Chapter 41: Auror Raid
Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire, England
January 12, 1987
Draco awoke to the sound of loud footsteps in the hall outside of his bedroom. He slowly sat up and rubbed at his eyes and looked toward his door. The footsteps had been loud, like many people stomping. It wasn't the soft steps of his mother coming to check upon him or Dane, Theo, or Blaise. Nor was it the steady footsteps of his father. It also wasn't the sound of his grandfather's steps. Draco reached for his Dragon stuffed animal and clutched it tight to his chest. He knew that his parents were not outside the doors and he had heard stories. He knew that bad Wizards and Witches sometimes broke into homes and hurt children. He had overheard his parents talking about such Wizards. They had been called Death Eaters. Were Death Eaters standing outside his door?
Draco huddled among the pillows of his bed and clutched his Dragon and said a silent prayer that his parents would come and save him from the scary Wizards. Then his bedroom door slammed open and the room was lit with a Lumos spell from a Wizards wand.
Draco didn't make a sound but he trembled upon his bed. His eyes adjusted to the light and he let his eyes take in the sight of the two Wizards whom had burst into his room. They were wearing red robes with an insignia that he had seen before in a book from the library. It was the insignia of the Auror Department. So, they were Auror's not Death Eaters. Draco thought for a moment that this should have made him relieved but it didn't, it couldn't, not while the two Wizards began ransacking his room. They were making such a terrible mess and he was sure that he would be in trouble if his mother saw the mess.
"Hey, we were told to stay out of these rooms," an Auror from the doorway declared and Draco whipped his head in the man's direction.
"Yeah, and why do you think that is?" The one ransacking Draco's wardrobe demanded.
"Because they had hidden all the dark stuff in these rooms that's why!" the other Auror that was ransacking Draco's bookcase insisted.
Draco clutched his Dragon more tightly to his chest and continued to watch the men rushing about his room, pulling toys from his toy box and destroying them when they didn't seem to be what they were looking for. "What are you looking for?" he finally asked of the men. He was proud of the fact that his voice didn't shake, but it still came out frightened.
The three Auror's turned to him then and each one frowned. It was as though they were really noticing him for the first time. "What are you doing in here kid?" one of them asked as he came to stand beside Draco's bed.
"This is my bedroom," Draco informed him. "May I please know what you are doing in my bedroom?"
"We are raiding your home kid," the Auror said. "Everyone knows the Malfoy's are dark wizards so we needed to do a raid looking for dark artefacts. Once we find what we are looking for then we'll be taking your family in."
"Dawlish!" The man from the doorway barked at him. "You don't say something like that to a child."
"Why not, it's the truth. Best he knows now that we Auror's won't tolerate dark wizards like him," Dawlish said the last with a sneer. Then he glared down at him and Draco shrank away from him.
"What's this?" Dawlish said pointing at the Dragon stuffed animal.
"This is Drago," Draco said of the Dragon stuffed animal. He didn't know how long he had owned the stuffed animal. It had been a gift to him when he was very young and he always slept with the stuffed toy.
"Give me that," Dawlish said and though Draco tried to resist, the man was far stronger than he was and he grabbed the stuffed animal. Draco stood on his bed then and tried reaching for it again.
"Give him back! Give me back Drago," he said and he tried to reach for the stuffed animal. The Auror, Dawlish, grabbed him by the color of his nightshirt and pulled him close for a moment. Draco felt terrified when his feet were no longer on the mattress and he was dangling in the air.
"What's Drago hiding huh? Some dark artefacts I bet!" he sneered.
There was the sound of a pop in the room and then there was a House-Elf snarling at the Auror named Dawlish that had him dangling in the air. "You must release Master Draco immediately!" the little House-Elf snarled at him.
"Get away rodent!" Dawlish commanded as he shook Draco who clawed at the man's hand.
"Dawlish!" the Auror from the doorway reprimanded the man.
Then Dawlish released him, throwing Draco away from him. He landed hard on the floor and his head hit the edge of his nightstand. There was a sickening crack sound and then there was an explosion of tremendous pain. Draco had never felt anything like it before. He whimpered and blinked his eyes dazedly, trying to dispel the black dots that danced before his vision.
