Chapter Ten: Attacks and Plots
Sirius and Chris both heard the scream in the hall outside the hospital wing, and both leaped out of their beds, wands raised. They were both feeling much better, and had only been kept in the hospital wing for observation anyway.
Sirius blasted the doors open to the sight of Samantha Harris’ body lying still on the ground while a wizard, his back to Sirius, continued to kick her savagely. Sirius became so furious that he found it hard to think; his wand and magic forgotten, he stepped up behind the wizard and grabbed onto his robes, before hurling him as far away from Samantha as possible. His magic must not have been entirely forgotten to his subconscious mind, because the wizard was flung almost a dozen paces down the dark hallway before slamming into a wall and slumping to the ground.
Sirius’ first attentions were for Samantha, as he bent down to see what had been done to her. Her bruises were already beginning to stand out, and Sirius knew she needed better help than he could provide. As he was getting up to find Madame Pomfrey, however, a shout from Chris brought him back to his more immediate problems.
Chris had rushed forward to capture the dark wizard, but he had recovered quickly from his meeting with the corridor wall, and a duel had commenced. Chris was doing very well, but had been winged by a cutting curse, and had cried out in pain. Sirius rushed to join the fight, certain that this was the person who had murdered McFarren, and injured the others. Sirius found that he still couldn’t see the person’s face, due to some kind of charm that wreathed the wizard in shadows, and his dress was the innocuously plain black school robe worn by every student, and there was no identifying house patch or insignia.
As Sirius joined the fight, apparently the wizard decided he was outmatched, and turned to run down the hall; Sirius and Chris were both astonished to see him change as he ran, bending down to run on all fours, faster than either could run in pursuit, though they still tried, volleying stunning spells ahead of them. As they reached a corner they got only a glimpse of black fur, long claws, and sharp teeth, before the apparition was gone.
“The map, Sirius!” Chris shouted. “Get the map and find out who he is!”
Sirius hesitated, unsure.
“I’ll take care of Samantha! Hurry!” Chris urged, while running back down the hallway towards Samantha and Madame Pomfrey.
Sirius teleported to his dormitory and ignored the sleepy inquiries of the other three Weasleys as he rummaged through his trunk before whipping out the map and unfolding it as quickly as possible, cursing the precious moments he was wasting.
“I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,” he said in a rush, and began looking frantically around the map, looking for any signs of movement where there shouldn’t be. He was heartened to see Madame Pomfrey next to Samantha and Chris, but forced himself to keep looking for the dark wizard. He thought he saw a flicker of movement outside of the castle on the boundary of the map next to the Forbidden Forest, but the label, if there was one, was gone before he could read it. And unfortunately, he could find no other trace of anyone where they shouldn’t be.
Furious, he slammed his fist down.
“Sirius?” Lee asked with concern. All three of the Weasleys present were wide awake now, and staring at him in apprehension.
“Watch the map,” Sirius snapped, getting up and handing the map to Lee. “The guy who killed McFarren might have run into the forest, so keep an eye for anyone coming back. I have to get back to the hospital wing, I’ll explain later.”
Ignoring their protests and questions, Sirius vanished in a flash of fire.
He reappeared a short distance from the hospital wing, but far enough that he wouldn’t be seen by Madame Pomfrey. Running down the hallway, he skidded to a halt next to the hospital matron, Chris, and Samantha’s motionless body. Chris looked at him questioningly, and he shook his head quickly to forestall the question. He noticed that Madame Pomfrey had fixed the cut in Chris’ arm, and had already taken care of all of Samantha’s bruises.
“Will she be okay?” Sirius asked quickly, somewhat panicked. He would have figured that Madame Pomfrey would have woken her up by now if she could.
Madame Pomfrey hesitated before answering. “I believe so, Potter. I’m not certain what she was cursed with, and though Mr. Weasley says she was beaten severely, I’m starting to believe that that was merely for the visual effects. I haven’t been able to wake her up yet, but I’m certain that once I get her into a bed and try a few more things that she’ll be alright.
