Ch 34 Following a Cold Trail
Lupin shouted out to Harry as the room grew colder and the walls shook more furiously. "Harry! Harry! We'll find her but we need to get everyone here back to Hogwarts. Can you teleport Samuel back and then I'll take the girls back…"
"Harry. Harry, we need your help. We need to get the others back to Hogwarts, you're the only one that can help right now," urged Luna as she gently grasped his elbow.
Harry opened his eyes and blinked, as if seeing the room and its occupants for the first time. He turned to look at Luna and took the hood that had been on her head and muttered "Portus." Giving it back to her, he added "Have the other girls hold on to it and say `Hogwarts.' I've bypassed the wards so that it will take you all straight to the hospital wing." He then ran over to Samuel's side and looked up at Lupin with concern. "Do we dare teleport him in this condition?"
"I'm afraid he won't last long enough to make the trip on a broom."
"What if I bring a Healer to stabilize him until he can be moved?"
"That will be fine, but hurry. Bring back Nuncy. She's the best in London."
Harry nodded and disappeared.
He appeared at the front desk of the Wizarding hospital to a very surprised reception witch. "I need to find…"
"Excuse me young man, but I was here first. I simply have to have this wart removed, now please step aside."
"And I have a friend who's bleeding to death as we speak so I think you can wait just a bloody minute," countered Harry angrily.
"Now listen here you cheeky little"
Harry whirled on him, his eyes blazing. "If my friend dies I guarantee that wart will be the least of your problems when I'm through with you." Harry then turned back to the frightened receptionist and demanded, "Where is Dr. Nuncy?"
"She-she's on the fourth floor Mr. Potter," she managed.
"Pot-Potter?" stammered the suddenly pale wizard, but Harry had already disappeared.
"Dr. Nuncy! Dr. Nuncy!" shouted Harry on the fourth floor.
At the end of the hall out stepped a middle-aged, dark haired woman with glasses. "What is all the fuss about? I'm not deaf," she declared.
"Dr. Nuncy, my friend has been badly hurt. He's bleeding severely and we weren't sure we could Apparate him safely. I need to take you to him right away. Is there anything you need?" asked Harry quickly as he ran towards her.
"Who are…are you Harry Potter?"
"Yes. Can you help?"
"Of course, just let me grab my bag and my broom and we'll go straight…"
"Forget the broom, I'll take you straight there myself."
She looked at him oddly for a moment and then ducked into her office. She quickly reappeared with a large black satchel in one hand and her wand in the other.
"Is that all you need?" asked Harry. At her nod, he reached for her shoulder and they reappeared at Samuel's side. Lupin was still there, pressing hard on Samuel's side with some torn robes. There were several Aurors inspecting the room, looking for clues, but all the girls had gone back to Hogwarts.
Dr. Nuncy paled slightly at the scene in the room, but moved quickly towards Samuel and opened her satchel. She gave him a potion that seemed to relax him and then moved Lupin aside to examine his wounds. She frowned and pulled out several more vials and her wand. "If you two want to be useful, make me a clean table, some sheets, and we'll put him on it so I can start. Hurry."
Harry and Lupin quickly did as they were asked, creating as sterile an environment as they could so she could work on Samuel. "Check for vampire bites as well," urged Harry.
"Vampire…but he's been shot. Why would there be…"
"It's a long story, just trust me," replied Harry.
Realizing there was no more they could do, Harry turned towards Lupin. "Have they found anything yet? Any clue about…"
"No, nothing yet Harry. We've barely started. If you want to stay here with Samuel, I'll go talk to the girls. They might know something." Harry nodded and Lupin left. Tired of watching Dr. Nuncy work, he wandered around the room, trying to make sense of the awful events that had taken place earlier in hopes of discovering a clue. Frustrated by the lack of evidence, he went to examine the bodies outside the room with few hopes. To his astonishment, he saw that one had tried crawling away and was now collapsed on its face again about eight feet from the door. He hurried to the man's side and quickly rolled him over. Leaning down, he could barely hear the man's labored breathing.
Harry shouted "Mobilocorpus," and floated the unconscious man back into the main room. "Dr. Nuncy! Can you save this one-he might have the answers we need to find the other girl that was kidnapped."
She looked over at him sadly. "I cannot save both, they are hurt too badly. It has to be one or the other…"
"Then save him," he insisted immediately, nodding towards Samuel. "I'll take this one back to St. Mungo's."
"He may not survive long after the trip or..."
"But you can't do anything for him here and he's going to end up at the Ministry sooner or later anyways. Besides, if he dies after I talk to him-believe me, it's no big loss. Who should I have work on him?"
"Have Willard look at him. He's the best."
"That's what Lupin said about you." Then Harry and the severely injured man teleported toe the hallway on the fourth floor of St. Mungo's.
"Dr. Willard! Dr. Willard!"
"What the bloody hell is going in here?" stammered a wild haired wizard who poked his head out of a door twenty feet away. "Is this a hospital or a Quidditch pitch? What do you want?" he shouted back irritably.
"I need you to save this man's life if you can. He has information about half a dozen kidnappings and murders."
Finally seeing the heavily bleeding man floating behind Harry, he ran out of his office towards the two. "Did you-did you Apparate him here? That can be extremely dangerous for the…"
"I know, I know. We didn't have much choice. He would have bled out where he was. And no, I teleported him here," explained Harry.
"Well, help me move him into a room where I can work on him," commanded Dr. Willard.
"Hey!" shouted a man who then stepped out of Dr. Willard's office. "What about my wart?! I…" He stopped when he saw Harry glaring at him in the hall and quickly ducked back into the office. Harry would have chuckled if he wasn't worried sick about Hermione right then. His earring in his left ear was still warm, so he knew she was still alive, but he didn't know for how much longer. He had to find some answers quickly. Realizing there wasn't much more he could do until the doctors were finished, he returned to the hospital wing at Hogwarts.
*-*-*
When Harry returned to the hospital wing, he noticed that it was even fuller than before. He quickly found where the girls were resting. They were all asleep except for Luna.
"Luna? Did you…"
She looked up from the Auror who was talking to her. "I'm sorry Harry. Everything happened so fast. There were so many of them. And…"
"That's OK, Luna. Just take a moment and breathe…" urged Harry.
Luna paused for a moment, catching her breath and trying to calm herself. She then closed her eyes, as if trying to recall the events more vividly.
Harry listened with quiet intensity, nearly willing her to recall some small clue that might help him find Hermione.
"There were seventeen in all, twelve men and three women…"
"What?!" interrupted the Auror.
"Shhh!" hissed Harry at the man angrily. "Let her finish then ask your follow up questions."
"I think they were all Squibs, none of them used wands that I saw, but yet they knew enough about magic to take all of our wands, bind our hands, gag us, and put hoods over our heads. But the other two, they…they weren't human. They looked human, but there was something…something dark about them, a feeling, a sense, I…"
"They were probably vampires, Luna. I know at least one of them was. Please go on."
"That explains how they just moved from shadow to shadow. The male vampire, he just suddenly appeared right behind Hermione while we were all waiting for our sandwiches at the table. She seemed to know something was wrong because she half turned and stood up-she moved so fast I couldn't believe it but he was even faster. He grabbed her wrist and whispered something and she tried to fight but she couldn't move and then the other one appeared beside her and then Hermione fell into his arms unconscious. By then we were all standing up and moving but it was no use. I caught one with an elbow but I felt something stab me in the side and I felt like I was on fire and my body started to jerk and then I passed out. But before I went down I saw Ginny knock down two with some pretty nasty curses. I think Neville got a few, too, but I don't remember anything after that for a while.
