Notes: I was expecting to get a little bit deeper into the plot with this chapter, but that didn't quite work out.

One thing I forgot to mention in the last note: while in London I spent a whole day in the Royal Air Force museum and then the Cabinet War Rooms, where Churchill and his Cabinet worked during the Second World War. It was a brilliant day, but one of the small highlights was a moment in the Churchill Museum (which is within the space occupied by the Cabinet War Rooms.) (I have, since childhood, had a thing for Mr. Churchill and his turns of phrase, despite his other failings.) Anyway, there I was, standing next to a display that included a wall painted to look like a bookshelf, in which was a niche like you'd have to hold a small statue. I assume it also contained some kind of trigger to keep the recorded commentary running, and therefore some small item had to be left there at all times.

And what had the museum chosen?

A floppy rhinoceros! Hand to God, a small stuffed rhinoceros, a beanbag one I think, with a security tag to keep it from going astray!

And, of course, all I could think of for a moment were my Lokis and how pleased they both would be to see it!

Warnings: Not really a warning, but I suddenly need surnames for Volstagg and Sif so I made some up, totally at random. Because this AU is set in modern Britain, I haven't used "dottir" in Sif's surname.

Chapter Twenty-One

The classroom wasn't completely dark when Loki was dumped in it, but that was almost worse: he landed stiffly on his side, facing into the room, able to see desks and chairs in front of him and aware of more just outside his range of vision. Shadows were already crawling across the floor, reaching long crooked fingers toward Loki as he lay there, helpless.

The spell that had been used on him was a body-bind jinx- Loki recognized the incantation from Thor and his friends' jinx duels over the summer. What he hadn't realized was how powerful the jinx could be: based on what he had seen the older kids do, Loki thought the charm wore off by itself after a few minutes.

Not this time: as much as Loki tried to struggle, he found he couldn't even blink his eyes, let alone move a hand or foot. Instead, he had to lie there, staring into the back of the classroom at the darkness creeping toward him. He wanted to get up and pound on the door- he had heard the click that meant he was locked in- scream for help, beg someone to let him out. He wanted to curl up into a tiny ball with his arms over his head, so he was too small to find, in a corner so the darkness and whatever lurked there couldn't get behind him.

He wanted to close his eyes so at least he couldn't see what might be prowling toward him, but even his eyelids were frozen. He could hardly breathe, panic crawling up his throat and sealing it nearly shut. At the edges of his vision, Loki was sure he could see flapping creatures, hear them muttering and whispering to each other, planning what they would do to him when the room was completely dark.

It was ridiculous, it made no sense at all, at the top of his mind Loki knew that perfectly well- knew he was alone in this room, that nothing was coming after him, nothing was going to hurt him, devour him-

But deep underneath was the fear of what might be there, what might be waiting for him, and without any way to defend himself or escape, all he could do was lie on the floor, tears streaming from his wide-open eyes, and wait for it to happen.

Loki had no idea how long he lay there- after the room grew completely dark there was no way for him to judge the passage of time. Hours. Days. He tried not to remember that it was Friday, and the classroom wouldn't be used until Monday morning. He couldn't be left here until Monday, he couldn't, he couldn't-

It was difficult to hear anything past the thunder of his own heartbeat and the agonized wheeze of air going in and out of his lungs. He thought he could hear other sounds, furtive ones- they might have been mice, or monsters, or nothing at all. But, finally, after he had lain on that cold stone floor for about a hundred years, Loki heard something he was sure was real.

Something was scuffling at the door behind him, scratching and thumping.

His heart gave a horrible lurch, and then nearly hammered its way out of his chest. Something was there. Something was coming for him. Something was behind him, about to come through the door and sink its talons into him, and he wouldn't be able to do a thing about it-

Through the panic buzzing in his head, he could hear the scratching intensify. And then there was a sharp little cry, almost a mew, of impatience and frustration.

"I think she's got something," called a voice from the other side of the door- Rogers' voice. Loki stopped breathing altogether, straining to call out, to cry for help. Outside the door, Rogers said, "Alohamora!"

And the lock turned.

A moment later the door pushed into Loki, stiff on the floor, and above him Rogers said "Lumos" and the room lit up with a soft strong glow.

A weight landed on Loki's arm, sharp claws digging through his robe and jumper, feathers brushing his face as wings folded. And then Bronwyn was tugging at his hair with her beak and making her mewing noises into his ear.