Sirius didn’t like this answer at all, and was about to pursue the matter when Ron and Kingsley Shacklebolt strode into the hallway.
“I just got your message, Poppy. How is she?” the Headmaster said in his deep reassuring voice.
“She would be better, Headmaster, if she were in a bed, and not lying on the floor,” Madame Pomfrey said sternly, suiting her words by levitating Samantha into the hospital wing. Sirius and Chris made as though to follow, but the Headmaster and Ron held them back.
“Just a minute, boys,” Ron said in his Auror voice. “We need to know exactly what happened here tonight.”
Chris and Sirius took turns telling what had happened, only omitting that Sirius had left to look at the map, and saying instead that he had continued chasing after the dark wizard, while Chris, who was injured anyway, had gone back to make sure Samantha was taken care of. When they finished telling what they had seen, the Headmaster and the Auror shared a perplexed glance.
“Shadow cloak,” the Headmaster said, finally. “I haven’t seen one of those in ages.”
“They don’t make them anymore,” Ron agreed. “The Ministry shut down the shop three years ago; I helped serve the papers. And they only made a few dozen, most of which got confiscated.”
“What are you talking about?” Sirius asked, not following the conversation.
“The shadows, Sirius,” Ron explained. “A small shop in Knockturn Alley started making what they called shadow cloaks, but sold them secretly since there isn’t any purpose to them beyond concealing your identity. The Ministry found out, and we raided their store. They’d only managed to sell a half dozen or so, and we confiscated their entire stock otherwise. We have suspicions about who had bought them, and if we can find out for sure, we might be able to tell if there are any connections to any students here. I don’t like the idea that we have a student with sociopathic tendencies here, though, not at all.”
“Indeed,” the Headmaster said slowly. “And he’s a student that’s powerful enough that he could stand up to two very promising duelers, and smart enough to figure out the Animagus transformation. You didn’t manage to see what kind of animal he transformed into?”
“No sir,” Sirius said regretfully. “It didn’t look friendly, though.”
The Headmaster chuckled briefly, though there was little mirth in it. “I somehow doubt that this person would transform into anything friendly. Now, I imagine you would like to go and see Miss Harris. I understand that the two of you were on a date yesterday, Sirius.”
Does everyone know? Sirius thought incredulously, but wisely remained silent. He nodded and left with Chris following, leaving the two adults behind. Before they were completely out of earshot, they could hear the low murmurs of a heated argument getting started, but ignored it. As he entered the hospital wing, Sirius’ attention was once again completely focused on Samantha. She lay in one of the hospital beds, looking pale and seemingly motionless, while Madame Pomfrey sat next to her with several large books, scanning their contents in obvious frustration.
“Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley,” she said without looking up, “I believe you have both demonstrated that you are well enough to leave the hospital this evening, and you can go back to your rooms now.”
“I’d rather stay,” Sirius said anxiously, determined to find out what had happened to Samantha.
Madame Pomfrey regarded him shrewdly for a moment before nodding curtly.
“Very well, you may stay,” she said quickly, shutting the volume in front of her. “I need to Floo St. Mungos; this isn’t like anything I’ve ever dealt with, and I’d like to get a specialist out here to see if she needs to be moved there. But once I get back, you will return to your room and get some sleep.”
Madame Pomfrey left without another word, and Sirius and Chris went to go stand by Samantha’s bed.
“I’m sorry, Sirius,” Chris said uncomfortably. “I know you like her…”
“It’s okay,” Sirius said, hardly feeling like it was okay at all. “You got Madame Pomfrey as quick as anyone could. She’ll be okay. I need you to go tell the others what happened. I saw a flicker of something at the edge of the grounds, next to the forest, and they’re watching in case anything comes back, but they don’t really know why. I’ll stay here until Madame Pomfrey gets back.”
Chris looked at him doubtfully for a few moments before nodding and leaving the room. Sirius watched him go before turning back to the girl that had been so confusing to him for the past several days.
