I own nothing but the plot, and not even all of that.
Professor Snape led Lucius Malfoy to his quarters in the dungeons in silence. Once inside, he cast several privacy and silencing charms at the door and in the room. He offered Lucius tea, but Lucius declined. Severus had a complicated relationship with the Malfoy family. Due to their allegiance to the Dark Lord, Severus was considered a family friend. Lucius wasn't so foolish, though, as to ever accept anything to eat or drink from the potions master.
"I would offer my congratulations," Severus said in his smoothest tone, "except I find myself baffled by your actions."
"Be careful, old friend," Lucius said, toying the the metal snake head that adorned the wand hidden in his walking stick. "I act on behalf of one far greater than either of us."
"The Dark Lord?" Severus asked. He did not seem surprised, but Lucius would have been surprised if he had. Severus had survived many trials in his life, and was a living example of the word 'unflappable.'
"Indeed," Lucius confirmed.
"He has made contact with you?" Severus asked.
"In a way," Lucius answered.
"How?" asked Severus.
"Forgive me," Lucius said, "if I choose not to share the details with one so close to Albus Dumbledore. Already the insufferable muggle lover is aware that I am involved, though I am reliably informed he remains unaware of the details. I have plugged that leak, but I am too close to my goal to jeopardize the plan now."
"You have a plan?" Severus asked, a hint of sarcasm lacing his tone. "Two outsiders who should never have been allowed here and one Muggle-born have been petrified. It hardly seems a fitting fanfare for our Dark Lord's glorious return."
"I admit I expected more progress by this time," Lucius said, "but I still have faith in our Lord." He eyed Severus with obvious speculation.
"I have all the faith in the world in him," Severus retorted. "In you, though? I think not."
"Just stay out of the way," Lucius warned. "The plan will endanger no Purebloods. The Muggleborn, however, will finally pay the price for intruding on our world."
"This creature you have unleashed has already placed Purebloods at risk, including your own son," Severus accused. "How much are you willing to sacrifice, Lucius?"
"Draco?" Lucius asked, taken aback. "I am not aware of any such incident."
"Has your heir not informed you?" Severus sneered. "It chased him from the second floor corridor all the way back to the dungeons."
"Surely Draco was only exaggerating," Lucius suggested. His voice was slightly shaky, though, betraying his uncertainty. "You of all people should be aware of how young boys will try to make a mountain out of a niffler-hole."
"I was with him at the time," Severus said. "I assure you, young Draco was not exaggerating. If anything, he was outright taciturn on the subject."
"And you did not inform me?" Lucius asked.
"My apologies," Severus responded. "I was somewhat busy at the time and thought the Headmaster would do so."
"It's too late, anyway," Lucius said in an almost whisper. "Nothing can stop it now."
"Especially now that Dumbledore is gone," Severus added. Lucius turned and left, not saying anything else.
Sirius Black entered Hogsmeade. Since someone had let the big black dog out of the bag, his usual disguise wasn't going to work. He had to be pretty inventive, as the aurors were clearly on patrol, but he was pretty sneaky when he put his mind to it. He was in a similar disguise that had worked well enough in Diagon Alley, but since the aurors knew he was close he changed his face even more. He didn't dare go into any shops, but it worked long enough to grab a paper and return to his hideout.
The attacks at Hogwarts dominated the news, and Sirius was shocked that Dumbledore had been suspended. The newspaper didn't hold a particularly positive opinion of Lucius Malfoy being appointed to something called the High Inquisitor, either. The editorial section alone was particularly lively, calling for Dumbledore to be reinstated immediately.
He also saw the notice detailing his lack of a trial. That explained the lackluster hunt for him. He was sorely tempted to just pop in on Amelia Bones at her home. They had been in the same year at Hogwarts. She was a Hufflepuff, though, so the mingling opportunities were limited. They had been on that one date, though. Perhaps he should send her a note. He remembered how he'd gotten her to agree to that date. He grinned as he took out a quill, ink, and parchment.
Lily had been a fan of some author he couldn't remember the name of. Jane something or other. Her books were filled with a lot of old fashioned romantic writing that Lily loved. Amelia and Lily were friends, and shared a mutual love of those books. Sirius had pestered Lily till she had helped him pen a suitable letter, and Amelia had gone out with him. Just the once, of course, but they had fun. He thought he still remembered the style well enough. He hoped it might work again.
