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The Dungeon Ghost...
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Things had gone wrong. He didn't know how it had happened but one moment he was in the Malfoy Manor and the next he found himself and a bunch of his death eaters standing in the middle a crowded Diagon Alley.
Before he could understand what was happening the crowd of people on the street had already seen him. They all looked at him and his death eaters in puzzlement before it turned into fear and shock as they realised who they were looking at. The stampede followed next as everyone started running around and apparate, looking to get away from him while his death eaters started firing killing curses at them in panic and confusion. Voldemort just stood there, surrounded by his death eaters, as he tried to wrap his head around what had happened.
Someone had force-apparated him and his death eaters from the manor all the way to the alley. He had felt it through his magic and it had interacted through the manor's wards.
He glanced around before realising that he didn't have his face covered. It was already too late though as a lot of people had already seen him. He then looked at his death eaters who all looked just as confused as him but they still protected their dark lord even though no one was firing at them.
Voldemort calmed his mind immediately and apparated away with a loud pop, leaving his death eaters in the alley.
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Harry's hands trembled as he read the headline. 'You-know-who is alive!' He then read the article under it as quickly as he could. His mind had gone numb. He thought they had more time before Voldemort decided to show himself to the public when Neville put a firm hand on his shoulder and Harry realised that he was shaking. He looked at Neville before nodding in gratitude so the boy let go when his mirror buzzed.
"I have to go," Harry said before leaving the common room. He found an empty classroom in the same corridor and walked in before applying a series of privacy charms around him. He then grabbed the mirror from pocket and picked up the call. It was Daphne and she looked on the verge of tears. Before Harry could ask what had happened she had spoken.
"My parents..." she couldn't finish her sentence as she broke down in tears.
Harry went numb as bad thoughts filled inside his head. "Dobby." The elf popped as soon as his name was called. "Make sure you take Daphne and Astoria home safely," Harry said. "And then come back."
The elf nodded without saying anything before he disappeared. Harry then called Neville using the mirror. "Neville, something has happened to Daphne's parents," he said as soon as the boy's face appeared in the mirror.
"Go. I'll look after Hermione," Neville said as if knowing why Harry had called him.
Harry nodded before cutting the call when Dobby popped in front of him. He grabbed the elf's hand and the two then apparated over to Greengrass Manor. Arriving at the living hall he saw the girls by the sofa. Daphne was consoling a crying Astoria when she saw him and stood up. He went over to them and hugged her.
Just then the fireplace burned alive and Sirius and Remus walked out of the green flames. Harry looked at them confused when Daphne answered his unspoken question. "Polly called them after she mirror-called me," she said.
"What happened?" Harry asked.
"Matt and Ann are missing," Remus said.
"Since when?" Harry asked.
"It's been over twenty four hours," said the lycanthrope. He then looked at the house elf. "Polly knows more."
Harry, Sirius and Remus looked at the house elf. "Master and mistress left yesterday at noon," said Polly. "They said that they will be back in a few hours."
"Did they say where they were going?" asked Harry.
Polly shook her head. "I knew something wasn't right when they didn't call me," she said.
"My parents always mirror-call Polly whenever they are away together, so that they can check up on things," Daphne said quietly.
With Voldemort's sudden public appearance and Daphne's parents missing, Harry desperately hoped that the two weren't connected. He turned to Sirius. "Can Amelia help find them?" he asked.
"She already has her hands full with the incident at Diagon Alley," said Sirius. "She doesn't even know about Matt and Ann."
"No, don't bother her with this," Daphne said as everyone looked at her. "We will find my parents on our own. There is a way to do it."
"What way?" asked Remus.
She took out the necklace that was around her neck and showed it to everyone. "There is a trace on this," she said. "The wedding rings that my parents wear have the same trace on them like this necklace and Astoria's," She said looking at her sister. "We can track them using its corresponding locator but it's in my family vault at Gringotts. We'll have to go get it."
"I'll come with you," Harry said immediately.
"No you won't," Sirius said. "Voldemort is out there and we can't take any unnecessary risks. I'll take Daphne. You and Astoria head over to Potter Manor with Remus. You'll be safer there. Dobby will go with you and Polly will hold the fort here."
The way he had said it immediately established Sirius as the group's leader. No one questioned him as they all agreed to what he had just said.