I remember waking up and still having the hood over my face. I could hear some of the other girls crying quietly and some people talking angrily in the background. I couldn't really make out what they were saying and then I heard someone shout out loud `You owe us! The girls are for us! Their blood is ours! We demand our reward!"
And…and then there was this low, bitter laugh. It made me shiver just to hear his voice. He laughed and said, `They are not yours, their blood is not yours, but you're welcome to try and take it if you wish.' Then he laughed again and there were shouts and screams and then nothing. I don't know how long it was until you and Samuel arrived, but if you hadn't found us…"
Harry leaned forward and put a hand on her shoulder. "Thanks, Luna, that helps a lot. Unless the Auror has any more questions, why don't you try and rest as well. I'm sure Madame Pomfrey gave you a potion…"
Luna smiled slightly. "I don't care for them much. Besides, I was hoping to stay awake long enough to be of some help. How are Ron and Ginny doing?"
Harry's face tightened with anger.
"Harry, I know what Ron and Malfoy did was stupid, but it wouldn't have made any difference whether they were there or not. It was a perfectly planned ambush, we had no idea what hit us. I'm not mad at them for not being there. You shouldn't be either."
Harry simply clinched his jaw, but said nothing.
"Would you have been happier if he had been killed trying to defend us like those other wizards? Like Neville nearly was?"
Harry glared at her, but managed to mutter a low "No," in response.
"Then try and forget about it Harry. Because I don't think Ron will. If there is a trait that Ron has that's more powerful than his pride or anger, it is his sense of loyalty. And if he believes that he has somehow let you or Hermione down or betrayed you somehow, he'll probably never forgive himself. No matter how angry you are with him right now, there is nothing you can do to him that will be worse than his own sense of guilt over what happened."
Harry's features softened somewhat and he whispered, "You sound a lot like…" He stopped suddenly and stood up awkwardly, as a flash of pain crossed his face. "Thanks again Luna, I'll be back later to check in on you and the others."
*-*-*
Several hours later, Harry was in a thundering rage by the time he teleported into Dumbledore's office. Glaring around at the portraits in the empty room, Harry bellowed, "Dumbledore! Dumbledore! Where are you?!!"
"Harry, please come in. We've been looking for you…" stated Dumbledore as he stepped out from a door on one side of his office and waved his hand, beckoning Harry to come forward. He noticed how very cool the air felt and the rattling of several of his instruments as the slight tremors shaking the room bounced them against each other.
"At least you're here. I haven't been able to find anyone else, I'm sure they're trying to help Hermione, but I can't find any of them," spat out a very agitated Harry as he began pacing back and forth in Dumbledore's office.
"Harry, they're all right…"
Harry kept talking quickly as if he hadn't even heard Dumbledore speak. "I'm running out of leads. There's nothing at either of the warehouses, no clues or hints at all about where they might have taken her or why. I've spoken with the Aurors who examined the rooms and I've double-checked them again myself. There's nothing of help there. None of the other girls or witnesses knew anything more than Luna did and Samuel is still out cold, muttering nonsense in his sleep. The Squib managed to survive, but the Aurors have taken him somewhere to interrogate them and they won't let me talk to him…"
"Harry, if you'll just…" tried Dumbledore, but Harry continued, as his pacing increased and the speed and volume of his voice increased.
"I've got to talk to him-I don't have any other leads…If that damn Squib can't tell me anything than I'll have nothing to go on. Nothing!" The temperature continued to drop steadily and the tables were vibrating more strongly.
"Harry, you need to calm down and…"
"Don't tell me that I need to calm down! I AM CALM!" shouted Harry as a fire exploded in Dumbledore's fireplace. Harry pounded one of the tables with both of his fists, knocking several of Dumbledore's items tumbling to the floor. Then he glared over at Dumbledore and hissed angrily, "There hasn't been a ransom or a list of demands from the vampires, which means they're not interested in giving her back, and we both know what that…"
"Harry, we're doing everything we can do…"
"HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT?! WHAT ELSE ARE WE DOING TO FIND HER?!"
"Harry, I assure that we are doing everything possible to find her," insisted Mr. Weasley, stepping out of the same room Dumbledore had emerged from several moments earlier. "It appears that Fudge did not get along with several other ministers, but I am doing what I can to repair those relationships and get their help in…"
"What?! Repairing relationships…other ministers…what are you babbling about!" exploded Harry.
"That's enough," stated Remus forcefully as he too emerged from the room. "I understand that you're upset Harry, but that is no way to treat the Minister of Magic, let alone a good friend."
Harry glared at him and then turned his back on all of them, leaning heavily on one of the tables with clenched fists, struggling to gain control of his volatile emotions.
"Harry?" he heard two soft voices from behind him. He turned to see both Mrs. Weasley and Mrs. Granger approach him. His face softened as his mouth opened in surprise. Mrs. Weasley saw Mrs. Granger approaching and paused to let her go to Harry, though she seemed to want to try and hug Harry and comfort him as well. Over Mrs. Granger's shoulder, he saw Mr. Granger standing quietly by Remus and Mr. Weasley.
His voice trembling slightly, Harry hugged Mrs. Granger back fiercely as she threw her arms around him. "I…I'm sooo sorry. This is all my fault. I should never have left her alone. I'm sorry that I…"
"Shush, Harry. We don't blame you at all. This isn't your fault. There, there, it's alright Harry," she soothed as she tried to calm him down. For a moment, Harry relaxed in her arms but then he backed away and turned his back towards her and everyone else in the room. She tried to reach for him but held back, her hand only a few inches from his shoulder. Once again he leaned over one of the tables, trying to regain his inner balance. Mrs. Granger slowly backed away and stood by her husband. The temperature had warmed momentarily, but then dropped to arctic levels despite the roaring fire that shook the fireplace as Harry turned back towards the group as the walls and floor resumed their trembling.
When Harry raised his gaze towards the group, he looked first at Dumbledore. His green eyes blazed with intensity and the very air crackled with energy. Both women gasped as a similar thought struck both Lupin and Arthur at the same time. They shivered as they wondered if those fierce, blazing green eyes were the last thing Voldemort ever saw. Even Dumbledore seemed somewhat surprised by the power and intensity, the raw emotion, pouring off of Harry. He spoke in a very low, raw voice that shook slightly, as if he were barely in control. "I will find her. I don't care how far they've taken her or where they've hidden her. If I have to take apart every castle and catacomb from here to Beijing stone by stone, I will find her." He then looked towards Hermione's parents. "I give you my oath that I will not rest until I have found Hermione and brought her back. I swear it."
The wizards and Mrs. Weasley gasped, and then Mr. Weasley stepped forward. "Harry, I will do everything I can to find her. I promise. Mr. and Mrs. Granger, if you will please follow me. Molly, you too, please." The three looked slightly surprised but then followed him out, though Molly and Mrs. Granger looked like they wanted to say something more to Harry.
Arthur led them all down the stairs and towards the front doors of the castle. He took them to the front gates and then created a portkey to take the Grangers home. "I'll see you in the Burrow shortly Molly. I'll take the Grangers home." She nodded and disappeared. A moment later the three found themselves in the Granger kitchen. "I am truly sorry for the disappearance of Hermione. She is a very good friend of our family. I promise you that we will do everything in our power to find her and bring her back." He paused and then added. "I'm sure you realize that Harry cares very deeply for your daughter. What you may not realize is that Harry made a very special promise tonight. He made what is known as a wizard's oath and as such it cannot be ignored or broken without suffering severe consequences. One does not make such an oath lightly…"
"What kinds of consequences are you talking about? Could he get arrested or something?"
Arthur chuckled, but there was no humor in it. "No, no. It depends on the oath and the power of the witch or wizard who makes it. Some have lost their magical powers, some have been driven mad, some have even lost their lives…"
"Oh my!" exclaimed Mrs. Granger as she clasped her hand over her mouth.
