Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or any part of the concept of Harry Potter. They all belong to the talented Ms. Rowling.
Thank you to everyone who reviewed and a big thank you to my beta, Sepia. Your efforts are greatly appreciated. J
Thank you to Maxwell Demon who has lent her artistic talents to the fic. If her pictures haven't been uploaded onto her website yet they will be in a couple of days so please check back then. I can't upload her website address on FFnet but her website address is on my author profile page. I'll try and think of another way to get it in here. Follow the link and then click on "Lady Assassin's" Link.
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CHAPTER 12
"WHAT?" Ginny exclaimed.
"That fellow on the left is Sarah Walter's brother. I don't know who any of the others are," Harry told them, still standing and glaring at Albus' guests, who dared not physically retaliate.
"This is absurd!" one of the Minister's staff protested. "Do you have any idea what you've done young man?"
"How can you be sure?" Albus asked Harry quietly.
"They're using a standard concealment spell," Harry replied, never taking his eyes off the group before him.
Several of the students had been whispering amongst themselves but stopped when they caught their Headmaster's stern gaze.
"I checked them all myself with a revealing spell this morning before I allowed them into the school, and no concealment spells were detected."
One of the guests had revived 'Minister Fudge', who struggled to get up off the ground. "How dare you!" he spluttered.
"Check him now," Harry suggested quietly to Albus, calmly taking his wand back from Hermione, who was busy checking the guests herself.
"What are we doing?" Draco murmured to the professors around him. Messages were passed quickly up and down the staff table among the professors until everyone at the table had seen for themselves that the five men standing before them were not who they were claiming to be.
"Who are you?" Hermione demanded.
"I am the Minister of –"
"No you're not. Who are you?" Hermione asked in a cold voice, levelling her wand at the men before her. Filch had begun to move some of the students silently out of the Hall. He had a feeling that it would take something fairly big to make all of the professors stand and point their wands at Minister Fudge and his delegation and he had a feeling that the Hall was the most unsafe place to be right now.
"Come on. Quickly," he told them, hurrying as many of them through the exit hall as he could.
The five guests realised that there was no way they'd be able to bluff their way out of the situation, so they did the only thing they could do – they dove among the body of students, who began to scream and scramble about in panic, effectively ensuring that the staff couldn't get a clear shot at them.
"Try and hit us now!" challenged one of them.
"Okay," said a few of the younger students, trying to be helpful, and throwing stinging hexes at the imposters. Some of the spells hit their intended targets, but some of the missed and hit other students.
"Bloody kids!" growled one of the men, rubbing his arm. "Right, that does it!" he said, pulling one of the students in front of him, turning her around so that the witches and wizards at the head table could see the fear etched across her face. He restrained her by bracing one of his arms tightly across her neck and with the other hand, pointed his wand directly at her chest. He nodded briefly to his comrades, who did the same, taking other children to use as human shields.
"This is how we're going to do things. We only have business with a few of you, so the rest of you are going to leave – don't even think about it!" he cried, turning abruptly to the Herbology professor, who had drawn her wand back, ready to throw a spell at the men. "We wouldn't want anything to happen to this pretty little thing, now would we?" he told her, indicating the girl in his grasp. "Everyone's going to lower their wands. Right now."
Everybody slowly lowered their wands.
"Good. Now, I want all the students to leave the Hall, immediately. I don't care where you go, just get out…and if I see anyone even thinking about hexing us, these kids will get it," the imposter threatened, indicating the students that were being held captive by them.
The students began to shuffle quickly out of the hall. Even the more defiant students obeyed the instructions; the man's tone of voice had left them all in no doubt that these were not idle threats. He had meant every word that he'd said.
"Come on, move! I'd like to do this today!" bellowed the man who had been doing all of the talking up until now. The students visibly cringed at his eruption, and they hurried their pace, pushing and shoving each other in a mad dash to get to the exit.
Once the students had left the hall, the five bogus ministry officials held their captives closer to them and crouched to hide themselves behind their shields as much as possible. All of the witches and wizards at the head table remained standing, their eyes glued to the imposters before them, anger evident on each of their faces. They held their wands by their sides, gripping them fiercely in frustration.
"I think we still need to even up the score," Walters, who was posing as Cornelius Fudge, said. "It wasn't supposed to come to this, you know. We were supposed to be able to have a small meeting and pull a few of you aside. Things were supposed to have been taken care of that way. Nothing is ever that easy though, is it? It's a good thing we came prepared with a contingency plan. You just had to force us to do things the hard way." He paused to tighten his grip on the struggling girl who was struggling against him. "We want Snape, Malfoy and Green. The rest of you need to leave."
"Which 'Malfoy' do you want?" Ginny asked fiercely.
"We have no business with you…yet," one of the men who had remained silent until now told her, punctuating his sentence by looking the red-head up and down suggestively. "It's your turncoat dog of a husband that we want."
"If you lay a hand on her I'll -" Draco began furiously, fighting the urge to attack him with his bare hands.
"Ah-ah-ah. Temper. We wouldn't want this lovely young lady to... suffer for your actions, now would we?"
Draco held himself in check, still fuming silently at the slur on his wife. For some moments, Draco, Ginny and the professors glared at the men impersonating Ministry officials, who stared back.
"They're not leaving," one of the men growled to Walter.
"No, they're not are they?" he asked rhetorically, turning to look down at the student in his grasp, smoothing her hair back from her face; a sinister mockery of affection which served to only increase the unease among the staff.
"I thought it might take more than that to make you leave. Look at you – all sticking together like that. It's just beautiful," Walter drawled sarcastically, pretending to wipe a tear from his eye. "Not that you two," he paused to nod at Snape and Malfoy, "deserve that kind of loyalty, since you clearly don't know what the word means."
Drawing a deep breath, he continued. "It doesn't matter though, I'm fairly certain you'll all change your mind when I tell you that right now there are two trolls – not one, two – wandering around the castle. I let them in about ten minutes ago, so they could be anywhere by now." He cocked his head to the side, listening for signs of their presence.
"That's what that thumping noise was," Harry said aloud.
"Yes, very good professor, top of the class for you," Walter mocked him.
Draco, Ginny and the professors looked at each other with some alarm, though some of them still showed signs of doubt about the veracity of Walter's claims. "How did you manage to let them in?" Professor Sinistra asked them. After the confusion broke out, she made her way back to the staff table to take her place. "I was with you the whole time while I was showing you to the Hall and you were supervised all day, except while you were in the bathroom, but I don't think you could have managed to let them in from there!"
