Chapter 12 : Proving its worth
During the night between Saturday March 24 and Sunday March 25, Akira's death warrant was signed. The group of apprentice Death Eaters that planned it were aware of it but it turned out that it was also the case for their victim who had surprised by accident their plan to eliminate her in the Shrieking Shack during their next meeting.
It wasn't really reassuring and her imminent death was all she had in mind. But how were they going to proceed ? It was still unknown to her as the week slipped away at full speed until it was Friday night, the day before her execution. With this threat on her head, she wasn't sharing the general euphoria of finally being on the weekend like the other students of her year.
Even Arcturus turned out to be happier than her despite the evenings of detention he still had to do in the kitchens of the school. But cleaning piles of dirty dishes by hand wasn't at the level of death. However, Akira never told him that her life was in danger to not make him want to help her and risk his own life in turn. Even if keeping this secret from him made him wonder why Akira was so gloomy.
"Are you procrastinating ?" He asked her while seeing her lost in thought as they were supposed to do their homework at a table in the Gryffindor common room.
"You're not very productive either." She coldly threw back at him as she wasn't in the mood to do any of the homework that they had for the week after her planned death.
Indeed, instead of filling the parchment he had put in front of him with answers for their Charms homework, Arcturus was nonchalantly playing with his yo-yo which he mastered more or less correctly after weeks of practice.
"It's your fault." He replied while watching the yo-yo go down and then up. "How do you expect me to be motivated to work if you don't do anything right next to me ?"
"Maybe I would be motivated to work too if you weren't playing with your yo-yo." Akira lied as it wasn't the real reason why she wasn't doing anything.
"Maybe." Arcturus replied without stopping to play nonetheless.
"Shouldn't you go to your detention by the way ?" Akira asked him as she realized that it was almost time for him to go to the kitchens.
"I asked you to come with me ten minutes ago but you didn't answer so I stayed to improve my yo-yo skills. And I've become quite good." Arcturus added while making his yo-yo do a turn on itself before stopping when he realized that he had almost hit a student in the head with it.
"You're old enough to go to the kitchens without me." Akira replied with annoyance while mechanically taking out her History of Magic book from her bag even though she knew that she wasn't going to be able to read it.
"But it's creepy to walk around the school alone at night. There's no one in the hallways but the ghosts and Peeves. It's not the best company, especially in the dark. It's not fun if you don't come with me as usual." Arcturus complained as he was rolling up the string of his toy.
"Detention isn't supposed to be fun but you have to do it anyway. So let's go." Akira sighed as she didn't want Arcturus to get in trouble when she was already struggling to manage hers.
"Thanks !" Arcturus exclaimed while jumping up from his chair as Akira simply got up.
They immediately left the common room and headed for the kitchens in an almost deserted school plunged into darkness. Despite this, Arcturus seemed delighted as he was non-stop talking while Akira was following him while dragging her feet in silence.
It had to be said that she was no longer in the mood to do anything, neither to go somewhere nor to do her homework. Even sleeping was a challenge as it would bring her closer to the fateful evening. The only thing she was able to do was living her life on automatic mode so she took Arcturus to the kitchens as usual before heading back in the opposite direction as usual once he disappeared behind the painting of the bowl of fruit.
But this evening wasn't as usual. Indeed, on her way to her common room she met Professor Watterston who was scolding a Slytherin student who had the misfortune to cross his path. In fact, Watterston was worse than Filch when it came to accusing students of the worst misdeeds when they were just walking around.
This diversion was perfect for Akira who had a chance to walk behind the Professor without being noticed. She tiptoed along the wall and passed behind Watterston without him seeing her, at least until the Professor realized that the Slytherin he was talking to was following something with his eyes.
"What do we have here." Watterston stated after turning around which cause Akira to freeze in place. "Chitsute. It's your lucky day. This student happened to be prowling the halls to talk to you."
"Me ?" Akira replied in disbelief while pointing her index at her.
"Yes, you." Watterston added with exasperation. "Don't waste my time when you both should be in your common room at this hour."
