I don't own Hellsing or Harry Potter, and I'm not making any money from this.
It took several hours, but eventually the spirit of celebration began to wane and the party finally died down. Most of their fellow Gryffindors had gone to bed ages ago, but Constance and Hermione were still awake. They had to huddle up together on Hermione's bed with the curtains drawn and keep their voices down so as not to bother Lavender and Pavarti, but otherwise it wasn't so bad. The bushy haired girl had a talent for conjuring fires that could be carried around in jars, so they had plenty of light to see by. Long pieces of parchment and various books on magical law lay scattered over the comforter. Most of them were shut, but two or three were open to specific pages they found helpful.
"This is complete hogwash." Connie huffed as she read over a certain passage. "An animal defending itself against the threat of harm can only be used as a legal defense if the wizard's wand was drawn and readily visible. But you can hurt an animal a thousand different ways without a wand! Dragons attack people without wands all the time, so they should be excuted left and right according to this."
"The fact that you need a group of at least a dozen wizards working in unison to make spells effective probably has something to do with it." Hermione commented. "That, and some species are endangered now. We wouldn't have so many dragon products if they didn't kill some of them. They just have to be more careful about it." she paused with a deep frown on her face. "It's disgusting how backwards these magical laws are. Some of these date back to the 1600's and have never been changed. Most of them outright contradict each other. Someone needs to do a full read through and modernize them so figuring out what is and isn't allowed isn't so damn difficult."
Constance blinked and sat back to study her. Hermione rarely cursed and when she did, there was usually a good reason for it. But she had been very snippy and constantly getting into arguments with people since they'd come back to school.
"Are you okay?" she asked gently. "You've been... irritable lately."
The girl looked up from the book in her lap with a disgruntled expression. "I am not irritable." She saw one of Connie's brows go up and snapped the tome shut with a deep huff. "Alright, fine. Maybe I am. I just... have a lot on my plate right now. I have essays and piles of homework due in all my classes, this defense for Buckbeak that I've been working on for months and still haven't finished, all this stuff going on with Harry..."
Connie pressed her lips together. Indeed, that was a lot of stuff for one person to deal with. And it didn't even include her parents being murdered over Christmas break. Hermione still couldn't bring herself to talk about it and she continued to have nightmares. Constance was famous for being a light sleeper, so she usually heard the girl writhing about in bed and was able to shake her awake before she started screaming. But that constant mental bombardment had to affect a person after a while. Mihnea never acted like himself after having one of his 'nightmare spells'.
"Hermione, I think you need to take a break." she said slowly, knowing that she wasn't going to like hearing it. "Or slow down, at least. You've had to deal with a lot over the past few weeks and all this extra stress is going to drive you batty. I'd have ripped most of my hair out by now."
"And just how do you propose I do that?" Hermione challenged, looking miffed by the idea. "My class assignments have to be done. And I'm sorry, but I'm not going to stop working on this defense for Hagrid. I've put too much into it already, and I think I can be done with it in about a week..."
"I'm not talking about the defense and you know it." Constance interrupted. "You're taking so many classes at once that you have travel back in time to attend them all. I'm stressed out enough with nine classes and getting ready for the Potions OWL. There aren't enough hours in the day for you to do all this work! You aren't sleeping at night and you snap at anyone who talks to you for very long. If this keeps up, you're either going to drive yourself insane or make yourself so sick that you can't do anything at all. I understand being a high achiever and wanting to push yourself, but this is way too much."
The girl just stared at her. "You're actually suggesting that I drop out of my classes?" she demanded. "Absolutely not! Dropping out halfway through the school year is the same as giving up, and I do not give up."
Oh great, now she was going to start acting stubborn. "It's not giving up, Hermione." she insisted. "It's doing the best thing for your health. You don't even need all these classes! Take Muggle Studies, for example..."
Hermione immediately held up a hand to stop her. "Muggle Studies is one of my favorite classes, Connie." she said with a note of warning in her voice.
Constance sat back a bit. "I'm aware of that, but we both know you could take the Muggle Studies OWL or NEWT right now and get a perfect score. You don't need the class for that. And what about Divination? You complain about that class every chance you get! Why force yourself to do something you hate if it's not required? You could spend that time working on more important things."
Though it was painfully obvious she didn't like the thought of dropping any of her classes, Hermione did pause in consideration. She knew something sensible when she heard it. After a long stretch of silence, the girl sighed and cleared her throat.
"I'll... think about it." she conceeded at last. "But I make no promises."
Well, that wasn't exactly what she wanted to hear, but it was a step in the right direction. Maybe if she pondered it enough on her own, she'd come around. Connie gave her a small approving smile, then glanced around.
"Um... this is going to sound like it's coming out of nowhere, but where's Crookshanks?" she questioned. "Doesn't he sleep with you?"
"Usually he does, but he sometimes gets up in the middle of the night to go exploring." Hermione told her. "He's very independent and he gets annoyed if he's cooped up in one place for long. He'll come back eventually."
Hmm. Well, if Hermione wasn't worried, then it must be a normal thing for him. Since neither of them were tired and they didn't have to worry about classes the next day, they went back to pouring through the law books again. As they were discussing whether a creature acting in accordance with it's nature after a wizard ignored a clear warning could be used as an argument in court, they were interrupted by a sound that made them both freeze and stare at each other in horror.
It was a bloodcurdling scream of terror.
"What do you want? Get away from me!"
Good God in heaven, that sounded like Ron! Both girls went white in the face as they looked at each other, then grabbed their wands and tore open the bedcurtains. Lavender and Pavarti had both shot upright in bed at the sound and were peering around in nervous confusion, wondering what was going on. Hermione and Connie ignored them and bolted from the room to run up to the boys dormitories. As they grew closer the shouts grew louder, as if the other boys had woken up and were fearful themselves. They clambered up the stone staircase in their flannel pajamas and bare feet, then skidded to a halt at the room Harry and Ron shared with Seamus and Neville. The door was ajar and when Hermione shoved it fully open, they both gasped at what they saw inside.
A tall, thin man garbed in a dirty prison uniform and ratty looking coat was standing over Ron with a wand in one hand and a large, gleaming knife in the other. The ginger haired boy had shoved himself back to press himself against the headboard of the bed. His face was ashen and he was trembling in fear, his wand on the bedside table too far away for him to reach before the man could hex him. Seamus and Neville were both awake, but too shocked by the vision before them to react. Harry was crouched down on the floor on the other side of his bed with his wand gripped tightly in his hand, as if he had woken up, grabbed the strip of wood, then rolled out onto the floor to give himself some cover. The man had his back turned, focusing on Harry as if figuring out how to proceed, but the creak of the door made him whirl around to face the girls.
Connie had seen too many wanted posters and pictures in the Daily Prophet not to recognize him. It was Sirius Black. His dark hair was dirty and stringy, falling messily into his eyes which were blazing with intent. His pale, waxy skin stretched tightly over his features, giving him an almost skeletal appearance. There wasn't time to feel fear or even to think. The only thing Connie knew was that this man had invaded her house dormitory and was after one of her friends. The moment he turned and saw them, she and Hermione both threw out their arms and pointed their wands at him. Harry, too, jumped up from his crouch behind the bed and without meaning to, they all simultaneously fired off spells. Black's eyes widened and he ducked before being struck by them, causing the spells to collide in the air with an explosion of sound and multicolored sparks.
