"Think you'll be expelled," Blaize Zabini walked with me. We were following Granger and Weasley down the hall towards the Headmaster's office. With Professor McGonigal taking the lead and Professor Snape bringing up the rear. Madame Pomphrey had taken Lucy Foght to the Hosital Wing.
When Lucy Foght and I had come out of the secret passageway, we had startled Granger and Weasley, who were canoodling instead of patrolling, like they should have done. Granger went for her wand but soon had an armful of stupified teen. Weasley had gotten to his wand, and stupified her, thinking that she was a threat. Granger was not amused, and by the time they got that sorted out, Professors McGonigal and Snape were on the scene.
"Oh I'm sure she's going to demand Azkaban," I said, following them into the Headmaster's office. Which were pretrry much the first words out of Granger's mouth. Followed with "He kidnapped my cousin."
Dumbledore turned his attention to McGonigal. "I recieved a patronus, telling me that there was a wand fight outside the DADA classroom," she said. Snape nodded. He had recieved one as well. "When I arrived, Miss Granger had her cousin in her arms and was shouting at Mr. Weasley, who had apparently stupified Miss Foght, thinking that she was attacking Miss Granger. Mr. Bartholemw was standing to one side laughing. Mr. Zabini and Mis Parkinson and Miss Greengrass were found nearby."
"I want him in Azkaban," Granger repeated. She glared at me. "He kidnapped my cousin. The others must've been in on it too. Otherwise, why would they be there?"
"I sent the patronus that alerted Professor McGonnigal," Blaise said, grinning.
"I sent one to Professor Snape," said a smug Pansy.
"You're lying," roared Weasley. "Death Eaters cannot make patronuses."
"We're Slytherins," said Astoria. "Not Death Eaters."
"Children Please," Headmaster Dumbledore held up a hand to stop the argument. He turned his attention to me. "Perhaps Mr. Bartholomew will enlighten us as to how he came accross Miss Foght."
I placed an altered remembrall on Dumbledore's desk. He picked it up and examined it, muttering a spell or two. "Marvellous," he said. "Perhaps you can explain it to us.
"I altered the spell to remember tha auras of the people it comes into close contact with. If Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley will recall, I accosted them, and Mr. Potter, the day before yesterday. It gave me an opportunity to activate a number of remembralls I had on my person. The remembrals were owled to specific locations, near known Death Eater abodes. One came back with a positive result, and I searched that area until I found her. Being moved from one location to another."
"Why?" Granger glared at me.
I shrugged. "Like I know?" I turned back to the Headmaster. "I found her, I rescued her, I brought her here, You know the rest."
"How did you find her," Dumbledore asked.
"My animagus form is a dragon. I can fly fairly fast. I had the remembrall with me. When it signalled I knew I was close."
"You left Hogwarts," Professor McGonigal was outraged. "There is no excuse for being off school grounds. Especially at night. You could have been seen. Fifty points from Slytherin."
"Fifty points to Slytherin," Dumbledore said calmly. McGonigall's mouth snapped shut and Granger and Weasley looked at Dumbledore shocked. "And fifty more points for rescuing Miss Foght."
"He kidnapped her," Granger shouted.
"If you have proof," Dumbledore told her, "I will entertain the notion. In the meantime, please return to your dorms."
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My practise of not turning my back n Gryffies did have it's drawbacks. I didn't move to exit until alter Granger and Weasley had left, and when I got out into the corridor I found myself slammed into the wall, with two wands at my throat.
"I don't know how you did it," snarled Granger. "But I will find out. Remember, I'm the brightest and best witch of our generation and I know more spells than you ever will."
Granger and Weasley slammed into the opposite wall. "It isn't what you know," I said, "It's what you can do with what you do know." White lights appeared at the ends of their wand arms, and their wands disappeared. Granger looked shocked. "I'm sure Professor McGonigal will return them to you. "I'm sure she'll want to know how and why they appeared in her office."
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I was carried into the Great Office on the shoulders of the Slytherin Quiddich Team. To the applause of the Slytherins, Ravenclaws, and the Hufflepuffs. I was carried twice around the Glaring Gryffindor table. None of them dared to applaud my achievement for fear of incuring the wrath of the Golden Trio. Who just glared at me. On my plate, was a parchment inviting me to a meeting in the Headmaster's office, after supper that night. Miss Fogth, her parents will be in attendance, as will Mr. and Mrs Granger. I had no doubt that Granger would be there as well.
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Deep in the dungeons of Hogwarts was a classroom where Hogwarts, like all old magical schools, once taught the dark arts. It didn't anymore, and Mr. Filch had adopted it as his work shop. Being that he was a squib, the administration believed that any malevolent influence, that might still be around centuries after the class was ended, would not bother him all that much. It didn't and he grew to love the musty old place, using the office as his bedroom.
"Uncle Argus, " I said, stepping into the room that so few were invited into. My last period was free and I had until supper. "Your favorite nephew has come to visit."
