Chapter 6
Nobody could blame the New Marauders for the next spot of excitement, though most of the school never knew just how much excitement was going on.
Plenty of classes were slightly disrupted by curious pupils staring when a rather gaudy coach pulled by three abraxans landed rather shakily by the castle.
Hagrid was first to them, and requested the help of David Fraser in their care as he was his most promising pupil. Hagrid himself carried the injured pregnant woman from inside the carriage to Madam Pomfrey, and Severus was rapidly summoned to deal with cursed wounds.
Severus summoned the school bloodgroup after school.
"This is a startling tale" he said "And one I think we almost have to follow up. The woman's name is Nadia Sadyrina and she's a muggle. She's also the mistress of a Russian wizard called Ilya Ostrovski and that's his child she's carrying. It seems that Odessa is big in Russia even as it is in Germany; and this Ostrovski has been outspoken against it. He had managed to conceal that he had a muggle mistress; but they found her and him at their love nest, she called it a dacha. She left him fighting, he told her to get his baby to safety, to tell the horses to go to Hogwarts where someone would help her. She's a bit hysterical – unsurprisingly – because she does not even know if her baby's father is alive or dead or whether she is likely to be pursued."
"Can we find out where this dacha was?" asked David "There should be geomantic trails; and the abraxans will know too."
"Yes I believe so" said Severus. "Sirius?"
Sirius nodded.
"I can do it; there aren't many who could" he said. "And I think we should go as soon as possible. Hermione and Ron are busy preparing for their wedding, I don't propose we disturb them, but I think having Harry, Draco and Neville along would not hurt."
Severus nodded.
"I'll summon them if you sort out where we're going….camouflage and Kalashnikovs for the older ones who are coming and hollow point with silver nitrate just in case. Odessa revere werewolves as the ultimate in fighters for their beliefs remember."
"What age does that go down to then?" asked Jade.
"The New Marauders and Ellie" said Severus severely.
"Well I didn't think you'd let me really" said Jade "But it was worth asking."
The Bloodgroup squad formed up quickly with long practise, everyone delighted to see the three older boys again. They would apparate elf fashion and arrive ready for action like commandos just outside the dacha.
There were three wizards there, grim faced Odessa types, and they were quickly overcome.
Severus used legilimancy on them for speed; then grimaced and cut their throats.
"We can't afford to leave live enemies behind us" he said.
Krait laid a hand on his arm.
"Quite right; and right too not to use your wand" she said. He nodded.
"They plan to hold a show trial; they want to question him first about where he sent his muggle woman so they can execute her too after cutting out the er, contaminated seed of good wizarding stock. I'm not sure you younger ones ought to be here actually…."
"Harry saw enough horror at our age; we pledged to combat it so other kids don't see horror" said Hawke grimly "If we'd been around in Cosmo's time he might not have been murdered….you know."
Severus nodded but glanced at Ellie and Sirri.
"Anyone who doesn't want to come need not" he said.
"I pledged to fight too" said Ellie "I may hate a lot of it – and please, I don't want to be near the front – but I'm coming."
"Me too" squeaked Sirri firmly "I like you protecting me Severus, but I want to stand beside you too."
"Where are we going? Any idea?" asked Sirius.
"Yes; they have a training facility in the Pripet Marshes and they have a secure facility there too where he's being held and tortured" said Severus.
"There's a helluva lot of Pripet marshes" said Sirius.
"Yeah" said David "And so the army of the Third Reich found out – to its cost."
"But I know where!" squeaked Beloc "Because I saw the map!"
"Good" said Sirius "Give us the co-ordinates; and we'll go."
They apparated outside the defenses of the facility to study them. They were quite extensive, including muggle repelling spells, unmappability, and an anti-apparating zone. It would also have been protected against them by being under the fidelius charm had not Professor Hesse been careless. Beloc was now a secondary secret keeper.
"And the anti apparating zone doesn't work for us" said Severus, cheerfully "Because of the elf blood. Just like Beloc can lead us here because he saw the note and is directing map. I love felix felicis."
"We haven't taken any" said Harry.
"No, but Beloc had when he found the map" said Severus "And I don't think we need it; we do NOT, gentlemen and ladies, wish to learn to rely on luck. There are times and places for felix; this is a time and a place for ordinary fortitude, endurance and skill."
"Yes Domine" said Harry, meekly.
David was watching the guard circulating and using his skill to work out what buildings were likely to contain what.
"I'd say that isolated building there is the secure facility" he said "It has extra lines of energy around it that I think are curse lines. We need to get Thingumyski out first and then see about killing all the other trainees here."
