Chapter Seventeen: The Gathering
“Crucio!” the voice shouted angrily, and the man fell back to the ground for the third time, screaming in agony that seemed to last forever.
When the spell was finally lifted, the man lay twitching on the ground, waiting for the next round.
“I think of myself as a fair master,” the voice said, its anger suddenly replaced by a friendly, understanding tone. “I asked only that someone be killed at the last Quidditch match, which should have been simple. Your student friend was playing in the game and was perfectly positioned to carry out his mission.” The voice went cold once more. “Why did he fail? Is he not as obedient as you have led me to believe?”
The man struggled to rise to his knees, though he kept his eyes averted from his master’s shadowy form. “Master, I swear, the conditioning was working. It’s possible that it could be wearing off, since we’ve had so few opportunities to train him once school started. I’m sure he’ll be performing properly after tonight.” The tone of the man’s voice promised pain unimaginable for the poor wretch.
“Very well,” the voice said suddenly, tired of wasting its time while those he truly wished to cause pain remained free. “I have decided to move ahead with my plan. Do you have the numbers you need?”
“Yes, my lord,” the man said eagerly, practically groveling in his relief at being spared further torture. “You have more Death Eaters than ever, since they’ve been reassured that you will remove Harry Potter personally. Without a champion, the Wizarding world will be ours.”
“And are you prepared to do your part?” the voice asked forcefully. “Are you ready to do what is necessary for our plan to succeed?”
“Yes, master,” the man said proudly, finally daring to lift up his head. “He will never suspect a thing.”
“Be sure that he doesn’t,” the voice answered. “Your place at my side has always been because of your position, and not for any amount of talent. If you succeed, that place will be assured for as long as you live, but if you fail… well, I suppose the conditions are the same, except that you won’t live long.”
The voice laughed while the man paled visibly. He was scared, of course; no one would dare take a threat from the Dark Lord lightly, but he was confident even so. No one would suspect him until it was too late.
***
Fred rubbed his eyes wearily as he sat behind his huge desk in his large and well-appointed office at the top of Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes headquarters. The office was almost a second home for him, since he spent so much time here. A private Floo connection to his house kept him accessible for his wife and children, and he always Apparated home for lunch and dinner. He was pulling a late night, though, trying to balance the company books and total the profits for the year. It was a tedious task for sure, but Fred found that he enjoyed it; the insane amounts of money they made always brought a smile to his face.
“Still balancing the books?” George asked from the doorway that connected their offices, leaning against the jam and looking positively smug.
“Yeah,” Fred answered cautiously, knowing George was excited about something. “What are you on about?”
“You know those Slythering Sheets we just finished preparing for production? We’ve taken them through the primary market research phase, and they showed top ratings. I think it’ll be another best-seller,” George declared with a satisfied wink.
“That will make another nice check for my boys,” Fred said with a satisfied smile. “I hope they’re saving at least some of the money they’re making.”
Fred and George were deeply amused by the quadruplets’ efforts to keep their father and uncle in the dark about who was inventing so many successful products. Fred and George kept quiet about knowing, figuring the intrigue would only fuel their creativity.
“The only question I see is whether we let them finish school before offering them a job,” George answered happily. “We had better make the offer soon, or they might decide to open their own store. I don’t know if we could handle the competition.”
“They’ve got more loyalty to the family brand than that,” Fred said in a huff. “Besides, if I tried to let them out of school early, Jacquelyn would kill me.”
“That she would,” George answered seriously.
Any further response was cut off as the entire wall at the front of Fred’s office, including the front door, exploded into the room, knocking the twins back and to the floor. They also heard a similar explosion from George’s office, and realized quickly they were under attack. Both were hit dozens of times with bits of wood and plaster shrapnel, and the numerous cuts and scrapes had them looking very injured indeed, though neither was actually badly hurt.
“Do you think someone’s upset that we’ve been opening up so many new markets, lately? Maybe it’s a competitor in the US; those guys are all crazy,” George shouted as he leaped to his feet and drew his wand. Security at headquarters was very tight, and George found himself quite worried about the dozen witches and wizards who should have been on duty even this late at night.
“I don’t think so,” Fred answered grimly, also on his feet with his wand ready.
Masked Death Eaters swarmed into the room as the dust began clearing, and a furious battle ensued. Even outnumbered, Fred and George had always been more than proficient duelers, and practically everything in the office was enchanted one way or another. Spells that should have connected to them ended up bouncing back at the Death Eaters, and every so often one of the twins would trigger a spell and something else in the office would explode in a cloud of brightly colored smoke. They worked perfectly as a team, as they always had, and soon had eight of the Death Eaters unconscious on the floor, but the sheer numbers of the Death Eaters soon had them completely surrounded.
“Stop!” one of the Death Eaters shouted, and Fred and George found themselves facing more than a dozen raised wands, though no one was casting spells. They decided to see what the Death Eater had to say, and merely held their wands at the ready as well.
“I believe we have an infestation, Fred,” George remarked flippantly, looking around in disgust.
“I think Pesky Pixie Pest Control is still open, shall we give them a call?” Fred asked back, sounding completely unconcerned, though inwardly both of them were desperately wondering how they were going to get out of this mess.
“Lockhart is such a pain to deal with, though,” George answered with a sigh. “I think Hermione and Neville should have left him without his memory. He was more fun that way.”
“Silence!” the Death Eater who had spoken earlier shouted. “I have been instructed to capture the two of you alive, and I think you realize that we have the means to do that. If you come quietly, I won’t use that Floo connection over there. I was given no orders about your families remaining alive.”
