-Chapter Thirteen-

Preparing

The Master watched what was left of his Death Eaters return empty handed and cursed inwardly. In a single swoop the Doctor had nearly brought his plans crashing down around him! His powerful army of Death Eaters reduced to a handful, his machinery wrecked just as they had found what he was looking for, and now that the Slytherins had seen the Death Eaters for what they really where they were bound to turn on him. Curse that meddling Doctor!

At that very moment Malfoy approached him, a look on his face that would have sent a shiver down the Master's spine if he had found the pathetic boy even remotely intimidating.

"What is all this?" demanded Malfoy, holding up a handful of wires and circuits that he had pulled from one of the damaged Death Eaters. "These are not Death Eaters! Who are you?"

The Master ignored him and turned away, already focusing on more important matters. Malfoy pulled out his wand and the other Slytherins followed suite. "I asked you a question!" The Master turned back towards Malfoy, an amused look on his face. "Well, seeing as you asked so nicely Draco… You are correct. I am not working for your 'Dark Lord' nor anybody else. But do not think that means we can't work together. Observe." He pulled out his wand and with a quick "Wingardium Leviosa!" levitated one of the destroyed Death Eaters into the air, lowered it into the substance that filled the basin, and then raised it back up so everyone could see what happened.

The results were instantaneous. The liquid travelled all over the Death Eater's body, causing it to melt until eventually all that remained was a floating mass of the strange substance, which the Master sent back into the basin with a flick of his wand. "Now, imagine that happening to one of your worst enemies." he said, watching the look of horror on the Slytherin's faces being replaced by greed. "Imagine that happening to Potter."

Malfoy smiled.

"Excellent. Now, because of Potter's intervention there are several contingency plans to set up, one of which I must entrust with you."

Malfoy's chest swelled with pride, his loyalty firmly back with the Master. "Whatever you want!"

Rassilon's beard, manipulating these idiots was almost too easy!

Meanwhile, up in Hogwarts (1), one it's many teachers was sat at their desk, marking student's work and ignoring how late it was getting. This day seemed to have just flown by! (2)

A sudden creak from the other sound of the room stopped her from writing a "D" on one particularly appalling pice of work. "Who's there?" she called, and after a few moments of silence got up ad headed towards the door, but on opening it found only the empty corridor outside.

"Evening, Professor!"

She spun round. There, leaning on the windowsill and smirking at her in that annoyingly superior way of his, was Malfoy.

"Malfoy! How on earth did you…" but the Teacher's reply was cut short as a shape appeared from the dark corner of the room and she suddenly found herself face to face with a Death Eater!

The Teacher quickly reached for her wand, but the Death Eater moved like lightning and she soon found herself caught in it's clutches. Malfoy laughed, enjoying the sight.

"What the blazes are you doing?" she shrieked at Malfoy. Malfoy laughed again and reached into is tunic, pulling out a small vial of a strange black liquid. "Sorry to do this Proessor," he said in a voice that didn't sound like he was sorry at all. "But this is a far better role than as a teacher at this pathetic school." He unstoppered the vial and splashed the contents over her face, signalling the Death Eater to let her go.

The Teacher instantly reached for her wand but found it that it seemed to slip out of her grip. She looked down and was horrified to see the black liquid dripping from her fingertips, which were gradually becoming discoloured. Alarmed, she put the other hand to her face where the liquid had touched her face and felt her face sag at her touch. She tried to cry out but her throat was suddenly full of the liquid. Her feet softened beneath her and she fell forwards…

Malfoy watched the entire spectacle, horrified yet entranced. Although he had seen what the stuff had done to the Death Eater earlier he didn't think he'd ever get used to it. In front of him the Teacher lay on the floor, her body melting into a puddle. This substance that The Master was using was incredible! The things that could be done with it were beyond the limits of the imagination. If he could gain some of the substance for himself, he could give it to Voldemort, get his father out of jail, use it to put Potter, the Half-Breeds and the Mudbloods in their proper places…

In front of him the puddle suddenly began to bubble and seethe with life, and as Malfoy watched it began to form into the shape of a formless figure, before the features became more defined and became those of the Teacher. Soon it had transformed into the perfect copy of the Teacher. Malfoy could have never told the difference.

"We're done here, let's go." He said to the Death Eater. The Death Eater instantly turned towards the wall and twisted one of the brackets 90 degrees. Instantly the wall slid open, revealing a passage, and Malfoy and the Death Eater quickly stepped through. The wall shut behind them, leaving no signs of having ever been disturbed.

For a few minutes the room was still, and then the Teacher stirred. She got to her feet and looked around in confusion. What had just happened? Had she fallen asleep? She must be more tired than she thought.

"Excellent Draco, excellent!" said the Master, beaming in satisfaction. Malfoy felt a surge of satisfaction surge through him and he smiled. Suddenly, there was a beeping sound from one of the newly-repaired machines and another stream of paper was released. The Master strode over and grabbed the paper, reading and the displays on the machine intently. "Anything important?"

The Master's grin widened. "Another source has been located, even larger than the last one.. Excellent!" He read some more of the paper and his grin faded. He began mumbling to himself, and Malfoy strained to hear.

"No, that room's in Hogwarts… then how come it wasn't detected before? There aren't any secret passages leading to it… I shall have to handle this very carefully."

"We'll go," said Malfoy instantly. "Me and some of the others could fetch whatever you need…"

"No!" snapped the Master. "There is more to this than meets the eye. I shall go and make my preparations. On no account are you to do anything in my absence." He turned and walked away, deep in thought.

Malfoy waited until the Master had walked up to the hidden entrance within the statue of Salazar Slytherin before he made his move. He walked over to the console the Master had been examining, calling over Crabbe and Goyle as he did so. To his delight, one of the screens was displaying a map of Hogwarts, a light blinking in one of the rooms to show where the source was located. He studied it carefully. Yes, he knew that room.

He turned to Crabbe and Goyle as they approached, a look of cunning on his face. "While our… "Master" wastes time on his planning we're gonna go and secure this source for ourselves. Once I have that liquid in my hands (3) we shall be free to get back at all those who work against the Dark Lord and ourselves." He grinned evilly at Crabbe and Goyle, who just looked at each other blankly. "But surely if the Master is scared, shouldn't we be scared too?" said Crabbe finally.

Malfoy laughed at their stupidity. "Idiot! He's only scared because he doesn't know his way around this place! We know Hogwarts better than him, now come on!" He turned and led them towards the exits, certain of his up coming victory.

Appendix

(1) Feel free to say that in the style of the narrator from Superfriends.

(2) this was going to be explained away by the Master using Dumbledore's powers, and then I remembered that he's Dumbledore, not Odin.

(3) Poor choice of words there, Malfoy.