The Hog's Head
The next day went by in a blur for Ginny, as she soon found herself in the common room with books piled around her.
She scribbled notes onto her parchment as she tried to comprehend some complicated potion for her Potions exam the next day, but was soon interrupted.
"Ginny," a voice said. Ginny looked over both her shoulders. No one. It was then she realized what was happening.
"Hold on," she said, gathering and putting away her books. Running outside the common room, Ginny locked herself in a deserted classroom. "What is it?" she asked.
"It's time." Ginny froze; those two words meant no turning back. Those two words spread fear throughout Ginny. And those two words sent Ginny sprinting towards the room. She flew through corridors and skid corners until she reached the moving staircases. Looking up and down, she turned right, then left, and continued running until she found the rusty door.
Catching her breath, Ginny opened the door and quietly closed it. She threw her stuff on the couch and ran down the corridor. Ginny reached the door and flung it open seeing Ray. "I'm here," she said breathing hard, her hands on her knees.
"About time to," Ray complained. Ginny stared at Ray in disbelief, "Now follow me we have a great deal to do in a short amount of time." Ray said disappearing behind door two, silently telling Ginny to follow.
Following Ray, Ginny wondered what was in store for her. As soon as she entered the room, Chris took her arm and led her to the middle of the room. "Okay, Ginny," he started, "we have evidence that there are 2 men in the Hog's Head that should help us. Your mission is to go to the Hog's Head and see what information you can find. I don't care how you get it, just get it," he finished.
"Alright," said Ginny confidently, "when do I leave?"
"As soon as Mike explains a few things. MIKE!" Chris yelled.
A pop echoed. "Yes, sir."
"Take Ginny, you know what to do." With that, Chris walked off, leaving Ginny with Mike. Ginny looked at Mike dumbstruck, 'I thought you couldn't apparate in Hogwarts.'
"Okay, Ginny, follow me," Mike said, looking around. He went back out through the door Ginny just came from and entered door number one. Ginny stopped and spun around in awe as Mike kept on walking.
"Keep up, Ginny," he said without looking back. Quickly catching up, she ran into Mike as he abruptly stopped, "Don't touch anything in this room without my permission. Do you hear me, Ginny?"
"Yes," Ginny breathed, looking around.
"Okay, now before we get to the fun part, there are a few things we need to go over."
"There's a fun part?" Ginny questioned to which Mike answered, smiling.
"Okay," Mike said, looking Ginny in the eye. "Now, first of all, you must not be seen while spying on them or they'll know what you are and what you're doing. So, it is very crucial that you wait until we give you the cue." Ginny nodded, listening intently to every word that might keep her alive. "And it is very crucial that no one knows your true identity or they could harm you and everyone you care about just to get to you. Do you understand?" Ginny nodded once again. Mike clapped his hands together. "Alright, now for the fun part." He smiled. "See that bracelet you're wearing? Turn it over."
Ginny threw Mike an exasperated look. "But I can't, I already tried getting it off."
"Just try," he said as if he was daring her.
"Okay," she breathed. Bringing her wrist up, she twisted the bracelet so the other side was up. Instead of it not moving, it twisted to the other side, revealing a small microphone into which she could speak. "Bloody hell," Ginny whispered, surprised.
"This is the verto bracelet," he said.
Ginny's eyes popped. "The what?"
Mike laughed, "The verto bracelet," he repeated. Ginny eyed Mike, cocking her head to the side. "Alright, I'll explain," he said, putting his hands up in defense. "You thrust your hand up into the air and say, 'Warrior transformation.' Now before you say anything, just repeat what I said."
"Alright, here it goes." Ginny said, thrusting her hand in the air. "Warrior transformation!" she yelled.
The room filled with bright light, and Mike had to cover his eyes.
Ginny felt her body spinning around and around above the ground. Her clothes disappeared as her body revolved around inside the light.
The light started fading as Ginny was lowered slowly back onto the ground. Opening her eyes, she found Mike staring at her. Without speaking, a mirror appeared in front of her. Ginny covered her mouth with her hands to stop her from gasping.
Her hair had changed from red to black, while her complexion had changed to a more olive shade, making her freckles disappear altogether. She was covered in a blue cloak that went to the floor and came with a hood in the back. Opening up the cloak, she found that she was wearing totally different clothes. She had blue thigh-high boots with a 2" heel that tied at the top, as well as a layered blue skirt that accented her curves just right, and a blue blouse with matching elbow-length gloves. "Wow." Ginny turned around and faced Mike. "Holy, holy, shit," she exclaimed, "What just happened?"
"Well, you just transformed into the warrior of Pluto. With the warrior of Pluto comes the power of ice."
"What?" Ginny asked, genuinely confused.