"Dawlish!" he heard the Auror from the doorway yell.
"Master Draco!" he heard his House-Elf, Varbey, cry and then he felt the gentle hands of the House-Elf roaming over him and trying to soothe him, though there was too much anxiety in the House-Elf's hands for Draco to be soothed by him. Varbey's anxiety did help to steady Draco somehow, it helped him to fight against the darkness that wanted to envelop him. He felt sick to his stomach and moaned fighting against the urge to dispel the contents of his stomach.
"Hells!" he heard one of the men exclaim. He felt a shadow over him, someone kneeling at his side. Even though it hurt, Draco tried hard to move away from the man's touch. "Hey shh," the man tried to soothe him. "I'm not going to hurt you. You need medical attention. I need to get you to Saint Mungoe's."
"Mungoes?" the other Auror questioned and Draco heard the rustling of the Auror's robes as he came closer to look at him. There was a moment of silence followed swiftly by an angry tirade. "Dawlish, what are you playing at? You have been spending too much time with Moody, but even Moody wouldn't have hurt a child like that. What's wrong with you?"
Draco groaned and closed his eyes. His head hurt and he felt the sticky trickle of blood coming from his wound. The Auror carefully cradled Draco close and lifted him up into his arms. He didn't like being held by the Auror. The man was moving him down the hall and toward the stairs to take him to the ground floor. He wanted his Mother, his Father, his Grandfather, his Uncle Severus. Where were Dane, Theo, and Blaise. Were they alright?
"Draco!" his mother cried out as she rushed to him once the Auror reached the ground floor. "What happened? What did you do to my son?" Narcissa's voice was hard and Draco felt the Auror flinch. Draco would have felt sorry for the Auror if he were not the one injured.
"My men entered the western wing of the House and began a search of the rooms. One of my Aurors began to taunt your son and he accosted the boy before I could get him under control," Draco listened to the Auror admit fault. He could appreciate the fact that the Auror was willing to admit that he should have kept that Dawlish on a tighter leash.
"You were forbidden to enter that wing of the House because I did not want you frightening the children," His Grandfather, Abraxas Malfoy, declared at his most unforgiving.
Lucius was soon taking Draco from the Auror's arms. "Go kennel your dogs, Auror," Lucius said and his voice was cold with the depth of his anger. "Narcissa, go with him and protect the boys,"
"But Draco," Narcissa protested clearly torn between a desire to protect the other boys and her desire to attend to Draco.
"I am taking our son to Saint Mungoes. Bring the other boys when this is finished," Lucius commanded.
Draco clung to his father as his father began to move. The pain was almost manageable so long as no one moved him. He whimpered slightly. "Hurts," he murmured.
"I know son," Lucius said gently to him. "This is going to probably make you sick, but I have to get you to the hospital," his father told him. Then they were stepping into the floo and his father used the floo powder to transport them through the floo network to Saint Mungoes.
True to his father's prediction, Draco was nauseous upon arriving and he did vomit all over his father and himself. With a wave of Lucius's hand the mess disappeared just in time for a nurse to reach them.
"The poor dear, what happened to him?" the nurse demanded to know.
"He was assaulted by an Auror," Lucius informed her. He was careful not to let his rage bleed into his voice as he spoke. It would not help Draco, not now. He would make the Auror's pay soon though.
The woman looked absolutely horrified. "Was it Moody?" she asked.
"No," Lucius answered her a little relieved that she believed him about Auror brutality. It would be so easy for her to go with the public opinion that he was some sort of Death Eater and therefore believe that he had harmed his son.
"Must be one of the ones he trained," she declared. "The Goyle boy was in here with a broken arm due to overzealous Auror's."
Lucius seethed at that. He was not particularly close with the Goyle's but they did move in the same circles. Their boy was of an age with his own son. He could think of no reason why an Auror would ever think it necessary to harm a child as young as Draco was. He was not even of age to begin attending Hogwarts yet and would not be for at least another five years.
The nurse finished running scans over Draco's head and then she smiled at Lucius. "He has a slight concussion, but I imagine it hurts terribly for one so young."
"But, there was so much blood," Lucius said as he held Draco close.
