Sorry I didn't post sooner- I was at a writing camp that was a ton of fun. Not to mention two new people from the camp are reading the Salinger Year series now! *throws confetti into the air* You two know who you are, and thank you, and welcome!
Secondly, this chapter may get a touch bloody. If you get kind of squeamish, just message me and I'll give you a blood-free summary of the chapter.
Okay, that's all I have to say. Read on!
As it turned out, being a double agent was actually kind of easy. Not a lot of people misbehaved, and those who did were 'taken care of' by the captains. Not having to worm my way out of punishing someone who didn't need punishing left me plenty of time to gather all the names of the Damien-followers. Every night, Lanie transcribed the names I had gathered onto a spare piece of parchment. The list grew longer and longer, and with every name we added I grew more worried as to the safety of the person who carried it around (which was Lanie). When, in late September, Headmaster Damien announced that his followers would from then on perform random bag checks for anything suspicious, it took the combined powers of Lynne, Shawnee, and myself to persuade Lanie to hand off the list to a different person who was involved with her plan to peacefully take down Headmaster Damien each day. The first day, it went to Ash Fleetwood- a third-year Gryffindor who was the older brother of the second-year-quartet member Nellie Fleetwood. The next day, Ash passed it off to Art July, one of my fellow fourth-year Ravenclaws (only he was a boy). Art kept it for a day before handing it off to Jessie, Jessie gave it to Raj, and so on.
We planned the Peaceful Uprising, as Lanie had nicknamed her plan, for dinner on October 9th. It was a Friday and turned out to be as hopeful of a day as we were that the plan would work. I had Care of Magical Creatures outside, and even while we darted about trying not to get burned to crisps by fire crabs, none of us could help but notice the golden sunbeams filtering through the leaves of the Forbidden Forest just a little ways away, the flowers blooming even though it was just starting to get cold during the day, and the melodies of the songbirds as they warbled their tune. I didn't even mind the small burn I got on the side of my right index finger, even though it stung.
When I went inside on my way to History of Magic, Eve-Charlotte caught my arm. "Aly," she said, stopping me short. "You haven't helped us do bag checks at all!"
"I've been busy," I protested. "You know, student-leader stuff." In truth, the only Damien-student-leader stuff I'd done was announce to the captains that we- well, they- would be performing random bag checks back in late September.
"Well," Eve-Charlotte said slowly with a small chuckle, "you can't possibly be busy now! Why don't you come and join us?" She gestured to Lachlan Hargreve, who was standing close by- waiting for her. In addition to seeing Lachlan, I also noticed that some of my classmates- namely, Kayla Strait (a girl who had been Hufflepuff Keeper the year before), her twin sister Ana Strait, and their friend Nicole Trout (who was honestly more of a Slytherin than she was a Hufflepuff)- were casting me dirty looks. "We're going to go check the Gryffindor first-years' bags."
I had no choice but to ignore Kayla, Ana, and Nicole and follow Eve-Charlotte and Lachlan through the twisting halls. "Why Gryffindor first-years? Surely it's the more experienced students who are going to be carrying something suspicious?"
"Oh, Aly," Eve-Charlotte said, laughing. "You're smart, all right, but you're not shrewd. I see why you were Sorted into Ravenclaw and not Slytherin. If someone has something suspicious that they want to hide, then of course they would give it to the people who no one would suspect and make them keep it."
Of course, I'd known what they were thinking when they suggested we go check the bags of first-years, but if I was to be a double agent I had to act dumb (although not so witless that they would suspect something was up). I played along. "Oh, right. That makes a lot more sense. And most of the other first-years would be scared stiff to carry something like that, but not Gryffindor, am I right?"
"Exactly." Lachlan spoke up for the first time as we walked. "You know who the bravest Gryffindors are?"
I had no idea. "The seventh-years?"
Lachlan shook his head, following Eve-Charlotte through a door into another corridor. "No. The six who have joined Commander Damien."
"Like Sami," Eve-Charlotte told me out of the side of her mouth.
"And the smartest Ravenclaws are you and the four others who joined him, too," Lachlan went on. "In fact, everyone who did is smart enough to see ahead."
Or dim-witted enough to think Headmaster Damien is going to lead them to greatness!
"So where are we going?" I asked Eve-Charlotte.
"Gryffindor first-years should be heading to Potions class right now," she replied, taking a right turn and climbing down a flight of stairs. "And there it is."
Sure enough, a large group of Gryffindor first-years mixed with Slytherin first-years was standing outside the Potions classroom. I recognized Zola Greene toward the back, her wispy blond hair styled up into a messy ponytail.
As we approached the first-years, they quieted and turned to watch us. Eve-Charlotte and Lachlan both looked to me. I cleared my throat.
"Er, bag check. All Gryffindor students line up on the wall." I tried to make my voice sound firm, like Eve-Charlotte and Lachlan would expect it to be, and it must have worked because every first-year clad in red and black robes hastened to the wall and held out their bags to be checked.
