Chapter 5—Midnight Prowlings and Surprises
"Merlin," I moaned, running a hand through my hair as I stared at the Arithmancy charts spread out on the table in front of me. At the best of times, I was only fairly proficient at Arithmancy, unlike Hermione Granger, who seemed to have a natural affinity for numbers. They just didn't sit that well with me. Now, I was so tired that the numbers seemed to be swimming about on the page and, try as I might, I simply could not make sense of them. It was awfully late, and all the students, even the NEWT ones, were back in the dormitories. Unfortunately, I had gotten so sick of the endless homework and studying that I had decided to take a nice long walk around the grounds this afternoon instead of completing my homework. This being a decision which I now sorely regretted. The Arithmancy homework was due during first period the next morning and I still had a fair bit left to go.
"Stupid, stupid Bella" I chided myself as I added a few more digits to the chart. "Oh, it's no use, I can't think, I'll just have to do it tomorrow morning," I muttered crossly, shoving the papers to the side of the table. Shakily, I rose and began to scale the seemingly never-ending flights of stairs. After what seemed like an eternity, I arrived at the dormitory labelled 'fifth-years'. Reaching for the knob, I was violently startled to hear agitated male voices emanating from within! "Harry! HARRY!" Somebody, presumably the weasel, was bellowing. Sweet Salazar! I had come to the boys' rooms by mistake. There was another high-pitched, shaky voice, clearly Neville Longbottom's. I have never met such a cowardly Gryffindor (except for myself, but I don't count because I really should have been in Slytherin). "He's really ill. I'll go get help."
Merlin! Realisation hit me with the force of a well-thrown curse. He was going to see me! Glancing around me, I saw that there were no dark corners or alcoves for me to hide. Left with no choice, I scrambled down the stairs, wand at the ready. With a bit of luck, I'd be out of the other boys' earshot by the time Longbottom caught up with me. Sure enough, his nasal voice rang out as my feet hit the third flight of stairs. "What are you doing here?" I spun around and pointed my wand at his face. "Obliviate! Confundus!" Instantly, his face went blank. By the time he was himself again, I was ready for him. "Hello there, Neville," I said pleasantly, trying to keep my voice steady. "Look how silly I am—I came up the wrong staircase by mistake. There's something dreadfully wrong with Harry Potter—he's really ill, so you'd better run along and let Professor McGonagall know. Bring her here, she will be able to help," I said, shunting Neville along down the stairs. Fortunately, he was used to being ordered about and padded off without any further ado.
I leaned against the cold wall, mind racing. What next? "Think like your father, Bella," I urged myself. What would he do? I really could not afford to make another mistake after that slip-up with the DA. Father would definitely rush in there, kill Potter and blow up the place for good measure so that the little brat couldn't come back and cause any more trouble. But I couldn't very well burst in and Avada Kedavra Potter, could I? He had strange, amazingly strong powers that even Father could not fathom. Besides, I had never cast a Killing Curse on my own before. Given my fatigued state, I knew I would only be able to weaken him at best. At worst, my curse would have no effect on him at all. Clearly, my brain had been addled by frustration and fatigue, for I was completely unable to think straight.
All of a sudden, it hit me. Of course! Information! Father would find out everything, then kill all persons concerned so that they would be unable to blab. There was absolutely no time to lose. I flew up to my dorm and tiptoed in so as not to wake the others. With shaking hands, I extracted my Invisibility Cloak from the very bottom of my trunk. (A/N: The cloak was given to her by her Father during a Death Eater meeting. It is not a true Invisibility Cloak. It just has a lot of Bedazzlement Hexes, Disillusionment Charms and the like placed on it. Thus, after it has been used three times, its magic will be completely exhausted and it will disintegrate. The reason why she didn't use an Invisibility Charm like she did in the Prologue was because the spell, which was invented my her father, is still in the experimentation stage and not reliable enough for such an important spying mission.) I quickly made my way back to Harry's dormitory.
