Bonds of Servitude Ch. 24

“Mistress!? Are you alright?” 

Darcia was doubled over, clutching her chest. Harry and Hermione had sprung to her side in moments. Darcia was sweating. She felt a sharp pain in her heart, a sting that was just barely easing off in intensity and made it difficult for her to even breathe. 

“I-I don't know what's going on.” She choked out. She felt cold, a deep sense of loss, like a part of herself had been shattered.

The others crowded around Darcia in worry. Fleur stood slightly off to the side, looking down at the blond with an inscrutable look.

“Come on now, Darcy, just breathe, take deep breaths!”

“Professor Black's out in the common room, maybe she has something that could help.” Pansy suggested.

Darcia held her hand out, “No, its fine. I'm starting to feel better. I just need some water.”

It was true. The pain was fading away now, the iciness she felt receding until it was only a numb chill. 

“That was freaky.” Astoria said. “Do you think something happened?” She looked to Luna, who bore a very solemn look on her impish face. 

“I do.” 

The blonde refused to elaborate further, and her words sent an chill of discomfort coursing through everyone's spines.

…

“You worthless old goat! Let me through before I blast a fucking hole through your chest!”

Dumbledore did not seem the least bit intimidated by Bellatrix's words, which only led to her becoming that much more irate.

“Bella, I need you calm right now.” Amelia said in a placating tone that didn't seem to be getting through to her. The fact that Tom's glassy stare was still pointed directly at them was not helping one bit. 

“That fucking bastard! H-He… that MOTHERFUCKER!” 

“BELLA!” Amelia snapped. “Calm down! Think of Harry!”

The mention of her godson's name finally got through to her. Bella snapped out of her rage, looking to Amelia, who nodded slowly to ease her back into reality. 

Albus glanced between both women with a slight frown, but remained silent.

“Right, fine, what do we need to do?” She was biting her lip hard enough to draw blood and digging her nails into her palms as she stared directly at Tom's severed head.

Dumbledore sighed. “What we need to do is make sure there are no further traps in the chamber. We also need to search for the horcrux's host. While it is highly unlikely, there is still a possibility that whoever is behind this is still in the chamber.”

Amelia nodded. “Lets keep a level head then.” 

Dumbledore finally dispelled his shield. The three of them swept forward as one, with Bella sidestepping around Tom's head without acknowledging it further.

They had their wands out. Amelia and Bellatrix cast every detection and diagnostic charm they could, but Dumbledore was doing the heavy lifting here. 

“The chamber is clear.” He said. Amelia cast a quick homenum revelio at the mouth of Slytherin's statue, which came up empty. “There's no one there.”

“We can't be sure.” Bellatrix said, picking up the pace. “Lumos sequi!” She whipped her wand, and an orb of white light burst from her wand and zipped over into the mouth of the statue. A few seconds later, a flash of blinding white light emerged from its dark depths.

They walked into the mouth with great caution. They found a large, cavernous chamber that was completely bare. There was a wide pipe at the back, but besides that, the only thing they found was a rustic looking crossbow-like set-up on the floor.

Amelia sent a burst of magic up the pipe while Bella and Albus inspected the strange device.

“Ingenious.” Dumbledore said. “I wondered why I sensed no danger, not even a hint of magical build up, and it was because there was no magic used at all.”

“I thought that fucker would never lower himself to using muggle methods?” Bellatrix said as she glared at the device.

“To-Voldemort was nothing if not resourceful. A sliver of his soul, feeling cornered, would go to any lengths to protect itself, even using muggle means.”

“Especially if it thought it could take you out.” Amelia pointed out.

Dumbledore nodded. “Indeed.” 

Something sparked up in Amelia's mind. Her spell had run the length of the pipe and found nothing. “There's nothing here. Not anymore.”

“I see… Fawkes!” 

In a flash of flame, the headmaster's phoenix popped into existence. Dumbledore gestured for the two witches to grab onto its tail feathers, and in another burst of flames, they vanished from the empty chamber. 

…

“Albus!” Minerva called after him as he saw the three of them materialize, frowning slightly when she counted them. “What happened to your companion?”