Sirius nodded.
"It's sound; though do we all need to go in there in force? Might not splitting our forces be better?"
"Padfoot, there are ten toilet-style windows along that barracks block. Russians reckon eight man to a loo stall, twice as many as Americans; Germans go for about six, like the British, so assume at least sixty housed there, maybe eighty."
"I bow to your superior knowledge over shithouses" said Sirius.
"It's valid data" shrugged David, slightly miffed.
"I was teasing. I really DO bow to your superior knowledge over shithouses."
"So no split. Though I want him taken out when we have him, he'll be in no condition to fight, Sirri, will you take him back with Ellie to help you? That way you do your bit but without the parts you find harder to handle" said Severus.
"Do it; and never mind pride" said Krait. "We'll only worry about him and you if you don't and that'll put the rest of us at risk. Like we stuck the younger ones inside during the battle for Hogwarts and never worried 'cos we didn't know sundry of them had crept out." She scowled at the marauders who had the grace to look sheepish.
"All right; as it is a real job" said Ellie. "Though Sirri could handle it alone…."
"But you're the better geomancer to cover any apparating smell" said Sirius. "We don't want to lead anyone who comes here right back to Hogwarts."
Ellie nodded, appeased.
They concentrated; and apparated inside the curse line, the guard on the door dying with a very mundane knife in his throat before he could even cry out to raise the alarm. And then they were inside, Kalashnikovs ready, cutting down anyone who stood before them, secure in the knowledge that anyone not confined was going to be the enemy.
Ostrovski was held in magical bonds screaming under the cruciatus curse.
The wizard who was casting it never knew what had hit him.
It was in fact several pieces of 7.62 calibre hollow point lead, but as that would have meant nothing to him in any case, he would have been none the wiser had anyone told him. Severus dispelled the bonds, and Sirri and Ellie took an arm each and apparated directly away. They cleared the building – there was only one other occupant who seemed to be some kind of commandant – cast accio bullets and accio cartridge cases and left, apparating past the curse lines after setting a high explosive charge which David had thoughtfully brought.
The resultant explosion brought wizards hurling from the barracks, and enough forgot the presence of the curse line to make killing them by other means superfluous since they died in a green flash.
Shooting the rest down was almost too easy; but that, as David said, was due to good planning. A few got off offensive spells; and some of them were even in the right direction and necessitated protective shield spells. Most were just confused and frightened and even started attacking each other.
It was a bloodbath; and then the barracks had to be checked and cleared too.
Nobody had, as it happened, stayed inside.
A well dressed witch and wizard were amongst the dead; presumably they had been in charge. Severus appropriated such paperwork as he could find, and then after retrieving bullets and cases Severus and Sirius called down magical fire of an intensity that impressed the younger ones.
And then they went home.
Ilya Ostrovski would never know the details; but Dumbledore offered him and his lover asylum until they had a place to go in England where their choice of love was free.
Severus and Sirius decided not to tell Dumbledore all the details either, just telling him they had called in Harry, Draco and Neville to help and had dealt with the problem. And if Dumbledore suspected some of the children were involved, he had the wisdom not to ask.
The Bloodgroup went its own way; and while Dumbledore was certain that its way was along a righteous path he preferred not to officially know what it was.
Which was why nobody had told him about the plans they had for Myrtle either.
Abraxus decided that after two rather emotionally charged events it was time to get through the most difficult business of all of the term and ask Myrtle if she would like to become flesh and blood again if he could pull it off.
Myrtle howled and sobbed, and as Abraxus was wondering how to apologise to her for suggesting it if it upset her so much managed to sniff that she would like that above all things, to be able to be his girlfriend and demand how he could raise her hopes without knowing if it could be done.
"But I have a pretty good idea" said Abraxus "Because I knew it would be unfair to suggest it if it couldn't so I asked Krait and she asked the older blood group if they'd help and she's working out when is the best time if you want to."
"I want to" said Myrtle.
"Dear, dear Myrtle, you have to be aware that it might send you beyond the veil" said Abraxus "And that would mean you would be able to move on from being sad, but…..but I would miss you so much!"
"And I would miss you….but I suppose you'd die eventually and come to me?" asked Myrtle. "I've been so sad thinking you'll grow up and go away!"
"Well this way either you'll grow up as a little girl my age or grow as a spirit over there" said Abrax "I guess it might fail entirely, but then we'll be no worse off and we'll just have to think again. I love you, Myrtle."
"Oh Abrax, I love you! You're the nicest boy ever!" said Myrtle. "Ooh, just think, Myrtle Malfoy, doesn't that have a nice ring to it?"