"I thought that the curfew was way later. It's only eight hour forty." Akira replied after looking at her watch.
"The curfew starts when the hallways are deserted. Which is the case tonight." Watterston told her sharply as he hated to be wrong. "I feel that you're up to something bad and you're going to tell me right away why you were looking for Chitsute." He threw at the Slytherin who was trying to be forgotten.
"I just wanted to give her this back. That's it." The latter replied while taking a box of chocolate frog from his pocket. "She dropped it after dinner."
"Really ?" Watterston asked suspiciously.
This leaded him to seize the box bluntly as Akira was also surprised by this act of kindness from a Slytherin who was by definition the sworn enemy of Gryffindors.
Watterston weighed the box before examining it from all angles while Akira was peering at the Slytherin out of the corner of her eye. The latter looked tense as he was staring at the box as if he was expecting it to suddenly explode. But nothing like that happened as Watterston opened it to check its contents. The chocolate frog simply jumped in his face before falling to the ground, making it inedible.
Angered by this setback but finding nothing wrong with the two students he was scolding since several minutes, Watterston closed the box before shoving it abruptly into Akira's hands.
"Now go back to your respective common rooms and don't come out or I'll put both of you in detention !" Watterston fumed before striding away.
"I hope you're happy with yourself ? I got into trouble because of you !" The Slytherin threw at Akira once Watterston was far enough to not hear him. "You better keep that wizard card after what I did to give it back to you."
"But I didn't ask you anything !" Akira replied with hatred as it wasn't the right night to bother her.
Thereupon, the two enemies went their separate ways to join their common room as Watterston ordered. This altercation that she didn't deserve went on Akira's nerves along the way so she was very tempted to throw away this chocolate frog. But as she approached the bin of the Gryffindor common room, she remembered the Slytherin's advice and glanced at the wizard card out of curiosity before dropping the candy box in shock after her discovery.
It was a phoenix surrounded by holographic yellow and orange flames. Akira had never seen such a beautiful card, which must be rare considering its characteristics that didn't exist on the others, at least on those which Akira possessed.
"Jackpot." She said to herself while slipping it preciously into her pocket to not lose it. "This day wasn't that horrible after all."
But remembering the reason why she had been so depressed in the evening, she fell back into torpor as she went to her dormitory. However, she stopped in the middle of the stairs when she heard a small "pop" coming from her pocket. Intrigued, she plunged a hand into it and was surprised to not find her rare card there. Instead, a parchment was filling her pocket and she quickly pulled it out before unfolding it to read what was written on it.
« You're lucky to have survived your Quidditch match but it won't happen a second time. If you don't want that an "unfortunate accident" potentially fatal happens to the stupid Blood traitor that follows you everywhere, I advise you to come find us according to these instructions.
See you tomorrow night, at 1 am on March 25 at the Grounds. Come alone and without your magic wand. If you decide it's a good idea to take it anyway, know that you'll be alone against twenty-three people. And if you talk to anyone about what awaits you, know that this letter can only be read by you, that we'll make sure that you come to this appointment alone before showing ourselves and that we've a certain notoriety in the wizarding world that makes our word worth more than yours.
In short, you can do nothing against us so don't be late tomorrow if you know what's good for you. And to be sure that you got the message, let us know by giving this letter back to the Slytherin that you met in front of the kitchens and who'll await you there tomorrow morning between eight and nine hour.»
Moderatly surprised by this letter since she already knew most of its content after hearing the plan of the apprentice Death Eaters during their last meeting, Akira was aware that she didn't have other choice but to face them as they asked. It was for Arcturus safety but also to put an end to their morbid activity. It was her chance to act even if this mission seemed risky with all the efforts these apprentice Death Eaters were putting to eliminate her.
A bit frightened by what was awaiting her, Akira reached her dormitory which was still deserted. That allowed her to mope about her fate as she threw herself on her bed with no hope of getting much sleep that night.
This was indeed the case and just as the night passed extremely slowly, the next day did the same while the other students around Akira were taking advantage of their Saturday even if it was gloomy outside.