“He is gone, Minerva.” Albus said. McGonagall's face paled. “What happened down there?”

“It was a trap.” Bellatrix spat, clenching her fists in anger. 

“I believe we should head for the Hospital Wing. Perhaps those boys have woken up. We should be able to detect signs of exposure to dark magic in one of them.” Dumbledore said.

Bellatrix realized that they'd left Tom's body down in the chamber, but there was no time to mourn, not yet. They had to keep moving. 

Minerva joined them on their quick march down to the hospital wing. There was a nervous, tense energy in the air as they went. The trip was short, the staircases following the headmaster's will and shortening their route.

When they walked into the hospital wing, the dread that had been building up within all of them exploded.

Madam Pomfrey was unconscious, body laid out in front of Penny's bed. Even more alarmingly, all the other beds were empty. The five Slytherin boys were missing.

“Shit!”

“Enervate!”

They rushed into the room as Minerva revived Poppy. Bellatrix and Amelia immediately went to check over Penny, but the petrified girl was unharmed.

“Poppy! Poppy what happened?” 

The matron groaned as she rubbed her head. “W-What… oh no!” She gasped as she realized what happened. “Someone attacked me from behind, struck me in the back of the head.”

“One of them woke up, the one that did it.” Bellatrix said. “He pulled the others out to keep us guessing.”

“But why would he attack Poppy? He shouldn't have been possessed by the diadem.” Amelia said.

“Diadem?” Minerva questioned.

Albus rubbed his beard. “I am starting to think… yes… yes… this has all been planned well in advance. Poppy, when the boys were brought in last night, did you check under the beds?”

“Why would I?” Poppy asked, still wincing as she rubbed her head.

“You're saying they hid the horcrux under the hospital bed?” Bella asked.

“Horcrux?” Minerva asked.

“It is a possibility.” Dumbledore said. “We can't know for sure, but one thing is certain, we're locked in a game of cat and mouse, and the entire student body is in danger. We need to lock down the school.”

“How do we know he hasn't run off already?” Bellatrix said.

“He had ample opportunity to do so before.” Dumbledore pointed out. “And now he wont be able to, I have shuttered the castle wards. There will be no entry or exit from this castle that is not controlled by me. I have also sealed the common rooms. We-”

A ghostly white raven interrupted the headmaster. Professor Sinistra's patronus had burst in from the ceiling, and when it opened its beak, Sinistra's hurried voice came through.

“Headmaster, there has been an incident in Gryffindor tower, I suggest you come immediately.”

Everyone's eyes widened, Dumbledore's voice was a loud roar as he called, “Fawkes!”

The phoenix returned, and the headmaster grabbed onto its tail feather and vanished again. The others glanced at each other before they broke off into a run, all heading  towards Gryffindor tower.

In their urgency, they arrived in minutes, and they found a common room full of terrified students. One boy, Neville Longbottom, was whimpering in a corner, cradling his hand.

Sinistra looked scared, and Dumbledore's clever, calm demeanor sported the tiniest of cracks, a low rage simmering beneath the surface.

“Albus, what happened?” Minerva asked.

“We need to evacuate the students.” He said.

“What?”

Sinistra cut in. “Longbottom went to grab something near the fireplace, and that thing snapped his hand off!” She pointed towards the corner, where there was a rusted metal bear trap, glistening with fresh, crimson blood.

“We were able to reattach the hand, but then one of the students found another one in the first year showers.” Sinistra said. “There's no telling how many there are, they could be hidden anywhere.”

“Non-magical.” Amelia said as the realization dawned on her. She looked at Dumbledore. “Impossible to detect.”

“I don't want to lose my bloody leg!” Ron Weasley screamed.

“Expecto Patronum!” Amelia whipped her wand, and the ghostly image of a juvenile lion popped out of her wand. “Go to the ministry, tell Auror Shacklebolt to prepare the atrium for emergency arrivals.” 

The lion bowed its mane-less head before turning to the side and disappearing through the wall.

“We need to get these students out of here, I suggest we go quickly, common room by common room. Then, we can deal with our issue safely.” 

