Chapter 9
Mayhem at the Ministry
KIARA
Mr Dawson woke us after only a few hours' sleep. He used magic to pack up the tents, and we left the campsite as quickly as possible, passing Mrs Pawn at the door of her cottage. Mrs Pawn had a strange, dazed look about her, and she waved us off with a vague "Merry Christmas".
"She'll be all right," said Mr Dawson quietly, as we marched off onto the moor. "Sometimes, when a person's memory's modified, it makes them a bit disorientated for a while ... and that was a big thing they had to make her forget."
We heard urgent voices as we approached the spot where the Portkeys lay and, when we reached it, we found a great number of witches and wizards gathered around Babs, the keeper of the Portkeys, who were all clamouring to get away from the campsite as quickly as possible. Mr Dawson had a hurried discussion with Babs; we joined the queue, and were able to take an old rubber tyre back to Forest Hill before the sun had really risen. We walked back through the wood back towards Dawson Manor in the dawn light, talking very little because we were so exhausted, and thinking longingly of breakfast. As we rounded the corner in the wood, the trees thinned and ended at last, and Dawson Manor came into view.
As we got nearer to the grand, miss-matched house, we saw a figure staring out of a window in the kitchen area, waiting for us. As we got closer, I saw that the figure had caramel hair that was slowly turning silver, and that's when I knew that Professor Crighton was waiting for us. My assumptions were correct, for she jumped when she saw us, and came dashing down the stairs from the door that led to the garden from the kitchen, ran as fast as she could to us and flew her arms around Mr Dawson's neck, saying unintelligible words in a worried tone, as a copy of the Daily Squabbler fell from her hands. I looked down and saw the headline: SCENES OF TERROR AT THE QUIDDITCH FRIENDLY, complete with a twinkling, black and white photograph of the Death Trail over the tree-tops.
Crighton by this point had let go of Mr Dawson, and proceeded with taking care at looking at each of her children and nieces in turn, touching each of them gently before embracing them. Sian and I were the last two she got to. Before Crighton had the chance to touch her, Sian embraced her mother warmly. Crighton was taken aback for a few moments, before she put her arms around Sian, and softly stroked her daughter's hair for a few moments before they let go, smiling warmly at each other.
Then Crighton turned to me, and instead of touching me, she gave me this piercing look that gave me the impression that I was being x-rayed. She then picked up the Squabbler, turned to the others and said, "Go inside and tuck in, everyone. You all need it after the night you've had." As they went in, Crighton turned to me and said, "Walk with me, Kiara."
She led me to a part of the garden near the woods. I was wondering what she was going to talk to me about, but I didn't say anything, for I was sure that Crighton would be the one who started off the conversation. As we reached the part of the garden where the trees were standing, she stopped and so did I. We were silent for a few moments, before Crighton started off by saying, "Has anything been troubling you this summer, Kiara?"
I was taken aback by this and looked up at Crighton, who was watching me steadily with her emerald green eyes. I thought whether it would be best to lie to her, but then I reasoned with myself that it was Crighton who I was talking to, not some random woman whom I had never seen before. Besides this is Crighton I'm speaking of, and we had spoken of my scar and Zira a few times before. Add to that what had happened at the Quidditch Friendly, I knew that I would have to say something to her sooner or later. So I sighed and said, "Yes, ma'am."
Crighton nodded thoughtfully. "And what is on your mind, child?"
"Zira," was all I said. Crighton kept her eyes on me for a few moments, before I elaborated on my last statement. "I had a dream that had Zira in it a few night's ago."
"Ah," was all Crighton said. Another pause passed between us before she said, "Tell me what happened in the dream, Kiara."
I didn't want to talk with her - or anyone - about the dream, but this was Crighton, and what choice did I have? So I told her all I could remember: about the house I was in, about the Absters, about the wizard who was murdered, and about the Muggle who was murdered, too.
"Can you remember the names of the Muggle woman and the wizard who were murdered, Kiara?" Crighton asked me.
"No, ma'am," I sighed. "I think Zira may have said something about some plans that she is currently making, but that's all I can remember."
"I see," said Crighton quietly. Another moment of silence passed between us, when Crighton said, "Kiara, have you told Chris, Sian and Chrissie about this dream yet?"
"No, ma'am," I said. "I mean, I was going to tell them a couple of night's ago, but - "
" - You saw them and everyone else around you happy, and didn't want to spoil the mood?" Crighton finished for me. I nodded. "Well, I think you should tell them after breakfast, at any rate," Crighton continued. "They're your friends, and they deserve the truth."