Abrax had not got as far ahead of himself as to think of marriage but he knew girls could be like that so he worked on not looking too disconcerted. After all, even Hermione, the least soppy girl in the world, got dewy eyed when talking dresses with Krait and his mum.
"Krait reckons it'll be the best time early in the new year when you and I are the same age" he said "So I shan't be able to take you to the Yule Ball, and I should so have liked to do so."
A tear welled up.
"So who will you go with?" Myrtle sounded jealous.
Abrax grinned.
"Well, Hawke and I were thinking of taking each other, me in a dress with false eyelashes and all; but tell you what, Myrtle! I'll ask Krait if she can think of anything, and then Hawke will have to fend for himself!"
"No Malfoy is going to lack girls ready to dance with him" said Myrtle.
"That was more or less what we thought the problem was" said Abrax "Which was why we were going to go together…we tossed and I lost hence it being me to go in drag. He can always take Hayley; she's inoffensive and already a good friend of his."
The Marauders having had a busy term so far decided to actually do a bit of work; so it was Lynx and her cronies who managed the next bit of Marauding excitement.
Pritchard and Baddock joined forces with Jackman and the Porteous siblings to hex as many goblins as they could – except Kinat, of whom they were slightly nervous – and call their friends 'animal lovers'; and Senagra, Fabian and Lynx broke into the potions dungeon to mix a horrid concoction of doxy venom, bubotuber pus and stinksap which they duly sprayed at the racist gang. This noxiously toxic concoction – as Severus later described it - lead to their assailants spending several most unpleasant days in the sanatorium. The misfortune of the conspirators was that they were caught in the act by Severus, who could not really let it pass, so he set them lines during flying practise 'I must try to be more careful when poisoning my fellow students'.
Senagra had thoughtfully acquired some skiving pens from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes – this version of magic pens a bit more effective than their abortive self-spelling pens – which, once you had written the first line of lines perfectly copied your handwriting a number of times equal to the times you tapped the shaft.
Unfortunately Severus had locked them into the detention room – it had a toilet so it was not so harsh as it might have been – because they had too much honour to give their word to stay put for the full two hours. He had also put a locking charm on the door to resist the use of Alohamora spells.
"It might have been less boring to actually do the lines" said Fabian.
"Wrist ache!" said Senagra "If you think I'm doing lines for something I'm not sorry for you can think again; how were we to know doxy poison has a powerful effect on the lungs if breathed in? Besides, I don't much care if that lot live or die, they'd gladly kill me and my brother and Garjala if they could."
"Why don't we poke at the carvings on the fireplace while we're here?" said Lynx "We haven't explored this room for secret passages."
"Well that's because it's usually locked" said Fabian practically.
"There's some really cool carvings" said Senagra "I like this one of a goblin sticking out his tongue, he looks like Kinat…." She took hold of the tongue and started as there was a loud CLICK!
"Jiggle it some more!" said Lynx.
Senagra complied and there was the sound of grating stone – at the back of the firelplace!
"Cool!" said Lynx "Fabe, you do the best Lumos spell, lets take a look-see!"
It was quickly apparent that this was a way in to a whole network of passages built into the thickness of the flues and following their often erratic path; and there were stairs up; and down.
"Up or down?" asked Lynx.
"Up" said Fabian and proceeded to start on up the stairs.
There were further places where the passage divided; and Senagra said "I think we ought to actually map this before we get lost, you know"
"We'll mark the way we go with chalk for now" said Fabian "I've got a piece in my pocket."
"So long as no magical creatures live here and turn the stones around like in 'Labyrinth'" giggled Senagra.
"If we get mislaid I expect Professor Snape will come to let us out and find we're not there and use magic to find us" said Lynx, practically "It's why I didn't close the doorway in."
"There's oodles of exploring to be done" said Fabian "I say, here's a door!"
The door opened into a small room which had an alcove on one side for a bed, and an excavated crevice that turned and widened slightly with rather basic drainage in it and a gargoyle much like the one in the potions dungeon providing a steady stream of water into a basin. The main room also had a window, hidden behind decorative stonework on the outside of the castle; and a little fireplace leading into the flue the stair had followed.
"It's a place for hiding fugitives!" said Lynx, in awe.
"It's a grand headquarters!" said Senagra.
Fabian bit his lip.
"You know, it's almost too good to keep to ourselves….do you think we ought to tell the Marauders?" he suggested.
"They'd almost have to let us be mini marauders if we did" said Lynx.