The man grinned and tightened his grip on the young girl in front of him. "It was such an easy thing. When I used one of your school owls earlier, I told you I was sending a message to the Ministry, but I was actually sending a message to my colleague letting him know that our initial plan had failed and that we needed him to make a contingency arrangement so that we would still be able to carry out our orders. He very kindly arranged for a couple of mountain trolls to be sent to the school."
"How did they get in? Your colleague wouldn't have been able to let them in from outside the school, and you couldn't have done it because you were all fully supervised all day!" Professor Sinistra cried.
"I didn't let them in, you did just before we came here," he told the Astronomy professor.
"Me? I would never do such a thing," she said, her eyes wide in protest.
"Oh, but you did, and you were very cooperative as well, once you were under the Imperius curse."
"I don't remember –"
"Of course you don't. Did you really think we'd let you remember that sort of thing? We obliviated you right away."
The professor couldn't speak for a few moments. "I'm so sorry," she whispered when she found her voice again, unable to look up at anybody.
"There is no need to apologise. You could not help doing what you did, if in fact you actually did it," Albus assured her.
"I let trolls into the school," she continued, her voice barely audible.
The man posing as the Minister noticed the looks some of the professors were giving each other and he rolled his eyes. "You don't have to believe me if you don't want to, but I'm sure that you wouldn't risk your students' safety, if there was even the possibility that I might be telling the truth."
Albus drew his staff around him. "I do not trust this person in the least. However, if there is even the smallest chance that there is any truth to this man's claims, we must attend to the safety of our students. I will need some of you to come with me to look for and subdue the trolls, and to supervise our students. I will ask that some of you to stay with Severus, Draco and Jason," Albus appealed to his staff.
"Don't leave yourself short staffed. You need all the witches and wizards you can spare to handle the trolls and the students," Draco told the Headmaster.
"We definitely need to even up the odds for you though," Ginny told her husband with fierce determination.
"I'll stay," Ron volunteered.
"As will I," Hermione added.
"Definitely count me in," Ginny told them from between clenched teeth.
"Ginny – no," Draco pleaded with his wife.
"Not a chance, I'm not leaving you," she told him firmly.
"I will remain," declared Professor McGonagall.
"Minerva, I think I will need you to help co-ordinate our efforts with the trolls. I don't know who is in more danger right now – Severus, Draco and Jason, or the students."
"But Albus –" she protested, but she was interrupted by several loud screams coming from outside.
"The students need you," Professor Snape maintained, coolly eying the group of men before them. Albus looked at Severus as if to ask whether he'd left them with enough support, who simply nodded at the Headmaster.
"Gosh, they don't sound happy do they?" one of the fake delegation asked sarcastically, nodding his head in the direction of the students outside.
"Come and get me when you are done in here. I have some questions I would like answered," Albus threw over his shoulder as he led the rest of his staff out of the Hall.
"Old man, they're not going to be able to come and get you," Walter observed smugly.
"We shall see," Albus replied evenly. Before he left the Hall, he threw a final look behind him. "You will let my students go now. You can no longer have any need for them."
The five imposters looked at each other, and as one, released their hostages.
"Expelliarmus!" Harry threw at Walter, taking his chances and not waiting for the students to be fully clear of the men before he threw his spell. Walter's wand flew into Harry's hands and he snapped it without missing a beat. Some of the others took their cue from Harry and tried to disarm the men as well, but after having witnessed Walter lose his wand, they tightened their grip on their own.
The five men hadn't expected anyone to attack so quickly, but Harry's onslaught spurred everyone in the room into action. Draco, Ginny and the professors bombarded their opponents with a barrage of spells and hexes, and they took cover behind some of the overturned student tables. Those at the staff table took this opportunity to flip some of their tables onto their side so they could have something solid to hide behind as well.
"Shit!" muttered Ron when he heard one of the men magically lock the doors leading into the Hall.
"Hey!" Harry yelled out to them. "Why don't you get rid of those ridiculous disguises? We know you're only pretending to be whoever you are so it's useless now, isn't it?"
Harry's suggestion was met with silence.
"If it was me, it'd be a matter of pride to fight my opponent as I am, without disguises," Harry told them. Oh boy, are you one to talk 'Jason', he silently berated himself.
The counterfeit Ministry officials looked at one another and shrugged, pointing their wands at themselves and removing their concealment spells: but Harry didn't make the suggestion because he wanted to see the faces of the men in front of him. While they were busy removing the spells, he lobbed some of the school cutlery and dinnerware that had fallen to the floor, over at them.
"What are you doing?" Ron asked, puzzled.
"Easier than aiming a spell over and around the bloody table," Harry replied, without pausing in what he was doing.
Some of the other professors followed suit and by the time the concealment spells had been lifted; some of the other men were sporting gashes or bruises where they had been hit by the flying cutlery.
"Friends of anyone's?" Ron asked, ducking back down behind the table.
"From the right, Blair, David, Francis, Mitchell and we all know Walter. Old acquaintances of mine," Draco supplied coolly.
"Merlin's bloody balls!" cried Francis, "We're wizards. We don't fight with cups and plates, we fight with magic, like this!" he cried as he lifted himself over the barricade just enough to be able to use his wand.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" he cried and raised one of the staff tables into the air, exposing Ginny to the spells of the Blair and David, who cried "Stupefy" together.
She was thrown back by the combined force of both of the spells.
"Ginny!" Draco cried out. He knew that couldn't go over to her because it was simply too dangerous at the moment.
"Stay where you are. She is far enough out of the way that she should be safe, for now," Professor Snape instructed.
"Perhaps," Draco replied, clenching and unclenching his jaw angrily. "But one good turn definitely deserves another, wouldn't you agree?" he asked Severus, tightening his grip on his wand.
The older man looked piercingly at his young comrade. "Indeed, I would."
As one, Draco and Severus rose up slightly over their barricade and each levelled a powerful hex at Blair and David. The combined strength of their spells was so great that the table they were hiding behind splintered into pieces and sent the two men flying back into the wall behind them.
"We're heading over, watch our backs," Draco called to the people next to him, before he and Severus jumped over the staff table and out into the open.
"Avada –" Francis began, but he was interrupted by Hermione.
"Expelliarmus!" she cried, but Francis's wand stayed in his hand.
"Not this time, sweetheart," he smirked as he threw a hex back at Hermione. The spell hit the table Hermione was hiding behind and left a gaping hole in the makeshift barricade. Hermione wasted no time in scrambling out from behind the table and returning the favour, decimating his own wooden shield.
"Bitch!" the man yelled out, engaging Hermione in a furious exchange of hexes and curses. It was difficult to tell who had the upper hand. Each time Hermione pushed Francis back with the force of her spells, he managed to force her advantage back.