"You'll see," was all he said, making Ginny panic. "Now for the other rules. When you need a weapon, all you have to do is think it and the weapon that appears will correspond with the form into which you transform. As you go on more missions, you will acquire more weapons and transformations. And almost importantly, your primary weapon must always be your wand. Now lastly," Mike continued walking through the long tunnel, "if you can't defeat your enemy or you lose too much energy, you will transform back to your original self, weaker than you were before."
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Oh, that makes me feel so much better," she said as they reached the end of the corridor in no time at all.
But before Ginny went, Mike put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "Now, one last thing, you will go by the name Aella when you're on your missions, okay?" He paused, noticing the worried expression on her face. "You'll do fine. And good luck, we'll be watching you…" With that, Ginny hopped onto the couch and was gone. "…I'll be watching you, Aella."
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"I'll never get used to that," Ginny said, rolling over onto the other side. She pushed herself off the floor and ran through the castle until she pushed open the front doors, revealing a cloudy, breezy night.
Taking a deep breath, she jogged her way down to the Whomping Willow, only to be met by its thrashing branches. Around the tree, leaves and branches littered the ground as they were spurred from the animalistic tree. Ginny pulled her wand out of her cloak and yelled, "Immobulus." The tree slowed down to an almost standstill, but every so often, a creak or two could be heard echoing throughout the area. Feeling that it was safe to move, she packed her wand and slid down an earthy slope to the bottom of a very low tunnel.
The passage was very damp and had a musty, bawdy smell to it. Making her way through it, she found moss vines hanging from the ceiling, as she had to part her way through them continually. Moments later, the tunnel twisted and began to rise. Squinting her eyes, Ginny realized that the tunnel was coming to the end as a door appeared inches from her face. 'Oh, that was close,' she breathed. Fingering her wand, she pulled it once again out of her pocket and slowly pushed open the door as it made a long whiny creaking noise.
Pulling herself into the room, she stood up to her full height and brushed off the dirt that had already made its way onto her robe. Looking around, she sought out the way to the front door but only found dust, dust, and more dust.
The room she found was in a disorderly manner, with paper peeling from the walls and stains all over the floors. It seemed as if every piece of furniture was smashed. 'Probably Professor Lupin,' Ginny mused. Finishing her observations, Ginny turned to her right and found a door ajar that led into a shadowy hallway.
Ginny decided she had wasted too much time already and crept through the door and out into the hall. Once in the hall, Ginny's sights laid upon the front door. It was at least 6 feet tall with a semicircle window at the top where the moon's rays shone through.
Her footsteps creaked on the floorboards below; Ginny was careful to jump any ones that looked too old to walk on. She reached the door and looked at the handle. It looked ancient and old, as God knows what. But when she tried pushing on the door, it just wouldn't budge, seeming as if it hadn't been touched in many years.
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"What the hell is she doing?" yelled Ray at the screen impatiently, flapping his wings in anxiety.
"Sir, it looks like she's trying to open the door."
"I think I can see that, but why is she pushing it?"
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"Ginny," Ray yelled into her ear.
"What?" she snapped while still pushing on the door, "I'm kind of busy at the moment, as you can see."
"Oh, I can see all right." He retorted. "I can see you're pushing the door instead of pulling it."
Ginny stopped pushing the door and instead pulled open the door. "Oh, whoops," she said sheepishly.
Feeling stupid, she stepped outside and walked down the walkway onto the grounds. When she finally reached Hogsmeade, the wind had increased and more clouds had moved in. Her hair whipped around her face as her boots hit the cobblestones on the street.
Finally reaching the Hog's Head, she looked up and saw the sign swaying back and forth creaking in the breeze. Ginny put on her hood on and walked into the Hog's Head.
Inside it was warm and dirty at the same time. The bartender was leaning over the mugs he was cleaning while eyeing the customers every so often.
Only a few people occupied the Hog's Head that night. A group of wizards sat in one corner laughing, obviously getting tipsier by the moment, while two other men sat in another corner, talking with their heads close together.
"Aella, those are the men," Ray chided into her ear. Ginny nodded and took a table where she could see the men clearly without being suspected.
Sitting down, she drew her hood over her head and eyed the two men with curiosity. But what she didn't notice was a man dressed in black sitting behind her, watching her every move.
A little later on, the bartender came over to Ginny. "Do you want anything to drink?" he drawled.
"Actually," Ginny said, in a voice that wasn't her own. She paused, trying to figure out how her voice got like that. "I was wondering if you could tell me anything about those two men over there?" she pointed out, whispering.
"Oh, sorry about that," Mike apologized in her ear, "I guess I forgot that part. When you put your hood on, it magically transforms your voice to a male's and anyone who looks at your face will also think you're a man." Ginny rolled her eyes at Mike.
"Sort of." The bartender whispered taking a seat across from her. "All I know is that they come here every night, talking about some scheme they're planning."
