A Snake in the Nest, Chapter Eleven
The train arrived, almost without any of them noticing, and it is only the noise of the corridors filling that rouses the second, and one first, years from their seats. The twins had left earlier, to find Lee Jordan and most likely plot mischief.
The seven of them trooped out, leaving Ginny with the other first years. She instantly began talking to a blonde girl standing next to her.
"Luna Lovegood. They're neighbors." George said as he, Fred and Lee walked past, with suspiciously bulging robes. They claimed a carriage to themselves, and the now six of them quickly found one for themselves as well.
Cooro looked out as they rode past, eyes finding the moon with no difficulty and finding it almost full.
"Tomorrow…" the others looked at him, then at the moon, before nodding and continuing on their conversation on the Lockhart books. The boys thought he was a ponce, the girls that he was a hero. Husky wanted to tell them what Remus had said, but a look from Neville silenced him.
Fine. Let them learn it the hard way.
They arrive at the castle, and look out at it in wonder. It looks magnificent from here, and the four +Anima hadn't seen it like this last year. Cooro pets the thestral as he passes, earning an odd look from Husky but nothing else. Senri does so as well, but nobody notices as they are all walking to the doors of the castle, where McGonagall is waiting for them, letting them inside and frowning as she sees the twins.
"I'd best not hear a peep out of you two. Mr. Jordan, that counts for you as well." They all nod, innocent looks on their faces, but as she passes, all three run down an empty hallway. Hermione looks at them in annoyance, but says nothing, merely returning to her discussion about Gadding with Ghouls with Nana.
They sit down at the Gryffindor table, and Malfoy walks by while Cooro waves his hands around, explaining exactly how griffins and hippogriffs are related.
"No Potter? And no Weasel, either. Shame, really. With their help, we could have won the cup this year." Crabbe and Goyle laugh, though Husky is fairly sure they didn't get it.
"You need all the help you can get, Malfoy. And not just in the House Cup direction." His eyes sparkled maliciously. Malfoy opened his mouth to retort when Cooro jumped in.
"Oh, go bugger off. Can't you see when you're not wanted?" His glare turned to Cooro, but Neville joined in now.
"I don't think he's wanted anywhere near here, really. Go run and play with your Slytherin pals." The three boys watch him carefully as Malfoy, apparently not expecting this kind of response, huffs and walks away. His cronies follow.
"Gryffindors: one. Slytherin: zero." Fred comments as he sits down near them, grinning happily.
"Good way to begin the year, boys. Very good."
"Not as good as ours, of course, George."
"No, but a fine start."
"They'll get there eventually."
"Of course." And the two both turn to where the first years are pouring into the room, looking terrified and excited all in one. Neville knew he'd looked like that, and smiles encouragingly as a few glance over at them. Cooro sees them looking as well, and he grins happily, then gestures at the ceiling. A few look up, and soon they all are, staring in awe at the bright sky.
Nana spots Ginny, still talking to the blonde, though she looks a bit nervous as well. She waves a bit, and mouths to her 'it's easy.' Then the Hat began to sing, and it received the rapt attention it deserved.
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Bellatrix Lestrange was not sane. She had gone mad, round the bend, as it were, and it showed. He hair was long and straggled, not the well-kempt locks she's had, and she was almost constantly laughing.
Her madness hadn't stopped her ability to read, though, so when she found a scrap of paper in her cell, she was perfectly capable of looking it over.
The first thing she noted was that it was in blood, and she could feel the old magic that bound her to it. It was a Black's blood; Sirius', as he was the only one left from the direct line.
Then she realized the paper was a torn fragment of a package of some kind, yellowed and frayed along the edge.
It was then that the words finally registered, and she screamed what she'd read out loud, so that the other inmates could join her in her anger.
Pettigrew is alive.
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Cooro glances up sharply from the book he is reading, listening attentively. The sound comes again, and he pokes Husky, very hard.
"What?" Husky had been asleep, dreaming of something he couldn't remember.
"Harry and Ron are in their dorm room right now. Do you want to yell at them now, or later?"
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Dumbledore has barely reached his office after the speech when a head pops into his fireplace. It is Alastor Moody, and the look on his face is a mixture of annoyance and relief.
"Can I come in, Albus?" He nods, frowning. Alastor had retired not long after the Lestrange case, he remembers, saying he'd earned his keep twelve times over. It was not a coincidence that he was here so close after an escape.
"You could have told me about all this. Instead I got an escaped convict passing notes written in blood." Dumbledore blinks, then shakes his head.
"Always impulsive. Sirius respects you, far more than he would admit, I'll bet. I suppose it's not odd that he would want you to believe him innocent in all this." Moody sits down in one of the chairs positioned across from the desk.
"That doesn't explain why you didn't tell me, Albus." Albus raises an eyebrow.
"I would like to keep this all quiet, until we can catch Pettigrew."
"And you can't do that alone. Black wants him caught, and he plans on doing it any way he can. I don't think he would even worry about ending up back in Azkaban as long as he gets his revenge." Dumbledore felt his eyes try to widen, and clears the surprise from his face.
"If you think we should get more help, who do you suggest?" Moody's answer is instant.
"The survivors of the first war, Albus. The Order of the Phoenix."
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Sirius crouches, feeling the magic slide over his fur, then accepting him as family and going dormant once again.
The Malfoy house is as he remembers, at once regal and foreboding. He drops his scrap and bolts, not wanting to be caught by this family. Unlike Moody, they would not simply let a stray dog stay a stray dog. He would be held, or killed immediately.
House elf magic grazes him, but it is not what he is expecting. It feels more like a question, an invitation to stop and speak. He glances around, slowing slightly.