"Watch out, Hermione!" Ron called to his wife, stealing a glance at her and watching as she narrowly avoided being hexed. Ron could only steal momentary glimpses of his wife's battle because he was busy duelling with Francis's colleague, Mitchell.
Hermione had initially tried to disarm her opponent, but Ron had tried to stun his own. A wizard without a wand might be less of a threat than a wizard with a wand, but an unconscious wizard was harmless. Unfortunately, Mitchell deftly rolled out of the way of the curse and deflected Ron's next spell.
You're a disgrace. I'm not even trying," Mitchell snarled as he deflected another curse from Ron and ran forward, engaging Ron in a duel so intense that they seemed lost among the spells they were throwing at each other.
Hermione screamed and Ron turned his head. She had been steadily gaining the upper hand in her duel, but she had misjudged her opponent. He had feinted right and Hermione reacted instantly to deflect a spell that hadn't been thrown. Her opponent took advantage of the fact that she was out of position, and then threw a real spell at her, which she was unable to block and which threw her back across the room. She hit her head hard on the end of one of the tables, and was knocked out instantly.
Hermione may have been caught off guard, but Ron broke the Golden Rule of duelling – he took his eyes off his opponent. Mitchell took advantage of his opening to throw the Cruciatus curse at Ron, who fell to the ground, screaming in agony. Once the spell wore off, he rendered Ron helpless by putting him into a full body bind.
"Now stay out of my way, you pathetic excuse for a wizard," he growled.
He quickly scanned the room for another target. Blair and David appeared to have the upper hand in their respective fights, but Walter had allowed his opponent to get the better of him.
"Over here!" Walter called from where he was pinned beneath Harry.
"I should have known you'd manage to botch this mission up as well," Mitchell muttered under his breath before hurrying off to assist his comrade.
OOOOO
Harry had watched Draco and Severus send Blair and David flying back into the wall behind them with an audible "thud", and he watched the men sink painfully to the floor. Ooh, that's going to bruise in the morning, Harry grinned.
He heard a loud bang from outside the Hall followed by a chorus of high pitched screams and he sent up a silent prayer, hoping that the staff and the students outside the room were alright before he turned his attention back to what was happening before him. Ron and Hermione had engaged two of the men in battle and Draco and Severus were busy with David and Blair, which had left Harry wondering where Walter was.
He didn't need to wait long to find out, because a pair of hands wrapped themselves around his throat and he was thrown to the floor, on his back: a heavy weight crushing him. Harry couldn't see who was attacking him, but he could certainly feel them. He reached up to try and remove the hands from around his throat, but to no avail. Whoever had him in their grasp had the advantage of surprise and the law of gravity on their side, applying pressure to his neck when they leaned down from above. Harry was at a significant disadvantage, trying to push up from the ground to defend himself.
Harry's brain kicked into gear and he drew his wand up to aim in the general direction of whatever was sitting on him. The hands around his throat tightened and he thought his eyes were going to burst from the pressure. His head was pounding and he was sure he was turning blue, but he managed to choke out, "Incendio."
Something caught fire above him and it quickly leapt off Harry and rolled around on the ground beside him, trying to put itself out. Harry backed away from his attacker, gulping in deep breaths of air, and putting out the patch of flames on his sleeve. Once he had put the fire out, his hands found his throat and he touched it gingerly. It already felt bruised and swollen.
"Son of a bitch!" Walter growled, staring with chagrin at the pile of ashes that used to be his invisibility cloak.
"I'd wondered where you'd gone to," Harry noted huskily, still trying to regain his breath. He gripped his wand tightly, rising to his feet and staring coolly at the man before him. "That was clever with the cloak and the surprise attack, I'll give you that."
"Shut up! You cost me my cloak!"
"That's too bad," Harry said, dodging the dish that Walter threw at him and easily blocking the punch that followed.
"There's still something wrong with this picture," he snarled
"Oh?" Harry asked suspiciously.
"Yeah," he replied as he leaned forward and aimed a punch at Harry's jaw which he easily dodged, and then aimed a kick to Harry's wrist which Harry didn't dodge and which sent his wand skittering harmlessly across the floor, rolling too far away for Harry to safely make a lunge for it. Harry had expected him to attack the major areas of his body, not his wrist. Stupid Potter! Should have seen that one coming a mile off! Your bloody brain's gone mushy!
The two men circled each other, never taking their eyes from one another. Walter was clearly angry and agitated, but to all outward appearances, Harry remained cool and calm. He had learned a long time ago that getting angry in battle would disrupt his ability to think clearly which could ultimately get himself – and the people around him – killed.
"See this?" Walter asked, holding up his hand for Harry to see.
"What, your hand?" Harry asked dryly, enjoying annoying the other man.
"No, the scar in the middle of it. It should look familiar, since you gave it to me."
"Oh, yes, so I did," Harry replied conversationally, remembering back to the day in the pharmacy when Walter had tried to grab Theresa and Harry had lodged a knife in his hand to stop him. The scar must have been a result of that injury, though he had to admit that as far as scars went, it was quite impressive.
"Oh, and don't think I don't know that you did something to my sister. I saw her just before she went to meet with you and a few hours later St Mungo's owled me, saying they had her with them. Whatever it was you did to her, you're going to regret it," Walter told him, punctuating his statement by picking up a carving knife that lay strewn among the tableware, and running at Harry with it, determined to stab him.
Harry stared calmly back at the agitated blond. He was glad Walter was a talker; it made it so much easier to predict when he was going to attack. People who talked during a fight tended to punctuate their statements with action, and there was always a particular tone of voice they used just before they began their attack. So, Harry was ready for it. He caught the blade between the palms of his hand as it descended down upon him. It was difficult to tell who would win the contest of strength. Both men seemed not to be moving as they looked at the blade, but Harry was doing his best to keep it away from him and Walter was doing his best to stab him.
With a yell of exertion, Harry moved his hands to the left and moved the rest of his body to the right. The blade sliced into his hands, but he was willing to sustain such a minor injury if it meant that he would avoid being killed. When the blade was pointing away from his body he released his grip on it, and as his adversary's momentum carried him forward, Harry punched him just below his ribs, winding him. His opponent dropped his knife and Harry quickly kicked it beyond reach.
He could have used his magic, but he found it much more satisfying to physically beat his opponent into the ground. Walter had been a thorn in Harry's side that just refused to go away, no matter how much he ignored it. First, there was the incident at the pharmacy, then there was Sarah's attempt to use him as a cutting board and then there was this final incident, all of which had caused him – and people around him – varying amounts of pain and injury. Harry wasn't just peeved anymore – he was royally pissed.
Walter recovered quickly and kicked Harry's legs out from under him, causing him to fall to the floor.