"Head injuries bleed the worst," she informed him. "Come this way and we'll set you and your son up in a room. We will want to keep him overnight for observation, just to be sure that he's healing alright."
Lucius nodded agreement and followed her into a room that had three beds. He settled Draco onto the bed and Draco held fast to his cloak, his fist curling into the material. Lucius didn't move further away. He conjured a chair and sat beside his son's hospital bed and watched the nurse wave her wand in a swirling motion over the area of the wound.
"I'm just disinfecting the wound, Draco," she said gently.
"It stings," Draco murmured and he winced, curling his fist tighter into his father's cloak.
She nodded and ran a soothing hand through his pale blond locks. "Yes, I'm sorry about this. The last thing I want to do is bring you more pain, but it will make sure you don't gain an infection."
Draco closed his eyes on a sad sigh. "Infections are bad. Master Snape taught us a few potions to help disinfect wounds and promote healing."
The woman looked surprised. "You are an Apprentice of Potions Master Snape?" she asked of him even as she began to wave her wand in a zig zag motion. The crusted blood seemed to follow the movements of her wand detaching from Draco's flesh and rising into the air. She made a swishing motion with her wand and the crusted blood vanished.
"Yes," Draco said and there was some pride in his tone when he spoke of his Potions Master. "He is father's Arden and he's a wonderful man. He's also my God-father."
"I see," she said. "I have heard good things about the man. That he is temperamental but brilliant," she admitted with a slight blush even as she used her wand to begin a healing spell upon the gash at Draco's temple.
Lucius ran a soothing hand through Draco's hair as the woman healed him. "Severus is all of those things and more," he assured the woman. "He's a walking contradiction," he stated firmly. He felt the possessive feelings rise within him at the mention of Severus. He had always felt a bit possessive of his Arden, but the possessive feeling had grown more prominent in recent months.
"Well, I think that your boy will be alright now," she said confidently. "As I said, we just want to keep him for some observation to be sure. Due to the swelling in the brain we prefer to do as little magic as possible upon head injuries. There is still so much we don't know about the brain and so we fear the use of a foreign magic might cause more harm than good to the child. My last scan shows that Draco's own magic is responding, working to reduce the swelling," she said with a smile. "You have a very strong young Wizard here, Heir Malfoy."
Lucius smiled fondly at the praise for his only son and heir. He was very proud of Draco and he did enjoy it when others gave genuine compliments about Draco. He glanced at his son and noticed that Draco had a small smile curving his lips. Draco was not as vain as Lucius had been at his age, but he still enjoyed it when others gave him genuine praise. Draco was also clever enough to know when the praise was genuine or when others were just trying to worm their way closer to him to use him later. Lucius had not been so adept at the age of six but he was sure that Narcissa probably had been and it was Narcissa that spent a lot of time teaching Draco, Theodore, and Blaise about society. He wondered now if his wife had warned the boys that they must be careful in their friendships to find people who were truly loyal?
"Lucius," the smooth deep voice of Severus Snape beckoned him from the doorway. Just hearing the voice of his Arden relieved some of the tension that Lucius was still carrying over the horrible situation.
"Severus," Lucius said, and there was relief in his voice. "I am glad that you are here."
Severus entered the room properly then and came to stand beside Lucius. He put one hand on Lucius's shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze, a reminder that Severus had his back in all things. Then he ran his other hand through Draco's pale blond locks. "How are you Dragon?"
"I've been better," Draco murmured. "The healer has been really nice. She disinfected my cut and she says that my magic is working to take care of the rest," he told him.
Severus looked then to the Healer and she blushed under his dark eyed scrutiny. "I take it that you have not attempted to reduce the swelling with magic?"
"That is correct," the healer said regaining her composer. "I am sure you know the reasons why Lord Prince," she said using his title. At his nod, she continued. "Draco is a very strong Wizard. We do not have records of a child's magic responding this swiftly to fix a problem, well not a child this young. I am sure that we will see great things from young Mr. Malfoy as he grows."
Severus chuckled when he noticed Draco's blush. "You always did like to be praised," he murmured to the child. He then turned his attention back to the healer. "Thank you for taking care of him."