Realizing that the entire house was awakening and he would soon be overpowered by their numbers, Black dropped his shoulder and ran toward the girls, shoving them back before they could cast another spell. They both fell back against the wall and the man shot past them to dash toward the stairs that led to the common room. Refusing to allow him to escape, Connie jumped back up to her feet and gave chase, noting that Harry and Hermione weren't far behind her. Groups of students were coming out of their rooms and sticking their heads out through doorways, wondering what the hell was going on. Some screamed and retreated when they saw the dark wizard run past them, while others just froze and stared in shock with their mouths hanging open. When Constance reached the top of the stairs that led down to the common room, she caught sight of Black about halfway down. Rushing three steps down to give herself a better view, she lifted her arm and shot off another spell.
"Stupefy!"
A jet of crimson light shot toward Black. It looked like it was about to hit him right between the shoulders, but the wizard threw himself at the opposite side of the staircase to avoid it. Constance cursed under her breath furiously. This would be so much simpler if she could just shoot him, but it was impossible in the dorms with so many people around. She was preparing herself to fire off another incantation, but the man whipped around and pointed his own wand at her.
"Expelliarmus!" he shouted.
The girl's eyes widened in surprise as the spell struck her square in the chest. There had been no time to move out of the way. It hit before she even saw it. Connie's wand felt like it was ripped from her hand and the sheer force of the magic enveloping her body made her falter and stumble. She wasn't really sure what happened after that. One minute she was standing at the top of the stairs and the next she was doubled over, tumbling down them. The world tilted on its axis and she couldn't tell which way was up, down, or sideways. The familiar sight of the common room floor came into view and she instinctively threw out an arm to break her fall. She collided with the stone floor with a sickening thud and heard a loud snap. A bright, white light flooded her vision as hot, burning pain shot through her right arm to fill her entire body. Constance heard an anguished scream ring out and wondered who it could be. It took a few seconds, but she finally recognized the voice as being her own. She had no idea it was possible for her to scream that loudly. The girl tried to push herself up, but her arm was twisted at an impossible angle underneath her and the smallest bit of movement sent shockwaves of pain through her senses. Ahead, Black darted through the portrait hole and out into the main part of the castle. Connie swore up and down she saw a large, dark shape appear out of nowhere and tackle the man to the ground before the painting fully closed. Did she really see that, or was it just wishful thinking? The vision only lasted a second and the portrait swung shut and blocked the outside world from view.
"Connie!" Hermione and Harry's voices rang out - the girl's in an ear-splitting shriek.
Constance could only listen as a chorus of heavy footsteps dashed down the stairs toward her. Harry's feet came into view first, then both he and Hermione dropped to their knees to get a look at her.
"Oh God, that was a long fall..." Hermione muttered anxiously. "Connie, can you hear me?"
What the devil was she asking that for? "I can hear you." she said, though her voice was strangled and had an odd rattle to it that made her uneasy. She felt a hand press against her back and let out a loud hiss. Even that tiniest bit of pressure was extra weight that she couldn't stand. "Don't touch me!"
"Okay, okay!" Hermione exclaimed and the hand on her back disappeared. "Just... don't move."
From what little she could see with her face laying on the ground, Harry looked pissed. He began pushing himself up like he was going to run off.
"I'm going to kill him." he said in a rather scary tone of voice.
Hermione grabbed his arm before he could get up to his feet. "No, Harry! We have to stay here! He's done too much for you to go after him by yourself."
Overhead, it sounded like everyone in the dormitory was awake and shouting at each other in an attempt to learn what just transpired. It wasn't long before masses of other students made their way down the staircase too. It was strange, being in a position where she had to identify people by the way their feet looked. And being stuck in one place bearly able to breathe and feeling like she'd been run over by a truck while dozens of people were staring wasn't the least bit pleasant. Ginny wound up running over at some point, followed not long after by George - who promptly started freaking out about her laying on the floor like she were dead. Connie could hear Percy yelling at everyone to calm down as well as all her friends chattering at each other about what to do... it was complete chaos and she couldn't make sense of anything.
Suddenly, a shrill whistle cut through the air. "Quiet!" Professor McGonagall's voice rang out, bringing all other sound to a screeching halt. "Everyone get back out of the way this instant!"
The masses of bare and slippered feet departed to give her an opening and McGonagall drew in a sharp breath and ran over, dropping to her knees. "Oh, Miss Stryker..." she said in a low voice, then seemed to turn toward the others. "What happened?"
Harry quickly explained everything he had witnessed, from waking up to find Black standing over Ron with a knife, to the girls rushing in with their wands drawn. Hermione then broke in and told her about their attempt to chase him down and Connie being hit by a spell that made her fall down the stairs.
"We haven't tried to move her, Professor." Hermione said, sounding like she was about to start crying. "I didn't know what to do but if her spine was injured, I didn't want to risk making it worse..."
"My back is fine." Constance muttered from the floor. "It's my arm. And it hurts to breathe..."
Everyone seemed to have forgotten she hadn't been knocked unconsious and suddenly all attention was on her. McGonagall asked if she could feel her legs or move her toes. She replied that could and upon wiggling her toes and moving her left leg a bit to prove she wasn't paralyzed, the older woman decided it would be safe to help her up. Gritting her teeth in preparation for the agony ahead, Connie used her good arm to push herself upright while McGonagall assisted by keeping a firm grip on her sides to help her remain steady. The moment she managed to get into a sitting position, it became clear that her arm wasn't the only injury she had to worry about. There was a frothy, reddish-pink pool on the floor where her face had been laying, and when she attempted to breathe deeply, she coughed and tasted blood in her mouth. Her right arm looked like it had been snapped clean in two. The bones didn't break through the skin, but they jutted out enough that you could clearly see where the break was by looking.
"Oh, sweet Jesus." McGonagall muttered to herself, then pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the blood from her mouth. She allowed George and Hermione to take over keeping an eye on her while she stood up. "Where is Ron now?"
"He's still up in his room." Fred's voice called out from somewhere, holding a worried note within it. "He's not doing too good either. It doesn't look like he's hurt, but he's gone all sweaty and shaky and we can't get him to say anything."
The older woman frowned and nodded. "Bring him down, if you would please." she instructed. "I'll take them to the hospital wing. Percy, I'm putting you in charge. Do a full head count and make sure no one leaves the dormitory. No exceptions."
She didn't normally use students' first names, but given that there were a whole host of Weasleys in her house, it was the only way for them to know which one she was talking to. As Fred ran off to collect his younger brother, Constance hissed in pain again and snatched the hankerchief away from Hermione.
"Will you stop it!" she snapped. "Keep brushing against my arm and I swear I'll deck you in the face!"
Hermione's eyes widened and she quickly scooted back. "I'm sorry!" she said.
Connie knew she was only trying to help, but damn it, this hurt worse than anything she'd ever felt before and her fretting and bumping into her all the time was only making it worse. But shouting at her like that didn't turn out to be such a good idea. She doubled over into a coughing fit, her chest aching with each strangled breath. George held her hair back out of the way so she wouldn't cough up blood all over it, then gently pulled her over to rest her head against his shoulder. It took a while, but Fred and Ginny managed to get an extremely shaky Ron down the stairs to join them. His face was pale and coated with a thin sheen of sweat. The moment he saw Connie sitting on the floor with George holding her and wiping blood off her face, he froze and began shaking even worse.
"Oh, bleeding hell..." he murmured in a squeaky voice.
"Please, remain calm, Mr. Weasley." McGonagall told him gently. "We're going to have both of you looked at. Now, Mr. Potter, if you would, please assist Ron. George, you and Miss Granger help Miss Stryker. We have a long way to go and we don't need anyone falling out."
The three of them nodded in understanding and Harry slid one of Ron's arms over his shoulders to help him stay steady as he walked, while George and Hermione stood and carefully helped Connie get up from the floor. He stepped over to her uninjured side and she had to lift her good arm and place it around him so he could put his arm around her waist. Hermione stayed half a step behind her with her hands on her back - she supposed so she and George would be able to safely lower her down if she fainted or or something.
