CHAPTER 23

Trickster

They were close now, so close… and for once, Harry knew it. There was an energy about the place, the kind of energy that made the hair on his skin stand on end, made him feel like someone was watching them. The others could feel it too, Harry often saw them rub the back of their necks or turn around with suspicious eyes, as if a stranger had just tapped them on the shoulder.

The sky was nearing darkness, and that didn't help. The long shadows stretched over all of them and made everyone's eyes appear dark and evil. What interested Harry the most, was how in the darkness – Jack took the lead. When Harry questioned him he merely stated: "we're going in a straight line Potter, it's not difficult." Yet his eyes were set on a destination Harry could not see. Ginny walked next to Harry, her gaze constantly met by him.

Suddenly, Jack stopped, and turned, his eyes glinting in the little sunlight.

"Welcome to hell," he said, grinning.

"I'm sorry?" George asked, smiling slightly – in a way that suggested that he didn't know whether it was a joke or not. With a grand gesture of Jack's arms, ropes flew from every direction and wrapped bindingly around each person of the group. Harry's arms were pinned to his side, he struggled against them, but that only made them tighten. Harry then realised that these were the binding ropes Ginny and George used on his whilst they questioned him.

"I find it interesting, really," Jack had continued.

"Find what interesting, Jack?" Harry asked, his voice strained in effort.

"I find it interesting how terribly gullible you all are," he mused. "Jack? You call me, Jack?" He laughed, "You're so easily fooled! Your Ministry, your Minister, even the beloved Harry Potter couldn't see past me, what I am. I am not Jack. I do not serve the Minister," he laughed for a moment, full of snide cruelty, "I serve one and only." With that, Jack pointed to the sky with a finger.

"Who?" Harry asked, frowning and attempting to reach for his sword with his fingertips. "Voldemort? Tom Riddle? The thing I killed?" He noticed Ginny had remained completely motionless – her eyes were on Jack – her mouth agape in cold shock.

"You did not kill the Dark Lord! Such a thing is impossible. When he first fell we did not stay loyal, we do not make the same mistake again."

"When you say 'we,'" Ginny said, her voice was full of fear and anger, "you mean –,"

"My my, I always knew you were an idiot Ginny," he shook his head, "Death Eaters, my love, Death Eaters."

"But you don't have the Mark," she stated firmly. Harry noticed she was also reaching for her sword in her belt.

"Don't I?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.

"I've seen you, you don't." Jack pulled up a sleeve of his robe, revealing the white of his forearm; he pulled out his wand and pushed it hard against it, muttering an incantation under his breath. Like a river, black seemed to flow from the wand like ink, covering his forearm with shapes and patterns until it became the Dark Mark.

"Incantation," he explained, raising it for them all to see. He then sniffed and covered it again. "My real name is Roy, actually. They call me Trickster up here though."

"I don't understand how this is possible…" George said. One of his arms was partially out of the ropes, it sat awkwardly and looked painful.

"That's the thing," Trickster said, pointing at George. "It seems ridiculous! Impossible, no? So many flaws. Well, it happened, I did it… I'm amazing."

"And modest," Ginny shot. Trickster laughed,

"It's hard to be modest when you're marvellous. Death Eaters before have fooled you with disguise, 'Professor Quirrell', Severus, Barty Crouch Jr… but none did it with the perfection I did…" he twirled his wand through his fingers.

"Severus wasn't yours," Harry stated firmly. "He was Dumbledore's… and he's greater than you'll ever be." Trickster ignored him, scratching his nose and looking for a moment at his watch. Harry reached for his sword with his fingertips, brushing past the hilt. Trickster looked up suddenly,

"No no, none of that!" He said, walking over to Harry. Trickster removed Harry's sword from his belt and secured it onto his own. "We don't really have time to kill, for me to tell how great I am, but you're not going anywhere so now is as good a time as ever."

"This will be the last moment that you'll be alive, so it's your only chance." Harry pointed out through gritted teeth. Trickster ignored him again.

"We knew Harry Potter was good at getting out of tight spots," he began, clearing his throat as if he were going to make a long speech. "So we decided to send someone down to… stand guard, I suppose, if anything went wrong. This person would report back to the Death Eaters by any means possible, whilst leading a double life. Big responsibility, as you can imagine." He smirked slightly, "I came down as a humble, wonderful man named Jack, and went around making friends with those Harry was near." He nodded, as if remembering. "They were initially all hostile towards me, it seemed your apparent death had taken a toll on them, and the trust they showed to strangers… I can't imagine why!" He laughed again.

"You're disgusting," Ginny said.

"Sticks and stones, my love."

"Stop calling me that."

"Okay babe." He cleared his throat again, "so, this is where Ginny came in. She was vulnerable, sad, emotional… really needed someone to lean on. So, who came by? Jack! The one she needed. He helped her get through her sadness and she grew to like him, then, apparently grew to love him," he smirked. "I have to say I quite liked you Ginny," he said, addressing her now. He came up close to her, and then kissed her forehead with his lips, she tried to move away but couldn't. Harry pushed as hard as he could on his restraints but couldn't move,

"Get away from her," he warned. Trickster raised his eyebrows at Harry before turning back to Ginny, tracing his hand down her jaw-line.