Ginny's eyebrows rose. "Do you know what?"
"No. I never stay that long to hear."
Ginny nodded, disappointed that her only source that night failed to give her any useful information. "That's okay. I think I'll just have a firewhisky." The bartender nodded and walked away as Ginny followed, picking a stool that was closest to the two men.
"You're too young to be drinking, Aella," Ray hissed in his ear.
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Do you think I would seriously drink firewhisky? Come on, Ray, I'm a man, remember," she stated.
Ray covered his head with one of his wings. "God, she's impossible."
"I heard that." Ginny replied dryly.
"Here's your firewhisky, sir," he said, eyeing the man curiously.
"Thank you." The bartender took one last look at the man sitting in front of him and went back to cleaning his mugs while Ginny strained her ears to see what she could hear.
"I heard by the end of the year, she'll be in full power," said one of the men, "if everything goes according to plan."
"Really," said the other, surprised. Ginny pretended to drink her firewhisky, putting it to her lips. "I heard another part of our group is retrieving the other part from the spiders in the forest."
"So that means we'll soon have the parts to finish the mission." One of the men said in a dreamy state.
"Yeah, but to accomplish that we must leave now. I have some business to take care of, if you know what I mean," he said, winking to his friend.
The two men put a few coins on the table and left the pub. "Follow them." Ginny thanked the bartender and left.
Opening the door, she walked outside, her cloak billowing around her. "Turn left."
"Got it." Ginny acknowledged and took off running, unaware of the person following behind her. She followed the two men through the streets of Hogsmeade until they stopped in the center of a deserted village.
They walked toward the fountain in the middle of the village. It was surrounded by a layer of brick that rose above the water level. The houses that occupied the deserted village were two stories high and made of old wood and brick.
Thunder sounded in the distance as the wind picked up, making the shutters of the house bounce back and forth. Ginny hid undercover in the shadows, watching the two men.
They sat on the edge of the fountain, waiting for someone or something. As if in answer to her question, the door next to her creaked open. Ginny held her breath and pressed herself even closer to the wall, hoping he wouldn't see her.
He walked out into the middle of the street and stood in front of the two men, obviously having not seen her. "Did you bring it?" The two men said.
"Yes, but did you bring what I wanted?"
"Yes." The two men pulled a vial out of their jackets while the other man pulled out a roll of something from his jacket.
Ginny watched in anticipation of what would happen next. Meanwhile, on the roof of a house across the street, sat another one. "Watch her," a female voice hissed in his ear.
"I think I know what I'm doing," he said, getting annoyed. He sat next to a chimney on one of the roofs, just being able to blend in with the shadows.
The men in the street exchanged their items. The one man eyed the vial and pocketed it. "Well, I guess I'll be going then."
"Ah, not so fast," said one of the two men, making the man turn back around. "Our Master doesn't, how should I put it, want you here after this exchange. You have outstayed your welcome." He took out his wand, "Aveda Kedavra," he yelled, as green light filled the village. His friend cackled madly next to him and retrieved the vial from the now dead man.
"Well, I guess you won't be needing this after all," he laughed, pocketing the vial.
Ginny watched the two men in front of her with tears cascading down her face. Two words echoed in Ginny's ear: 'Get them.' Wiping the tears from her face, she walked out from the shadows of the house.
She walked toward the fountain and stood on the brick wall around it, right behind the two men. "You! Turn around," she snarled, hands on her hips.
"What is he doing?" said the man on the roof to himself.
The two men turned around slowly. "Oh, look what we got, Earl," he said, standing up, "Someone who also wants to die."
"What you did to that man was no more merciful than what I'm going to do to you," she said angrily.
"Oh, a threat, Earl," he said, turning to his friend, "I'm really scared," he said, throwing his hands up, making his friend laugh. "Now, let's see what you can do."
Ginny whipped out her wand. "Stupefy," she yelled.
"Protego," the man yelled and the spell vanished before it hit him. "Rictusempra," he shot back. The spell raced at Ginny before she could react and flung her through the air. She hit the roof behind her and rolled off onto the ground below.
The young man heard a thump on the roof next to him as the man that was fighting was flung through the air. He watched as he slowly rolled off the roof onto the ground.
"Incendio," Ginny yelled as she was getting up, not noticing her hood had fallen down. Her opponent blocked the spell once again.
Ginny walked out of the shadows, her pitch-black hair reflected in the light. "Hey, Earl, look, it's a girl we're playing with." Ginny gasped and touched her head, 'Oh, no,' she thought. "Hey, when we're done with this, how about I take you to my place?"
"Never," she said and cast another spell.
Meanwhile, on the roof, a stunned person sat with his mouth open. "He's a she," he said, "Wow."