"Odinson!" Rogers exclaimed. And then, "Loki, are you all right? " Loki could hear the prefect drop to his knees, and a hand touched his rigid shoulder. "What's the matter?" Finally, the prefect seemed to realize what was wrong. "Finite incantatum!"

Loki exploded out of his forced stillness, little shrieking gasps tearing out of his lungs as he tried to catch his breath and vent his terror at the same time. Bronwyn went flapping to one side as Loki tried to scramble to his feet, nearly fell-

- and then Rogers' arms were around him and he was being picked up off the ground, clinging as if the prefect was a life preserver and Loki was drowning.

"I've got him!" Rogers shouted through the open door, and then a big hand cradled the back of Loki's head, and the older boy was repeating, "Okay, you're okay, you're okay," in a sort of mindless croon.

Loki buried his face in Rogers' shoulder and held on tight.

Rogers' call brought other searchers running: Stark, in jeans and his t-shirt with Am I Evil written on it, and the Fat Friar, Hufflepuff's ghost, who could of course pass through doors and walls and had obviously been searching along another corridor.

"Ohthankgoodness," Stark whistled, and also reached out to pat Loki on the back. "You okay, kid?" He jerked his hand away when Loki uttered a little squeak of distress.

"Someone hexed him," Rogers said grimly. "I'm going to take him to the hospital wing. And his owl, too. You go find Professor McGonagall and tell her we've found him."

"Right," Stark replied, patted Loki one more time, and ran off down the corridor.

~oOo~

Madame Pomfrey, the school healer, decided a shock like the one Loki had called for a night of observation in the infirmary. Loki protested, insisting he was fine, that he wanted to go back to the Hufflepuff dormitory.

What he really meant was, he didn't want to spend a night alone in the empty, echoing hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey, and Professor Sprout when she arrived, were adamant. While Loki told Professor Sprout his story, Rogers went back to the dormitory to fetch pajamas and things and tell Loki's friends he was safe. He came back with Loki's rhinoceros bundled up in Loki's bathrobe, which the healer and his head of house very kindly pretended they didn't see.

After he was finished talking to Professor Sprout, Madame Pomfrey left several of the lamps lit and the Fat Friar offered to sit up with Loki, once he was tucked up snugly. Ghost or not, the Friar was a reassuring figure, glowing in the lamplight in the chair beside Loki's bed. Bronwyn was also allowed to stay, and roosted on the metal bedpost above Loki, head drawn into her fluffy feathered neck, great yellow eyes closed.

"Your friends became worried when you didn't return to the common room, so they went to the Great Hall at dinner to ask Professor Sprout if she knew where you had gone after you spoke to her. She, of course, hadn't seen you at all," the Hufflepuff ghost explained. "The Hufflepuff prefects and I went looking for you, but when you didn't turn up at astronomy either, all the prefects and teachers joined us. Given the size of the castle, it was fortunate Miss Sawyer- the prefect, you know, not your classmate- eventually thought to fetch your owl. They really are remarkable creatures, they can find their owners almost anywhere. Without your owl we might have been searching for you all weekend."

"Sorry," Loki muttered.

The Fat Friar looked kind. "Don't be ridiculous, dear boy. I'm sure you didn't lock yourself in that classroom on purpose."

"I didn't do it at all," Loki protested, tears starting up in his eyes again.

"Of course you didn't," the Fat Friar agreed quickly, his tone soothing.

"I didn't. I don't know why they'd do that to me," Loki mumbled, hugging his rhinoceros. "I know they don't like me, but I wasn't doing anything to them. And Volstagg- he was almost nice to me the last time I saw him. And he, he sounded like he wanted to- " Loki shuddered. The Fat Friar made reassuring noises.

"Mr. Odinson, you need to get some sleep," Madame Pomfrey said, in her starchy way, as she walked over holding a glass of something. "Drink this." Loki balked. "You won't have dreams. I promise," Madame Pomfrey said, firmly but a little more kindly.

Loki looked at her for a moment, and then took the glass.

~oOo~

The next morning, when Loki opened his eyes, the Fat Friar was gone. In his place in the chair beside the bed was Professor Fury.

Loki sat up abruptly, scared wide awake. Professor Fury sighed and pushed his chair back a little.

"Calm down, Odinson. I'm still not going to eat you," the teacher said gruffly.

"No, sir," Loki squeaked.

"I just need to talk to you a little bit, about what you told Professor Sprout last night. Can you tell me?"

