Together Tonks and Penny made their way carefully down into the dungeons, hoping they wouldn't be seen. It was getting darker the further down they went until they were finally into the corridor near the room Penny first had been attacked.
They neared the room at the end of the corridor, their breaths catching in their throats and they could feel their hearts beating out of their chests. Penny raised her wand and gave a yelp as something behind her hit her.
'Ouch Dora!' She said as she turned to see Tonks sprawled on the stone floor. 'Are you alright?' She added as she helped her friend to her feet.
'Yeah I'm fine, just tripped.' Tonks muttered as she dusted herself off.
'OK we need to keep our eyes and ears peeled as we'll probably hear him long before we see him.' Penny said as she lit the tip of her wand and Tonks did the same.
They entered the room and felt the piercing icy chill, making them very much aware that they were not alone. As it had happened before, the thin slither of light from their wands barely made a difference as they crept further into the room. Penny realised that they must be right underneath the castle, as it smelt damp and wet, something she hadn't noticed last time.
They stayed closely beside each other and then gasped as they saw two large glowing red eyes a yard in front of them. Penny felt Tonks tense beside her, she'd forgotten that Tonks had never seen the demon; however, this time Penny wasn't afraid.
The red eyes began to advance on them, only this time he was walking slowly towards them instead of lunging. He began to laugh menacingly and high pitched as he flicked his arm above his head and lit the room in a dim, green glow.
The torches in their holders became lit and for the first time Penny could see her attacker. For a second she thought it was Issachar Paton, their defence teacher. He had the same square set jaw and dark grey hair, but his nose was slightly different.
'You've finally come to face me.' He said with a sneer.
'You murdered my grandmother and tried to kill my aunt!' Penny shouted back at him, sounding a little braver than she felt.
'Yes and now that you're here, I'm going to kill you too.' He replied calmly.
'And why do you want to kill me?' She said as she raised her wand a little higher.
'Because my master cannot possibly rise to greatness with you alive. You would only mess with his plans, not to mention the fact that he can't possibly have your powers if you still have them.' He said as he drew, not a wand, but a large sword from inside his cloak.
'It's taken me years to develop a poison powerful enough to destroy you, but now I have one and there's nothing you can do to stop it!' He said as he now lunged toward Penny and Tonks.
After weeks of practice, now was the time for Penny to use all that she had learned with Dumbledore. She flicked her arm and sent the demon crashing into the wall. Tonks watched on as Penny then lifted her attacker up into the air and threw him into the wall a second time.
He was clearly dazed by this as he staggered to his feet. He was still clutching the sword in one hand and he now had his wand in the other. He disappeared into smoke and attempted to whip around the two girls like he had done to Minerva.
'Tonks do you remember the spell?' Penny asked as they stood back to back.
'Yeah. On the count of three?' Tonks replied as she raised her wand.
'One, two…THREE!' Penny shouted and they both shouted the spell together.
'ADUSTUM!' They shouted loudly and two jets of bright white light shot from their wands and swirled round them through the smoke. With a loud scream the demon became corporeal and flew backwards, once again he landed hard against the wall.
Now he was furious and was determined to get Penny. He flicked his wand at Tonks who flew into the air and crashed to the floor metres from where she had been standing. Penny saw that she'd been knocked unconscious but looked reasonably unhurt from where she was standing. He then raised his wand again and did the same to Penny.
She had raised her hand to repel him, but he was too quick for her this time and she felt a couple of her ribs splinter as she crashed to the floor. She began to cough as she felt the wind knocked out of her. She was now lying helplessly on the floor and could see the demon advancing toward her with the sword raised in the air.
She tried to pull herself together to protect herself, but she felt too dazed to manage it. She felt convinced that at any second she would feel the sword pierce through her skin, but the pain did not come.
Just as the demon was inches from her, another smoky shapeless form appeared in front of her.
'Stop Intricus!' He shouted as he stood in front of Penny.
It was Issachar Paton, who had his own wand out and was not afraid to use it against the other man. When Intricus failed to stop, Issachar began to fire spells at him. Before long Issachar had disarmed him of the sword and of his wand, which both now lay on the ground near Intricus' unconscious body.
Issachar bent down to Penny who was wincing in pain.
'Are you alright Miss Johnston?' He asked as he helped Penny to stand.
'Yes…I thi…think so.' She stammered. 'Sir, how did you find us?' She added and then, noticed it too late.
Before Issachar could reply, the sword had been thrust through him. For a moment Issachar looked at Penny before slumping to the ground. Standing behind him was Intricus, looking smug and murderous once more. However, Issachar still had his wand in his hand.
He sent another spell at the other man, who this time burst into flames, screamed out in pain and then was reduced to nothing more than ash.
