A/N: I wanted to have this chapter up sooner, but I had to once again learn the first rule of writing on a computer. I forgot to save it, and the power kicked off at my house. I lost the entire thing. Don't pity me, but if you are writing anything, SAVE IT! Ok, now that I'm done with my pity party, we'll get into my real author's note. This, Ladies and Gentlemen, is my very favorite chapter so far. Recently, while writing some descriptions for the assassination of Theodore Nott, I discovered a sadistic side of my writing style worthy of the Dark Lord himself. Naturally, I had to use it. That said, this chapter is dark. In my opinion, it's worth every bit of the PG-13 rating I put on this story.
Enjoy my dark side. On with the story!
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Chapter 06: The Death of Theodore Nott
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Saturday was always a good day for Theodore Nott. He never had much to do on Saturday. Just go to the Ministry and get his paycheck, then head for Gringotts the deposit it. After that, he had the rest of the day to himself. Yes, Saturday was always a good day. Not this Saturday. Nott was feeling nervous today. He'd been a spy for the Dark Lord for several years, and had developed a sense of danger that was highly acute. Using the sense to its fullest had saved him from Azkaban. Now, as he picked up his check from his secretary, the feeling was starting to grow again. It was so small, however, that he brushed it off as nothing.
He couldn't brush it off, however, as he stepped out of the Ministry and headed for the Apparition point. The feeling spiked as he felt a figure come up beside him. Very nervous, Nott quickened his step, hoping the stranger wouldn't follow. The feeling spiked again as the figure stayed in step with him. Nott's stomach lurched as he tried to remain calm. He chanced a quick sideways glance at his unwanted companion. Bright blue combat robes, with some sort of symbol on the front. A black, hooded cloak, open in the front, with gold clasps at the shoulders.
The nervous feeling started to die down as the apparition point came into sight. The stranger would not try anything in this area, with people milling about everywhere. Nott continued walking quickly, but he started to relax a little. This proved to be a mistake. Just before he walked into the apparition area, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He froze, terrified. He quickly tried to look at his possible assailant, only to find out that he was unable to move. A very unpleasant feeling ripped through him. He felt like he'd just been…tasted?
The hand let go, and the hooded face leaned in close to his ear. "Enjoy your day off, Nott. I assure you that we will." It whispered, setting all the hairs on the back of Nott's neck straight up. Nott, still unable to move, watched as the figure walked into the apparition point, and vanished. Nott's legs almost fell out from under him as his ability to move returned.
To say Nott was disconcerted would be an understatement. He'd just had an encounter that terrified him as much as the Dark Lord, right in the middle of a crowded area, and not one person had noticed. Nott briefly considered heading straight home, but wanted his money safe in the bank first. He decided to continue to Gringotts, and then head home. He stepped into the Apparition point, and apparated to Diagon Alley.
Once he got there, Nott opened his sensed, and tried to feel the stranger. Nothing. Deciding that the stranger did not come here, Nott started walking towards the bank. It seemed, however, that the closer he got to the bank, the more jumpy he felt. It was like walking towards a presence in total darkness. Nott's eyes started frantically searching the street as he walked, looking for the source of the feeling.
Without any further warning, another hand was placed on his shoulder, and once again, Nott found himself unable to move. He now felt a similar, yet different, presence right behind him. Again, that feeling of being tasted ripped through him, as a female voice whispered in his ear. "Feeling nervous, Nott? Let me help." He suddenly felt a wand poke him in the back. "Stimulus!" The voice whispered. Every single one of Nott's sense kicked into overdrive.
Diagon Alley became a war zone for Nott's senses. He could smell the dirt, other people, food, and the apothecary down the street nearly knocked him out. The normally cheerful colors became sharp and hard, making his eyes water. Nott was in such a state that he couldn't even concentrate to remember the counter charm. A fly, buzzing in his ear almost made him scream. And worst of all, the danger sense, which had protected him for so long, was running out of control. Needless to say, Nott was in a state. He tried to calm himself down, but every sound, smell, and feeling was making him feel jumpier. Nott wanted so much to run inside the bank and hide, but he was out in public, and it would not do for a Ministry official to make a scene.