Dumbledore nodded. “That is a good idea. Children, line up by the fireplace, if you will.” He looked to the fireplace, which flared up into life at his command.

Bella frowned, edging closer to Albus, making sure to whisper so as to not incite even more of a panic amongst the students. “You know, we might be playing right into his hands. What if he's actually hidden amongst these kids?”

Dumbledore blinked, “That is a reasonable assumption.” He looked at the crowd of students, “We will have to check each of them before they leave. Minerva, if you could go ahead to the Ministry, I am sure it won't take long for Cornelius to find out about what is happening, and he'll have many questions.”

McGonagall did not seem eager to have to deal with the minister, but she understood. She grabbed a handful of floo powder, stepped into the fireplace, and called out the ministry atrium.

What followed was a slow but efficient grind. Students stepped up to the fireplace in pairs and flooed to the ministry. Meanwhile, Bellatrix and Amelia went up and down the line, checking and double checking to make sure they weren't hiding any dark objects.

“Those are just dungbombs.” One of the Weasley twins said as Bellatrix checked the expanded bag he'd stuffed inside his hidden pocket.

“And this?” Amelia asked the other twin as she pulled out a strange powder from inside his own bag.

“That's a little experiment, still under development, top secret.” Fred said.

“Definitely doesn't petrify students, though.” George added.

Amelia sighed, tossing the powder back in the bag and handing it back to Fred. “Just leave.”

The moment the final student was gone, Dumbledore resealed the floo. Fawkes stepped up and presented its tail-feather.

“Let me tell Andi. She might as well get started on searching the Slytherins.” Bellatrix cast her own patronus, a juvenile lion, and it ran off towards the dungeons with her instructions.

Dumbledore looked away from the disappearing patronus and nodded. “Very good, I shall inform Pomona as well.”

…

There is a lot of commotion in the Slytherin common room as they walk in.

“Auntie, what is going on?” Asked Darcia, still feeling a bit queasy.

“Kids, right now, just get in line behind everyone else, pair up.” Andromeda said, her face softening at their confused faces. “I know about as much as you, we're going to evacuate the castle. We'll get things sorted out later.”

They could hear the tenseness in Andromeda's tone and asked no further questions. Everyone paired off, with Susan being the lucky winner and ending up with Harry by her side.

Dumbledore, Amelia and Bellatrix soon arrived in a flash of flame, all looking just a little bit more harried. 

“Bella looks upset.” Harry said with a frown. 

Susan squeezed his hand. “We'll find out soon, Harry. Lets just do what they say for now.”

“Children, you will all be flooing in pairs to the ministry Atrium. There are professors and aurors there waiting for you.”

“Why is this happening? Is the school in danger?” One girl asked.

“Duh, isn't it obvious, you idiot? This wouldn't be happening otherwise.”

“I need for you all to remain calm. Your safety is paramount, please, if you would.” Dumbledore gestured towards the fireplace.

The first pair of students stepped up, and then the next. Harry and the girls had been the last to arrive, and so they were at the back of the line.

“Bella, are you ok?” Harry asked his godmother when it was only them remaining.

Bella choked slightly. “I-I'll be fine, Harry. Please, just leave. I'll handle it, my love.”

Harry nodded morosely as he and Susan stepped into the green flames. Susan called out their destination, and as they began to spin, Harry noticed something weird. 

There were some runes carved into the inner wall of the fireplace.

When the last student left, Amelia let out a breath and looked at Andi. “Andromeda…”

“I'm staying.” Andi said. “I may not be as much of a fighter as Bella, but I can hold my own.” She looked to the headmaster. “Who else is left, headmaster?”

“Filius took Miss Clearwater to St. Mungos along with Poppy. He will return shortly. Everyone else has been evacuated.”

They walked out of the common room and out onto the dungeons. “So now the hunt begins.” Amelia said. “We are looking for five Slytherin boys, we cannot be sure which one of them is being possessed by the horcrux, so we must assume anyone we encounter is the one.”

“Curse first, ask questions later. I can do that.” Bellatrix twirled her wand, a vicious edge to her voice.