Her husband whispered, "I remember him saying that she means more to him than anything, that he would do anything for her, and I thought he was sincere…but I thought perhaps he was exaggerating…I mean, most boyfriends say similar sorts of things, but…but I certainly never expected something like this…"
"Harry is an outstanding young man and one of the most powerful wizards that has ever lived. If anyone has a chance of finding your daughter and returning her safe and sound, it will be Harry. I just thought you should know. I will be back tomorrow to give you an update. Try and get some sleep," he advised and then he disappeared, leaving two very tired and sad parents in a dark, quiet house.
*-*-*
Meanwhile Harry turned to stare at the remaining figures in Dumbledore's office.
"Now listen closely Harry," instructed Remus.
"I don't need another lecture," argued Harry.
"LISTEN!" roared Remus. "Our international relations with other ministries are not particularly good right now. Fudge was extremely unpopular and disliked and many are still ashamed that they did not do more to help us during our wars with Voldemort. There are a few officials that are still irritated by the snub you gave them at the Order of Merlin ceremony…"
"But…" interjected Harry.
"JUST LISTEN!" repeated Remus. "I didn't say their behavior was justifiable or even sensible, I am just describing for you the state of affairs. Now Arthur has been able to repair our relationships with several ministers, and he is working very hard with others. He has been in contact with a number of foreign officials today, and gotten quite a few promises of help.
Within our own department, we have made a lot of changes-thanks in large part to some records that came into our possession from the late Minister Fudge. But there are a few powerful individuals that resent Arthur and especially myself. Many of the Aurors view me as an outsider as well as barely human and didn't particularly appreciate my appointment. Several Aurors were not happy that I allowed you to participate in the investigations today, since you are technically not an Auror. I am not at all surprised that some of them have not been very helpful to you in my absence.
All I can say Harry, is that since you are not an Auror, you are not officially allowed to visit any prisoner we may have in custody."
Harry started to say something, but stopped at the glare he received from Remus.
"Now if that is perfectly clear, then I will be returning to Headquarters to see whether the interrogation has revealed any new information. If not, we will continue questioning the suspect tomorrow morning. If we find anything useful, we will of course share it as quickly as possible. I am sure you remember some of the limitations of Veritaserum from Professor Snape's class-while it functions very effectively with wizards, witches, and muggles, because of their inability to channel magic properly, the potion does not work very well on Squibs." Then he stared intently at Harry. "Do you understand?"
Harry stared at him for a full minute, analyzing both the direct explanations and the more subtle messages Lupin had shared, and then nodded his head slowly.
"Good. Then have a good evening. I'll be in touch tomorrow." And Lupin left without looking back.
With the room at a more comfortable temperature, Harry turned to Dumbledore. "I'm sorry about my outbursts earlier, I…"
"We are all very worried about Miss Granger. But you have many friends and allies who are eager to assist you. Please do not leave us behind."
Harry nodded. "I better head to bed. Tomorrow will probably be a long day."
"I'm sure it will Harry. If you need anything, I am always here to help. Please don't try and do everything yourself."
Harry didn't answer, he just said good night before he disappeared.
Dumbledore sat down tiredly behind his desk and steepled his hands, deep in thought about what he had observed. He heard the stairs moving and Professor McGonagall knocked at his door.
"Come in Minerva," he called out. "How are the other students doing?" he asked as she entered and sat down across from him.
"They're doing fine. Several of the girls are extremely shaken up, but hopefully with time will be able to deal with this horrible experience. They are Gryffindors, after all. Miss Lovegood and Miss Weasley are healing quickly-I doubt Madame Pomfrey will be able to keep them past tomorrow morning. I had to threaten Miss Weasley with a full body bind unless she agreed to stay the night under observation-she is very anxious to try and be of some assistance. The boys will be all right, even Mr. Longbottom, though it was touch and go there for a little while. He reminds me more and more of his parents every year. As for Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy, they are more embarrassed and ashamed than anything else. As you may recall, Mr. Potter had some rather harsh words with both of them, and they took it very hard, especially Mr. Weasley. Samuel is still feverish and unconscious, Dr. Nuncy is still worried about him-he lost a lot of blood before Mr. Potter and Remus found him."
"I will speak with Dr. Nuncy and visit him later this evening. The Weasleys were just here visiting with Remus and I while I explained the situation to the Grangers. Arthur and I will keep in close contact with them. But it is Harry and Hermione that I am truly worried about."
"Harry?" asked McGonagall.
"Yes. He is handling it better than I had feared, but not as well as I had hoped. He is very frustrated and is having a difficult time controlling his emotions. He very nearly brought down the tower this evening. And he swore a wizard's oath that he would find Hermione and bring her back."
"He did what?! Oh my, Albus, what can we do?"
"I am afraid there is not much more we can do at the moment. I have a few more old friends to contact but I have never had much reason to seek out vampires in the past. Ironically, I believe Mr. Potter and Ms. Granger have more experience speaking with vampires than I do. Arthur and Remus will do what they can, but unless either the Squib Harry rescued can tell us something or Samuel learned something before he was wounded and can recover enough to tell us, we have very few leads to help us find Hermione."
Professor McGonagall dropped her head in sorrow as Dumbledore sat thoughtfully for a few more moments. "Why don't you try and get some rest Minerva. Perhaps tomorrow will provide us with more hope than tonight." As she left, he turned towards his fire and began calling on some of his oldest friends, hoping they might be able to help somehow.
*-*-*
Harry reappeared in the room he shared with the other Gryffindor seventh year boys, but he had no intention of going to sleep. He had finally managed to bank the flames of anger that had been threatening to explode all night and was using that energy to help him focus on the tasks that lay ahead. He realized now that much of the anger had been from the uncertainty of the situation and a lack of clear goals. His building frustration had made it difficult to see possible opportunities or think of new approaches. But his conversation with Remus and Dumbledore had helped him calm down enough to see how foolishly he was behaving. He didn't have time to waste on temper tantrums or emotional outbursts, he would need all of his energy and all of his focus to think of every possible thing he could do to find Hermione. The energy from his anger and rising frustration was now being channeled into more productive pursuits. He felt cool and analytical, almost emotionally detached, as he analyzed the little evidence he had from every conceivable angle and pondered possible explanations even as he tried to think of new approaches he might take. He realized that he couldn't allow his emotions to overcome him, or he would never find Hermione. And that was simply unacceptable. So he buried his fears and his doubts, covered them with rage and anger, and then walled off those emotions with a tremendous effort of will and self-control so that he could focus on solving the problem before him-finding Hermione.
Harry grabbed a large, dark cloak and cast a Midnight Shadow charm on it. Smiling grimly, he put it on, pulled the hood over his face and checked in the full length mirror that Seamus kept at the end of his bed. With the charm on the hood, not even Harry could see his own face in the mirror. He quickly altered the rest of his clothing so that he was dressed entirely in black. Satisfied with his appearance, Harry teleported to Auror headquarters.
*-*-*
The Squib leaned back on his bed against the stone wall and chuckled. He knew that without Veritaserum, they would never be able to prove anything. And he and his friends had been reading about the new Minister of Magic, how he was trying to make a more fair justice system. He reckoned there were plenty of new loopholes in the new legal system that a good lawyer would be able to exploit. Besides, he could always claim that he had been a kidnap victim as well. After all, hadn't that damned vampire attacked him and the rest of his friends as well? He could always say that he had been forced to help with the kidnapping of those girls. Dozens of Death Eaters had gotten off in the past using the `Imperious plea' to get them out of a sentence to Azkaban. He laughed again as he realized the many ways in which he could play the system to his advantage.
