Chapter 11 : Self-sacrifice

As the month of March was beginning, Akira had the feeling that Hogwarts would be in great danger with a group of apprentices Death Eaters within its walls. But to save the school from this threat, magic would be useless since these offenders were also mastering it. Besides, no concrete proofs were existing to show that they were attempting to do criminal things. Only Akira and Arcturus were sensing that the group was up to something and that was their duty to prevent anything from happening, especially after the chief and a girl from this group made Akira lose her Chaser's position in the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

Indeed, after the crushing defeat of Gryffindor against Slytherin for which Akira was partially responsible for not having been at her Chaser's post due to the chief and the girl who had been trying to make her fall from her broom, Ana had organised trials to recruit a new Chaser the day after the defeat. This sudden recruitment didn't allow many Gryffindors to register to try their luck but among the three players who did, Ana found a girl who wasn't doing too badly when she didn't have too much pressure on her shoulders.

With this new recruit, Ana could announce to Akira that she was fired with immediate effect. This bad news made the latter angry but instead of taking it out on her former Captain, Akira focused her bad mood on the group of future Death Eaters that she was ready to annihilate by all means and even the least commendable.

The timing was perfect because without her Quidditch training, Akira could focus her free time on tracking down all the Slytherins that she came across in order to gather clues about this mysterious group, namely who were its members, when they were regrouping and what they were plotting in the future.

But to get useful information, it was necessary to show patience, discretion and a great capacity for adaptation. Everything that Akira had learned to become a certified ninja. But all this hard training was of little use when Arcturus - who possessed none of these abilities - was in the surroundings to help her with her investigations. Indeed, he turned out to be a real burden with his natural clumsiness but Akira didn't really know how to point it out to him without hurting his feelings. She finally resigned herself while Arcturus was overexcited by the situation.

"I feel like an Auror hunting Death Eaters." He whispered once to Akira as they were both following a suspicious Slytherin after their common Transfiguration class. "It must be really rewarding as a profession. You help the community by arresting dangerous criminals. I would choose this career if it wasn't for the risk of getting killed at any moment. Or badly injured. I don't want to end like Professor Kettleburn. Can you imagine what it would be like to lose your limbs ? I wouldn't be able to do my muggle sports anymore. How awful !"

"But aren't Aurors supposed to be quiet during their mission ?" Akira finally told him angrily after having to push him away behind a wall's corner as the Slytherin they were following had turned around to see who was talking right behind him.

But when he saw that there was no one, he went on his way, still followed by Akira and Arcturus who had finally decided to close his mouth. However, that didn't mean that he would be quiet as his legendary clumsiness was about to strike again. Indeed, he barely had taken two steps when he hit an armour which began to wobble dangerously. Seeing the disaster that was about to happen, Akira rushed to catch it just in time before it smashed to the ground and she quickly put it back in place. But this setback made them lose track of the Slytherin who hadn't waited for them.

"What a waste of time." Akira grumbled while refraining from banging into the armour to send it flying. "It's the fourth Slytherin that slips through our fingers after the first two who spotted us and the last one who got caught by Filch for importing illegal potions into the school."

"Yeah. It's going to take us the whole school year to find one who will talk freely in the hallways about this apprentice Death Eaters group, provided that he got information on it since I doubt that all the Slytherins are part of it." Arcturus commented.

"The best source of information we got is the leader of the group. He must live for his club so I'm sure he'll eventually let out a clue that would be of great interest for us." Akira replied impatiently.

"But he knows both of us well after attacking us at Hogsmeade. Not to mention that he wanted to kill you by throwing you off your broom during your last Quidditch match. He's the last person I would track down." Arcturus announced as the leader's behaviour towards them was really frightening him.

"Let me take care of him on my own. I can guarantee you that I'll get all the information we're looking for without any issue." Akira told him confidently.

"Apart from getting killed. This guy is insane ! You must be to get the idea of creating such a… a… an absurd group !" Arcturus replied as he was having trouble to find his words to describe the club.

"Indeed." Akira agreed as she was sharing his opinion.

However, this wouldn't stop her from investigating around the chief. She just had to be very careful and let Arcturus out of it since he wasn't fond of the idea. Easier said than done since he was constantly with her.

But Akira was helped by fate in the middle of the month. Indeed, Arcturus received a one-week detention which took him all his evenings as he had to help the elves in the kitchens of the school.

Why did he receive that punishment ? Well, it's quite simple according to the explanations he gave to Akira during breakfast after receiving his detention the night before.

It turns out that he had managed to convince the strange owner of the Hog's Head Inn to give him his dusting stock of butterbeers for a low price before he sold them at Hogwarts. This scheme had been made possible thanks to the secret passage leading from the school to Hogsmeade that Arcturus and Akira had discovered during their first year. All Arcturus had to do was go get the merchandise during the night, stock it under his bed and then resell it in secret to make pocket money. Everything was under control until Arcturus got caught one night by Filch with the fraudulently acquired butterbeers in his hands.

"Your behaviour isn't really better than the one of our apprentice Death Eaters." Akira couldn't help telling him once he finished his story.