“Stun first.” Dumbledore corrected. “Now come, I told Filius to meet us on the third floor, we will regroup from there. Use extreme caution, we must remember there is a basilisk on the loose.”

 Just as they stepped out onto the second floor, the door to a room - Minerva's quarters, actually - popped open. They all turned immediately, wands at the ready. The two figures that stepped out on led to their confusion.

“Mister Rosier, Miss Dewey.” Dumbledore looked at the two fourth year Slytherins that stumbled out of the room. “What are you doing here? Why did you not floo to the ministry?”

This was all so strange. They'd all been there, they'd paid extra attention, making sure that the students called out the proper address. 

“W-We don't know, headmaster,” Rosier said fearfully. “The floo just spit us out here.”

Both teens looked absolutely terrified. The adults glanced at each other, the realization of what this implied dawning slowly upon all of them.

“Fuck!”

…

Susan was grabbing onto Harry for dear life, pressing her sizable bust up against his side, though she made sure not to be too overtly sexual in her embrace, since they would have an audience when they arrived. 

Except when the spinning stopped and they stumbled out of the fireplace, it quickly became apparent that they were not where they were supposed to be.

“Wait, what's going on?” Susan asked as they walked around the room.

It was a rather spartan bedroom, with clothes strewn all over the place. Harry recognized it instantly.

“This is Bella's room.” He said.

Susan turned around and grabbed a handful of floo powder. Following her lead, Harry held his wand out and cast an incendio at the logs behind the grate.

The logs caught fire quickly, but when Susan tossed in the floo powder, they did not change color. The floo was locked.

“Someone did this.” Harry said, remembering the rune he saw. His face darkened. “The person that petrified Penny.”

Susan grabbed his arm to try and temper his flaring anger. “Come on, Harry, lets get out of here, we need to find a professor.”

They left Bella's quarters behind and decided to head back down towards the dungeons, figuring that the professors wouldn't be too far away from there.

Almost immediately upon leaving, though, they stumbled upon someone. A familiar face, bound up and gagged, propped up against a corner.

“Flint?!” Susan 

The fifth year was struggling against his bonds, trying to wriggle his way out. Harry walked over and removed the rope gagging his mouth. Flint let out a gasping breath. “Godfuckingdamnit!”

“Who did this to you?” Harry asked. 

“It was probably one of you fucking brats!” Flint screamed. He fixed his face to spit at them, but Harry's hand moved in a flash, giving him a whip-like slap across the face that left both Susan and him stunned.

“So you didn't see who did it?” Harry's voice was cold, devoid of emotion.

“I-I just woke up here, man! I don't know how the fuck I got here!”

Harry nodded. Susan bent over, getting a closer look at Flint's bonds.

“W-What are you-” Any insult died on his lips when he saw the look on Harry's face. He swallowed. “L-Listen, can you just let me go? This is getting too fucking freaky, I don't give a fuck about running Hogwarts anymore.”

Harry nodded, and with a diffindo that cut a little bit too close to the flesh, the ropes fell away.

Flint scrambled to his feet and immediately sprinted off, ashen faced.

“The castle's locked down! Find a professor!” Susan yelled out to him. 

“Susan.” Harry said. “You noticed something, didn't you?”

Susan looked at her lover and nodded. “I did, I recognize that rope.”

Harry blinked in confusion. “You do?”

She looked down at the torn threads laid out in front of them. “I do. Its not conjured, that type of rope isn't as thick as this. I've seen this out on the grounds, for enclosures and stuff.” 

She glanced back up at Harry with a frown. “This is Hagrid's”

…

Darcia had ridden the floo with Fleur, and they came out onto a fireplace near the great hall. The two blondes had the same idea as Susan and Harry, make their way back to the dungeons to link up with the professors.

“Did you hear that?” Darcia turned her head suspiciously, staring at the walls as if something was going to jump out at her.

“There was hissing.” Fleur acknowledged. She had a very close eye on Darcia. She could not allow the girl to die. No, Darcia Malfoy dying prematurely would be catastrophic for the veela race. “I do not hear it any longer.”

