A/N: This chapter is dedicated to uber grasshopper, who put up with me and gave me pep talks while I was stressing over finals. ^_^
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Chapter Sixteen: In which the very long night begins
- A few minutes later -
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Less than thirty seconds after descending from the Astronomy tower, Armando Dippet and Indira Nay were cornered by Albus Dumbledore.
"I have to tell you something, Armando," Dumbledore said frantically. "It's an emergency." He paused and took a closer look at them. A confused look crossed his face. "Why are you two so wet?"
"It's a long story," Dippet said, "and one that you should probably hear." With certain details excluded, he thought to himself.
"Someone put the Imperius Curse on him," Indira said. "Something tells me there's a connection between this and the memory charm placed on Minerva McGonagall."
"Which brings me to my emergency," Dumbledore said. "She broke through part of the memory charm."
"Already?" Dippet asked.
"She saw something that conjured an image strong enough to get through the block on her mind," Dumbledore said. He glanced around to make sure they were alone, then lowed his voice. "She saw Grindelwald. And she said he's coming here."
Indira gasped and took a step back.
"Are you all right?" Dumbledore asked, looking at her.
She tried to speak, but no sound came out.
"Grindelwald," Dippet repeated. "Are you certain? Is she certain?"
"About a month ago, I told her that Grindelwald killed my sister," Dumbledore said. "When she saw a picture of Lucilla tonight, she remembered. I know it sounds crazy, but…" He sighed, then began a new thought. "And you say that there was an Imperius curse placed on you? Who did it?"
"I don't remember," Dippet said, shaking his head apologetically. He sighed. "We need a meeting. Staff, Head Boy, and Head Girl. Albus, Indira, if you find McGonagall and Riddle, I'll round up the staff."
"On my way," Dumbledore said with a nod. He then turned around and walked away.
"Same," Indira said quietly. She and Dippet made eye contact, but neither spoke, and she left quickly, hoping he didn't see the frightened look on her face.
"Check."
Paul moved his bishop to block Tom's queen. "Nay."
"Besides Nay," Tom said, moving his queen two squares to the left.
Paul thought for a moment, then said, "Turner."
Tom snorted. "Turner? She's got to be sixty."
"She looks good for sixty." Paul moved a pawn one square forward. "What about you?"
"Kadish. Definitely Kadish."
"Oh, yeah; I forgot about Kadish."
"You would," Tom said, taking Paul's pawn with his rook. Paul swore. "You never took her class."
Tom and Paul were sitting in the Slytherin boys' dormitories on Tom's bed playing chess and discussing which of the female faculty members were the most attractive. Paul studied the board for a moment, moved his queen three spaces to the right, then said, "Yeah, I guess I'll go with Kadish, too."
"Even though she's married."
"Yeah, even though she – she's what?"
"She and Professor Pokeli got married last summer. Didn't you know that?"
"No, Tom, unlike you, I do not stalk my teachers."
"I don't stalk," Tom said calmly, gazing at the chessboard. "I observe. You never know when opportunity will strike." He saw an opening and took Paul's queen with a knight.
Just then, sixth-year Barty Crouch, who replaced Paul as a prefect, came into the room and said, "Tom, Professor Nay's down in the common room. She needs you to go with her. Apparently, there's an emergency."
"Really?" Tom asked with mild interest. "What kind of emergency?"
Paul took one of Tom's pawns with a bishop.
"I don't know, but she almost looks scared, which means it's probably major."
"Really?" Tom said again, but this time, sounding much more interested. "Tell her I'll be right down."
Barty nodded and left.
Tom glanced at the chessboard and moved his queen three squares diagonally and took Paul's rook. "Checkmate." Looking up, he said, "Apparently, something's happened, and it's time for us to act. Take Minerva's Invisibility Cloak and your broomstick and go to Grindelwald. Now." They found Minerva's Invisibility Cloak in the forest after putting the memory charm on her and thought it might come in useful.
"How will I find him?" Paul asked.
"Just fly into the forest. He'll find you."
Once everyone was assembled in the staff room, Dippet stood up and called for their attention. "We have a situation," the headmaster said quietly. "And I am not going to sugar-coat this. We have reason to believe that the dark wizard Grindelwald is coming here."
Everyone started talking at once. Dumbledore and Dippet tried to quiet things down, but their voices was drowned out by the others. Only Indira remained silent.
"Grindelwald? Here?"
"Impossible!"
"Why?"
"How do you know?"
"What are we going to do?"
"He's more powerful than any of us." That voice belonged to Tom Riddle.
"How can we stop him?"
"Should we tell the students?"
"QUIET, PLEASE!" came the booming voice of Professor Pokeli.
Silence.
"Thank you, Halo," Dippet said. He looked at Minerva. "Would you like to explain what happened, Miss McGonagall?"
Every head turned toward Minerva, but none faster than Indira's.
"All right," Minerva said quietly, standing up. She waited a few moments to make sure she had everyone's attention, then began. "A memory charm was placed on me yesterday. We have no idea who did it, but now we have a clue as to why."
