A/N This probably goes without saying at this point, but heavily inferred mature themes for the next few chapters. ~DQ.

Chapter Seventy-Three

The Clockwork Menagerie

It happened just after the four houses had their evening roll calls. In most cases, the students had gone to their dorm rooms, except for a few small study groups that had gathered in the common rooms. Among them, Viorica was helping Apollo study for his Defense final at a small table in Conspiracies; while the Maxens gathered around the sofas with their books out, eerily quiet as if they were chatting in each other's heads instead of out loud. In fact, it left the room quiet enough that Viorica and Apollo felt compelled to whisper to keep what they were saying from echoing throughout the room.

So it was that they were the first ones to hear strange scratching noises, along with an occasional squeaking that none of them could quite identify.

"Is that someone's familiar?" Apollo asked, getting irritated over the noise.

"I was just wondering that as well," Eben admitted, then glanced at the sofa where they had tossed all of their bags. "It almost sounds like it's coming from a book bag."

"I think it's Mari's," Moira decided.

"Did someone put their familiar in my bag? If so, they'll be getting some payback," Mari said with irritation, opening the bag. But when she did, out crawled her toy clockwork Manticore, and it did not look happy about being in the bag. "Why is that thing suddenly acting like it's alive?" Mari asked.

Suddenly, clockworks were coming out of all of their bags, and the Maxens jumped up in surprise and grabbed their wands. Viorica and Apollo were about to come to their rescue when they began to hear screams and commotion and spells being cast in the other dorm rooms. As they tried to get out their wands and stun the toys, more and more came scurrying out from seemingly everywhere with no end in sight.

"I didn't know so many students had bought these stupid things!" Viorica shouted between spells.

"They were a good price there at the end," Apollo commented.

"Well, we're all paying for it now!" Viorica snapped. "Immobulus!"

"That's no good! It'll wear off before we get them all! Let's chuck them out the window or something!" Apollo shouted. "Not only will it get them out of the castle, but the lake will probably ruin them before they come out of the stun!"

"Great idea! Got an upper level dorm?" Viorica asked.

"Yeah, come on!" Apollo said, and they raced up, stunning everything they could. Other students were standing on their trunks and attempting to do what they could in every way they could think of, when they happened to run into Harvey, whose small Snidget was hovering around him in circles.

"Do you need help?" Harvey asked.

"We're going to chuck them out the window while they're immobilized. Why aren't they attacking you?" Viorica explained.

"This guy is keeping them off me," Harvey explained. Blinking in realization, Apollo ran into his dorm and pulled his Loong off the shelf, giving it a quick rubdown. The dragon woke up and immediately went into action, attacking any clockworks that came near to him.

"Harvey, quick! Tell everyone that has one of Toby's wooden companions to take it out and wake it up!" Apollo ordered, chucking as many of the stunned toys as he could out the window. "Come on, Viorica, we need to go get your companion."

"You can't get up there," Viorica reminded him.

"Then you'd better hurry! Mushu, go with her!" Apollo ordered his dragon.

"Seriously? That's what you named it?" Viorica said as they ran back to Conspiracies.

"Just go already!" Apollo snapped at her. "Where the hell are all the Professors?"

"Help! Help!" Eben started screaming at the bottom of the girls' dormitory steps, unable to scramble up them. "Mari's in trouble!"

"Which dorm is she in?" Viorica said, running up the stairs.

"Farthest back on the right! It's trying to take her!" Eben shouted. "They can get bigger!"

"What?" Viorica said, running to the back and casting on the way, diving to her room. But when she got there, it was too late; one of the winged clockwork dragons had somehow extended its claws to form a giant grappling cage that had wrapped around Mari's body, pinning her arms as she struggled to keep it from carrying out the window. Before Viorica could react, it turned into a large set of mechanical wings that carried Mari out of her view. "Mari!" Viorica shouted, and several of the other clockworks turned around.

