A Snake in the Nest, Chapter Thirteen
Cooro woke up early on Saturday to a quiet conversation in the next room over. From what he could tell, Oliver Wood was getting Harry up for practice. Cooro glanced at the window; the sun had barely peeked over the horizon.
Well, that explains why he's complaining. Cooro, however, decided he wouldn't mind an early flight, and got up, dressing in his old clothes and going downstairs. Harry had already left, so he walked down to the Great Hall in silence. There was food, surprisingly, and a few students were already eating.
Well, kind of. Cooro corrected, looking closer. The students in the hall were all older ones, and they weren't eating so much as shoveling food into their mouths while reading a textbook or writing an essay. A few in the corner were even trying out a spell, though he couldn't see what it did from where he stood.
He sat at an empty spot at the table, and reached for an apple and some oatmeal.
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He walked out to the Quidditch field, where he could see both Gryffindor and Slytherin teams practicing at opposite ends of the field. There were only six red and gold players.
Without thought, he sprang up into the air, flying at an easy speed towards one of the twins, who he was fairly sure was George.
"Where's Harry?" George, for it turned out to be him, glanced over, swatting a Bludger away before answering.
"Went to Hagrid's with Ron and Hermione. Ron's wand backfired and hit him with an odd spell. Belching up slugs." Cooro nodded, going higher to get out of the players way and debating whether he should go to Hagrid's or stay in the field.
"Oi! This is for players, not freaks of nature!" He glanced down, to find Malfoy looking at him with disdain.
"Well, that can't be right. You're here, aren't you?" Malfoy glared, pulling up so that he floated in front of him.
"I happen to be on the Slytherin team. You have no business here." Cooro rolled his eyes, then grinned.
"Well, Mr. All-Mighty, why not have a race? A test of sorts, to prove you're better than a 'freak of nature.'" Draco eyed him warily, glancing at his team, then back. Both teams were watching the exchange, ignoring Wood's shouts.
"Where to?" There it was. Cooro would have laughed if he could.
"To the goal posts. There," he pointed to one end, and Malfoy took off. Cooro blasted after him.
The broom was fast, Cooro noted, but Malfoy wasn't a great flier, and it showed in how he handled it. If he'd been facing Harry, he'd have been worried. He sped up, passing Malfoy, falling back, spinning around him a few times to prove his point. They were nearing the posts now, and Cooro watched them carefully.
Malfoy had no eyes for Cooro's antics, only the goal. His mind closed on the posts.
Closer… closer… There! Cooro pulled back, and Malfoy went straight through the goal, knocking his head on the top as he passed and began to fall.
He dove, catching the boy and setting him on the ground, before going for the broom. He gave it to Flint, who stood off to the side, and carried Malfoy back to the castle.
He hadn't meant for him to get hurt; how was Cooro supposed to know he'd develop tunnel vision?
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Madam Pomfrey wasn't pleased when he half dragged Draco to the hospital wing, but she helped him put the Slytherin in bed and shooed him off, turning to her patient.
He walked back to the Great Hall, where he found the others. Husky looked at him as he entered.
"There you are. Where'd you go?" Cooro sat down next to him, grabbing a goblet of pumpkin juice.
"Went to watch Quidditch practice. Ron, Harry and Hermione are in Hagrid's hut, though; Ron got jinxed by his own wand." He told them of the race, wincing as Nana admonished him.
"You shouldn't antagonize him! What if he'd been seriously hurt?"
"Then we'd be more worried. Don't fret on it Nana, he'll live to insult us all another day." Husky sounded detached as he pulled the jam towards himself.
She glared at them both, but didn't say a word more. Cooro looked out at the grounds, and laughed loudly. Husky followed his gaze.
All of the first years were playing Capture the Flag together on the grounds.
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Remus sighed, Apparating back to his house and collapsing onto the couch. All day, he'd tracked down every Jerard in the Ministry, and none of them had been anything close to who he was looking for. The elf couldn't have lied, could he…?
