Chapter Seventy-Four

Prelude

With the majority of the students and staff evacuated, Severus kept only a few of his loyalist friends with him. John and Bael were now at his side as they finished securing the castle, the halls eerie and silent. It was as if the castle itself felt abandoned, and its loneliness echoed in the soft wind outside and in their footsteps. Severus heard a spell cast behind him as John saw movement and cast at the clockwork, immediately rusting it with a hex.

"Just when I think we've got them all," John muttered.

"Yes, I know, that's why we're doing this. Ick, if I'm not here in the morning, have a Ministry team come in first thing to help get this situation cleaned up once and for all," Severus said.

"Yes, Severus," said a somber voice nearby.

"Also, if you have to lockdown the castle, make certain Sagittari isn't caught inside of it, or any of the Trade Elf staff. I don't want a living soul trapped in here. There's a spare ring to override the doors in my office if anyone does get left behind," Severus added.

"Understood," Ick replied.

"Professor?"

They turned to see Librarian Boulderdash walk up from the back corridor.

"You have news?" Severus asked.

"I believe that Jennifer is in the Seer wagon since Mirage seems to be gravitating over there, but things have gotten chaotic," Boulderdash reported. "Not long after the camp witnessed Mirage putting Pyther in the Big Wheel, all sorts of strange things started happening. Most of the audience was turned into stone, and the giant Clockworks began acting like they were real beasts just as the students began showing up. Half of the troupers are dashing around to save themselves, while the other half are bending to Mirage's orders."

"Where are the students?" Severus asked.

"At first they threw them in the Dragon Cage in the big top until they were sure they had all of them, and then they started escorting them off and tossing them onto carnival rides. Balder doesn't know what the rides do, but they're evidently all cursed devices of some sort..."

"Is your brother's release debt curse still on him?" Severus asked.

"We don't know," Boulderdash admitted. "He was supposed to finish the last performance, but it was interrupted by this bit of nastiness. Still, I'd say the gloves and mask have come off, don't you? We'll stand with you either way."

"Understood, we're just about to head that way," Severus replied, then glanced into nearby paintings until he saw where the Rogue was standing. "You and Caprica are in charge of the paintings, and Ick is in charge of the castle starting now. If there are any remaining Trade Elves or other living creatures who haven't left yet for one reason or another, let them escape, but don't let anyone back in here until this is over. John, I need you to get Bael back to the Black Mansion."

"But I thought I was coming along with you..." John said with a frown.

"So did I, Severus, I want to stay to steady you, if nothing else," Bael argued.

"You did that by accompanying me through the castle and keeping me on task. Now I need for you both to be safe," Severus said. "John, you've done your part already in this war, and I know perfectly well the circus would love to exact revenge for you surviving that fall by taking it out on Mitch. You need to be home in case they attempt it and to help guard the Black Mansion. You can trust Bael to have your back as surely as I trust him to have mine. And I trust both of you to follow my orders and head home," he added firmly, then glanced at Boulderdash. "Come, it is time to get this over with, one way or another," Severus said, and they strode for the doors. "And Boulderdash, if I do go mad and start killing the wrong people, be a loyal friend and put a dagger through my heart, will you?"

"With honor and dignity, Professor," Boulderdash agreed.

"Thank you," Severus said briskly as they strode across the grounds and out through the gates.

When John and Bael arrived at the Black Mansion, it didn't take long for John to realize that Mitch wasn't there.

Just an hour before, while Mitch was lingering in the living room expectantly, Sirius came out of the study with his Mysteries cloak on his arm.

"Do we really need that just to run over to my house?" Mitch asked curiously.

"Something came up, Mitch, and I can't escort you over there," Sirius replied. "Ben Clemmons has gone missing. He was having drinks with his mates when someone cast the Fear of Darkness curse and kidnapped him while everyone was still panicking. It's the same thing that was done at the Burrow at Christmas to get Maggie, and Alex is convinced he's at the circus. She's just called my team in to go with her, so I need to leave. Sorry, Mitch, but obviously this is more important, and if we're going to the circus, you know everything's about to hit the fan. I need you to stay here with Anna and Zoe."

"I understand, Sirius. But our house is secure, so perhaps I could just run over there just for a second just to grab the pan I need for tomorrow..."