As they were preparing to leave, Ginny anxiously ran forward, ringing her hands. "Can't I go too, Professor?" she pleaded, looking at Ron. "He's my brother!"
"And I assure you, he will be well taken care of." McGonagall assured her. "But I can't escort an entire herd of people about the castle. Stay here, where it's safe." she looked away from the girl to find one of her other siblings. "Fred, keep your sister with you. I'll send word back as soon as we know something."
Fred nodded seriously and pulled Ginny back to stand with him. With that, everyone else moved back out of the way and they moved as a group toward the portrait hole. McGonagall instructed Harry, Hermione, and George to keep their wands out and at the ready, then retrieved her own and led them out into the castle.
As Mihned followed the scent from Ravenclaw tower, he mentally poured through all of his options. With it being inside the castle, the entire situation would have to be carefully handled. If this mystery person he was tracking turned out to be dangerous, he would have to disarm and restrain them so they could be handed over to the right people. Not that he wouldn't be able to get away with ripping someone to pieces in a secluded stretch of hallway, but dealing with the dead body afterward would be a royal pain in the ass. Not to mention all the steps he'd have to take to ensure that a murder couldn't be traced back to him...
All of these thoughts came to a halt when he realized where the smell was leading him. He was on a direct route to Gryffindor tower and the closer he got, the stronger the scent became. His insides knotted up with worry and Mihnea increased his pace. When he reached the staircase leading up to the dormitories proper, he froze. There were sounds coming from up there that didn't belong. There was some kind of fight going on. Then a loud, ear-splitting howl of pain rang out and the smell of blood drifted through the air. Mihnea's eyes narrowed in fury and he felt his teeth and claws lengthen. It was Connie's voice he heard and her blood that was filling his nostrils. In that moment, every consideration of what to do disappeared. If someone had laid their filthy hands on his cousin, then they were going to die. End of discussion.
Filled to the brim with a new level of intent and urgency, Mihnea bolted up the stairs. He arrived at the entrance of Gryffindor house just as Sirius Black ran out. Not wasting a second, he leapt forward and tackled the man to the ground. Black hadn't expected anyone to be there and went down without much trouble. However, once his surprise wore off, he fought violently for his freedom - pulling, kicking, and punching at every opportunity. As they bitterly scuffled on the floor, Mihnea had to admit to being struck by the wizard's resilience. He had a lot more fight in him than you'd expect from someone who looked so malnourished. Finally, Mihnea succeeded in flipping Black over and clamped a clawed hand tightly around his throat. He leaned forward to bore his eyes into his opponent's.
"I hope you enjoy pain, because you're about to get a lot of it." he growled.
Black went still, his grey eyes widening and his nostrils flaring as he realized he was dealing with a lot more than just a student. If he had done anything to Connie that came close to Mihnea's imagination, he didn't want to simply kill the man. Oh no. He wanted the bastard to suffer in the worst possible way. Draw it out until he screamed and begged for what he deserved. Then he'd kill him. Grinning like mad at the new scent of fear pouring off of him, Mihnea grabbed one of Black's arms and gave it a solid twist - snapping it free from the shoulder socket. The wizard howled and intensified his efforts to get away. Mihnea just tightened his grip and was about to start breaking off his fingers one by one when an orange shape bounded out of nowhere and attacked his leg, sinking claws and sharp teeth through the fabric of his trousars and into flesh.
Mihnea snarled between grit teeth and looked back to see what it was. Hermione Granger's cat had firmly attached himself to his leg and was gnawing at him like his life depended on it. What the fucking hell was it doing? The distraction was momentary, but it gave Black the opportunity to wrench his good arm free and land a solid punch to his face. The force of the blow was enough to break his nose and Mihnea was so stunned that his grip loosened. The wizard managed to jerk himself free and jumped up from the floor to take off running. With a furious bellow, Mihnea leap up as well and violently shook his leg to get the animal off of him. A particularly strong kick sent Crookshanks soaring through the air. When the feline disappeared into the shadows and hit a wall with a thud, Mihnea bolted off in the direction Black had gone. He was back to tracking the bastard by scent again - though, with the numerous wounds he had inflicted, the task was considerably easier. He followed him downstairs and through corridors, somehow always remaining just far enough behind that he couldn't catch a glimpse of his target. This man knew Hogwarts well enough to know exactly what to do to stay ahead of him. After a long chase through what felt like the entire bleeding castle, Black's scent diverted toward a door on the bottom floor that opened out onto the Southern side of the grounds. He followed it outside, rounded a corner, and found the trail stopped cold.
Black had vanished.
"God fucking damn it!" Mihnea shouted.
How did he do that? This was the second goddamn time he'd escaped from him without explanation, and it shouldn't have been possible. He was so pissed at himself and the situation that he slammed his fist into the exterior wall, making the stone crack and his knuckles bleed. Thinking the man couldn't have gone far even if he did have some fantastical method of covering his tracks, Mihnea began stalking around the castle. He searched every inch of space for anything out of place. Something to point him in the right direction. Each passing moment made him grow more and more agitated. There wasn't a damn thing to be found. Not a single, tiny clue as to where the wizard had gone.
After picking his way through every available nook and cranny - everywhere a person could hide and a few places they couldn't - Mihnea doubled back with the intention of doing a full search of the Dark Forest. But when he dashed around the the nearest corner, he wound up nearly running over someone who threw a monkey wrench into his plans.
"Mihnea?" Lupin questioned, grabbing his arms to keep them both from falling over. "Good God boy, is that you? What are you doing out here? And what the devil happened to you?"
Mihnea had to stop and shake himself. "Professor Lupin?" he asked in surprise, then grabbed the man with a tight grip of his own. "Professor, I had him! I had the snivelling bastard in my hands and he got away! Sirius Black broke into Gryffindor tower and I caught him as he ran out. But he managed to get away from me and I followed him down here..."
Lupin held up his hands to stop him. "I know what happened. The teachers are searching the castle and the heads of houses are checking their dormitories as we speak." he told him. He then put his hands on either side of the boy's face and gave him a firm shake. "Mihnea, you have got to calm down." he hissed. "If anyone other than me saw you like this, your school career would be over. Do you have any idea what you look like right now?"
He imagined he looked worse than a demon that had clawed its way up from the lowest pits of hell. Not liking it but knowing the man was right, Mihnea closed his eyes and tried to focus on taking deep breaths to calm himself. As he was working on bringing his temper to heel, Lupin let go of him and took a step back.
"Now, would you care to explain what you thought you were doing?" he asked, sounding more disappointed than anything else. "If you knew Black was in the castle, you should have told someone. It isn't your responsibility to hunt him down yourself."
Mihnea's eyes snapped open. "The hell it's not!" he snarled, instinctively drawing back his lips to show his fangs. "The bastard hurt Connie!"
"And you're angry." Lupin said calmly. "I understand that. You have every right in the world to be upset right now. But you cannot let your emotions get the best of you. How do you intend to explain how you knew exactly where Black was? How you could follow him when no one else can? You're smarter than this, Mihnea! I know you love your your cousin like a sister and would fight to the death for her. That's a very brave, admirable quality. But if you want to protect her, the last thing you should be doing is putting yourself in a position where you could be found out and separated from her." He paused to take a breath and studied him. "Now, once you've gotten yourself under control and look normal again, we'll go to the hospital wing. I understand that's where Constance and her friends are at the moment. I'll go ahead and warn you that by the time we get there, Professor Snape will be aware that you aren't in your dormitory. It would be in your best interests to start coming up with a story to explain all of this - and it had better be a damn good one because Severus is a man who isn't easily satisfied."
