Chapter 4: The Butler, Informing

A/N: Thank you for all the reviews and follows! I'll keep updating as much as possible- RR13

"Good morning, young mistress. This morning's tea is Earl Grey, imported from China."

Daphne blearily opened her eyes. Sebastian was stood next to her bed. She quickly sat up.

"Sebastian! What are you thinking? What if the other girls see you?"

"Fear not, young mistress." Sebastian smirked. "There is no-one here but you and I."

"What do you mean?" Daphne asked "Where is… Oh.". She realised that she had fallen asleep in the unused classroom she had been in last night. "No wonder my neck's stiff." she grumbled, taking the teacup from Sebastian. "What did you find out?"

Sebastian moved to stand behind her, and began gently massaging her neck and shoulders.

"It appears that your assumptions regarding Madam Umbridge were correct, young mistress. She is indeed in possession of dark artifacts."

"What does she have?"

"A quill. It appears to be jinxed. It does not require ink, rather, it uses blood."

"A quill that writes with blood, eh?"

"Indeed. My guess is that the quill latches onto the magical core of whomever is using it, and draws it's ink directly from their veins."

"I've never heard of such a quill before, it must be a tool of her own creation."

"Indeed, young mistress. I have nicknamed it, the Black Quill."

"What do you have on Dumbledore?"

"It seems that you were right about the Headmaster wishing to win your favour, young mistress." nodded Sebastian, handing her a roll of parchment. Daphne unravelled it.

"An expenditure sheet?"

"Indeed. It appears that running the Order of the Phoenix is not cheap. I found them in the same drawer as several newspaper clippings."

"What were these clippings about?" asked Daphne, though she had a horrible feeling that she already knew the answer.

"The stories were on your parents murder, young mistress. Some of them anyway."

"Some of them?"

"Indeed, some of them were also on Harry Potter."

"It's no secret that the Potter's were rich." sighed Daphne. "At least, they were the richest light familiy."

"Indeed, young mistress."

"I suppose it makes sense. Dumbledore cannot touch The Potter fortune. The Weasley's can barely support themselves, so I doubt that they could support the order. The money must be coming from Black. If I remember correctly, he's the fifth richest wizard in Britain?"

"That is correct, young mistress."

"Everyone knows that the Malfoy's and the Lestrange's are the richest two families in the country, both of whom support the Dark Lord. between those two, how much does he stand to gain."

"If the two were to donate every galleon they owned, the Dark Lord would have amassed 742,971,718 galleons, my lady."

"Black's not even worth a third of that, even with the Potter fortune, it'd barely make a scratch." Daphne muttered. "That explains it. Black's funding the order with his own small fortune, but it wasn't enough. They can't get to the Potter fortune. So, my parents death gave them the opportunity to play the saviour, hoping I'd warm up to them, and start handing out my fortune left, right and centre."

"It would appear so, young mistress." nodded Sebastian. "And, in just a few days time, Harry Potter will be declared dead."

"What will happen to the Potter fortune?" asked Daphne, suddenly panicked. "Dumbledore and the Order must not be allowed to get ahold of it!"

"I have taken the liberty of having it transferred to a different account, my lady. Yours."

"Sebastian! But what about the paper trail? Or if you need money? Or-" Daphne began, but was silenced by Sebastian placing a finger on her lips.

"Hush, now, young mistress." he chuckled "Money is of no concern to me. All that matters to me is that you are safe and healthy. You are, after all, my fair lady."

Daphne sighed a little "You really are one hell of a butler, Sebastian."

Suddenly, the door to the classroom swung open. Tracey was stood in the doorway.

"Daphne! Hey! I-" before she could carry on, she noticed Sebastian, stood by Daphne's chair. A look passed over her face, but was gone before Daphne could place it. Surprise? "Who's this?"

"Uh, Tracey… This is my butler, Sebastian."

"A pleasure to meet you, miss." Sebastian said, bowing.

"Yeah, same to you Sebastian." smiled Tracey.

"So, what's the problem, Tracey?"

"It's time for class, I came to find you."

"Oh, of course." Daphne nodded. "Oh, I need to get my books from the dormitory."

"No need for that, my lady." said Sebastian, as he handed Daphne her books "Have a pleasant day, young mistress."

At lunch that day, Professor Dumbledore made a surprising announcement.

"Due to the success of the Yule Ball last year, there shall be another dance this year, open to all students." said the Headmaster. Students around the hall began chatting, excitedly to one another. "As is custom, we will be having our customary Halloween Feast, The Fireworks Display on Bonfire Night, and finally the Yule Ball on December twenty-fourth. I hope to see you all there."

"Daphy! Doesn't that sound wonderful?" grinned Tracey.

"No… No it does not."

"You don't think it sounds like fun?"

"Tracey, I know you're a half blood so it's different for you, but to a pureblood, a ball is just another way of saying 'political move'."

"What do you mean, Daphy?"

"I mean, Dumbledore's planning something, and I don't like the looks of it one bit."

Tracey sat quietly for a moment, apparently digesting this information.

"So, what kind of dress are you wearing? I'm thinking green! No, Black! Ooh! Blue!"

Daphne rolled her eyes, and tried her best to ignore her hyperactive friend.

"I'm surrounded by idiots, maybe Sebastian found something useful."

Later that evening, Daphne was sat in the unused classroom. Sebastian was stood to her side, as she stared deep into the flames.

"These sort of events are quite common in pureblood house's." she stated.

"I take it that the invitations are more mercenary in nature, young mistress?"

"Yes. It's true what they say, it is entirely possible to get drunk off the atmosphere. When you feel happy, then you're far more likely to agree to requests and demands. No matter who's making them or what they are."

"I assume then that the Headmaster is hoping that you'll agree to move to the Order's headquarters so he can eventually gain access to your fortune."

"Indeed. We need to figure out how to stop him, and expose him. Sebastian, would you accompany me to the Yule Ball?"

"Young mistress?"

"You'll accompany me to the Yule Ball, where we'll expose Dumbledore for everyone to see. The Board of Governors will be there as well. No doubt he'll have a few of his Order friends, but there will almost certainly be aurors for added security. Especially with Harry's mysterious disappearance."

"Quite mysterious, young mistress." the butler smirked, handing Daphne a teacup "Oolong tea, imported from China."

"Thank you. Do you still have those scrolls?"

"Yes, young mistress. Before I left the Headmaster's office, I cast one final charm on the scrolls. Anything that is added to the copies in his office, will be added to the copies in our possession as well."

"Excellent work. But, what if he erases anything?"

"I doubt that he will, but regardless, our copies shall remain intact."

"You've thought of everything, haven't you Sebastian?"

"If I couldn't do something as simple as this, well then, what kind of butler would I be?"

Daphne giggled to herself. And turned her attention back to the flames.

"It's only September." she stated. "That gives us three months to plan this exposee. We'll only get one shot at this."

"Indeed, young mistress." nodded Sebastian. The room was silent for a few moments, before Sebastian spoke again. "Young mistress, you are aware of what a ball is, aren't you?"

""Of course I am, Sebastian. What sort of question is that?"

"You are aware, of course, that you'll be required to dance?"

Daphne was silent for a few minutes.

"Sebastian?"

"Yes, young mistress?"

"I order you to teach me how to dance."

"Yes, my fair lady."