"Uh oh," Viorica said, and ran the other way, blasting her way towards her own dorm to try and get her songbird. She might have succeeded getting to it in time, if she hadn't stopped to help another student she saw being dragged towards the window. It was Polly, she realized, using a rust hex to stop the creature in its tracks. As she tried to help Polly up and coax her to run to Conspiracies, another of the mechanical wings managed to get ahold of Viorica, forcing her to drop her wand. Soon she was pulled out the same window as Mari.

Severus had been in his sitting room checking over his Cloak Chest so that he could go after Jennifer when he heard Caprica shouting his name.

"Severus, help! The castle's under attack!" Caprica yelled from the painting, causing him to turn on his heels.

"What? Where?" Severus demanded.

"Inside the students dorm rooms!" Caprica explained. "A whole bunch of clockwork toys just started bursting out of bags, closets, and trunks and started attacking them! The only thing that seems to keep them at bay are those wooden toys they got from Toby's! Not only are the clockworks going haywire on the students, but now I'm getting reports from the staff that they've breached the halls and they're having to fight them off too!"

"Oh, god. How could I have been so foolish?" Severus murmured under his breath and then dove for Jennifer's sitting room, grabbing her wooden bat off the shelf. "Assist me, Woodfly, the castle needs us," Severus told it, and the bat immediately followed, hovering next to him as he cut through the nursery over to Ravenclaw.

Severus stepped in to see that a giant barricade of transfigured sofas and desks had been constructed in a corner of the common rooms, where a small army of wooden creatures fought against dozens of clockwork creatures while some of the older students cast spells at them from behind the bulwarks. Severus lifted his hands and a blast of freezing wind seemed to come out of nowhere, stopping the clockworks in its tracks. In fact, quite a number of them simply fell apart, while others were frozen in place.

"Is everyone all right? Report!" Severus barked out, and Patrick appeared over the top of the structure.

"We're alright but we're worried about Professor Lupin," Patrick replied. "While she was instructing us how to set up this barricade to hold off those toys, one of them tried to grab Gloria, but after we managed to get Gloria back here, the one that was trying to grab Gloria latched onto Professor Lupin and pulled her out instead."

"Dame Rachel, get Professor Ravenclaw in here," Severus snapped.

"He is just coming now, Professor," the painting of Dame Rachel reported.

"I am here, Severus. There have been attacks all over the castle, and several people are missing..."

"Yes, I'm aware," Severus snapped.

"I suggest we start emergency evacuation of the students at once. Even if we temporarily stop these toys, there's no guarantee we've gotten all of them and we need to prevent more people from being taken," Icarus said.

"Agreed. I want a list of every single person evacuated safely so we can start getting a handle on who's missing and who's safe," Severus ordered.

"I'll need someone from staff to escort them, because obviously I can't..."

"Fine, just don't tell me where they're going!" Severus snapped. "I'll send someone else who knows."

"Yes, Severus," Icarus said glumly, then began to go through roll call despite the fact that the Ravenclaws insisted that everyone was there.

Severus was skipping across to Gryffindor and nearly ran into Andrew in the process. Andrew was looking very tired and his robes were tattered at the bottom.

"Do you know where Laura is? Her ring is reading very strange... like when she's having a nightmare," Andrew asked worriedly.

"Taken along with several others, and we need to act before any more are taken," Severus informed him. "We're evacuating the castle to get the students to safety so we can deal with this. I assume you know Ick's secret location? I need you to go with them."

"What? I'm not going with them. I'm going to go find Laura," Andrew said firmly.

"Andrew, I understand what you're going through, but we need to secure this situation first. Everyone in this castle is in great danger!" Severus snapped.

"Then you can find someone else! You've got a whole staff to do your bidding! I'm going whether you want me to or not!" Andrew argued. Growling with frustration, Severus raised his hand and backhanded him with a good jolt of magic to go along with it, sending Andrew sprawling to the floor.

"I was choosing you because I thought I could depend on you! But you're nothing but the same selfish child that you've always been!" Severus shouted at him angrily. "I should have known better by now," he added for good measure, waving the door open and going inside.

