Author's Notes: Once again, thanks to all my readers out there. This story is now over 15,000 hits thanks to you. And a special thanks to my reviewers.
Binka: I'm glad you are enjoying this story, but I wasn't planning on mentioning Umbridge again. Maybe that will change, though. As for Percy, redemption was always possible for him and looking back on the series, it seems as if we should have expected it all along. If you remember, Avery was the Death Eater who threw himself at Voldemort's feet when the latter was "ressurected" near the end of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Voldemort then tortured him for Avery abandoning him for so many years. I look at Avery as a guy who is in over his head, but has decided that he must see things out to the end. And in this case, the fear that Voldemort has planted in him is impossible to overcome for Geoff. As for the evolution thing, you are thinking along the same lines as Geoff does. Obviously, Voldemort says that Muggles and Wizards are nothing alike, which makes the claim that Wizards are superior a bit subjective. If the argument were that Wizards are an evolutionary next step from Muggles, then there is no question that Wizards are superior to Muggles. And this could be used by Voldemort to completely justify his actions against the Muggles (if you've seen the movie X-Men, think of Voldemort as being Magneto and Geoff as being Professor X). Harry is probably not too concerned when Geoff believes because he sees that Geoff is a man who, at heart, values all human life over ideology. As for Hermione, the thought that Wizards are the next phase of the human race has probably entered her mind more than once before. Thanks for your support.
David Fishwick: Glad to hear that you're enjoying this. Thanks for your support.
Okay, the Monty Python reference from the previous chapter was the password needed to reach Headmistress McGonagall's office, Bing Tiddle Tiddle Bong. This comes from the 22nd episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus, which ends with a sketch where Graham Chapman sings a song with this title.
This chapter contains no fewer than two Monty Python references. See if you can find both.
Fair warning, this chapter may shock you a bit more than usual. So be ready for that. Lets continue.
Chapter 24: A Haunting Past
More than three months had passed since the fall of the Ministry to the Death Eaters, and tensions at Hogwarts were getting higher. Despite the efforts of Megan Blaire and Pansy Parkinson, many of the Slytherin students were getting away with large breaches of rules for the simple reason that the other houses weren't willing to risk causing an incident with them. Professor Slughorn was also doing whatever he could, but most of his students were effectively receiving their orders from Lord Voldemort at this point. Megan had all the first and second year students under control, but there was nothing Pansy could do to stop the ones Draco once led with ease.
And by now, they were starting to get really out of hand, as Crabbe and Goyle had cornered some second year Gryffindor students shortly before the lunch break in a second floor hallway. And they were getting ready to exercise their supposed authority once again.
"Alright, you runts!" Crabbe shouted to the cornered students as he pulled out his wand, "You'd better do as you're told, or you'll end up getting put onto a barge to Azkaban!"
"Yeah, you'll do as you're told now," Goyle added as he pulled out his wand.
"Shut up!" Crabbe snapped as he turned his attention back to the students.
"What have we done wrong?" Amanda Tynes asked, cowering in fear.
"Did I say you could speak, Mudblood?" Crabbe half-shouted, "What part of 'do as you're told' don't you understand?"
"I'm not . . . ," she began to retort.
"Shut up!" Goyle yelled as he grabbed her by the collar of her robes, "You keep your mouth shut!"
"Hey! Leave her alone!" a voice was heard from behind the group.
Everyone turned to look at where Mohammad now stood, a look of outrage on his face as his body trembled with anger. "What did she do to you, Goyle?" he demanded to know.
"That's none of your concern, brat," Crabbe replied, "Now you get out of here before I hit you over the head with my bat again!"
"What? You afraid I'll kick your bloody arse again?" Hazan taunted.
That pushed the two Slytherin students over the top. Crabbe had been waiting for this for some time, ever since he heard that everyone agreed that Mohammad had been winning the fight on the Quidditch pitch against him. In fact, he couldn't quite remember anything that happened after he got hit with that first punch, which had hurt really badly. Crabbe smiled at Mohammad, then looked at the other Gryffindors in the hallway. "You're free to go," he announced as he quickly pointed his wand at Mohammad, "Stupefy!"
The other Gryffindor students panicked and ran in different directions as a red jet of light hit Mohammad in the chest. He had no chance to react, as he was reaching for his wand when he was hit. He was thrown backward about two feet and landed on his back, unconscious from the effects of the spell. Crabbe and Goyle walked up to his body and nodded to each other with a grin.
"Rennervate," Crabbe muttered as he pointed his wand at Mohammad again. A blue jet of light hit Mohammad this time, and he woke up quickly. However, he knew he was in trouble when he saw the two Slytherin students standing over him. He tried to move away, but he prepared himself for what he knew was coming.
What was coming was Crabbe's right foot being stomped right onto his chest. The blow knocked the wind out of Hazan, as he gripped his chest with his hands and turned on his side, his back to the wall so that he could see the blows coming. And come they did, as Goyle and Crabbe took turns kicking him again and again in the chest and abdomen. The pain was almost unbearable, but Mohammad hung on to consciousness for the whole ordeal, which lasted 30 seconds.