Nott made his way quickly into the bank, and paused to compose himself. Knowing that he was safe in the bank, he thought about the charm the strange woman had cast. The Stimulus charm was normally used on people suffering from ill-prepared sleeping potions and the like. Those people often suffered from a malady called sensory depression. Their senses didn't work well for 2 or 3 days after ingestion. The stimulus charm was a spell that enhances whatever sense does not work well. After thinking about it for a few moments, Nott realized that the effects of the spell were amplified on him because none of his senses were deficient, so the spell assumed that all senses were dulled. Filing that information away for later, Nott tried to remember the counter spell. His thoughts were still spinning, however, and he could not bring the spell to mind.
Deciding that it wasn't life threatening, Nott decided to wait until he got home to look up the counter charm. Five minutes later, and after losing the contents of his stomach, Nott decided that this had been a bad idea. The cart ride in Gringotts was a gut-wrenchingly fast and lurching ride today, thanks to the heightened senses. Nott was extremely sick by the time he got out of Gringotts. He decided to kill the next stranger he met, very slowly.
Walking out of Gringotts, Nott's senses went haywire again, the many noises, smells, and sights made him so confused that he didn't even notice the figure walking next to him until he felt another hand on his shoulder, and a wand jammed into his ribs. The voice was once again the man from the Ministry. "Having fun, Nott. Don't bother answering. Vocatus Restricto!" Nott felt his vocal chords freeze. Nott was now terrified. The voice freezing charm was designed by medi-wizards to stop their patients from damaging their vocal chords during the more painful restorative operations. Like an advance version of a silencing charm, Nott could make no sound. However, this spell went one better. Nott's vocal chords were paralyzed, meaning he could not even form the correct syllables. This meant that any magic he could use would have to be completely without incantations. The problem was, Nott didn't know any spells he could cast without incantation.
Abandoning all pretense, Nott ran for the Apparition point. He was almost there, when he was tripped most unexpectedly. Not went sprawling across the ground, and drew some attention. He was just about a meter away from the apparition platform. He glanced up, and saw that someone was offering a hand. Relieved he took it. Standing up, he found himself being forcibly pulled onto the platform, and once again felt that horrible sensation of being tasted rip through his body, multiplied by the stimulus charm placed on him. He felt another wand being pressed into his stomach. "You've been fun, Nott. Have a lovely nightmare! Corpicus Transfiguro!" With that spell as an epitaph, the corpse of Theodore Nott collapsed onto the apparition platform.
The witnesses to the crime stood stunned for a moment, not comprehending what had just happened. After shaking themselves out of their stupor, they ran over to the body of Theodore Nott, and checked him for any pulse. He had none. When the aurors arrived to investigate, they found a small note pinned to the outside of Nott's robes.
Sleep well, Theodore NottNightmare & Dreem
Imperial Dragon Circle
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Back in Harry's room at Hogwarts, Harry and Hermione were arguing with each other. It seems there was a disagreement involving the late Theodore Nott.
"Harry, why didn't we just kill him outright? It would have been much easier." Hermione said, just a little bit put out.
"Because Hermione, it will have much more impact on the other groups if we can manipulate somebody else to unwittingly do our work for us." Harry replied, following up the remark with a devilish grin.
"I still don't…" Hermione trailed off as her eyes fluttered shut, and a sensation of pleasure washed over both of them. "What was that, Harry?"
"That was Theodore Nott experiencing magical shock." Harry said, still feeling tingly from the experience. "Nott's brain was so confused about the signals it was receiving, it let out almost all of his magic in a unfocused wave. Give it about a minute."
One minute later, they experienced the same feeling once again, followed by a feeling of satiation. Theodore Nott was dead at last.
"Now," said Harry, "Lets go find Ron and Lavender. We should study for our transfiguration test on Tuesday." Hermione followed him out of his room, and down to the Gryffindor common room.