Mihnea stared at him for a long time, then sniffed and glared at the wall to his left. He didn't agree with the idea of chasing Sirius Black down being the wrong thing to do. (His father would string him up and beat the hell out of him if he hadn't.) But... he would admit he hadn't been thinking clearly and had made mistakes. Hell, Professor Lupin had gotten so close that he ran right into him without noticing he was there. That alone proved he hadn't been paying attention to his surroundings as well as he should have.
It took a few minutes of deep breathing exercises, but eventually Mihnea began to feel more like himself. Lupin looked him over carefully to make sure his fangs and claws were gone and his eyes back to their normal color, then put a hand on his shoulder to lead him back inside.
Someone really needed to come up with a better way of reaching the hospital wing because walking just wasn't cutting it. The trek from Gryffindor tower was a long one and Constance found it harder and harder to breathe as more time went on. Eventually, she was coughing and sputtering so much that George had to pick her up and carry her bridal style so they could keep moving. Connie had never known he was strong enough to carry her that way. It would have been nice if she hadn't been in so much pain.
Madam Pomfrey had always been a strict, yet kind hearted woman in the past, but now it seemed like her personal section of Hogwarts was a chamber of horrors and the mediwitch herself had been designated to act as her torturer. Perhaps that was an overdramatic exaggeration, but that's certainly how it felt. The woman was wide awake when they arrived and upon taking in Connie's condition, immediately set to work. Since Ron was well enough to walk about on his own, she decided that he could wait. After getting them set up on cots arranged next to each other, she performed a thorough examination. The injury to her arm was obvious, but Pomfrey explained that her difficulty breathing and coughing up blood was due to a broken rib puncturing her lung. Spells had to be performed to snap the bones into their proper places (which was damn near worse than having them broken in the first place), then Connie had to drink down blood replenishing and pain potions along with something to accelerate her body's reabsorption of the fluid filling up her punctured lung.
"It's going to be uncomfortable for a while." the woman told her with a frown. "These things take time to correct, but you'll feel better in a few hours. In the meantime, there's not much to be done but grin and bear it, I'm afraid. Try not to get too excited or you'll fall into another coughing fit."
Connie just blinked at her. So she was going to be laying there wheezing like she had an elephant sitting on her chest for the next God knows how many hours? She was expecting better news than that. But then, she supposed she should be thankful not to be recieving a death sentence. Falling down a long flight of stone steps could have done much worse.
Once she was looked over and stabilized, Madam Pomfrey turned her attention to Ron. He was pretty much fine aside from being in shock over waking up to find a dark wizard about to kill him. She gave the boy a calming draught to bring him back to his senses. All the while, Professor McGonagall was flitting about like a bumblebee, casting nonverbal patronuses in the shape of housecats in every direction. What they were for, none of them had a clue. There weren't any dementors around to guard against. After a while, it appeared she must have been using them as some form of communication with the rest of the staff because the hospital doors opened to admit Dumbledore - closely followed by Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Connie's dad.
"Ron?" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed when she caught sight of her son. Harry moved to get out of the way as she rushed over to pull him into her arms. "Oh, my baby, are you hurt?" she asked, then saw George and leaned forward to grab his arm. "And Georgie! You're covered in blood! What..."
"It's okay, mom." he interrupted in a tone meant to calm her down. "None of this is mine."
Connie turned her head sideways on the pillow and frowned at the large bloodstains on his shirt. "Oh George, I'm so sorry." she wheezed. "I coughed all over you..."
"Be quiet, Con." he told her. "I don't care."
He said that, but she still didn't like the idea of bleeding all over him like that. The girl turned her eyes to look over his shoulder at her father quickly coming over. When she saw him, Hermione rose from the opposite side of the cot to give him her space.
"Daddy." Connie said, happy to see him, but confused by his presence. "You're here."
"Of course we're here." Edmund said as he sat down. "When Dumbledore told us what happened, we weren't about to sit at home twiddling our thumbs." he brushed his fingers through her hair and worriedly looked her over. "Jesus, you're a mess. What happened?"
He said 'we' instead of 'I'. The girl knew full well that hadn't been a meaningless slip of the tongue. That meant her mother was in the castle as well - probably staying out of sight until it was safe to come see her. Constance opened her mouth to answer his question, but Hermione beat her to it.
"Sirius Black hit her with a spell that made her fall down the stairs." she said in a rush of breath. "Harry and I were right behind her and we both saw it."
Harry heard what they were talking about and came over, his face a shade paler than usual. "I tried to grab her but it all happened so fast..."
Edmund held up his hands and told them it was fine. They weren't to be blamed for anything. George then glanced at Connie and cleared his throat. "Her arm is snapped and Madam Pomfrey says she broke a rib and punctured a lung. She's been coughing blood up everywhere. We got about halfway down here before she couldn't do it anymore. I had to carry her the rest of the way."
Her father stared at him, then set his jaw in irritation and began looking around for anyone wearing something to indicate they were a medical person. He finally picked out the medi-witch quietly giving the Headmaster a report. "If she has a punctured lung, then why doesn't she have a chest tube?" he demanded.
Madam Pomfrey blinked at him in confusion. "A what?" she asked. "I've never heard of such a thing! It must be some sort of muggle remedy." she shook her head and fell into the reassuring mode she used when dealing with a student's parents. "I assure you, sir, if I thought for a second that her injuries were beyond my abilities, I would have sent her to St. Mungos for treatment. It looks much worse than it is."
Edmund didn't look very happy, but Connie told him that she did feel a bit better than she had when she first came in. The potions were just slow in taking effect. She didn't much like the idea of going to a magical hospital anyway, no matter how bad it was. There was no telling what they would do and her dad and aunt always made out like muggle medicine was generally better when it came to more serious injuries. McGonagall noticed his expression and came over to have a word.
"You're Connie's father?" she asked.
He nodded in response. "I am." he said, then extended his hand. "Edmund Stryker."
The woman gave him a brisk nod and took his hand. "Minerva McGonagall." she said. "Your daughter is one of my Gryffindors. I and the heads of the other houses look after our students as if they were our own. I promise you we are doing everything in our power to get this mess sorted out." she then straightened and turned to address Dumbledore. "I've notified the other house heads and sent the rest of the staff to search the castle."
"Very good." the man replied, inclining his head. "Have we any news on how Black managed to enter the Gryffindor dormitories?"
"He had a password." a familiar voice declared. Everyone turned their gaze toward the door to see Professor Snape striding in, his black robes flowing around him in an intimidating manner. "The knight guarding the entrance claims that Black had a scroll of parchment with him bearing numerous passwords. He was forced to admit him when he read off the correct one."
How the bleeding hell did Sirius Black get a list of passwords for their dorm? Hermione's face went ashen.
"Oh, Neville..." she said quietly, then shook her head. "Neville had a list of passwords! He took to writing them down because the knight changes them so often and he can never remember them."
Dumbledore studied her consideringly. "You're sure of that, Miss Granger?"
"Positive." the girl replied. "I'm sure because he was rather upset the other day and mentioned it had gone missing."
Snape responded to the news with a sneer. "Trust Longbottom to be ineffectual at remembering something as simple as a password."
The Headmaster shot a chiding look in his direction, then cleared his throat. "Have all of the students been accounted for?"
The Potions Master squared his shoulders. "Everyone has been ordered to remain in their dormitories until further notice." he replied. "Mr. Weasley reports that all Gryffindor students are present aside from the ones brought here. Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout can account for the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, and all of my Slytherins are where they should be... save for one." he gave Dumbledore a meaningful look. "I'll leave it to you to guess who."
