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Chapter Seventeen: In which the very long night continues
- A few minutes later -
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"Missing?" Haas repeated. "Are you certain, Professor Nay?"
Indira nodded. "The prefects were about halfway through telling the rest of the house about… about the potential danger when I noticed that he wasn't there. I searched the entire tower for him. Nothing."
"We've got to find him before he gets hurt," Kiura said.
Dippet nodded. "Yes, you're right. Daniel, Kiura, could the two of you search the rest of the school for him?"
Eckersley and Kiura nodded.
"Minerva, you'll go with Professor Nay," Dippet told Minerva.
"What about you?" Dumbledore asked.
"I'll go alone," Dippet said.
"No, you won't," said Indira. Then she realized how quick she was to say that, and a slightly stunned look appeared on her face. To her relief, no one noticed.
"Come with us," Minerva suggested. And keep her from killing me, she thought, glancing at Indira.
"Very well," said Dippet. "Let's go. And hurry. Garrett must be found."
What Dippet didn't know was that someone had already found Paul Garrett.
And that someone was Grindelwald.
"Something went wrong with the memory charm we put on Minerva," Paul told the ominous, one-eyed figure standing before him. "We have to act now, before she breaks through the rest of it. Madeline Rahmini is at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy."
Grindelwald smiled. He'd known that for years, but because she was being protected by the Fidelius Charm, he would be unable to find her unless the Secret-keeper told him the location. "Excellent," he said. "You may go. Find your friend Riddle and tell him I'm right behind you."
"All right."
Paul pulled the Invisibility Cloak over him, mounted his broomstick, and rose above the trees. One hand gripped the handle of the broomstick and the other held the cloak on as he flew. His heart pounded in his throat. He'd dreamed of this day for a long time, the day he would finally be rid of the one person he hated more than any. It wouldn't be long now.
Grindelwald, too, had anxiously been awaiting this moment. He smiled to himself as he walked through the forest toward the school, thinking of torture he would put her through, the pain and suffering he would inflict. The experience she went through as a child left her emotions as stable as a knife standing its point. She would break like glass once he found her. And this time, there would be no escape… for her or anyone else.
Meanwhile, in the Gryffindor common room, the students were getting restless.
"I don't understand," Arabella Figg said. "Minerva's helping. Why can't we help, too?"
"Because Professor Dumbledore told us to stay here," said sixth-year girls' prefect Courtney Lang. "And Minerva… she's not like the rest of us. She's unnaturally powerful."
"But not even she's strong enough to take Grindelwald alone," Arabella said.
"But she's not alone," Courtney pointed out. "The rest of the staff is patrolling the school, too. And so's Tom Riddle."
Arabella sighed and folded her arms across her chest. "I know. I just feel there's something more we could be doing. If they really do need all the help they can get, then why didn't they ask for ours?"
"Because only a few of us are capable," said Roger Patton, the fifth-year boys' prefect. "I don't like the idea of sitting around here, either, but we all want to help, whether we know we can or not. If they let us go, then people who aren't strong enough could get hurt."
Arabella knew why they were being told to stay in their dormitories, and she understood why. However, she couldn't help being frustrated. Two of her best friends were out there, possibly risking their lives. She wouldn't be able to sit still until she knew they were safe.
"That's it," she said, reaching for her wand. "I'm going out there."
"You can't!" Courtney exclaimed frantically. "It's too dangerous!"
"She's my friend, Court."
"She's my friend, too, Ari!" Courtney said. "And so are you! I'm sorry, but if you go out there, I'll report you."
"Then report me," Arabella said defiantly as she walked toward the portrait hole.
Kyle Thresher and Martin Blumethal, who were prefects as well as the biggest, strongest boys in the school, cut her off before she reached the exit.
Arabella looked up the two boys, both a foot taller and twice her size, then said calmly, "Shark, Tiny, you're not going to stop me. If you don't get out of my way, I'll hex you."
"Who said anything about stopping you?" Martin asked. "We're going, too."
Arabella smiled. "All right, then. Let's go."
"Court, you're in charge until we get back," Martin said, following Arabella through the portrait hole.
"And then you're still in charge," Kyle added.
Courtney could do nothing but stare at them. She didn't even blink.
Kyle smiled at her. "Ta."
Arabella didn't want to put anyone else at risk, but the idea of having two bodyguards was appealing. Besides, Martin and Kyle were powerful, both physically and magically. The three of them were sure to be a match for any sort of trouble they might run in to, even Grindelwald. If they couldn't stop him, they could at least hold him off until more help arrived.