"Yeah, you think you can beat me up like that, huh punk?" Crabbe shouted as he delivered his last blow, the hardest of the all, "That's what happens to those who stand in our way. You filthy Mudblood, you're not worthy to be in this school!"
Mohammad didn't want to reply, nor could he have even if he wanted to. His chest was in so much pain at this point that it was painful to even breathe, let alone speak. He just looked toward the floor at this point, hoping that Crabbe and Goyle were satisfied with their "discipline" for now and would just leave him to recover.
"What's going on here?" a voice familiar to all three inquired from down the hallway.
Mohammad looked up and Crabbe and Goyle turned around and saw Megan Blaire walking toward them, her gaze fixed on Hazan's prone figure. She had a good idea what had just happened.
"Just dealing with some Mudblood scum," Goyle explained, "Nothing we can't handle."
Megan's first reaction was to think, I'm glad they don't know I'm a Muggle-born. Her thoughts then turned to Mohammad's condition. "Is he going to be okay?" she inquired as she looked down at him, hiding her look of concern from the other two Slytherin students.
"It doesn't really matter, as long as he learns his place in this school," Crabbe answered, "And that place is under my shoe as the scum he is."
"I'll take it from here," Megan stated, "You guys go on and I'll join you for lunch."
"Alright," Goyle replied as he started to head down to the Great Hall.
"Wait," Crabbe said as he quickly grabbed Goyle's robes to stop him, "I'm not convinced about you just yet, Blaire. You're way too close to Gryffindor's son, in my opinion. Sitting next to him on the train like that. And what I've heard about you in Potions doesn't help your case."
The natural response to this was for Megan to simply state that she didn't know who he was at the time she was on the train. However, to do so would be akin to revealing that she was not a pureblood witch. Therefore, she decided to resort to an appeal to authority. "Hasn't Pansy told you she's okay with me?" she inquired looking at the two.
"Yeah, she did," Goyle affirmed.
"Shut up!" Crabbe snapped at his friend, then turned back to Blaire, "whoever said we take orders from Parkinson? We follow only the Dark Lord and his commands."
"So, you doubt my devotion to the Dark Lord," she stated as she looked at Crabbe, her arms folded over her chest.
"Well, I wouldn't put it that way," Crabbe began, "But yes, you could say that."
Megan stared at Crabbe with a look of annoyance for a few seconds. Then, she turned toward Mohammad's body and kicked him in the chest without any warning, causing him to start moaning in pain as he rolled over, his hands clutched to where he had just been struck.
Megan turned back to face Crabbe again, except now the annoyance that had been in her face previously had been replaced by pure anger. "If I ever hear of you questioning my loyalty again, Crabbe," she began with her finger pointed right at him, her eyes burning with fury, "You will wish that you were in his shoes!" At this point, she moved her finger to point directly at Mohammad, who was still moaning. "Do I make myself clear?" she finished.
Crabbe was rarely intimidated, but the look that Megan just gave him made him fear for his life. And Goyle was just about to choke himself on his own collar trying to get away from her. Crabbe released Goyle, who immediately bolted down the hallway, with Crabbe quickly following, occasionally glancing back at Megan, who continued to stare at them with the same look until they had finally left for good.
"Allah help me," Mohammad moaned, "I think all my ribs are broken."
Megan turned back toward Mohammad, the look of anger now replaced by one of concern. "I'm sorry Mohammad," she apologized, "I had no choice."
"You didn't have to kick me so hard," he pointed out.
"Yes I did, and you know I had to," she denied as she helped Mohammad to his feet, placing his left arm over her neck as she picked him up off the floor and helped him to his feet, "But I'll help get you to the Medical Wing to make up for it."
Mohammad nodded. "Thanks," he said as they made their way to the school's Medical Wing.
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"What did they do to him!?" Henry cried at lunch upon hearing Amanda's story as he shot up out of his seat.
"They hit him with a Stunner and then we ran," Amanda replied, still unsure of what to do at this point, "We didn't want to cause any trouble, like your father told us, you know."
"My dad won't get in trouble for expelling them, though," Henry replied as he began to leave the Great Hall and made his way to the Medical Wing, hoping that his friend would at least be conscious so that he could confirm the story.
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"Merlin's beard!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed upon seeing the state of Mohammad's condition upon his entering the room with Megan, "What did you fight this time, Mr. Hazan? An army of angry trolls?"
"More or less," Hazan replied with a grin as Pomfrey ran over to help him lay down on the nearest unoccupied bed, "But I definitely didn't start it. And it was more like two really small and ugly trolls."
"Miss Blaire, would you care to elaborate on that?" Pomfrey asked Megan.
"No, no, I'll tell you what happened," Mohammad interrupted, "It wouldn't be right for her to tell you. Crabbe and Goyle beat me up."