"It has been my pleasure," she said and then blanched. "Though I am so very sorry that it had to happen at all, of course. I do hope that something is done about the vile man who did this to him."
Lucius's smile was reminiscent of a wolf then. "He will not go unpunished, believe me."
She nodded nervously and then smoothed down the bedding around Draco, tucking him in and making him more comfortable. "I have to see to my rounds now, but I promise to return and check on you, Mr. Malfoy," she promised the boy.
"Thank you," Draco said.
She smiled at him and patted his hand and then looked to the other two men. "Please keep him awake for an hour longer, but then it will be alright to let him sleep. However, we'll need to wake him at least every two hours to make sure that he is not suffering any damage from the swelling in his brain," she informed them.
"Thank you," Lucius said as the healer made her way from the room. He then turned his attention back to Draco. "Do you still hurt Draco?"
Draco sighed. "Yes, but it really isn't as bad as before. It is no longer a sharp throbbing pain. Now it feels like a dull sort of ache. A soreness."
Lucius felt relieved that Draco's injury was not a debilitating one, but rage at the Auror who had dared to lay a hand on his son swept through him. He felt his magic and heard it sizzling for a moment as he fought to get it under his control. He looked upon his son and noted the wide gray eyes that were staring at him. Lucius shook his head to clear it and then glanced at Severus in question.
"Your magic was sizzling and crackling," Severus said from his position beside him. "I don't think Draco has ever had the pleasure of seeing you truly angry about something before."
Severus then turned his attention to Draco. "This is a small taste of what your father can be like if he is angry and allows his magic to slip the leash," he said gently. "This is one reason why your father is feared by many."
"What are the other reasons?" Draco asked curiously. His Uncle Severus was not always so open to explaining things like this to him. It was a golden opportunity, one that Draco intended to take advantage of.
"I'll tell you when you are older," Lucius said in an attempt to end the conversation.
Severus eyed him for a moment but then slowly nodded. "You'll learn in a few months, Dragon," he promised the boy. The look he gave Lucius after that pronouncement told Lucius that his victory was only temporary.
Severus believed that sheltering Draco too much would only make the boy more vulnerable to the enemies of the Malfoy family. Lucius knew that Severus was not wrong in his belief. Draco and the other children needed to be wary of their enemies. He and Narcissa had often discussed it and then dithered on when they would begin to educate them on how most of Britain viewed them. Draco already knew that many accused him of being a Death Eater. Lucius had shown him his bare arm and promised him that he had never bowed down before the Dark Lord.
The Malfoy's had managed to remain free of service to the Dark Lord, but just barely. He had wanted them. The Malfoy power would have been a great boon to his cause. The Malfoy name was synonymous with wealth and power. The power was not just the magical might that each Malfoy managed to possess. It was their alliances, their many political ties and business ventures that not only turned a monetary profit but gained them access to people, places, and secrets.
The Malfoy family had been courted by the self-styled Dark Lord Voldemort and by Albus Dumbledore. Lord Voldemort had wanted them to join his ranks of Death Eaters and use all that they were for his cause. Albus Dumbledore had wanted the exact same thing. He had wanted them to throw their lot in with him, serve him. Abraxas had refused to bow down to either man.
Malfoys bow to no one.
It was an old phrase within the family. An unofficial family motto of sorts. It had been passed down since Armand Malfoy had used his magic to calm the waters of the Channel so that William the Bastard and his many Knights, retainers, and infantry could cross from Normandy to England. Armand had been granted land in Wiltshire for his services, the land that Malfoy Manor now stood upon.
Voldemort would have wanted total submission. Albus Dumbledore would not have outwardly asked for such submission, but he would have desired it and when the Malfoy's would have refused to give it then Dumbledore would have begun to plot against them. Dumbledore would not trust those that did not toe the line. His followers could question him, but once he put his foot down then they must obey him. Abraxas hated Albus Dumbledore. He never could have followed the man. Lucius felt the same. He had seen the way the Headmaster had treated the students while he was at school. The Headmaster had his favorites, all Headmaster's do, but few in the history of Hogwarts had doted upon their favorites the way that Albus Dumbledore had done. Lucius had very little respect for Albus Dumbledore due to that. Slytherin House had been treated as though they were already evil Death Eaters. He had heard Albus Dumbledore and his cohorts in the Wizengamot murmur about Slytherin's and how they just could not be trusted. Lucius knew that many of the Slytherin's in the three years ahead of him had joined Voldemort, and of those, the majority had done so because they despised people like Dumbledore; who would treat them like criminals when they had not committed crimes.