"You're not the only nimble one here," Walter smirked in triumph. He pounced on Harry, pinning him beneath his weight as Harry tried in vain to roll out of the way. Before Harry could recover from having the wind knocked out of him, he was punched – hard – in the face. His head reeled back and he was punched again, taking another blow to his head.
He heard a crack after he felt the second blow and his eyes watered. "That's twice you've had me like this. People are going to start making up stories about us if we're not careful," Harry observed slyly, referring to their current positions.
Walter might have been a heavier man than Harry, but Harry was his superior in strength. Once he freed one of his legs, he wrapped it around the other man's back to give him the leverage he needed to flip them both over, so that now he was on top and Walter was beneath him. He straddled his waist and pinned Walter's wrists to the ground with his knees, putting his weight on them to make sure Walter couldn't hit him.
Harry could have ended it right there and stunned his opponent, but his head was reeling from the blows he received a minute ago and he decided that Walter deserved a little of the same treatment.
Crack! Harry swung a heavy blow at one side of his opponent's face. "That's for the day in the pharmacy."
Thwack! Harry delivered a stinging blow to the other side of his face. "That's for sending your sister in here with a knife," Harry told him calmly.
Crunch! Harry swung his fist at the other man's jaw. "That's for what you've done in here today."
Smack! Harry threw a heavy punch at the other side of his jaw. Walter spat up blood and it sprayed across the floor and Harry's arm. "And that's for sending trolls after children."
Walter's head lolled about on his neck and he scanned the room in an unfocussed daze, trying to see what the rest of his comrades were doing. Noticing that Francis and Mitchell had overcome their opponents he called out to them.
"Over here!" he yelled weakly.
"Shit," Harry muttered, punching Walter hard across the temple and knocking him out.
"What the hell did you do?!" Francis cried out, throwing a slashing hex at Harry who had quickly leapt off Walter.
Harry dodged the spells being thrown at him as he ran across the room to where his wand lay on the ground and he dove to retrieve it, rolling as he hit the ground and came to a kneeling position facing his opponents in one swift movement. In hindsight, Harry realised that he really should have cast a defensive shield about himself before he ran to pick up his wand, because as he came out of his dive and faced his opponents, he narrowly managed to avoid being hit by a couple of nasty hexes. There isn't too much time to think during a fight though, and everybody's a genius in hindsight.
While Mitchell was trying to stun Harry, Francis picked up a carving knife that had fallen to the ground when the student tables had been overturned, flipped it so he held it by the blade between his thumb and forefinger, and flung it at Harry who moved quickly to the side to avoid it. Unfortunately, he moved right into the path of the Cruciatus curse that Mitchell threw at him moments after Francis threw his knife.
Harry was thrown flat on his back, his wand flying from his hand. His whole body trembled and his eyes rolled back in his head. He screamed as pain ravaged every part of his body and his eyes watered. His surroundings slowly came back into focus as the pain began to lessen and when he looked around him he noticed that someone – he couldn't tell who – had their wand raised and pointed at Draco and Severus, ready to level a hex at them.
"Oh, hell!" Harry muttered as he felt around him for his wand. His hand landed on a knife and he held it by the blade, desperately trying to see exactly what he was aiming at. Concentrate, Potter, he thought, exhaling sharply as he threw the knife.
"Avada-" Mitchell began.
"Oh no you don't. Crucio!" Francis cried as he saw Harry raise the blade, but he wasn't quick enough. Harry managed to throw the knife before Francis threw his curse, and Mitchell toppled face forward to the ground.
Harry lay trembling on the ground and gasping for breath as the effects of the second Cruciatus spell wore off. He wasn't sure if he'd actually managed to stop Mitchell from casting his spell, because he was still trying to bring the world back into focus when he'd thrown the blade.
When Harry's surroundings came back into focus and the pain that ravaged his body began to lessen, he gingerly picked himself up as quickly as he could and he retrieved his wand. He half stood, half crouched, wand held expertly low in his hand and every part of his body shaking from the after-effects of the curses. Francis was staring open mouthed at his colleague, who lay on the ground, the hilt of the knife protruding from the space between his shoulder blades. No one needed to check him to know he was dead. Francis realised for the first time that though he knew very little about his opponent, he may have made the mistake of underestimating him.
Shit! Shit! Shit! Harry inwardly groaned, but he didn't have time to chastise himself. Francis threw a hex at him, which he dodged and he retaliated by throwing two powerful slashing hexes, one following a split second after the other so it looked like he had thrown only one spell. His opponent deflected the first spell, but wasn't aware that there was another spell behind that one and he was thrown back a little from the impact of the spell. He touched the large gash on his cheek where the spell had hit him and looked at Harry in confusion, wondering what had happened.
Shaking his head to clear it, he cast a quick glance at Hermione who lay on the ground a short distance from him. Casting an evil smirk at Harry, he pointed his wand at her.
"Avada-" Harry threw a stunning spell at him which he managed to dodge, and he swivelled around pointing his wand at Harry. Harry's eyes widened at his opponent's change of intent mid-curse, but more so because directly behind Francis he saw Professor Snape throw, of all things, a platter. The platter was on a direct course for Francis' head; unfortunately the second stop on its path was Harry's. Francis heard Snape approaching so he was able to duck the attack; luckily, so was Harry.
The imposter wasted no more time before finishing the spell. "Kedavra!" he cried and flung the spell at Harry.
OOOOO
Draco and Severus had found themselves at a rather significant disadvantage from the outset of their fight because their opponents were doing their level best to kill them. On the other hand, the former spies were only trying to stun their opponents; who were having a slightly easier time of things since they could stand where they were and deflect some of the spells, and cast Unforgivables as they saw fit.
"Just die already," David snarled as he ducked one of Professor Snape's curses and threw one of his own back.
"We have to do something. I don't know how much longer I can do this for. If we weren't out in the open like this it'd be a different matter," Draco called out to his friend, who was only a short distance away.
"Avada-" they heard from behind them, followed by a heavy thud. Not willing to take their eyes completely from their opponents, they half-turned to see the man Draco knew as Mitchell face down on the ground, the handle of one of the school's knives protruding from his back. There was a momentary pause as all four men stopped to register what had happened.
"Son of a bitch!" yelled Blair as he and his comrade renewed their attack.
Severus dove to the ground near Draco. "I've got an idea."
"Good," Draco grunted as the Potions Master took a page from 'Professor Green's' book and threw simple restraining rings of white light at his opponent which quickly found its target and bound it to the wall behind him. Blair turned his back to Draco and Professor Snape to see what had happened, giving the two men the opening they needed to stun their opponents.
"Stupefy," they cried, almost in unison and both men were unconscious before they realised what had happened."