This accusation didn't shock Madam Pomfrey, but she needed to be sure that Mohammad wasn't lying. She turned to Megan again. "Miss Blaire, is that true?" she asked the Slytherin student.
Megan reluctantly nodded her head. "It is," she admitted, "I saw them kicking him in the chest area." She intentionally left out the part about her having to join in.
"Did you see what preceded this fight?" Pomfrey inquired further.
"No," Megan answered.
"All I did was stop Crabbe and Goyle from terrorizing a group of Gryffindor students," he explained, "I recognized Amanda Tynes in the group if you need more proof."
"Thank you Mr. Hazan, but I think that won't be necessary," Madam Pomfrey assured as she began to examine his chest for his injuries, "Those two have been nothing but bad news since they arrived at this school. An unprovoked attack on another student is surely the final straw. Headmistress McGonagall will have no choice but to finally expel those two troublemakers."
At this point, Megan looked toward the door as she heard footsteps from that direction. She saw Henry running toward the room.
"Mohammad! Are you okay?" he shouted as he entered the medical wing.
"Depends on what Madam Pomfrey here says," he replied, "How does it look?"
"You have about six broken ribs, but if that's the worst you have, this won't be a problem," she answered as she pulled out her wand, "I just have to check if there's any internal bleeding. But you will make a full recovery, I can assure you of that."
Henry had come into view of his best friend by this point as Madam Pomfrey began running her wand over Mohammad's chest, who smiled upon seeing his friend. "Well, I guess I'll be okay," he said.
Henry would have smiled if it weren't for the circumstances. Instead, he sighed with relief. "Oh, thank Merlin for that," he replied, "I was afraid you had been beaten to death."
"It's going to take more than two dumb, oversized wankers to kill me," Mohammad replied.
"Language," Madam Pomfrey warned as she put her wand away, "No internal bleeding, but there is quite a bit of bruising. I'll have to keep you out of your Quidditch practices for the next ten days as a safety precaution."
Mohammad finally frowned, at which Megan had to stifle a chuckle. "You are so strange, Mohammad," she began, "You're more concerned about missing Quidditch practices than the fact that you just got jumped by two guys twice your size."
Mohammad thought about that for a moment, then began to laugh, which led to Henry laughing as well. "I don't see what's so funny here," Madam Pomfrey commented as she began to mend the broken bones, "They could have inflicted some permanent damage, you know."
Before anyone could reply to that, Geoffrey Gryffindor walked into the medical wing. "Poppy, is he okay?" he inquired as he quickly walked into Mohammad's field of vision.
"Mr. Hazan will be fine, Professor Gryffindor," she answered, "But I'd like to request that all three of you leave the Medical Wing, please. I have a patient here who needs to recover from a vicious attack that will certainly get his assailants expelled from this school immediately."
That last comment was aimed at getting Geoff to leave the room and to work on punishing Crabbe and Goyle. However, he looked down for a moment at his son and Megan before saying, "Miss Blaire, Mr. Gryffindor, could you please leave the medical wing for a moment?"
Megan had a funny feeling what Geoff was about to tell Madam Pomfrey, and she would be extremely angry if it were true. But she hid that for now. "Yes Professor," she replied as she led Henry out of the room, with Geoff shutting the door behind them.
This last action caught Madam Pomfrey by surprise. "Geoffrey, may I ask what you are doing?" she inquired as she finished mending the last of Mohammad's broken ribs.
"Poppy, can I speak to you without Mr. Hazan overhearing us?" he asked, "Or does he still need more attention?"
"I can spare a moment now, yes," she answered as she began walking away from Mohammad and to the far side of the room, "Mr. Hazan, just stay still and I'll get back to you in a moment."
Mohammad nodded as Geoff and Poppy started talking quietly to each other. "Crabbe and Goyle won't be expelled, Poppy," he began.
"What?" she asked, believing she had completely misheard the Assistant Headmaster's words.
"Crabbe and Goyle won't be expelled," Geoff repeated, "I can't afford to expel them at this point."
"Those two thugs just beat Mr. Hazan without remorse or regard for his own well-being!" Poppy exclaimed, "If that doesn't get you suspended from this school, then what will? Killing someone?"
"They should be expelled, I agree with you on that," he clarified, "But we can't do that now."
"And why the bloody hell not?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips.
"The Ministry," Geoff answered, "You know it's under the control of the Death Eaters and You-Know-Who."
"What's your point?" Poppy pressed.
"If we were to expel Crabbe and Goyle, the Ministry could use that action as an excuse to start enforcing their will upon this school," he explained, "They would cite that as an abuse of power by the Hogwarts faculty and no one would hear our side of the story. It would be Umbridge all over again, only much, much worse this time. I don't need to remind you of those times."
Poppy finally backed down, seeing what Geoff knew from the start. "So, those two get off with no punishment at all?" she asked despondently.
"Oh, there will be severe consequences for both of them," Geoff assured, "They will be given the worst detentions I can find for them from here to the end of the year. And they will both be suspended from the Slytherin Quidditch team immediately."