The three of us moved up and down the line, peeking into bags and shuffling things around. Eve-Charlotte and Lachlan seemed to enjoy it, so I plastered a smile on my face as I inspected inkbottles and scrutinized schoolbooks. I found nothing; even if I had found something, I would've probably let it go. And the most questionable thing that either of my supposed fellows found was a set of scales that were gold and not brass, like they should have been.
"What's going on here?" an angry voice demanded just as we finished sifting through the last few schoolbags.
We turned around and Professor Fourier froze, taking in our faces and the orange jewel badges that we wore on our cloaks. The things were nuisances- falling off too easily one day and then not coming off at all the next, shining like a beacon some days and then covering themselves in dust overnight. But I wore it, not wanting to think about what would happen if I didn't.
"Yes, Professor?" Eve-Charlotte said icily, staring him down.
"Nothing, Miss Carew," he replied. "Er, students, please go in the classroom… unless Miss Salinger, Miss Carew and Mr. Hargreve aren't done with you."
"We're done," I said quickly.
Lachlan narrowed his eyes at the first-years who were still huddled against the wall, shivering. "Just because we didn't find anything this time doesn't mean we won't next time." Then he turned and stalked away, and Eve-Charlotte and I followed.
When we were far enough away, Eve-Charlotte muttered, "I hate dealing with first years. They cower like we're about to kill them, which then makes me want to kill them. Ugh."
I wanted to run back to Professor Fourier and the first-years and apologize, to run away from the crazy people under my command. How had I spent years at Hogwarts with them and not seen their bloodthirstiness? But I nodded instead. "I know, right?"
"They're Gryffindors," Lachlan chimed in. "You think they'd be brave enough not to huddle against the wall."
Eve-Charlotte giggled, and I forced a chuckle. Then they split off, Eve-Charlotte to get to Defense Against the Dark Arts and Lachlan to go to the Hufflepuff common room for a free period. This left me alone with my thoughts, and I hastened to History of Magic.
That night at dinner, I sat at the Damien-follower table that had been rigged up near the front. It was in front of the professors' table on the dais and down one level, and my seat was the exact center, right in front of Headmaster Damien's. As usual, he was fashionably late, striding into the Great Hall moments before food arrived. Everyone at the Damien-follower table- including myself- rose to their feet. Normally the rest of the students stayed seated, but today they all stood with us. To Headmaster Damien and the rest of the Damien-followers, it might have seemed that the school was finally accepting the tyrant as headmaster. However, I knew better, and so I was not surprised that when Headmaster Damien and everyone at the Damien-follower table (again, including myself) sat, everyone else remained standing.
"Sit down," Headmaster Damien ordered casually, flicking his hand.
No one sat.
"What is this?" he thundered, rising back to his feet. "I said, sit down!"
Lanie stepped forward- slim Lanie, her brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. She looked so small from up on the dais, and I felt a wave of fear. "Headmaster Damien," she called, using an oddly formal tone. "It has come to the attention of the students that you are forbidding contact with the outside world!"
"So?" the tyrant drawled.
"So we won't stand for it!" she said bravely. "Look, we know you don't want to be a dictator-"
"That's exactly what I want to be," Headmaster Damien declared.
That's what Lanie had been afraid of. I saw indecision flicker across her face, and then someone stepped forward from the Gryffindor table. It was Vincent Winters, Lyndsay's older brother. He was a sixth-year, but he was so small that he was often teased about being a first-year. "An' we won't stand for it!" he yelled boldly.
The first domino had fallen; soon everyone was shouting.
"You're a bully!"
"You rule by fear!"
"We're going to leave!"
With that, everyone at the Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables turned as one and strode toward the doors.
Eve-Charlotte and Finley started to march forward, no doubt going to stop them, but Headmaster Damien waved his hand. "No, let them go. I have defenses set up that kill anyone who touches them. Maybe after a few of them die they'll learn their lesson."
No! Lanie had been the first out! If she touched the defenses that Headmaster Damien had set up- I squeezed my eyes shut. Before I could even register what was coming out of my mouth, I was saying, "Perhaps we can go watch, Commander?"
Headmaster Damien smiled a toothy smile down at me. "Go ahead, if you so desire. Just- if you see a line scratched into the soil of the Forbidden Forest, don't cross it."
A line scratched into the soil of the Forbidden Forest. Well, now I knew where I had to stop my fellows. I turned and rushed out after them, putting an expression of eagerness on my face. Some people stayed behind- the groups of Eve-Charlotte and Peggy and, of course, those girls themselves- but the rest of us ran for the Forbidden Forest.
We caught up with the group quickly, but didn't walk where they could see us ("Just in case they think we're trying to stop them," Maile giggled).
Shouts soon reached our ears. The group had stopped. They were pointing at the ground. I felt a rush of relief. They see the line- they're probably guessing about the defenses. Thank Rowena.