"Aauggh! Damn!" Draco cried, clapping his hands over his eyes and dropping to his knees.
"What is it?" Professor Snape asked in alarm.
"My eyes!" Draco managed to say.
"Your eyes? What did he do to –" the Potions Master sighed, realisation dawning on him as he massaged his forehead with his free hand. "Those are binding rings of light, why did you look directly at them?"
"I was curious to know what you did, that's all," Draco told him, trying to defend his lack of common sense. He got up and tried to walk toward his friend, but stumbled into him instead, sending them both sprawling to the ground and sending Severus' wand skittering out of his hand.
"Stop moving. Stop. I will stand up and then I will help you stand. What happened to my wand?" Severus asked irritably.
"What's this?" Draco asked.
"That is your wand."
"Oh."
"How's Jason doing?"
"He is fine. He – stay here," the older man told Draco, trying to stand up.
"What? What's happening?" Draco called out, but he didn't receive any answer.
Professor Snape had looked over in time to see Francis dodge one of Harry's spells while pointing his wand at Hermione's unconscious form. He and Draco hadn't been fighting too far away from Harry and Francis and he heard Francis begin to utter the incantation for the killing curse.
Damn! He thought. He hadn't been able to find his wand, but there were plenty of things on the ground that he could pick up and throw.
As he moved closer, he saw Francis swivel around and move his wand so that it now pointed at Harry. It was a trick. He was going to throw it at him all along! Severus realised as he stopped and threw a rather heavy looking platter at Francis' head.
But Francis could hear his footsteps though and had turned around in time to see the attack and duck it.. Francis wasted no more time before he finished his spell.
Harry wasn't certain that he could dodge the attack. He sighed heavily, preparing to move – and then grunted as Professor Snape tackled him to the floor and Francis's curse flew harmlessly over both their heads.
A second after he and Severus hit the ground, he threw two stunning spells, sending the second a split second after the first. Francis was able to deflect the first one, but not the second. He landed on his back across the room with an audible thud, his wand rolling out of his hand.
Harry continued to watch Francis for a short time, and when he was satisfied that he wouldn't be getting back up any time soon, he exhaled in relief and let his head fall back against the floor.
"Thank you," he gasped to Professor Snape, trying to recover his breath.
"There is no need…" the professor began, looking down at the young man for the first time. He had never thought that there was anything particularly outstanding about the way the young professor looked, but when he looked down, his breath caught in his throat when he saw the raw emotion in his eyes.
"Hey, are you alright? What's going on?" Draco called out from where he was sitting on the floor, his elbows on his raised knees and his head in his hands.
Harry looked back up at the professor, whose eyes continued to search his own in a gaze so intense it sent shivers down Harry's spine.
"Guys! Are you alright?" Draco asked again, a little more concerned.
Harry blinked and threw his guard back up, hiding his conflicting emotions behind an unreadable mask. Severus sighed at the loss. "We are fine," he called out to Draco, carefully removing himself from where he had landed on top of Harry. The young man watched him cautiously.
"I think Severus and I owe you our thanks," Draco said to Harry.
"And I owe you my thanks," he said quietly to Professor Snape, still trying to catch his breath. His limbs were trembling slightly but he wasn't certain that the Cruciatus curse was entirely to blame for that.
"I have lost track of who should be thanking who today. As such, you needn't thank me," Severus said quietly, also trying to recover his breath.
Harry nodded in acknowledgement and lifted himself up so that he could look around the room.
"Is that your spell?" Harry asked Severus, nodding in the direction of the bright light but being careful not to look directly at it.
"Yes."
"Would you mind getting rid of the light? It's not helping my headache."
"Or mine," Draco complained, holding his head.
"I do not have my wand with me, so I cannot," Severus admitted.
"Would you mind if I…" Harry trailed off, gesturing vaguely in the direction of the light with his wand.
"Not at all," Severus invited.
"Oh, for Heaven sake! Don't worry about asking him, just turn the bloody light off!" the young blond cried out.
"It isn't polite to go ahead and undo a colleague's spell work without their permission," Harry explained to Draco while he removed the light from the restraints that bound one of the imposters.
"It's also impolite to turn your friend's hair blue while they're drunk," Draco said, guessing where Harry was and throwing a glare in his direction.
"That was different," Harry threw back. He walked over to his friend and crouched down beside him. "What happened? No, hang on, don't tell me. You looked at the light, didn't you?"
"I didn't mean to, and I didn't stare at it or anything, I just sort of glanced for a couple of seconds."
"Well, you'll be fine in about half an hour, but you're going to have one hell of a headache," Harry explained to him.
"Too late," Draco muttered.
"The professor will have something to get rid of that, so you'll be fine," Harry reassured him.
Harry surveyed the damage done to the room and let his eyes rest on Mitchell's body. Harry's old instructor's voice rang inside his head; Sometimes it's kill or be killed....
"Get a grip, anyone would think you'd be used to this by now, all things considered," he mumbled very quietly to himself.
"Hmm?" Draco asked, wondering what Harry was mumbling, but Harry didn't answer him. He simply rose to his feet and walked over to the body, crouching down and carefully checking for a pulse, though he already knew that he wouldn't find one.
"I think it is safe to say that he is dead," Professor Snape observed as he came to stand on the other side of the body.
"Yes," Harry replied, pulling the knife out of the body and placing it down on the floor beside him.
"He tried to throw the killing curse at you and Draco while your backs were turned," Harry explained.
"I am not questioning your motive."
"I know that, but I don't want anyone to be in any doubt that I did not intend to kill him – I only wanted to deter him from doing what he was going to do."
"You didn't need to explain," Professor Snape told him.
"Maybe not, but I wanted to," said Harry before he turned and moved off to help Ginny, Ron and Hermione, seeming to sway a little on his feet.
"How many times were you hit with the Cruciatus curse?" Professor Snape asked, watching him carefully.
Harry paused. "Twice," he admitted, turning to face the Potions Master.
"Come to my rooms after we finish up here, I have a strong calming draught that will help you. I can also give Draco a headache draught."
"Sweet relief!" sighed Draco. "Oh, by the way Severus, I've found your wand," he added, pulling the wand out from under his leg and holding it up.
Harry nodded at the professor and looked toward the door to the Hall. "I can't hear anything from outside, can you?" Harry asked, tilting his head to one side to listen for sounds of students or teachers or even trolls.
"I can hear the students, but I can't hear any screaming, so that's a good sign," Draco observed.
"I'll revive Ron, Hermione and Ginny if Professor Snape wants to call Albus and the other professors back in," Harry told him.
"Wait!" Draco called out from where he was."
"What?" Harry asked, "What's wrong?"
"Oh…nothing…really…but I think I…owe you an explanation."