A house elf, standing alone, beckons him behind a storage shed. He lopes over, regarding him with interest.
"You is leaving notes for my masters. You is getting past the wards. You is family?" The house elf voices the last as a question, and Sirius wonders if he could even transform safely in front of him.
"Dobby is not telling them if they don't ask. Dobby is not saying a word. Can you understand Dobby?" He nods, figuring he could transform and Apparate if need be.
"Is you family?" Another nod.
"Is your message important." He nods again, watching this Dobby.
"Is you supporting He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?" He hesitates, this is a Malfoy elf after all, then shakes his head. Dobby sighs with relief.
"Good. Dobby is scared that his masters will soon have their master back. Dobby is scared that the Jerard man will succeed in his next portal. Dobby is scared that he is in the Ministry again." A voice called out sharply, and Dobby winces.
"I must go. You, run out the gate as soon as you is hearing the door shut. I is distracting them as long as I can." Sirius nods, and Dobby disappears.
When the door closes, he runs. Inside, he can hear a shriek of anger, and of fear. Quieter than that are smalls screams of pain.
He gets through the gate, commit's the things he's heard to memory, and decides that as soon as he can, he will pay back the house elf for his help.
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Remus listens to the photo carefully, rolling his eyes but smiling all the same.
"Same old Padfoot; never thinking. This Jerard… I believe he may be the missing link we've been looking for. In fact, I'm sure of it. I'll talk to Dumbledore." The Sirius in the photo nods, and grins happily.
"I did good. Admit it." Remus laughs at the smug look on his face.
"You did. Congratulations, you got a compliment from me."
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Dumbledore sits in easy conversation with McGonagall, trying to ignore the slight annoyance from Lockhart. He'd known, when he hired him, that little good would come of it, but he was fighting quite a bit of red tape for better teachers. He had a few in mind, but he would first have to go through several Ministry channels to get things done. Malfoy was blocking his attempts again, of course.
The mail came in, and a letter for him arrives, on Remus' owl. He takes it carefully, but doesn't get the chance to read it before an ear-splitting shriek comes from Gryffindor table.
He looks up and sees Ron shrinking underneath his seat, with his friends either looking on in pity, amusement or confusion. He shares a brief smile with Hagrid, who has come in for breakfast. He remembers many similar letters arriving from several old families, including the Potters, Blacks and Pettigrews. It had been a quiet running bet within the teachers as to who would get the most by the end of each year.
He remembers, amused, that Remus had never gotten one, though he'd been involved in more pranks than the others combined. He'd simply been harder to catch. Dumbledore wasn't going to admit to anyone that even he hadn't been able to figure out how some of the pranks were pulled off.
He looks back down at the letter.
Albus,
Sirius, as I'll wager you already know, is stirring up as much chaos as he can. He has visited both Moody and the Malfoy manor, and has left notes stating quite simply that Pettigrew lives.
However, while at the second 'stop', as it were, he ran into the house elf, and heard something interesting. I believe we now know that the name of the man we're hunting is Jerard. I will look into this immediately.
It might interest you to know that that same house elf is trying to get Harry back home. From what I can gather, he is afraid of something happening at Hogwarts this year. I know you can do little with this information, but it is all I have.
I request you don't ask the children; they didn't want you to know just yet, and there is little they can tell you right now, anyway.
Sincerely,
Remus Lupin
As Remus is usually very paranoid with what he puts on paper, Dumbledore is at first confused at this wealth of information. Then he feels the spells put on the paper, and understands. It has been charmed to only reveal it's message to one person, and that is him.
It is rather advanced magic, a slight variant on a charm that allows a paper to be read only with the proper password. Dumbledore knows, however, that Remus had had this one mastered early on in his third year.
Well, that certainly is useful. I should discourage Sirius from doing such things again, though. He might be caught if he isn't careful.
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Even Cooro would admit that Lockhart was annoying when he started implying he was better than Professor Sprout at anything relating to plants. Neville told them that even he could tell his advice was shoddy. When Harry told them what he'd said, Hermione scoffed.
"I'm sure you're exaggerating…" Nana looked up, her face a mix between annoyance and rueful acknowledgement.
"That's word-for-word, Hermione. I think he's a bit full of himself." She was silent the rest of the lesson. Though Husky conceded that it might be because of the mandrakes they were repotting. Nana looked rather tense, he noted. If she heard them, her hearing might make it worse.
The twins sit by them at lunch, laughing at Ron and asking once again why they hadn't been invited. When Harry explains that they couldn't get through the barrier, they become serious.
"Might be the elf again."
"Rather stubborn, isn't he?" Neville looks up from his food.
"You don't think it's a prank anymore, do you?" Both shook their heads.
"Takes a lot of power to block the barrier."
"And a lot of determination." Cooro nods.
"So he's serious about why he wants Harry home. There really is something dangerous going on here at Hogwarts."
All looked at each other, grim, before Cooro sighs dramatically.
"All of this is too dark and depressing for me. Can we not embark on lighter trains of discussion?" Ron guffaws, while Harry laughs quietly into his cup. Even Hermione smiles a bit, though she's tense with excitement at their next lesson.
Defense Against the Dark Arts. Senri looks at his schedule, masking his annoyance. He didn't want to deal with that man again; it had been annoying enough to receive a lecture on how to get to his classes properly and not be mixed up with the second years. He was thankful that Cooro had rescued him from that.
Cooro and the twins were discussing something now, with sneaky looks on their faces. It seemed that they were plotting something. Senri only hoped he wouldn't be involved. Or that they'd ask him to help; either would be rather fun.