Both Penny and Tonks, who had now regained consciousness, rushed to their teacher's side. Penny removed her cloak and placed it over his wound and tried to stem the blood, but she could feel it billowing out beneath her fingers.
'There's nothing you can do for me now, but you need to get yourselves back up to the castle.' He struggled to say, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
'You take the sword back up to Professor Dumbledore, but make sure you don't touch it as he laced it with poison.' He added.
'I don't understand Sir.' Penny said quietly.
'He was my brother. I'd suspected for some time that it was him who was after you. Now listen, you don't have much time. There's an antidote to the poison in my office. You need to get it and take it straight to Madam Pomfrey.' He said through gritted teeth against the pain.
'But what about you?' Penny asked. 'Surely I can…'
'No!' Issachar said firmly. 'It's too late for me and if you wait any longer it'll be too late for your aunt!' He added, now really struggling to speak.
Both Penny and Tonks hesitated for a few moments, wondering what to do for the best.
'GO!' Issachar shouted and watched as the two girls limped quickly out of the dungeon.
They both ran as best they could, but they were both injured and this became more of a struggle the further up they went. Before long Penny was clutching her chest, which was now in agony and she felt very out of breath. However, she was determined to get to Paton's office and get the antidote; she needed to do it for her aunt.
They kept running, dodging Peeves on the fourth floor, and eventually made it to his study. They burst through the unlocked door and found the antidote sitting on his desk. Penny grabbed it before they set off at a run once more, but now toward the hospital wing.
'Dora, go and get Professor Dumbledore and tell him what's happened. Get him to come up to the hospital wing and I'll meet you both up there.' Penny instructed as they both separated and headed off in opposite directions.
Penny, now very red in the face and feeling like passing out, raced up into the hospital wing and almost knocked Madam Pomfrey flying when she entered.
'Miss Johnston what is the meaning of this?!' She shouted as she steadied herself.
'I'm sorry Madam Pomfrey, but I was in a hurry. I've got the antidote!' She said as she held the small bottle up for the nurse to see.
Madam Pomfrey's frown soon turned into a look of delight as they rushed to Minerva's bedside. She looked a lot worse than when Penny had seen her last and watched as the first dose of potion was administered.
'It's probably going to take several doses of this before it starts to take effect.' Madam Pomfrey explained quietly, just as Professor Dumbledore arrived.
'Penny are you alright?' He asked with great concern. 'Miss Tonks here has just been explaining to me what happened.'
'I think I'm alright Professor. I've broken a couple of ribs though.' She said as she still clutched her side. 'But getting the antidote to Madam Pomfrey was more important.'
'Well you've done really well Penny and when you're feeling up to it we'll take about it in more detail. But for now you both need to rest.' Dumbledore said as Madam Pomfrey ushered them both towards a bed each.
'Is Aunt Minerva going to be ok?' She asked, trying to fight against Madam Pomfrey who was forcing her to lay down.
'She's very ill Penny and only time will really tell.' Dumbledore replied honestly.
Madam Pomfrey instructed the two girls to go straight to sleep, but they didn't; nor did Dumbledore leave their sides. They all stayed up to watch over Minerva, but they were all still very concerned. She was now showing signs of a fever; much like Penelope had done before she died. But Madam Pomfrey was still administering the antidote every half hour.
Penny kept praying throughout the night and then, in the early hours of the morning, the fever began to recede and she was beginning to get colour back into her pale, clammy skin.
Her own pain was no longer an issue, as Madam Pomfrey had fixed her broken ribs and Tonks had been given something for her bruising.
Over the course of the next few hours Penny opened up to Dumbledore about exactly what had happened in the dungeons. She told him about how she felt guilty for leaving Professor Paton down there to die, but Dumbledore had reassured her that there was nothing she could have done, and that, had she not acted when she did, her aunt may have also died.
By early evening the following day Minerva's condition had vastly improved. Her fever had gone completely, her skin was back to its normal colour and she was becoming more responsive.
'I think we can expect her to regain consciousness soon Albus.' Madam Pomfrey whispered and within an hour of her saying it, Minerva began to stir.
When she came round she was surrounded by Penny, Madam Pomfrey and Professor Dumbledore. There were flowers and cards next to her bed and the three people around her looked at her most concerned.
At first she felt very confused and disorientated, but as she came round more she remembered the attack and for a brief moment she thought she was still in the corridor, but then she relaxed into the warmth of the bed beneath her as she realised she was in the hospital wing.
'Aunt Minerva you're awake!' Penny exclaimed with delight as she watched her aunt stir.
'What happened?' Minerva croaked and took the glass of water handed to her by Penny.
'You were attacked Minerva, in the corridor of the west wing. Do you remember much about what happened?' Dumbledore asked kindly.
Minerva shook her head slightly, although it pained her to do so. She was bruised and ached all over and found it much harder than Penny to bounce back.