"Go get your things," Daphne told Astoria who nodded and left for her room. Both Sirius and Remus were surprised by how calm and collected the sisters were in the given situation. It spoke of how they had been brought up by Matt and Ann. Any other kid their age wouldn't know what to do or control them.
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Back at Hogwarts Dumbledore had gathered everyone in the great hall and they could all see that Umbridge wasn't present. Some of them had seen her leave the castle and speculations were going around whether she had left for good. It had all happened so quickly but when Dumbledore told everyone that Fudge had resigned from his post as the minister, things started to make sense.
"I guess if he isn't in power then Umbridge wouldn't be either," Fred whispered to his brother.
"Yeah, but as much as I love hearing that she's gone for good, I am a little disappointed that we couldn't get to pull our prank on her," said George.
"Well, it was probably for the good," said Fred. "The idea that we came up with would've left her traumatised for years."
"Shhh!" Angelina Johnson shushed them as Dumbledore was about to speak again.
"I am sure that most of you have already read the evening news by now," said the headmaster. "To those who still don't know, it's reported that Voldemort was sighted at Diagon Alley." Whispers filled the great hall until Dumbledore told them all to be quiet. "Over twenty people were reportedly killed when the death eaters open-fired at them before Voldemort left the place," he continued. "The aurors managed to arrest two of the death eaters and that is all we know for now. Seeing the developments Minister Fudge has resigned from his post and as such Ms Umbridge has been fired from her position of inquisitor, by the Education Board. I have also been informed how she prohibited you all from learning defence and Hogwarts will try to find a professor in her stead. However, seeing the situation that we are all in now, I cannot promise you anything. So, until we find a new faculty to fill in the vacant post, Professor Snape has agreed to teach defence to all of you. I hope you won't make it hard for him." He then paused and looked at the students with a grim expression before continuing. "Even though it was late, everyone now knows that Voldemort has returned. If you don't know it already, let me tell you how difficult the coming times are going to be. As such, Hogwarts will have new securities in place and as much as I hate to say this, I am sure we already have Voldemort's informants amongst us at this place in this very moment. And so, all the students will be thoroughly checked of their belongings and if anything suspicious is found on them they will be liable to face punishments accordingly. I know it may sound bad but for everyone's safety I expect you all to cooperate. That is all for now. Return to your house towers and await instructions from your house head faculties. Curfew is now in effect."
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Draco knew he had to hurry. With Voldemort making his public appearance he knew he had less time left before everyone in his group realised what he had hidden from them. As he joined his fellow house members heading for the Slytherin tower, he wondered whether his family will make out of this whole situation alive.
Entering into the Slytherin tower, he left his fellow house members and took a quick turn at the last corridor, walking into an empty classroom. He then waited until the corridor was clear of students before he slowly walked out and looked around to confirm that no one else was there. Draco then left for the lower dungeons that were haunted by the ghost of Bloody Baron. It was unlikely that he would find him as Baron usually haunted the place at night time but Draco knew he had to try. Now that Voldemort's return was no longer a secret, anything could happen at any time.
As he entered the place he felt a chill. The lower dungeons were underneath the Slytherin common room and barely anyone came here. There was nothing here except unused rooms and old rock statues of warlock knights who were once said to be part of Salazar Slytherin's army.
Draco had been down here before so he knew his way around. However, the creepiness of the place did make him a little nervous when suddenly he heard a gruff, powerful voice from behind and almost jumped in fear.
"Who goes there?" Draco immediately recognised it. He turned around and saw as Bloody Baron's ghost emerged from the low ceiling. Even in his ghost form he still had Helena Ravenclaw's blood splattered all over him. And it only made him look more terrifying.
"It's me, Draco Malfoy," Draco said a bit nervously. "Do you remember me?"
"Ah, I met you when you first came to Hogwarts," Baron said with a grin which soon turned into a light chuckle. "The way you got scared that day still cracks me up."
"I need your help," Draco said coming straight to the point.
"Now what would you want from old Baron?" asked the ghost. Draco had his attention as Baron hadn't expected him to ask for help. Because of his reputation the students kept their distance from the ghost but this boy had come looking for him. It made Baron curious.
Draco remained quiet for the first minute before he finally spoke. "I was wondering...if you could tell me where Helena Ravenclaw's ghost is." He knew what asking that question meant to Baron and he could clearly see the look of shock on the ghost's face. Draco secretly hoped that he hadn't angered him.