"Mitch!" Sirius said with exasperation. "Did you just miss the part where I said everything is about to hit the fan? This is more important than your catering job right now." Mitch blinked.

"Is that your way of saying my job isn't as important as yours?" Mitch asked, bristling.

"Safety is more important," Sirius said firmly. "So please, do me a favor and look after the girls for me, okay?"

Sirius then stepped out the door and Mitch sighed, going over to the steps and sitting halfway up them to sulk. It was a very good spot to sulk, because he discovered that when he stayed and sulked in plain sight, he was generally left alone. When he tried to sulk in his room, it seemed to take no time at all before someone came banging on the door to his room to find out what he was up to and to try to get him out. On the stairs, he was left to sulk in peace.

He was still sitting there when Anna walked out of the kitchen with a Ministry shell next to her ear, going over to talk to Zoe, who was reading next to Aubrey's playpen in the living room.

"You're not going to believe this, but Hogwarts just got breached," Anna said.

"Breached? Breached how?" Zoe asked in surprise.

"You know those little clockwork toys the circus was selling? Evidently they're not only animated, but charmed to grab people and fly them off to the circus," Anna explained. Mitch glanced at his ring. "Apparently one of the best protections is actually those wooden toys that Toby sculpts."

"Really? I'd better go get Aubrey Lynn's," Zoe said.

"I doubt there are any clockworks in here," Anna said. "And you know Aunt Viviane told them to stay away from us."

"Yeah, I know, but better safe than sorry," Zoe said, passing Mitch up the stairs without comment. But Anna had been watching her go up the stairs, and her eyes landed on Mitch.

"Do you have one of those animals, Mitch?" she asked.

"Yes. I have a little shrew," Mitch replied.

"Then you'd better get yours too, just to be safe," Anna said. "When you two get back, I'll go grab mine."

"Were you just talking to Severus? Did he mention John at all?" Mitch asked.

"Come to think of it, he did. He said John and Bael were helping him secure the castle... he was in the middle of evacuating all the Hogwarts students and staff, so I'm sure they'll both be coming here tonight. That should help cheer you up," Anna added, getting a thin smile from Mitch before he got up and went to his room to fetch his shrew.

Perhaps John would be willing to pop him over to the house so that he could pick up his tube spring pan... and perhaps his favorite jelly roll pan too, Mitch mused. No, he thought with a sigh. Quite unlikely, especially if he was coming home because of an emergency at the castle. He would make Mitch stay put and not let him go out at all. Mitch sighed with irritation. Quitting his job because John was in personal danger was one thing, but whether or not Hogwarts was having another crisis or not, he still had a job to do and people to feed, and if he stopped and holed up every time there was a crisis or vampire war or any of the other insane calamities that seemed to plague the area, Mitch never would have gotten farther than the prep room.

Besides, his house was quite secure. It wasn't even breached at Christmas when the other houses were. Even if it was in Hogsmeade, it was nowhere near the circus, and it wasn't as if any of them had any reason to even go in that section of the town. Not to mention the fact that Alex and her Agents were about to show up and keep the circus extremely preoccupied. The risk to going, Mitch reasoned, was minimal. And he was certain he knew exactly where the pans he was looking for were in his kitchen... well, fairly sure anyway... mostly. It wasn't even going to take him more than a minute to pop over there and grab it.

Getting to his room, he picked up his shrew and his cloak, minimizing the cloak and sticking it in his pocket so that Zoe and Anna wouldn't notice. He then slipped back down to the main stairs and sat down again, watching Zoe as she had gotten settled back down with her wooden chinchilla while Aubrey's cat made a play at cleaning its paws. Finally, Anna came in from the back with a small wooden unicorn clopping behind her, glancing over to the stairs to see Mitch holding his shrew in both hands.

"Okay, it looks like we're all good then," Anna said, sitting down in a recliner and waving a stool over to put her feet on. "Why do my feet always have to swell up so early?" she complained with a sigh.

"Juliet was putting her feet up really early when she was pregnant with Jillian, remember?" Zoe said with a grin. "Maybe that's a sign it's a girl?"

"You didn't have feet issues until your last month and yours was a girl," Anna pointed out.

"Yes, that's true. Perhaps that's just the Half-Elf thing," Zoe guessed.