Darcia's eyes narrowed as she gripped her wand. “I wonder if that's what petrified Penny. Fuck, I wish my aunts would have told me what was going on beforehand.” If she'd been better informed, she'd have a semblance of an idea of what was going on.

“Urrghh.” 

Both girls whipped around, with Fleur stepping up in front of Darcia.

A massive, bearded man was groggily coming to, running his hands over his face. 

“You're the groundskeeper, aren't you?” Darcia asked, not recalling the man's name.

Hagrid looked up at them. He slowly began to get up. “That I am. Yer tha’ Malfoy girl, aren't ya’?” 

“What were you doing here?” Fleur asked.

Hagrid rubbed his beard. “Can't quite remember, ta’ be honest. I know Professer’ Flitwick told me to use this floo.” He pointed towards the fireplace the girls had exited from. “Only one big enough ta’ fit me, you see.”

“Do you have a way of hailing the other professors?” Darcia asked.

“Well, ya see, I'm not really allowed ta’ use magic. Only under certain circumstances. And I don't have me’ umbrella with me.”

Darcia and Fleur didn't know what the umbrella had to do with him performing magic, but it didn't matter. “I guess we can all go find the professors together.”

Hagrid smiled. “Thats a good idea. Probably not good to be out here alone, Merlin knows who's doin’ this.” He began to glance around the floor, searching for something. “Ya’ didn't happen to see a knapsack anywhere, did ya?”

Both Darcia and Fleur shook their head.

“Ah, no matter, I'm sure I'll find it.”

…

“Tippy!” Bellatrix called out, only for nothing to happen.

Dumbledore was frowning as the small group of students huddled together. The professors had made a ring around them. They'd met with Flitwick, who had brought along several more Slytherins that he'd picked up along the way. Most of the house was still missing, though, spread out about the castle.

Bellatrix had had the brilliant idea to summon the Hogwarts elves. The little creatures were quite powerful, and they could move through the wards with ease and locate every single student. Really, it was an oversight that they hadn't thought to use them first.

But when Dumbledore had attempted to call one of the elves, none of them answered.

“We're five steps behind.” He said. “Everything we're doing is playing right into his hands.”

…

Daphne was walking around with Ginny. She was worried, worried about her sister and her friends and her Harry, but right now, she needed to be strong.

She held onto Ginny's hand as the two of them walked through the castle, the empty hallways now looking ominous, danger lurking around every corner.

“I hear footsteps.” Ginny whispered. Daphne held her wand out, feeling a strange fire welling up in her palm as she pulled Ginny behind her.

“Fleur?” A familiar voice called out from around the corner. Daphne relaxed. “No, its me, Susan.”

“Daph.” She heard both Susan and Harry speak, and she and Ginny ran over, joining them in a tight hug.

“I swear I thought it was Fleur.” Susan said as she squeezed her hand around Ginny's waist. “You guys found anyone?”

Ginny shook her head. “You're the first ones we ran into.” 

“We ran into Flint. I… Daph, remember when we saw all those dead chickens out near the lake?”

Daphne blinked. “Erm, yeah. Hagrid said he couldn't figure out who was killing them. Why?”

Susan only frowned, shaking her head.

Harry, meanwhile, was keeping his head on a swivel, looking out for anything that could endanger his girls.

“Come on, lets meet up with the others.”

The girls all complied immediately, following after him as they continued on their journey through the eerily silent halls.

…

“Oh god.” 

Amelia hadn't become head auror by sitting behind a desk. She'd been out on the field for over a decade, and as an auror, especially during the darkest days of the war, she'd witnessed some disturbing scenes.

Despite this, she struggled to keep from retching as she and Dumbledore walked into the kitchens. They'd found most of the Slytherin students already, and they'd left Flitwick in a classroom to watch over them. Andromeda and Bellatrix continued to search for the rest, especially the missing boys from the hospital wing. 

Albus and Amelia, then, had taken a quick trip down to the kitchens. The elves weren't responding, they needed to know why.

Now they knew why. It was an absolute massacre, an orgy of blood and guts and dead house elves strewn all across the kitchens.

“He killed every single one.” Amelia mouthed.