"You are beautiful and fiery, I like that in a woman. You kept me interested, made me believe my character more. Don't feel bad for loving my character Ginny, it wasn't hard – I was everything you wanted!" He grinned, "Although being nice to you wasn't always easy. Stubborn brat you can be… but I made my way through." He patted her on the cheek, but hard enough for it to not be a sign of affection.

"For years I had nothing to report. My character was getting boring, and I considered giving up and going back to Vereor Nex… perhaps by killing Jack, that would've been fun." He nodded. "But then, as if hearing my boredom, Potter escapes! Really amazing, I do applaud your effort," he clapped a few times. "Although, again, it seems it was just a matter of luck that kept you alive," Trickster sighed. "Originally, I was hoping that you would not get the Aurors involved… but you actually took my advice for once, and here they are!" He gestured at the Aurors with a wave of his hand.

"The initial plan was to ambush Harry in George's apartment. They would take him alive before anyone knew who he really was, and I figured you'd just believe the stranger had taken off… well, that failed." He ran a hand through his dark hair, "and I didn't realise you had already discovered who he was, that was also unfortunate. You shouldn't lie Ginny!" He spat childishly. "So, we went off on our trip… I kept the Death Eaters informed of our position of course; also we had that tracking device…" he frowned, "it's a shame you removed it. And killed those Death Eaters!" He sighed.

"You weren't there in that battle…" Ginny remembered,

"Oh no, I was," Trickster said, "I was just on their side – cloaked, you couldn't see me." He was pacing back and forth now, "and then there was Bainsley, whilst you were questioning him he constantly looked over at me! Made everything very suspicious. I knew that he wanted me to help him, but that wouldn't have made much sense to my character, would it?!" Harry grit his teeth and looked over at the other Aurors. He noticed the hands of Dylan were fidgeting slightly in the ropes… in between his fingers sat a small serrated knife – and he was cutting away at the ropes, a millimetre at a time.

"So I spent most of my time convincing the Aurors behind your back, Potter, that you were bad news… that you weren't to be trusted… that they were needed elsewhere."

"That was you?" Charlie asked, Trickster nodded.

"Yep, that was me. Wasn't easy work either… they were all 'we follow orders! We trust the Minister!' Etcetera etcetera… but eventually I got through, with a bit of a curse anyway! Take one and the rest will follow, as they say."

"Imperius Curse…" Harry muttered to himself.

"Right you are. Unfortunately, some of you didn't take to the bait," he shot the Aurors a glare. "Still, you were weakened, that was something…" he nodded,
"another thing I had to do," he continued, "was constantly point you in the right direction. Potter, you really are geographically challenged you know… so many wrong turns! Did you notice that it was almost always me who somehow led you in the right direction? Huh? No! You didn't, because I'm sneaky." Trickster grinned with pride, his beautiful face now showing signs of menace. He walked over to Harry, "but apparently, you think you're sneakier than me!"

"I'm sorry?" Harry asked, confused.

"Ginny, perhaps?" Trickster raised his eyebrows at her, "think you can be sneakier than me too?" Ginny also looked confused. "I don't quite understand it, myself. Why would you cheat on Jack? He was so wonderful! Everything you ever wanted."

"Apparently not," Ginny muttered. Trickster raised his hand to slap her, but then thought better of it and lowered it. He then turned to Harry and grinned. "I bet it hurt," he said, "watching her be with me and you at the same time. I bet it hurts even now… she probably still loves me, you know. You can't just unlove someone in a few minutes." Jack walked close to Ginny and placed a hand around the back of her neck, she tried to move away from him but couldn't. "Gin," Trickster said, although his tone now matched Jack's, "I love you," he whispered. He then leant in, his lips brushing hers. "I never meant to hurt you," he continued. Then kissed her firmly and passionately, his hands around the back of her head. Harry fought against the boundaries that tied him, but he couldn't get loose.

"I'm so confused," Ginny said, when Trickster pulled away.

"Aren't we all?" He said, smiling. He checked his watch for a moment, "wow, I have been talking for a while haven't I! Oh, but I haven't told you the grand plan yet. See, you're all bound up… strong ropes! Good luck trying to get out of those. They also have a charm on them that keeps the one tied stationary… unless I lead you of course! I'm going to lead you all into Vereor Nex, where my trusted associates will place you all in cells. New prisoners! Always fun… and you're going to stay there until you tell us how to bring Voldemort back."

"Impossible," George said, his voice strong. "We can't bring Voldemort back, no one can… even if we wanted to." Trickster shrugged,

"Perhaps not. But either way, you're going to Vereor Nex to be prisoners… so it's a win for me!" He smiled, then turned his back to them. "Follow!" He called, and with a tug Harry felt himself pulled forward by the rope, his feet hovering inches from the ground. They drifted through the woods, and slowly a dark building came into view. It appeared out of nowhere, as if it vaporised out of thin air. Harry looked up at it, feeling his heart hammer in his chest. Vereor Nex.

Yep, he's evil. I was actually quite relieved that you all hated him, saved the flames of "oh my god! You ruined such a nice character!"

Let me know what you thought my lovelies. I made it a short chapter, because Chapter 22 was so epic.

Next chapter will be posted soon

Sorry about the double post. I realised as soon as I posted the chapter that I had made a spelling mistake somewhere, and it was bugging me!

Pheonixxsong