Disclaimer: I do not own Witch Hunter Robin or Harry Potter
A/N: I'm taking a few liberties with the plot line (as if I weren't doing so before), so beware of glaring changes to both Harry Potter and Witch Hunter Robin. Also, much thanks to my reviewers, whom I can't give enough credit to for keeping me on task with the story.
Chapter 7: Jack in the Box
Minerva was giving him that look again. The look that says "what the hell were you thinking." She didn't approve of Dumbledore's plan, and he was certain, the rest of the Order felt the same way.
The hunters were known to be dangerous, but how careful should he be around these kids? Most were easily the same age as the children here. But he knew he couldn't underestimate them. It would be the same mistake Lord Voldemort commits every time he faces Harry.
He hoped he wasn't endangering Harry or the others. He valued their safety greatly, but he appeared to be putting them in mortal danger. Molly had not talked to him since his decision. He couldn't blame her. He only hoped that she didn't think her incident with the boggart was some sort of omen for their deaths. Dumbledore would never do anything to put them in harm's way, or at least, without assurances that they would be relatively safe.
There was something about the hunters that he couldn't pin down. For some reason, his intuition was telling him that he could trust them. Disregarding their age, the hunters still seemed to possess some good qualities that made Dumbledore trust them, or at least want to trust them.
They had faith in one another. The team had stood side by side against the Order and had protected the ones who were the youngest or least experienced. They were looking out for each other. Word from Arthur had reached him about the children's attempt to talk to the hunters. While the report was heavily biased in favor of the Weasley children, Dumbledore had a sneaking suspicion that the young man was watching out for the youngest member.
The portrait had also said some interesting information too. The girl was apparently in love with the lead hunter, whose cold demeanor was slowly fading away in Dumbledore's eyes. Such sign of human emotion and frailty was only giving Dumbledore hope about being able to turn their allegiance to his side. They may simply be under the wrong impression about the majority of wizards.
It's the same mind set that muggle constables and even aurors get into. Law enforcement officers see the worst of wizards and humans. It would be easy for anyone to be blinded into thinking all wizards were evil, especially if their only contact with that realm were to arrest the murderers.
He did not know what their abilities entailed, but if any of the rumors were true, they would be incredibly helpful in the war against Lord Voldemort. These men and women may eventually see that they have misunderstood wizards. It would take some work, and those who approached them would have to choose their words carefully, which was most likely the problem with the children's attempt.
But what happens if he's wrong? What happens if his intuition fails him and these hunters were only putting up a front to kill one of them? Arthur had told him that one of the hunters knew who Harry was. Could they be after him? Could they be under the Imperius Curse in order to capture the boy for Lord Voldemort? Muggles were easily tricked and Lord Voldemort does have alternative means in making people do what he wants. He may also be giving the hunters too much credit. Is it too naive of him to think that their behavior is all because of a misunderstanding?
Dumbledore shook his head. Second guessing his decision now would do him no good. It would not change the fact that the hunters have access to 12 Grimmauld Place and to Harry. All he can do now is move forward and, most importantly, dodge glares from Minerva.
The old witch had called a meeting together, and he and the other hunters were currently sitting at the dining table, enduring the whispers and the stares. Robin was sitting next to him, again. Her sudden admission of her undying faith in him had caught him off guard. With Solomon and Zaizen gone, Robin was looking less and less like a witch, be it for better or for worse.
For the past couple of hours, he couldn't take his mind or eyes off of her. Though inconspicuous enough to avoid notice, he himself was becoming increasingly worried about his behavior. She was occupying most of his waking hours and admittedly some of his dreams. Though not the reason why he stopped sleeping altogether, he couldn't deny that her awkwardly comforting presence did not have some sort of effect over him.
Her strange power to ensnare him was leading to questions about whether he was making accurate decisions when it came to Robin. With each passing hour, years of dehumanizing witches were going down the drain, and Robin and the others were probably going to start attaching themselves to the witches. Amon was telling himself that this unhealthy alliance is what made him stop the children's attempt at getting chummy with Robin. One more glance at Robin's innocent and uncomfortable look she was demurely hiding from everyone was enough proof that his earlier outburst had nothing to do with the children whatsoever.
It was strange how much older Robin seemed in comparison to the witches who were the same age. She had grown up in a convent, but the respect she learned in Italy shouldn't have solely made her act more like his age than like those British brats or even of Sakaki and Doujima. "Like his age," huh? The more he dwelled on Robin, the less he liked what his mind came up with.