"But why would he? If they were trying to frame someone, then sure, but…" He blinked, staring ahead, where an old news article was framed on the wall.
"Maybe that's not the name he used…" He sat there in silence for a long time, mulling over the ideas that rushed into his head. He groaned when he came to his conclusion.
"Polyjuice Potion. Great." He stood and went to the basement, finding the old newspapers and Death Eater records.
"Jerard… Jerard…"
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Malfoy was released from the Hospital Wing not ten minutes after Cooro left, and was rather annoyed. His team would laugh now, and that didn't sit right with the young aristocrat.
Now, in his subconscious, he knew that Cooro wasn't to blame. His own pride had gotten him into this mess. But his subconscious was silenced by the pureblood mania pressed into him from birth, and he found himself thirsty for revenge.
"I'll get him. One way or another."
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Sirius was half asleep when his wards went off. He jumped up, wand at the ready, looking out at where the intruder was trying to get in.
Moody glared at him, but there was an undercurrent of respect there. He held a large box in his arms. Sirius walked out, eyeing him.
"Let me in Black. I've got something for you." Sirius almost let the wards down, before pausing.
"What House were you in in Hogwarts?" Moody grinned, revealing slightly yellow teeth.
"Hufflepuff. Good lad. I see you haven't forgotten everything I taught you." Carefully, Sirius let down the wards, and Moody stepped in, glancing at the chintz armchairs that still sat under a tree.
"I see Albus has been here. Anyway, thought you might be missing these." He held out a box, which Sirius took from him, nearly buckling under the weight.
"And what is it?" He queried, setting it down carefully.
"Your possessions, or what's left of them. I believe that the Ministry confiscated anything of material value that wasn't cursed, but most of it's there. Lupin had a lot of it as well." Sirius looked up.
"Remus? Why?" Moody shook his head at him.
"You were flat mates, before you kicked him out. Something to do with traitors. Anyway, he got to it before the Ministry, so he had most of the things that were worth something." Sirius nodded, wondering exactly what kinds of things Remus would bother to save.
Moody coughed, turning and walking back to the edge of the 'yard.'
"I don't have time to lag here. Just thought you'd want that. Oh, by the way," he added, looking back at him.
"If you're spreading the word of Pettigrew's betrayal, may I suggest writing in to the Quibbler?"
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Luna Lovegood had known, when she got on the train, that she wouldn't be very popular. She knew her ideas were a bit 'outlandish' for the norm, and it would cost her points in the friends department.
So she was rather glad that Ginny Weasley, her neighbor, chose to come talk to her instead of the more 'normal' kids. She said as much, to which Ginny giggled.
"You're more interesting than them, anyway. Even if you are a Ravenclaw."
She had smiled happily, and began to talk about Wrackspurts, ignoring the laughter of the people that overheard her.
After all, one great friend is worth more than a million shallow ones.
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That night, Cooro and Husky watched as Ron and Harry left for detention. They were both subdued; Ron had to work with Filch and Harry was going to help Lockhart. Husky wasn't sure who he pitied more, though he leaned towards Ron, who still belched up the occasional slug.
Nobody was awake to see either of them get back, and subsequently no-one heard Harry tell Ron about the voice that he had heard in Lockhart's office.
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Fred looked at George, then at Cooro, and nodded. The spell had activated, and they all had alibis. That had been the point of the powder, and the twins were pleased it had worked as predicted.
The hallway they'd chosen, abandoned at the time, happened to lead to both the dungeons and the Slytherin Common Room, and it showed as people walked into the Great Hall with begonias sprouting from their heads. No first years had Potions that day, so only the Slytherins were sporting flowers, and they were usually poisonous or rare species.
Madam Pomfrey made a special announcement to the school that there was nothing she could do, so they could stop coming to her. The other teachers agreed, though McGonagall looked like she wanted to choke on her words.
Professor Sprout then asked that anyone wishing to help the Herbology greenhouses to come to her immediately, where she took samples of the flowers and such, trying to determine what had caused the problem as well as grow the cuttings in various pots around her office.