“This isn’t fair,” he whispered to her as quietly as he could. “I have no idea what you think of me, really, and I’m not sure how I feel either. You have to be okay, so we can figure it all out.”
He took her hand, not knowing what else to do, and sat with her until Madame Pomfrey came bustling back in with Aunt Hermione and an older wizard in green robes. Sirius backed up and tried to appear as innocuous as possible, but he was still spotted and told firmly that it was time for him to go. Aunt Hermione appeared sympathetic, but refused to concede to his pleas to remain. So Sirius walked out of the room and down the hall until he was certain he was alone, before transforming, becoming invisible and transporting back to the hospital wing.
“…never seen anything like it,” the healer was saying, shaking his head as he examined Samantha carefully. “I can feel traces of at least three spells cast almost all at once; a Cruciatus curse, a stunning spell, and some kind of protection spell; I believe whoever did this wanted her alive for as long as possible. Regardless, we can’t know the full effects of all of these spells together. And there may be more that I can’t detect yet. I don’t know that we can do much better for her at St. Mungos, Poppy. If you think her attacker may strike again, I recommend you have her moved there. Otherwise, I will continue to check on her progress every day while she remains here. I believe having friends around may help her as well, and having her here would facilitate that. Your thoughts, Mrs. Weasley?”
“I agree,” she said quietly. She appeared to be thinking very carefully. “I believe we can give her enough protection to keep her here and…” She trailed off, as though uncertain she wanted to say more.
“You want her as bait,” Madame Pomfrey said into the silence, glaring at the transfiguration Professor. “I heartily protest. The safety of the students should be your first concern, Professor, not…”
“It’s the student’s safety she’s concerned about,” Ron Weasley said as he walked in with the Headmaster. “We’ve still got excellent security here, even with most of the Aurors called back to hunt Death Eaters, and she would be completely safe. But we need to find the person responsible as quickly as possible. There is no doubt in my mind that the killer intended to murder Samantha, and only Sirius and Chris intervening kept that from happening. The killer will be frustrated, and more likely to make a mistake; this will be the best chance of catching him.”
Sirius’ insides froze as he heard his uncle say that Samantha’s attacker had intended to kill her. Was she in danger because she was with me, he wondered, or was she just in the wrong place at the wrong time? He was distracted from this line of thought as the conversation changed course.
“So Sirius Potter is no longer a suspect?” the healer asked, clearly unaware of the situation much beyond what he could have read in the papers.
“Sirius would never have been allowed to stay in school if we had had any doubts,” the Headmaster said diplomatically. “Unfortunately, his family name makes for exciting news, and the Daily Prophet has always been more interested in catchy headlines than facts. All three of the older Potter children, and four of their cousins were involved in fighting the Death Eaters yesterday, and as you heard, Sirius Potter and Chris Weasley undoubtedly saved this girl from death this evening.”
“No doubt,” the healer laughed, as he realized what the paper had been doing. “I recall they did the same thing to his father, in a manner of speaking, back when he was a student. Dark times, they were, dark times indeed.” The healer had ceased laughing. “I hope times aren’t growing as dark now.”
The other teachers echoed his sentiments, before they all left except for Madame Pomfrey, who remained with her patient. Ron paused to say that there would be guards with invisibility cloaks placed just inside the doors, and then the hospital wing was quiet.
Hopefully people will start to think I’m innocent, now, Sirius thought to himself, as he took one last regretful look at the girl he couldn’t stop thinking about, and teleported back to his room.
***
Over the next few days, despite almost constant watchfulness, no one came back from the forest, so they were forced to conclude that the killer had never left, since no one was reported missing from classes. The house rivalry actually did die down some, as Sirius’ hopes were partially realized. The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were convinced that Sirius wouldn’t have attacked the girl he so obviously liked, though Sirius was still perplexed as to how everyone in the whole school seemed to know that they had become an item when he and Samantha didn’t even know for sure yet. Only the Slytherins maintained that Sirius was the killer, pointing out that no one who could talk to snakes could be anything but evil, and concocting a ridiculous story about Samantha snubbing Sirius, who attacked her in a cold blooded rage, and then got caught in the act. He’d escaped justice by inventing a story about some other wizard, who conveniently couldn’t be recognized, and one of his Weasley cronies predictably backed up his web of lies. The first time Sirius heard that story, in class with the Slytherins, who made no attempt at discussing the situation quietly, he almost forgot his goals of not getting into trouble. Only the timely intervention of Professor Flitwick saved the Slytherins from being set on fire.
