Author's Note:
I'm back with another chapter for those of you still with me! Here's a bit of advice, don't ever work at a restaurant. It will suck away your life and any joy you may have. There were a few complications in getting this chapter to y'all *cough* Writer's block *cough* But here it is nonetheless for your enjoyment! I hope y'all like it! If you do, then let me know. Also, if there is anything you think should happen in the story, then feel free to PM me!
Enjoy!
Chapter 6
I really do not like the cold.
I never have and never will, but as the Junior Head of my department there was no one else who was qualified to take the case. Except Morris, the bastard. Not like my boss would ever have ventured out to do the dangerous assignments; no, he preferred the jobs that involved unicorns or thestrals. What did I get? Acromantulas and dragons, that's what. Did he care about my life? No, he didn't. Sometimes I wonder if I care about my life when I take these jobs.
As I followed the mountain guide, I got an uneasy feeling. The feeling you get when you are being watched. I turned around, knowing it was pointless because even if something was following us I wouldn't see them in all of this snow falling around me. I turned back around and my guide was watching me weirdly. When he saw me looking he quickly turned to continue walking. Odd. There was something wrong with that guide since I first met him, but I didn't question it at the time because he came recommended by Morris. However, he still gave me the creeps.
As for the mountains themselves, they were quite beautiful. Even as I cursed the cold, I could recognize the beauty. There was something evil lurking in these majestic mountains. That was the whole reason I was here. The case that had crossed my desk was about missing people from the surrounding villages, or mountain explorers that never made it home. To most, it would sound like some wild animal and my boss even thought it could be nothing more than that, but the whispers among some of the villagers seemed more along the right path. They talked of huge humanoid creatures that preyed on the people who strayed too far outside the village boundaries at night. They told me about the Yeti that tormented them, but I didn't believe that it could be the Yeti. They were marked as a peaceful intelligent race and in all of my dealings with them, they had never proven that wrong.
There was one wise shaman in the village that told me a story that got me thinking. According to his grandfather, there was once a chief that was obsessed with more power. He would do anything to get it. He spoke of ways he found that would make him immortal and would give him supernatural powers. The Shaman's grandfather didn't trust the Chief and told a few trusted people in private about the sense of foreboding he felt. One of his friends believed in what the Chief was saying and he thought to gain favor by telling the chief about the whispers of disbelief. The Chief went to confront the Grandfather about the rumors he heard and the Grandfather decided lying was not the right approach. The chief made the mistake of confronting the Shaman's grandfather in public. The shaman's grandfather spoke of how evil the Chief's ambitions were and anything that grants immortality could not be something divine. Supernatural powers were one thing because the Shaman possessed such gifts themselves, but immortality was best left to the gods and not mortal men. The Chief replied that he was a god and therefore this was his right. The shaman's grandfather disagreed and so did most of the village. They didn't want to be corrupted by the chief's evil goal. They cast him and a few faithful acolytes out to find their immortality elsewhere. The shaman's grandfather was chosen as the new chief. However, he the Grandfather, always warned the next generation on how he could still feel the same sense of foreboding; he always said that the Chief and his followers weren't dead.
More than all that the Shaman told me that this was not the first time people had gone missing. This has been happening since his Grandfather passed away some eighty years ago. He said that the day he died, the first person went missing and was never found. The missing people are never found. The shaman left me with a sense of foreboding as well.
I could be next and no one would ever find me. I didn't even get to see any of my friends before I left. Or Draco. And that, for some reason, bothers me greatly.
After a few hours more of hiking and freezing, we arrived at the spot where the last person went missing. Or that is where we were supposed to end up. I didn't have any clue where we were. The GPS said we were a few kilometers away from where we were supposed to be.
"Sir, this is wrong. The site is a little bit that way," I said while pointing to the east. I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that we just got lost. And that he wasn't planning to murder me.
"Actually, I think we are right where we are supposed to be. At least, I am!" the guide said before laughing maniacally.
How freaking trite.
No matter how cliché it was, I still felt the beginnings of panic creep up on me. I had my wand, but that wasn't any sort of guarantee. That was when I noticed the oddly huge shapes coming toward us. The guide grew excited and went on his knees and bowed. The forms moved close enough for me to recognize what they were. I felt my panic begin to grow.
I'm fucked.
Draco was having a relatively normal day. He had woken up at a reasonable hour and got to work at his usual time. Which was fifteen minutes late, but that never bothered anyone. He had his usual cup of coffee waiting for him on this desk, so sweet that it'd give you a cavity just by looking at it. He was lectured by his mother. He was lectured by Lyra. He had more coffee. He thought about Hermione. He researched dark curses. He researched the cursed thing on his desk. He had more coffee because the thing was too disturbing. Lyra got bored after finishing all he needed her to do in the next week so she decided to pester him. He thought about Hermione some more. He took Lyra to lunch to shut her up, where he had more coffee. Lyra lectured him on how unhealthy his coffee addiction was. He just asked for another cup. Narcissa came to join them and because the women's talk tended to bore him to near tears he thought about Hermione again. They went back to work and he continued not wanting to touch the disturbing thing on his desk. A typical Monday. All was well in his routine.
A knock sounded at the door. Draco had absolutely no idea who it could be. Everyone who doesn't have an appointment that comes to see him doesn't bother knocking. It's a break from my Monday routine. I don't like it.
"Uhh, come in?" Yeah that was confident, Draco…
"I'm sorry to disturb you Draco, but I'm seriously worried and I didn't know who to tell first," Alexandra Pierce stated nervously as she walked through the doorway.
"What's wrong?"