Loki rubbed his eyes and obeyed, repeating everything he could remember: he had spent the afternoon with his friends in the library, doing homework. Then, when last period was about to end, he had left them and gone looking for Professor Sprout. He had been passing the stairs leading down to the Potions class and storage room, and the dungeons, when the three Gryffindors came up them.

"And attacked you," Professor Fury cut in, before Loki had to repeat the rest of the terrible story. Loki nodded. "You said you recognized them?"

"Yes," Loki replied. "Two of them, anyway. Sif Haraldsson and Volstagg Baldersson, they're friends of my brother. I didn't know the other girl."

"But you knew she was on the Gryffindor Quidditch team?" Professor Fury asked.

"Yes," Loki replied. "I remember seeing her playing." He could feel his face get hot, as if he was about to be caught in a lie, which was ridiculous because he was telling the truth. He was.

But why would anybody believe him, instead of Thor's friends- ?

"Okay, here's the problem," Professor Fury said calmly, and Loki felt his stomach lurch. He does think I'm lying. "I've spoken to both of them, and to the other girls from the Gryffindor Quidditch team. They all swear they had nothing to do with attacking you." And, of course, the teachers believed them. "Your brother's friends were actually quite upset at the idea we'd think they'd really hurt you." Whatever expression flickered across Loki's face made Professor Fury grimace. "Apart from that, Miss Haraldsson is in third year. Last period yesterday, the Gryffindor third years were in Defense Against the Dark Arts. My class. And Miss Haraldsson was definitely there."

Loki felt his mouth fall open a little. To his shame, tears began to prickle at the corners of his eyes.

"I'm telling you the truth," he whispered hopelessly.

"And Mr. Baldersson was participating in a study group for his OWL in Care of Magical Creatures," Professor Fury went on, as if Loki hadn't spoken. "Professor Hagrid can confirm that: he was supervising them as they worked with fire crabs in an enclosure near his house. I think you'll agree that Baldersson would be difficult to miss, even in a group."

"I… I… " Loki spluttered. "But I saw them- "

"Yes, I'm sure you did," Professor Fury replied. "And the third member of the group cast a hex on you that lasted until Mr. Rogers found and released you. Correct?" Loki nodded miserably. "There are three girls on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Miss Haraldsson is one of them. The other two are in third and sixth year respectively, and both of them were in class yesterday when you were attacked- Defense Against the Dark Arts and Ancient Runes respectively. Quite apart from all that, the sixth-year is not a particularly strong Charms student, and the spell cast on you was well beyond the abilities of any third year I've ever met. To cast a curse powerful enough to sustain itself for several hours, even in the absence of the sorcerer who cast it, is quite a feat of magic."

Loki wanted to pull the covers over his head. "But it happened," he protested.

Professor Fury blinked, and finally seemed to realize Loki wasn't hearing what he thought he was saying. "Of course it happened. I don't doubt that for a moment. But the culprits weren't the people you believed them to be. They can't have been."

"What… what do you mean?" Loki asked, in a small voice.

"Just what I said," Professor Fury said shortly, but when it became obvious Loki really didn't know what he was talking about, the professor explained, "There have been thefts from the storage room where Professor Slughorn keeps his ingredients for potions, and we don't think the culprit is a student. There was another theft yesterday, despite the defensive charms Professor Slughorn placed on the door. You'd have to be a pretty powerful sorcerer to get past it. We don't believe the people who attacked you were students."

Loki took a moment to figure it out- which was probably a sign the sleeping potion was still affecting him, because by now surely even Bronwyn and the floppy rhinoceros knew what Professor Fury was trying to say.

And then he suddenly understood.

"You mean… you mean you think they were the escaped prisoners? Disguised as students?" Loki whispered. "Here? In Hogwarts?"

"I'm afraid so," Professor Fury said quietly.

"But… but what could they possibly want at Hogwarts?" Loki asked.

"That's what we need to find out," the professor replied.

~oOo~

Professor Fury waited while Loki got dressed, and then walked him back to the Hufflepuff common room, where his friends were extremely glad to see him. Annie and the other first-year girls all hugged him, while George, Mitchell, and the other boys gathered close around him. Eventually, the first outburst of emotion passed and Loki was left to huddle with his friends in their usual corner.

"I'm so glad you're all right," Annie sniffled, wiping her eyes. Ordinarily Loki would have hated to see Annie cry, but he found he liked seeing her show such concern for him. "When you didn't come back from seeing Professor Sprout, we were so worried."

"Professor Fury said I was probably attacked by the escaped prisoners," Loki said quietly, and his friends nodded.