The best part of the prank, however, was Dumbledore himself. He now, instead of long white hair and beard, sported long trails of blue bells, which he charmed to jingle as he walked.
Cooro walked through the hall on purpose, and found himself with a full head of orange blossoms. Nana giggled at it, but refused to gain a head of flowers. The twins went through as well, both receiving celosia for their troubles, and Senri had daffodils blossoming by the weeks end.
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The days seemed to fly past, Cooro thought. In fact, he suspected they were gifted with the wings of crows. He shook his head at the errant thought, concentrating on the task at hand. He was recreating the battle scene again, as Lockhart had either lost or thrown away the first and he was loathe to ask about it.
He drew the goblins carefully, armor and weapons gleaming in the light. He would color it, but he felt it would lost it's spirit when he did.
Husky watched him, bored. They were in History of Magic, and Cooro was probably the closest to paying attention, besides Hermione, who took notes diligently.
He drew the last line with decisiveness, setting down the quill with pleasure. Husky had to admit, the drawing looked good, and Senri, from behind them, nodded his approval when Cooro showed him.
"Paramouer." He muttered, tapping the paper, and as he did so, the warriors moved, streaking through the battlefield and slaughtering their opponents until only one side was left. Then it began anew. Husky was vaguely disturbed that he'd drawn something like that, but it brought to light more of the battle than anything Binns had said before.
Cooro was already looking through a library book he'd borrowed, searching for the spell to give it sound. Husky wondered if the spell would give them actual voices, like the photos, or just the sounds of battle.
"Efectos sonorous." He said again, tapping the paper, just as the bell rang. As the students woke from their slumber, the faint sounds of a long lost battle seemed to come from the back, where Cooro was shoving a book into his bag.
"See? I told you it would work, Hermione. You should have more faith in me." Hermione shook her head, torn between annoyance that he hadn't been paying attention and approval that he could do the spell at all, let alone perfectly and on an already spelled object.
Binns watched them go, then turned to his desk, covered in papers. They thought he didn't see things, but he did. Why bother telling them, though? If they didn't want to listen to his subject, then fine. He could deal with that.
As he waited for his next class, he wondered if he could talk the Lupin boy into letting him see the paper. It reminded him of something similar that he hadn't seen in over a decade.
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Dumbledore read the letter over once, twice, then nodded. Remus' theory seemed sound; an old Death Eater was posing as a Ministry official while creating the portals. It accounted for the fact that nobody was reporting the issue and the name that Sirius had inadvertently found.
He sent a letter back with Romulus suggesting that Remus examine any unusual disappearances, in both the Muggle and magical world. They might find their sacrifices.
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Sirius thanked Moody for the thousandth time as he finished looking through the box. Besides plenty of clothes, he'd found his old wand (how he'd managed to get that, Sirius would probably never know), school equipment that was more sentimental than needed, but still useful; Photos and trinkets from the flat, old things he was thankful Moony had taken before.
He wondered if he'd gotten in trouble for relieving the place of it's belongings, but dismissed the thought immediately. He'd been grieving at the time; surely even the Ministry wouldn't be so low as that?
He scoffed, not even believing himself, but moved on. Some furniture, shrunk down to fit, lay near the bottom, and he pulled it out, setting up a chair, table and a bed. Tapping the box a few times, he murmured a few incantations. With the right word, the box would suck everything in the room into itself, resize and fly to him. That way, he could escape quickly should the need arise.
He hoped dearly it wouldn't.
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It was Halloween night, and the entire school was gathered in the Great Hall. Except for eight Gryffindors, who were making their way to one of the lower dungeons.
"Remind me why we're doing this again?" Ron grumbled as they passed the large doors.
"Harry promised Nick he'd come, and we're trailing along for various reasons." Husky answered, barely looking up from the threads in his hands.
"What're you doing?" Cooro leaned in, trying to get a closer look.
"Making something; I'll show you when it's done." They arrived at the door, and from inside, the sounds of a musical saw reached their ears.
"Ready?" Neville asked, hand on the door. They nodded, and he pulled it open.