I was in luck. The door has been left slightly ajar, and I could hear Professor McGonagall's crisp, curt voice: "I believe you, Potter. We're going to see the Headmaster." Shock coursed through me upon hearing her statement. Whatever had happened, it must be awfully severe if they were going to disturb the Headmaster in the middle of the night. I had to get to the bottom of this! Several seconds later, Professor McGonagall came striding out, followed by a sweaty, flustered Potter and an unusually pale Weasley. Although I had the protection of the Cloak, I still covered my mouth to muffle my ragged breathing and pressed myself into the wall so hard that the cold stone bit into my back. To my relief, all three of them stumped past without so much as a glance at me, each too preoccupied with his/her own thoughts. I tiptoed along, following them at a safe distance.
Sadly, they were silent as they walked, so I was unable to glean any information. We moved through endless dimly lit corridors, and finally came to an ugly stone gargoyle. The Professor strode forward and spoke to it, upon which it swung back to reveal a spiral staircase that was moving continuously upwards. Before I had a chance to get closer, they stepped forward and the wall closed in front of me with a dull thud. Biting back a moan of frustration, I sank to the ground, burying my head in my hands. Why on earth had I been so stupid, to stand so far away from them? Now, they were in Dumbledore's office, discussing important matters, Merlin knows what crucial information I was missing! Father would not be happy…
To my surprise, Professor McGonagall appeared after a short while and started off down the corridor in a swish of tartan robes. Hope swelled in my chest. Maybe I still had a chance to find out what all the fuss was about! I got to my feet and sprinted after her, trying to be quiet. Out of the blue, she ground to an abrupt halt just as she was about to turn the corner. I stopped too, narrowly avoiding crashing into her. Craning my neck, I soon understood why she had frozen. Strolling towards us was a squat, toad-like witch with a predatory grin on her ugly visage. Overwhelmed by her evil aura, I shuddered a little, pulling my cloak tight around me and shrinking backwards against the wall.
"Hello there, Minerva," she said in a sweet, simpering tone that starkly contrasted the sinister expression she was wearing. "You're just the person I wanted to see. You see, Potter and Weasley are out of their beds. Being the Head of Gryffindor House, I believed that you would be the most suitable person to inform me about their exact location. So. Where are they? " Her voice rose dangerously at the end of the sentence.
Professor McGonagall drew herself up, staring down at the shorter witch with thinly veiled disdain. "In the Headmaster's office. I am afraid Mrs. Weasley has suddenly taken ill in the middle of the night. Naturally, her sons and daughter are wanted back at home, in case she passes away before she sees them one last time. Potter, being an extremely close family friend, is wanted at the Weasley residence as well."
"What?!" Umbridge blustered, her face turning an ugly, blotchy red. "How dare they just up and leave without informing me? I am the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts!"
"If you read the Minister's decree closely, Dolores, you would have noticed that you are only given the power to make sure unsatisfactory teachers are removed from Hogwarts and all decrees are followed," said Professor McGonagall coldly, looking at Umbridge with outright disgust by now. "Potter and Weasley have been given permission to return home by the Headmaster, given the severity of this emergency. Seeing as there are no decrees on this particular subject, I would say, Dolores, that you are quite powerless in this matter. Good night." And with that, Professor McGonagall turned on her heel and stalked off, leaving a speechless, fuming Umbridge in her wake.
After a long walk, we arrived at the fourth-year Gryffindor girls dormitory. I swiftly stepped inside before Professor McGonagall could close the door. Unsurprisingly, she headed straight for Ginny Weasley's bed and began shaking the fourth-year awake. "Miss Weasley!" hissed Professor McGonagall. "Wake up! Get up! You need to return home at once!" She gripped Ginny's arm firmly and began to pull her off the bed by degrees.
"What..wossat?" The youngest Weasley muttered blearily as she looked around her.
"We can't talk in here, Miss Weasley. Out, into the corridor, now!" The look on Professor McGonagall's face seemed to have roused the girl, for she quickly scurried out into the corridor, looking scared. I followed.
Once they were outside, Professor McGonagall said without preamble,"I'm sorry, Miss Weasley, but your father has been attacked. He is badly injured and you are to return to Headquarters immediately along with all your brothers and Mr. Potter. However, the official story is that your mother is gravely ill and that you are going back to the Burrow, so remember to keep all pretenses up."
