I'm back with Chapter 103... Enjoy!
It had been a rollercoaster ride, the past few months for Daisy. Her relationship with Ron had been extremely gratifying and it had blossomed in the best way possible while the couple were in Hogsmeade. But, right after, they were attacked by a madman, and she had gotten badly injured in the process. She was attacked once again a couple of days later, right in her house. But thankfully, her house was protected by John's magic, and her attacker was fought off by Harry and Mrs Smith. A few weeks went by and right when it seemed like her life was back to some kind of normalcy, Harry was attacked and left unconscious for a couple of weeks. It was a gut-wrenching moment when she found out what had happened to Harry and the feeling of dread and numbness remained for the few weeks after. However, recently, things seemed to be getting back to normal once again. She had been writing to Ron regularly and he was reciprocating the same, she had been keeping close touch with Harry as well, and it all seemed fine. In the past couple of weeks, like everyone around her, she had started to feel the madness that was "exam pressure". Her final exams were fast approaching and it was becoming a nerve-wracking affair.
Another facet of life that Daisy was getting used to, in the past few months, was being surrounded by wizards, all the time, everywhere she went. Outside her house, her school, everywhere she went whether it was Aunt Petunia's house, her friends' house, the lake, or anywhere else, she was always accompanied by wizards that were stationed to protect her. Quite often, these wizards were invisible, she'd have no idea they were even following her, but ever so regularly, she'd sight one of them. By now, she had remembered all of their faces, and they would greet her with a smile whenever she met her eyes with them.
It was late in the evening and Daisy was riding her bicycle to return home. She had just completed a couple of hours studying at her friend's house, along with a group of classmates from her class. It was a windy evening and she had the tail wind. Daisy was riding casually on the dark street, for she knew every inch of it, she had been on these streets, practically every day in the past decade.
Daisy was peddling away and was just a couple of minutes away from reaching her house. It was an empty street with no one in sight. However, right then, like magic, an older man, wearing dark-coloured robes appeared out of nowhere, in the middle of the street and right in front of her cycle.
Daisy came to an abrupt halt, trying not to hit the man, swerved her cycle at the last moment and uncontrollably, the cycle skid and fell, and Daisy fell on the road.
"Ouch!" cried Daisy in pain. "Are you f-g blind?" she cursed as she tried to get back to her feet.
Voldemort pointed his wand at Daisy and fired a curse at her, and she fell back down with a thud.
"You are... you are..." mumbled Daisy as her anxiety shot through the roof. Right then, the Aurors stationed to guard her apparated in front of her.
Hastily, Daisy reached into her back pocket and took out the totem John had given her, exactly for occasions like these. However, right then, a wizard and a witch apparated on either side of her.
"She has a portkey, don't let her escape," cried Redwood. Bellatrix pointed her wand at Daisy and instantly Daisy found her hands tied back tightly. Redwood pointed his wand at her and the totem flew out of her hand and fell to the floor.
"No," cried Daisy.
Meanwhile, the Aurors were fighting Voldemort. But their fight only lasted a few seconds. As Daisy watched, the Aurors, all crumpled down to the ground. A stream of green light escaped Voldemort's wand and hit each one of them in the chest.
"Let me go... Why are you doing this..." cried Daisy as she tried to loosen the bounds and failed.
Daisy was kneeling down on the street, her hands tied behind her back, while Bellatrix Lestrange and Eldon Redwood stood on either side of her. Voldemort finished off the Aurors swiftly and walked towards her and came to a halt a few feet away.
"You are him... aren't you?" asked Daisy, in tears.
"Oh, I am him," retorted Voldemort, sniggering. He pointed his wand at the totem lying on the ground and it flew into his hands instantly.
"A clever route to escape," he remarked, chuckling. And instantly, he threw it back to the ground.
"What do you want?" yelled Daisy, crying.
"I wonder... Bella..." began Voldemort and glanced at Bellatrix. "She has a way to escape us, do you think she has a way to contact our lovely friend?" he remarked.
"I know a way to find out," replied Bellatrix, laughing maniacally, as she pointed her wand at Daisy.
"Crucio," she muttered. It was the most intense variety of pain Daisy had ever experienced, she felt like a million needles were piercing her at the same time, her bones felt like they were being crushed, and she started wailing in pain.
"Call Jane Smith, here, now," ordered Bellatrix, loudly and stopped torturing Daisy for a moment.
Daisy crumpled to the ground and remained motionless for a moment. "What?" she retorted, in a barely audible voice.