Suddenly he noticed a dark figure standing in his room. "What do you want? You can't just barge in here! I have rights!"
The dark cloaked figure said nothing but simply stepped closer. He suddenly noticed that the figure was dressed entirely in black. And he hadn't opened the door-he was sure of that. He would have heard the rusty hinges squeak. But he hadn't Apparated either, there had been no pop. He felt slightly unnerved, which was indicated in the slightly shaky tone in which he uttered his next few sentences.
"Look, I already told your other Auror buddies that I don't know anything about no girl. I was as much a victim as…" He stopped speaking as he was suddenly thrown from his bed to land hard on the floor. He landed on his hands and knees, scraping both, and looked up at the dark figure. Angry, he rose quickly as if he were going to attack the figure with his bare hands. The figure merely raised an arm and made a quick gesture to the side. Suddenly the man was slammed against the wall. He slowly turned to see what had hit him and his eyes widened in shock. The bed frame itself was twisting and moving as if it were alive. Part of the metal frame was pressing his back flat against the wall and pinned his legs there as well. Two of the legs had then isolated his arms, and slowly moved them down next to his side. He struggled to break free, but it was no use-he was no match for the metal strength of the animated bedframe.
He looked at the approaching figure in growing fear. The figure flicked the fingers of his open palm back towards his body and the only chair in the room levitated and then flew slowly to him. Suddenly he spread his fingers apart widely, and the chair pulled itself apart. The shadowy figure then grabbed each half of the chair, swirled them in the air and transformed them into a pair of swords that glinted wickedly in the faint candlelight of the room.
Sweat broke out on the man's face as he began to scream. "Guards! Guards! Help! One of your Aurors is trying to murder me! Help me!"
The figure paused for a moment with both swords raised, their tips pointed at the man's eyes. The screaming grew louder and more frantic as the man began to thrash wildly against the cold metal holding him pinned to the wall. The figure simply waited patiently, never saying a word as the man's struggles slowly quieted. After nearly ten minutes, the man looked up at the grim figure, sobbing hysterically.
"What do you want? I'll tell you whatever you want to hear, just…just don't kill me!"
There was a flash of light and the Squib closed his eyes, knowing he was dead. When he opened his eyes, he realized that he could barely breathe or move his head. The figure had jammed the swords into the wall on either side of his neck. He had also crisscrossed them, so that both blades lay right against his neck. The slightest pressure on either blade would easily separate his head from his body.
"If you kill me, I won't be able to tell you anything. I promise, I'll tell you everything you want to know. You don't have to torture me-I'll talk."
For the first time since he had arrived, the dark shadow spoke. "Oh, I'm sure you will. But I don't have time to sort through your lies right now. These blades are simply to help me maintain eye contact with you as I search through your mind for the information I need. It is unfortunate that I have to do it, there is a witch who is much better than I at this sort of thing. She could probably find the information we need and you wouldn't even know it-there wouldn't be a trace of her presence left behind in your mind. But I am not nearly as gifted as she is-I'm clumsy and I'm sure I'll have to use a lot of force to pry open your mind. But don't worry, you probably won't remember a thing when you wake up in the mental ward of St. Mungo's. I hear they treat people very well there which is good, because when I'm through with you, you'll probably be stuck there for life. Yes, it's a shame that she couldn't be here to do this, but since she's the one you and your friends kidnapped and she is still missing, I guess we have no other choice. Legi…"
"Wait, wait! Stop! I told you I'll tell you everything you need to know. There's no reason to scramble my brains to do it. I'll tell you everything."
"I already said I don't have any time for your lies."
"I won't! I swear it!"
"Very well, I'll give you one chance. But if I detect one lie it will be the last one you ever tell."
"There were fifteen of us who wanted to become vampires. We had tried a number of methods, but Ruth said…"
"Save it for tomorrow. You can give all the names and information about your buddies to the Aurors tomorrow. I'm interested in how you hooked up with two real vampires."
"They contacted us. They said we were going about it all wrong…"
"Obviously. The only way to become a vampire is to be bit by one."
"Then how did the first vampire emerge? That is what we were trying to discover. We wanted to make ourselves into vampires. Any fool that is turned into a vampire is tied to the vampire that turned him. We didn't want that. We wanted all the power without any of the ties."
"And you believed that a pair of real vampires were going to tell you how to do that?"
"Well, errr, yes."
"Go on."
"These vampires contacted us several weeks ago. They told us the key was to use magical blood. They suggested Hogsmeade, because it was close to the school of Hogwarts. They even suggested some of the witches we should kidnap. They told us to watch out for them, especially one named Hermione Granger, and when we saw them visiting Hogsmeade that they would help us capture them and then finish the transformation…"
"And then they doublecrossed us. The female vampire, I think her name was Elysa, took the most powerful witch, the Granger girl, the one we had been promised was key to the transformation. She disappeared with her as soon as we left the Three Broomsticks. Then we began to argue with the other one-he seemed slightly amused at first and then challenged us to try and take the blood from the rest of the girls. We figured we could take him, we had him outnumbered fifteen to one…"
"You thought a dozen Muggles and a couple of Squibs could take on a vampire?"
"We weren't doing very well and then another man showed up, a wizard, and he nearly turned the tide. He might have been able to kill the vampire and then Lizzie and Ted turned on him and shot him from behind. They were afraid he might turn on us once the vampire was down. And we thought we almost had the vampire beat. But he wasn't. He made short work of most of us left in the room and five of us ran. I don't know if anybody else…"
"They didn't. You were the only survivor."
The Squib gulped. "That's all I know. The girls, except the one that left, were all still alive when I left. Everybody else in that room was dead or dying. When the vampire caught us outside the room, he just tore into us and threw us around like rag dolls. I don't know how I survived. The other witch, the one called Granger, was only there for maybe thirty seconds and the other vampire disappeared with her. They never said anything about where they came from or what they wanted. All I knew were their names. Elysa and Aardus. We thought they wanted to help us but we were wrong. And I swear, that's all I know."
"That's all you know?! They never mentioned anything about another…"
"Nothing. I wasn't one of the leaders-all I ever heard were their names. But they didn't really chit chat with Meg or Lawrence either. They seemed really eager to kidnap this Granger, but other than that-I don't know anything else. I would tell you if I did. I swear."
"That's enough," came the cold, angry reply. "You'll repeat all of this with all the additional detail about your associates that you can with the Aurors tomorrow. You'll confess your guilt to everything you've done, including all those murders in the other warehouse. You'll do everything in your power to help and cooperate with this investigation or this little nightmare you're having right now will become real. Do you understand?"
"Ye..yes," came the shaky reply. With a wave of his arm, the shadowed figure restored the bed and the chair to their normal positions. Then the shadow just disappeared as the Squib slowly fell to his knees, sobbing in great heaves on the floor.
*-*-*
Back in the Gryffindor common room Harry stood in front of the large tapestry that led to Hermione's room. The unicorn had its head lowered and was pawing angrily while the lion was roaring loudly and appeared ready to spring forward.
"For the last time you stupid, silly creatures, I need to get in there to help her," yelled a very frustrated Harry. Harry cast a very powerful version of the Alohomora spell, only to have it bounce off the tapestry and nearly miss a ducking fourth year student. Harry prepared to launch another spell and every other student that was still in the room began diving for cover behind tables, chairs, and sofas. A few moments later, Harry's voice cut through the multicolored smoke drifting about the room. "Fine! I've tried not to destroy anything, but if I have to tear down the wall itself I will!" The only response was a loud neighing from the unicorn and a roaring challenge from the lion. "Fine!" shouted Harry. "I warned you!" The wall started to shake and dust and small flakes of rock began to crumble from the stone face.