Lucius had thought it altogether sad that in the end they had bought into what Albus and his ilk had said about them all along. Did the fools not see that they were just proving those men and women, right?
Lucius often worried about what his son and his wards' school years were going to be like. Albus Dumbledore was a very popular figure in society. He was considered a beloved Headmaster, even though he had decimated the curriculum at Hogwarts and he had pushed for a ban upon the old holidays. Instead Albus wished for the children to only celebrate a few Muggle Holidays such as Halloween, Christmas, and Valentine's Day. Furthermore, the Headmaster had already shown a tendency to favor his old House, Gryffindor, and to mistreat the children of Slytherin House.
It didn't help matters that Horace Slughorn was the Slytherin Head of House. The man was an ineffective Head of House because he cared far more about cultivating his own collection of students to mooch off later. He enjoyed showing off his collection of people. He was a collector of people, but if he could find no real use for you then he would not bother with you. This had certainly been true of Slughorn regarding Severus. Despite Severus being such a prodigy in Potions, a certified genius at the fine art of potions making, Horace had ignored Severus for most of his time at Hogwarts. He had refused to help Severus or take his side in any disputes between Severus and the self-styled Marauders. Slughorn finally began to pay attention to Severus during his final year at Hogwarts, but the reason was because he had learned that Severus was Lucius's Ardenvraar. He had also wanted Severus to apprentice under him. What he had really wanted was for Severus to act as his slave, brewing all of the potions that Slughorn didn't want to waste his precious time brewing. Even now Severus was brewing the potions for Hogwarts Hospital Wing. He had been contacted by Madame Poppy Pomfrey, the Hogwarts Hospital Matron. She had implored Severus to brew potions for her for a fee because she couldn't trust Slughorn to do it any longer.
Lucius frowned at that. Hogwarts needed to be cleansed before he would allow his children to go there. Their curriculum needed an overhaul and the Professor's needed to be put under review to determine if they should be permitted to remain at their posts. If only he could make such a thing happen.
It was time that he fought back against his detractors. The Malfoy family had been cleared of charges of being Death Eaters and of colluding with them and yet the rumors persisted that they were evil wizards who worshiped Voldemort and had worn his brand. It was disgusting how people refused to believe the truth. Well, Lucius would just have to shove it down their throats.
He would start with the Ministry and their precious Auror Department. An Auror accosted his son. He was not going to be the least bit lenient in his demands. He wanted the man out on his arse. Such a man had no right to be an Auror. He didn't care if the Auror was frustrated. He didn't care if the man had been angry or had somehow felt provoked. As an Auror the man should have been taught to have self-control. He was a servant of the peace. He was a servant of justice. His very job, the oath of his office, was to serve the people and chase down Dark Wizards. How could assaulting a six-year-old child ever amount to honoring his oath as an Auror? He would give the Ministry one chance to remove the man from his place in the Auror Corps. If they did not do so, he would then be going to the papers with the story.
'That is if Narcissa does not beat me to it,' he mused even as his wife entered the room accompanied by their three Wards. Lucius ran his ice-blue eyes over the Raven curls of Blaise and the dark blonde hair of Theodore and at last the pale white blond curls of Dane. His boys looked shaken by the events of the night.
"Were any of you harmed?" Lucius asked of the boys. Dane came to him and Lucius helped the boy to climb into his lap. Lucius felt protective warmth spike through him as Dane curled against him and laid his head upon his shoulder. The boy slowly shook his head in the negative and Lucius felt relief. His nephew had already been through too much. He was harmed by people that should have loved and protected him. Lucius didn't think he would ever be able to forgive his sister for what she had done to her youngest child.
It was Theodore who spoke once he had managed to climb upon Draco's hospital bed. The boy laid down beside Draco. "Ritz popped into my room and woke me. He sealed us into my room just before an Auror could try to enter it."