The children from earlier entered the room. Amon narrowed his eyes slightly. Why was the old man allowing those kids to participate in this? By the way they acted earlier in the day, it was obvious that they would not be able to understand what's going on. They would only get in the way.
Robin sidled a little closer to Amon. The kids still made her feel uncomfortable. Plus that damn painting was still looking at them. Amon was growing less and less fond of this place.
On top of all of the other problems, even more witches were showing up at the house. Seven people he's never seen before were seated on the other side of the table, talking animatedly to one another - the subject undoubtedly them.
The group was now officially a circus act - a man with a wheezy voice, another with a rambling eye and bowler hat, a woman with bright pink hair which changed to green when she ate something disgusting, a man with a squeaky and excitable voice, the more than a few scraggly "gentlemen," the greasy-haired dark witch and the old geezer, who now stood up to get everyone's attention.
"I'm glad everyone was able to make it here tonight," Dumbledore said, his voice instantly hushing the other conversations. "As I'm sure you've all heard, we are cooperating with these Solomon hunters in order to defeat Lord Voldemort."
Amon didn't miss the sidelong glances the witches were giving each other. Apparently the old man wasn't popular right now. He couldn't say it surprised him.
"However, in order to cooperate, all of our cards need to be lain on the table," Dumbledore said, eyeing Amon in particular. "We will give you as much information as you give us."
It was distinctly easier for the old witch to say that when Amon was holding all of the cards. So the old man was going to try and take control of the situation. Amon was prepared for that, but their current dilemma with their betrayal of Solomon was hindering the options. He'll have to play along for as far as he can manage without revealing too many details.
"What is it that you want to know?" Amon asked as evenly as possible.
"The box," Snape said, speaking out of turn. "The Dark Lord has been informed that you've stolen a box from him. We'd like to know what is inside."
The box served no real purpose to Amon or the rest of the hunters. He had taken it so the "Dark Lord" would not have access to it. Though he no longer had use for it, if this box was important, then giving it to another group of witches could be just as potentially dangerous as not taking the box at all. Concealing it any longer would only stall their supposed investigation of Voldemort.
Technically, he didn't even know if he or the other hunters were still willing to pursue the investigation. The witch was a murderer. That much is clear. They will most likely capture him and kill him if necessary. Beyond that, the others will have to choose their own paths on their own. Right now, Amon's best choice was to at least gauge their reaction to the mystery box.
Reaching inside his coat, he pulled out the small box he had secured near his holster. Ignoring Michael's wistful look as the only hunter who didn't own an all-concealing coat, Amon placed the box in front of him on the table.
The group or witches seemed entranced by the box. So far, not a good sign.
"What's in it?" the bubbly, pink-haired girl asked.
"I didn't think it pertinent to open a box without knowing the contents."
"But you did think it pertinent to steal it and carry it around with you," Sirius added. The man still had a grudge against him. It was amusing at first but now it's pissing him off.
"Sirius," Dumbledore quietly reprimanded. He shifted his attention back to Amon. "May I?"
Allowing the most powerful witch in the room to open a box with a potentially dangerous weapon inside was an extremely bad idea. Opening it up himself was equally unsettling. He could assume that if Voldemort wanted the box, it probably wouldn't harm the person who opens the box. It's unfortunate that assumptions always lead to something bad happening.
Amon glanced around the room and saw the children staring at the box. Protecting his hunters came before the safety of any child. If people wanted to call him a monster for that decision, well, it wouldn't be the first time he's heard it.
"I'll allow one of the younger witches to open it," Amon said, indicating the children and not the young witch he presumed to have a job in some sort of magical field.
The table was silent. Even his own team was looking at him in horror. Robin's eyes were eratically searching his for some reasoning behind his decision. He held back a self-deprecating laugh. It didn't take her too long to suddenly change her mind about him. He was never a man of faith anyway.
He looked back to the witches. The man named Remus had a firm hold over Sirius who was ready to explode. For a scrawny guy, the shabby-looking witch was strong. Then again, his name was Remus Lupin, and he had claw marks on his face. Amon wasn't an idiot. It was like connecting the dots with a thick permanent marker.
The Weasley woman was in shock. No surprise there. She had been particularly set against any involvement from the children. Her husband wasn't attempting to console her. Any word or touch could easily set her off.
Snape seemed amused to say the least. Amon wasn't particularly happy to realize the dark witch seemed to be the most closely related to his own motivations and actions.