Checking his lip, Andrew pulled himself to his feet and ran towards the Doorlift without a second thought, turning invisible before he got there. John, who had seen the altercation from the landing above them, quickly hopped down so he could get to the Headmaster's side.

Inside Gryffindor, there were large pixie cages filled with all of the clockworks that had been collected so far with wooden animals patrolling around, and Hermione was next to the students standing in groups by their years in the common room. One of her left fingers was hooked around her son's collar with no intention of letting go while Rich grimaced every time she moved unexpectedly. She walked over to Severus when he came in, pulling Rich with her.

"We need to evacuate as many as we can to the designated location," Severus said. "How many are unaccounted for in here?"

"Quite a few are missing, unfortunately," Hermione said briskly. "From what the students were telling me, a large fight that broke out between the wooden creatures and the clockworks and quite a number of students jumped in to defend, including TJ and Elliot, who were studying in her room when it happened. When a couple of those clockworks transformed into wings and carried them off, Charles and his sisters grabbed their brooms and went after them, followed by Joey Black, Olivia Potter, and Markus Brim. I got here just in time to grab this one away from the window," Hermione explained.

"Gryffindors! That's just what we need right now," Severus growled. "Get the rest of these students evacuated! I need to send you with them for now, but as soon as other staff show up and get that handled, I'm going to need administrative backup."

"Understood," Hermione said.

"Professor Snape, how can I help?" John asked.

"I need someone I can count on to start weeding out any clockwork lurkers in the hall while we're securing the castle. Go straight to Bael's room and have him go with you... do you have a wooden companion?

"No, that I don't," John admitted.

"Here, take my wife's, they offer some protection. Woodfly, go with John," Severus told the companion, and the bat stopped flying around Severus and flew around John's head instead.

"Where is Jennifer?" John asked with a frown.

"One thing at a time! She'd want me to take care of this first!" Severus snapped at John firmly. "Now, go! I'm going to check on Hufflepuff and Slytherin."

Severus stepped down the stairs and faded out of view. John felt his heart suddenly beating heavily with worry, forcing himself to dash over to the floor where most of the Professors' rooms were and down the corridor towards Bael's room.

It was right in the middle of the circus performance when some of the giant Clockwork Menagerie fell out of pattern and stopped listening to Tolly and Penwiggle. They had been in escorting Boris the Ground dragon back to the Clockwork's storage tent after his part of the performance when he stopped in his tracks and began snorting smoke.

"What's going on? Why is he doing that?" Tolly asked.

"He must have broken something on that last trick," Penwiggle reasoned. "Twisted spring or something. Why don't you go fetch his leash so we can get him back to the tent?"

"Yes, Mr. Penwiggle," Tolly said, hurrying through the concourse towards the back.

But as he did so, he saw something that made him pause and scramble to hug the shadows around one of the tents. It was Mr. Mirage, walking with Mr. Pyther and Jennifer Craw towards the Big Wheel. His heart dropped and he took cover to hide himself, watching as Mirage loaded Pyther into the bottom carriage and then used the lever to move the wheel to the next carriage, the door swinging open.

For a moment, he thought that Jennifer was going to be loaded into the next one. But instead, Mirage turned and led her towards the Fun House. Terror gripped him, both at seeing the Wheel ready for another passenger as well as Jennifer being taken in, their newest circus 'recruit.' There was no way at all that could have been willing, Tolliver knew. Jennifer never would have left the school on her own. Things were about to get quite terrible indeed, and Tolliver got the chilling suspicion that Boris not responding correctly wasn't a simple malfunction as they had supposed.

Tolly ran to grab the leash, his mind racing as fast as his feet as he remembered all of the special requests that Mr. Mirage had put in over the winter to make the clockworks look more 'menacing' for more of an 'effect' on the audience. Sharpened claws. Sharpened teeth. More powerful jaws. It had never occurred to him at the time that a more sinister plot was in the works... not even for a moment. The Menagerie had all been made from Tolly's own designs... his own hands had welded them together, intent on giving the most realistic interpretation that he could so that the audience could marvel at how lifelike they were. But apparently that hadn't been the intent... it was to turn them into weapons to terrorize their enemies with.