"What on earth is going on here?!" shouted McGonagall, standing in the portrait entrance and surveying the wrecked room, the toppled furniture, and the huddled students hiding quietly. Sensing that Harry was the cause of the general mayhem, she roared, "Harry James Potter! You better explain yourself!"
"I need to get into Hermione's room! But these idiotic creatures refuse to allow me to pass!"
"They're not supposed to allow anyone of the opposite sex into the room. They are part of an ancient protective charm, similar to the girls' stairs," she explained. "And since it is a Head Girl's room, it won't open for any student at all."
"I know that! But I need to get in there and…"
"Did you even think to ask one of the professors, someone like myself, to go in and get whatever you so desperately need for you?"
Harry stood and stared at her with a blank look on his face for a moment, and then slowly dropped his wand. "No."
McGonagall took a deep breath as if to calm herself and then asked Harry as if she were speaking to a six-year old. "And what would you like me to get for you?"
"I need her hairbrush."
"Her what?!" She rolled her eyes and sighed at the same time. "I don't even want to know Mr. Potter. If I retrieve her hairbrush for you do you promise not to finish destroying what is left of the Gryffindor common room?"
"Yes, Professor," replied Harry in a slightly subdued tone.
"Very well." She stepped closer to the tapestry and placed her hand on its shimmering surface softly. The lion and the unicorn both bowed their heads and McGonagall stepped between them and disappeared. Then they both began glaring again at Harry, who returned their angry stare wholeheartedly.
A moment later, McGonagall returned with a red hairbrush and slapped it into Harry's palm. "Is there anything else Mr. Potter?"
"Umm, no. Thanks." Harry turned from her and was halfway out the passage when she called out to him again.
"And where do you think you are going? This room needs cleaned up and it is well after curfew."
Harry paused and looked back at the room. With a wave of his hand, the furniture throughout the room placed itself upright again and the smoke was cleared out of the room. "If Dumbledore or Remus learn anything, I'll be in the Room of Requirement," he stated and then he disappeared as McGonagall and the other students simply looked on in astonishment at his casual display of wandless magic.
*-*-*
"Enervate."
Instantly her mind cleared and she opened her eyes. Once again she went for her wand and tried to draw the Sword of Gryffindor but a pair of powerful hands kept her arms pinned to her sides. She raised her foot and stomped hard with her heel, finding a foot, but doing little damage. In sheer frustration she snapped her head backwards, hoping to connect with the jaw of the person holding her, but hit his chest instead.
"Struggle if you wish, but I assure you that escape will be quite impossible," spoke a soft, yet powerful voice. A voice that somehow seemed familiar.
"The witch has some powerful artifact in addition to her wand, Master Vespus. She tried to reach it before."
A dark figure approached her and a clawed hand cold as ice cupped her chin and raised it easily. She tried to stare defiantly but felt the powerful gaze capture her eyes. She tried to look away but found she could not. Instead she rallied her mental forces and strengthened her defenses.
"Saldar!" she called out desperately.
"I am here Mistress. I will strengthen you as much as I am able, but he is a very old, and a very powerful vampire."
"An Eldor?"
"I fear so Mistress."
Hermione shivered.
"Very impressive Miss Granger. It will truly be a pleasure turning you."
Hermione's body stiffened in shock as the meaning of his words sank in.
"Aardus, examine this necklace for magical properties while Elyra checks her for any other items she may have."
Hermione recognized the other vampire from the attack at the Three Broomsticks as she approached.
Hermione tried to lean back away from her when she reached to undo the clasp on the necklace. The vampire raised a clawed hand and slapped her so hard she would have fallen if Aardus hadn't held her. Her head snapped sideways and her vision dimmed for a moment. When she raised her head again, her cheek bleeding slightly, the fire in Elyra's eyes chilled her to the bone. There was a hunger in her eyes as she stared at Hermione's cheek that sickened her. As she leaned forward, a clawed hand fastened on her throat in a vice like grip.
"Master Vespus said to search her, not beat her or feed on her blood."
"Elyra!" snapped the low, powerful voice of the other vampire. "If you cannot control yourself, I will allow Aardus to finish what he so earnestly desires to do."
Elyra stood up, rage replacing the bloodlust in her eyes. "As you wish Master." She reached to pull the necklace off again and did so, much more roughly than was necessary.
She handed the necklace to Aardus, who held it in his hand and chanted a few spells. Meanwhile, she slowly walked around Hermione and uttered a detection charm to discover enchanted objects. Hermione's left side glowed a light blue. She stepped back in satisfaction.
"The necklace has two simple charms on it. A location charm and some sort of spell to indicate how healthy the wearer is," announced Aardus.
The vampire chuckled. "A gift from your boyfriend no doubt. Something to find you in case you get separated, and something to let him know if you're in danger or injured. Unfortunately, not very helpful to you right now, but very clever nevertheless. No doubt he is very frustrated right about now since the magic hiding my castle is much more powerful than his feeble enchantments."
Hermione straightened and looked directly at him. "He is clever enough to find me even without it. He will come for me, and when he does, not even you will be able to stop him Corlyn. Or is that even your real name?"
"Bravo. Bravo, my dear Miss Granger. It is so refreshing to deal with someone of intelligence. Dumbledore was always very entertaining to deal with, much more so than most wizards in your world. But he, too failed to guess my true nature."
"Only because you helped him defeat a great evil."
"Yes. For such an intelligent human, he can certainly be a trusting old fool. Besides, I have much grander plans than either of those fools Grindelwald or Voldemort." He chuckled before continuing. "Humans, even wizards, are so shortsighted. They never see the bigger picture."
"It doesn't matter, we will stop whatever you're trying to do."
Corlyn stopped and looked at her in astonishment. "You haven't figured out what I'm after yet? I thought you were a bright young witch…"
Hermione's eyes widened as she realized what he was really after and where else she had heard his voice. "You want the artifacts from Atlantis for yourself, don't you Primus?"
Corlyn clapped his hands together in admiration. "I knew you would figure it out eventually. But you've never seen a meeting of the Council, unless-of course-Dumbledore. If anyone could figure out a way around the oaths of secrecy, it would be Dumbledore." He laughed again.
"Now, before we discuss what you've learned about Atlantis, we'll start with some easier questions. What is the other item you have? What are its enchantments?"
Hermione stared back at him silently, once again strengthening her mental defenses with the help of Saldar.
After a few moments of tense silence, Corlyn snapped out, "Aardus, take the item and examine it."
Hermione tried to step back again, but stopped when Aardus glared at her. He reached for the beltloop and easily pulled it off the side of her pants. He studied it for a moment in his palm and then muttered the counterspell that dispelled the illusion. The jeweled hilt of the Sword of Godric Gryffindor appeared in his palm, still wrapped in its plain leather sheath. He unsheathed it and then quickly grabbed the naked blade with his left hand-which happened to completely cover the name of Godric Gryffindor etched into the surface.
Suddenly he winced as the blade bit deeply into his fist and blood began to trickle down the blade. When the blood quickly disappeared he glanced at Hermione quickly and then returned to studying the sword. He muttered a few words and then looked over at Corlyn.
"A finely crafted weapon, Master, but one of little danger to us. Its enchantments include the ability to be easily hidden, as we have already seen. It also has a sharpening charm that keeps the blade in perfect condition as well as a specialized transformation charm that allows it to alter the length and weight of the blade depending on the wielder. It is made of silver and therefore more deadly to a werewolf than a vampire."
"What about the blood Aardus-what happened to it?"
Aardus glanced back at the dagger as he resheathed it and answered. "It seems as if the girl can't stand the sight of blood-someone has placed a powerful cleaning charm upon it to preserve its beauty."
Corlyn chuckled. "Another pretty gift from the Potter boy? He does seem to take your safety very seriously, which is why we had to make sure he was not around when we took you. Do not worry, you will get over your aversion to the sight of blood."