To pass time in a useful way after giving the letter to the Slytherin to let the group know that she would come, Akira decided to focus on Defence Against the Dark Arts which had always been a course which only mildly interested her. However, when facing Death Eaters, it could help to know one or two tricks. Therefore, she borrowed some books about it in the library and squatted a table far from the other students to read in peace. At least until Arcturus spotted her in her dark and remote corner.
"Do we have a Defence Against the Dark Arts assignment ? Because I wasn't aware of it." Arcturus said worriedly while letting himself drop on the chair next to hers.
"No." Akira simply replied without looking up from her book which was talking about duel spells.
"Phew, you reassure me." Arcturus said while letting himself slide on his chair before straightening up suddenly. "Then, it's you who worry me. Why are you reading all these books when they're not material we're supposed to see in class."
"To change my mind." Akira answered vaguely. "By any chance, do you know a large-scale spell that can knock out twenty-three people at once ?"
"That's a precise request." Arcturus said before starting to rock on his chair to think. "And no, I don't know any. You should be extremely strong to successfully cast such a spell. It's not of our level."
"That's what I feared." Akira muttered with spite while continuing to flip through her book.
But she couldn't find anything about such a spell either. And spending the day searching got her nowhere.
It was already eleven-thirty in the evening when Arcturus decided to go to his dormitory, wishing her good night without realizing that it was probably the last time he would see her.
Akira waited in the common room until it was midnight and when the last Gryffindor went to bed, she left the tower to join the Entrance Hall. Her head was confused on what she could do to get out of there alive and at the same time capture the apprentice Death Eaters to prevent them from attacking an other Mudblood like her. She didn't have much idea until she passed in front of Filch's office. She retraced her steps to stop in front of it when she realized that in it was a cabinet with a drawer named "Confiscated and Highly Dangerous". Maybe she could find a useful item in it ?
Having nothing better to do until it was one o'clock, she went in the office after opening the door with a simple Alohomora knowing that she kept her magic wand on her to be reassured despite the recommendations of the letter. She then lit the room with it and tiptoed until she reached the drawer containing dangerous objects.
"Let's see what we've in there." Akira muttered while opening the deep drawer made heavy by the quantity of objects it contained.
And indeed, it was filled with everything that a prankster or a person with bad intentions could dream of. There were fanged frisbees, ever-bashing boomerangs, screaming yo-yos that would surely appeal to Arcturus who loved to play with their muggle version, quills and ink that must possess forbidden properties and also nose-biting teacups that viciously pinched Akira's finger when she mistakenly grabbed one.
But nothing interesting for Akira who decided to roll up her sleeve to dig deeper into the drawer. There she felt the smooth glass of a mirror and heard the clashing of various flasks. She only pulled her arm out when she grabbed a kind of rough irregular sphere.
She immediately regretted it when she saw by the light of her magic wand that it was a shrunken head. She put it back in its place but nevertheless continued her search among the objects because she wasn't ready to leave empty-handed without having anything to defy death. Among the flasks, she found poisons, potions with unfortunate effects, love potions and disturbing liquids or powders that weren't labeled.
One of these flasks nevertheless caught her attention as the dark powder it was containing was sparkling with small yellow lightning bolts that were going through it.
""Sunshock powder"." She read on the label. ""At the slightest shock, a light as powerful as the sun is produced". Convenient. Reminds me of the flash bombs we use to flee from a fight." She added before carefully putting the bottle into her pocket while hoping no shock would set it off.
She went back to search for other items in the drawer but soon stopped when she heard a distant noise. She ceased all activity to listen but nothing came near Filch's office. However, she became startled when she realized that it was already past one o'clock in the morning. In a hurry to go to the meeting place, she closed the drawer hastily and left the office without even bothering to lock it behind her.
All she cared about was reaching the Grounds as her heart was racing in front of the unknown. The icy air that reached her once she passed the entrance door did nothing to help her condition while the cloudless sky let her see the surroundings that seemed deserted.