Samantha remained unconscious, despite everything that Hermione, Madame Pomfrey, and the St. Mungos healers tried. She just didn’t respond to any of their treatments, though her condition was completely stable and she showed no signs of weakening further. Her parents were in to see her every day, and her mother stayed with her for up to ten hours at a time, making it extremely awkward for Sirius to try and visit. He did visit, however; he just made sure he came with Greg, Samantha’s brother and the other Beater on the Gryffindor team, or with Lillian. Still, Mrs. Harris had taken an interest in him the second she heard his name, saying something about having heard so much about him from Greg and Samantha, and watching him with an oddly intent look every time he got close to Samantha’s bed. It was very disconcerting. Sirius also came after hours, though he came as a phoenix, and made sure he was always invisible. He found that he could see through the invisibility cloaks of the Auror guards in the hospital wing, and while he was heartened that they were there, he harbored no doubts that they would not be happy to see him there.
All in all, Sirius was becoming more and more anxious to find the killer; if he could find out exactly what curses Samantha had been hit with, and in what order, and every other detail that they didn’t yet know, the healers might be able to wake her up.
“We need to go into the forest again,” Sirius told the Weasleys finally, on the third night after Samantha had been attacked. “He might have run there, and we just missed him coming back, or it might have been someone else. I’m sure I saw something. If there’s someone hiding there, it could be our ticket to solving this mess.”
“When do we leave?” Chris asked grimly; having seen the killer for himself, he was anxious to rid the school of the threat. All of them were justifiably uncomfortable with the fact that the boy next to them in class might be a lunatic murderer.
“And how far in are we willing to go?” Brian put in. “We’ve never gone that far, and the Forbidden Forest is huge.”
“We’ll go as far as it takes,” Sirius answered, and we’ll go Friday night, after dinner, so we can be back before the Quidditch match between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff on Saturday. No one will know we’re gone.”
***
“I’m telling you, Harry, our children are in danger!” Ginny said, not quite shouting, but not far from it. “I know Sirius can handle himself, and so can Lillian and James, but what about Muriel? She’s just a first year! We need to take a more active role in getting rid of the problem. Why aren’t you at Hogwarts?”
“I learn more about what’s going on in the underworld as the Knight Bus driver than I ever did working as an Auror,” Harry said calmly. He knew better than trying to calm her down; she was an incredibly protective mother, and he had always appreciated that about her. “I’m getting rumors that could help the Aurors track down the Death Eaters, and we both know the Death Eater attack and the attack at Hogwarts are related, even if the Ministry is blind. The timing was too perfect. If we can get one, we’ll get the other.”
“That’s fine, Harry, and I know you’ll get to the bottom of that eventually, but I’m not just going to sit idly by while our children are in danger. I’m going to Hogwarts,” she stated firmly.
Harry hadn’t been expecting this at all. “What about the rest of our children?” he spluttered.
“I already talked to Mum; she’ll watch them while I’m there, and I’ll only go during the day. Besides, it sounds like Sirius will need some parental advice about relationships soon, and I think I’m a bit more qualified for that than you are. Knowing Potter males, he’s probably decided that it was his fault that the girl was attacked, and has decided to be noble by ending his relationship in the interest of protecting her,” Ginny said, though she was speaking in a much kinder tone toward the end, and her eyes sparkled in amusement.
Harry laughed. “I hope I’ve taught our children not to be as stupid as their old man, but genetics may get the best of him. Still, we don’t know if they are even together. Rumors aren’t worth much, as you should well know.”