Dumbledore began to get a nagging feeling in the back of his mind, and out of the corner of his eye, he stole a glance at Tom, only to see the Head Boy look at him at the exact same moment. And then… nothing.
Minerva continued. "A few minutes ago I saw a picture of Professor Dumbledore's sister, who, as many of you may know, was killed by Grindelwald twelve years ago. Seeing that picture allowed me to break through part of the memory charm. One of the things that was being blocked from my conscious thoughts was the knowledge that Grindelwald was planning to come here."
"Do you know why Grindelwald was going to come here?" inquired Christina Bacall, the Astronomy instructor.
Minerva shook her head. "No, Professor Bacall, I don't." She sighed, closed her eyes, and said, "There's a name… but it's crazy…"
"What's the name, Miss McGonagall?" Alain Haas asked gently.
She opened her eyes. "Madeline Rahmini."
"Madeline Rahmini is dead," Indira said quickly.
Dippet glanced at her for a moment, then looked at Minerva again.
"I told you it was crazy," Minerva said. "I can't explain it. But I'm almost certain I heard that name."
"Whether or not you did is irrelevant," Dippet said, drawing attention to himself in fear of an outburst from Indira. The head of Slytherin house looked as though she was struggling to maintain composure as it was. "The point is that this situation should not be taken lightly. We must take action to prevent the school from this threat. If Miss McGonagall is incorrect and there is no danger, then we can dismiss it as such. However, we cannot risk assuming this is nothing if she is right."
"What do we do now?" Tom asked.
Dippet made eye contact with Dumbledore before giving a reply. "We will tell the students," the headmaster said. "Albus, Alain, Halo, Indira, meet with the prefects from each of your respective houses and tell them first. Then speak to the entire house. The rest of us will begin patrolling the castle and grounds. Go in pairs. I don't want anyone to risk getting caught alone. No student is to leave their house until we are certain the danger has passed."
"Does that go for Minerva and myself as well, Professor Dippet?" Tom asked.
Dippet and Dumbledore looked at each other again, and this look lasted significantly longer than the last. It was Dumbledore who spoke first this time. "We could certainly use their help," he said. "They're young, but they're powerful. Both of them."
Dippet nodded. "Yes, you're right. Mr. Riddle, Miss McGonagall, you will join the staff in patrol. Any questions?"
No one spoke.
"Good. Dismissed. And good luck."
Minerva found herself patrolling the halls with Kiura Kadish, the Muggle Studies instructor. Kiura was a Muggle-born Hufflepuff alumni who also had a Muggle education, having enrolled at university after graduating from Hogwarts. She had a Ph.D. in sociology and insisted that her students refer to her as "Doctor Kadish" as opposed to "Professor," as she felt it would help them learn more about Muggles. Whether or not that was true, no one really knew. All they knew was that she was Dr. Kadish, and that was all that really mattered.
Suddenly Kiura stopped walking. "Did you hear that?" she asked.
"If you mean those footsteps, then yes, I did," Minerva said.
"Around the corner," Kiura said, lowering her voice. "Get ready."
They moved toward the end of the corridor, staying close to the wall and keeping their wands up. The footsteps slowed down, but grew slightly louder. "They must have heard us," Minerva whispered. "Step lightly."
They were now inching along, their feet making almost no sound against the stone floor.
"Get ready," Kiura whispered as they reached the end of the corridor.
"NOW!" two voices yelled. Only one belonged to Kiura.
The two women leapt out into the open, only to find themselves pointing their wands at Armando Dippet and Daniel Eckersley, the Divination instructor. Dippet and Eckersley also had their wands up and were ready to attack.
All four of them sighed and lowered their wands. "Have you seen anything suspicious?" Dippet asked.
"Nothing," Kiura said. "What about the two of you?"
Eckersley shook his head. "Nothing as well."
Minerva looked around, then said, "I have a very bad feeling about this, Professors."
"Minerva, if you would like to return to your dormitory, that would be perfectly accepta-" Dippet began.
"No, sir," she said, cutting him off. "I would much rather do everything in my power to defend the school."
"You warned us," Dippet said. "If in fact Grindelwald is coming here, we will have had time to prepare thanks to you."
"Armando!"
That voice belonged to Dumbledore, who was moving toward them at a rapid pace, followed closely by Alain Haas. "Gryffindor and Hufflepuff houses are both aware of the situation," the deputy headmaster continued. "We saw Halo heading toward the south end of the castle with Jason, but we haven't seen Indira."
A look of concern crossed Dippet's face. "Perhaps it's taking longer to inform her house," he guessed.
"The Slytherins?" Eckersley said. "They would probably be able to handle this more than any other house, except maybe Gryffindor."
In his heart, Dippet knew Eckersley was right; he had yet to meet a Slytherin who could not keep a cool head in a dangerous situation.
"Should we send someone over there?" Kiura asked.
"That won't be necessary, Dr. Kadish," came Indira's voice. She was approaching from the opposite direction Dumbledore and Haas had.
"Is something wrong?" Dippet asked.
"Yes," she said. "Paul Garrett is missing."