Dumbledore was quite disturbed as well. The horcrux had thought this through, very thoroughly, and that, above all else, was what worried him the most.

….

“Alright, now I'm sure that I heard something hiss!” Darcia said as she whipped her head around, looking to the walls in search of a sound that was no longer there.

Fleur's eyes narrowed. Hagrid rubbed the back of his head. “I din’ hear nothin’” 

“Someone's there! Can you get these stupid idiots out of my bathroom?!”

Moaning Myrtle burst out through the door of her bathroom, looking mighty pissed.

“Myrtle, what are you talking about?” Darcia asked.

“Someone thought it would be funny to tie up some boys and leave them all around my bathroom. And they're not even cute!”

Hagrid stumbled over, the door creaking as he pushed it open. At the same time, the hissing from the pipes returned.

The half-giant was forced to crouch down and squeeze his shoulders back to fit in through the frame, which rattled.

“What in tha’ blazes!” 

Fleur and Darcia followed after him, and as they drew closer, they were able to see something beyond Hagrid's massive frame.

There were four slytherin boys tied up around the bathroom, all squirming and struggling against the ropes that bound them. Montague was dragging his body along the floor like a worm as Myrtle looked down at him in disgust.

Hagrid, meanwhile, was walking towards one of the sinks. “Wadya you know, my bag was here all along.” 

A worn brown knapsack was resting on top of one of the sinks, leaning against the glass mirror. 

Darcia's heart began to thump, something was off about all of this. She could feel something sinister in the air. Suddenly, she felt like she shouldn't let the gamekeeper touch that bag.

A ball of orange flame suddenly singed Hagrid's hand.

“BLOODY HELL!” The half-giant swiped his hand back, shaking it as he grimaced in pain, though his tough skin meant that Fleur's veela fire did not burn him too deeply.

“What in the hell are ya’ thinkin’, girl?!” He screamed gruffly at Fleur.

Fleur stared him down, another fireball swirling in her hand as she pulled Darcia behind her.

“Darcia?! Fleur?! Get away from him!” 

Susan's distressed voice startled them, and when Hagrid made a sudden movement, Fleur cast her fireball at him again, catching him in the shoulder, though it barely made him budge.

Hagrid's face was a deep red now, seemingly enraged, and as he opened his mouth, letting out a loud roar, he reached back to grab his knapsack.

A flurry of stunning charms rushed in towards him. He provided such a large target, they couldn't miss. They all bounced off of him, sparking off like bullets careening off concrete. 

Then, two fireballs flew towards him, one smaller than Fleur's and the other large and a pure white. They struck him in the chest, and Hagrid's eyes widened as he was lifted off the ground and thrown against the wall, mirrors and sinks shattering from the impact.

He struggled to stay conscious, but as his body slid down the wall and the shards of porcelain crinkled around him, and as Myrtle screamed her ghostly lungs off, Hagrid's eyes finally closed and his head dropped off to the side.

Darcia and Fleur backed out of the bathroom. Harry still had his hand out, eyes narrowed at Hagrid, while Daphne was staring at her own hand in complete shock.

Right at that moment, several people converged on them. Hermione, Gemma, Tracey and Pansy came from one side. From another end, Bella and Andi were rushing in, herding Luna and Astoria along with them.

Pretty soon Dumbledore and Amelia were summoned. The Slytherin boys were cut loose, and Albus inspected their ropes with a frown.

“This is certainly Hagrid's” He said as he held one thread between his palms.

Amelia waved her wand over the half-giant's knapsack, which glowed a deep purple. “There's something dark in there.”

“The horcrux.” Andromeda said, shooting a weary glance toward the children, who were all outside the bathroom, a safe distance away.

Dumbledore sighed. “To think he would use Hagrid, of all people.” 

“I suggest we keep the big man tied up and unconscious, at least for now. There's no telling if Voldemort left some residual influences in him.” Amelia said.

Dumbledore nodded. “Very well. Let us take everyone outside. I will be able to create portkeys once we're at the edge of the castle wards.”

They walked out, with Bellatrix levitating a bound Hagrid and Dumbledore doing the same to Hagrid's knapsack, which he held out a a considerable distance, treating it as a hazardous material that could explode at any moment.

