Chapter 13: Cloak and Dagger
Eventually, it was time to pack their trunks again and return to Platform 9 ¾ for their trip back to Hogwarts again. It was also the day that they'd previously planned to sneak into the Slytherin common room, and the first half of the train journey was understandably tense because of that. However, as Wizarding children are wont to do, the seriousness of the situation was quickly discarded for several Exploding Snap games, followed by the sweet trolley visiting, which was then followed by even more Exploding Snap. However, the mood was brought down by Blaise's entrance halfway through the trip. "Hey guys," he said, with huge bags under his eyes.
"Blaise!" exclaimed Draco, jumping up and leading his friend to a seat. "What's wrong? You look exhausted!"
Blaise sighed and smiled sadly. "My stepfather died from Muggle skin cancer two days after Christmas. He was a half-blood, and the Muggle side of his family had a semi-regular history with cancer, but we all thought that his magical side had strong enough magical cores to counteract Muggle sicknesses and diseases. I really liked this one, and Mother did too. It's just been a really stressful week with trying to arrange the funeral and stuff."
"Oh, no!" exclaimed Hermione. "I'm so sorry, Blaise."
All the others in the compartment did their best to comfort him as much as possible, and although it was obvious that they couldn't do much, you could see it in Blaise's eyes that he still appreciated that his friends were at least trying. When the silence got a bit too oppressive, Blaise asked what they were doing, and when he discovered the game they were playing, he decided it would do him good to have some fun, so he joined in.
When the automated voice announced that they would be arriving at Hogwarts in five minutes, that tension that had been present at the beginning of the journey was rediscovered, and seemed to have been multiplied while they weren't paying attention.
Neville swallowed uneasily. "Okay, so let's all go through the plan one more time. Just to be sure."
"Okay," agreed Fred. "George and I prank everyone at dinner tonight, making everyone's hair become mood rings of a sort, and take the blame for it."
"The prank will make it easier for you guys to see if anyone's got dark thoughts, or simply feeling guilty," added George.
"I'll meet you three in the Entrance Hall," said Blaise, "and we'll go straight to the common room, where I'll let you in."
"Colin, Ginny, Neville, and I will make sure to distract the rest of Gryffindor if anyone asks where you three are," said Hermione.
"It's easier for me, since most of the Ravenclaws won't even notice I'm gone," Luna said airily.
"I still wish you'd tell us the names of everyone behind the bullying, Luna," sighed Neville. Luna just shrugged, but when she said nothing, he kept going. "Okay, you'll go through the years from lowest to highest. Blaise, you said there isn't any boy trap thing over the entrance to the girls' entrance, right?"
Blaise nodded. Harry took over. "We do boys first, then backtrack and get through to the girls, where Luna will look into the dorms first to check that they're all decent, then we go in. The prank should work for three hours, so that's our time frame."
"After we're done," finished Draco, "I'll split from you two and visit Severus, and Harry, you escort Luna up to Ravenclaw, and then go back to Gryffindor."
By the time they'd discussed every contingency of the plan, the Express had arrived in Hogsmeade Station, and it was time for them to disembark. "Dobby?" called Draco quietly, and the little elf popped into being before him. "Do you have the potion Fred and George gave you?" he asked.
Dobby nodded, his eyes huge and his ears flapping. "Dobby has all of it, sir. It will be added into dessert as soon as it's being made."
"Good, thanks Dobby."
Dobby looked absolutely ecstatic at being thanked, and promptly popped away again. The Recruits got into a carriage and after about ten minutes, they were seated at their respective tables, eager to both see the results of their prank, and to possibly find out more about their mystery Heir. Once dessert arrived, Fred and George were practically bouncing in their seats. Ten minutes in, there was suddenly lots of clashing colours everywhere. Most of the people's hair was either yellow, which meant they were happy, or orange, which meant they were calm and peaceful. Some teachers' hair was a dark brick red, which stood for anger, and Dumbledore appeared to be exceptionally so. As soon as the prank struck, many people's hair turned green, for envy, and those involved in the prank were varying shades of purple, which meant pride. However, the funniest to look for were the pink people. Harry noticed that Percy and Oliver were an astoundingly hot pink, so obviously their relationship was going well. He knew that if he looked over at the twins right now, he'd see them very obviously congratulating each other, and one glance at the Head Table caused him to notice that a light blue-haired McGonagall was already making her way down to the twins. Harry had to stop himself from laughing out loud at the colour she was sporting, for it clearly indicated that she found the prank extremely humorous, and was probably holding back laughter.
"Misters Weasley, you will come with me and explain yourselves," intoned McGonagall, and that was when the twins saw her hair colour, and their hair promptly became a very light blue as well. They were escorted out of the room, and then a still brick-red Dumbledore (his face now almost matched his hair) stood at the podium and bade the students to go to their common rooms. Draco and Harry snuck away from their housemates when they got to the Entrance Hall, and were quickly joined by Luna and Blaise. The five of them quickly entered the closest empty classroom, where Draco, Luna, and Harry hid themselves under the latter's Invisibility Cloak, which he'd taken from his trunk and slipped into his robe pocket shortly before they'd arrived at Hogsmeade Station. He was extremely glad that the Cloak was so lightweight and compact, otherwise they would have had to go up to their dorm to get it first.