"Well, I work with Hermione Granger as her assistant. I do for her what Lyra does for you. I'm always aware of what she is doing because I make her schedule. So, if something happens to throw it off I get worried, especially when it is something like this." Here Draco saw Alexandra take a breath, "Hermione missed her portkey about thirty minutes ago and I'm worried because she was on an Orange level case. Which means dangerous, but everyone else classified it as lower level danger. Hermione had a hunch that it was more so, but the only person she told that was me."
From the moment she mentioned Hermione's name, he was worried. There had to be something wrong because Hermione was always punctual. She thrived on being on time. "Why not go to Potter with this?"
"I will, but I didn't want to tell him this alone. You seem to have gotten closer to her lately so I thought you might like to come with me and offer your help to Potter in finding her."
"You're being genuinely nice to me, Alexandra. What else is there?"
"I'm being nice right now because I'm desperate. I care for Hermione and Lyra said you do, too. We have a common interest and goal right now. I'll hate you again after we have her back, promise. Now can we go see Potter? All these feelings are giving me hives." And she's back. It was too much to hope for that she had found her heart and warmth. At least, she never will when it comes to me.
"Alright, let's go because now I'm worried."
Harry looked between the two Slytherins in his office, trying to decide how much to believe. Could Hermione really be missing? He didn't think that Draco had any reason to lie about this and Harry couldn't think of a reason why Alexandra would lie. She adored Hermione now just as much as she used to despise her. Hell, Alexandra even has babysat Teddy on occasion.
"Alright…I'm going to send out a search party for her. Draco and myself included. We'll follow exactly what Hermione was going to do. We leave in ten minutes. Gather what you'll need and meet me back here. Let's go," Harry commanded as he was walking out the door to bark more orders at his squad. Draco felt almost privileged to watch the well-oiled machine that was Potter's team. Once Potter gets promoted to Head instead of Captain, then this department could become a serious force to be reckoned with. Not that I'd ever tell Saint Potter that.
Draco quickly went to gather his hiking gear and his heavy snow equipment. As he was walking out of Potter's office, Alexandra followed him out and said, "She better come back alive, or I will rain hell like you've never seen on the entire Ministry. I'll start with you." Then she walked back to her own office, leaving Draco a little scared. But then again, what else was I to expect from someone who is Lyra's best friend and dating Theo Nott? Not someone sane, that's for sure.
Though, she didn't have to threaten me like that. I care about Granger, too. I want her back alive just as much. Draco went still as he processed this, but then he was quickly went back to preparing for the search because he was just too worried to have any sort of epiphany right now.
What the hell happened?
That was my first thought as I opened my eyes. I assume I blacked out, but why? I thought back to the last thing I remembered. Mountain guide, betrayed, huge humanoid forms… oh yeah. I'm about to be eaten by Wendigo's.
But that mountain guide was human.
Wendigos are nasty and evil creatures, they had to have always been evil. They were once human, but through greed, an unhealthy obsession with power, and excessive consumption of human flesh they changed into the creatures they are now. They are immortal, have massive strength, and phenomenal speed. In some of the legends, people believed that in order to maintain all of these abilities, they had to continuously eat humans. They became excellent hunters and knew how to make one person last them a long time. This had to be the second most bizarre and dangerous case I'd ever been on, but the first was a story for another day.
There were loud thuds coming down a corridor in what seemed to be a huge cave complex. I could see many openings into other parts of the caves. I wondered which one could lead to the way out.
"Good, you're awake. I was hoping I would have a chance to speak with you before you can no longer speak. I assume you have many questions as to what is going on, yes?" the mountain guide asked once he saw I was conscious.
Questions? Yeah, you could say that. "Yeah, I have a few. Are you actually going to answer them?"
"Of course, dear. I said I would so I shall."
"You said you'd take me to the site of the last abduction. Instead you led me into a den of wendigos," I couldn't help but snark back at him.
His face morphed into a very unappealing scowl. "Just ask your questions."
"Did my boss know that you would do this? I know he sees me as a threat to his position." It had been bugging me for a while now.
"I think he had his suspicions, but that seemed to make him happy."
Knew it. "Did the Wendigos offer you immortality for capturing and eating me?"
"That is correct. You think I want to eat human flesh? I want power. Also, eating the flesh of a wizard does something to them. They predict that it will give them more human features and intelligence. They have a very one track mind and the mentality of a skilled hunter. Don't get me wrong because they are extremely smart, just a little too feral and impulsive. They are also tired of looking the way they do, but can you blame them?"
"Are they the chief and his followers from the legend the shaman told us?"
At this he smiled, a slow stretch of teeth across his face. He almost looked impressed. "What a clever girl. I almost think eating you would be a waste."
"Almost, but not enough." I sighed because this all just seemed so pointless. Honestly, he may have powerful allies, but I had wandless magic. I think waiting a little longer might prove beneficial though.
"Not enough."
Draco listened intently to the Shaman's story, all the while feeling panic rising in the pit of his stomach. After spending the better part of the day retracing Granger's steps, they finally came to the last stop she could have possibly made before going into the mountains themselves. However, this story was worrying. If his theory was correct, then no doubt Granger figured it out too. Then why didn't she call for backup?
He saw Harry approach him while the rest of the team continued with the story. The Shaman really was a good storyteller.
"What do you think? I could see the gears turning in your head," Potter asked.
"What do gears have to do with thinking?"
Potter sighed and closed his eyes, "Forget it. What's your opinion on this so far?"
"It isn't Yeti, I can tell you that for sure. They're peaceful. I think it could be the thing that gives the poor Yeti a bad name."
"Which is?" Potter was getting exasperated.
"Wendigos: The Human Eaters."