Andromeda sent her lion patronus ahead to let Flitwick know to bring the students down to the front gates.

“Daph, is everything ok?” Astoria asked her sister, who kept glancing at Fleur before looking down at her own hands. 

“I'm fine.” She said. No one had seen her toss the fireball, and in all the uproar of what had happened, no one had really questioned where it had come from.

Darcia, meanwhile, wanted to ask her aunts to elaborate on what was going on. Clearly, this was connected to that terrible feeling she'd had earlier.

They met up with Flitwick and the other Slytherins near the great hall. Everyone was looking warily at Hagrid's bound form, many mumbling disparaging remarks as they were all ushered out into the great hall and then further through the massive entrance doors.

As the students poured out onto the grounds, they made the rapid march out onto the edge of the wards, until finally, Dumbledore raised a hand up high in the air, and everyone stopped.

“This is good enough.” With a wave of his wand, the ropes that had been used to bind Flint and the others floated up into the air. He moved his arms in an intricate pattern, and the rope began to glow.

“Now, if you would all just grab ont-”

Everyone stumbled as the earth began to shake. As most of the students screamed, dropping to the ground and covering their heads, Harry, the girls and the adults all turned to look towards the castle.

The double doors were blasted open with a violent crack as a massive body burst out from inside. Green scales glinted in the sun as one of the entrance doors was blown off its hinges and launched high into the air, flying hundreds of yards until it wedged itself onto one of the castle's turrets.

“Cover your eyes!” Dumbledore screamed, though it was too late, of course, they were all looking at it, unable to look away as a fifty-foot basilisk barreled out from the castle like a freight-train.

Yet, no one died. The basilisk had its eyes shut, and it kept them that way. Bellatrix was the first to react, sending a bolt of red lighning from her wand that struck the great serpent's hide and did not leave even a blemish on its scales.

As the students cowered in fear, the adults tried in vain to attack. Dumbledore summoned a mass of swirling dark clouds, pregnant with blackness, and sent a gargantuan bolt of black lightning down onto the serpent's head. 

The lightning cracked, releasing such power that the hairs on everyone's arms were singed off and nearby trees were completely stripped of their foliage. 

The basilisk was stunned for perhaps a moment, its body wavering from side to side as it shook its head, but it recovered quickly, and it moved on.

It moved on towards the forest, plowing through trees as its gigantic body moved with unbelievable speed, disappearing into the darkness within moments.

“T-That… we need to kill that thing!” Amelia said as they continued to hear the trees being felled in the king of serpent's path.

Dumbledore, meanwhile, was looking at Hagrid, and then he turned to his knapsack.

He walked over to it, flipping it open and digging his hand inside.

“Dumbledore! There's a fucking horcrux in there!” Bellatrix hissed.

“There isn't.” He said, pulling out a shrunken head, a head that swirled with a malevolent aura, but not a horcrux.

“This was a decoy.” He said as he crushed the head in his hand, uncaring as the skin on his palm began to peel away. “We've been playing into his hands all along.” He looked to Hagrid. “And for a second time, he's managed to frame Rubeus.”

“Hagrid didn't do it?” Andi asked. “Then who did?”

Susan, who had been listening in, gasped suddenly. “Oh god!” 

“What is it, Susan?” Amelia asked her niece.

Susan paled considerably now, her mind putting the pieces together. Her mouth trembled as she opened it. 

“Where's Flich?”

…

“We've been able to contact some of the parents, and they're on their way to pick their children up. Quite a few ministry employees are seeking approval to have their children with them while they work, at least until this is all sorted out.”

Cornelius Fudge waved his hand dismissively at the auror - he couldn't even recall the man's name - as he stood by the door of his office. “Until either Dumbledore or Bones finally show their faces, I do not want to be disturbed.”

“Yes, sir.” The tall black auror took the dismissal and turned away immediately, allowing Cornelius to finally close the door to his office.

He tapped his wand on the door and the inlaid privacy charm activated. It had been a hectic day, and he needed time to himself.

