Chapter 27-Rose Kicks Serious Ass
The group stood around the Slythern table in the Great Hall. The windows were black in the pre-dawn hours and the school was silent save the occasional murmuring of idle conversation from the pictures along the walls. The school was charmed to remain room temperature, but Leo still twitched and shivered uncontrollably. He was jittery from coming out of his sleeping potion. They had each taken one to drift off last night so they'd be rested for whatever it was they had to do today. They'd missed the Gryffindor party. He recalled his dorm mates shaking him to get up and come share a pint of butter beer as he drifted off uncontrollably to sleep.
Mrs. Scamander laid a large white sheet of parchment on the table and spread it wide to reveal a basic house plan.
Luna Scamander had spent the previous months of her life in a hospital bed in the mental ward of St. Mungo's. The time away from the sun had soaked all but her irises in bleach. Even those gleamed silver in the candlelight. Bone white, every part of her, like an albino. Even her hair had completed the transformation and but a few strands of blonde emerged from the sea of lost pigment. She was a ghost to the highest degree. With her hands on the white page, he could barely see them.
"This is a sketch of the place I found in the public Ministry files. It's big, but I don't think Jagobin uses all of the facilities. It would be too much to run."
"What are the facilities?" Leo asked
"An old low-security prison," Luna informed them. "Before it was decommissioned because of health problems, it was an Azkaban for petty criminals."
"And how did Jagobin get his hands on something protected by the Ministry?" Leo asked.
"They sold it to him."
"I'm sorry?"
"He bought it from them when the place was being shut down. He bought it under a false name, but that was easily traced."
"Why didn't the Ministry look into it?" George asked.
"What reason had they to suspect the buyer of a cheap property was up to no good? There were several people who wanted it and he won the bidding. One does not generally look for a criminal record from a buyer unless the object is dangerous and this facility certainly isn't. The money was the only important thing."
"And how do you know all of this?" Lysander asked. "You were cursed as soon as Frieda turned Mrs. Wespurt into an owl. You hardly had time for all of this."
"We've been harboring Frieda over half of her life. And I still had my faculties before, even if nargles do get in the way. Pesky nargles…"
"Mum…"
"The point is I've known about Jagobin far longer than he's known about Frieda or the Living Pearl. I would have told the aurors before if I trusted them."
"One again, your paranoia has led you in the wrong direction," Mr. Wespurt muttered.
"I wouldn't be talking," Luna told him in her wispy voice, turning back to look at the man. "If it weren't for your concern for your own reputation and your wife's foolish decisions, the Living Pearl would be in a secure vault in Gringots right now."
"I did everything I could—."
"We don't have time to argue. What's done is done. Now, we need to get back your niece, the Living Pearl, and its master." She turned back to the room layouts despite Leo's father's behind her looking like he'd like nothing more than to quarrel into the morning.
"So how do we get in?" Leo asked.
"Getting in is easy, really," Luna told them. "It's getting out that's quite impossible."
"It looks like an office building," Leo commented as they stood outside of the old prison. To muggle eyes, it probably looked the same as it did to them. It was a three-story brick building with far too many windows that, in this case, just so happened to be tinted black. Surrounding it were quaint little trees that bordered an industrial fencing system which boxed in the cleanly cut rectangle of a building.
"Hard to believe that underneath that is a prison," Rose agreed.
Albus stumbled back to the group.
"Done vomiting?" Scorpius asked him.
"Oh, lay off. You vomited too your first apparation lesson," Leo told him.
"Because a girl left her leg behind, not because I apparated."
"How do we get in?" Rose asked, crossing her arms.
"I'm not versed in goblin etiquette, but I'd recommend the front door."
"Are you quite serious? It's only the four of us."
"With the rest on backup if we get into trouble," Scorpius replied walking backwards towards the building. "So why don't we exercise our backup? See if they're necessary."
"Scorp, wait."
He stopped.
"What do you want, Rose? We've memorized the building's structure, practiced our dueling, gotten the inside scoop from a woman who's been tracking Jagobin for years and an Unspeakable, not to mention you've been layered with so many potions, your weight is probably equal to mine. Now, Luna said the only way into that building is through the front door. If we're captured, we have George, Patricia, Lysander, and Nathan on immediate stand-by. If they don't snatch us, we still have two adult wizards and the aurors if worse comes to worse. If you're too afraid to go inside, then go back. What a Gryffindor."
She put her hands on her hips. "I was just going to say that you shouldn't stuff your wand in your back pocket like that. I heard of people losing valuable parts."
"Ah…Yes, well, I was just taking that out. Let's go."
The four held their wands tight in their hands and hid them in their robes as they walked casually up to the front door. The air surrounding the place was still foggy from the cool night before. A layer of frost veiled the grass in white. Leo looked back at the horizon. The atmosphere was lightly glowing, but the sun hadn't yet peaked over the Earth's edge. He watched it for a minute, wondering if Carina could feel it from deep in the underground. Of course she could. She was the Sun Slave. As long as the sun reigned overhead, she was controlled by it.
Scorpius pulled at the door. Locked.
"Alohamora," Albus said, pointing to the lock. Surprisingly, it opened with a click. It must've just been to keep muggles or other magical creatures out because there were no charms. Frieda was only a third year so she was probably too young to cast any outside of Hogwarts and the goblins didn't have that sort of magic.