"I will, ma'am. Oh, and I wrote to my parents about it, too. And Grandmother Sarabi knows about the dream as well."
Crighton nodded her head in approval before she said, "And speaking of Sarabi, Kiara, she will be giving you a ring a little while later to see how you are after what happened last night. I asked her to do so, so that you can get some sleep."
"Thanks, ma'am."
"You're welcome. Oh, and Kiara?"
"Yes, Professor?"
"If you ever have another dream where Zira is present, please come and talk to me about it. My door will always be open to you, so promise me that you will do so."
"I promise, ma'am."
"Good," said Crighton, smiling warmly at me once more, her emerald eyes twinkling. "Now, let's get inside and warm ourselves up with food, shall we?" I agreed heartily, and the two of us proceeded the path back to the house and into the kitchen, where everyone was eating a hearty meal. There was some slight chatter going on, but not too much, due to fatigue.
"Ah, there you two are!" said Mr Dawson. "I wondered what was keeping you out there."
Crighton chuckled and said, "We were just discussing the match, Matthew dear. Oh," she added, showing him the paper, "I thought you might want to take a look at this." And she handed him the paper as he put down his knife and fork.
Mr Dawson scanned through the article on the front page quickly, as Perdy looked over his shoulder. "I knew it," he said heavily. "Ministry blunders ... culprits not apprehended ... lax security ... Dark wizards running unchecked ... national disgrace ... who wrote this? Ah ... of course ... Peter Meter."
"That man's got it in for the Ministry of Magic!" said Perdy furiously. "Last week he was saying we're wasting our time quibbling about cauldron thickness, when we should be stamping out vampires! As if it wasn't specifically stated in paragraph twelve of the Guidelines of Non-Wizard Part Humans - "
"Do us a favour, Perdy," said Sam, yawning, "and shut up."
"I'm mentioned," said Mr Dawson, his eyes widening as he reached the bottom of the Daily Squabbler.
"Where?" perked up Crighton suddenly from her place at the top of table, which she had taken after she had given her husband the paper. "If I'd seen that, I'd have known you were alive, even though I called you late last night because they were talking about it on the Wizarding Television Broadcast last night!"
"Not by name," said Mr Dawson. "Listen to this: "If the terrified wizards and witches who waited breathlessly for news at the edge of the wood expected reassurance from the Ministry of Magic, they were sadly disappointed. A Ministry of Magic official emerged some time after the appearance of the Death Trail, alleging that nobody had been hurt, but refusing to give any more information. Whether this statement will be enough to quash the rumours that several bodies were removed from the woods an hour later, remains to be seen." Oh, really," said Mr Dawson in exasperation, as he handed the paper to Perdy. "Nobody was hurt, what was I supposed to say? Rumours that several bodies were removed from the woods ... well, there certainly will be rumours now he's printed that."
He heaved a great sigh. "Susan, Sian, I'm afraid I'm going to have to go into the office. This is going to take some smoothing over."
"I'll come with you, Uncle," said Perdy importantly. "Mrs Clutch will need all hands on deck. And I can give her my Floo powder report in person."
And she bustled out of the kitchen.
I first turned to Crighton, who looked upset, but she nodded her head in understanding. Then I turned to Sian, who was upset and discomforted by this. "Dad, you're supposed to be on holiday! I know that this has got something to do with your office, but surely someone else can cover for you?"
"I've got to go, Sian," said Mr Dawson, "I've made things worse. I'll just change into my robes and I'll be off ..."
"Professor Crighton," I said suddenly, unable to contain myself, "Harold hasn't arrived with a letter for me, has he?"
Crighton jumped and looked at me. "Harold, Kiara? No ... no, there hasn't been any post at all. She then looked at me with a knowing look in her eyes. "Oh, and Kiara?"
"Yes, ma'am?"
"Isn't there something you need to discuss with Chris, Sian and Chrissie?"
At this, my three best friends looked at me curiously.
I nodded my head at Crighton, before I turned my head to Chris, Sian and Chrissie, and said to them, "Shall we go and dump our stuff in our rooms?"
The three of them nodded, and we got up and made our way out of the kitchen, along the Ancestry Corridor to the main area and up the spiral staircase, but instead of going to our rooms to dump our stuff, we went instead along the corridor past the youngest brother's (Max's) bedroom, and then we just kept walking along corridors and climbing staircases, until we reached the smallest attic.