Penwiggle knew nothing about it, Tolly was certain of that, which meant only one thing... Hammerbite was behind it. It had something to do with his metal alloys, and the charms he had woven into them... allowing him to control them at will... Tolly snatched the leash off the wall, completely unsurprised at just how hostile all of the Clockwork beasts inside the cages had become. He ran out as quickly as he could and scrambled back over to where Penwiggle was sitting with Boris. The Ground Dragon now had a large metal cord wrapped around its maul which it was desperately attempting to shake off.

"It's about time you got back! I'm having all sorts of problems!" Penwiggle reported as Tolly desperately worked to get the leash around its neck. "Boris literally just tried to eat me!"

"It's the metal alloy they're made out of! It's charmed to become aggressive and to follow the orders of Hammerbite and Mirage!" Tolly reported.

"What? I didn't know that had been done!" Penwiggle said in surprise.

"Neither did I, I just worked it out," Tolly said, watching Boris struggle.

"Don't worry, he can't go anywhere. That cord is one of his back leg ligaments," Penwiggle explained. "The metal may be charmed, but they still rely on clockwork mechanics to be mobile. I say we take out their means of locomotion."

"Sabotage our own creations, is that it?" Tolly asked with interest.

"My creations are made to entertain people. Not to hurt people. This one is obviously malfunctioning, since it's not acting as I had intended," Penwiggle diagnosed.

"I agree with you in principle, Mr. Penwiggle. But you realize, I hope, that if we go rogue, this is probably the last night either of us will ever witness," Tolly said.

Penwiggle pondered that, staring at Boris and realizing how much damage he could have done if he had been in the big top when he had begun acting up.

"Well, if we're going to die anyway, let's make it a good night," Penwiggle decided, taking a spanner out of his pocket and jamming it in one of the gears connected to the motor at its heart. The metal shuttered as its magic attempted to fight it, but soon the gears ground to a halt and the contraption fell, causing both of them to step away. "There! That's one down."

"We'd better dash over before Hammerbite catches up to us," Tolly insisted.

Penwiggle grabbed his spanner, the two of them racing back over to the clockwork storage area. Strange shadows loomed over their heads, and Tolly suddenly stopped dead in his tracks and stared upwards, causing Penwiggle to stop at the entrance.

"What?" Penwiggle asked.

"Did you design any of the clockworks to do that?" Tolly asked, pointing up at the sky. Penwiggle looked up as mechanical wings darkened the sky, most of them carrying struggling children as they flew towards the big top and soared in.

"No," Penwiggle admitted. "But weren't we still in the middle of a performance? Why isn't the crowd screaming about it?"

"I'm not sure I want to know," Tolly admitted.

"Come on! Let's do what we can to throw a spanner in the works!" Penwiggle said, and the two of them scurried into the clockwork tent.

Jennifer followed Mirage into the back of the Fun House, glancing around the large dressing room that was designed so that multiple clowns could get set up at once. Only one person was in the room at the moment, however; a buxom woman with thick brown hair pulled back in a messy tail, who was busy cleaning up the costume area.

"What is that? A new one?" the woman asked.

"A special case," Mirage said. "This is Pearl, one of our staging girls and costumers. Pearl, get this one fully dipped. I'll be back to collect her in a few minutes."

"Okay," Pearl said unconcernedly, walking Jennifer to what appeared to be a second attached wagon. It had a long wall of lockers in it. Finding one that opened to her touch, Pearl gestured to it. "Put all of your things in there. Cloak, wand, clothes and valuables, including your jewelry. Time for you to take a bath."

"Is there a bathrobe or something I can use?" Jennifer asked.

"I'll give you something to throw on at the end," Pearl said. Reluctantly, Jennifer did as she was told, until she was down to nothing but her locket and her ring.

"Fine, I'm ready," Jennifer said, feeling a shiver. Pearl sighed.

"I said take off all of the jewelry," Pearl said sternly.

"I'm not taking off my ring, or my locket," Jennifer said firmly.