"But when they go home for Easter, won't they tell the Ministry about that?" Poppy inquired.
"They can say whatever they want, but it'll be the word of two thugs against the word of a Gryffindor," he pointed out, "Who do you think most people will believe?"
"But we have to report all official discipline to the Ministry anyway," she claimed.
Geoff smiled at that as he began to leave. "Poppy, we haven't been in communication with the Ministry for months," he replied, "I've made damn sure of that. We are truly alone right now. And even if Crabbe and Goyle manage to convince people about their punishments being excessive, my plans will already be far enough along that I could flee the country and we'd still win this war. Not that I have any intentions of leaving, though I am getting the rest of my family to Barcelona next week."
"The pressure finally getting to you?" Poppy teased.
"Amy has done all she can at this point protecting the Muggles around Great Yarmouth," he answered, "I don't want her to put herself and the children in danger by trying to be more of a heroine than she can handle being."
"And you don't put them in danger yourself with all your actions?" Poppy asked pointedly.
"I haven't stretched my heroism too far for my own good . . . yet," Geoff replied, then raised his voice to normal levels, "And now, Madam Pomfrey, I have to take care of some discipline issues with Headmistress McGonagall." He walked to the door, opened it and walked out of the room and started looking for Argus Filch.
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It was a morning like any other at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place on March 12, 1998. Harry was in the dining room reading the Daily Prophet, shaking his head at all the lies he read. His left arm was doing much better now, but there were still blotches of black on it, especially on and near his hand. He could go out and hunt for the last Horcrux at this time, but Gary insisted that Harry remain out of action until the arm was completely healed, as dark curses could be tricky and could get worse at any time without warning. His goatee was growing in quite nicely at this point, and when combined with special contact lenses Gary had gotten for him, his bleached hair and scarless forehead made him completely unrecognizable at a distance, which allowed him to go around more outdoors. In fact, ten days ago, he took Draco, who himself was letting his facial hair grow out to disguise his appearance, to Craven Cottage in nearby Fulham to see the football club host the Bristol Rovers, which the home side won 1-0. Gary actually encouraged this bonding experience, as he called it, going so far as to buy the tickets himself, though they weren't very expensive at all. It was actually not that different from watching a Quidditch match for Draco, though he could do without all the drunks that were obviously around him and Harry.
Draco was also in the dining room, trying to find something to keep him busy. He envisioned his redemption being a grand adventure, filled with terror and triumph. Instead, the days spent cooped up inside Number Twelve crawled by as slowly as possible, with nothing to do but read the various books around the place (most of which were books about the dark arts that he refused to read now) or listen to the propaganda being broadcast on the wizard networks, although the various soccer matches being shown on the Muggle television set provided some excitement.
Meanwhile, Gary was planning his upcoming meeting with several Order members, including Remus Lupin and "Mad-Eye" Moody in another room when he heard a knock at the front door. He walked out into the hallway and walked up to the door and looked out the peephole to see who was there. "What's the password?" he inquired.
"The Bells of St Mary's," the person outside replied rather quickly.
Gary knew something had happened or would happen. He opened the door and let Severus Snape in, closing the door behind him. "Severus, what happened?" he asked.
Harry heard the name and walked over to the dining room doorway, slowly poking his head out of it to see what was happening. Snape was standing looking toward Gary and away from Harry, and he also blocked Gary from seeing him as well.
"What's going on?" Draco asked as he walked over to the doorway as well.
"Shh!" Harry hushed him as he too looked out into the hallway.
"Has Geoff gotten his family out of the country yet?" Severus inquired.
Gary took a moment to think about this. "Our plans were to get them to Barcelona in a few days," Gary explained, "Is there something I should know about this?"
"Yes," Snape replied immediately, "Gryffindor Manor will be attacked tonight."
The news didn't surprise Gary, but it did set his plans back quite a bit. "How many?" he inquired.
"What?" Snape replied, not understanding what Gary meant.
"How many Death Eaters will be in this attack?" Gary clarified. He wanted to know what he would be up against.
"One," Severus answered.
That was the first surprise for Gary. "One?" he said in shock, "Just one Death Eater? Has You-Know-Who gone mad?"
"No," Snape replied, "It's Greyback."
For both Harry and Draco, that was all that needed to be said. Greyback preferred to work alone and keep the spoils of battle to himself.
"Tonight is a full moon," Draco pointed out with a whisper, "Geoff's family is in deep trouble."
But at this point, all their attention was drawn to Gary's voice, which was suddenly boiling over with anger. "Greyback!" he screamed as he hit the wall with his clenched left hand, cracking the impact point slightly, "You dare to come for my family again? You dare to hurt me again? You won't take me by surprise this time, you disgusting beast!"
Severus grabbed Gary's shoulders to stop him from doing something he'd regret later. "Gary, listen to me," he began with a strong voice, "It's not worth it, trust me. Just go to Great Yarmouth now and get Amy and her children out of the country."
