanced at the six nude, bound and stunned Death Eaters. "They don't have the password, this is part of Malfoy Manor, and Narcissa didn't know either," Karen added.
"I don't see a choice, we're twenty-six to their four. We need Malfoy. We need to hunt. Correction," I said, "I need to hunt."
------------------------Malfoy stalked along the corridor, robes swirling, blond hair wafting. I stepped in his way, and said, "Mr. Malfoy, we need to talk."
"We have nothing to discuss, mudblood, except your funeral," he sneered. There was a thoom sound and the corridor shook. Another thoom, and the walls shook again.
"What was that?" he asked.
"My family," I said with a smile. "You've pissed them off, and now they're coming for me." Another thoom sounded, and a mirror toppled, to its indignant complaints. "You see, Mr. Malfoy..." thoom, "...If I and my friends aren't found safely..." thoom, "...they're going to want to..." thoom, "...discuss it with someone. Someone like..." thoom, "...you."
"My wards are the strongest in Europe!" thoom
"That may..." thoom, "...be so. Are the walls?" thoom "I'll let you think on the amount of..." thoom, "...force required to..." thoom, "...let us hear..." thoom, "...down here, and what..." thoom, "...they could do to..." thoom, "...you."
"Then you'll accompany..." thoom, "me to the after..." thoom, "...life!"
He reached out and grabbed me, pointing his wand at my head. I chuckled, batted his wand away, and flipped him into a wall. I reached down, plucked his wand from his hand, then said, "Mr. Malfoy, I..." thoom, "...wouldn't do that..." thoom, "...if I were you."
------------------------"Make way!" I called. "Make way for one seriously pissed off Death Eater!" I towed the stunned, nude and bound Malfoy behind me by his long blond hair.
"Oi, Mattie!" Sprink called, "I'd like you to meet my Aunt Bella. Aunt Bella, this is my roommate Mattie Wayne." I passed Malfoy off, and nodded, saying, "Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Les..."
"Ms. Black, if you please, Miss Wayne." She regarded me, bound, from her seat on the floor, then said, "Lucius is not an easy man to take. How'd you do it?"
"No offense, ma'am, but I'd rather not say."
"Understandable," she nodded. "For the two knuts it's worth, I do have a pardon from the Minister. With a few sickles, I can get fish to wrap in it."
I smirked, "True. Did you know I have your old bed from 1971?"
"Oh, my, does that bring back memories." She was silent for a minute, then asked, "Is the headboard still loose?"
"Very. I keep reapplying sticking charms. What do we do with you, Ms. Black?"
"In your position? I'd AK me in a heartbeat. Why should you trust me, after all?"
"Exactly." I gazed at her, then said, "You could be useful, though. Tell me why I should argue for your life."
"I've certainly done enough for the Kiss, although I'd prefer the Veil, if I had a choice." She shuddered, and said, "I have no desire to become a Dementor, thank you very much. I can serve as Dumbledore's intelligence, I did, after all not reveal Severus' activities to the Dark Lord."
"Which he will need to verify, of course."
"Of course," she nodded. "In this latest bit of foolishness, I didn't take part in the torture of your friends, or participate in their capture. Personally, I'd be just as happy the Dark Lord stays in whatever crypt Potter's put him. I'm tired, I want to lie on a beach somewhere."
"So why are you here?" Luna Lovegood asked.
"Malfoy called me, and gave me a password past the wards."
"WHAT'S THE PASSWORD?" Sprink shouted.
"Is that all you wanted?" Bella blinked. "It's 'pettigrew's arse'."
The color of the flames in the fire changed to green, and Pomfrey tumbled through.
------------------------"Mattie? Mattie Wayne?" someone called.
"In here, sir," Ian called from the corridor, and I rushed out to see Uncle Clark.
"Mattie!" he hugged me, tossing aside a glowing, fused lump of rock the size of a bowling ball, which cracked the stone floor, burying itself to steam in the cool air.
Ian blinked, and said, "Sir, what was that?"
"Oh, I was playing handball with that. Did you hear me?"
"Sir, we thought the wall was going to cave in on us!"
"Oh, sorry. I was trying to reach you. Did I come close?"
"Come see, sir," Ian replied. We wandered down the corridor, and confronted the heavy wooden door to the cell. Ian struggled with the locking bar, and Clark cleared his throat. Ian stepped back, and Uncle Clark simply twisted the bar, shoving the door into the room in the process. He leaned it against one wall as we looked.
Huge cracks ran along the rear wall of the cell, which bulged alarmingly in. I looked, and said, "Oh, the wands!" and ran to get the box of leftover wands.