"You know, if that locket has any sort of picture in it, it's going to be ruined," Pearl warned. "The bathtub is filled with white makeup. Not only is it going to cover your jewelry, but it'll cover up the pictures inside. Do you really want that to happen?" Jennifer frowned and shakily worked it off, setting it into the locker.

"Fine, but I'm not taking my ring off," Jennifer said firmly.

"Suit yourself," Pearl shrugged, then closed it. "This locker will open back up with your hand, and it won't open up to anyone trying to steal it. Of course, if you die, the contents are fair game, so try not to do that."

"Yes, lovely, thanks. What sort of curses are on the makeup?" Jennifer asked.

"The white makeup has a charm on it that keeps you from being located. It works along with the clown makeup that goes on top of it. The clown makeup will help protect your thoughts and identity, and it even helps hide whether or not you're telling the truth or not when you're being questioned by someone outside the circus," Pearl explained.

"I see. That does explain a lot," Jennifer admitted.

"Now, get in. If Mirage wants you fully dipped, he doesn't want any room for error. Hold your nose and get your head and hair covered too," Pearl instructed.

Jennifer glanced at her ring. It was dark grey, a color that showed when he was extremely focused on a problem and was putting all of his energy into it, although there were hints of anxiety and frustration at the very edges. Jennifer got in, knowing that would probably be the last color she would see for a while as her ring sank below the surface. Would he still be able to read his, she wondered? Surely it wouldn't be able to cloak her feelings from him, even if the makeup did cloak her location. And would he remain in that focused state throughout this crisis? Perhaps if he did, she had no reason to worry... at Pearl's instruction, she closed her eyes and dipped her head and hair into the makeup. Finally Jennifer came out, and found herself looking into one of the mirrors, as white as a ghost but appearing like herself.

"Apparently it's the white makeup that protects one's thoughts, not the clown makeup," Jennifer commented, unable to read herself in the mirror.

"Oh, is it? Good to know," Pearl replied, and Jennifer realized that Pearl only knew what she had been told. That meant if there were any curses on the white makeup, the attendant probably hadn't been told about them. Pearl pulled an armless makeup smock over Jennifer's head, which barely covered her thighs and was much more open on the sides than Jennifer liked. "I guess we're done until we know what sort of makeup Mirage wants on you, then."

Not long afterwards, Mirage stepped back in, closing the door with a frown.

"What is she doing in that thing? I told you to dip her, not dress her," Mirage said critically.

"I was just waiting to hear what other makeup you wanted on her," Pearl explained.

"White is enough. Take that smock off," Mirage ordered.

"What? Do you want her to parade about the back yard naked?" Pearl asked.

"No, I've arranged for transportation and a holding cell all in one," Mirage said, stepping over to a black-painted coffin that wasn't there a moment before.

"Oh, no. Not that," Jennifer said, barely above a whisper.

"The camp's doctor is a vampire, and this is his residence. It's fortified with great protections against magic so that it protects him while he sleeps, but it is also capable of moving about the camp for ease of use. I have borrowed it on your behalf," Mirage told Jennifer. "Get in." Jennifer folded her arms over her chest, shaking her head unwillingly. "Need I remind you what's at stake if you don't?" Mirage warned dangerously. Closing her eyes for a moment and thinking of Dawn, Jennifer slowly did as she was told and climbed inside. "There we are! Nice and cozy," Mirage told her. "Not to worry; I don't believe it's airtight, so you should be able to breathe. I think," he added for good measure, closing the lid. Despite the tears, the white makeup remained clean and left no streaks upon her face.

When Mirage came out of the Fun House, most of the clowns were coming in, whispering among themselves. They quieted down when they approached Mirage, fearfully passing by. But Mirage gestured to Aster, who was a great deal calmer than many of the others. In fact, he was privately amused by it all.

"Yes, Mirage?" Aster asked.

"I believe the Seer wants to see you, concerning a debt she owes you," Mirage informed him.

"I'll go over there straight away," Aster said with interest, then veered towards her tent.