"Snape, we have a chance here to destroy one of You-Know-Who's greatest weapons," Gary pointed out, "This may be our only chance to destroy his agent of fear, Fenrir Greyback."
"Gary, I know that's not what you'll be killing him for," Snape countered, "This isn't about weakening the Dark Lord to you. It's about vengeance. Killing Greyback won't bring her back from the dead, Gary."
This made Gary even angrier, though. "You think I don't know that, Snape?" he asked, now sounding like a madman, "This isn't about bringing anyone back from the dead. Greyback must pay for what he did to me. For what he has done to too many good people over the years. He must die, and I shall deliver him to his maker!"
Severus let go of Gary at this point, seeing that he couldn't talk Gary out of the very high risk, high reward action now. But he wasn't going to give up yet. "Gary, you realize that Greyback won't approach the house if he senses no human presence inside of it, right?" he inquired, reminding him of the level of risk he would be putting Amy and three of her children in to get his revenge.
"Of course I realize that," Gary replied as he brushed past Snape and Harry and Draco quickly moved their heads out of the hallway, "And yes, I know there's a full moon out tonight. I know what the price of failure will mean."
"And you can accept that high a price?" they heard Severus inquire.
"I won't pay it," Gary claimed, "Because I cannot fail. Not this time around. She won't let me fail."
"She wouldn't want to see you suffer as you have these past 11 years," Snape replied, "She wasn't that kind of person."
"Fenrir Greyback must die!" Gary shouted as he walked back out into the hallway, "And I shall do it tonight!"
"Gary, you're a good man," Severus claimed, "Don't let that good man be destroyed by what you say you seek. Vengeance will make a good man do the most terrible of deeds. Don't ignore my words Gary."
Gary stopped at the door and slowly turned around to face his brother's best friend. He wasn't angry with him. "Severus, I appreciate all that you are trying to do," he began calmly, "But this is something I must do. These past 11 years, that night has always been the scene of my nightmares. How I could do nothing to save her."
"Killing Greyback won't end those nightmares," Severus pointed out, "They won't erase your memories. They'll always be with you. They'll always be a part of you and who you are."
"I know that," Gary replied, "But maybe now he'll die in my nightmares as well. I've tried everything else and nothing has worked. This isn't about ending the nightmares, Severus. It's about changing them. She will still die, but maybe after tonight, he will die as well."
And with that, he pumped the shotgun in his hands, loading the first of seven 12-gauge shells into the firing mechanism and then hooked the gun on the inside of his black trench coat. "Like my brother says," he began to say as he reached for the knob on the front door, "'In order to preserve all that is good, someone good must resort to evil things. For good alone will be destroyed by evil.'"
"'For evil is inherently more powerful than good,' " Snape finished, having heard Geoff say these words to him before, "'But can always be turned on itself by good.' Although Albus would argue that good is more powerful than evil."
"Maybe," Gary responded, "Or maybe it was some dark secret that drove him forward all those years. Evil takes many forms, Severus. Remember that, and I'll see you tomorrow." And with that, Gary Gryffindor opened the front door and walked outside, shutting it behind him as he got in his car and started driving east. By nightfall, he'd be ready.
Severus Snape stood there, looking at that door for a good 30 seconds before finally turning around to head into the house. When he did, he caught sight of two heads looking at him from an open doorway. He recognized the one that was lower being Draco Malfoy's.
"Sir, what was all that about?" Draco inquired.
Severus sighed. "I suppose that you two have the right to know what's going on around here," he reasoned, "And I'm sure if Gary comes back, he'll tell you the story himself. Come on, take a seat. This may take a little while."
Harry was in a kind of trance at the moment as he complied with his nemesis's wish. He had never seen or heard Snape like this before. Nor had Draco, who sat down in a chair next to Harry and both looked intently at Severus, like two boys waiting for their grandfather to begin some story about his past.
"This whole situation began 11 years ago," he began, "The night of November 15 and 16, 1986. In one of the many fields that cover southeastern England."
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Two human shapes could be seen walking hand-in-hand across one of the many fields which were a staple of the English countryside. Come morning, sheep would begin to roam these fields and graze on the grass, with various sheepdogs, shepherd dogs, and other dogs keeping watch and guiding those sheep to where they were allowed to go. And for one of the human figures that could be seen in the light of the full moon on November 15, 1986, this area in Suffolk County was his backyard. He knew the roll of every hill and the layout of all the hedgerows around. And he knew all the local sheep owners and farmers. Apart from his family, this was his favorite place in the world. And tonight, he was sharing it with the woman he loved more than anything else in the world.
"Wow, this place is so beautiful," 19-year-old Samantha Grant commented, the light of the moon clearly showing her long hair to be a vibrant red color that clashed with her dull, green eyes, "I can't imagine what this place looks like in the daylight."
A 19-year-old Gary Gryffindor, with long hair at this time, smiled upon hearing that and led her near a hedgerow about as tall as he was. "I'm glad you like it," he replied as they came to a stop in front of this hedgerow, "Once I get myself on firm ground with my life, I want to build a house around here somewhere."