"We've talked about this," the Potions Master told Draco quietly.
"We put him at risk today, and probably on a few other occasions as well, and it's only fair that he knows why."
"I disagree." Snape's answer was somewhat terse.
"We were targeted because of what we were, and he saved our lives – again. He's involved now, and has been since he saved your life on Christmas evening, and he should know why we keep putting him at risk."
"He was a target today as well."
"But he still saved at least one our lives today and suffered the Cruciatus for it – twice. And he's been involved the other times when people were looking for us."
"We didn't ask for his help." Severus knew this was unfair, but the Slytherin in him fought to protect his privacy.
"No, we didn't," Draco told him, giving the older man a chastising look. "But he gave it to us anyway." Severus turned away from Draco, unwilling to admit that the younger man had a point. "Look, he's a member of the Order now. The rest of the Order knows about us, so why shouldn't he?"
"How do you know we can trust him?"
"We may not be in the middle of a war anymore, but it's becoming clear that people are looking for us. If he's going to be associating with us and working with us in the Order, he needs to know. In any case, he's been risking his neck for us whether he wanted to or not. I think an explanation is in order."
"You didn't answer my question," Professor Snape reminded him.
"Fine. I'm not a hundred percent certain I can trust him, but I think I can. He understands things – which few people ever really do – so I think he can be trusted. Besides, we both know he can keep a secret, right?" Draco told his friend lightly.
"I am not altogether pleased with your decision, but I will not argue it any further," the Potions Master told his friend in a low, quiet voice.
"I suggest you find a seat, you're going to need it," Draco called out to Harry, who had stood some distance away from the two men while they argued between themselves.
"Oh, you've finished talking about me, then?" Harry called back, fatigue and pain beginning to deteriorate his temper. He walked over to the two men and sat on one of the benches his students normally occupied at meal times.
"Where is he?" Draco asked Severus.
"He's about five feet in front of you," Harry told Draco, dryly.
"There's something you need to know," Draco told his friend as he cast a silencing charm over the Hall. Severus added his spell to Draco's.
Harry watched as Draco undid the cuffs of his dress shirt and pushed back his left sleeve, holding his forearm out for Harry to see. For his part, Harry already knew that Draco had been a Death Eater and the revelation didn't surprise him. What did surprise him was the fact that Draco was going to offer an explanation, and that Severus was going to let him. The Draco he was friends with now was nothing like the Draco that Harry remembered from school, and he was curious to know what had motivated such a change in him.
Harry blinked at Draco and Severus. "And?" he prompted.
"Aren't you shocked, disgusted, stunned – all of the above?" Draco asked him, unprepared for his reaction.
Harry sighed. "Certain rumours have been circulating around the school for some time now. I'm not deaf and it's hard for me not to hear them when some of the students are gossiping in front of me in the hallways…I suspected that they might have been true, but I wasn't sure."
"So now you're sure."
"Yes. I assume that Professor Snape has the same mark on his arm as well."
"Yes," the older man answered coldly.
"The men that came here this evening all used to be Death Eaters and they came to kill us because we were 'disloyal' to the Dark Lord. It's not actually public knowledge that we spied for Albus. After Voldemort was destroyed a lot of Death Eaters claimed to have seen the error of their ways. We just kept quiet and let people assume we did the same thing. Just about the only people who know we were spies are the Order members," Draco explained.
"But Voldemort was defeated years ago. Why attack now? Why not earlier?" Harry asked.
"We don't know," Professor Snape replied broodingly.
"You're not working for the Death Eaters now, though, are you?" Harry asked, more to keep the conversation going than for any other reason, since he already knew the answer to the question.
"No," Draco told him firmly. "Absolutely not, neither one of us. I'm sure you're curious to know why I joined in the first place and what made me change my mind, though."
"Well, yes, but it's none of my business," Harry told Draco honestly.
"You're involved now, so it is your business," Draco reassured him. He paused and drew a deep breath before continuing. "I think I took the mark because I believed it would give me what I was seeking, and because it was expected of me. The Malfoys are all pure blooded wizards and witches, every single one of us. I was just like my father – proud and arrogant. We both looked down on just about everyone, not just half-bloods and muggle-borns. My father was a Death Eater in Voldemort's inner circle but after he was thrown into Azkaban, I was invited to join. People were afraid of the Death Eaters and I thought that joining and having people fear me was what I wanted. I thought it was an opportunity to grab onto real power and to be able to command some real respect. I won't pretend that some of the things I did as a Death Eater weren't terrible – even horrific – but this sort of thing came with the territory, and if you couldn't handle it, you weren't worthy of being a Death Eater.
"It wasn't exactly a picnic working for Voldemort – you have to understand that failure was always severely punished – but that was a price I was willing to pay in return for being part of a group that was both admired and feared.
"I don't know exactly what made me change the way I felt. It could have been a lot of things, but personally, I think it was Ginny."
"Ginny?" Harry asked, confused.
"Yeah. There was this one time I'd found Hermione sitting by herself by the school lake and I was being a right prat to her about being a muggle born. Hermione always played by the rules at school and she wasn't going to hex me unless I hexed her first, which I had no intention of doing. I just planned to rough her up a little bit. Ginny found us and when she saw what I was doing, she didn't bother pulling out her wand, she just punched me square in the jaw. You'd be surprised at how strong she is; I thought my head was going to fly off my shoulders.
"I asked her what she thought she was doing and she told me that she was making sure I couldn't lay another hand on her friend. When I told her that she was going to end up getting hurt, she just glared at me and said she didn't care, and that I shouldn't be so sure of myself," Draco explained.
That sounds like something Ginny would do, Harry thought, remembering how strong willed she'd become during her fourth year.
"Ron, Hermione and Ginny were friends with Harry Potter and they all seemed absolutely devoted to each other. They had these…bonds I guess…and I'd never seen anything like it. My parents never felt that way about me and the death eaters weren't loyal to anyone, not even each other. They only gave their loyalty to Voldemort out of fear, but when Voldemort was thought to have died about twenty five years ago, and when he actually died about eight years ago, a lot of Death Eaters betrayed him – and each other – to save themselves. Actually, I'm fairly certain that if my father could have found a way to have me take his place in Azkaban, he would have done it.
"I'd been watching Ginny and her friends all look out for each other for years and, when I thought about it, that's what I really wanted. My parents didn't love me like that and I didn't actually have any friends – it also didn't help that I'd had certain feelings for Ginny for a little while by then. They were such a close knit group of friends and eventually they let me in – after I'd stopped acting like a prat and thinking that pure bloods were better than muggle-borns. Hermione's muggle born and I couldn't ask for a more wonderful sister-in-law.