"Let's map all the passages first and present it to them as a package" said Senagra "And I say, people, I think I know a really good fourth Marauder"
"Who? Jem decided to work hard and he's the best" said Lynx.
"Jade Snape" said Senagra "I know she's not properly here yet and will be a year younger, but she's awfully good, and she knows a lot from hearing her parents talk, and she has the scar so she's done real stuff…."
Lynx considered.
"All right" she said "I reckon we'll have to go back about now but if you can get Jade to join us we'll explore tonight."
"How will we get into the detention room?" asked Fabian.
"Call yourself a wizard! Use Alohamora of course!" scoffed Lynx. "It'll be simple!"
They got back and got the door shut just before Professor Snape's key sounded – a little early – in the door.
"That was close" said Fabian.
Snape looked at three demure faces.
"Oh dear" he said.
"Sir?" said Lynx.
"All that innocence? I really find it hard to swallow you know."
"SIR!" they all managed to sound injured which made Severus raise an eyebrow still further.
He inspected their lines.
"Hmmm" he said "Interesting how precisely similar each line is to the one above, it could almost be mechanical, right down to the identical spelling mistakes….well, whatever you've been plotting while your pens have been writing for you, I don't want to know. You may be displeased to know that Baddock is going to make a full recovery, but as one in loco parentis for him I for one am grateful your experimentation did not do any worse damage. If you MUST use potentially lethal compounds on your enemies in future, please think of my feelings having to explain to parents why their little darling is either dead or permanently damaged and Senagra, try to think what it would do to the reputation of nasty vicious vindictive Goblins."
"I guess I hadn't thought of that" said Senagra.
"Thinking is all I ask you to do…. You are in a delicate position as a goblin. I know you are just as daft as any human child your age with as much brainless mischief burning to get out and as little real malice in your juvenile and fairy-brained mind; but that's not how such things would be perceived, so the lot of you, BE CAREFUL! All right, homily over; scoot!"
They scooted, with more to reflect on than they might have thought.
Jade was delighted to be asked to join the younger marauders!
Once duly sworn to secrecy, they told her about the passages.
"Cool!" said Jade "And of course as they're not in wizarding space they're undetectable to magic too; and if the opening mechanism is purely mechanical so is that, so no amount of magic-detecting spells are going to work!"
Lynx and the others exchanged looks. That was something they had not thought of; Jade's background of high level theory really was going to be useful!
It was a busy night.
And some of it was a little bit nervous too; at least when they gingerly opened a fireback, and found an occupied room, with gay Indian carpets and brassware; and a big tiger asleep on the floor.
They shut the door hurriedly.
"Ooh-er!" said Fabian.
"If it's Indian, it must be Professor Khan's room" said Lynx "Has he got a pet tiger then?"
"I don't think so" said Jade "I think it's more likely he's an animagus, he goes off with Sirius Black quite often in the evenings, I think they go hunting together. Willow might know. Sirius has been helping her get her animagus form; or David he's a dog like Sirius."
They explored further giggling as they came out into the second year girls' dorm in Ravenclaw tower to a cacophony of snores; and then into the classroom on the third floor where senior DADA classes were held.
It took several nights; and they discovered further outlets into other places; the ground floor classroom where Transfiguration was taught; the potions' dungeon; the sub-ground level area outside the potions dungeon; an unused boxroom at what turned out to be the top of Gryffindor tower; and a final outlet to the roof through the end of a chimney stack.
Now they were ready to show the Marauders; and sent them an invitation enchanted – courtesy of Jade – to burn up all on its own once it had been read.
The Marauders were intrigued; and duly met up with the youngsters, bar Willow who pleaded tiredness after a run in animagus form and begged the youngsters' pardon in a prettily worded letter.
"Willow is a kind of part time member anyway" said Hawke. "So, we're met here in the transfigurations room; what now?"
"Now you wear a blindfold until we've shown you something very special" said Lynx "And then if you like it we'll REVEAL ALL!"
Hawke considered making an off-colour joke and resisted the temptation.
She was too young.
The marauders had a rather difficult time ducking into the fireback and then stumbling up the steep narrow stairs in blindfolds; but when crammed into the secret room and the blindfolds removed they were duly impressed.
"Kind of like a priests' hole only probably not for priests" said Abraxus.
"The bed hole isn't tall, d'you think someone at Hogwarts in the past was sympathetic to the goblin cause and hid rebel leaders?" asked Romulus.
"We don't know why it was made, but isn't it a perfect marauding headquarters?" demanded Lynx.
Hawke nodded slowly.
"It is that….we could keep the invisibility cloak and the marauders' map in here for safety so any of us regardless of house could get them…."