"What do you want from her?" Baron said slowly.
"I need to know where Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem is," Draco said. "And only Helena can tell me that."
"I won't help you," Baron said after a small pause. "I have made her life more than miserable to cause her any more pain now. Besides, she doesn't like it when someone asks her about that crown."
"Why?" asked Draco. Baron didn't answer him. He just glared at the Slytherin. "I wouldn't be asking for your help if it wasn't important. You-know-who has returned and that diadem is key, in order to defeat him."
"You mean Tom Riddle?" Baron said.
"Tom who?"
"The one whose name you won't say," said the ghost, "who goes by the name of Lord Voldemort. His real name is Tom Marvolo Riddle."
"But Riddle is a..."
"Muggle name," said Baron as he saw the look of realisation on Draco's face. "I have heard enough of that boy's escapades over the years. He was different from other students when he came to Hogwarts – dangerously calm and frighteningly curious. That kind of curiosity leads to just one thing – trouble. I tried to warn others but no one takes a ghost seriously, especially when you've done something as horrible as me."
"But if he's a muggleborn then why does he preach pureblood ideology?" Draco couldn't help ask that question.
"He is no muggleborn," Baron said. "Tom Riddle is a half-blood wizard. His father was a muggle and his mother came from a prominent pureblood family. Do you know what her name was?" Draco shook his head. "It was Merope Gaunt." Baron smirked when he saw Draco's face. "I suppose you do know that family name. That's right. He is a descendant of Salazar Slytherin and Tom thinks that it gives him the right to preach about pureblood ideology because no one was as fanatic about it as Slytherin. And he is right about it. However, considering what he has done, in all truth, it is safe to say that he is manipulating the purebloods to join his cause so he can take over the magical world. It has little to do with the well-being of the pureblood masses. He knows that and even if his followers realise that he is a half-blood, the fact that his bloodline descends from that of Salazar Slytherin will make them follow him forever."
Draco couldn't believe it. He didn't know what to feel more shocked about – the fact that Voldemort was a half-blood or that he was a descendant of Salazar Slytherin. However, he pushed those thoughts aside as he realised why he had come seeking Baron's help.
"You mentioned that this diadem is important to defeat Tom?" Baron continued before Draco could say anything. The boy nodded. "How?" asked the ghost.
"Because the diadem is a..."Draco began to tell him everything that he knew about Voldemort's secret. Once he was done he saw Baron looked somewhat mortified.
"That is a terrible and almost impossible magic to dwell into," said Baron. "But I am not surprised that Tom managed to do it. You say there are more of them?" Draco nodded.
"This is why I need that diadem," said Draco.
"Even if you found it, what will you do with it?" asked Baron. "A thing like that is indestructible."
"Something tells me that it's not," Draco said.
Baron looked at him for a moment when he realised something. "You want to save your parents," he said.
"How did you know that my parents were..."
"I am a ghost that has been in this castle for centuries," Baron said. "I know each and every student, especially from Slytherin, including your parents when they studied here. Lucius was the ideal definition of what a Slytherin student is supposed to be – individually strong, cold and clever, a man with ambition and hunger for power. As for your mother, she was one of those rare students who people wouldn't believe was in Slytherin. She shared all of your father's traits except for one thing, and that was that she had a warm and caring heart. You don't find someone like that in the Slytherin house, and even if you do, they change into a cold person over the course of the seven years. However, she didn't, and maybe that is why your father fell for her."
Draco smiled. His parents had never told him anything about their Hogwarts' days. He didn't have any casual conversation with them ever since he could remember. It had always been about taking responsibility, acting like a noble, pureblood wizard and learning the values of the Malfoy family. "Can you...tell me more about them...my parents?" he said slowly.
Baron looked at him for a moment and inside the blond fifth year Slytherin he could see an insecure child who had longed for real, parental love. "You find that diadem first, and then I will tell you," he said. Draco looked at him and Baron smiled slightly. "I cannot tell you how to find Helena, and even if I could, she wouldn't like it. However, there is one girl who has befriended her just like she has befriended me and all the other ghosts here at Hogwarts. Maybe she can help you so you better ask her."
"Who is she?" asked Draco.
"Luna Lovegood," Baron said. "She is in Ravenclaw."
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Thanks for reading...
