Hi again, thanks for my reviews and taking the time to read it. This is back to the point of view of Mrs Scrivenshaft now, just so you don't get confused.
The others, she could tell, were worried. They didn't, however, look as worried as Mrs Scrivenshaft felt. She was petrified, and could only move and speak with great difficulty, like her limbs were made from stone, and she had a great lump in her throat. Most of all though, she was worried sick for her husband, whom she could only assume had made it up to castle with the other villages who had escaped, and was therefore feeling exactly the same about her, or else he was - she couldn't bear to think it.
There was a very small window in the Cellar, right at the very highest point of the wall, where it met the ceiling. This was at ground level outside, and those of them that were tall enough to see through it (Hagrid, and Abeforth on tip-toes) could see the feet of many Death Eaters running around the street past their hiding place.
About ten minutes ago they had heard Severus Snape shouting that he had arrived. They could only guess who this he was, but they all knew that their guess was right.
Abeforth was looking thoughtful. Mrs Scrivenshaft moved over to him, and with difficulty whispered in his ear.
"What is it?" she breathed quietly. "Have you got a plan?"
Hagrid and Rosmerta had heard the word "plan" and had come over too. Abeforth whispered to them all now.
"I was just thinking about why Voldemort -" all of them except him shuddered violently "- sorry, I mean why You Know Who didn't come at the same time as everyone else. I would have thought that he would have wanted to see this from the very beginning. The only thing that I can think of is that he has a plan, and that he was away getting it ready. This complicates matters."
"What could he have been doing?" asked Rosmerta. "Surely there is nothing that can be worse than what he is doing now! Murdering the innocent people of an innocent village!"
"We don't know what he is capable of, and yes there are things a lot worse than…"
"Shhhhhhh" growled Hagrid, who had so far not spoken since hearing of the plan. "Someone's just come in upstairs!"
They all listened, straining their ears for the sound of someone moving around above them. After a few minutes, with a jump of her heart, Mrs Scrivenshaft heard someone shuffling down the steps to the Cellar.
"Abeforth grabbed her and pushed her behind a stack of Butterbeer crates and then joined her there himself. Hagrid and Rosmerta were across the room, standing in the old, disused, Chimney Stack, which in the past had been used by suppliers to deliver drinks to the Landlord via Floo powder.
The door creaked open and Abeforth drew his wand.
In slid Peter Pettigrew. His shining silver hand lit up the room immediately, and he used it as a flash light to search dark corners.
Mrs Scrivenshaft's heart beat so loudly against her ribs that she felt sure that he could hear it as he leant over the crates behind which they were crouched.
She heard a sharp intake of breath above her and saw a brilliant flash of light, even through her shut eyelids.
She opened her eyes to see Abeforth stood up with his wand out, pointed at Pettigrew, who had a dazed look on his face, his eyes wide and cloudy.
"What did you do?" asked Mrs Scrivenshaft as Hagrid ran across the room to the window to make sure nobody had seen the flash. For a second everyone forgot the question and looked at Hagrid expectantly. Finally he drew away and muttered "no one saw".
Rosmerta turned back and answered the question for Abeforth. "He's put him under the Imperius Curse. I'll recognise that anywhere now, after what happened to me last year.
"But isn't that illegal?" asked Mrs Scrivenshaft fretfully, thoughts of Azkaban and Dementors filling her mind.
"Illegal, but necessary. If we all survive this, I'm sure that the Ministry will see it from our point of view" said Abeforth. He then turned to Pettigrew, who was still stood there and hadn't moved. He pointed his wand at him and said in a clear voice: "I am the caster of the curse upon you, and you must follow my every command, whether now or later. Your first command is to act perfectly normal when you go back, and report that no one was down here. In no way try to communicate with anyone in a way that would make them believe that we are here, or that you are under a curse. Your second command is to, if the battle comes down to one major point, and you are in a position to intervene, do so to our advantage, and the advantage of Hogwarts, the Ministry of Magic and the Order of the Phoenix. Your third and final command is to make it possible for us four to make it to Honeydukes sweet shop without been detected. Come back and tell us when it is safe to do so, but make sure that you are not seen or followed. You may now go."
Pettigrew's eyes immediately returned to normal and he bowed deeply at Abeforth's feet before leaving the way that he came.
"I hope that this works" murmured Rosmerta as she peeked out of the little window to watch Pettigrew move back along the street and up the hill. He didn't need to go that far though, as when he left the pub, the group were waiting for him outside. Rosmerta gasped and beckoned them all to look too. The window was grimy, so they were pretty sure that no one could see them looking through, but they were ready to duck just in case.
They heard Pettigrew speak through the glass. In a perfectly normal voice, he told Voldemort that no one was there. Belatrix Lestrange came from another direction and reported also that there was no one left alive in the village. Voldemort looked satisfied and shouted in a clear, loud, cold voice "Bring me the Prisoners".
Mrs Scrivenshaft would have run from that room right then and out to the congregated Wizards and Witches if Hagrid had not grabbed her by the shoulders and almost picked her up, bringing her back to the window. She settled to watch as three elderly Wizards were brought down the street, at wand tip, by Alecto and Amycus, followed closely by Draco Malfoy.
The three men were individually addressed by Voldemort, as he moved down the row, as he often did at Death Eater meetings.
"Hello, Mr Ollivander. I'm glad that you could come to such an occasion. Has your accommodation over the last two years been to your liking?"
Ollivander did not answer. He just looked at his feet and waited. Finally Voldemort spoke again. "Well, we won't suffer your rudeness any longer. After tonight, you will die with everyone else. You have outlived your use, and if we ever do need you again, then we can easily get hold of Gregorovitch. I am sure that he is more than adequate to take his place."
He moved on to the second man. "Pleased to see you again, Mr Fortescue. I know that we've seen quite a bit of each other over the last few weeks, discussing-" he gave a dry laugh "- history"
He moved to the last man and looked him up and down. "Well, I haven't spoken to you before, but I've been told by Severus that you are the leading man when it comes to magical and cursed quills. Your part will come soon enough. Until then, Mr Scrivenshaft, goodbye."
Mrs Scrivenshaft could only look on as her husband and the other two men were taken away again. She turned back to look at Voldemort, now feeling steely hate instead of cold fear. She watched as he turned to Snape and, after a couple of seconds, Snape nodded and took out his wand as he moved over to the glittering bodies around them…
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