"Here's yours, lil' sis," Ian said. Uncle Clark picked one from the box, then dropped it with an 'Oww!' as I re-holstered mine.
Clark asked, "Shall we get back to Hogwarts? Your parents are worried."
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"Mattie!" Harry Spencer called outside the Infirmary. "My Gran was listening to the game on the Wireless, and she came by to see if she could help. Mattie Wayne, this is my Gran Elizabeth."
"Miss Wayne, I'm so glad to meet you. I've heard so much about you."
Lois blinked, and said, "Excuse me, but are you..."
"Hufflepuff, 1943, Miss Lane," Lois blinked again, and Gran continued, "I brought along my personal physician to see if we might be of any assistance."
"Two of my friends and Professor Harry were tortured by..." I spat, and Gran patted me on my shoulder.
"Ms. Lane, I wish to meet with you and your husband later. I am MOST distressed by this, and I would like to discuss this with you and Mr. Lovegood." She smiled thinly, and said, "I will not stand for having schoolchildren tortured while they are guests in my home. Now then, I believe the Headmaster wishes to see us, Ms. Lane. Miss Wayne, please join us."
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"Miss Wayne! Come, come," The Headmaster's usually twinkling eyes were serious. "I understand you overheard something most interesting?"
"You CANNOT give credence to anything this child says! They are delusional ramblings for a politically based vendetta!" Umbridge screeched. Rita Skeeter sat quietly in a corner, quill busy. She looked up, her eyes widening.
"My daughter heard what she heard," a middle-aged man snarled. "If that's too bad for that half-wit Fudge, so much the better!"
"How DARE you insult the Minister of Magic! Why, I..."
"Accio Rita Skeeter's parchment," Gran said. "Ms. Umbridge, Ms. Skeeter, you are excused. Press coverage will be with Mr. Kent and Ms. Lane. You are both reminded of the Official Secrets Act, and the penalties for violating it." Gran then turned, and sat in a squashy armchair the Headmaster conjured as the two left.
"Mr. Fawcett, please sit down. Why don't we hear from Miss Wayne about her experiences, hmm?" the Headmaster said. Mr. Fawcett's eyes went wide as he recognized Gran. Professor Dumbledore simply smiled, and waved his wand, conjuring squashy armchairs. He sat back, his screensaver of the school's motto ("Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus") scrolling past. "Now then, Miss Wayne, let's start at the Quidditch game. You had just performed a feint as the Slytherin Seeker, when you saw?"
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"This conversation you overheard between Minister Fudge and Mr. Malfoy. You are certain of the contents?" Gran asked.
I nodded, "Yes, ma'am. I don't know what else I can say."
She pursed her lips, then said, "Headmaster, I would suggest a Pensieve. Ms. Lane, you may wish to record this." She put her head with my family while Professor Dumbledore fetched a small stone basin.
"Now then, Miss Wayne. Remember your Occlumency training to focus your mind, and concentrate on the scene you saw in Mr. Malfoy's library." I nodded, and he said, "Touch your wand to your temple, and draw the memory out, and drop it in the Pensieve." A silvery thread extended itself from my head, and I dropped it in the basin. "Very good, Miss Wayne!" He stirred it with his wand, then tapped it.
Lois pressed 'Record', and I saw the fire change color, and Fudge's head appeared, asking "Malfoy?"
"Minister Fudge. How nice of you to call this evening."
"What have you learned from Potter?"
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Lois clicked 'Stop', and said, "It sounds like Minister Fudge is in bed with terrorists to me. He's discussing premeditated murder of a government employee, overthrow of the lawfully constituted government, torture, and genocide. My question is, what is a 'Dark Revel'?"
"A group rape and torture session, Ms. Lane," Professor Snape said. "Death Eaters would gather a family of muggles, rape and torture the children in front of the parents, and then torture the parents to death."
"We are Not Pleased," Gran said. "Ms. Lane?"
"Yes, ma'am?"
"You are an investigative reporter, with, I believe, six Pulitzers. I want this exposed. Dig it out, root and branch, and publish it. I will speak to your editor, and inform him that you are on a private assignment for me." She smiled thinly at Lois' look of glee, and said, "Do not discuss this with your muggle friends, of course. Mr. Lovegood?"
"Ma'am?"
"Publish Ms. Lane's findings. I only request an advance copy of your newspaper." I thought they had both been dosed with Smile-X from their expressions, but Gran held up her hand, and added, "I promise not to change a single jot or tittle, but I have a vested interest." Gran smiled, and then added, "If I may be of assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me. If you will excuse me, I wish to see how the Cortez family is getting on. Miss Wayne, would you care to join me?"
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