"Mr. Mirage?"

Mirage glanced up again to see it was Buttercup who had spoken.

"Buttercup? It's rather uncharacteristic of you to be so... out of character," Mirage commented.

"I know, but I wanted to ask you something and a horn just doesn't do it. It's... something just happened to the audience. They've all been turned to stone," Buttercup said seriously.

"My goodness, have they really?" Mirage said, feigning surprise. "I will look into it straight away."

"I think someone might have put something in the free food and drinks," Buttercup explained. "I mean... it's strange that we even offered free food and drinks, we get most of our money that way. The candy butchers told me that Heartless Hardy told them to do it."

"I see. Thank you, Belinda. I will reprimand him at once and do what I can to come up with an antidote," Mirage informed her. The clown nodded unsurely.

"Yeah, okay," she said, following the rest towards the funhouse.

But after a few steps, she turned and noticed Mirage walking over to the Big Wheel where Spanx was standing. The moment Mirage got far enough away, Belinda split from the group and ran in a different direction.

"How many have you filled?" Mirage asked Spanx.

"I've gotten bait set up for five and have caught one so far. Permission to go after the other two now?" Spanx suggested, looking at his watch.

"Let me get Heartless Hardy to watch the wheel for you so you can go," Mirage said. "Once the wheel is full, you may go after your reward."

"Gladly!" Spanx said cheerfully, eagerly waiting for Hardy to arrive.

It had become a regular ritual.

Every Friday afternoon after classes, Frank Byrd loaded up the car and Asher, Ben, and Raymond went to Jilly's for a drink and to relax. In fact, it was one of the few bright spots in Ben's week now. With both of his sons away at school and Alex working ungodly hours because of the Disappearances, Ben's time helping at Whitebridge and the weekend camaraderie that followed was a welcome interruption in his currently lonely life, knowing that the other three would always have some outrageous stories to tell. Happy Hour gave them a good excuse to load up on different appetizers, piling them up so everyone could get whatever they wanted.

"So how are things going with that creepy circus you told us about? Is it over yet?" Frank asked Ben.

"Almost. They have to pack up tomorrow," Ben explained. "My wife is completely convinced that they're going to pull something at the last minute, and I hope they don't. I really just want my life back," he admitted. "I can't wait until it's not only over, but it's summer again, so I can spend some quality time with my two boys. I've definitely missed them being away for school."

"Yeah, we know," Raymond said dryly. "We hear about them all the time."

"If you and Kay ever settle down and have kids, you'll understand," Ben promised him.

"Can you imagine Ray as a father!" Asher said. "Can you think of anything scarier?"

"Yes. You as a father," Ray retorted. Ben and Frank both agreed with a laugh, each of them taking shots at Asher by contributing reasons why he'd be terrible at it.

Suddenly everything went black, and creeping sensations hit everyone, causing people throughout the establishment scream and jump up.

"LUMOS!" Ray cast, the spell casting a light so bright that it momentarily blinded everyone. Rubbing their eyes, everyone slowly began to look around.

"What was that all about?" Asher asked.

"A poor practical joke if you ask me," Frank said. "And wasn't that the dark version of that spell, Ray?"

"Wait. Where's Ben?" Ray asked. The three of them glanced under the table and then got up to look around, Frank even running outside to see if he had gone that way.

"Where did he go?" Asher wondered out loud. Ray felt a chill down his back.

"Let's search the whole place!" Ray said, getting out his phone long enough to call his father.

Jeremy, Timmy, and Quintin were in the kitchen with Sharon and Arwen, learning to make pizzas. It was so exciting to be able to put on their own ingredients just the way they wanted them, even if it did make some of the pizzas very lopsided.

"Jeremy's eating all the pepperoni," Timmy complained.

"Jeremy, that's supposed to go on the pizza, not in your mouth," Sharon reminded him again.

"If I eat them now, I'm saving the time I'd have to wait for them to bake!" Jeremy reasoned.

"I think it takes the same amount of time for them to bake whether it has pepperoni on it or not," Quintin said sagely.