"You've got an invisibility cloak?" squeaked Lynx.
"Not as good as Harry's" said Abrax "But pretty cool…and a time turner too in case of emergencies and a small vial of Felix, a dose of veritaserum and a couple of bezoars. Just in case."
"What's a bezoar?" asked Lynx.
"Haven't you been told in potions?" demanded Jade "It's a stone from the stomach of a goat, it counteracts any poison including combination poisons. An antidote for a combination poison has to be greater than the sum of the parts used in the poison, but a bezoar is a sure antidote if you don't know what's been administered."
"I'd forgotten" said Lynx "There's so much to remember."
"Combination poisons are NEWT work anyway" said Abrax.
"If you forget everything else, a bezoar is worth remembering" said Jade "And when dad poisons you all in the fourth year, he'll give you extra points if you think of that."
"Does he really poison fourth years?" asked Fabian "I thought he didn't like having to tell parents bad things had happened."
"Probably not" said Romulus "But those of us who've been studying antidotes aren't about to risk it, you know!"
"But he's your dad!" Lynx was shocked.
"And the more reason to use me as a demonstration" said Romulus "Because he knows I'M going to get my antidotes right, you know!"
"Show us the rest, kids, and we'll put it on the map" said Hawke.
"Show us the map first" said Lynx.
"All right; we made you a copy too, for your own; so we can each be marauding together" said Hawke. "I say! I know where there's another invisibility cloak, it used to belong to Barty Crouch, now Winky's free d'you think she'd let us have it?"
"But then it's mine by right" said Lynx "'Cos I'm one of his next nearest relatives. She might then get it for me if I tell her to, where is she?"
"She lives in the Hogwarts kitchen under a cloud of inebriation" said Abraxus "You have to tickle the pear in the still life to get into the kitchen."
Lynx stored that one away!
The New Marauders were very impressed with the passages, and shared all of theirs with the duly inaugurated official Junior Marauders. The next few days were spent making a mapping table – that would double to eat at – and benches and bunks to both sit on and, at a pinch, sleep in; and bookshelves for the useful books they were accumulating that were not so likely to be officially sanctioned, such as ones with dark rituals in
"That you kids don't even THINK of emulating, or even reading without a bigger person around" said Hawke roughly "Some of these have soul traps for the unwary, but we need to be able to counter effects, see? Severus has copies, but these are ones we found in attics and forgotten places in the library and such."
They also put Cosmo Malfoy's diary in pride of place; and Lynx came up with the idea of ransacking all the forgotten old trunks in everyone's boxrooms for other diaries to start to write an alternative history of Hogwarts.
That seemed a most excellent idea; as Abrax said,
"Marauders can't always be spending their time fighting the forces of darkness and saving the galaxy so I guess we need something to do in our quiet periods."
They also moved the magic mirror into the secret room's rudimentary toilet; as Abrax said, it was too dark for any damage to be done if anyone DID manage to penetrate its reverse scrying secret, however unlikely: and how edifing was a medieval style loo in any case. And here they could set watchers in relays from amongst the Marauders in case anything interesting happened in Durmstrang.
"I hasn't yet" said Romulus "Though Professor Hesse did get a fire message to go haring off for a couple of days after we creamed the Odessa facility; but you don't know about that, kids, and it's safer if you continue that way you know."
"I'll tell you what I know later, which isn't all but it's some" said Jade. "Will you tell the Young Marauders and the original Marauders?"
Lynx was torn. It was their secret!
But being a marauder was being a marauder.
"Who are they?" she asked.
"The original ones were James Potter – who's dead of course – Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew" said Hawke "Peter is kind of sort of expelled from marauding though we're kind to him; and Severus Snape is there in his place, and Krait kinda sorta to make up four, though I guess Tonks might count too. Either one is all in the family as Tonks is Sirius' cousin. The Young Marauders are Harry, Ron, Hermione and Draco and part time Ginny."
"It's an awful lot" said Lynx.
"There's an awful lot of bad people out there to fight" said Abrax "And it IS very much in the family….you're a Black AND a Weasley, Jade is Snape and Malfoy, Senagra is Kinat's sister and Fabian is new blood, but so was Kinat at first. Just think, one day, Harry and Ginny's kids, and Tonks and Moonie's kids will be Marauders together perhaps, and younger Snapelings too, and Draco and Grace's kids. It's a tradition now."
Lynx grinned.
It was a nice tradition to be part of!
And when she tackled Winky about the cloak, the little house elf was only too happy to be helpful; and begged Lynx to let her belong to her family.
Lynx had not got the heart to say no!