This lack of people was just as disturbing as if her twenty-three assailants had jumped on her all at once. Sensing that something was wrong, Akira scanned the surroundings carefully before daring to take a step. But as she did, she saw in the distance near the Whomping Willow a flash of light corresponding to a spell cast towards her.
As it was approaching at full speed, her ninja abilities activated themselves to make her jump to the side to avoid it. At the same time, shadows appeared near the Whomping Willow and she heard the entrance door being opened right behind her. She soon realized that she was circled by her opponents and had the reflex to point her magic wand in front of her as she didn't know if they were pointing theirs at her or not. She got her response when her wand was snatched from her hand as a disarming spell hit her with full force now that the novice Death Eaters were close enough to not miss her again. However, the distance between them and Akira wasn't close enough to let her understand what one of them was trying to tell her under his mask with snake-like eye slits that seemed to be hand-made.
"What ?" She finally asked him as she really couldn't hear a word.
This question made him lose his temper and he tore off his mask before throwing it to the ground in spite.
"Raah ! Those masks are of no use if we can't threat our victim with them on." He complained as Akira recognised the chief of the apprentice Death Eaters group.
Now that he was able to make himself heard, he turned his attention back to Akira while pointing his wand at her.
"I was saying that you're really stubborn - or stupid - to have brought your magic wand with you when you were told not to. But that doesn't change anything since you don't have it anymore. Now, you'll follow us without doing any more fuss."
"Where exactly ?" Akira inquired even though she already knew the answer.
"You'll see." The leader replied before making a sign with his head.
Immediately, three people came close to her. One of them put a piece of fabric on her eyes to prevent her from seeing anything. However, as he did so, Akira struggled and managed to raise a bit the cloth to see under it. After that, the two others grabbed her wrists to prevent her from moving while the one who blindfolded her put his magic wand on her neck.
"Good. Now, let's go." The chief ordered.
Akira was forced to move forward as she was raising her head discreetly to see the path they were following. Her heart sank when she spotted the shadow of the Whomping Willow becoming bigger and bigger as they were leading her towards it.
"They'll perhaps feed me to that tree ?" Akira thought with some fear.
But she was far from the reality as she was put to a stop. One of the apprentice Death Eaters was pointing at the tree with his wand and cast a spell that immobilized the violent Whomping Willow right away much to Akira's astonishment. However, what astonished her the most was the secret passage that revealed itself under its trunk.
One by one, the Slytherins went in the hole that was narrow and had a low ceiling. Akira was soon forced to follow them in there and she got tempted to bend down to not hit her head. But she didn't do it as she wasn't supposed to see anything so she bumped her head against the ceiling before growling in a convincing way as she got hurt. This made the students who were close to her laugh wickedly.
The floor of the tunnel wasn't better than the low ceiling as it was impossible to not trip on a root as it was really uneven. This time, Akira didn't need to pretend to stumble as she couldn't see the ground in the dark and more than once the Death Eater who was still pointing his wand on her neck had to catch her.
This nightmare lasted a long minute before the whole group reached the fresh air – or rather a mouldy and dusty one - by extracting themselves from the tunnel through a trapdoor placed on the floor of the Shrieking Shack.
Akira had vaguely seen this trapdoor during her last visit of the haunting house but she didn't know at the time that it was leading to the Whomping Willow. However, this information was of no use to her as she was forced to sit on a chair before getting her arms tied to the armrests by a spell that made ropes appear. After making sure that she couldn't move, her blindfold was finally ripped off so that she discovered the twenty-three Death Eaters placed in a circle around her in a very theatrical way as they had kept their mask on except for the chief who could thus express himself more freely.
"You must be wondering why we set up all this ploy to capture you and bring you here ?" The chief asked her while displaying a triumphant smile.
"Not really." Akira replied as she already knew everything about her scheduled execution.
And she didn't care what he could tell her about it. All she wanted to do was to find a way to neutralize her opponents all at once while staying alive. A scheme that had to be carefully planned to not end tragically for her and that required her full attention. She therefore let the chief speak without listening as he intended to explain to her everything that they had put in place to succeed. It was only after several minutes of monologue that he realized that his prisoner wasn't listening to him and that made him mad with rage.