Oh Jesus. Connie thought. That shape she had seen attacking Black before the portrait closed hadn't been her imagination after all. Mihnea had been there. She felt her father squeeze her hand in a silent warning not to say anything. There was really no point to it because everyone in the room knew exactly who Snape was referring to. Her cousin had a standing reputation amongst the staff for his sneaking about at night, even if they were never able to prove it. Professor McGonagall worriedly pressed a hand to her chest and opened her mouth to speak, but was stopped before any sound came out.
"Not to worry, Professor Snape." Lupin's voice called out from the doorway. "All students accounted for."
Professor Lupin walked through the hospital doors with his hand on Mihnea's shoulder. Constance's eyes grew wide and she forced herself up into a sitting position when she saw him. He had a bloody rag pressed to his nose and his hair and clothes were messy - like he'd been in a hell of a fight. Her cousin froze the moment he entered, as if sensing the presence of something that surprised him, then looked over at Connie's cot.
"Um... hi, uncle Ed." he said.
Edmund inclined his head in acknowledgement, then Mihnea turned his eyes toward Constance herself and inhaled sharply. She wasn't really sure how awful she looked to others, but from the furious glint in his eye, it had to be pretty bad. Professor Snape looked back and forth between Mihnea and her father for a moment, then briskly walked over and grabbed the boy's arm to drag him away from Lupin - giving the impression that he didn't like the idea of the DADA teacher being so close to him.
"Mr. Bassarab." he said in that slippery, intent voice of his. "What have you been doing?"
Mihnea looked at his head of house blandly. "I think you already know what I've been doing, professor."
Snape narrowed his eyes, looking like he wanted to give him a fierce tongue lashing but wouldn't do it with an audience around. His grip on his arm tightened. "Explain yourself."
Constance could see that her cousin wasn't happy about being manhandled so much, but he was doing a rather good job of keeping his temper in check. Taking a deep breath, Mihnea pulled his arm free from the Potion Master's hold and began his story. He had been bored and unable to sleep, so he decided to go up to the Astronomy Tower to do some observations in preparation for his Astrology OWL. He happened to take a route that passed near Gryffindor tower and heard the sound of a fight and Connie screaming. He ran up to see what was happening and caught Black as he was running out. Mihnea tried to subdue him, but the wizard punched him in the face and escaped. He attempted to follow, but lost track of him outside the castle. Everyone listened intently and when he finished, Lupin cleared his throat to draw their attention to him.
"We happened to run into each other outside and I convinced him to give up the chase and come back here." the man informed them.
Snape's eyes narrowed at him in suspicion. "And just what were you doing outside, Lupin?" he asked snidely. "Taking a nice, moonlit stroll, were you?"
The jab was obviously meant to taunt him about being a werewolf. Professor Lupin squared his shoulders and calmly clasped his hands in front of him. "As a matter of fact, I was, Professor Snape. I am rather fond of my moonlit walks, as you and every other teacher is aware." he said. "And it was incredibly fortunate that I was because I wouldn't have found Mihnea otherwise. I shudder to think of what would have happened if I hadn't bee..." he suddenly stopped and sniffed at the air. "What is that smell?"
The odd question and his sudden shift in mood was incredibly confusing. In the span of a second, Lupin had gone from quietly defending himself to looking around like a starving man that had just caught the scent of a delectable meal. His eyes were alight and he practically started drooling.
Dumbledore put a hand to his mouth and coughed. "I'm afraid I felt a bit peckish this evening and requested that the house elves prepare a new recipe I discovered the other day." he told him nonchalantly. "Quite an extraordinary dish and delicious in the most sinful way. Remind me to let you try it some time. The smell must be all over my robes after my being in the kitchens for so long." He caught sight of Snape and McGonagall both giving him odd looks - obviously unable to smell anything themselves - and clapped his hands together with intent. "But we have more important things to be doing at the moment. Severus and Minvera, I would like you to please inform the rest of the staff to call off their search and remain inside the castle until further notice. Send word along to Hagrid that he is to come inside as well."
Professor McGonagall's mouth dropped open in disbelief. "Call off the search?" she questioned. "If Mr. Bassarab is correct, then Black may still be on the grounds!"
Snape stepped forward as well. "Headmaster, if I may, we could organize into groups of three or four to search the perimeter..."
The Headmaster held up a hand to stop him. "I'm well aware of the normal protocol for searching for intruders, Severus. However, given our lack of success in the past, I find it highly unlikely that we would find anything. All staff members are to return to the castle and everyone is to remain inside until I say otherwise." he said in a perfectly controlled, calm tone of voice. "Do I make myself clear?"
The professors all exchanged that confused look amongst themselves again. McGonagall was so disgruntled with his order that she walked up to him and put her hand on his arm.
"I don't like this, Albus!" she hissed at him.
Dumbledore gave her a small, sideways glance. "I'm not asking you to like it, Minerva." he told her. "I assure you, I have my reasons. Trust me."
The woman was still visibly upset by the idea, but pressed her lips together in a firm line and threw up her hands in concession. Together, she and Snape left the room to do as they were told. The Headmaster then turned to Lupin.
"Remus, I would like you to go to the Gryffindor dormitories to inform everyone of how Mr. Weasley and Miss Stryker are doing. I understand their other friends and family members are anxiously awaiting news. And then, if you would be so kind, make a stop at Ravenclaw tower. I believe Miss Lovegood would appreciate recieving word that Mr. Bassarab is alive and well."
The man shook his head to clear it, then nodded. "Of course, sir."
Professor Lupin took a brief moment to check with the others to see if they were alright, then turned to leave. Dumbledore had a quiet word with Madam Pomfrey, asking her to step out so he could speak to everyone privately. The woman agreed, and upon giving the pair under her watch a final look over and leaving out a selection of potions for Constance to drink at appointed times, left as well. Once they were entirely alone, the Headmaster drew his wand and waved it at the empty space next to Connie's bed - just behind where Hermione was standing. As if an invisibility cloak was jerked back, Connie's mother, aunt Syn, and Alucard all popped into existance. They had been there the entire time, but kept invisible under one of the man's disillusionment spells. Or... Integra and Syn had been at least. Alucard was capable of making himself invisible without any assistance.
Everyone gasped in shock at their appearance and Hermione did a quick, involuntary skip backward when she realized the No Life King had been so close behind her without her knowing. Integra stepped forward, rubbing at the top of her head as if she expected to find it covered in a sticky mess.
"You wizards have the strangest way of doing things." she declared. "I'm going to be feeling egg in my hair for the rest of the night."
"I do apologize, sir." Dumbledore told her sincerely. "I'm afraid no one has yet discovered a way around that unpleasant side effect."
The lady knight wrinkled her nose in distaste, while Syn cocked her head to the side and arched a brow.
" 'Delicious in the most sinful way', Dumbledore?" she asked, giving him a faint grin of amusement.
The man responded with an elegant lift of his shoulders and a meaningful smile of his own. "Given what I was referring to, it was the most appropriate thing I could think of." he told her.
No one else knew what the devil they were talking about, but Connie and Mihnea exchanged a look between themselves. Her poor cousin looked a bit distraught by the thought of the Headmaster referring to his mother's scent to one of his teachers that way. With Lupin being a werewolf, they should have known he'd have sensed it. Integra shot a look back at Syn, then focused on her daughter and strode forward. Edmund scooted over to provide room for her to sit on the bed as well. She studied Constance intently and reached out to brush a lock of hair out of her face.
"How are you, my girl?" she asked softly.