Mitch knew from experience that pregnancy talk always provided him one of the most opportune times to slip out of the house, often without notice. They simply assumed that he had gone back to his room to avoid it, which meant that half they time they didn't even realize he had been gone until he had returned.

He grabbed his key and popped over to the house, an eerie hint of calliope music drifting in the air... or had he imagined that? He peered at the lampposts, making sure they were on, and then hurried over to the door, unlocking it. And despite being pretty sure that clockworks couldn't get in the house, he held the door open a moment and set his little shrew down to have a sniff around. Seeing that it wasn't behaving any differently than normal, he was about to step in when he thought he saw a strange flicker from the lamps.

Did that mean someone was near them, he wondered, jumping inside of the door. But then he opened out cautiously, pulling his wand out. Was that wings of an owl he just heard? Or did he imagine that as well? Not seeing anything but darkness, Mitch frowned. Maybe he was paranoid because he knew something was going on at the circus, he thought. The sooner he grabbed what he needed and got back to the Black Mansion, the better.

He hurried into the kitchen, so intent on his task that he didn't notice that the door had taken longer than normal to shut. He bustled over to the cabinet he reserved just for cake pans so that he could quickly grab what he was looking for. He was quite sure the pan he was looking for was going to be sitting on top of his regular spring pans in plain sight.

It wasn't.

Sighing in annoyance, Mitch began pulling pans down, using his wand to turn up the lights. But as he did so, he caught a reflection in the kitchen windows and spun around to see Spanx standing in the kitchen door with his arms folded.

"Are you making me a birthday cake?" Spanx asked with a dark smile. "I didn't know it was even my birthday until you lingered so long in the front doorway like that. In fact, it made it so easy for me to slip in that I realized... ah, he must have been wanting me to come in. And such a present! I've been needing a new toy. The last one got old after awhile, but I can tell that you are going to make up for that, aren't you?"

"If you come anywhere near me, I'll kill you. You came in my house without permission. I'm well within my rights to protect myself," Mitch said firmly, backing up against his range cooker as he pointed his wand at Spanx.

"And what is a bit of puff pastry such as yourself going to do against a trained killer?" Spanx taunted.

"After what you did to my Johnny, you'll find me quite motivated," Mitch said evenly, shifting his position.

"What a coincidence, so am I," Spanx said, taking a step closer with his wand clearly visible now. "In fact, I am quite motivated to do to you everything that I did to John... just all in one go. I regret that I can't go slow enough to relish it, but I am a bit short on time."

"You're right, you are short on time," Mitch said, backing up even further. "Because I swear to you, if you make one single move on me, I will make you pay for your evil deeds, you monster."

Spanx laughed at him incredulously, shaking his head.

"Monster! Such strong words, how precious!" Spanx said with a nasty grin. "No doubt about it. I am going to enjoy this tremendously. Immobu -"

Suddenly, a tapered weighted rolling pin flew up and hit Spanx across the side of the head so hard that he fell across the cooktop, which Mitch had turned on while he had been leaning against it. As Spanx screamed in pain from his burnt arms and face, a fifty-pound bag of flour came out from under the pastry table and knocked him off his feet. Mitch's heavy pastry board then came crashing down on Spanx's wand arm, pinning it down. Knives, ice picks, pastry cutters, and everything else Mitch could think of with a sharp edge launched themselves at the intruder with enough force to sink deeply into him in random places. They came out of every drawer, cabinet, container, and off the magnetic strip that Mitch kept his butcher knives on, until finally Mitch ran out of things to throw at him.

When the sound of the man's screaming finally stopped, Mitch could hear himself panting. Flour was clouding the air, and he was more than a little afraid to check and see if anything was left of Spanx.

Mitch used his wand to toss some old kitchen towels he wasn't afraid of losing on top of the wizard. Then he watched the towel-covered body carefully to check for any signs of breathing.

When he didn't see his chest rising, Mitch used his wand to turn off the cooker and then sat against the wall, staring at the man's boots warily. After a while, his mind began contemplating how hard it was going to be to get the blood out of the grouting.

When John and Bael rushed in, they found Mitch in the same position, too stunned from the experience to have moved from where he was sitting with his wand gripped tightly in hand.

"Mitch! Holy Mary... Mitch! Did he hurt you? Are you alright?" John asked as he ran to over and knelt beside him, hugging him.