By then, my head was spinning. Who had attacked Mr. Weasley? How did Professor McGonagall know? It was so late at night now! Who could possibly have tipped her off? And if the Burrow was their home, then what could Headquarters refer to? Evidently, Ginny had the same questions too. "But Professor!" she cried, pretty features twisted in consternation. "Who attacked him? How do you know he was badly injured? Where is he now? Where was he attacked?" She fired queries at poor Professor McGonagall non-stop.
At this, the Professor looked even graver. "Miss Weasley," said she, "what I am about to tell you must not be repeated to anyone outside your family, Mr. Potter and Miss Granger. Your father was attacked by a snake in the Ministry of Magic while doing some… ah, business for the Order. He is at St. Mungos now. It was Mr. Potter who informed us about the attack."
"Harry?" cried Ginny. "But..how?"
"Miss Weasley," said the Professor in a voice hardly above a whisper, "he had a dream, in which he saw the snake biting your father. It is believed that the snake… belongs to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."
What?! My mouth fell open in shock. In that moment of stunned surprise, I forgot to keep a firm hold on my too-large cloak. It slipped off slightly, exposing my shoulder. This jolted me back to my senses and I swiftly recovered from my shock, yanking the cloak back up and tiptoeing away from them as fast as I could while not making any noise, but the damage had already been done. Professor McGonagall and Ginny Weasley were both staring at the spot where I had been standing, looking astounded. Professor McGonagall was the first to find her voice. "It appears that we have a midnight wanderer," she said. "Miss Weasley, kindly go wake the twins and go to the Headmaster's office with them. Professor Dumbledore will be waiting for you. I will now seal all the girls' dormitories. If you see anything unusual, report it to me immediately."
Upon hearing the words "seal all the girls' dormitories", I let out an involuntary gasp. Fighting back panic, I racked my brains for a way to get out of this. All of a sudden, I remembered the ink pellets that Fred and George had given to me earlier today for not reporting them when I caught them doing some illegal experimentation with the first years. Quickly moving to the top of the stairs, I fished them out of my pocket and threw them at Professor McGonagall as hard as I could. They burst upon impact, exploding in a spectacular burst of black, blue and purple ink that spattered all over the walls. Professor McGonagall coughed and spluttered, trying to get her bearings.
Taking advantage of her momentary distraction, I raced back up to the dormitory and dashed towards my bed, ripping off my cloak and school robes and stuffing them under my bed. i then leapt into bed wearing only my vest and an old pair of shorts, pulling the covers up over my head. I was just in time too—mere seconds later, a bright white light blazed across the doorframe and I knew that it had been magically locked.
After twenty or so minutes had passed, I judged that it was safe to get out of bed and put on my pyjamas. It was wintertime, and the dormitory was awfully cold. I was reclining peacefully, unable to believe my luck in escaping when a thought struck me: Father! He needed to know about what had happened. Immediately.
Sitting up, I envisioned my father sitting in his study, or perhaps resting. "Father! I need to talk to you now!" I called out to him, trying to visualise my voice travelling across space and time to reach him, wherever he was. To my relief, my call was answered almost instantly.
"Bella!" There was a note of surprise in his cool voice. "Why are you not sleeping?"
"Father, I need to know. Have you sent Nagini to the Department of Mysteries tonight?" I went straight to the point.
"Yes, I did. How did you know? That was supposed to be an undercover operation!" I could hear him trying to suppress his shock. To Lord Voldemort, being thrown for a loop by anybody, even, well especially his fifteen-year-old daughter was a show of weakness. Something which he would not tolerate.
"Father… Harry Potter had a dream tonight. He saw Nagini attacking that Muggle-loving fool Arthur Weasley in that dream. Of course, he told Professor McGonagall, who ran to Dumbledore. The blood traitor children and Potter have returned to a place they called the Headquarters— I suppose the Headquarters of the Order that Professor McGonagall mentioned. Unfortunately, Arthur Weasley is still alive and has been taken to St. Mungo's." I told him in one breath.