Suddenly, they saw some movement at the opposite end of the hall they were in. It was a person, too young to be a faculty member; most likely one of the upperclassmen. Arabella couldn't be sure from this distance, but she thought she knew who he was. "Paul?" she called.
The person stopped. "Ari?" a male voice returned.
It was Paul. "What are you doing?" Arabella asked, jogging toward him with Martin and Kyle on her heels.
"Where is everyone?" Paul asked.
"Where have you been?" Kyle asked. "Weren't you at your house meeting?"
"No; I've been down in the dungeons for the last few hours working on a potion," Paul lied. "What's going on?"
"Minerva broke through part of her memory charm and told the staff that Grindelwald's coming," Arabella answered.
"She what?!?" Paul exclaimed. Realizing that he probably shouldn't sound so shocked by this information, he took a deep breath to steady himself and said, "That explains a lot."
His exterior was calm, but inside, Paul was panicking. Grindelwald lost the element of surprise, one of his few advantages, if not the only. What would he do when he found out they were ready for him?"
"All the students have been instructed to stay inside their houses and not come out until the teachers say we can," said Martin.
"So what are you three doing out here?" Paul asked.
"We're going to help Minerva," said Arabella. "She and Tom are helping the staff search for Grindelwald."
Paul relaxed slightly. Tom would certainly be able to intervene if necessary.
"Paul, I'm curious," Kyle said, casting a suspicious look in Paul's direction. "If you were working on a potion down in the dungeons, why do you have your broomstick? And is that an Invisibility Cloak?"
Paul sighed. "Long story."
Kyle accepted that answer. Carrying around a broomstick and an Invisibility Cloak during a lockdown seemed highly unusual, but this was Hogwarts. The only thing predictable about this place was that it wasn't.
"So where is she?" Paul asked. "Minerva, that is."
"We don't know," Arabella said. "We just started looking for her."
"You know, we could really get in a lot of trouble if someone finds us," Paul said. "We should get back to our dormitories."
"Too late," said Martin. "Kyle, Ari, and I are already in the doghouse."
"What did you do?"
"Let's just say we didn't sneak out," said Arabella. "Come on, guys. We're already going down. Let's go down with honor. Paul, you in?"
Paul sighed. "Sorry, not this time. I'm going to head back and find out what's going on. Anyway, if Nay catches me, she'll rip off my head and impale it on a stick."
Arabella wouldn't be surprised at all if that was the fate that would befall him if he were caught by his house head. "Good point," she said. "See you later, I hope."
"Yeah," said Paul. "Later."
He pulled the Invisibility Cloak over his shoulders and was gone.
Not far away, two instructors, Arielle Turner and Christina Bacall, had run into some trouble.
"Grindelwald!" Arielle gasped. "Christina, run for help!"
Two words and a flash of green light later, she was silenced forever.
Christina attempted to do as Arielle instructed, but Grindelwald stopped her with an Impediment jinx. Seizing her by the throat, he said, "Where is Madeline Rahmini?"
"Who?" Christina choked.
"Madeline Rahmini!" he repeated, gripping her throat harder. "You probably know her as Indira Nay."
A horrified look crossed Christina's face as everything came together, but it did her no good; a few seconds later, Grindelwald's hand crushed her throat, and her life passed out of existence.
Grindelwald dropped the body of his second victim that night next to the first and continued on his way. He hated killing so quickly. Death was something that should be long and painful. There was so little satisfaction in making it short. He promised himself that the torture he spared them would be spent on making the girl that had eluded him for so long suffer. Her and everyone that protected her. They would all pay.
All he had left to do was find them.
Minerva, Indira, and Dippet were walking through the halls in silence when a bloodcurdling scream suddenly pierced the air.
"I know that scream," Minerva realized after thinking about it a few seconds. "It's Arabella!"
She took off running before her companions could stop her.
"Minerva, wait!" Dippet called as he and Indira raced after her. "It's too dangerous!"
The highly athletic Minerva was able to put a great deal of distance between herself and the two professors in a short amount of time. When she came to a stop two hallways over, they were a good fifty yards behind her. What she saw was enough to make her scream as well. Five bodies were lying on the ground, and standing above them was the wizard in her vision: Erich Rainier, better known as Grindelwald.
Minerva recognized three of the bodies as Arabella, Martin, and Kyle. Fear that they were dead took over concern for her own life. "Don't move," she hissed, pointing her wand at Grindelwald.