"Hey ! I'm talking to you if you don't mind." He exclaimed as Akira finally got a plan that might work against so many people. "We put efforts in the letter that we gave you to make sure that you would read it and be the only one to be able to do so. You could at least show some interest for all this hardwork that older Death Eaters wouldn't even have thought about !"
"Sorry to disappoint you but everything wasn't perfect." Akira replied after managing to perform discreetly a hand sign that lit a very small flame on her wrists to burn her ties. "I was really tempted to throw this chocolate frog away and wouldn't have got the message. Not to mention that Watterston almost intercepted it. And the fact that a Slytherin would kindly give me back this insignificant candy that I had supposedly lost was extremely suspicious. With all these errors, I wouldn't have got the message and wouldn't have shown up to this appointment."
"We had an other plan for this… eventuality." The leader replied as he had started to fume in the face of these criticisms. "Much less subtle but more effective. If you hadn't given us the letter back, we would have sent someone to ask you to come. Coop, for example, to make him stop behaving so strangely after suggesting your name as our first victim."
This remark was badly received by one of the apprentice Death Eaters who tore his mask off and threw it to the ground to be able to speak as it turned out to be Cooper.
"Stop saying that ! I never suggested her name in my life. I wasn't even at that meeting where you discussed it !" The latter stated annoyingly while putting his glasses back in place.
"Remind me to kick you out of our group once our mission is accomplished." His leader threw at him with indifference. "Unless…"
He got near Cooper with an ominous look on his face as Akira was close to burn completely the ropes that were holding her prisoner without anyone noticing anything.
"Coop, if I remember well, you're the worst of our group to cast the curse of death ? Your spell is the only one that leaves no trace on the furniture that serve as our targets." The chief added while pointing at a solid wood cupboard that had suffered from their training as it was bruised and smashed by place. "Would you like to train on a live target ?"
"WHAT ?" The deranged girl that always dreamt to kill Akira exclaimed as she took off her mask as well. "This honor should be mine ! I asked to be chosen for this task."
"Next time." The leader replied immediately to silence her. "For now, let Coop prove to us what he's really capable of."
"But I… don't want to." The latter intervened in a trembling voice while his chief was pushing him unceremoniously until he stood in front of his future victim as Akira was hurrying to finish to burn her bonds while the time was counting.
"You do it or you take her place." His boss threatened him while taking Cooper's arm which was holding his magic wand to point it at Akira.
Being unable to turn his wand away, Cooper got terrified as he had no other choice than following his chief's order if he didn't want to die tonight. But it wasn't easy for him as he wasn't a bloodthirsty killer like some of his comrades. He was shaking uncontrollably and he was biting his lips to prevent him from sobbing as tears were forming in his eyes.
Akira wasn't in a better position than him as her bonds were still holding.
"NOW !" The chief suddenly shouted at Cooper as he seemed exasperated by his cowardly behaviour.
However, Cooper didn't obey as he marked a moment of hesitation which was enough for Akira to finally free herself. No one among the apprentice Death Eaters had expected her to break her thick ties so the surprise was total as she reached into her pocket to take the flask of powder that she had stolen from Filch's office. This sudden gesture panicked Cooper who had only one formula to pronounce to prevent their prisoner from escaping.
"Av…ada… Ked…avra." He said in a frightened voice as Akira took out the flask.
The green beam of light was faster than her and hit her before she got the chance to throw the flask on the floor to create a diversion. She only broke it after falling on the ground and didn't see the intense light illuminating the whole room as she was already gone.
Hello dear readers,
If you ever wonder, no, the Death curse didn't miss her. And no, she didn't use a clone to take her place this time. It was simply a set of unfortunate events that led to her death and even her ninja abilities couldn't prevent them. After all, ninjas like wizards aren't immortal. They sometimes just have luck to escape death, like Harry did several times.
Now, I'll stop talking to let you see what will happen in the next chapter because this one isn't the last one of this story despite its dark turn. But you'll know more about it at the end of the month.