Seeing her mother look truly worried about something was rare, but Connie could tell that she was. Her face bore the same guarded, unreadable expression it usually held, but there was concern flickering in her blue eye.
"I'll be okay, mom." she replied. "It's just not very comfortable right now..."
"Well, I don't see why it would be." the knight said with a sniff. She took a moment to glance at her husband. "I know the people here know what they're doing, but I would feel much better if you were in a proper hospital."
George took her comment to mean a muggle hospital and leaned forward to reassure her. "Madam Pomfrey really is awesome at this stuff." he told her. "Playing Quiddich will do a number on a person with how often people get knocked off their brooms. And I figure being hit by a bludger is about the same as a muggle being shot with a cannon ball. She always has us on our feet and back to normal in a day or two. You'll see."
Integra looked up from Connie to peer at him. Hearing that seemed to make her feel better about the situation. She inclined her head in gratitude.
"Thank you, George."
He waved her off. "No problem." he said, then shot a look at Connie. "You had better not ever get into a duel with someone on the stairs again, and I mean it."
The girl blinked at him. Was he trying to give her orders now? And the way he did it... "So you'll put up with me hunting vampires and doing crazy things... as long as I don't get into any magical duels?" she asked, making sure she was hearing him correctly.
"On the stairs." George said, making it more specific. He shoved a finger into her face. "I don't give a damn about the rest, but no magic on staircases."
Mrs. Weasley overheard his use of a cuss word and looked away from Ron long enough to snap at him to watch his language. Constance found the entire thing so out of place that she giggled. Vampire hunting and illegal magic was fine, just as long as she didn't duel on the stairs. The giggle quickly transformed into a full blown laugh.
"George, you have the weirdest priorities I've ever heard of!" she said.
He gave her a small grin. "I thought that would make you feel bette..." his expression dropped and he waved his hands when she started coughing. "Merlin, don't do that!" he grabbed a towel and started scrubbing at her face, making her wrinkle her nose at him. "I can deal with anything else, but don't start with the blood and coughing again. It freaks me out."
Her parents just watched them, both seeming to find the display rather endearing in an odd sort of way. Meanwhile, a few feet away, Syn had pulled over a chair and got Mihnea to sit down so she and Alucard could have a look at him. As she petted at his hair, the vampire took his son's chin in hand and lifted it - forcing his face upward. Alucard's eyes narrowed for a moment, then he grabbed Mihnea's injured nose with his fingers and gave a hard tug on it. The snap of bones falling back into their proper places was loud enough to make everyone wince.
"Ow!" Mihnea exclaimed, throwing the rag up to catch the new fount of red that poured from his nostrils. "Jesus, dad, I just got it to stop bleeding!"
"Quit whining, boy." Alucard snapped at him. He roughly grabbed his face and forced his head up again. "The man who did this had better be in worse shape than you."
The words were spoken in a low growl and Mihnea blinked up at him. "Don't worry." he replied. "He is."
The vampire studied his face intently for several seconds, then let go. "Good." He reached into his red duster to retrieve a blood pack and dropped it into the boy's lap. "Drink."
Mihnea stared down at the bag, then looked around at everyone else in the room. He didn't like drinking blood when he had an audience. "Dad, I'm not hun..."
The No Life King leaned down to clamp his hands down on the arms of his chair and let out a low, warning growl from the back of his throat. "I said drink." he commanded. "Now."
Her cousin knew better than to argue with his father when he used that tone of voice of him. Flinching at the sound of it, Mihnea slumped his shoulders and did as he was told. Alucard sniffed in satisfaction and straightened to take a step back.
Harry watched the odd father/son display, then cleared his throat. "What are you guys doing here?" he asked. "Wouldn't it be dangerous if you were spotted?"
"There is no danger or threat too great to stop me from going somewhere when a member of my family is hurt. Especially my own child." Connie's mom told him. She shot a considering look in his direction. "But your concern is appreciated, Mr. Potter."
Dumbledore had chosen to stay back and allow them to have their time together, but Harry's question caused him to get involved with the conversation.
"As this is the second time Black has successfully entered the castle and the Minister chooses to ignore my repeated warnings about his ineffective security measures, I felt it was time to accept assistance from elsewhere." he announced, then turned to address Sir Integra directly. "You are free to search the grounds however you see fit. However, I ask that you use discretion whenever possible. There is a colony of merpeople who make their home in the Black Lake, and we have a sizeable herd of centaurs in the Forbidden Forest. They are two races which have refused legal status as 'beings' to avoid association with vampires, so I don't believe they would take kindly to three of them being in their territory."
The knight rose from her seat on Connie's cot and inclined her head seriously. "Understood." her gaze turned toward her nephew. "He exited on the South side, you said? Which direction was he headed before your professor caught you?"
"I..." Mihnea began, then hesitated. "I don't know."
"You don't know?" Alucard repeated, looking pissed by the notion of his son being unable to do something as simple as figure out where a target was.
The boy stiffened defensively and sat up straighter to explain. "His scent is hard to get a fix on." he said, gesturing with his hands. "It appears out of nowhere then vanishes again like it was never there. That's what happened when I got outside. The scent disappeared like Black dropped off the face of the earth. I pulled one of the man's arms out of socket and clawed him up pretty bad so there's no way he could have run as fast as usual and there should have been a blood trail to follow. But there was nothing there."
Constance gaped at him and pushed herself up in bed to study him. He had used that description before and she didn't like the implications of it. "It was the same smell that was in the Forest?" she asked.
"Yes." he replied. "Exactly the same."
Hermione and Harry both went still, while Ron's mouth dropped open. "You mean Sirius Black was... watching us in the Forest the other day?" he asked with a squeak.
The Hellsing members acted like this was information they hadn't heard before. "Hang on!" Edmund declared, holding up a hand. "This is something you've encountered around here before?"
Mihnea nodded. "All of us were in the Forbidden Forest yesterday - Friday, rather - and the same thing happened." he reported. "That smell just appeared without explanation within a hundred and fifty meters of us. Connie took the others back to the castle and I stayed behind to track it. It followed along behind them until they were out in the open, then doubled back and vanished. I looked around for a long time, but I couldn't find any signs of where it might have gone."
Syn stared at him for a long moment, then shoved herself up from the chair she was sitting in and thrust a finger into his face. "And that's not something you think is worth writing home about?" she demanded, raising her voice.
"I did!" he told her. "I sent Archimedes with a message not an hour after it happened, but London is a long way from here. It might not arrive at the manor until later this afternoon."
Connie's mother huffed in irritation about the trouble caused by them not being able to use their phones on the school grounds. If they had been able to call to report this information, they wouldn't have to deal with this sort of lag time. The girl imagined that her dad and aunt would be set to work figuring out a way around the problem the moment they got back home. Meanwhile, Mrs. Weasley was focused on something completely different. She shot a reproachful look around at all of the children.
"And what did you think you were doing out in the Forbidden Forest?" she asked in a shrill tone of voice. "There's a reason it has that name!"
George snorted. "Please mom, since when has something being 'forbidden' ever stopped us?"
Harry quickly stepped forward to chip in before the woman started ranting at him. "Connie and Mihnea go out there to do target practice and we asked to go along so we could watch." he explained.
Mr. Weasley paused to study him, suddenly looking interested. "Good Lord, did you really?" he asked, then looked over at George expectantly. "How did it go?"
"Arthur!" his wife exclaimed. "This is serious!"
The man backtracked and tried to give his boys a lecture about how foolish they had been, but it didn't sound like his heart was truly in it. Molly Weasley was much more upset than he was and it looked like he was only doing it for her benefit.