"And live among these Muggles?" she inquired, "You're a strange wizard, Gary. Maybe that's a part of why I love you so much."
They both shared a laugh and shared a kiss. Truth be told, Gary really didn't think much of being a wizard. While he enjoyed the perks that came with being one, he didn't enjoy the tragedy that seemed to come with it as well. All the dead friends from his days at Hogwarts still weighed on his mind from time to time, even though he missed the worst of things. Samantha, too, lost some of her older friends as well. She was in the same year and house as Gary, which was Hufflepuff (to the utter bewilderment of the entire Gryffindor family, though Geoff always felt there was something very different about his brother). Their relationship had started during their fifth year at the school and had only grown by leaps and bounds since then.
"These Muggles have all the right ideas about really living life," Gary explained, "To live in tune with nature and the natural order of things. I see people, wizards and Muggles alike, struggling to get ahead in life or to win that big promotion so you can start licking a new boss's shoes and spending more time away from your loved ones. They all live outside the natural order of things. Man wasn't meant to live like that, you know? We were meant to be in sync with nature, not trying to defy it."
Samantha nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right about all that," she admitted, "But not everyone has the kind of money your family has, Gary. You can afford to live like that. Most of us can't."
"Oh, I plan on making a living out here," he retorted, "I'm not going to live off family money."
"What are you going to do?" she teased, "Farm the land and herd sheep?"
They both chuckled at that. "Not sure yet," Gary admitted, "But I could probably make a good living for myself as a farmer."
"Yeah, probably," she agreed, knowing that Gary had earned top marks in Herbology through his entire time at Hogwarts, "You definitely got a green thumb."
"You weren't so bad at it yourself, baby," Gary reminded as he wrapped his arms around Samantha's waist.
"Only because you would always do my homework," she countered.
"That was just one time, and even I had trouble figuring that one out," he pointed out, "And it wasn't meant to be answered correctly."
They shared another kiss and then looked up to the sky at the constellation of Leo. As they did, they saw a meteor fall from the sky near the constellation.
"Oh, Gary," Samantha stated, "I'm so bleeding happy here with you."
Gary chuckled at the way she put it. "Yeah, I understand the feeling," he agreed, getting ready for the real reason why he had brought Samantha out here, "And that's really why I brought you out here tonight."
"Is there something you want to ask me, Gary?" she inquired.
"Yeah," Gary answered with a devilish smile on his face, "Will you make love to me?"
Samantha burst out laughing. "Out here?" she replied, "I don't think so. I don't do outdoor shags."
Gary laughed as well. "I know, I know," he admitted, "So, let me try this instead." He reached his right hand into the pocket of his black robe and pulled out a small, navy blue case which he brought out and moved it into view of Samantha. He opened the small case.
"Oh my God! Gary!" she said as her left hand reached for her heart, which she swore had just stopped for a moment.
Gary moved around in front of Samantha while keeping the ring her view. "Samantha, these last four years have been the best of my life," he began to declare, "And it has all been thanks to you. You helped me through those first couple of bad years at Hogwarts, and then our relationship grew from there. I never thought I'd ever meet someone like you. And . . . oh hell, I'm no good at speeches." He got down on one knee before continuing. "Samantha Grant," he began to ask, "Will you marry me?"
Samantha was crying as this point, unable to contain her happiness. Between the sobs, she managed to push out an audible, "Yes," and then flung herself into Gary's waiting arms as he took the engagement ring and slipped it onto her right ring finger, with the small diamond pointing up toward the night sky. She looked down at her hand and moved her fingers a little to catch the gemstone sparkle in the moonlight. "Oh Gary, when will be get married?" she asked.
"There's no rush, I think," Gary said as he got behind her again and wrapped his arms around her waist, "But we'll do it within a year. What time of year do you want it done?"
"March," Samantha answered immediately, "I've always wanted it in March."
"Five months left to be a bachelor, then," Gary mused as he kissed her again, "But I got one last thing to show you out here before we head back home."
However, before they could go anywhere, they suddenly heard the barking of a dog from the direction that was hidden by the hedgerow they were standing against. "Oh, those stupid dogs just had to ruin our moment," Samantha complained.
But Gary knew these dogs better than that. The fact that they were barking this late at night was not normal. And that was reinforced when more barking began to start up after a few more moments, this time closer to their position. Gary felt the wind blowing from him into the hedgerow. "No, something's wrong here," he said, "The dogs don't bark at night. They're too well trained. I think we'd better get out of here now."
"If you say so, darling," Samantha said as she kissed Gary. The two prepared to Apparate back to the grounds of Gryffindor Manor.
And that was when this perfect night turned so completely wrong for Gary Gryffindor.