"It's only beer reselling. I didn't plan to kill anyone." Arcturus defended himself while leaning on his elbow wearily. "I'm doing a favour to the bartender by helping him getting rid of his stock that he can't sell and to the students who're unable to buy any butterbeer when they're within the walls of the castle. I don't understand why it's an offence but I admit that I should have been more discreet to not get caught."

"Indeed." Akira agreed as he was showing a complete lack of this ability in whatever he was doing.

But this lack of discretion was exactly what she needed to carry out her investigations around the chief of the gang at ease during the evening as it was when Arcturus' detention was beginning.

After dinner, she accompanied him to the school kitchens – which were a lot of work to tidy after such a meal to get it ready for breakfast - and after seeing him disappear behind the painting representing a fruit bowl, she left the place to go get the chief of the gang.

The latter wasn't easy to find because in the evening, the majority of the students returned to their common room and Akira was unable to enter the Slytherin's one. But impossible isn't a word known by ninjas. All she had to do was to transform into some ordinary Slytherin student and slip inside. And once in the room she would advise what to do, namely hiding in a corner to listen to what was being said.

"I got a plan, now it's time to take action." She said to herself before heading for the dungeons.

The latter were almost deserted while all the students had better things to do than hanging out in such an unhealthy place. So Akira was able to venture there at ease to find the perfect hiding place that would allow her to watch the entrance to the common room without being seen. She eventually found one and hid in the shadow of a pillar before waiting for something to happen.

The following hour, everything was calm. Several Slytherins had entered their common room – which allowed Akira to know their password which was "Sacred Twenty-Eight" for some reason unknown to her – but almost none had left it and the ones who did were coming back shortly after, which left little chance for Akira to take their appearance at the risk of crossing their path on their return.

Her salvation came with a student who left the common room with two of his colleagues teasing him viciously. He was smaller than them, weak and was wearing square and heavy glasses that he had to put back on his nose constantly. His black hair was also covering his lenses as it was falling in front of his eyes, preventing him from seeing exactly where he was going.

"Oh, little Cooper has to go to the library to study." The toughest of his bully teased him while ruffling his hair.

"Otherwise his parents won't be happy if he brings back a new zero in runes. Do you still have the parchment with this bad grade on it ?" The other one asked him while grabbing the bag he had on his back to check in it.

"I'm not studying for my parents but for myself because I don't want to end up repeating my year like the two idiots I've in front of me !" Their victim threw at them while getting away to make his bully let go of his bag.

"What did the weakling call us ?" The first one asked while cracking the knuckles of his fist.

"I think he wants to end up at the bottom of the Black Lake to say hi to the Giant Squid." His accomplice announced while displaying a smile that would send shivers down your spine.

"Not again !" The guy named Cooper exclaimed before fleeing away while the two brutes began to pursue him.

Between trying to stay alive and going to the library to study, Cooper wasn't about to come back anytime soon to the common room so Akira decided to not waste any more time and take on his appearance.

She quickly made the hand signs to transform and got the exact appearance of the bespectacled boy – even his Slytherin's uniform - once the thick white smoke faded. She was then able to come out from behind the pillar while trying to calm her heart rate as she walked until facing the stone wall that was hiding the Slytherin common room.

"Sacred Twenty-Eight." She said after clearing her throat as her voice had become similar to the one of the Slytherin's boy she was impersonating.

Immediately a door appeared in the wall and she slipped inside the common room. She nevertheless stopped once she was in as she was discovering the place which was chilling. It wasn't surprising with its stone walls and ceiling and its green lamps hanging from the ceiling to dimly illuminate the place. Even the fire burning in a towering carved fireplace couldn't warm the room which was filled with carved chairs or sofas. It was the complete opposite of the Gryffindor common room which was less classy but more comfortable.

"Is it just me or is the room underwater ?" Akira even wondered while putting her glasses back on her nose as she peeked through the windows that shed a moving greenish light.

But it wasn't the best time to do some sightseeing. She had to find a place to hide as she was out in the open in a hostile environment. She therefore decided to take refuge in a dark corner – which were everywhere in such a room – to observe without being seen and hear interesting things. But as she was about to take the first step, she was confronted by a voice that was unpleasant to her as she knew it well.

"Hey, Coop ! What are you doing here ? I thought you had to spend your evening in the library because your future as a member of the Ministry was more important than the one of a Death Eater." The leader of the group she was looking for threw at her as he was sitting nonchalantly on an armchair with the rest of his acolytes around him.

Fortunately, Akira got information on this Cooper when he had left the Slytherin common room otherwise she would have behaved very strangely in front of the gang that he had obviously joined. She walked towards the group of more than twenty Slytherins and stopped in front of the leader who was staring at her with a superior air.

"That's my parents dream that I join the Ministry but I…" She began before the chief raised a hand to silence her.

"Who cares. Stop wasting our time and sit down." He ordered her while pointing at an empty seat.

Akira obeyed without flinching as cold sweats began to run down her spine, especially when she realized that her chair was right next to the one of the girl who had wanted to kill her at Hogsmeade and then during the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin.

But Akira stopped thinking about it as the conversation she had interrupted by her arrival resumed without even bothering to hide from prying ears.