"Expelliarmus," they shouted at the same time as the other man joined in. Ginny's wand shot out of her hand and she flew back. 'Great,' Ginny thought, '2 on 1, that's completely fair.' Groaning, she got up and walked towards them once again.
"Looks like you're out of a wand, Missy," he said, walking toward her. Ginny quickly thought of the only weapon she knew how to use and they magically appeared in her hand. Grasping the cold, hard handles, she felt the power surge through her, filling her completely as both sais were pointed and ready. "Oh, so, the little chit has something up her sleeve, huh," he laughed.
"I guess so," she smiled. Ginny twirled the sais in her hand and stabbed him, but he caught her wrist and twisted it behind her back.
"So, do you have a name?" he whispered in her ear.
"Yeah, your worst nightmare," she breathed, "You?"
"Charlie, sweetheart." Ginny thrust her foot backwards into his crotch. He let her arm go, immediately crawling on the ground in pain.
"Nice to know." Regaining her senses, she stood over him, holding her sais to his neck, the blade touching, but not cutting. Ginny turned her head just in time to hear Earl fire a spell behind her. Taking her right hand, she twirled her Sais and blocked the spell but in the process, she was distracted from the man lying on the ground and was knocked off her feet as he tripped her.
"Uh," she groaned as her back smashed into the cobblestones. Standing up, she quickly she flipped her sais and threw it into Charlie's stomach. He groaned and passed out as the blood soaked through his clothes. Running by him, she pulled the sais out of his stomach and flicked the blood off them.
She stopped in front of Earl. "Now it's your turn," she said.
"Get the roll from his pocket, Aella," Ray said.
"Got it," she nodded.
Meanwhile, up on the roof, the man was still staring intently, watching the fight between the warrior and two men. "Get out of there," snarled a voice in his ear.
"Why?"
"Someone noticed you were gone."
"Shit!" He jumped off the roof and landed on the ground below, taking off running down the street.
Ginny twirled her sais back and forth a few times, trying to intimidate him. "That's not going to work, little girl." Earl threw both of the wands down on the ground and drew out his sword from its sheath. "Now this is a real toy," he said, running his fingers down the length of the blade.
Ginny eyed the blade, afraid of what was going to happen next. He removed his fingers and ran the blade along her neck drawing slivers of blood here and there. "You know, I could kill you right now and no one would even know," he whispered maliciously.
"You mean, you could try," she said mischievously, bringing up her sais faster then the blink of an eye. Ginny moved quickly, throwing attacks at him from all direction, only he was too fast and blocked every single one of her attacks.
The two sais hit Earl's sword once again, making a clanking, echoing sound. Their weapons, still attached together, rose above their heads, "I'll admit, sweetheart, you're good. Whoever trained you knows what he's doing. But, hate to break it to you, I'm better," he breathed.
"You sure about…" before Ginny finished, she was thrown back into the house behind her with force she didn't know he possessed. The walls broke behind her and she flew into a desk. "That's going to hurt in the morning," Ginny groaned.
A look of triumph passed across his face. "Well, I guess she's taken care of." Earl walked away, not caring to look back.
Ginny paused a moment and grasped onto the wall, pushing herself from the floor.
"Aella," Mike yelled into her ear.
"What?" Ginny croaked in pain.
"Yell 'Pluto Ice Storm.'"
"Why?"
"Just do it." Mike yelled hurriedly.
Grabbing her sais from the floor, she slowly walked out the door and into the street. Looking left, she found him walking away. "Oh, no, you don't." Ginny raised her hands above her head. "Pluto Ice Storm," she yelled. Before Earl even turned around, the area fell into a glow of blue light and shot out of Ginny's hands, hitting Earl square on and covering him in ice, frozen to the bone and dead.
Ginny collapsed on the ground as soon as the power left her hand, too tired to continue.
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"What happened?" asked Mike, worried, looking at the blank screen in front of him.
"She fainted," answered Ray simply.
"Will she be okay?"
Ray flew off into the rafters, his voice echoing, "She'll be okay, just give her a few minutes."
Ginny awoke to the feel of raindrops on her face. Opening her eyes, she saw the blurry cobblestones and a few muddy puddles.
She pushed herself slowly off the ground and walked toward Earl. Rolling him over, the ice haven melted from the rain. Ginny reached into his coat pocket and took the roll. "Oh, yeah, my name's not sweetheart; it's Aella." She breathed, kicking him.
Ginny pocketed the roll and took off down the street back to Hogwarts.
Reaching the Hogwarts grounds, Ginny was in a worse state than she already was. She shivered as she entered the castle, soaking wet. Clutching her arm, she climbed up the staircases, thankful that no students were out of bed.
The bleeding in her arms and face intensified with each step she took. Finally reaching the Hospital Wing, she collapsed on the floor.