For those of you who can't recall, there was once one, large attic, which was separated into two (which became clear to me later on that it was made for Sian's benefit, but I'll get to that), so that they could keep a closer eye on the way things were going in both worlds, with the help of their friend from America, who we saw via a computer that was hidden in the wall opposite the door. Anyhoo, we entered, but different call Wade to us this time. Instead, we sat down as Chrissie shut the door, and we waited for her to join us.
"So, Kiara?" she said. "What's up?"
"There's something I haven't told you," I said. "On Saturday morning, I woke up with my scar burning again."
Chris, Sian and Chrissie's reactions were exactly as I had imagined them to be back in my grandmothers' cottage. Sian gasped and started making suggestions at once, mentioning a number of reference books, and everybody from her own mother to Dragon Mort's Matron.
Chris simply looked dumbstruck. "But - she wasn't there, was she? She-You-Know? I mean - last time your scar kept hurting, she was at Dragon Mort, wasn't she?"
"I'm sure she wasn't in Wales," I said. "But I was dreaming about her ... about her and the Absters. I can't remember all of it now, but they were plotting to kill ... someone."
I had teetered for a moment on the verge of saying "me", but I just couldn't bring myself to make Sian look any more horrified than she already did.
"It was only a dream," said Chrissie bracingly. "Just a nightmare."
"Yeah, but was it, though?" I said, turning to look out the window at the brightening sky. "It's weird, isn't it ... my scar hurts, and three days later the Love Destroyers are on the march, and Zira's sign's up in the sky again."
"Don't - say - her - name!" Chrissie hissed through her teeth.
"And remember what Professor Crystals said?" I went on, ignoring Chrissie. "At the end of last year?"
Professor Crystals was our Divination teacher at Dragon Mort (keep up, people!).
Sian's terrified look vanished as she let out a derisive snort. "Oh, Kiara, you aren't going to pay attention to anything that old fraud says, are you?"
"You weren't there," I said. "You didn't hear him. This time was different. I told you, he went into a trance - a real one. And he said the Scarlet Lady would rise again ... greater and more terrible than ever before ... and she'd manage it because her servants were going back to her ... and that night, the Absters escaped."
There was a silence in which Chrissie played with some of the frayed ends of an old cushion.
"What did Ma want with you before, Kiara?" Sian asked. "When she pulled you aside outside, I mean?"
"She asked me if anything was troubling me, and I told her about the dream, along with Grandmother Sarabi and my parents," I said, shrugging. "And speaking of my parents, I'm still waiting for their letter."
"Good thinking," said Chris. "I bet your parents'll know what to do!"
"Well, Ma and Sarabi will have their opinions, too," said Chrissie, her expression clearing.
"But we don't know where Simba and Nala are ... they could be in Africa or somewhere, couldn't they?" said Sian reasonably. "Harold's not going to manage that journey in a few days."
"Yeah, I know," I said, but there was a leaden feeling in my stomach as I looked out of the window at the Harold-free sky.
We were in silence for a few moments, before Sian said, "But you do make some important points, Kiara."
"How so, Sian?" asked Chris.
"Well, let's think about this logically, shall we?" said Sian, and as she finished this, she got up and started to pace slowly in front of us with her hands entwined together behind her back in military fashion, straight-backed, looking far taller than I had ever seen her. "So, going back to what Kiara said last year which, as we know, Kiara's parents are innocent and the Absters escaped. We know they found She-You-Know and that she is planning something, and the Absters are helping her. Then, two days later, after the Quidditch Friendly happens, the Love Destroyers who escaped Azkaban, got together and tried to remind us that they - in a way - rule. But here's the thing: why? Why then? Why now? Why, after thirteen years, have they suddenly decided to strike? After all, we all know that an event like this takes time and planning, and does not happen every night. I do not know if the Love Destroyers got together in private and planned this, too before any of you ask me," said Sian, before Chris, Chrissie or myself could interrupt her, "but what I do know is that now is the time when we have to start looking out for each other and defending each other, and that if any of you see or hear anything weird, that you should go straight to Ma. And above all - " Sian's voice raised slightly here, as her voice became slightly more mystical, " - we must be careful, for I believe we shall have some answers by the end of our next school year; and therefore, we must be prepared ... for what is yet to come."
Chris, Chrissie and I were struck with stunned silence at Sian's rather chilling words at the end, with nothing but the sound of the birds singing breaking the silence (and it wouldn't be until the end of our fourth year until we realised just how truthful Sian's words were). We were like this for quite some time, until my phone went off and we all jumped at this, and as I pulled it out, I saw that it was Grandmother Sarabi.
When I told them this, Sian, with her voice warm once more, said, "We'll give you some privacy." The she, Chris and Chrissie left.