"Bring Miss Jane Smith, here, dear girl... I know that you can bring her here," said Voldemort, in a spiteful, spine-chilling voice.
"No," exclaimed Daisy.
"Bella," ordered Voldemort and instantly, Bellatrix pointed her wand at Daisy.
"Crucio"
Daisy writhed and wailed in pain.
"Bring her here and I'll let you live," exclaimed Voldemort angrily
One after another, Bellatrix fired the Cruciatus curse at Daisy. After a minute, Daisy could no longer endure the pain.
"Okay... Okay..." she muttered, barely audible. Bellatrix had stopped the torture unwillingly.
Daisy put her hand in her back pocket and touched the coin Jane had given her a few months back, her body limp and the pain still radiating all over.
Voldemort gave a proud smile and turned around, awaiting the arrival of Jane.
A few seconds went by and they all heard a cracking sound, and Jane apparated in front of them, limping a little and the bruise on her left shoulder still visible to the naked eye.
"Welcome back, Professor," exclaimed Voldemort and sniggered.
"Let her go... your fight is with me," exclaimed Jane, almost in a pleading tone.
"Come... save her, if you can," mocked Bellatrix.
"She's right here," remarked Voldemort, sniggering, as he stepped away to let Jane's eyes fall on Daisy for the first time.
"Daisy, Oh God!" muttered Jane, under her breath. The sight of her limp, seemingly lifeless body lying on the ground broke her. Jane glanced around and found a few Aurors lying dead and anger surged inside her. She was furious at the quality and quantity of protection they had afforded to Daisy.
Jane took a step forward and instantly both Redwood and Bellatrix's wands pointed at Daisy and she came to a halt.
"Kill her, if Miss Jane Smith even lifts her wand," ordered Voldemort loudly and pointed his wand at Jane.
Jane instantly put her hand down and dropped her wand at her feet. "No, don't," she exclaimed.
Voldemort fired a curse at Jane almost immediately and she fell to the ground with a thud, her eyes fixated on Daisy. Bellatrix started laughing and Redwood joined in. Voldemort walked towards Jane, with a swagger as he began throwing a series of curses aimed at Jane.
Jane stayed on the ground, motionless as she took everything Voldemort threw at her. She had Auror's special unit training and experience behind her and was prepared for anything he could do to her. Her only wish in that moment was backup, she wished someone would act and bring backup so that she could go on the attack. And until then, she had to remain alive.
After tiring her out with some body blows Voldemort decided to enjoy his time inflicting pain on her by starting a series of Cruciatus curses. These ones were much more difficult to handle for Jane, for she couldn't help but writhe in pain, showing the pain she felt on her face. Every time Jane yelped a little in pain, the three assailants roared into laughter. After a few seconds, Daisy seemed to get back her consciousness. Lying down, her eyes met with Jane's, lying far away from her.
"Mrs Smith," exclaimed Daisy, panicked. "No, don't," she cried as she watched Voldemort torture her.
"Shut up," yelled Bellatrix as she strengthened her grip on her wand, and pointed at Daisy. Daisy went quiet immediately, but she continued sobbing silently. Jane's resolve to stay alive and take everything Voldemort dished out grew manifolds when she saw Daisy conscious.
It had been a little more than a couple of minutes when everyone heard multiple cracking sounds.
"Dumbledore," exclaimed Voldemort, annoyed and turned around to come face to face with Albus Dumbledore, Benjamin White, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. The Order of the Phoenix had arrived and stood on the opposite side.
The next moment, spells started flying all over.
Jane reached and grabbed a hold of her wand and fired a spell aimed at Daisy, freeing her from her strangle. Dumbledore and White each cast a shield surrounding Daisy, impeding Bellatrix, Redwood and Voldemort from hurting her. Sirius and Remus fired stunners aimed at Voldemort which he brushed off nonchalantly. The very next instant, Jane fired a curse at Voldemort and he got pushed forward. Dumbledore gestured something to the Marauders and immediately they started taking slow, defensive steps towards Daisy. White fired curses at Redwood and Bellatrix, but both of them were prompt to defend themselves. Quickly the scene divided into 3 parts, Dumbledore and White took on Bellatrix and Redwood, Remus and Sirius slowly made their way towards Daisy to take her to safety and possibly out of there, and Jane got up to her feet to take on Voldemort.