"He's so small," Hermione said. Tears were dripping down her cheeks as she stroked Dobby's hand. They were in a small room near the Hospital Wing. Harry and Hermione were kneeling next to the bed. Neville stood off to the side with Daphne, and Ron stood next to them, Dobby lay in a potions induced coma. His many injuries were mostly healed, and the limb caps on his stumps kept the blood from his cursed wounds circulating.
"He was always small," Ron said. Neville glared at Ron.
"A bit more tact, perhaps?" Neville suggested.
"Sorry," Ron mumbled, flinching.
"How are we going to get Dobby away from the Malfoys?" Hermione asked. "If Lucius Malfoy can do this and get away with it..."
"I don't know yet," Harry said. "We'll find a way, though."
The next Monday saw the Gryffindors in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.
"Good morning, class!" Lockhart cheerfully yelled as he strode into the room.
"Good morning," the class responded.
"Now then," Professor Lockhart said, reaching the front of the classroom, "I know I said we'd be working on redcaps today, but we're going to put that on hold for a bit. Yesterday, I was informed of an opportunity for a bit of practice with a more dangerous situation than a redcap. It's a bit advanced for second year, but you all have been making amazing progress. Everyone take out your wands and follow me!" He led the class out to the hallway and up a couple flights of stairs. They all piled into the teachers lounge, where a wardrobe stood next to the door. Lockhart approached it.
"Be warned," he told his class. "You will confront your greatest fears in this room. Know only that no harm will come to you while I am here." He gave the wardrobe a little pat and it shook, ominously.
"There's a boggart in here," he said. Half the class shuffled away from the wardrobe, while the other half looked around in confusion. "Who can tell me what a boggart is?" Lockhart asked. "Miss Granger?" he said, calling on Hermione. Along with half the class, she had raised her hand.
"A boggart is a shapeshifter," she said. "It is a non-being that inhabits dark places. When it encounters a person, it will take the form of that persons greatest fear."
"Excellent," Lockhart praised, "five points to Gryffindor. Can someone else tell me the spell to drive off a boggart?" Hermione raised her hand again, but this time was only joined by Harry, Neville, and Parvati Patil. "Miss Patil?"
"The Riddikulus charm," Parvati answered.
"Wonderful!" Lockhart exclaimed. "Take another five points." Lockhart addressed the entire class.
"The Riddikulus charm works by forcing the boggart into a humorous form. When you cast the spell, you must concentrate very hard on something funny. It sounds simple, but can be very tricky to do with your greatest fear right in front if you. Boggarts feed off of fear, so they will hide when we no longer fear them. As they are not, nor have ever been alive, they can never truly die, but they will diminish and become smaller if they go without feeding for too long. Form a line, and we'll see how you do. While you're waiting your turn, have a good think about what you fear the most. I'm betting many of you will be surprised that what you fear the most is something you don't even consciously think of."
The class formed a line with Parvati in the front. After asking if she was ready, Lockhart opened the wardrobe door.
A middle aged man walked out. He had an expression of disapproval on his face as he stared down at Parvati.
"We are very disappointed in you, Parvati," the boggart said in a heavy Indian accent. "Why can't you be more like your sister?"
"Don't listen to him," Lockhart encouraged her.
"Your mother and I are bringing you home," Boggart Patil continued. "We already have a successful daughter, it's a waste of money to send you both." Parvati pointed her wand at the boggart, but only let out a squeak of fear.
"The spell," Lockhart whispered to her. "Riddikulus, use the spell."
"We have arranged a marriage for you with a very nice man," the boggart said, "very successful."
"Now, Parvati!" Lockhart urged. He had his own wand at the ready, prepared to rush forward if Parvati froze. She unstuck herself, however, and cast the spell at the boggart.
"Riddikulus!" she shouted. The boggart did not change form. It opened its mouth to continue berating the girl, but instead of words, it began to sing an Italian opera.
"Nessun dorma! Nessun dorma!
Tu pure, o, Principessa,
nella tua fredda stanza,
guardi le stelle
che tremano d'amore
e di speranza."
The boggart appeared to be a good sport about it and had the decency to finish the verse before shrinking away from her. Lockhart praised her performance and ushered Harry forward.
Toma stood before him, in the pose he was frozen in. He was still petrified. His lightsaber was on, and the green blade hummed and lit the wall behind him with a emerald glow.
"You should have stopped it, Harry," the boggart said. "A true Jedi would have been able to stop it. You are losing control. You lack focus. You are destined for the Dark Side!"
"Riddikulus!" Harry cast, and a cork appeared in Toma's mouth. It muffled the Jedi Master's criticisms.
After Ron Weasley had faced a giant spider that he made slip on roller-skates, Seamus Finnegan faced a banshee. Seamus made the monster lose its voice, then made way for his best mate.