Once the door had closed, I pressed the answer button and put it to my ear. "Hello, Grandmother - "
"Kiara," Grandmother Sarabi sighed with relief. "Are you all right?"
"I take it you heard the news, then?" I asked her.
"Kiara, I don't think there's a single person on earth right now who doesn't know what's happened!" Grandmother Sarabi barked. There was a short pause, before she said, "But you're avoiding my question, Kiara."
I sighed and said, "Yes, I'm fine. No one hurt me. I'm with the Dawsons as Dawson Manor. Nothing has happened to me, I assure you."
"Oh, thank heavens!"
"I know you're scared, Grandmother, but I'm fine," I assured her. "I had a talk with Crighton about the dream, and right now I'm fine, but tired. That's all."
"You talked with Crighton?" Grandmother Sarabi said. "What did she say?"
"Nothing much, except for me to come to her if it happens again."
"Good. I'm glad of that," she said. And it sounded like she was smiling.
At this point, I let out a rather loud yawn.
"Oh, Kiara, I'm sorry. I forgot you need your sleep. I'll let you go so you can get some rest, but I'm just glad you're all right."
"I know, Grandmother," I told her reassuringly. "Give Grandmother Sarafina my love as always and tell her I'm all right, will you?"
"I will. I'll see you soon, my darling. I love you, Kiara."
"I love you too, Grandmother."
0000
Neither Mr Dawson or Perdy were at the Manor much over that week. Both left the house each morning before the rest of us got up, and returned well after dinner each night.
"It's been absolute uproar," Perdy told us importantly, the Friday before we were due to return to Dragon Mort. "I've been putting out fires all week. People keep sending Howlers, and of course, if you don't open a Howler straight away, it rips itself to shreds. Ashes everywhere. Scorch marks all over my desk and my best quill reduced to cinders."
"Why are they all sending Howlers?" asked Merida, who was slowly flicking through her copy of One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi.
"Complaining about security at the Quidditch Friendly," said Perdy. "They want compensation for their ruined property. Mona Fetch has put in a claim for a twelve-bedroomed tent with an on-suite Jacuzzi, but I've got her number. I know for a fact she was sleeping under a cloak propped up on sticks."
Sian, who was sitting in a chair by the fire in the drawing room (where we were all situated), who was drawing something on a sketch pad, pulled out her phone and kept checking it. I knew she was waiting to hear from her father to say when he would be on his way home. Coincidentally, Crighton had left the night before, because she said that she had stuff to attend to at the school. so she said swift goodbyes to us all before she left.
"Ma told me that our father hasn't been called into the office at weekends since the days of Lord Voldemort and She-You-Know," Sian said. "They're working him far too hard. His dinner's going to be ruined if he doesn't come home soon."
"Well, Uncle Matt feels he's got to make up for his mistake at the match, doesn't he?" said Perdy. "If truth be told, he was a tad unwise to make a public statement without clearing with his Head of Department first - "
"Don't you dare blame my father for what that wretched Meter man wrote!" said Sian, flaring up at once.
"If Uncle Matt hadn't said anything, old Peter would have just said it was disgraceful that nobody from the Ministry had commented," said Sam, who was playing chess with Chrissie. "Peter Meter never makes anyone look good. Remember he interviewed all the Fauntrotts' curse breakers once, and he called me a "short-haired nitwit"?"
Rain lashed against the drawing room window. The Tweebs were in their room, working on their inventory. I was polishing my Firecracker with the polish from my Broomstick Servicing Kit that Sian got me for my thirteenth birthday against my feet. Kestrel was painting something and Beth was playing a game on her phone. Chris was carving something (a dragon, I think it was), and Ben, Dave and Kat were watching something on the television. Tanya and Geri were sitting in a far corner, quills out, talking in whispers, with their heads bent over a piece of parchment.
Sian, whose eyes never missed anything, said to the twins with her eyes on them sharply, "What are you two up to?"
"Homework," said Tanya vaguely.
"Don't be ridiculous, we're still on holiday," said Sian.
"Yeah, well, we left it a bit late," said Geri.
"You're not by any chance writing a new order form, are you?" said Sian shrewdly. "You wouldn't be thinking of re-starting Fangs' Friendly Funnies, by any chance?"
"Now, Sian," said Tanya, looking over at her, a pained look on her face. "If the Dragon Mort Submarines sank tomorrow, and Geri and I died, how would you feel knowing that the last thing we heard from you was an unfounded accusation?"
Everyone, even Sian, laughed at that moment. but looking back now ...