…
Dumbledore and White cleverly took Bellatrix and Redwood away from Daisy, for each one of them was good enough to take on the two of them single-handedly. Bellatrix got dragged away by White, she found herself defending continuously without getting a break to fire back. Dumbledore, meanwhile, who was duelling with his non-dominant hand had to endure a little more fightback from Redwood, but with the timely assistance of Remus and Sirius, he was able to create a safe path for the marauders to get to Daisy. Remus and Sirius took over from Dumbledore and White to create a shield around Daisy, but there was nobody there who was focusing their attention on attacking Daisy anymore.
…
Injured and drained, Jane mustered all the energy and focus she had and began a barrage of attacks aimed at Voldemort. The sudden and quick appearance of the Order had thrown him. Jane used her illusion charm at him and followed it up with a few painful lacerations, aimed all over his body. Voldemort, while quick to get out of the illusion was unable to prevent a few cuts and bruises, infuriating him.
Taking the opportunity, Jane came to a micro-halt and swung her wand at Voldemort, "Avada Kedavra," she muttered. But to her utter dismay, she was unable to produce the killing curse.
The failed killing curse boosted Voldemort's ego and gave him the necessary time to recuperate and launch an attack of his own.
In rapid succession, he fired a multitude of curses, trying to lock her from moving, discombobulate her, lacerate her bones and ended it up with the killing curse. Jane, who was ready for the assault, escaped the first few curses and shielded herself from the lacerations. In a swift motion, she used one of the dead Aurors to block the killing curse.
…
Spells were flying all over the place. In the quiet, dark night, the shrieks and wails of pain, the whooshing sounds of the curses flying overfilled the ears of everyone around, and the colours from spells colliding, painted a grim picture.
Taking the distraction caused by White and Dumbledore, Sirius and Remus rushed towards Daisy, picked her up and rushed away from the thick of things. Once they had gone a few feet away, Sirius released his hold and took out his wand to create a shield protecting them from any attack and quickly created a soft landing for Remus to let Daisy down gently.
Daisy laid down on the soft mattress, unable to move any part of her body.
Quickly, Remus took out his wand and muttering a few healing spells, gently placed his wand over Daisy's chest. Slowly, the chill her body felt got replaced by a gentle warmth, her constricted muscles loosened up, the spike in adrenaline came down steadily and her heart started beating a little slower.
…
Meanwhile, Dumbledore had regained control over his duel against Redwood and had him restrained. White made short work of Bellatrix for she was restrained as well. Immediately after, White glanced at Dumbledore and in return, Dumbledore slashed his wand at the pair of death eaters, silencing them and rendering them completely motionless. Instantly, White ran towards Daisy and Dumbledore glanced at a struggling Jane.
Jane had started off matching Voldemort strike for strike. The pair took turns attacking, and bruising each other and in return, found their counterpart defending ruthlessly. Jane's illusions mixed with a potent set of curses left Voldemort digging deep into his defensive arsenal. While Voldemort's cold-hearted curses started to break Jane down. Jane had arrived bruised and battered and received a fresh round of torture and bruises to go with it. The duel might have started equally, but slowly Voldemort gained the upper hand. He was comparatively the much stronger one on the day.
In a fresh set of attacks, Voldemort was breathing fire, powerful, hungry fire and Jane found her defence wanting. She had created a ring of fire of her own but had to quickly resort to extinguishing the fiery flames with ice-cold water.
Right then, a fresh volume of water splashed over the flames, extinguishing them completely. The duel stopped momentarily as the pair glanced at Dumbledore disapparating and apparating beside Jane.
"It was cowardly to attack an innocent little girl, Tom. The Aurors are on their way," remarked Dumbledore, calmly, but there was a strong fury in his tone.
"Clever, I'd say," retorted Voldemort, laughing. "It brought her out of the shadows," he spat and sent a killing curse aimed at Dumbledore, but it missed him and struck a tree behind instead.
Instantly, Jane apparated out of there and appeared in front of Daisy, who was still lying down and was being treated by White while Remus assisted him. Sirius had taken over the role of watching over the 2 restrained death eaters.
…
Dumbledore flicked his wand and strong force emanated out of his wand aimed at Voldemort. He was forced to conjure a shining silver shield out of thin air and managed to protect himself. Though nothing visibly happened during the collision, a loud gong-like note reverberated from it.
"You do not seek to kill me, Dumbledore? Above such brutality, are you?" chuckled Voldemort.
"We both know that there are other ways of destroying a man, Tom. Merely taking your life would not satisfy me, I admit..." said Dumbledore, calmly, walking towards him a little.
"There is nothing worse than death, Dumbledore!" retorted Voldemort, angrily, presumably hearing him call him Tom.