"Come on," Katy said, tugging at my arm. "We're going out there."
"What?" I hissed. "Don't you think it's a better idea to watch from the trees?"
A mischievous grin spread across the blonde Slytherin's face. "Well, none of them have touched the line. We're going to try to provoke some of them into providing an example."
Hoping Lanie would be smart enough not to step forward- hoping that all of them would be smart enough not to step forward- but not willing to risk my status, I followed Katy to where the other seventeen had already formed a human barricade in front of the line of soil.
Planting his hands on his hips, Finley commanded, "Go back to the castle immediately! Orders of Commander Damien! All who do not shall be punished!"
"You can't tell us what to do!" shouted a disturbingly familiar voice. It sounded like Tommy, but more high-pitched. I guessed it was his younger brother, Arthur.
"Yeah, we're going to leave!" yelled someone else.
Lisa Ryall, who was one of the closest people to the human barricade, folded her arms. "Stand aside and let us pass!" she demanded.
Shaking her head, Sami- who was standing with Maile, Katy and me- repeated Finley's orders. "Get back to the castle, or face the consequences!"
The crowd parted to reveal two Slytherins. Sure enough, third-year Arthur Wood was one of them. The other was a girl who was widely known as the prettiest girl in third year, Margaret Lacy. She was indeed good-looking, but she was also very flighty.
Arthur waved his hands, looking as if he was trying to shoo away a pesky bug. "We're going to go whether you like it or not. We don't want it to be violent, but we won't hesitate to-"
"To what? Swat me like a fly?" Maile taunted.
"I'd like to see you get past me," Katy sneered.
That was all it took. Arthur charged Katy, who pretended to try to stop him. Margaret followed right after him, and dodged around me. I truly tried to stop her- not like the other Damien-followers- but she ducked right under my outstretched arms.
Arthur's right foot and Margaret's left crossed the line at the same time-
Seeing that they had gotten past the human barricade, the crowd roared and stampeded towards us-
A bright white wall flashed up right in front of Arthur and Margaret, and the two third-year Slytherins fell to the ground, convulsing. Their skin burst in multiple places, almost like something inside them was tearing them apart. I gasped, horror-stricken, and tried to tear my eyes away from the pool of blood that was quickly forming around them and soaking into the loam- but I couldn't.
The crowd stopped, watching their schoolmates' gruesome deaths with wide eyes. A tear welled up in my right eye, and I quickly pawed it away while no one was watching. I could have stopped them. I could have tried harder!
A few people rushed forward, but not to charge us- to try to save their comrades. Tommy and his sixth-year brother Austin attempted in vain to heal their already-lifeless brother's lesions, while a few of Margaret's classmates wept and tried to mop the blood off of their friend's pale forehead.
Tommy looked up at me, Katy, Maile and Sami, tears streaming down his face. "You could have saved him!" he howled at us. In an instant he was up and swinging, screaming his pain and loss out at the top of his lungs. Sami and Katy deflected punches but Maile took a nasty one to the face and I to the upper arm before Finley took Tommy down, pinning him to the ground.
I swallowed quietly. "Please go back to the school," I said. It wasn't an order, but more of a plea. And people listened. Austin picked up his little brother easily, the Slytherin third-year girls hefted Margaret's body up, and everyone trudged back to the school.
When Tommy had calmed down, Finley let him up and escorted him back to the school along with three of Ivan's goons. Ivan himself, as usual, hadn't said a word during the entire fiasco. In fact, I couldn't remember a time when I'd heard him willingly talk- only when he'd been called on in class. He just headed back to Hogwarts right behind Finley and Tommy. Every Damien-follower but Sami, Katy and Maile trailed after them, chattering excitedly. Maile was clutching her eye and moaning while Katy and Sami comforted her. Tommy sure could pack a punch- I could feel my arm aching already.
"We ought to get you to the hospital wing," Sami told Maile, drawing out the word hospital. "If we can get you to Madam Pomfrey soon enough, she should be able to make sure you won't have a black eye."
"Don't worry," Katy consoled. "Finley will make sure Tommy's punished. Hey, Aly, did I see that prat hit you, too?"
I rubbed my arm uneasily, not wanting to get Tommy in more trouble than he was surely already going to be. "He just glanced off of me, really."
"Are you sure?" Katy pressed.
"Positive," I insisted. "You guys go to the hospital wing. I'll stay here to… clean up… the blood."
"All right," Katy said, sounding unconvinced. She and Sami guided Maile back in the direction of the castle. I stood in the Forbidden Forest alone, staring at the darkened, wet soil.
They were brash, I told myself. They should've seen right through what Finley and Sami and Maile and Katy were saying. I would've. I will survive this.
But would I have seen through my fellow Damien-followers' bluffing had I not known about it?
Shaking my head to clear it, I sighed and plodded back to Hogwarts.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and by now you guys know the drill. I look forward to reading your reviews on this!
~atrfla