Hermione's blood ran cold for a moment before she replied heatedly, "He will come for me and he will find me. And then he's going to…"
"I'm sure he will try. And I have no doubt that he will eventually find you, but I assure you that you won't be in need of any rescue by then. And if he does find us, he will either join us or be destroyed. Now, we will try this once more. Tell me all that you have learned of Atlantis."
Hermione just glared at him.
Corlyn laughed again. "By all means, continue to try and resist if it makes you feel better. But remember, I will break you Miss Granger. It's only a matter of time. No mere human can resist the power of an Eldor. And I have all the time in the world. Elysa, destroy the necklace and the weapon."
"Master, allow me to keep them for her. Potter will never be able to detect the necklace through the ancient protections on the tower. And if he and Dumbledore do find their way here, we can use his own gifts to set a trap for them and destroy them both if they do not join with us. And knowing that we will use her own gifts against her and the Potter boy will weaken her ability to resist your will, Master."
"Yes, I love the irony of that Aardus as I'm sure you do. Very well, give Miss Granger back her necklace but you keep the weapon for safekeeping. And you will stay here with Miss Granger until she is willing to tell me all that she has learned of Atlantis. She will not rest, she will not eat, she will not drink until then." He bowed to Miss Granger as he left. "I am truly sorry you forced me to do this Miss Granger, but I have no choice. I must have that information. Please save yourself some pain and reconsider your attempt to defy me. You will not win. If you think you can continue to defy me, have Aardus tell you his story. Your friends will not find you here. You are all alone. There is no need to try and fight me, since I will get what I want one way or another. I offer you power and wealth and immortality. I just need to know where to find the orb. But if you continue to fight me, I will not be as generous." He waited for a moment at the door, expecting her to say something. As the silence continued, he glanced quickly at Elysa, who nodded briefly and then turned his back on Hermione. "Aardus, no sleep, no food, no drink until she's ready to talk!" he yelled angrily as he slammed the door shut.
Aardus handed the necklace back to Hermione with an inscrutable look on his face. Hermione refastened it and backed up against the wall, where she sat down and put her face in her hands tiredly.
She tried to ignore the cold, hate filled laughter that came from the female vampire. "Foolish little girl. I don't know why the Master wastes his time toying with you. Believe me you insolent little witch, if it were up to me, you'd be spilling your deepest secrets within the hour."
"Which is why he left me to guard her Elysa," replied the chilling voice of Aardus, full of malice, "because he knows what little restraint you have, muthpa!"
"Silence, you pathwi! The master knows of your continued fondness towards these humans, which is why he left me as well, to make sure you did nothing to help her. You may fool the master with your pathetic attempts to please him, but I know you Aardus. I know how you still long to break free of his hold. You don't fool me. And I swear, one of these days I will have the proof I need and he'll allow me to end your miserable existence once and for all." Her fangs snapped viciously as she finished speaking and there was an unholy glow in her eyes.
Aardus simply glared at her but said nothing while Hermione watched with intense interest at the heated exchange between the two.
Then Elysa turned back towards Hermione and she tried to crouch back farther into the wall. "Would you like to hear a story my little bloodfeast? Would you like to tell it or should I, Aardus?" When Aardus remained silent, she laughed cruelly and continued in a cold, malicious voice. "Several hundred years ago, while wars raged across 16th century Europe, there were a number of other battles going on that most Muggles never knew about. While the European Muggles were fighting each other over religion and territory, the wizarding world launched a number of assaults on werewolves and vampires, trying to wipe them out as separate races. There were a number of young wizards, eager for fame and glory, that went off to seek their fortunes in these campaigns. One of the best, or so he thought, was a young Dark Hunter named Tomas Galvin of Westbury. He tracked and killed werewolves and vampires across Europe for over a decade and made quite a name for himself. Corlyn brags of your intellect, come, tell me, have you heard of him?"
Hermione glanced quickly at Aardus and then looked back at Elysa and answered in a low voice. "He was the most famous Dark Hunter from the Wars of Extermination during the 16th century. He disappeared somewhere in Eastern Europe, chasing a vampire, and was never heard of again."
Elysa smiled, revealing her sharp fangs again. "Yes, young Tomas heard rumors of a very powerful vampire to the East, in what is now known as Bulgaria. He eventually found the vampire he was looking for, but discovered to his dismay that he was unable to destroy the vampire. The arrogant young Hunter quickly discovered that he was no match for one of the ancient Eldor, the most powerful of all vampires. Tomas must have been very surprised indeed when none of his weapons worked against the Eldor, not even the wooden stake." Elysa stopped the narration of the story as she laughed for several moments. Regaining control, she finished. "Instead, the vampire turned the young Hunter into what he despised and hated. He turned him and forced him to do his dirty work." She turned gleefully back towards Aardus and asked, "Did I leave out anything?"
"No," came the quiet, angry response. "But I will kill you Elysa, the first chance I get. I swear you won't outlive your cursed master but an hour! When Potter and Dumbledore arrive, I swear we'll end all of your miserable lives." Then he looked directly at Hermione and thought, "Hurry Potter, I can't protect her from them forever. Follow the clues I left and hurry!"
Hermione's eyes widened in shock. Not only was it the first time she had actually sensed one of the thoughts of any of the vampires, but she finally understood what was driving Aardus. She tried calling out to him, but found his defenses had quickly been raised again after his angry outburst.
"Saldar, do you have any ideas about how we may contact him?"
"I do, Mistress, but I am not sure that would be wise."
"What? Why?"
"Excepting thy kidnapping, everything he hath done hath been with the sole purpose of protecting thee, and now we know why he didst that as well. We can assume that he shall continue to try and help thee, but if we shouldst do anything to alter his mental connection to Corlyn, we might doom both him and any hope we might have."
"But maybe he can help us escape."
"If he couldst have accomplished that, he would have done so already. Or he would never have taken thee to begin with. No, there is something else at work that we do not comprehend fully. Either he is waiting for the right moment, or there are powers of Corlyn that we are ignorant of preventing him from taking certain actions. Perhaps he needs additional help or special circumstances in order to break free of Corlyn's unholy hold over him, or he is hoping to end the threat of Corlyn once and for all."
"And that is exactly why we should try to contact him."
"I understand Mistress, but…"
"You heard them. They're going to keep me here until they break my will to resist. And I have no doubt that they will eventually-once my body is weak enough, my mental defenses will fall Saldar. And then they'll know everything I have learned about Atlantis, and maybe it will be enough for them to eventually find it. And…and it sounds like they're going to try and make me a vampire. I…I can't let that happen Saldar! I won't! You have to help me! I can't do this alone! I…"
"Please calm down Mistress, I am here with thee and I will never abandon thee. Pray listen to my counsel. We have two choices. I have enough strength now to help reinforce your mental defenses against Corlyn's attacks or to help break down those of Aardus. But I fear I do not have the strength to do both. If ye try to contact Aardus but either cannot or discover there is nothing he can do right now, ye will be much weaker when Corlyn renews his assault. If we wait, marshalling our strength to resist until Master Potter and the others arrive, then I can help you against Corlyn, though I am not sure how long we will be able to withstand him. I will respect whichever course ye decidest upon."
Hermione hesitated for but a moment, and then made her decision. "He will come for me. We will conserve our strength and fight off Corlyn as long as we can, and pray that Harry makes it in time."
*-*-*
Four days later, Dumbledore, McGonagall, Remus and Arthur were in Dumbledore's office.
"Samuel is doing much better now. Dr. Nuncy says that with the successful blood transfusion, he has finally stabilized. He woke up a half hour ago or so, and has been demanding to see Harry ever since. He says he has an important message for him, but even he doesn't know what it means," reported a pale and worried McGonagall. "But apparently, nobody has seen Harry in nearly four days. Not even Dobby."