"You are quite wrong. Indeed, your failure to understand that there are things much worse than death has always been your greatest weakness..." retorted back Dumbledore, stepping forward another step.
Furiously, Voldemort flicked his wand and a jet of green light escaped. But, Dumbledore, ready for the attack, apparated a few feet to his left and the curse missed him by a mile.
Voldemort fired yet another killing curse at Dumbledore. This time, he animated the branch of a tree and it took the brunt of the curse, exploding into pieces. But before the shattered pieces could fall to the ground, Dumbledore swung his wand around, with his left hand and the shattered pieces came to a halt, in mid-air and immediately made their way towards Voldemort.
Voldemort slashed his wand at the pieces of dry wood and they instantly burnt to ashes.
…
"How is she? Is she hurt? Are the effects long-lasting?" asked Jane, hastily, the moment she arrived at the scene.
"I would be afraid if we had rescued her a couple of minutes later," replied Remus. "Jane..." he added taking a hold of her hand. "She will be fine," he remarked, with a smile. Jane, however, shrugged off his hand fiercely.
"Miss Jane Smith, it's better you leave her alone right now. She's better off not being disturbed by every Tom, Dick and Harry," remarked White, viciously, as he continued muttering spells at Daisy. Remus glared at White, confused.
"Don't you dare... utter another word..." snarled Jane angrily as she pointed her wand and struck White's neck with the tip of her wand.
"Mrs Smith," came a weak voice and everyone's attention towards Daisy.
"Daisy," exclaimed Jane and dropped to her knees instantly. She bent down and hugged her, muttering, "I'm so sorry, darling, I'm so sorry... I shouldn't have let this happen," she remarked, almost in tears. "You keep getting hurt because of me, I'm sorry," she said and released her hug to kiss her on the forehead instead. "Is it hurting badly?" she asked as her hands roamed around Daisy's arms, caressing her skin.
Daisy started crying immediately, overcome with emotion.
"I am... I'm... it hurts everywhere," cried Daisy in response.
"Let me put you to sleep, okay? You will wake up only tomorrow... I'll take you home and inform Olivia and Jacob the same," whispered Jane, comfortingly. Daisy nodded weakly.
"What are you doing?" asked White, confused.
"Procidat Incipio," muttered Jane and waved her wand at Daisy gently, and she closed her eyes slowly.
"You... never... put a person... in pain... in an illusion, Miss Jane Smith," exclaimed White, angrily. "And who gave you the right..." he began, angrily but got interrupted.
"Professor White," exclaimed Remus. "While Jane's methods may be wrong, I seriously ask you to reconsider your words. Trust me when I tell you that she has Daisy's best interests in her heart," he added, strongly.
"I don't think you quite understand the person you are dealing with, Mr Lupin," retorted back White, instantly.
And just then, everyone at the scene heard multiple cracking sounds. As they glanced around, they found that an army of Aurors, along with the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge had arrived.
Dumbledore was struggling to cope with Voldemort's attacks. Being left his non-dominant hand was not helping his cause. Voldemort had managed to surround Dumbledore in a ring of fire, and every time he tried to break himself free of it, the fire viciously spit at him. Voldemort waved his wand at the fire and it seemed to get stronger and more potent. Taking the temporary brunt of the fire, Dumbledore plunged his right hand into the fire, distracting it and with his left, he apparated out of the ring and came to a standstill on the other side of the street. Right then, the pair heard cracking sounds. Voldemort knew he had very little time and decided to apparate away immediately before he had to deal with all the Aurors.
…
A few feet away, Jane's eyes fell on the Aurors and a disappearing Voldemort and she kicked herself, angrily. Remus walked away from Jane, White and Daisy and decided to help out Sirius with the arrest of Bellatrix and Redwood.
Jane dropped down and took Daisy into her arms. She was about to apparate away when White swung his wand around and a reddish-orange shield engulfed the three of them.
"Don't try to apparate out of this, or you will get hurt, Miss Jane Smith," exclaimed White.
Jane placed Daisy back on the soft mattress and glared at White.
"Don't worry, the Aurors can't get to you... not yet," he chuckled, infuriating Jane.
"What do you want?" asked Jane, angrily.
"Well... well... well... here we are," revelled White, proudly. "Did you really think you were going to get away, Miss Jane Smith?" he remarked, joyously.
"I don't know what you are talking about," replied Jane, confidently, though she was trembling inside. She didn't realise she would be caught and made to surrender by him.
"Oh, come on, your secret is out... don't treat me like I'm stupid, please," remarked White, jovially. "Your deception was obvious," he chuckled.