Father spoke slowly as if trying to wrap his head around my words. "Truly… odd, this is. I was possessing Nagini tonight, for my possession enhances her powers, just as they do yours. We were going to the Department of Mysteries tonight to do reconaissance. I was not intending to tell you about this Bella, you are still young and I wish to protect you." At this, I felt warmth surge over my body in spite of myself. I knew that the only reason why he put so much effort into keeping me safe was that I was important to him: his spy within Hogwarts, more of an asset than a liability. Had I been a bumbling, incompetent fool like Longbottom, he would have disposed of me unceremoniously years ago. But still. It was nice to think that he cared about me, even though I knew better than anyone else that he was incapable of love.
"Our plans have gone quite awry of late," he continued. "Avery, it seems, misinformed me about the prophecy. He oversimplified the problem and misled us all, making it seem as though all we had to do was stroll in there and take it. He was wrong. I presume you read about Broderick Bode, the Unspeakable we Imperiused, in the Daily Prophet? Bode must have known that he could not touch the prophecy, for he resisted the Imperius. This damaged his mental facilities quite severely. The physical contact with the prophecy was the last straw that broke the hippogriff's back—we have no idea what happened, but we do know that it drove him insane. He is now residing in St. Mungo's, on the Closed Ward for those whose damage is likely irrepairable." Father paused for breath. I could hear the hard edge of rage in his voice, and I shuddered to think of the punishment that he must have inflicted on Avery. It would probably make my punishment for not joining Dumbledore's Army look like a walk in the park. 1
"Bode seems to be showing signs of recovery recently, and, for a while, we feared that he would spill the pufferfish eyes once he regained the ability to speak. Lucius, however, took care of that matter. He has arranged for Bode to be sent a deadly Christmas present—a clipping of Devil's Snare, disguised as an innocent Flutterby bush. Bode will be gone for good in a few weeks."
"I, however, have more pressing worries. As of now, none of my Death Eaters know about this, but in light of tonight's events, I think you should be privy to this knowledge. I have long suspected that the Order of the Phoenix, an organisation that opposed me valiantly in the First Wizarding War, has been reformed. Tonight's events, however, have confirmed this suspicion. A while ago, Lucius discovered Sturgis Podmore, a suspected member of the Order trying to get through the door of the Department of Mysteries. At that time, we had no idea what this was about." My heart was thudding in my chest. I did not like the way this was going at all. Judging by the foreboding tone of Father's voice, it seemed as though the Order of the Phoenix was a threat that we could not ignore, a force to be reckoned with. And if it had been reformed… that meant there were wizards and witches out there who believed that Father had risen again and were being vigilant. This was very bad news indeed.
"However, tonight, as I bit the Weasley man, a piece of paper fell out of his pocket. A roster. Detailing who was supposed to guard the entrance of Department of Mysteries at what time. They have Aurors and other powerful people on their side—people who would be able to best a good number of my Death Eaters in a duel. They know I am after the prophecy, and are guarding it quite securely." I gasped. This was terrible!
"However," continued my father, "the information that you have given me tonight is invaluable. Bode made it clear that he could not touch the prophecy, only the subject of the prophecy and those related to him could. With this new… connection, we may find a way to use Potter for our plans. Well done, Bella. I am proud of you. There is one more thing that you are to do—make sure you are not at those Muggles' home this Christmas. I am planning to have Lucius, our best strategist, know about your findings and see what he makes of them. We may need to have you on hand during the planning stage." And with that, the connection was cut off abruptly. He was gone.
I lay on the bed, a slow smile spreading over my face. For the first time in years, I had made Father proud of me. And I was determined to make that happen more often.
Footnote: Bella (while disguised as Gemma Gardner), was actually asked to join Dumbledore's Army by Hermione. However, she declined as she was afraid of Umbridge and what she might do if she caught the students. Having interacted with Death Eaters and with a father like Voldemort (and also being not a very nice person herself), Bella can sometimes 'sense' an 'evil aura' around certain people. It is not a special ability, nor particularly useful. It is more of a 'sniffing out people who are similar to you' thing. When her father found out that she missed out on a chance to spy on Harry Potter, he was livid and punished her using the Cruciatus Curse. However, she was forgiven after successfully finding out about Harry's 'Voldemort antennae'.
A/N: Thank you for all your views and lovely comments! I am aware that this story, while tagged 'Romance', actually doesn't have any of it yet. Not to worry—the next chapter will contain some fluff/ first date. R&R please!