Before either Gary or Samantha had a chance to Apparate away from this area, they heard a loud thud from the top of the hedgerow right in between them. Gary instinctively went for his wand immediately, even though he didn't see what was up there. But whatever was up on the hedgerow was too fast for him and bashed him in the head. The blow was so severe that Gary went unconscious before his body had even hit the ground. The last thing he heard was the sound of a woman screaming before everything just stopped for him.
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"She's dead, Arthur," a local shepherd, a young man, remarked as he stood up from the body of what appeared to be the remains of a young woman who had been mauled to death, "But I've never seen marks like these."
"Neither have I, Jack" Arthur, a local farmer who was in his 50's, replied, "It looks like a large wolf or something like that. Maybe a rabid one."
"But there are no wolves in Britain anymore," Jack pointed out, "They could use them up in the Scottish Highlands, though. Those deer are getting out of control up there."
Arthur bent down to take a better look at the wounds. "It looks like whatever it was started to eat her," he mused, "But it lost interest early into the meal."
"Why do you think that is?" Jack asked, "And do you think this has something to do with Mr. Carruthers's dead sheep?"
"Respectively, I don't know and probably," Arthur answered as he stood up and glanced back over toward the hedgerow about thirty meters away, "Maybe Gary over there can tell us something. You sure he's okay?"
"He's got a nasty bruise forming on the right side of his head," Jack commented, "But once he wakes up, he should be fine. If the concussion would have killed him, he'd be dead by now. What's with the robe, though?"
"It's what Gary's folk wear," Arthur explained, refraining from mentioning exactly what he was, "I've met his family before. They're good folk, but they were going through some hard times up to about five years ago."
Jack nodded absently. Then they both heard a groaning sound from the direction of the hedgerow. Turning around, Arthur saw Gary stirring, though his eyes were still shut.
"Looks like we might get some answers," Jack remarked as he saw Gary starting to get to his feet.
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Gary took his time getting up, as his head felt like it was spinning around and around. He opened his eyes and found his vision to not be blurry at all. He saw the hedgerow in front of him and slowly rested himself against it. His head was aching all over and when he felt the right side of it, he felt a slight amount of swelling.
What just happened? he thought to himself, And where is Samantha?
"Gary, are you alright?" he heard a familiar voice ask from behind him.
Gary slowly turned around, still resting on the hedgerow, until he saw a man about his height who had balding and whitening hair and was wearing simple clothing befitting a farmer or shepherd. Gary knew this man very well, and he was happy to see a friend right now.
"Mr. Tavers, it's good to see you," Gary remarked, "Have you seen Samantha?"
Suddenly, a bad feeling ran through Arthur's body. Now he remembered why the young woman in the torn yellow robe looked so familiar to him. "Gary, maybe you should come over to my place to rest for a while," he suggested, "It looks like you took a hard hit last night."
"Yeah, I did," Gary answered, trying to gently shove Arthur out of the way, "But I need to find Samantha before she gets hurt out here."
Arthur was in a lose-lose situation, big time. To let Gary see what had happened to Samantha might cause him to go completely out of control or could even cause a suicide attempt. And Arthur had no way to counteract a wizard's power. On the other hand, it was wrong to hide the truth from Gary, as horrible as it was. He started to look extremely nervous.
Gary picked up on this and a feeling of dread overtook him. "Is she hurt? Is she in pain?" he asked quickly.
"No, she's not in any pain," Arthur answered truthfully, "Listen Gary, come to my place. We'll talk about things there over breakfast and get you patched up."
"Have you seen her?" Gary inquired hopefully, "Where is she?"
"I have seen her," Arthur replied slowly. He just didn't want to come out and say the words that would break Gary in every way imaginable.
Gary picked up on this too. "Is she . . . ," he began, but was unable to say the final word. No, that's not possible, he thought.
No use hiding it anymore, Arthur thought as he slowly stepped to his left, revealing the terrible truth to Gary's eyes.
For a moment, there was no reaction from him. It was just an initial shock that overwhelms the mind initially. A shock that prevents any display of emotions. A shock that tells your mind that this isn't happening or that this couldn't happen. This shock carries with it an evolutionary advantage; it allows a person to function normally until some short crisis passes. But this shock never lasts long. Eventually, reality returns to the mind, replacing the shock and confirming that what has happened has happened.
And Gary didn't take it well. "SAMANTHA! NO!" he shouted as he ran toward the body of his fiancé. However, he stumbled and fell to the ground halfway there, still suffering from the blow he had received last night. He reached out his arms from where he lay, trying to touch the body. "No! Please, no!" he mourned as his head looked straight into the ground beneath him.
"Arthur!" Jack called, "These wounds are festering!"
"That's not possible," Arthur replied as he walked to the body of Samantha Grant to see for himself, "This only happened last night. There's no way any kind of infection could be this far along."
Those words told Gary almost everything he needed to know about who had killed Samantha and had knocked him unconscious last night. And if he was right, this entire community could be in serious trouble come next month. "Mr. Tavers," he called quietly.
Arthur heard him and walked over to Gary, who was still laying on the ground with his face in the grass. "Yes Gary?" he asked as he crouched down.