“Come on, Harry. Lillian is absolutely certain that they really like each other, and Lillian knows Sirius better than anyone, and Samantha is one of her best friends; if Lillian thinks something is going on, then something is going on.”
“What will you do at Hogwarts?” Harry asked, changing the subject slightly. “They’ve still got several Aurors there, so you don’t need to guard the corridors, and there aren’t any teaching positions open, or they would have called. Kingsley is always trying to get one of us to teach something or other.”
“Taken care of, Harry,” Ginny said, waving her hand dismissively. “Madame Pince is planning on retiring next year, and I’m going to be training as her replacement.”
“When were you going to tell me about this?” Harry asked, starting to get a little upset.
“How long had you been planning on quitting the flying lessons and Quidditch referee job to drive the Knight Bus? You told me two days before you started,” Ginny pointed out. “Besides, you go off and get a new job ever third year; I decided that it was time for me to do something for myself, and we agreed that we would stay in England for as long as our children are in school. Since we don’t have any under the age of three,” she paused and looked at him sternly, “and we aren’t having any more, seven is enough! Mum has been wanting more time with her grandchildren, so I decided that this would be good for me, especially when it gives me the chance to protect my children from a murderer.”
Harry stared at her for a few moments as she stood there calmly, giving him time to digest what she had told him. Finally, he wrapped his arms around her.
“I love you,” he said simply, “and I have no doubt that you’ll do well there. I do have one objection, though.”
“What’s that?” she said, stiffening slightly in his arms.
“I think we ought to have at least a few more,” Harry said, his tone completely serious. “Ten is a much nicer number than seven, after all.”
Ginny laughed, knowing that he would accept what she was doing and support her; he always did.
***
“Crucio!” the voice called, and the man fell to the ground in agony, writhing in the throes of the Unforgivable curse.
When the curse was lifted, the man struggled to his knees, shaking uncontrollably.
“Master… I swear… it was not my fault…” he said between huge gulping breaths, as he tried futilely to regain some composure.
“It was your agent in Hogwarts that was compromised, so the fault is yours. If you wish to avoid further punishment, you will instill in your agent a greater desire to adhere to my plan. When you delivered the boy to me, you promised that he would do exactly as he was told. I expect what I was promised, no more.”
The man did not argue, showing he had some sense.
“Now, the contention between the houses has lessened, and that is unacceptable,” the voice continued. “I want it back where it was. You will use the upcoming Quidditch match; it worked before, and it will work again. Go!”
The man said nothing as he scrambled to his feet and staggered off towards the school, weaving around the towering trees that grew thick this deep in the forest.
***
“Crucio!” the man said mercilessly, and the student before him fell helplessly to the ground.
“Master!” he cried piteously, “Master… please… I’m sorry…”
Ignoring the boy’s moans, the man waited a few moments and then lifted the curse.
“Now,” he said, feeling powerful and in control, “you will be sure to follow orders exactly this time, and spare us both this kind of pain.”
“Master, I swear,” the boy moaned, “it was not my fault! Sirius heard the girl cry out, and I had to get away!”
“You want to make me happy don’t you?” the man asked.
“Yes,” the boy said fervently.
“You want to kill more of the students?”
“I…” the boy seemed momentarily confused, narrowing his eyes in concentration.
“Crucio!” the man said again, disliking hesitation. This boy had been very carefully modeled into a perfect killing machine, and hesitation was not a good sign.
“Yes!” the boy shouted between screams. “I want to kill them! I hate them! I like to kill them!”
“Yes,” the man answered, lifting the curse. “You like it, and it will make it so you have no more pain.”
“No more pain,” the boy echoed in a whimper, his mind so twisted by the torture that he believed what he was being told. He enjoyed the violence now; it was fun. Somewhere, some part of him protested against that thought, but the man made sure that the protesting parts of him were screaming in pain instead for the next several hours.
A/N: Well, here’s chapter ten, and things are getting a little more serious, a little darker, and we’re learning a bit more, but just a bit, about our antagonists. Please review and let me know what you’re thinking!