The four walked into a surprisingly clear lobby. It was relatively dark and cold since the sun hadn't yet risen and the entryway opened into a set of three open hallways lined with pictures and doors. It looked like an office building. A goblin turned the corner blowing on a steaming cup of tea in his hands. The instant he did, the cup shattered against the white tile floors. Leo dodged the electric bolt that slashed through them, throwing himself through the air. He vaulted the front desk and pointed his wand to the goblin's throat before the creature had the chance to smack an emergency button to lock down the facilities.
"Stupify."
The goblin fell to the ground and Leo lowered his wand.
"Scorpius!"
"What?"
"We could've used him to help navigate the facility."
"And risk him alerting the entire place that we're here? Fat chance. Let's hide the bloke."
The two grabbed the goblin and hauled him behind the front desk.
Rose got up and walked around carefully, her eyes swishing over the entire room, taking in each detail with a single stare. She removed a tiny potion bottle from her satchel and held the hexagon-shaped container between her thumb and index finger, looking through its clear liquid at the boys at the desk. She gripped it in her palm, shook it, and smashed it against the decorative brick interior wall. The potion dissolved the glass into smoky purple tendrils before it had the chance to fall. Instantly, it grew into a cloud that undulated and passed about the room like a living creature.
"Nothing," she said, shaking her head as she stepped forward. She flicked her wand at the tea cup. "Repairo." It quickly reconstructed itself. She walked over and picked it up, setting it down on the front desk in front of the boys. "It doesn't make sense. If this really is Jagobin's layer, there should be an army of guards here to meet us. I prepared most of my potions for the initial barriers, but my detections are picking up nothing."
"So you don't think this is Jagobin's layer?" Leo asked.
"Or it's a trap," Scorpius suggested.
"We're at the disadvantage and are coming to him. What good could a trap do?" Rose said. "There was a goblin here. If this isn't where Carina is, then we certainly will be able to find out. I say we have a look around. There's nothing to lose. It's just peculiar. Not even regular businesses have security this low."
"Maybe it'll beef up when we get to the actual prison," Albus said.
"Likely, but why not bar us beforehand?" she asked her cousin.
"How am I supposed to know? I'm not Jagobin. I say we split up, two and two, so we're not alone, but covering more ground. Remember, the entrance is in room 145C, assuming it hasn't been changed." He gestured to Leo and the two of them ran down the right-hand hallway while Rose and Scorpius stalked down the left.
"Can't say I ever thought I'd see Albus calling the shots," Scorpius commented.
"I don't like this. Why is no one in the building?" Rose questioned, ignoring him. "Luna said that Jagobin had hundreds of goblins working for him. This place is empty."
Scorpius rolled his eyes. He stopped walking, grabbed her arm, and looked her in the eye.
"Listen, this is a rescue mission on enemy territory. Just calm down and stop trying to calculate what's about to happen every second of the day. It's like your wand. Sometimes, it's better not to think."
Rose pulled her arm out of his hand, backing away. "For a situation like this, that's idiotic."
"You are definitely the daughter of Hermione Weasley."
"Hermione Granger," Rose corrected. "My mother didn't take my father's last name when they were ma—EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!" She flew back crashed against the ground, sliding along the smooth tiles until she rolled over and jumped back to her feet.
Before Scorpius could even wave his wand, the goblin had flown through the air and had his hand around the boy's throat, squeezing it as easily as he would a soft fruit.
"Scorpius!" she screamed. She ran and tackled the goblin, freeing the Slytherin so he could stumble back and breathe against the wall.
The goblin wrestled with the girl, turning her over and punching her face, her eye, her nose, her mouth, until it was blistered and bloody. She slashed her nails across his face as she reached into her bag with her other hand and grabbed a plastic potion bottle. When she got a free moment, she punched him square in the jaw, grabbed the top of the bottle with her teeth, pulled it off, and spat the cap into his face. He screamed in anger, grabbing her throat.
"Rose!" Scorpius croaked, getting to his feet after sliding down the wall for support. Just seconds of the goblin's claws around his throat left him impaired. He waved his wand at his throat, muttering a quick healing spell.
Rose's throat felt like it was being contracted. His fingers were too strong, closing the channel that let her speak, that let her breathe. Her oxygen supply was cut off. She saw spots dance like little red and green jellybeans across her vision. How very like Christmas, she thought as she stuffed the open end of the potion bottle into the goblin's mouth. Before he could spit it out, she crushed the plastic in her fist and forced the contents into his mouth.
His fingers let go. He jumped up, screaming as his mouth seared and acid traveled down his throat. He released a jet of lightning that shattered the window and dove through the open hole, onto the property, screaming as he ran until his voice cut out from the damage.
Scorpius looked down at Rose, on the floor, regaining her breath. He bent down and quickly repaired her damaged throat with a flick of his wand.
"Merlin, woman. What else have you got in that bag?"
Rose smiled and took some deep breaths, rubbing her neck to remove the feeling of those boils on his skin and his nails digging into her neck. She still felt like her trachea was closing and she wouldn't get enough air.
Scorpius offered her a hand and she fit hers into his. He pulled her up and the two stumbled, still breathing heavy.
Albus rounded the corner and waved the two over. "We found the entrance," he panted. "You have got to see this."