Almost the entire class shrieked with fear at the alien that Dean Thomas later described as a xenomorph. Many in the class were nearly as disturbed by the xenomorph with a clown face that he transformed it into. Dean found it funny, though, which was what counted.
Hermione stepped forward and saw an older version of Harry standing in front of her.
"I'm sorry," the boggart said. "I'm a Jedi, I belong up there. It would never have worked between us. Goodbye, Hermione." Everyone in Harry's vicinity gave him a sideways glance. It took several prompts by Lockhart before she turned Boggart Harry into a short version of him with house elf ears. As she made her way to the back, Harry went to her and gave her a hug.
Neville Longbottom was next, and found himself speechless before his grandmother. She was telling him she would no longer pay for his mother's care, and that he needed to be more like his father. Before he could come up with any way to turn that into something funny, the door to the staff room opened and Lucius Malfoy walked in. He passed by the boggart without seeing Madam Longbottom, and sneered at the students in the staff room.
"What are you all doing in here?" he asked, menacingly. With Lucius now between Neville and the boggart, it switched forms. The vulture topped hat morphed into a head full of black hair. Mrs. Longbottom's brown eyes took on a red shine. The old fashioned outfit turned into a simple dark grey robe. Where Mrs. Longbottom stood there was now a man. One could tell that he used to be quite handsome, but he had begun to be transformed by evil magic into something else. Something different. Something more. His long fingers toyed with a wand with a white bone handle.
"Lucius," the boggart hissed. Malfoy's eyes went wide when he heard the voice. He slowly turned towards the boggart.
"M... M..." he stammered
"You are such a disappointment, Lucius," the boggart said. "I have been waiting all of these years, and I find you living a life of luxury. You are squandering the opportunity I left you. You will fail. You will fail me, and then you will die."
"M... M... Master?" Lucius managed to say.
"Riddikulus!" shouted Lockhart. The boggart Voldemort sprouted cat ears and whiskers and meowed the rest of his lecture at Lucius.
Lucius spun to face Lockhart, releasing his wand from his walking stick.
"What do you think you're doing?" he spat at the defense professor.
"Teaching," Lockhart answered, readying a shield in case Lucius attacked. He placed himself between the High Inquisitor and the students . "I don't supposed you would terribly mind leaving, would you? I still have a lot of students waiting for their turn with the boggart." Lucius stared around at the students who were staring back at him. He looked back at the boggart, straightened his robes and composed himself.
"Continue on, then," Lucius said to Lockhart, securing his wand back in his walking stick. "I will take my leave." He left the room, berating himself for such a weak exit. The image of his master had flustered him badly. He hadn't encountered a boggart since his own school days, and it had then taken the form of his father. He supposed with his father now confined to bed rest he was no longer so frightening as he used to be. As Lucius retreated down the hall, he heard Lockhart's voice trailing after him.
"Alright, Mr. Longbottom, are you ready to try again? Let's see if you can make her squawk like that bird on her hat."
Amelia Bones had just gotten home from a rather long day at the Ministry. The public was in an uproar over Dumbledore's suspension, and demanded to know what the Ministry of Magic was going to do about it. The howlers alone had been bad enough that the Department of Mysteries was being asked to come up with a special ward just to block them. She had just put her feet up when she heard a scratching at her window. She drew her wand and approached, only to find a large brown owl with a letter for her.
Scanning the letter for any curses, jinxes, or hexes took some time, and the owl seemed offended that she thought it would bring her anything harmful. It took off the moment the letter was removed, hooting at her reproachfully. She took no chances. She put on some dragon hide gloves, and retrieved her silver letter opener from her desk. Silver was magically inert, and wouldn't transfer any spells the letter might contain through it. Not that there weren't ways around that, but she was being careful to avoid everything she could. She opened the letter, cast more detection charms inside the envelope, and finally extracted a single piece of parchment.
My dearest Amelia,
This piece of parchment, though I should cover it with affectionate words, could scarcely tell you truly how I long to receive your kind offer with an open heart. I offer my sincerest regrets that I must decline meeting with you at this time, as someone far dearer to me than myself requires my protection. Should the fates be kind, I shall attend to you when the strife of today is but a passing memory. Think kindly on me, and know that I remain most affectionately yours,
Sirius Black
P.S. I did not betray James, Lily, or Harry.
At the bottom of the page was a paw print. She needed no spells to be sure it was the Sirius Black that she remembered. It was corny, stupid, and barely made sense. She smiled. He hadn't changed at all.