"Oh, our father's coming!" said Sian suddenly, as her phone went. She quickly put her utensils on the floor, jumped up, dashed to the door and ran from the room.
We all waited for about five minutes before we heard Mr Dawson's footsteps coming towards us, and a few moments later, he came into the room, followed by Sian, who was carrying his dinner on a tray. He looked completely exhausted.
"Well, the fat's really in the fire now," he told Sian, as he sat down in an armchair next to hers, as Sian put the tray on his lap. He was playing with his shrivelled cauliflower unenthusiastically. "Peter Meter's been ferreting around all week, looking for more Ministry mess-ups. And now he's found out about poor old Bernard Jenkins going missing, so that 'll be the headline in the Squabbler tomorrow. I told Baxter she should have sent someone to look for him ages ago."
"Mrs Clutch has been saying that for weeks and weeks," said Perdy swiftly.
"Clutch is very lucky Peter hasn't found out about Blinky," said Mr Dawson irritably. "There's be a weeks worth of headlines in his house-elf being caught holding the wand that conjured the Death Trail."
"I thought we all agreed that that elf, while irresponsible, did not conjure the Trail?" said Perdy hotly.
"If you ask me, Mrs Clutch is lucky no one at the Daily Squabbler knows how mean she is to house-elves!" said Sian angrily.
"Now, look here, Sian!" said Perdy. "A high-ranking Ministry official like Mrs Clutch deserves unswerving obedience from her servants - "
"Her slave, you mean!" said Sian, her voice rising shrilly, as her chest rose and fell rapidly and the blood rushed to her face as she clenched her fists. "Because not only did Mrs Clutch not pay Blinky, she also treated him as an inferior."
"I think you'd all better go upstairs and check that you've packed properly!" said Mr Dawson, breaking up the argument. "Come on, now, all of you ..."
Sian stood still for a few moments, glaring at Perdy, her eyes looking ready to kill, until she said quietly to Perdy, "This - is - not - over!" Then she turned on her heel and shuffled angrily from the room, her face red with rage.
We were all still and silent for a few moments after that, for even though Sian had left the room, we still felt the tenseness that she had radiated, which she had left behind. After a while, I repacked my Broomstick Servicing Kit, put my Firecracker over my shoulder and walked out of the drawing room with everyone except Mr Dawson, Sam, Kat and Perdy, up to our rooms. The rain sounded even louder the higher we got. When I entered my room, I looked at my half-packed trunk and sighed. I was about to move towards it, but a noise from Chrissie's room distracted me. So I put down my Broomstick Servicing Kit and Firecracker and went to see what was going on in Chrissie's room.
The answer was made clear to me in the form of Piggledon, who was twittering and zooming around in his cage, because the sight of Chrissie's half-packed trunk had excited him. Chrissie, who was reaching for some clothes on the floor, turned round to shut him up when she saw me in the doorway.
"Bung him some Owl Treats," said Chrissie, throwing a packet to me, "they might shut him up."
I poked a few Owl Treats through the bars of Piggledon's cage, then turned back to Chrissie. I went to thinking of Harold, whose cage still stood empty in my room.
"It's been over a week," I said, thinking of Harold's deserted perch. "Chrissie, you don't reckon my parents have been caught, do you?"
"Nah, it would've been all over the Prophet and the Squabbler," said Chrissie. "They Ministry would want to show they caught someone, wouldn't they?"
"Yeah, I suppose ..."
"Ah, good, Ma's got some stuff from Brickabon Alley for me," she said, turning to her pile of parcels on her bed. My pile, for those of you who want to know, consisted of a money bag, along with The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Four, by Miranda Goshawk, along with a handful of new quills, a dozen rolls of parchment and re-fills for my potion-making kit - I had been running low on spine of lion-fish and essence of belladonna.
Just then, Sian came walking in, holding a tape measure in one hand and a clipboard in another. I looked at her face, which was soft and warm and her eyes were sparkling, even though some of the red had not left her face.
"Why have you got those, S.D.?" Chrissie said, pointing to the tape measure and the clipboard.
"To take your measurements with."
"Why?"
"Because, Ma asked me to jot down mine, yours, Beth's, Kestrel's, Merida's and Kiara's measurements down, because we need dress robes. Don't ask me why," she said, before either myself or Chrissie could interrupt her, "for I don't know, but what I do know is that it is important for this year. Oh, and don't worry, for I'm making your dresses, whilst Dad will be taking the boys shopping for their dress robes. Now," said Sian, as she dropped the clipboard on Chrissie's bed and pulled the tape measure out, "Chrissie, be a dear and hold out your arms."