"Grand," Mitch said, then seemed to come out of it somewhat, still grasping his wand but offering John his other arm. "He didn't get near me, Johnny. And he won't ever be hurting you again."

"Is he dead for certain?" John asked, gazing over at Bael. Bael had moved one of the towels to get a better look at the fallen figure.

"The body has no aura. His life force is gone," Bael replied. "And there are all sorts of strange weapons sticking out of him as well."

"He made a very fatal mistake following me in here," Mitch said with a dark expression. "Never threaten a chef in his own kitchen."

"Aye, I'll have to remember that, for my own preservation," John replied as he helped Mitch to his feet. "Come, let's get you into the living room and away from this terrible scene so I can send the Ministry a flare."

"They're not going to let me get my tube pan either, are they?" Mitch said distantly.

"Unlikely at best, luv. But if it's that important to you, I'll buy you another one," John promised, slightly exasperated as they walked him out of the room.

To the north of where Spanx was about to meet his end, Alexandria walked boldly into the circus yard with an Agent in a Concealment Cloak on either side of her. The big top was closed at both ends, and considering there was supposed to be a performance going on, it was strangely quiet, with only the sound of grinding metal meeting their ears.

"Look, all of the rides are moving and the lights are on," Hax said. "Do you think he could be over there?"

"He could be anywhere. Things are definitely not right up here, and I'm positive we're being watched," Jake said.

"I know we are," Alex replied evenly.

Hardy watched them walk over with open interest. He was, in fact, the only person they had seen since they entered.

"Minister Clemmons, how are you? We've been expecting you," Hardy said.

"I expect you have," Alex said. "I'm here to make inquiries about Benjamin Clemmons, who was taken from his friends earlier this evening. I have my suspicions that he might be here."

"Only suspicions?" Hardy said and then shrugged. "Yes, he's here," he confirmed unconcernedly. Alex stared at him.

"You're admitting that the circus kidnapped him?" Alex asked evenly.

"I don't know anything about any kidnapping," Hardy replied. "If he was kidnapped, I had nothing to do with it, because I've been here all night running this ride. In fact, the reason I know he's here is because he's on the ride at the moment," Hardy explained. Alex stared at him.

"Then get him down and let him out!" Alex ordered.

"Well you see, this wheel doesn't really work like that. You can only get off the ride if you can get out on your own power. It's one of the rules," Hardy said with a shrug.

"I don't care about your damn rules. Stop the ride!" Alex snapped.

"Well, I can stop it if you want, but I'm pretty sure you don't want me to do that, considering that if the ride stops for any reason except to add or let off passengers, it will kill everyone currently on the ride," Hardy said. "Do you want me to stop the ride?"

"No!" all three of them said immediately.

"Very well," Hardy said in the same unconcerned tone as Jake took out his wand and began running checks on it.

"The Wheel is interwoven with some sort of conditional curse, Alex. I wouldn't be surprised if he was telling the truth about it killing them if it's stopped prematurely," Jake warned.

"How do we countercurse it?" Alex asked.

"It's woven into the metal," Jake explained. "Even if I knew all of the conditions or the curse, which I don't, and I knew the countercurse, which I don't, it would have to complete turned off to even attempt it. This is more your mother's territory, not mine."

"My mother isn't on there, is she?" Alex asked Hardy.

"No, she is not," Hardy replied, seemingly amused by something.

"Then who is on there?" Alex demanded.

"Ah! I was hoping you would ask me that!" Hardy said brightly, getting out a pocket sized notebook. "In carriage one, I have Corey Willowby... who went in after Markus Brim. Ben is all by himself in carriage two, but really... considering he's a Muggle, I wouldn't bet on his chances," Hardy commented, causing Alex to clench her fists. "In car three, Aurelius went in after his daughter Viorica, in car four, Andrew went in after Laura Lupin. Then we have several single riders... Pyther in five, Dale Chance in six, Leu Murphy in Seven... and then in eight, Joey Black..."

"What?" Jake snapped.

"We had trouble getting the eighth one filled so someone threw him in as a substitute," Hardy explained. "And then, since we ran out of Snape children and had one more carriage to fill, Mr. Mirage requested the last one be reserved for one Mari Maxen, whose brother went in after he came to rescue her."

"What exactly happens to them in there?" Jake demanded.