Amon turned his attention back to Dumbledore. For the first time since they've met, the old man looked angry. Apparently the children were a touchy subject for the group. Karasuma had said that the boy named Harry Potter seemed infamous to more than a few people.
Then again, most humans would consider immediate danger to children a bad thing. He could just be overanalyzing the situation.
"I'll do it," Harry said. The entire half of the table was about to jump down his throat. "We need to know, don't we? This is the only way."
The witches were considering his words. The boy was foolhardy. Some may have confused that with courage in the past and, in doing so, inadvertently caused more reckless behavior. Amon knew better. The boy was full of himself and overconfident about his powers or whatever gift he supposedly had. Amon had seen the same behavior before in all of the witches he's hunted. Righteously stubborn to a fault. It would be the boy's downfall.
"Alright, Harry," Dumbledore said cautiously. He turned to glower at Amon. "I'm going to cast a shield around Harry in case something happens. Do you find anything wrong with that?"
The man's words were dripping with poison. Amon seemed to get that reaction from a lot of people. He curtly nodded his assent. There was no use inciting an all-out battle between the hunters and the witches, or rather, between him and everyone else.
Dumbledore quickly cast a spell, while Harry shakily opened the box. Much to the relief of almost everyone in the room, nothing happened. The only thing in the box was a bottom layer of velvet cloth and a gold pocket watch on top.
Harry picked up the watch. "It looks like a regular pocket watch," Harry said.
"You would only see that, wouldn't you Potter?" Snape said. Harry frowned and looked over at Snape.
"What do you mean, Severus?" Dumbledore asked. "Do you know what this is?"
"The Dark Lord told us about his horcruxes. I believe you know of them."
"Yes," Dumbledore said, uneasily glancing at the object in Harry's hand. "It contains a portion of the witch's soul."
"The Dark Lord at one point had many horcruxes - seven to be exact. However, Regulus Black betrayed him and destroyed six of them. The only one left was said to be a pocket watch. I hadn't realized that he would be recalling the last item for safe-keeping."
Dumbledore looked at Snape, then at Harry. "Please put that back in the box, Harry," he said urgently. Harry unceremoniously dropped it back into the box.
"Uh...shouldn't we be careful with that?" Ron asked.
"It's extremely difficult to destroy a horcrux," Dumbledore explained. "If dropping it would destroy it, defeating Lord Voldemort would be that much easier."
Despite having little knowledge pertaining to the conversation, Amon was keeping up as best as he could with the new revelations. Karasuma seemed to be the only other one following along. The rest would need a briefing later.
"Horcruxes are generally destroyed by extreme amounts of a particular element," Dumbledore continued. "Do you know how to destroy this one, Severus?"
"A very high intensity of fire beyond that of a phoenix will destroy it."
Robin went rigid beside Amon. He could sense the rising discomfort from all of the hunters. Sakaki started to laugh nervously. Everyone's eyes turned toward the boy.
"Oh...um...it just kind of resembles...well...you know...the one ring and the fires of Mt. Doom." Amon silently sighed a breath of relief. Trust Sakaki to jump to a conclusion from a movie and not to a girl two feet away from him.
"Yes, well," Dumbledore said, averting his eyes away from the hunters, whom he was still perturbed at. "We'll need to figure out a way to destroy it so we can defeat Lord Voldemort."
"Is that such a good idea?" Amon asked, earning him even angrier glares than before. "Destroying this object may force Voldemort into hiding. If his only security were to be destroyed, he would become very cautious." The witches glanced at one another.
"This Voldemort thinks Solomon has it, not you," Amon continued. "As an organization, we would have no knowledge of how to destroy a horcrux, so even if he can't locate it, he'll know it's safe as long as we have it."
Dumbledore's eyes widened briefly. The old man has to know by now that jumping to any action may ruin his long-term goal. He should also have realized that he no longer has control over Amon or his hunters.
"We'll start researching for a way to destroy the horcrux, but for now, we'll have to leave it be," Dumbledore ordered.
The old man looked down at the box, deep in thought. He'll be too focused on the horcrux to question the hunters any further. Their secrets will stay secret for now.
"We still have another problem," Dumbledore said quietly. "Because Lord Voldemort believes his only weakness is lost and untraceable, he will be more aggressive with his attacks. We'll need to move some of the more prominent wizards to different housing, but they all can't come here."
"I know a relocation specialist," Remus said. "He's helped me before, and he's trustworthy enough to handle more cases."
"Good. However, Lord Voldemort may also attack even the most secure of places. I'm sorry to have to do this, but we have no other option. Hogwarts must be closed."