"I believe he's still in the Room of Requirement Minerva. But I have been unable to get past the wards he has raised. You mentioned that he wanted a hairbrush from Miss Granger's room?"
"Yes. I don't know what he wanted it for, I thought…"
Suddenly the doors burst open with terrible force. "IT'S NOT WORKING! I can't believe it! Dumbledore! Are you in here!" In stormed a very tired looking, angry Harry holding a gold chain and some sort of pendant.
"Harry, we've been trying to get in touch with you but the wards you put up were too…"
"What?!" Harry looked around in confusion at the various adults before he looked back at Dumbledore. "I put up the wards to make sure I wasn't disturbed while I made this. Any interruption and the pendant would have been ruined. Not that it matters that much, the bloody thing's not working any better than the other one I made. What day is it anyways?"
"It's the 28th, four days after you nearly destroyed the Gryffindor common room," explained McGonagall.
"Four days?! I've been in there for four days?! Why didn't somebody come and tell me? Have you found out anything new at all?"
"We tried, Harry, but I couldn't get past your defensive wards. And no, I am afraid we have very little new information for you…"
"Well, that's just fabulous." Harry took a few deep breaths to try and calm himself down. "Could you look at this? Could you tell me what I did wrong with it?" he asked Dumbledore as he lifted the pendant.
Dumbledore picked it up and looked at the small heart shaped pendant with tiny lines running around it. "Is this a…"
"Yeah. It's a tracking pendant. I took three of Hermione's hairs from her brush and made it so that I could find her. But it's not working. I increased the amount of merillium and added some crushed lodestone crystals-it should be strong enough to pick up a trace of her anywhere. But there's nothing."
Arthur and the others looked on in amazement. "You created a tracking pendant in only four days? Normally something like that would take at least two months."
"I didn't have time to wait. I needed it now. But I'm afraid it was just wasted effort. It's not working like it should."
Dumbledore was holding the pendant above his wand, letting it spin on its chain. "No Harry, it is working perfectly. The problem is that wherever they have taken Hermione is guarded by very powerful ancient magic. I would guess something similar to an Unplottable charm."
"Damn!" blasted Harry as he pounded his fist on a table.
"However, there are two things you should know. You received this message two days ago by owl. Dumbledore handed him a bulky sealed envelope that simply said Harry Potter on the outside.
"Fanmail? I thought I blocked all of that," started Harry as he angrily tore open the envelope. A small cell phone fell out and grabbed his attention however. He unfolded the accompanying letter and scanned the rest of the brief message quickly.
Harry,
I am sorry to hear of Hermione's abduction. If there is anything I can do to be of assistance-anything at all-please contact me with this phone at anytime. Just dial *1 and it will reach me or my answering machine. If I don't answer immediately, I will contact you exactly two hours later. The phone will not work near magical areas such as your school.
Yours in Service,
Y."
Harry stared at the phone for a moment, realizing the trust that the Yonnua had just shown in Harry. Harry could contact him anytime and set him up to be captured, if he wanted. But the Yonnua was willing to take that risk to help Hermione. He tossed the envelope and paper into the fire, and placed the phone into his pouch as the other adults watched in slight confusion. Harry turned back to Dumbledore and asked, "You said there was a second thing I should know about?"
"Yes," replied Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling. "Samuel is awake now."
"He is? Does he know anything?"
"He seems to know something. He has a cryptic message for you, but we are not sure what it means," explained McGonagall.
Harry looked at her with puzzlement on his face.
"Let us go down and visit him. I, too, wish to hear for myself what he has to say," encouraged Dumbledore.
*-*-*
When Harry and the others arrived at the hospital wing a few minutes later, they found several of the students along with Remus and Hagrid around his bed chatting casually with him.
Ron and Luna, Ginny and Neville all made to leave as they saw them arrive, but Dumbledore waved them back, saying, "The more minds we have to work on this riddle, the better."
Samuel looked up and saw Harry. "Harry, I'm so glad to see you," he managed between coughs.
"How are you doing Samuel?"
"I've had worse. Now listen close. When I got there, that bloody friend of yours was already fighting with the wannabe vamps, well, actually he was just toying with them. So I went straight for him. While we were fighting, two of those morons shot me in the back. That seemed to really piss him off because then he stopped messing around and just started killing them. Then he came back to me as I lay there on the floor. I thought he was going to finish me off when he leaned over me but he just whispered something. This is what he said:
`Seek. Ivory retreat of nightly times over western Europe's rim. Search all. Refuse, confirm everyone's doom. Hurry.'
He repeated it to me twice before he left."
"Did he say what it was supposed to mean?" asked Harry.
"No. He didn't say anything else. I don't understand it Harry. He could have killed me. Or he could have tried to help me. And if he was trying to give us a clue to help us find Hermione, why didn't he just tell us, and why did he help kidnap her in the first place? I don't understand him at all."
"I'm through trying to figure him out. I just want to find Hermione," snapped Harry. He turned away and noticed that Dumbledore had conjured a blackboard and had written the phrase on its surface but was still listening intently to the exchanges between Harry and Samuel.
"Understanding Aardus may help us find Hermione," suggested Dumbledore.
"How?" asked Harry.
"We believe Aardus is a vampire."
"Right. A very lethal and vicious vampire."
"True, but look at the victims we know about. All of them seemed to be criminals or dark creatures as well. He has tried to protect Hermione in a number of situations and warned you to guard her closely as well. He apparently helped kidnap Hermione, but did not kill Samuel, though he killed the others. Nor did he harm any of the other girls that were there. What does this tell us?"
"That he's completely off his rocker?" suggested Ron.
"Or that he's trying to resist the commands or orders of someone else," added Luna helpfully.
Dumbledore nodded as Harry spoke. "But what would be powerful enough to cast an Imperious on a vampire? That insane house elf might be powerful enough, but he's been pretty intent on killing Hermione, not kidnapping her. Maybe some Death Eater we've never met? Or perhaps another vampire. We know that many vampires can be powerfully persuasive and charismatic among humans, perhaps there are some vampires that are just as influential among vampires. There are legends about the oldest vampires that indicate they were very formidable creatures, but very little real evidence about them. I can think of a few other creatures off the top of my head, but…"
Harry looked back at the blackboard. "OK, so there's a couple of powerful creatures that may or may not be pulling the strings on Aardus the puppet-vamp. What about this phrase? Anyone heard of an `ivory retreat?' Western Europe's rim could be anywhere in Eastern Europe or Asia-that's helpful. Search all or everyone's doomed. Nice, add a little pressure. Like I wasn't going to follow up on any lead. Are you sure you remembered this right Hunt?"
"Believe me Potter, I had the phrase burned into my memory. That's exactly what he said.
Harry stared at the words for a minute. "Wait. We're assuming he is trying to resist some sort of order or command, right? Well, he must be trying to tell us something without saying it right out. What if we rearrange the words like this?" With a swish of his wand, the words reformed themselves into:
`Seek doom of everyone's ivory rim. Retreat nightly over Europe's western refuse. Search all times. Hurry. Confirm.'
"Look for the destruction of everyone's white tire. Go home every night over western Europe's trashheap. Look all day, around the clock and hurry up. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense," finished Harry disgustedly.
Harry tried again and reformed the words to say:
`Confirm nightly times of western retreat. Seek Europe's ivory over everyone's rim. Refuse all, doom search. Hurry.
"That makes even less sense," snorted Harry angrily.
Luna stood up and stepped near Harry, gazing thoughtfully with her head tilted. With a swish of her wand, she rearranged the words to their original configuration. "What if we use just the first letters of each word, like this?"
