Chapter Two

Frantic gasping. Pain clutching at his lungs. His vision swam as he ran forward, desperation energizing his steps. Before him, wreathed in blinding smoke and flame, the ruined house shined with an evil light. The Dark Mark fluttered wildly in the sky, as if the heavens were struggling to remove the foul sign.

He reached the front gate. Bulling the iron gate aside, he carried on straight into the house, oblivious to neighbors' warnings. A sheet of fire danced around him, crackling merrily as it mocked his fears. The door shattered as he yanked it aside. He was too late.

The train jolted to a stop. Harry's head slid forward and bumped into the luggage rack. Blinking drowsiness from his eyes, he straightened up and turned to the window.

"Ow." He remarked casually. "Ugh. What happened?"

"Hey Harry," Ron's voice reached him before the door started to slide open. His friend's face shook with laughter. Hermione trailed in behind him, face burning in anger.

"Hi Ron, Hermione." Harry waved casually at them. His mind wandered slowly over the dream. The dreams had been coming more consistently since Lucas Vandermine had come to his house. They were quite regular now. "Are we there yet?"

"Yes, we are there." Hermione stretched out past his head to reach her bags, not pausing to acknowledge him.

"Harry, you just missed the most hilarious incident since my wand backfired." Ron grinned from ear to ear.

Harry cracked a smile, the memory of Ron's broken wand fresh in his mind. "What happened? Did Neville do something?" Neville had a talent for embarrassing accidents.

"No. You see, Malfoy, Crabbe..." Ron began eagerly, but was interrupted by the train whistle. He started in surprise and hefted his luggage. "I'll tell you outside. If we hurry we can get a carriage to ourselves." He and Hermione hurried out, leaving Harry by himself to struggle with his things. As he exited the cabin he saw Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle charge out of the teachers' coach in a panic. They were soaked from head to toe in water.

When he had dropped off his belongings he joined Ron and Hermione in a carriage. They greeted him coolly, still arguing about whatever the earlier incident was. Harry sat down quickly and leaned forward, curious to discover what had occurred.

"What happened to Malfoy? He was soaked." He fervently wished that Draco had done something stupid. "What did he do?"

Ron and Hermione turned to each other and exchanged evil looks. Hermione faced Harry and began in her matter-of-fact voice. "Ron, Neville and I went looking for the trolley lady and ran into Malfoy and his pals." She paused and rolled her eyes. "Can you believe them? They were already bullying a group of first years who had been terrified by the dementors. He was scaring them with tales of their 'blood-hunger' and such. He tried to extort protection money from them. Honestly, the nerve of the-""

Ron broke in, eyes shining. "We made fun of him. I think we hit a nerve, because Malfoy tried to sic Crabbe and Goyle on us. Then guess what happened."

Hermione silenced him with one of her infamous frosty glares. When Ron settled down Hermione cleared her throat and continued. "Just as he told dumb and dumber to attack, guess who stepped in from the teacher's room."

Harry thought for a moment and replied. "Was it Professor Flitwick?" The thought of Draco receiving a scolding of any kind from Flitwick made him smile. Flitwick wouldn't hurt a fly. He was so timid.

Hermione shook her head. Ron snickered, "Flitwick scold Draco? He is too afraid of getting sacked by Mr. Malfoy to touch Draco."

Now Harry's curiosity had peaked. His mind raced as he tried to think of who had been on the train. "Then who was it? I did not think that any other teachers were on the train."

Ron leaned forward excitedly. "Lucas Vandermine! Draco had the worst luck. Of all people, ordering an assault on students in front of him is like asking to get beaten."

Harry started in shock. He accidentally bashed his head on the wall. Muttering to himself, he returned to his seat. Vandermine again. The last place that Harry had expected to see him was on the Hogwarts train. Now that he thought about it, it made sense. Security couldn't be too tight with Sirius Black running amok.

Ron ignored his jump and continued without pause. "Lucas took one look at Crabbe and Goyle and floored them without even speaking. Both of them were hanging upside-down in seconds!" Harry laughed at the thought of Crabbe and Goyle hanging from the air. "Draco's face was whiter than white. Lucas rounded on him. Man, you should have seen him."

Hermione pressed herself further into the comfort of her cushions and grimaced despite the humor. "I am amazed that Malfoy is still alive. After what Vandermine has done in the past, the first thing I expected was to see Malfoy blood over the whole train-car."

Ron glanced at her, clearly annoyed by this remark. "Stop being so negative." He checked to see that Harry agreed before continuing. "He did some bad things in the past, sure, but Malfoy deserved what he got." He turned back to Harry. "Vandermine pinned him to the ground and destroyed him! Not literally," he added hastily, glaring at Hermione's disgusted expression."