"Anyway, not long after that day when Ginny punched me, I went to Albus. I told him everything and asked if he could think of a way for me to be able to leave the circle of Death Eaters that didn't involve me dying. He called Severus into the room and I took veritaserum and answered their questions. Albus asked me if I'd be willing to pass information about Voldemort's plans along to him. I was shocked and I asked him why he wasn't going to turn me in, because after all, I deserved nothing less. He told me that there wasn't any point judging people on what they'd done because that was all over and done with and it was what they intended to do that was important. He said that I was a good person and that I'd done the right thing by coming to him."
Draco paused and looked at Harry, "I'm not ashamed to admit that I cried. With all the things I'd done, I didn't deserve his, or anyone's, good opinion. He told me that he couldn't think of a way that I could leave the death eaters, but he offered me the chance to pass information along to him.
"No one had ever thought well of me before that – ever – and I desperately wanted to feel like I deserved Albus' good opinion. So I agreed, and I joined Severus as a spy for Albus' Order."
"You were a spy as well?" Harry asked the older man, more for effect than anything else, because 'Jason' could not have known this.
"Yes, he'd been spying for years before I joined him," Draco explained.
"Such a long time, you must have been very good," Harry observed to the Potions Master.
"I was," he replied simply.
Harry fiddled with his wand, rolling it back and forth between his hands as he absorbed the information that Draco had just volunteered.
"I appreciate that I was curious about why you joined in the first place, but I would have respected your privacy if you'd refused to tell me. All I really needed to know was that you were both Death Eaters but you turned spy for Albus," Harry told him.
"Would you have believed me?" Draco asked.
"I might have," Harry replied evenly.
"I thought there would have been more chance of having you believe that we didn't work for Voldemort if I didn't try to hide anything. Just about everyone in the Order knows what you know, well, the parts that are important – they don't know the bit about Ginny – so it seemed fair that you should know as well."
Harry nodded slowly at him.
"I can understand that you don't know what to think about us right now, but I've been completely honest. If you want to distance yourself from me, I'll understand. I just thought you should know," Draco sighed.
"So, if I've got this right, you joined the Death Eaters when you were still in school."
"Yes."
"But you eventually realised that that's not what you wanted and you started fighting for Albus' Order and opposing Voldemort."
"Yes," Draco all but whispered, his eyes still downcast.
"At considerable risk to you, I'd imagine." Harry looked thoughtfully at Draco, who kept his eyes on the ground, not daring to look up.
"Would you believe me if I told you that I believe you were being honest and that I don't have any doubts that both of your loyalties lie with Albus?" Harry asked Draco and Severus seriously.
"I guess so. I mean, it's clear that certain people want us dead, that should indicate that I'm not lying if nothing else does, right?" Draco asked weakly.
"Look, I think I've said it before, but I don't think we can fully appreciate which side of the fence we'd prefer to sit on until we've seen both sides. Don't beat yourself up about something that happened years and years ago. You came around in the end, didn't you?"
"I guess, but –" he began.
"No. I'm still coming by Ginny's and your rooms every chance I get, if I'm still welcome. Your drinking sessions with Ron are just way too entertaining to miss, and don't even think you can get out of helping me teach my classes," Harry told him in a no-nonsense tone of voice.
"And you – " he said as he turned to Professor Snape "I'm still coming by your rooms after we finish up here for that calming draught you promised me," Professor Snape simply quirked his eyebrows and nodded, not quite sure what to make of the young man in front of him.
"Hey, you know what? I think I love that man. I really do," Draco said quietly to his friend, feeling his eyes begin to sting.
"Is that so?" Professor Snape asked.
"He just…makes sense..." Draco tried to explain.
"Hmm…" Severus said non-committedly, deep in thought about the enigma that was the Defence against the Dark Arts professor.
Harry revived Ron, Hermione and Ginny and listened as they all exchanged stories, trying to piece together what had happened. Harry avoided having to answer any questions by volunteering to find Albus. He unlocked the door with his magical unlocker, which was similar to the one his godfather had given him when he was fifteen, and opened the door to find Albus and a few staff members crowded around it, as though they'd been trying desperately to listen in to what was happening inside the Hall.
"We couldn't hear any sounds coming from inside, so we thought you might have been finished, but we weren't sure," Minerva explained, looking a little dishevelled and worse for wear.
"Ah, there's a silencing charm on the room," Harry explained, vaguely.
"Oh." Albus and the professors filed into the Hall and closed the door behind them.
"Are the students okay? What happened to the trolls?" Harry asked as soon as he closed the door.
"The students are fine and are being supervised for the night. The trolls are no longer a threat to the students. In fact, they are no longer on the school grounds. Don't worry about us, we are all fine. We incurred only minimal injuries, which Poppy is taking care of as we speak," Albus reassured him.
"My goodness," Minerva exclaimed, her hand coming to her mouth as she quickly took in the condition of the witches and wizards in the Hall and the Hall itself.
"We're all right," Ron told her from where he was seated on the floor, holding his head weakly in his hands.
"Are you sure?" she asked.
"Yeah," he replied.
"Tell me everything." Albus moved further into the room and addressed the men and women who had stayed behind in the Hall.
OOOOO
"…and if Jason hadn't attacked that guy, he would have killed either Severus or me," Draco explained to the Headmaster. Draco's eyesight had returned, but his eyes were still very sensitive to the light and he found himself squinting while he was speaking to the Headmaster.
"So his death was an accident?" Albus asked Harry, intently.
"Yes," Draco replied, glancing at Harry, who sat in stony silence.
"It is unfortunate, but we cannot always control these things," Albus observed. "What happened to the fellow over there?" he asked, pointing at Francis.
"Professor Green and I managed to overcome him," Professor Snape replied with a straight face. He didn't think Albus needed to know the details regarding exactly how they stunned him, only that they did. To his credit, Harry didn't even blink at the vagueness of the answer that the Potions Master provided. I thought you'd be milking this for all it's worth, I mean, come on Snape, you saved my life! But then again, we can't have everyone thinking that you've actually got a decent streak anywhere in you, can we? Harry mused dryly to himself.
Albus looked gravely around the room. "We need information. This is becoming too serious to let slide." He nodded at Severus, who quickly left the room.
"Did you say the room has a silencing spell over it?" Albus asked Harry.
"Yes – two actually."
Albus nodded, apparently satisfied. "That will do very well."
Minerva drew four straight backed and severe looking wooden chairs and Albus levitated the four surviving imposters into them, binding them tightly with rope which sprang from his wand.
"We should question them one at a time, I think, to avoid having them argue with each other or help each other," Albus thought out loud.
"That'll probably take quite a while," Hermione sighed, wearily. "So we should get started right away."