"We'll never have our ticket to join the forces of evil if we don't have the courage to hit hard." A guy stated while striking with his fist in the palm of his hand to illustrate his point. "We kill a Mudblood and that's it."

"It's the best way to end up in Azkaban before our career as Death Eaters begins." Another member replied reluctantly. "I don't want to go there like my uncle. Apparently, Dementors are horrible in this prison."

"We're not stupid. We're not going to hold up a banner with this murder written on it. We just have to pretend it was an accident. These Mudbloods are so bad at magic that it will be easy to disguise." A girl offered and this statement reassured more than one person.

"I have an idea !" One of them said suddenly while advancing on the edge of his chair. "At our next meeting in the Shrieking Shack, we just have to lure a Mudblood in and we'll eliminate him. This house is said to be haunted. Everyone will believe he was attacked by the thing that lives there."

This suggestion froze Akira's blood as she had to take it upon herself to let nothing appear. But staying so still as the others were jubilant seemed strange to the chief who began to stare at her while frowning.

"What's wrong Coop ? Normally, you would already be proposing a plan to lure a poor Mudblood into our trap. I remind you that your brain is the only reason why we keep you in the group because you have no other talent."

"Except for snooping." The mad girl sitting next to Akira added as she seemed overexcited by what they were going to do.

"Right, I forgot about your spying ability. With it, you must have gathered enough information on the people in this school to know which Mudblood must perish. So, what's your best suggestion ?" The leader added while all the eyes were turned towards Akira whose brain was thinking at full speed to give the best answer that would satisfy the group of future Death Eaters to not blow up her cover.

But which name could she give ? She knew quite a few Muggle-borns in this school but none of them deserved to die so horribly. This left her with no valid choice. Except one but it wasn't an easy suggestion to do.

"Akira Chitsute ?" She offered in a small voice as she had found nothing better to say.

"Excellent idea." The leader approved while the rest of the group seemed also delighted by this choice. "Since the time she has been a problem for us, we'll finally get rid of her. Her life will come to an abrupt end during the night of this Saturday."

This news was greeted with satisfied exclamations as Akira made an effort to not appear overwhelmed by the fact of having become the future victim of this group that wasn't afraid to employ extreme methods to achieve its goal. But her lack of enthusiasm was again considered suspicious by the gang leader.

"Just say so if you don't want to take part in this attack Coop. You can always replace Chitsute in the role of the dead student." The boss threatened her angrily.

"It's not that. I just remembered that I didn't return a book on time to the library. I wanted to do it tonight but I forgot." She told them in a hurry while jumping up from her chair.

"Sit down right now. We're in the middle of an important meeting and no one is insulting me by leaving when we still have a plan to put in place." The leader advised her as Akira saw out of the corner of her eye several people reaching for their magic wand.

The situation was getting tense and she was afraid that at the slightest spell cast on her, she would transform back into herself. She had to avoid this at all costs, especially if those who were facing her wanted to see her dead.

"I'll be back in a few minutes." She lied to them before running towards the exit.

But on her way, as she was about to reach the door to leave the common room, she collided with the real Cooper who had escaped the two bullies who were pursuing him. But not without a scratch as his nose was bloody and his glasses askew.

The shock was followed by the appearance of thick white smoke as Akira turned back into herself. It was perfect to act as a diversion as she pushed the poor Cooper out of her way to pass the door. She closed it behind her and ran at full speed before either one of the Slytherins or Cooper decided to go after her. She spun through the dungeons, climbed the stairs four at a time to arrive in the Entrance Hall and then went upstairs, stopping only when she found herself in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady who stared at her with a puzzled look.

"You look like you're in trouble." She pointed out to Akira unnecessarily when she saw the latter out of breath.

"You have no idea." Akira replied before giving the password to enter.

At the time, she only wanted to go to the girls' dormitory to think about what had just happened that night. However, that was without taking into account Arcturus who jumped on her when he saw her entering the room.

"I was wondering where…" He began before interrupting himself when he noticed in what awful state she was. "Everything's good ? You seem to have..."

"Trouble. Yes, I know. Good night." She told him sharply before heading up the stairs that led to her dormitory as she couldn't tell him anything that happened to her to prevent him from playing the hero and die in her place.


Hello dear readers,

Now that Akira signed her death warrant - in a very heroic way, we have to admit - what will she say to her father in her next - and last - letter to him ? "I won't come back next summer for the holidays but that's to stop a group of deranged students that want to mimic their elders by killing a Mudblood like me" ? I don't think he'll appreciate. Or he might perhaps think that it's a bad April 1st joke, as I'm publishing this chapter on that specific day.

However, that's always like that in all the stories. The hero is the only one who can do something to prevent a disaster from happening and he doesn't want his friends or family to be involved to not risk their life. He thinks it's the best option to do everything by himself but most of the time, it would be better to let someone wiser deal with the problem. Can you imagine if Dumbledore was involved in this situation ? The group of apprentice Death Eaters would already have been dismantled and that's it. Sigh, but kids know best and we'll see what will happen to our heroic ninja in the middle of the month as I intend to publish a chapter a bit earlier this time.