"He stripped him to his underwear, soaked him in freezing water, and then he rolled him up into a ball and chucked him into the next car." Her voice flowed with loathing. "If Dumbledore really set him as head of security, then we won't have to worry about any fights this year. The participants would be dead before they could blink."

Harry sat spellbound as he took in all they said. He interrupted as they paused to exchange dirty looks. "What is your problem with Vandermine, Hermione?" He nervously cleared his throat to get their attention. Those two fighting before they arrived at school was not a good sign.

Hermione gaped at him. "You don't know who he is?"

Harry shook his head. Ignoring Ron's scandalized expression, he answered. "No I don't," he considered telling them about his encounter but decided against it. "I haven't heard of him until just now," he lied.

Ron could not reply fast enough, "He is the coolest Auror that ever lived. He single-handedly took on twelve Death Eaters and..."

"Murdered them." Hermione finished dryly. She brushed aside Ron's injured look and continued. "He is the world's biggest psychopath beside He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Oh, he was 'good' once," her voice dripped with disgust. "He followed all the rules and played along for a while…"

Ron picked up where she left off. "He was the Ministries' number one Death Eater hunter. He fought wizards, he hunted werewolves, he faced down giants…"

"…until He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named slaughtered his family. After that he turned psycho, hunting down and mutilating the Death Eaters that were involved." Hermione shuddered and leaned closer, as if she was afraid to speak of him loudly. "He burnt them alive, quartered them, butchered their carcasses, tortured them beyond recognition, and other insane mutilations. Some say that he eats the flesh of his victims."

"But that's only because they couldn't find enough of the remains for a complete body." Ron paused for a moment, feeling his own body's revulsion at the thought.

Harry's insides turned cold as he thought of his proximity with the man several weeks ago. That was just not right. Revenge he could see, but those other actions were disgusting. Only something inhuman could do that.

"He says that his actions are based off of revenge and the need for justice. Most think that he is actually a vampire or werewolf and used his family's death as an excuse to satiate his blood-lust."

Harry turned from Hermione to Ron and back. "What do you think?"

Hermione leaned back and sighed. "Judging by what I have seen so far, he probably is insane. Dumbledore is making a mistake allowing him near the School."

Ron scoffed at her idea. "Insane? You have to be a genius to take on twelve Death Eaters and come out unscathed." He pulled Harry closer and whispered confidentially, "I talked with my mom about him. Even the Ministry doesn't touch him. They are too afraid of him to curb his actions. He has the biggest fan club in the wizarding world," he shot a nasty look at Hermione, "next to Blondheart." Hermione scowled and sulked in her side of the carriage. "I would die to get his autograph."

"If you died, then how could you get the autograph?"

The three students jumped in surprise. Lucas appeared outside their carriage wearing the same outfit as when he was at Harry's house. "Dead people don't exactly go around asking for signatures. Ghosts might, but then you couldn't really enjoy it." His gaze swept over the carriage. "You three have been sitting here for two minutes. Everyone is getting a little 'impatient'. I'd hurry up if I were you."

Harry winced as Lucas opened the door. He made a mock bow as the three students left the carriage. Ron gaped open-mouthed at his idol and tripped on the last step. Scrambling to his feet, he hurried off, praying that he had not ruined his image in front of the lean, tough Auror. Lucas motioned for Harry to stay as he exited. Harry stood to the side and waited. Vandermine held out his hand to help Hermione down the steps, but she pointedly avoided his outstretched hand. Casting a worried look to Harry, she mouthed out 'Good luck' and dashed off to catch up with the others.

Vandermine watched her go and chuckled mirthlessly. "Funny," he remarked, "teenage girls all seem to have that reaction. Oh well." He turned to face Harry. "Is she your girlfriend?" Harry's cheeks turned red and Vandermine continued. "Never mind. You are probably too young to be interested in girls yet." Harry struggled to reply as Vandermine bent down to retrieve up a book that Hermione had dropped. He studied the inside cover and frowned. "Granger, huh? That explains a bit. I've heard of her already from Dumbledore."

Harry held out his hand for the book. "Look," he began apprehensively, "I really need to get inside. Can I take the book and go, sir?"

Vandermine hesitated before slipping the book into his cloak. "Go on in. I needed to interview her anyway, and this gives me a more practical reason to talk to her. See you at the feast." He abruptly turned on his heel and vanished, leaving Harry standing speechless yet again.

Harry turned towards the Great Hall and rushed off, mind racing. More practical? What does he want with Hermione? His regard of Vandermine sank lower and lower the longer that he stayed in his presence. His fear grew respectively.