"Boys, just finish them, please! I'd like to get them done before..." she paused, hearing crying. "The girls woke up. Lovely. Luke? Can you please come down and help the boys with the oven?" she called up the stairs.

"Be right down!" Luke called down the stairs and Sharon went into the family room to change the girls.

But as she stepped over to the playpen, she suddenly noticed something strange out the window. A gale wind blasted across the lawn, whipping their ornaments and their flag sideways, even bowing the flagpole slightly from the force.

"Luke?" Sharon called out, picking up Carrie and Kristy protectively. "Luke, something strange is going on outside."

"Hang on," he told the boys and peered in the family room just in time to see another blast of wind gust through. "It looks like something's hitting Wind's protection spell on the house, doesn't it?" Luke ventured, taking out his wand and stepping into the front room to peek out the shutters on the door. But by the time he had come around to look out the door, Wind Elk was standing in front of the house.

Luke opened the door slightly, leaving on one of the chains on as he peered out.

"Everything alright, Wind?" Luke asked.

"Someone attempted to breach the house, but they seem to have given up," Wind replied attempting to sense what had caused it. "Yes, I believe they're gone."

"Well, how about coming in for a bit just in case? I know pizza's really not your thing, but you're welcome to stay for dinner," Luke offered.

"Yes, perhaps that's wise," Wind agreed, and Luke undid the chain. Wind soon found himself entertained with the three boys intent on showing off their new pizza making skills.

"That one was easy," Hardy commented as Spanx used the command spell to get Ben inside the carriage and Hardy moved the Wheel to the last empty carriage.

"I can't say the same for the youngest. I can't get to him," Spanx admitted. "They've got some sort of powerful wild magic protecting him, and he's too young to be enticed with bait."

"Well, throw another kid in there! You heard what Mirage said, he wants every one of these filled... eight with Snape kids and one with students," Hardy replied.

"I'm tellin' ya, I can't get the last one," Spanx said again with a sigh.

"Then pull another of Snape's relatives to take his place. There are plenty among the students in the Dragon Cage," Hardy suggested.

"If that's what it takes to get me off this job so I can deal with my unfinished business, then so be it," Spanx said. Hardy nodded at him as he ran over to the tent.

Just then, someone invisible grabbed a hold of Hardy's collar.

"Careful, careful! I got quite a lot of lives here that are depending on me," Hardy protested.

"Where's Laura?" demanded Andrew's voice.

"Oh, that one! Are you here to rescue her? She can't get out on her own, you know," Hardy explained. "Do you mind? I need a hand to get to the right carriage."

"Are you saying she's in here?" Andrew snapped.

"Yes, this is a very special Wheel that Mr. Mirage invented himself," Hardy said unconcernedly, closing the still empty carriage and swinging the carriages around. "It makes people who ride it face their worst nightmares. Some survive. Some come out broken. Some die of a heart attack from the stress... they just can't take it, I suppose. But one thing I do know is that once you're inside, you have to get out on your own. The bars lock down and even I can't get anyone out unless they free themselves," he explained cheerfully.

"Just get her carriage down here!" Andrew snapped.

"Andrew?"

Andrew looked up to see Aurelius hovering on a broom. Andrew became visible again.

"Rel, Laura's in there! It's some device that makes people live through their worse nightmares," Andrew explained.

"And it's obviously a trap! Are you stupid?" Aurelius snapped, landing the broom.

"It doesn't matter if it's a trap or not! I can't leave Laura with her worst nightmares! You know what they're like!" Andrew snapped. Aurelius grew somber.

"I'll go get help. Dad sent me after you figuring you'd get in trouble... but I didn't think you'd walk into it willingly!" Aurelius said critically.

"I love her, Rel," Andrew said simply.

"This is the one. Number four," Hardy said. Despite not seeing her, Andrew climbed in and Hardy shut the gate, turning the wheel slightly.

"Will you be joining the passenger in number three, Auror Snape?" Hardy asked.

"You may have caught my impulsive younger brother, but you won't catch me," Aurelius said.