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"Good evening my friends, let's call this meeting to order." Said Albus Dumbledore, looking rather grave. "We are here tonight to discuss the assassins of the Imperial Dragon Circle. At our last meeting I identified one of them as a Shadow Master, which is a type of demon. Recent intelligence indicates that there are two Shadow Masters acting as assassins for the Imperial Dragon Circle. This is a very dangerous situation, for many reasons. We need a way to determine who has summoned these demons, so that we may put a stop to them. It will be easier for me to explain the situation if you ask me questions, and I answer them. The floor is open."
Nymphadora Tonks stood. "Why is it important to know who summoned them? Why can't we just take them out?"
Severus Snape was the one to answer that question. "The Shadow Master demon, once summoned is bound to the summoner. The only way to 'take them out' is to either kill the summoner, or use his blood in a ritual to dispel them." Severus paused, then continued. "The only plus side to them, is that whoever summoned them will be a squib for a long period of time. The amount of Magic it takes to summon and incorporate two Shadow Masters will sap all magic from the summoner for many years" This revelation seemed to shock the Order, for everyone started whispering to each other.
"Correct, Severus, but the situation is more dangerous than that." Said Albus, shocking the Order back into silence. "The reference material on Shadow Masters in the Restricted Section of the library states quite clearly that Shadow Masters, while being powerfully magical, have no ability to cast spells." The crowd gasped. "At the last meeting, we witnessed our guest conjure a ball of light. This suggests a modified ritual. I need to know how the ritual could be modified. Severus and Remus, I need you to research the ritual, and hypothesize how it may have been altered. The rest of you, I need you to keep an eye out for the demons, and try to find out who their master is." Albus was about to release the Order, when Elphias Doge burst through the door. He was pale, and trembling. It was obvious that he'd been through something awful. "Elphias, what has happened?"
"We just found evidence of an additional pair of Circle assassins. Their names are Nightmare and Dreem, and they truly are monsters." Elphias said. He looked like he was going to be sick, but continued. "Today at 12:14 PM, Nightmare and Dreem assaulted and killed Theodore Nott Sr. Aurors found his body on the Diagon Alley apparition platform."
Elphias was still shaking, but Albus really wanted this information. "What was the cause of death, Elphias? Same method of operation as before?"
"Not even close, Albus." Elphias said, his voice still shaking. "Our initial examination of the body, revealed the traces of a stimulus charm, and a vocal chord restriction charm. The examiners were told to discover what killed him by tonight, so they started an autopsy of the body, to discern whether a poison was used. When I arrived, the pathologists had already opened Nott's chest cavity, and they came across a strange liquid inside his veins. They opened his aorta, and drained some of the fluid, to test it. The result of the test showed that it was formaldehyde, or what muggles call embalming fluid. The test also indicated that it was transfigured. Since formaldehyde is toxic, the pathologists decided that the cause of death was transfigured blood." After speaking those words, Elphias paled considerably, and started to turn green. "Excuse me for a moment!" He bolted for the bathroom.
Five minutes later, Elphias returned. "As you know, once a cause of death has been determined, the body is cleansed of all magic before the body made available for the family to make arrangements for a funeral. This, unfortunately, includes reversing any transfiguration done to the body." Elphias shuddered at the thought. " When the pathologist reversed the transfiguration, they realized they had made a terrible mistake. The assassin had not transfigured Nott's blood; they had transfigured Nott himself. They turned him into a corpse. When the transfiguration was reversed, Nott's body convulsed, his heart started beating, and he started screaming. He bled to death on the operating table in just under 10 seconds."
By the time Elphias was finished talking, everyone in the room looked sick, even Snape. The Order left that night was shocked, confused, and afraid.
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A/N: Whoa! This chapter was the hardest one yet! I hope everyone enjoyed Nightmare and Dreem. Send me a review with comments!
Responses:
Morgana: Nope, Ron is not a Shadow Master. I'm going into that later, but I have a plan for our friendly neighborhood redhead.
Prd2bAmerican18: Well, you're going to have to! I have that set for a much later chapter. It wouldn't be good to play all my cards at once, now would it?
Jess16: I'm so glad you like it! Thank you for all of your reviews so far, it means a lot to me that you reviewed every chapter.
Raven Dragonclaw: I can't believe you like my story! That makes me feel special. Your story is one of my current favorites, and hearing that you like my story means a lot to me. Thanks so much!