"You're my only nephew," came the familiar grumble, from off in the corner, where Mr. Filch had a ratty old recliner, where he liked to sit and smoke that dreary old pipe of his. Mrs. Norris curled up beside him. "Hear tell you brought a girl here to Hogwarts last night. There not enough here for you?" The last was said with a cackle.
"I need to look through the library," I said. The library, I meant was full of books on Dark Arts, and were probably banned. Even if they weren't, the Ministry would have conniptions if they knew. I briefly explained the situation. "I need to figure out why the Death Eaters didn't do their usual torture and messy death thing."
Mr. Filch grunted and used his pipe stem to point to a row of boxes in a corner. "Figured I could use the space more than I needed the books. Of course, he made no move to help. An hour later, I was repacking the books. I had found a likely answer. It wasn't nice. An idea was starting to form in my mind.
"Uncle Argus," I called. The recliner swivelled and Mr. Filch glared at me. "It's about time you took on an apprentice."
"You sayng I'm too old to do my job?"
"Not at all," I said. "But you are getting up there, and could, probably, use the help."
"You volunteering," he asked with a sneer.
"No, but I need an excuse to keep Miss Foght in Hogwarts." We discussed the matter and then broke to go up to the Great Hall for supper.
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'You got my daughter into this," Mrs. Foght, an older version of Lucy, raged. I wasn't the target, but a red faced Granger.
"But he," Granger pointed at me. "He kid..."
"Don't but he me," Mrs. Foght roared, while her mouse of a husband looked on. "I don't know much about this magical world of yours, but if you hadn't been caught up in this war against Voldemort, they would have had no reason to go after my daughter."
Granger's face went white, and she looked at her parents, who's faces were redddening. Of course, they didn't know. This promised for more interesting conversations in the future and Granger knew it.
"It's all water under the bridge," Mr. Foght decided to speak after all. "What do we do now?"
""We will alter her memories," Dumbledore said, "and yours, and return you to your world..."
"If you do that," I interrupted, "You may as well tie a ribbon around her and hand her over to Voldemort as an early Christmas present. He will go after her again, and there'll probably be a massacre the next time."
"You keep quiet," Granger howled.
"Who are you," Mrs. Foght demanded.
"This is the person who rescued your daughter last night," Dumbledore said. "I would be very interested to know why he thinks that."
"Miss Foght is a Squib," I said, pausing to give them time to react.
"She is not," Miss Granger said.
I ignored her and turned to the Foghts. "In our world," I told them, "a squib is a magical person, a witch, so to speak, who cannot access her powers. They are not treated very well in our world. I suspect Mrs Foght is one as well, which is why she is aware of the current struggle against Voldemort. The part about Miss Granger fighting in that war, was just a guess. Wasn't it?" Mrs. Foght nodded, and I turned my attention to them all.
"I did some research before coming here, I had a free period, " I said. "I noted some discrepencies, in the remembrall that I used to find Miss Foght, that had escaped me before. It looked like it had been overwritten by something more powerful than the first. Hence my estimation that Miss Foght has a magical core, and if she were able to access it, she would probably be more powerful than Miss. Granger.
During the first war, a wizard, by the name of Abraxes Fortesque, tried to use spells and potions to access the magical cores all squibs have. I believe that Voldemort may be trying the same.
I then considered that Miss Foght was kept alive for three days, and then moved to another location, during which I found her. Usual Death Eater activity would have her very messily dead shortly after she was kidnapped. A freind of mine, who is a Death Eather, though not by his choice, informed me that Voldemort is recruiting, or kidnapping, squibs. I can only think that he has found a way, or is trying to find a way, to use a squib's magical core."
"That's a lie," Granger shouted. "Everyone knows that..." It was like someone had put a silencio on her. I grinned, not that I had anything to do with the spell. I had just moved when my sensors sensed a wand coming out of, seeming, nowhere behind me.
"Accio invisibility cloak," I said smugly. Potter didn't let go of the cloak, of course, but he and Weasley stood revealed. Granger's eyes bulged. Weasley's wand was out. Even more interesting conversations I wouldn't get to hear. Dumbledore cleared his throat.
"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, I am extremely disappointed. Two weeks detention with Mr. Filch, each. You may return to your common room. Miss Granger, is there any reason I shouldn't assume that you held the door for them?"
Mss Granger looked like a fish, with wide saucer like eyes.
"You may join them in detention." Dumbledore decreed, then turned his attention to us all. "Mr. Bartholemew, you will join them as well. Not for your actions in saving Miss Foght, but because I can't have you leaving school grounds without permission. Now, if you'd care to continue."
Mrs. Foght interrupted, pointed to Granger, I want her out." Her finger pointed to me. "I want him in."
Granger gaped like a fish. "You can't..."
"She can," said Mr. Foght, getting a little of the backbone he didn't display earlier. "Your choices endangered our daughter. A danger, I don't think she'll be out of until this Voldemort is defeated." He turned to me. "Am I right."
"You are," I said. "Voldemort would hardly miss the irony of using Granger's cousin against her, and letting her know it. Potter, the glorious savior, would put rescuing Lucy above defeating Voldemort."
"How would you go about seeing that that does not happen?"