"I agree. We shall start as soon as Severus returns with the veritaserum," Albus told her.
Harry made himself comfortable on one of the benches and braced himself for a long night ahead of him. He cast a standard grade healing spell on the bruising and swelling around his face and throat and waited.
OOOOO
"This has been a complete waste of time," Ron muttered irritably after three of the imposters had been questioned.
"Not entirely," Albus disagreed, casting a stunning spell at the imposter he had just finished questioning. "They have confirmed without a shadow of a doubt that they were attempting to kill Severus and Draco because of their disloyalty to the Death Eaters and to Voldemort, and that the Death Eaters have re-grouped and become active again." Albus took a drink from the glass Minerva brought over for him.
"Since they all said that Walter approached them to come here tonight, he should prove to be more helpful than his friends," Draco noted fiercely.
"I agree," Albus said, reviving the fourth imposter. "As you can see, you are securely bound, so attempting to run is futile," he told his captive. "We believe you have information that you should share with us."
"I'm not saying anything!" Walter protested.
"Oh I think you will," the Headmaster disagreed calmly as Severus quietly measured a few drops of veritaserum into a cup and approached him.
Walter stubbornly clamped his mouth shut and turned his face aside.
"Why do you guys always have to do things the hard way?" Ron asked, shaking his head.
"We can make things very difficult for you if you don't cooperate. You've managed to annoy me, so, personally, I hope you don't cooperate. I'll enjoy…educating you…on the virtues of being cooperative." Draco threatened. All of the witches and wizards in the room nodded ominously at this, and a few raised their wands, meaningfully.
Walter remained tight lipped, so Professor Snape grabbed his nose so he couldn't breathe through it and used it as a convenient handle to yank his head back. When he finally opened his mouth to gasp for breath, the Potions Master poured the potion down his throat.
The imposter spat the drink back out at the older man, and Draco threw a stinging hex at the captive's face to rebuke him for the insult to his friend. "None of the others were as difficult as this," Draco murmured to Harry.
"I'm not going to drink it; I don't care what you do."
Harry rolled his eyes at the man's melodramatics and hopped off the bench he was sitting on. "Headmaster, I have something that might help. I'll be back in a minute," he said, before anyone could say anything.
Albus blinked in surprise but simply lifted the locking spell he had placed on the door to the Hall so the young professor could leave. It didn't take long for Harry to find what he needed in his room and return to the Hall.
"May I?" he asked, gesturing at the imposter and indicating that he wanted to approach him.
"By all means," Albus invited.
"Thank you," he replied politely, walking over to Walter and stopping right in front of him.
Professor Snape was standing slightly off to one side of Walter, and upon remembering some of the things 'Jason' had done, started to move out of the way. Harry stopped him though.
"Professor, if you wouldn't mind, I would like you to mix some of the serum into a very small amount of water."
The older man silently set about the task, wondering what on earth the younger professor had in mind.
Harry glared at Walter, coldly. "The Headmaster is a patient man, but I'm not," he informed him in quiet, chilly tones. "I have neither the time, nor the inclination, to be polite to you."
He'd kept one fist clenched by his side since he re-entered the Hall and he opened it, so that Walter could see what he'd been holding. "Do you know what this is? It's a syringe – a hypodermic needle," Harry explained, lifting it up and removing the safety cap, not bothering to wait for the imposter to answer. "Muggles use them all the time. They fill it up with solution and pierce it through the skin and into the vein and then they inject the solution into the bloodstream from there. So, you're right, you don't have to drink the veritaserum – but you will be taking it one way or another," he threatened.
"It won't work. Veritaserum doesn't work through the body like that, you have to drink it," Walter told them, desperately, not able to take his eyes off the needle.
Ignoring the stunned stares of the other professors in the room, Harry walked over to the bench Professor Snape had set up and filled the syringe with the potion. "Actually, it will work. The serum will still get to your brain, and that's what really counts," he told Walter, calmly walking back over to him. "I have to admit, I was a bit puzzled about how I was going to be able to find one of your veins while you were all tied up, but it's not a concern anymore." Harry roughly grabbed the man's hair and yanked his head to the side, exposing the side of his neck. "You've got a lovely vein right here in your neck," the young professor said, running one of his fingers along the vein to emphasise his point.
The man had his eyes shut tightly and his breath was coming in shallow gasps.
"I guess the only real problem we might have is that the solution is just a little bit thicker than the medications that are normally injected," Harry told him, his voice calm and his face an unreadable mask. "Your heart might have a bit of trouble pumping the serum around your body. What do you think, professor?" Harry asked Professor Snape, turning to look at him.
The older man had not survived so long as a spy without being able to conceal surprise and improvise on the spot.
"It is only a small amount of solution. I do not think his heart will give out. But if his heart rate is high, that will increase the strain on the muscle and it might very well collapse before the serum is absorbed fully into his bloodstream," he replied coolly, watching with a malicious delight as Walter visibly paled and squirmed slightly in his seat.
Harry pretended to consider the professor's opinion. "Yes, I agree. Of course, if there's an air bubble in the solution, he'll be snuffed out like a candle as soon as it reaches his heart."
Walter actually let loose a soft squeal when he heard this. "Now, are you going to drink the veritaserum, or would you rather we find out what will happen if I inject it into you?" Harry asked menacingly, one hand still holding Walter's head to the side, the other holding the syringe against the large vein in his neck.
Walter trembled visibly but didn't answer. "You wouldn't," he squeaked.
"Oh, is that right? Do you know what happened to the last person who ticked me off?" Harry leaned over and asked softly into Walter's ear, before he gestured toward Mitchell with his syringe, who wasn't too far away from them. His captive gulped and widened his eyes. "Don't test my patience, what will it be?" he asked, placing the needle against the vein in his neck again.
"The – the – drink!" Walter spluttered.
Professor Snape arrived, as if on cue, with the drink. Harry moved his hand from the top of Walter's head to the base of skull, allowing the professor to tip the man's head back and pour the solution down his throat. Once he'd swallowed the serum, Harry took the needle away from his neck and emptied the solution into a spare glass on the potion master's bench, before re-capping the needle and returning to his bench, ignoring the astonished stares being directed at him.
"He should be ready now," Severus informed Albus, looking carefully at Harry. Harry silently returned his look.
"Er, very well," Albus stammered, still looking oddly at Harry. "We know why you were here and what you came to do. Tell me, who sent you here?" Albus asked.
"The Dark Lord sent me," Walter replied in a flat, dead pan voice.
Harry's head snapped up and he looked carefully at Walter.
"Do you mean Voldemort?" Albus asked apprehensively.
"Yes."
That's impossible! He's dead! Harry thought, shocked to the very core of his being.