"They face their worst nightmares. If they can't get fight them off and exit the carriage on their own, they'll eventually die," Hardy explained.

"Joey can't do that on his own, he's just a kid! A first year at that!" Jake snapped. "Alex, I have to go in there."

"Ben doesn't stand a chance by himself either," Alex retorted. "I need time to think!"

"Alex, I gotta go tell Doug what's going on. It's his kid in there," Hax said insistently.

"Then I guess our path is already picked for us," Alex said with resignation. "Hax, Jake and I have no choice but to deal with this. You're going to need to inform Doug and my father what's going on here. What about those other rides? Are they all cursed too?"" she asked Hardy.

"Oh, the kiddie rides? They're tame in comparison to this one," Hardy said with a smile. "But don't worry, once they're done with the ride, there will be plenty of people there waiting to play games with them."

In fact, there were quite a number of clowns lingering around the kiddie rides, some of them making animal balloons or practicing juggling while two of them were sitting in the operation booths next to the carousel and the waltzer, watching as a collection of dazed looking Hogwarts students spun around in circles in an endless motion.

Elliot Selwyn barely remembered the flash of a wand in his direction. When he finally came to, feeling sick to his stomach, he was riding on a carousel horse dressed in metal armor. He looked around him at the other students, but they all seemed dazed, gazing off in different directions or watching the spinning lights and colors. Not only that, they were giggling or carrying in ways that made no sense for what they were doing. Some of them looked like the were flapping their wings, and others making motions as if they were eating, and others still talking out loud as if having a conversation... as if they were all dreaming.

Sitting at the booth was a clown, reading a book and not really paying much attention to the children on the ride, giggling now and then or shaking her head.

Elliot checked his ride belt and noticed it was glowing a green sickly color. He glanced around, noticing the other students' belts were doing the same. He tested the latch and the belt came off easily. He then slipped off the mount, jumping off from the inside so that there were mounts to help block his view.

"Please stay seated when the ride is in motion," the clown said but then went back to her book, losing all interest in him.

Crouching slightly to keep from getting attention again, Elliot made his way to his sister's horse. She was leaning forward on it with her chin against the horse as if she was attempting to pick up speed on a flying broom rather than riding a ground mount; she had lessons since she was four and knew perfectly well how to sit properly on a horse.

"TJ!" Elliot said, shaking his sister gently.

"Stop that, Elliot! Can't you see I've just about caught up to the Snitch?" TJ said, reaching out an then drawing her hand back with exasperation. "I just had it!"

"You're dreaming, TJ. It's not a real game... it has something to do with this ride we're on," Elliot tried to warn her.

"Of course it's a real game! And everyone's counting on me to win! I can't let everyone down!" TJ said, leaning forward again. Elliot gazed at her again, watching for a moment.

"I get it now. It's not really about Quidditch," Elliot realized. "You're having this dream because you're afraid of letting the order down... you're afraid you're not a good leader, aren't you?"

"Elliot, please! Go back to the ring! I need you to do your part, or we're going to lose!" TJ scolded him.

"Well, I think my part is helping my big sister," Elliot decided. "Look, here comes the Snitch! If you reach out now, I think you'll get it!"

"Where?" she asked, reaching out.

"Right there!" Elliot said, making a fist and putting up for her to grab.

"Yes!" TJ said with a bright smile on her face. But almost immediately it faded into a look of confusion as she found herself going up and down on a carousel horse, holding her brother's fist. "Wait, what? Where am I?" she asked.

"On a carousel at the back of Mirage's creepy kidnapping clockworks," Elliot said dryly. TJ sat up.

"That's right. I remember now!" TJ gasped. "Our animals were trying to fight off the clockworks, and they took some of the students, so we went after them..."

"And got caught in the process," Elliot agreed. "Can you get your belt off?"

"Oh, um..." she tugged at it, getting nowhere.

"Please remain seated while the ride is in motion," the clown at the controls said again, turning the page.

"I guess it's charmed to stay on until the ride stops," TJ concluded.

"That's weird. I got it off with no trouble," Elliot said, putting his hand on his stomach until it dawned on him. "Wait a minute... I have that sash you gave me on under my school robes. I wonder if that has something to do with it?"

"You're actually wearing the sash?" TJ asked.