'Well you were found by Issachar Paton, who battled further with your attacker but, regrettably, he was unable to capture him at the time.' Dumbledore explained.
'What do you mean, at the time? Have you caught him since last night?' Minerva asked, not realising that she'd been unconscious for almost a week.
'We'll explain everything later Minerva; but for now, you should rest.' Dumbledore said with a large smile at his friend.
'You gave me quite a scare Aunt Minerva.' Penny said with a watery smile, her eyes teary once more.
Minerva smiled faintly back at her niece and patted her arm comfortingly, it was about as much comfort as she could give as her pain level began to increase. Madam Pomfrey gave her some potion to help with the pain and attempted to usher Professor Dumbledore, Tonks and Penny out of the room to allow Minerva to rest, but Penny was having none of it.
'I want to stay Madam Pomfrey; I promise I won't be any trouble.' She said and was pleased when the nurse, rather reluctantly, agreed.
She waited until she was left completely alone with her great aunt before she spoke; she could no longer control the guilt eating away at her.
'Aunt Minerva I'm so sorry, this is all my fault.' She sobbed.
'And how exactly did you come to that conclusion?' Minerva replied softly, trying her best, under the circumstances, to console her.
'Well, if I wasn't the Angel of Adustum or you weren't related to me, then you wouldn't have been attacked.' Penny said through her sobs, trying to keep her voice down so as not to alert Madam Pomfrey. 'I thought I'd lost you Aunt Minerva.' She added as tears ran down her cheeks.
Minerva raised herself higher in the bed and gritted her teeth against the pain this caused her. She patted the bed beside her and allowed Penny to sit next to her, pulling the young girl close into a one armed hug. It was a little out of character if she was honest with herself, but it was something that felt a lot more natural than she thought. Something was stirring inside her more than just affection for her great niece. Her long dormant maternal instincts were beginning to kick in.
'None of this is your fault Penny; it's who you are and you had no control over that.' She said softly and soothingly.
They sat together like that for a couple of hours as Penny explained to Minerva exactly what had happened the night she was attacked and the previous night's events. Tonks had long since fallen asleep in one of the beds, exhausted mentally and physically after everything that had happened.
Soon both Minerva and Penny had also fallen asleep, still sat next to each other on the bed. Penny had found this a great comfort as it reminded her of her grams. They had done this often when Penny had had a nightmare or was unwell.
The next day dawned and Minerva had almost made a full recovery. She was back to her normal self, although still quite sore. However, Penny was still beating herself up about what had happened and about the danger she felt she'd put Minerva in.
'You need to stop blaming yourself Penny; for the last time it isn't your fault!' Minerva said irritably as Penny panicked about the danger she was putting everyone in.
'I still don't exactly understand how I became the stupid Angel.' Penny replied sullenly, and suddenly Minerva's opportunity had presented itself to tell Penny the truth; although she still wasn't certain now was exactly the right time, but then again, there never was going to be a good time.
Minerva hesitated in answering as she built up the courage to bring herself to say it, but she composed herself with a deep breath and began to explain.
'Your grandmother's letter explains everything, but I don't have it with me; however, it's probably better you hear it from me.' She said and took another deep breath.
'As Professor Dumbledore explained to you that day over the summer, the prophecy that predicted your birth said that a child of light would be born into our world and would go on to become our defender against the dark. However, the prophecy also stated that the child would be one of the most powerful beings in our world because of the circumstances surrounding her birth.' Minerva explained and paused as she took a large gulp of air.
'The prophecy states that the baby would be born posthumously.' She paused again to gage Penny's reaction and she could see that something was beginning to register in Penny's eyes. 'When your mother died, you hadn't even been born yet. In fact none of us even knew your mother was pregnant; I'm not sure she did either.'
'I…I don't understand…' Penny replied quietly, almost barely audible.
'Your grandmother said in her letter that your mother delivered you to her nine months after her death. I'm not sure what the charm was or exactly how it works but, apparently you were charmed so that everyone's memories were modified. Everyone believed that Jenny died a few weeks after you were born. Only your grandmother knew the truth and she became the secret keeper, so that only she could tell you the truth. However, I believe she told Professor Dumbledore soon after and wrote the letter to you in case she died before she could tell you.' Minerva finished and felt a weight lift from her.
It had been an incredibly different secret to keep, but worse to reveal. However, now it was out in the open, she could work with Penny to begin healing.
'So wait a minute; if mum died…am I…does that mean…?' Penny stammered, struggling to comprehend what her aunt had just told her. 'Am I dead too?!' She blurted and Minerva remained silent.
How could you really tell someone that their life had ended even before it had begun? It had been a thought Minerva had struggled with for several months.
Penny slumped back into her chair and pulled away from her great aunt, stunned into silence. Neither of them spoke for several hours; they were both too lost in their thoughts for words.