"Alright, that's enough of that!" The lady knight called out, signalling it was time to stop all the arguing. "Alucard, I want you, Seras, and Pip to divide up and do a full search of the grounds. Be as discrete as possible, but leave no stone unturned. If Black is as injured as Mihnea says, he can't have gotten far ahead."
The No Life King inclined his head. "Yes, master."
Integra sniffed, then turned to look at Syn. "You go along as well. If this man is using some unknown form of magic to cover his tracks, I want it identified and blocked, do you understand?"
"Absolutely, sir." the redhead told her.
Everyone watched silently as the pair of them turned to leave, but the knight cleared her throat to stop them.
"I don't care what you do to the bastard, vampire, but I want him brought back alive and in good enough condition to submit to an interrogation." she said with a noticeable bite in her voice. Integra glanced at Connie for the briefest of moments and the look in her eye was intent and frightening enough to make the bravest of men cower. "You can have what's left when I'm through with him."
From the way she was talking, it sounded like she didn't intend for there to be much left for Alucard when she finished with the wizard. The vampire paused long enough to shoot a wide, sadistic looking grin of approval over his shoulder, then pulled Syn close to him. The pair disappeared in a swirl of shadows - off to join Seras and Pip, wherever they were waiting, and begin the search.
The vampires combed through every inch of the school grounds for hours. The penetrating shadows of early morning darkness had already succumb to the first rays of sunrise when they returned and gathered in the Headmaster's office to report their findings.
Or, to put it more appropriately, their lack of them. They had discovered a few traces indicating where Black had been in the past, but the man himself remained beyond their reach.
"This is unbelieveable." Integra muttered in an disgruntled fashion. She rested her elbows on the arms of her chair and brought her hands up to rub at her temples. "Nothing?"
"Nothing." Alucard repeated. His expression was difficult to discern, but his eyes showed glint of irritation. He didn't like the idea of something being beyond him. "There are no signs that Black has been here for the past several hours."
The woman sniffed and turned her attention to Syn. "Not even you?" she asked.
She shook her head. "No, sir." she replied in frustration. "I checked for everything I could I think of. Whatever Black is doing, he's good enough at magic to have figured out how to hide the energy signatures. I couldn't identify any traces of spells or magical effects of any kind. It's the damndest thing I've ever seen."
Behind the redhead, Seras coughed and stepped forward. "We found the scent trails Mihnea was talking about. One that exited the Southern side of the castle, and several in the forest ranging from a day to several weeks old. They all begin and end suddenly - just like he said. Sometimes there were tracks in the snow that start and stop the same way, but they've been walked over by animals so much that they're hard to make out. The scent trail near the castle ended under an overhang, so there weren't any visible footprints to help us figure out what might have happened."
From his seat next to Integra, Edmund frowned and peered at Dumbledore. "You're sure it couldn't be apparition?"
"I'm certain of it." the elder wizard replied with a nod. "The anti-apparition wards were cast by the four founders immediately after the school's construction and in ten centuries, they have never failed. Merlin was one of the first students here and he was never able to break them despite numerous attempts throughout his lifetime. Only the Headmaster has the power to lift them, and I only remove the wards over the Great Hall to provide the older students with a place to take their apparition lessons. The earliest of those is scheduled in April, and it's likely they will be cancelled if Black hasn't been captured."
Even if the wards on a particular room had been removed, it didn't explain the trail stopping cold outside. The lady knight's expression darkened further and Pip cleared his throat.
"Eet looks like 'e'z been 'iding out een a zet of caves outzide zhat magical village nearby." he stated. "We found a pile of old blankets and zome wood from a zmall fire... Eet's a wonder 'e 'asn't frozen to death wizh az cold az eet's been. Zhe only ozher zhing up zhere waz an old newzpaper."
That got Integra's attention. She lowered her hands to peer at him. "Where is this newspaper?"
"Right 'ere." the captain replied. He pulled a worn, yellowing roll of newsprint from under his coat and passed it over. "I figured 'e zhought eet waz important eef 'e never used eet az fuel."
Having no place to go in such harsh weather, a smart person would use anything they had available to keep themselves warm. The knight took the paper from him and folded it out to read. It was one of those odd wizarding publications with the words printed at all angles and the pictures made to move like miniature film screens. After glancing through the pages, Integra located a picture of the Weasley family posing in front of a pyramid with a brief notice written underneath. Something about Arthur having won a galleon draw and what they had done with the money. Nothing important enough to notice under ordinary circumstances, but still...
"Didn't the Weasleys go to Egypt before Black escaped from prison?" she questioned out loud. "How would he have gotten this?"
Dumbledore leaned forward to get a better look at the paper for himself. "Cornelius took a tour of Azkaban shortly before the escape and had a newspaper with him. I believe he said Black saw it and requested to read it." he paused to sit back consideringly. "The Minister was rather disturbed when he returned and claimed that Sirius Black appeared more... normal than he would have expected."
Thinking that any information they could get would be helpful, Integra decided to probe further. "What exactly do you mean by 'normal'?"
The headmaster lifted his shoulders. "I mean that Azkaban is one of the most unpleasant places on this earth for a person to be." he replied. "Being constantly surrounded by dementors affects the psyche and prisoners who have been held there longer than a few months descend into a state muggles would describe as 'catatonic'. Only mildly aware of their surroundings and bearly able to take care of themselves. During Fudge's visit, Black was not only able to recognize who he was, but have a conversation and give intelligent responses. A person capable of that after serving twelve years is extraordinary. This has led me to speculate as to whether he may have some unknown resistance to dementors. I cannot say if it is innate or something he developed over time, but it would certainly explain how he's managed to get past them so many times."
Edmund rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "You've said before that Black is insane?" he questioned.
"I would say that is the general perception of his mental state, yes."
The comment gave Integra serious pause and she sat back to study the man before her. In all of their previous discussions, Albus Dumbledore came across as a very knowledgeable man who carefully chose his words to fully reflect his meaning. She found the way he phrased his statement now curious.
"You don't agree with that assessment?" she asked.
For a moment, Dumbledore only sighed deeply, giving the appearance of an old man who was very tired. "The case of Sirius Black is one I have always struggled with." he admitted. "Understand, I am a man who prides himself on making few mistakes. But being human as I am, when I do make the inevitable mistake, it winds up being considerably larger than most. I believe something must have happened to make him do what he did, but I never thought - and to this day have trouble believing - that he was insane." he made a sweeping hand gesture. "I knew Sirius from his years at school here and his work during the first wizarding war. He was always a very bright, free-spirited young man. A member of Gryffindor house, handsome, popular, and possessing a very strong willed personality. He said precisely what he thought regardless of others' opinions and had an occasional tendency toward recklessness. Not at all unusual for a teenaged boy. He was very good friends with Harry's father, James, and even lived with him for a time after running away from home."
"He ran away from home?" Seras asked, interested. "Why?"
The Headmaster considered how best to respond. "Sirius had the misfortune of being born into a wizarding family who considered themselves members of the 'pureblood elite'." he explained. "In the time I knew him, he openly critized them and made no secret of how much he despised their beliefs. This often brought him into conflict with his parents and younger brother - his mother, Walburga, most of all. A very severe, short tempered woman. Sirius refused to talk about his family, so I'm not aware of the exact circumstances, but he left home at the age of sixteen and James' parents took him in. Walburga disowned him for it and refused to have anything to do with him afterward. Sirius' father, Orion, seems to have had more heart than his wife. He never saw or spoke to his son again, but he either convinced - or as I believe is far more likely, used the imperius curse on - one of Sirius' uncles to write a sizeable inheretance into his will shortly before he died. He lived with James until Mr. and Mrs. Potter were killed two years later. Sirius then moved into a flat of his own, while James and Lily married and settled down to start a family. He did a great deal of important work for the Order of the Phoenix and never displayed any odd behavior or signs of treachery until the attack made on James and his family."