Fred’s eyes narrowed dangerously for a moment before he spoke. “I don’t think you deserve an easy capture, and threatening my family won’t help. My wife would tear the lot of you to pieces.”
Fred and George immediately began launching spells again, taking two more of the Death Eaters out before they realized their threat wasn’t going to work.
“I’ll bring his wife back then,” the Death Eater snarled, grabbing a handful of Floo Powder and throwing it into the fire. “Seeing her tortured should make them see differently.”
The moment he stepped into the fire there was a deafening explosion, and Fred and George laughed at their own cleverness. The Floo connections had been designed to work only for family, and anyone else would be shot back out of the fireplace like a cannon. Their mirth was cut short however, as the cocky Death Eater’s screaming body collided with both of them, knocking them down and tangling them up. Within moments the remaining Death Eaters had them Stunned, and the entire group left the building and Apparated away soon after.
***
Ginny yawned as she finally put the last book into its spot on the bookshelves. Madame Pince had had a rough day, throwing at least a dozen students out of the library for unruly behavior, and Ginny had offered to finish up for the evening. Surprisingly, the old librarian had agreed, and Ginny had been learning just how much more she needed to learn before she could run the library by herself. Granted, she probably wouldn’t be the Librarian for more than another year or two, but she needed to learn everything before Madame Pince left so that she could train her own replacement.
Ginny made her way through the library one last time, making sure it was empty, before finally locking the door and heading toward her room. She could have gone home, but Harry was working a late shift on the Knight Bus, and wouldn’t be home until late anyway, so she planned on staying at Hogwarts and getting an early start in the library the next morning.
“What have we here?” she asked suddenly, as she came upon a book lying open, face down, in the hallway. “Hmmm… ‘Quidditch Through the Ages, property of Hogwarts Library,’” she read out loud before bending down to pick up the book. Sometimes students were just so irresponsible, she thought, when she suddenly felt a familiar tugging from behind her navel and vanished, book and all.
***
Ron sat on the bed, carefully watching the Marauder’s Map for anything suspicious, and absently eating from a huge box of Every Flavor Beans. Sirius and the quadruplets hadn’t yet gotten the map back after the last Quidditch match, and Ron hadn’t pressed them, deciding they could use a rest from the responsibility. Hermione was sitting over at her desk reviewing her lesson plans for the next month and making any changes she saw necessary; she always had her lesson plans finished through the year before school ever started, but she was also correcting them throughout the entire year as her perfectionist attitude would allow nothing less.
Suddenly, Ron saw three things that looked completely out of place on the Map, and turned toward Hermione.
“Ginny just vanished from off the Map!” he said in shock.
“That’s impossible,” Hermione said, blinking back at him in surprise.
“I’m telling you, I saw…” Ron began angrily before Hermione interrupted him.
“I believe you, Ron, really. I was just saying that it shouldn’t be possible. Was there anything else around her, any clue as to what happened? I think we’d better get to the Headmaster’s office,” Hermione said, annoyed at Ron for getting defensive, and then growing worried the more she thought of the implications of Ginny disappearing. “Should we get Harry?”
“There’s one other thing,” Ron said, his concerned look turning to confusion. “Did Crabbe and Goyle both name their children after themselves?”
“I can never remember their first names, Ron,” Hermione said sharply. “Why?”
“They’re both right outside our door for some reason,” Ron said tellingly while pulling out his wand.
Even knowing they were out there, Ron and Hermione weren’t ready for what happened next. Their door flew open and a glass vial was thrown into the room where it broke on the stone floor, immediately sending up great clouds of purple smoke. Ron acted immediately, vanishing the Marauder’s Map and sending it to Sirius, the first person he thought of, or so he hoped; he’d never been the best at those sorts of spells.
Already feeling drowsy, Ron shouted in anger and began casting spells through the doorway; Hermione was already asleep on the floor, and the sight of her lying helpless drove him beyond his own sudden exhaustion. His reflexes were so dulled from the potion, however, that he wasn’t able to dodge or deflect the stunning spell that was casually sent his way.
***
Samantha was exhausted, sitting next to her brother in the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey had declared him to be out of danger, but he still hadn’t woken up. Sirius had stayed with her for a long time, but had gone off to talk to his older siblings, and Samantha hadn’t been ready to leave. Now, though, she was ready for bed. She gave her brother’s hand one final squeeze and got up. As she neared the door, though, someone else opened it from the other side. Fighting back her sudden fear, since she had been attacked outside the hospital wing once before, Samantha was surprised and relieved to see Sirius’ sister, Muriel, peeking through.
“Hi Samantha,” the younger girl said softly. “How’s Greg doing?”
“He’s fine,” Samantha said with a tired smile, “I’m sure he’ll be awake soon. What are you doing here?”
“I heard Sirius tell Lillian and James you were down here by yourself, and I thought you might like the company,” Muriel said, grinning back.
“Well, I’m heading back now. Would you like to walk with me?” Samantha asked.
“Sure,” Muriel answered, happy to be accepted by the older student.
The two chatted amiably as they headed down the corridors together, and both jumped in surprise as an unexpected voice interrupted them halfway to the Gryffindor common room.
“You two shouldn’t be out of your common room this late at night,” Frank Longbottom said as he came closer from an intersecting hallway.
Samantha was surprised at how haggard he looked, as though he hadn’t slept in days.
“We were just coming from the hospital wing, Frank,” she explained. “We’re just heading back to the common room now.”
Frank just shook his head in resignation. “I’m sorry, Samantha; you weren’t supposed to be involved.”
Both girls looked at the older boy in confusion. Both were stunned before they knew what was going on, and Frank put his wand away with a sigh, still shaking his head.
A/N: I hope everyone had a merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!