The colour on Jane's face faded away. She had gone pale. "Did you really think you could go after the Deathly Hallows, incognito?" mocked White. "By now, I presume you already know the home of the Elder wand," he remarked.
"How did you manage to tail me? Even I didn't know where I was going next," retorted Jane.
"You mean... how did I realise it wasn't Voldemort..." remarked White, coolly and took a dramatic pause. "That he wasn't behind all the gruesome killing... but it was you instead?" he asked.
Jane stared at him and then turned around to glance at the Aurors busy discussing with each other.
"You tried to disguise your methods to make it look like it was him, but you forgot something Miss Jane Smith," replied White. "You see... whenever the Dark Lord or one of his underlings does his killing, they leave something behind... the dark mark," he added, proudly. "Albus had his suspicions... but once I realised this, the culprit became obvious," he finished.
Jane heaved a sigh.
"So, how do you plan on surrendering?" asked White. However, to his shock, a smile appeared on Jane's face.
"I was wondering when you'd get to that," smirked Jane in response. After a moment, she continued. "You talk about my secret... What about yours?" she asked and grinned.
Benjamin White stared at Jane, confused and a little threatened.
"I have merely killed a few witches and wizards... What can I possibly say about you?" she asked. White remained silent, but worried in response.
Jane laughed a moment later. "Wow... Look who has gone silent now," chuckled Jane and watched the colour on White's face drain.
"The darkest wizard... the wizarding kind has seen. Your atrocities triumph those of the Dark Lord himself, don't they?" continued Jane, gloating. "Should I tell the world who you really are, Mr Grindelwald?" she asked and stared at him.
"How did you find out?" asked Grindelwald, blankly.
"I can only imagine how much trouble everyone would get into if the parents found out who has been teaching their kids at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry... Do you want me to do that?" retorted Jane.
Right then, the shield Grindelwald had engulfed themselves in, disappeared. And right outside stood, Albus Dumbledore.
"Benjamin, can I have a word with Jane in private?" asked Dumbledore and walked closer to them.
"Sure, Albus," replied White and walked away.
"How is Daisy?" asked Dumbledore, glancing at Jane.
"Absolutely not good, Professor... and it was your responsibility to keep her safe," replied Jane, angrily.
"Is she sleeping? What are you planning to do next?" asked Dumbledore, calmly, ignoring Jane's outburst.
"I have put under in a dream state... she will feel the pain much less," replied Jane. "I'm going to take her with me and will return her home safely tomorrow, or the day after," she added. "Whenever she's fine..." she finished, loudly.
"Jane, your anger is misplaced," remarked Dumbledore but it only infuriated her further.
"Oh, really? Because I don't think so, Professor. Did you know that John and I weren't the only time travellers? There was someone before us," asked Jane, angrily. "You are the one who knows everything, why didn't you tell us before? Did you know the truth about time manipulation?" she continued.
"I'm not quite sure what you are referring to, Jane. But you can believe me when I tell you, that your brother's death wasn't something I could have prevented. I couldn't have prevented everything that you have done since, all the lives you have taken," he replied, calmly.
"Don't you do that... I asked you whether you knew that John and I weren't the first time-travellers," retorted Jane.
However, Dumbledore remained silent this time.
"I don't want to do this here..." remarked Dumbledore after a few seconds. "I suggest you visit me in my office, at Hogwarts," he added.
"Yeah, right, like that's going to happen," chuckled Jane, sarcastically.
"There won't be any Aurors waiting there to arrest you, I give you my word," suggested Dumbledore. "The path that you have gone down is not going to end well for you, let me help you," he added, smiling briefly.
Jane considered the offer for a moment before nodding in response. Without waiting for another second, she apparated out of there, along with Daisy.
The moment Jane disappeared, White rushed over to Dumbledore.
"What did you do?" he asked.
"I've asked her to come to Hogwarts," replied Dumbledore.
"Albus... you can't be serious," retorted White.
Right then, Fudge walked over to the pair. "You didn't let Jane Smith go, did you?" he asked, hastily.
"Cornelius... I have tried to reason with you, but you don't seem to be listening. She is not the one who opened the Chamber of Secrets," replied Dumbledore, calmly.
"Then ask her to surrender. She will be tried and we will determine her guilt," replied Fudge.
Dumbledore nodded in response.
Hope you liked this chapter... Please share your reviews, I want to have some fun...
PS - Chapter 104 will be out on Christmas Day! Ciao! Happy Holidays 🎄