This story was becoming more and more interesting by the second. Integra wished to hear it through to its conclusion so as to better understand the sort of man they were dealing with.
"Go on." she said, gesturing for him to continue.
Dumbledore cleared his throat and readjusted himself more comfortably in his chair. "When we first recieved news that Voldemort might be planning to attack the Potters, I immediately suggested they place their home under the Fidelius Charm with Black as their secret keeper. James and Lily agreed and the new ward was placed on the house. At the time, there was an overreaching concern about the Order being inflitrated by a spy for the Death Eaters. Suspicion was rampant amongst our members, but especially so with Sirius. He began losing his temper more often and isolated himself from those he considered his closest friends. Eventually, it reached a point where the only people he would speak to for any length of time were James and Lily. I assumed his behavior was provoked by his worry for their safety." he paused for a moment and clasped his hands in front of him. "On the night James and Lily were murdered, I apparated to their house to find that Sirius was already there. He appeared genuinely distraught by their deaths and was nearly inconsolable with grief. Initially, he wanted to take Harry with him but when I deduced what happened, I assured him that the boy would be safer at his aunt's house. Sirius didn't seem to like the idea, but gave in and even went so far as to give his motorbike to Hagrid so he could make the trip to Little Whinging more swiftly. Even then I found the action odd because Sirius was very protective of his motorcycle and rarely allowed others to touch it, much less ride it without him. Harry was safely delivered to the Dursley's front step and it was only later that I learned of Black being found at the scene of Peter Pettigrew's murder. Cornelius Fudge had been working with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the time, and he claims that he will never forget how Black was jubilantly dancing through the streets and laughing like a mad man. He never attempted to evade capture and didn't resist arrest. I cannot deny the facts of the case, but it goes without saying that the man they arrested was not the man I knew, nor was he the man that I encountered at the Potter's house that night. I've brooded over it for years and to this day I can't come up with an explanation for what may have happened to change his personality so drastically. No one - not even those who hated Sirius - thought he was capable of doing such a thing."
Indeed, Dumbledore's relation of events made the entire situation that much more perplexing. A person willing to murder their closest friends would have exhibited signs long in advance. Small ones, perhaps, but they would be noticeable in hind sight. Edmund questioned whether Black may have had a psychotic break - which would be the best explanation for such a rapid personality shift. But Alucard quickly shot the idea down.
"I have been in the throes of insanity before and I recognize it when I see it." the vampire said smoothly. "This man is not insane. His movements are too well planned and he covers his tracks too well. If his mind was unbalanced, he would be making far more mistakes."
As he made his declaration, Syn reached over to pick up the newspaper. A frown spread across her face as she flipped through the pages.
"Call me crazy, but does it not seem like something else is going on here?" she asked.
Dumbledore looked away from the lady knight to peer at her. "How do you mean, Miss Newsom?"
"Well, usually, if you can figure out a person's goal, then it doesn't matter if they're insane or not." she replied. "You can still understand their actions as following a skewed sense of logic. But nothing Black is doing now makes a lick of sense." she turned toward Integra. "When Mihnea smelled him in the forest, the kids were far enough away from the castle that no one would have heard them scream if something happened. They were a group of teenagers, alone, and he didn't do anything but watch them. And him going after Ron tonight is really fucking weird. Harry supposedly looks just like his father and has a distinctive scar on his forehead. Black should have seen him laying in the next bed. And the way he ran away is odd. He had a wand, but hardly used it to defend himself. The only time he cast a spell was to disarm Connie as she was chasing him. Now, either Black wasn't paying attention to what he was doing or he was deliberately holding back, because a properly cast disarming spell will blow a person back twenty feet or more. If something that powerful had hit her just right, it would have done a hell of a lot more damage than what happened from her falling down the stairs. If she had cracked her skull against a wall, she would be dead right now."
Pip realized where she was going and decided to take the idea up himself. "Zeems to me zhat eef I broke into a dorm intending to kill zomeone and got caught, I wouldn't be worried about 'dizarming' people." he said. "I would eizher kill zhem, or do az much damage az I could to zlow zhem down zo I could get away."
"Exactly." the redhead declared, pointing a finger at him. "And if Black had a knife, he could have slit Ron's throat the moment he saw he had the wrong boy. It would have been completely silent and no one would have woken up. Why was he demanding to know where someone was when the person he's supposedly looking for was right in front of him?" she tossed the newspaper back down onto the Headmaster's desk and thrust a finger out at it. "And why has he kept this newspaper for so long? Or asked for it in the first place, for that matter? There's not a damn thing about Harry Potter in it. The only connection to him that's there is the picture of the Weasleys, and there's no way Black could have known about Harry and Ron being friends until he got here and caught sight of them hanging out together."
With the new way the information was being laid out, it began to appear that Black wasn't after Potter at all. It was possible that was only an illusion brought on by the boy's fame and the people he associated with. Integra gave a start and straightened in her chair, throwing out a hand to rest it on Dumbledore's desk.
"Is there any way there's been a mistake?" she asked. "That Black could be looking for someone other than Potter?"
The elder wizard looked taken aback by the idea. "It's certainly possible, Sir Integra, but if that's the case, there's no way of knowing who he's looking for."
"There seems to be a lotgoing on around the Weasleys for them to not have anything to do with it." Edmund commented with a frown. "Is there any reason Black would have a grudge against them? Did Arthur have anything to do with his trial, or..."
"Black never had a trial." the Headmaster informed them before he could finish. "There was so much hard evidence against him and with us being in the middle of a war, the Ministry felt it would be a waste of time and resources." his face twisted up thoughtfully and he rested his chin on his hand to ponder the matter. "Arthur wasn't highly involved in the war effort. He did what he could when he was able, of course, but he and Molly had young children at home and she convinced him to stay out of anything too dangerous. I can't recall him having any connection to Sirius... As a matter of fact, the only tie I can think of between the Weasley family and Sirius Black is through Molly. Her older brothers were members of the Order of the Phoenix. Fabian and Gideon Prewett - identical twins. Fred and George bear a rather startling resemblance to them in both attitude and appearance. But the pair of them were killed more than a year before Sirius was arrested and Molly Weasley herself was never directly involved in the war." Dumbledore frowned deeply. "And if Black is indeed searching for someone else, how do we explain the attacks over the holiday being aimed at Harry?"
"The vampires we interrogated didn't know anything about Sirius Black." Seras pointed out. "The only reason we thought he might have been involved is because of the escape..." she whirled to face Integra. "But if they had never heard of him, he might not have had anything to do with it!"
Alucard's eyes lit up with interest at this new twist to the situation. "Meaning we have two targets working simultaneously." he stated. He held up a finger. "An unknown person or group looking to capture the Potter boy and Black," he stuck out a second finger to join its fellow. "Who is searching for something or someone unknown. You wizards manage to get yourselves into the most convoluted of messes, dont you?"
"Be quiet, vampire." Integra snapped at him. She took to rubbing her temples again, feeling a whopper of a headache coming on. This was problem that would have to be handled carefully. The smallest of mistakes could prove catastrophic. If they were wrong... "Until we have further evidence pointing to who or what Black is really after, we continue to view him as a threat." she announced. "After what happened tonight, I don't like the idea of him getting close to the children regardless of what the hell he's doing. And there is obviously something after Potter, so the boy must remain guarded."
They would proceed as they had been. Until they had more information, that was all they could do.
A.N: I'm thinking I'll have something new prepared to go up in two weeks. So you guys wont have to wait tooooo long. :)
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