"Yes," Annie said. "We're all under restrictions again."

"Stay in groups, get escorted around by prefects and teachers, that kind of thing," George explained.

"Which doesn't tell us what to do in case the teacher escorting us turns out to be one of the escaped prisoners in disguise," Mitchell pointed out. His friends stared at him. "Hadn't thought of that, had you?" he asked, with glum relish.

"How can they be disguising themselves, anyway?" Loki demanded.

"Easily, it seems," Mitchell replied. "Becky explained it to us this morning: there've been potions ingredients stolen, yeah?" Loki nodded. "Well, it turns out some of them are the ingredients you need to make Polyjuice potion, which can be used to transform a person into someone else. It takes a few weeks to make, but the first thefts probably happened early in the term."

"Remember, Mr. Filch said he thought some boomslang skin- that's one of the ingredients in Polyjuice potion- had been stolen, so he put the jar back on the shelf with the label facing the wrong way," George contributed eagerly. Loki nodded, recalling the day they'd overheard the caretaker talking to Professor Slughorn. Loki hadn't thought to wonder what boomslang skin was used for. George said, "He wasn't sure, but when the jar was moved again he went to Professor Slughorn. So that means it probably wasn't the first theft."

"And if that's true," Annie went on, "whoever is stealing has had plenty of time to make at least one batch of Polyjuice potion."

"And they disguised themselves as students so they could move around the castle without anyone noticing them?" Loki said.

"I guess so," Mitchell said. "The size of the castle, it's not all that likely they'd happen to be spotted by someone who happened to know where the real students were at that moment. I'm sure they didn't mess about or waste any time."

Loki felt cold all over. "The person disguised as Volstagg- he said they had to get rid of me. If the third one hadn't interfered- " The four friends looked at each other in horror. "But- why Hogwarts? It's just a school. What are they doing here?"

"Maybe," George offered, "they need the Polyjuice potion for something else. It's probably easier and safer to steal ingredients here than it would be to try to buy or steal them a bit at a time from a dealer in London or someplace where there would be more people around to spot them. They'll probably move on as soon as they have all the stuff they need, or as soon as they realize they've been rumbled."

"They should have just altered your memory," Mitchell said thoughtfully, looking at Loki.

"What?" Annie asked sharply.

"Well, think about it: they've certainly called attention to their presence now, and if they'd… hurthim… it would have been even worse. They've probably been as careful as they could, not to get spotted doing anything suspicious before now. If they'd just done a memory charm on Loki when he saw them coming up that staircase, he'd have gone about his business without anyone being any the wiser. So why wouldn't they just do that?"

"The two pretending to be Sif and Volstagg seemed to want to hurt me, all right," Loki mumbled.

"But it was the other one who cast the spell," Mitchell said.

Loki nodded. "Before they could do anything worse themselves," he realized. "That one must be your dad's friend." He thought about it, was suddenly struck with an idea. "Do you suppose- what if he cast the spell he did on purpose? To leave a clue that something bad is going on here, so whoever is hunting for them would have some idea where to come looking for them?"

Mitchell's eyes got big. "Hoping Magical Law Enforcement would find them, you mean?"

"Yeah," Loki agreed. "I hadn't thought about it, but… if he's just an ordinary thief, and if we're right that the people he's with are Death Eaters who are trying to get him to help them do something really bad… he must be awfully scared. Getting captured and sent back to Azkaban would probably be a good thing, from his point of view."

The friends thought about that. Loki remembered how frightened he had been, alone in that classroom full of make-believe monsters. He couldn't begin to imagine how bad it would be to find yourself trapped by real monsters who wouldn't let you go- or at least wouldn't until you had done what they wanted, however bad it might be.

In Loki's opinion only a really stupid Death Eater would hang around Hogwarts once their presence had been given away like this. He hoped they still needed the third escapee for whatever it was they wanted to do, that they hadn't gotten so angry at him for giving them away that they'd gone ahead and killed him.

Loki didn't usually think imagine adults being scared of things, but now he thought about it, that seemed horribly likely. He kept picturing Mr. Mitchell himself, white-faced and terrified and maybe doing whatever he was told in the hopes of keeping the Death Eaters from… from hurting him, or going to find his family and…

"The Department of Magical Law Enforcement will find them," he told Mitchell, trying to sound sure of himself. "They'll catch them, and, and stop whatever they're doing, and make sure your dad's friend is all right. They really will."

"Yeah," Mitchell muttered.

Neither of them sounded very sure of themselves.