"Suit yourself. I'm sure your daughter will do fine on her own," Hardy said. Aurelius frowned at that, having trouble reading him. Then he pulled out his watch, a jolt going through him when he saw Viorica's needle at 'Mortal Peril.' Hardy waited patiently as Aurelius walked around the Wheel, watching her compass arrows move. But it wasn't long before Aurelius found himself faced in the same dilemma; there was no doubt that carriage had Viorica in it whether he could see her or not.

"Craters," Aurelius murmured, stepping inside her carriage.

Hardy was rather amused at that as he went back to the open carriage just as Spanx came over dragging a boy by his arm. Joey glanced up at the Wheel skeptically.

"Here, take him! I'm tired of his mouth anyway!"

"I don't know what you're planning, but if you hurt me, my Aunt Viviane is going to go medieval on your arses, and when I say medieval, I mean it!" Joey threatened them.

"You should have thought of that when you decided to join that stupid rescue mission!" Spanx said. "Can you believe that some of the Hogwarts students actually took off to try and rescue their roomies?"

"I believe it," Hardy said. "I caught two more Snapes in the time it took you to get back over here. They're so noble, the fools just walk right in."

"What do you mean you caught Snapes? Not bloody likely!" Joey said defiantly, then got shoved into the carriage.

"Got a mouth on him, that one," Hardy said.

"I know. That's what made me pick him," Spanx said. "I'm off to find some fun."

"Have a good time," Hardy said, wondering when the next Snape would show up.

Maurice had been working on his poetry in the library when the light flickered and he heard a strange tone that he hadn't heard before. A moment later it happened again, so he hurried to the stairs to see his father opening the door, while several others were peeking out their rooms curiously.

"What's going on?" Maurice called down the stairs.

"I could use some help down here," Thomas said without answering directly, going outside.

Maurice hurried down the stairs and Mike ran out to join them, wands in hand as they followed him out. They couldn't help but stare at that point, because on the lawn stood most of the students of Hogwarts along with several professors, trying to keep them calm. "You know, when I agreed to this property being an evacuation point, I didn't think you'd ever actually have to use it," Thomas barked.

"Sorry!" Hermione said sincerely, walking quickly over to him. "It's because of those clockwork toys that the circus was handing out two or three at a time. They started coming alive and began attacking them and even carried a few of them off! We couldn't be sure there weren't a bunch hiding, so we had to get them out of there before anyone else was hurt, and we couldn't root them all out while we were playing defense..."

"Understood. Mike, we're going to need to thoroughly check every student before we can let them in for curses, charms, and animated objects. Maurice, go see who else you can round up in the house to help us go through them... have Beth get out the catering tables and set something up for them in the Ball Room for now," Thomas told them. "I take it Jen-girl's gotten stuck on clean-up committee?"

"I'm not sure where she is. She wasn't in the castle when the emergency happened, and Severus didn't mention her other than to say that Icarus was in charge of security," Hermione said.

"That's odd," Thomas said with a frown, checking his watch. But Jennifer's hand was currently on "Elsewhere." Realizing he had his hands too full at the moment to worry about it, Thomas shelved his concern and helped Hermione come up with a system to efficiently get them all checked and inside.

"Hey!" Lucky called out from the door. "Where's Dale?"

"You mean he's not already here?" Hermione asked with a frown. "I don't know. I was under orders to get the students safe as soon as possible. I'm not sure how many of the staff are missing."

"Fine, then I'm going to the castle to find out..."

"Oh, no you don't," Thomas snapped, putting a hand on Lucky's shoulder. "Get back in there and take care of Robby, doing the nursing thing comes first. I'm sure as hell not doing it for you..."

"I got a pump."

"Just so you know, as LE Minister and former Warden, I have learned a number of ways to restrain a Number Turner, Fortuna, and you do not want me to go there," Thomas snapped dangerously.

"But what if he got taken by the circus or something?" Lucky protested.

"If Mirage and his underlings are stupid enough to mess with anyone from our family, rest assured there is going to be hell to pay," Thomas swore, leading her back inside.