"Alvar did the same for me," Blaise said naming his own Personal-Elf. Each of their wards had an elf that had bonded specifically to them. The elves served as extra protection for the children. Ritz was Theodore's Elf, Alvar was Blaise's Elf, Lox was Dane's Elf, and Varbey was Draco's Elf.
Dane nodded his head to indicate that he too had been rescued by his Elf. "Lox saved me," he said simply.
Narcissa ran her fingers through Draco's hair as the boy fought against falling asleep. Lucius smiled gently at his son. "We will awaken you in an hour to check on you. Go ahead and sleep now Draco."
Draco shook his head still struggling against the lull of sleep. "Where is grandfather?"
"He was arguing with Madame Bones when I departed," she admitted. "He is not alone. His solicitor is with him," she sounded a bit too happy when she said this last.
Lucius was relieved that his father was handling things with Madame Bones. Now Lucius could wait to see if the Auror was let go, and if he was not then he would make sure that the papers learned that the Ministry didn't care that an Auror had abused a child.
He was sure that the acid toned Rita Skeeter would adore a story such as this. She always adored writing stories that painted prominent members of the Ministry in a bad light.
Yes, first he would attack the Ministry. Then he would find a way to strike hard and fast at Hogwarts current curriculum and staff. It would take time, but he was determined that if Hogwarts was not improved before his boys turned eleven, then they would not be attending. He would use his influence as the Heir Malfoy to encourage the other prominent members of society to have their children attend another school as well. Such a decline in attendance would be noticed by the Board of Governors and it would leak to the press. It would damage Dumbledore's Golden reputation.
His goal with Hogwarts was more long-term. It would take a while to truly see the results of his efforts. However, he did have one short term goal that he needed to achieve. He needed to learn the name of the person who told the Aurors to go to Malfoy Manor. Someone had complained of them, saying they had dark artifacts. Of course, they didn't have any Dark Artifacts in the Manor. There were children in the house after all. What if Draco had come across some cursed object when he was four? The idea that they would keep dark and dangerous items in the home where they were raising a child not yet of age to attend school, was just ludicrous.
The Malfoy family began to transport the items that the British Ministry of Magic had banned as Dark Artifacts to their other homes in France ages ago. Lucius had not yet married Narcissa when his father had removed the last of the dark artifacts from Malfoy Manor. The French Ministry of Magic was far more lenient on what was considered a Dark Artifact than the British Ministry was. Everything they had moved was in compliance with the current laws in France. The Auror's could search every nook and cranny of Malfoy Manor and they weren't going to find the dark artifacts they were searching for.
Who had informed the Auror's that the Malfoy's were in violation of the law and holding Dark Artifact's at the Manor? Whoever they were, they wanted to stir up trouble for his family. Who would gain from such a thing?
Two names immediately came to mind. Narcissa's cousin, Claire Zabini nee Rosier and his sister, Syndra Spungen nee Malfoy. Claire was currently feuding with Narcissa over Narcissa challenging Claire's right to custody of Blaise. Claire had dumped Blaise on their doorstep years ago and had left without ever returning. Narcissa had finally chosen to file for custody of Blaise and now Claire was furious with Narcissa over it. Of course, Claire had still refused to return to Britain to fight her for custody so it was a foregone conclusion that Claire was going to lose. Syndra was currently angry with the family for the removal of her youngest son, Dane. His father had chosen to remove Dane from her household and place him in the Malfoy household. Lucius had taken legal responsibility for him, making his nephew his ward. Syndra had sent him a howler promising him that he would regret taking her son from her. Was this Syndra's play at revenge?
If it was then he was truly disappointed in her. He didn't like that Draco had been hurt and the boys had been frightened, but it did give them opportunities. Lucius was a Slytherin through and through. He was nothing if not cunning.
Thank you for reading! For those who do not know who Dane is, please read Renewal - Virtue and Vice. That story takes place in the Renewal Universe and focuses more on the Malfoy family in the Renewal Universe. Next Chapter: Holland Park. In which we meet Meliora Burke as she watches over Estelle Burke, Hermione Granger, and Eleanor Branstone as they are introduced to Leonis Black.