`Seek. Ivory retreat of nightly times over western Europe's rim. Search all. Refuse, confirm everyone's doom. Hurry.'
became
`siron tower sarcedh'
"Siron tower sarcedh?" asked Harry. "But what if we don't use the initials of the first and last word?" He waved his wand and a new set of words appeared.
`Seek iron tower. Sarced. Hurry."
"Iron tower, iron tower. I know I've heard of that before. It's right on the tip of my tongue…"
"I believe it's a mythical stronghold of a very powerful vampire, rumored to be somewhere in Eastern Europe," suggested Dumbledore.
"Sarced, sarced. That doesn't sound English. Could it be a word in a different language?"
Dumbledore snapped his fingers and an enormous tome appeared in his lap. He leafed through it quickly and then spoke. "Sarcaed is vampiric for blood. Maybe sarced is an older form of the word."
Harry stood and began to pace. "Seek Iron Tower…vampires…sarced…My pendant wouldn't work. Maybe sarced is the password to get by the defensive wards. Azkaban had one, maybe this iron tower does as well. Any chance you can narrow down the search for this iron tower Professor?"
Dumbledore tapped his chin thoughtfully for a moment, "I believe it was in either "Vampiric Myths and Lore, or Staking Out Europe: The Wars of Vampire Extermination. I don't recall which one for…"
Harry had already disappeared and five minutes later reappeared carrying ten very heavy books. He handed the top one to Dumbledore and took the second one for himself. By way of explanation he said, "All of these were on the same shelf so I thought I'd bring them along just in case."
Dumbledore looked at the book he was holding and commented, "These aren't from the school library, where did you get them?"
Luna traced a large, decorative M on the spine of one and looked at Harry. "What does the M stand for, Harry?"
"Well, it might stand for Malfoy, but if you really want to help, why don't you open the book instead of worrying about where they might have come from."
Neville, Ginny, and Ron grabbed a book each, Harry passed one to Samuel, who sat up to look at it, and Luna passed out books to Minerva, Hagrid, and Remus.
Half an hour later, Dumbledore announced with satisfaction "Ha! I've found it. I knew it was in Staking Out Europe. Listen.
Lord Maclav, an influential Bulgarian prince of the ninth century, avoided the fate of most of his army when he fled westward from opposing Bulgarian armies. Maclav and his surviving followers refused to convert to Christianity or accept the rule of the Byzantine emperor and were driven from their ancestral lands. Maclav and his followers continued to skirmish with both Bulgarian and Byzantine troops for nearly thirty years, before they were trapped near their mountain castle deep in the Rhodope mountains. After a siege that lasted nearly seven months, the victorious Bulgarians finally penetrated the defenses only to find an army of bloodless corpses guarding the walls. In horror, they set fire to the entire castle. The entire complex, with the exception of one tower, which the horrified soldiers named the Iron Tower, was razed to the ground. This cursed tower would neither burn nor open its doors to them despite their best attempts. The victorious army then left, but was struck down by a horrible pestilence on its return march home. There were only three survivors who returned to the capital of Byzantium, and they lived only long enough to make their report. Neither the Iron Tower nor Lord Maclav were ever seen again, though some wizard historians argue that some of his descendents fled northward over the Carpathian mountains into Transylvania and helped form the infamous Dracul clan and may have influenced its most notorious member, Vlad Dracul, the prince and terror of Wallachia during the fifteenth century."
Dumbledore carefully closed the book as everyone watched quietly.
"Maclav, Dracul, Iron Tower, Bulgaria…what have we stumbled into?" muttered Harry as he began pacing. He looked up sharply at Dumbledore. "Do you have any friends in Bulgaria, anyone who might have a clue where I could start looking for this Iron Tower?"
Dumbledore sadly shook his head, "Apart from a few professors at Durmstrang, I am afraid I…"
Samuel cut in just then. "I know somebody in Sofiya. It's not too far from the Rhodope and Balkan mountains. If she doesn't know where you can start your search, then nobody will. Her name is Svetlina Gorintov. She has a small shop in Prokhov Alley and…"
"And we'll help you find her Harry," added Remus. "I'll bring three of my best Aurors…"
"And I'll talk to Charlie and Bill and the twins, I'm sure they'd be willing to help as well," said Ron. "And of course I'm going to go,"
"You most certainly are not," insisted McGonagall.
"Well, you can count me in," stated Ginny.
"None of you are going anywhere," retorted Madame Pomfrey. "You still need more rest here in the hospital ward."
"Obviously, those who are of age will be able to decide for themselves whether to go, those younger than seventeen will not be allowed to accompany us," sighed Dumbledore, glancing at Ginny who was turning red with anger.
Harry just glanced around, looking at the determined looks from his friends and nodded slowly. "Fine. We leave tomorrow at ten. That should give everyone enough time to get their stuff together." Then he turned to leave with the students following him out.
Remus and the other professors left as well, several of them grumbling worriedly about the students as Dumbledore sat down and watched Samuel thoughtfully.
Finally, Samuel chuckled bitterly as he turned towards Dumbledore. "You know he's going to be long gone before dawn, don't you?"
"Most likely. There is nothing I can do to stop him once his mind is made up. And being Harry, he will not want to endanger his friends."
"Oh, I think there is more to it than that. He can travel faster and fight easier knowing he doesn't have to worry about anyone else. His fighting abilities are so far beyond those of his friends here…in fact, I'll bet he could take on 95% of the British Aurors right now without a wand and win. Besides, tactically and strategically, it makes sense to go it alone. The Weasley brothers, though they mean well, are not equal partners to him in a fight. And he hasn't fought with Remus or any of the other Aurors, he's not sure how well they would work together. This is a rescue mission, he'll want to go in fast and invisible, find Hermione, and escape as quickly as possible. He can do that best by going alone."
Sighing, Dumbledore asked, "And I suppose I'm simply too old to be of any assistance on a task like this…" Dumbledore tried to keep his tone light, as if he were joking, but the expression on his face indicated that Dumbledore already knew the answer.
"Don't be silly greybeard. You know why he's leaving you behind. You're the most powerful wizard in the world, after him. You both know it. And you both know what the chances are for this to turn out well, despite your attempts to remain optimistic for the sake of everyone else."
Dumbledore's face darkened but he said nothing.
Samuel continued as a note of bitterness crept into his voice. "It's been nearly five days since she was taken by the vampires. If Harry can't save Hermione, you know as well as I do that he'll destroy everything and everyone that had a hand in her death. He knows that he might not survive this mission. And he doesn't want the world's two most powerful wizards dying over it. He'll leave you behind to save the world from the next great threat, not because you're no longer useful."
Dumbledore turned away from Samuel and gazed sadly out the window.
"Now either tell Pomfrey to give me a double strength Pepper Up Potion, or have Snippy make me one. I won't be 100% by the time Potter takes off, but I'll be able to go after him by midday tomorrow."
"Samuel, there is no…"
"Knock it off, old man. I'm not one of your students you can lecture to. Harry might need the extra help and we both know it. If he does get in a fight, he won't be holding anything back. Even if he finds and defeats the vampires who kidnapped Hermione, he may not have enough energy once he's done fighting to help Hermione or get back home. You can't go because you need to stay here to keep the rest of them together." Samuel nodded his head towards the door through which Harry's friends had passed, then grinned and added, "And to keep the rest of the world together in case we don't make it back."
Dumbledore looked back at Samuel and nodded sadly as he laid a hand on his shoulder. "Be very careful Samuel. I will bring you some extra potions shortly. Don't worry, I'll brew them myself."
Samuel nodded and leaned back in his bed with a painful grimace, knowing that he would need all the rest he could get before tomorrow.
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