It had been a glorious few months, riding the wave of his newfound popularity to rejuvenate his previously moribund administration. 

Then, this morning, just a few hours into his day, the atrium had been flooded with Hogwarts students. Hell, it had been occupied by the entire damn school.

McGonagall and the other professors could only speak vaguely about perilous danger at Hogwarts. Dumbledore was nowhere to be seen, and worst of all, an entire house worth of students was missing!

It was headache after headache as the machinery that kept wizarding Britain functioning ground to a halt. It was a complete mess.

Now that he had some time to himself, though, Cornelius realized this was a blessing in disguise. In fact, fuck the disguise, this was just an out and out blessing.

Dumbledore had screwed up, royally. According to the aurors, Bones had been summoned to the castle earlier in the morning, before the haphazard evacuation, which meant this whole fiasco was on her head as well.

In one fell swoop, he had the chance to cripple the two greatest threats to his power. This might actually be the most glorious day of his public career.

“Minister, would you mind?”

Cornelius was startled as he spun around. “Who in Merlin's name… aren't you that custodian?” He squinted as he took in the old man's gnarled features. “You're a squib, aren't you?”

“You are quite a powerful man, aren't you, minister?” Filch asked in a calm, cold voice.

“You figure?” Fudge spouted back in irritation. “Now listen here, what the hell do you think you're doing in my office?”

“No worries, I won't be here long.” 

Filch then proceeded to pull out a syringe filled with a strange green substance. Cornelius had all of two seconds to register just what he was holding up in his hand when Filch plunged it down, needle punching right through the back of his hand, crunching through brittle bone.

“AAAAAARGH!” Cornelius shrieked as fresh waves of agony coursed through his body. Then, as the green substance began to seep into his bloodstream, a cold, icy numbness gripped his body.

He found that he was unable to move his body. He was paralyzed, unable to budge even his eyeballs, which were fixed precisely on the point where the last of the substance drained down into his body.

“It's something between a calming drought, and the drought of living death.” Filch explained. His voice sounded fuzzy to Fudge's ears, static tickling his eardrums with each word. “You'll find that you can't move. The device, on the other hand, is a muggle invention. It seems that delivering potions directly through the bloodstream has a greater effect than consuming it orally.”

The old man let out a raspy laugh that scratched away at Fudge's ear. “Those muggles can be quite ingenious, really. And that's very high praise coming from me. You see, I am Lord Voldermort.”

Cornelius strained, panic rising as he desperately wanted to scream, as if screaming would make this all end, would wake him up from the horrible nightmare.

“You know, the name sounds wrong even as I say it. I am no longer him. No, he has forced me to evolve, to become better.”

Filch lifted Fudge's chin up until his eyes were finally level with him. The old man then grabbed a knife, bringing it up to his own collar and tearing down through his robe.

He exposed his chest. It was frail, leathery skin dry and pockmarked. And there, over his heart, sticking out in a tight arch, was a diadem, glittering with diamonds and gems of all sorts.

“He needed me, but he was also wary of me, as he rightfully should have. He trapped me in this body, unable to cast even the simplest of magic, only allowed to remain a parselmouth to further his plans. And that was his mistake, he thought I would follow his designs, that I would bow down to him as the master soul.”

Filch scoffed, rapping his knuckles on Fudge's desk, “But he was mistaken. He has given me a gift. He has led me to be better than he ever could have been. I've been forced to be resourceful, forced to challenge my preconceived notions. And I've become all the better for it. And now…”

Filch reached inside his robe and rolled out a mat, lined with several different tools. Scalpels, sutures, clamps and the like.

“He thought he trapped me in this body, but he only bound me to this heart.” He grinned evilly at Cornelius as he artfully picked up a knife.

“If you would, Minister, I would like to introduce you to another wonderful muggle invention. I've been studying it quite intensely over the past few months, as the poor Hogwarts elves can attest to. It's called surgery.”

No matter how hard he tried, Cornelius couldn't scream. His tongue was numb and heavy in his mouth, and every single ounce of terror he felt was focused inward as Filch approached him with the knife.

“Do not fret, Minister, you won't feel a thing.”