"Sure, the note that came with it told me that as long as I wear it under my clothes, it could help me protect you. And considering how often you end up in the Hospital Wing, you need all the help you can get," Elliot said.

"Yes, thank you very much," TJ said curtly. "I'm a bit worried about how the belt is glowing like that. It might be cursed in some way."

"Here, let me raise it up and you try to get it over your shoulders," Elliot said, sliding the belt up the pole.

It took a couple of the horse's downward motions to wriggle it up and get it in position, but with a bit of work, TJ was able to get her head and shoulders out of the belt, finally slipping off the horse. But other than another droning warning to remain seated, the clown didn't look up.

"I don't think we should go out the exit. To the side maybe. The safety fence is low enough to climb over," TJ said. "Do you still have your wand?"

"I have, it's under my sash. You?" Elliot asked.

"No," TJ admitted. "Well, one wand is better than none, but we're going to need to help if we're going to save the others. Come on."

"Is it just me, or is the ride slowing down?" Elliot wondered, and TJ felt it for a moment, realizing he was right.

"I guess it's now or never! Let's go!" TJ said, and the two of them jumped off, quickly climbing over the fence and dashing around the corner of an empty popcorn wagon. Listening for a moment just in case their escape had been noticed, they got low to the ground and peeked around the corner in time to see the attendant clown put down her book and go over to the ride.

"Please form an orderly line to the exit so that I can lead you to the midway games!" the clown said. The rest of the students did as they were told, and although they were no longer making gestures because of their dreaming minds' machinations, they were still all in a hypnotized state.

"TJ look," Elliot whispered. TJ leaned over a bit to see they were taking students off the Waltzer as well, who not only looked hypnotized, but also a bit sick to their stomachs. It was when she recognized Charles Weasley among them that she noticed that most of the higher years had been on that ride, while younger years had been designated to the horses. Either way, there had a lot more students captured than she had originally expected; a couple of Ravenclaws, several Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs, and a noticeably larger portion of Slytherins.

The two attendants led them over to a group of two or three dozen clowns who started clapping, jeering, and laughing excitedly as the students were marched over.

"This is quite a mess, isn't it? We can't take on that many of them for certain. Shouldn't we go see about getting help?" Elliot whispered again.

"Wait, I want to know what they're going to do to them," TJ said.

"I'd very much rather not know," Elliot said.

"Then don't look," TJ hissed.

"The sooner we get help the better," Elliot argued. But seeing that TJ had no intention of leaving yet, Elliot closed his eyes nervously.

"What are they doing to Cadha and Culver?" TJ asked with a gasp.

Elliot peeked in spite of himself, watching as the clowns tied them to either side of the strongman game and hoisted them up to the top, right by the bell ringer. As soon as they were in place, a clown began to call out for contestants, goading someone to be the first one to dunk the students. That's when they both looked own and saw that half barrels full of water had been placed on each end.

"I hate to say it, but poor Cadha and Culver!" Elliot said. "As nasty as they've been to us, they don't deserve that sort of bullying."

"It looks like they're the ones that have it easy," TJ said, filled with dread as she saw some of the others being strapped in chairs and put inside the water gun game, their heads becomes spray targets for clowns eagerly lining up to play. Others were put in comical masks and their heads stuck in holes randomly placed on the dart board game. Some students served as pedestals in the carnival glass game, while an unfortunate bunch were turned into wooden duck decoys in the duck targeting game.

"Quick! We need to go get help before anyone gets terribly hurt!" Elliot insisted, getting up.

It was then that TJ heard the sound of the bell and watched with horror when the Maxen twins were suddenly spun in the air several times, finally stopping in an upside down position. The large crowd of clowns raised their arms and cheered excitedly as the two children got dunked into the barrels head first, the tall male clown bowing at the applause as the game slowly reset.

"Let's go... we need to work our way behind the tents and try to get to the road as quickly as possible," TJ said, and the two of them raced around.

They were even more glad they had decided to stick to the back when they saw giant clockwork beasts beginning to patrol the area, including the hydra, the sphinx, the manticore, and several griffons, all of them looking quite aggressive and ready for a fight. Fortunately for TJ and Elliot, no one seemed to notice their movements, even before the two of them thought to put a silencing or footprint spell on themselves. Of course, it wasn't really that they hadn't been noticed, they were simply ignored; they were unimportant messengers in the battle that was about to begin.