"Did you lose any livestock last night?" he inquired.
"I didn't, thankfully," Arthur answered, "But I heard from Mr. Carruthers that he lost six of his sheep last night. He said it looked like a large wolf did it, but we don't get any of those in England anymore."
"No," Gary affirmed, holding back the tears, "But we do have werewolves."
That got Arthur Tavers's undivided attention. "Werewolves?" he exclaimed quietly, "How are we supposed to deal with them?"
"Call Geoff over here," Gary continued, "He'll explain."
"What about those wounds?" Arthur inquired, "They're starting to fester."
Gary started to cry at this point. He knew of the proper disposal method for those killed by werewolves during a full moon. "Soap and water should stop the festering," he instructed, "Just make sure not to have any open cuts or allow any liquid to get inside your body or else you'll be infected and become a werewolf at the next full moon."
"Thanks, Gary," Arthur replied, "And I'm sorry we couldn't do more to help her." He then began jogging back to his home. "Jack! Don't touch that body until I get back!" he called out to the young shepherd.
For the next few minutes, Gary kept muttering one word over and over again. "Why? Why? Why?" was what he kept saying. Jack thought he meant why did this happen to him, to which he had no answer besides that the world can be a cruel place. But Gary was really asking why Samantha died and he didn't. It was a question that he still had no answer for.
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"Geoff came by and took care of most things at that point," Severus continued to relate, "Gary's greatest fear was that Lupin was the one who had done this to him. But the Ministry confirmed that he was up in the Scottish Highlands that night."
"So how did they figure out it was Greyback?" Harry asked.
"The wounds found on Samantha's body were almost exactly like those found on other confirmed victims of Fenrir Greyback," Snape answered, "Also, before they disposed of Samantha's body, the Ministry tested the werewolf toxin in her body, which is unique to each individual werewolf. They compared this toxin to samples on record from all werewolves in the United Kingdom. The toxin exactly matched Fenrir Greyback's. There is no doubt that he killed her that night."
"But why did he let Gary live?" Draco inquired, "That doesn't make sense. Why would he kill the girl and leave him alone?"
Severus shook his head. "No one but Fenrir himself knows the answer to that question," he responded, "And I have never asked him about this. I didn't want to raise any suspicions among other Death Eaters by showing more than a small interest in this incident. Regardless, after the body was taken care of, Gary wanted Fenrir Greyback to die."
"Did Gary lose his wizard powers because of this incident?" Harry asked, suddenly realizing that Gary was not born a Squib, but a true wizard.
"The extreme stress from the incident caused his magical powers to disappear for a short time," Snape confirmed, "But that period ended after less than a month. He still has his wand, hidden in a pocket of that trench coat of his. He doesn't use his powers in the normal way because he doesn't feel worthy of them, as he couldn't save Samantha with them. Geoff has tried to get Gary to end that charade for years, but he won't until he kills Greyback."
"For all he has done, Fenrir Greyback needs to be brought to justice," Harry stated.
"Yes, he does," Severus agreed, "But how much will we lose for that? Inside, Gary is still a good man, a better man than I'll ever be. But his lust for vengeance has blackened his heart and soul for 11 years now. And if he does gain his revenge tonight, I think that his soul may indeed be lost to us. I hope that does not come to pass."
It would turn out that neither Severus nor Draco nor Harry would get any sleep tonight. They would all be standing alert, waiting for Gary's return . . . or news of his death.
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Author's Notes: Don't worry, Mohammad will be fine. He just needs to learn that when you stand up for others, you will get hurt sometimes. Of course, Crabbe and Goyle will not enjoy cleaning the castle with Filch for the rest of the year. And as Megan told Mohammad, she only did what she had to do to get Mohammad out of a bad situation. Her powers of manipulation are most impressive.
Obviously, people need heroes, but heroes need to be smart about what fights they pick. Otherwise, they'll end up drawing more attention than they can handle, not just from their enemies, but from society at large. Some people just cannot handle being famous (see Kurt Cobain).
For the sake of context, Fulham F.C. would go on to finish in 6th place in The Football League Second Division in the 1997-98 season, thus qualifying for the promotion playoffs. The would fall to Grimsby Town, the team that won promotion that season, in the semi-finals of the playoffs. The next season, the team left nothing to chance. They stormed through the division, finishing in first with an astounding 101 points earned in 46 games played, and earning promotion to The Football League First Division. That season would be the last at Fulham for coach Kevin Keegan, whose next job was, as most of our English friends could tell us, became the head coach of the English national soccer team. His reign there lasted a mere 18 games, only 7 of them wins. More recently, Keegan resigned from managing Premier League club Newcastle United in September due to a disagreement with the club management.
Obviously, this chapter shows how the line between good and evil can be blurred so easily. Gary is a good man, but he hunger for vengeance borders on obsession and threatens to devour him. Will he succumb? Stay tuned.
Well, that's all for now. Until next week, read, review and enjoy.