Blaise walked down a few dungeon corridors, seemingly alone, then stopped in front of what seemed to the others like a blank wall. He whispered something to it and, to their amazement, the wall, or rather a door concealed in the wall, slid open. Blaise walked through it, and the three hidden students hurried in behind him. The Slytherin common room was a long, low room, made up of rough stone walls. The similarly textured ceiling had round, greenish lamps hanging off it on chains, giving the entire room a cold, formal, slightly eerie feel. Ahead of them, they saw an elaborately carved mantelpiece, the fireplace under which contained a merrily crackling fire. The common room seemed to be split into two areas; the studying section, which consisted of numerous desks and chairs, and a few bookshelves, and the section obviously designed for relaxation, which was filled with green leather couches and armchairs.
After taking the room in, the three noticed that Blaise had seated himself on a couch close to the fire, and was currently reading a book. The rest of the common room was almost bustling with relaxing teenagers, however the majority still upheld a regal air despite the change in hair colour. Unfortunately for the three spies, most of them had light grey hair, which signified slight anxiety. Only three people in the whole common room had black hair, which showed the presence of dark thoughts: Blaise, Marcus Flint, and a sixth year girl. However, the girl only had black hair when she looked at a nearby boy, and whenever he accidentally met her death stare, his hair became very dark blue, which signified sorrow, so it seemed like they'd just broken up. Blaise's dark thoughts could also be easily explained away, so that just left Flint.
The three quickly made their way down the hallway that Blaise had earlier said was the entrance to the boys' dorms, and entered the first years' room, which was luckily already open, and completely empty. "Okay, guys," whispered Harry, "Open yourselves to the room, and try to find a dark aura."
They did so, but Luna stopped after a few seconds. "I can't feel anything. I don't think it's in this room, but I almost feel like there's something masking my ability. I noticed it as soon as I walked into the common room. I'm sorry guys, I'm of no use here."
"Don't worry about it, Luna," soothed Draco. "I'm also finding it a bit difficult in here. How about you, Harry?"
Harry simply nodded. "What do we do then?" asked Luna.
"We keep ourselves open. Even with something trying to block us, we should be able to feel at least a smidgeon of what we're looking for, if it's really as dark as Draco explained," said Harry.
So, they moved onto the second-year dorm, and while they did feel a slightly dark presence in the room, Harry noticed it came from a ring lying on a desk, and the trunk at the end of the closest bed had the Nott coat of arms on it. Draco looked at it more closely and examined its aura, then said, "It looks like some sort of protective ward. It's certainly dark, but the darkness is entwined with this… protective feeling. If I had to make a guess, I'd say this protects the wearer from weak curses or poisons, and turns the effects back onto the caster or brewer. This is complex magic."
The trio made their way through the other five dorms, but found nothing else of note, except for a cane which, according to Luna, would cripple anyone who used it, unless their blood was tied into the curse on it. Then, they worked through the girls' dorms, only a little bit slower because there were a few girls in two of the dormitories, and they had to wait until they'd left.
Thoroughly disheartened that they hadn't found anything, and their mystery's trail had become cold, they left the common room as a prefect entered it.
*Draco's POV*
Draco appeared in front of Severus' quarters, seemingly out of nowhere and alone, and knocked on the door, which was opened almost immediately. "Draco, what a pleasant surprise," said Severus, and let his godson in. Once he'd closed the door, he said, "It's fortunate you came tonight, as I have some things I need to speak to you about."
"Oh?" questioned Draco as he sat down in an armchair by the fire.
Severus sat down in front of him, nodding. "Yes. Something happened early on in the Christmas break… between myself and your mother."
Draco's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? So… so are you two now in a relationship?"
"Yes, we are. Well, actually, our relationship started shortly after she divorced Lucius. What happened was that I proposed to your mother," Severus said cautiously.
"That's great!" enthused Draco.
Severus' shoulders slumped in obvious relief. "I was rather nervous you would take the news badly. I am, in a sense, usurping your father's position."
"No! Don't think of it like that, Severus. Besides, you've always been there for me, and to be honest, ever since I knew what my father was really like, I've wished I had a different one. When our relationship got better, I started wishing that you were my father, since I knew you'd always treat me kindly, and be proud of my achievements, no matter what."
It was now Severus' turn to show his surprise. "I… I had no idea you saw it that way, Draco. I'm honoured you see me like that, and I must say I'm glad, for now I can explain the second thing I wanted to tell you. Even though it has happened rather fast, your mother and I are rather serious about each other, and it seems likely that we may decide to bond in the summer. If that is the case, your mother has given me permission to approach you with an offer of a blood adoption."
Draco gasped. "Seriously? That—that would be incredible! Absolutely perfect! Yes, Sev, if—no—when you and Mother get married, I would be honoured to become your son."
He rushed off his seat and into Severus' arms. The man stiffened in shock, then quickly hugged him back, relishing in the acceptance so freely given.
"Where would we live? If it's that horrible Spinner's End place, then you've got to buy a new house—I absolutely refuse to live in such a dump, and—"
Severus laughed, cutting off his rambling godson—soon-to-be-son, actually, he was rather excited. "Relax, little brat. Have you forgotten I'm Lord Prince? If everything goes according to plan, we shall move into Prince Manor."
"Oh, brilliant! I remember that place! It was so beautiful there, but I think the best part was the lack of albino peacocks. Those things are vicious pests, and the only reason Father ever wanted them was because he thought they made Malfoy Manor look more aristocratic."
Draco spent some more time with his godfather, then left an hour before curfew, happily humming all the way back to Gryffindor Tower. In his pocket, he had the ceremonial dagger that Severus had given him after informing him it would be the one used during the ritual. Draco had to occasionally have it upon his person so some of his ambient magic could be contained inside it; that way, the blood-adoption ritual would take less time and be more binding.