Grindelwald almost smiled. "And you are…?"
She narrowed her eyes. Sparks flew from the tip of her wand. "When you wake up, you'll be in Hell. Ask someone there."
"Minerva!" came Indira's voice. She and Dippet were coming up fast. They both stopped at the sight of Grindelwald, and she screamed.
Grindelwald smiled. "Madeline," he said. "It's been a long time."
He sent a jet of red light at them. Dippet grabbed her and rolled, causing both of them to fall to the ground. Grindelwald's blast hit the wall behind and caused a shower of stone to rain down upon them. They were trapped.
Grindelwald turned his attention back to Minerva, who was now kneeling next to her friends. To her great relief, Arabella, Martin, and Kyle weren't dead, just Stunned, but the two teachers were dead, and they would all be dead soon if Grindelwald wasn't stopped. And she was determined to be the one to stop him, even if it meant surrendering her own life in the process.
"You called her Madeline," Minerva said, standing up. She hoped to delay Grindelwald as long as possible. The longer he kept talking, the longer she would have to figure out what to do.
"Of course I did," Grindelwald said, keeping his wand pointed at her. "What else would I call her? The name she assumed as an attempt to conceal her former life?"
"Why did you call her Madeline?" Minerva asked. It wasn't much, but at least it was buying her a few more seconds. Perhaps, if she could get him to glance to the side, she could hit him with a Disarming spell, then maybe a Stunner…
Grindelwald laughed. "What, she never told you about a little skirmish I had with her family about twenty years ago?"
All of a sudden, figuring out how to stop Grindelwald wasn't so interesting anymore. "What?"
He smiled upon seeing that he'd caught her attention. "Yes," he said. "It was about two years after Anton Rahmini became Minister of Magic. I couldn't just let them get away with exposing me before I was ready for it."
"So if she is Madeline Rahmini, why didn't you kill her with the rest of them?"
"Don't you remember?" he sneered.
"No," she said quietly.
"Pity," he said. "I'm tired of you. AVADA KEDEVRA!"
Minerva didn't even realize what was happening until a suit of armor leapt in front of her and took the hit. For a moment, she thought that master of Transfiguration, Albus Dumbledore, had arrived on the scene, but glancing behind her, she saw that the one who had actually make the suit of armor come to life was Indira, half buried under a pile of rubble and bleeding from a large cut on her forehead. She had her wand pointed at them, but after seeing that Minerva was alive, succumbed to unconsciousness.
Grindelwald was even more surprised by Indira's intervention than Minerva was, and that gave her enough time to act. "EXPELLIARMUS!"
Her attempt to disarm him was successful, but he managed to dodge the Stunners she sent at him. His wand was lying on the floor a few feet away. He dove for it, then fired a Stunner of his own. It struck her in the arm, and she fell.
Grindelwald was standing above her now, his eye filled with hate. "Avada Ke-"
He didn't get a chance to finish. A blast of light hit him in the chest, and he was thrown back into the wall. Minerva looked up, and her eyes widened with surprise and relief. This time, it was Dumbledore.
Grindelwald appeared to be unconscious, so Dumbledore focused his attention on Minerva. "Are you all right?" he asked, kneeling down next to her.
"Fine," she said, rubbing her arm, which was numb from the Stunner. "Martin, Kyle, and Arabella are alive, just stunned, but… but Professor Turner and Professor Bacall are dead." She glanced back at the pile of rubble behind her and said, "Professor Dippet and Professor Nay are under those rocks. Nay was alive a few minutes ago." The feeling was starting to come back to her arm. "Help them. I'll be fine."
As soon as Dumbledore stood up, though, he was tackled by Grindelwald.
Minerva tried to intervene with magic, but her arm was incapable of independent movement. Dumbledore and Grindelwald were wrestling; she could easily hit the one she didn't want to.
The two combatants were moving toward a window at the end of the hall. Minerva scrambled to her feet and held her wand in her weaker right hand, hoping she would still be able to as accurate as she would normally be with her left. She saw an opening and raised her arm.
Suddenly Grindelwald turned around and shot a jet of blue light at her. She dodged the blast, but lost her opening.
Dumbledore took advantage of Grindelwald's distraction and hooked his arm around his neck in hopes of bringing him down. However, Grindelwald reacted quickly enough to fight back. They kept wrestling, both about to lose their balance, and they were now right next to the window.
Then, it happened. Dumbledore went first, taking Grindelwald along with him. They tumbled out the window and were gone.