Unofficial Portkey Archive

Chapter 37- Going Under

"Attention everyone. This is your headmaster again. I am going to be spending a few days at the Ministry to recall events leading to Professor Dunham's death. Your Deputy Headmistress will be Professor McGonagall. She will see fit that the school runs normally while I am gone. Thank you, and I will see you all in a few days."

Once again, Professor Dumbledore's calm voice was magnified throughout the school and once again, James and Lily were in compromising states about his announcement. This time, they were worried. Who knew what Venus was capable of without Dumbledore around?

The two sat in Transfiguration, trying to transfigure their belongings into vials of Potion. It was a new and difficult lesson, definitely NEWT level, and Professor McGonagall said that it would appear on their tests in June. Normally, this would have stressed to Lily and James to work harder, yet the drive had been taken out of them.

Sirius and Halle had returned to class, married, yet hiding it. No one had any suspicions about their marriage, or at least they didn't voice their speculations. They sat happily transfiguring their pieces of parchment with no worries of Professor Adams. Lily, James, Katy, and Remus didn't have the heart to tell them what had happened.

Katy had been working vigorously on her research on Professor Venus Adams, but had not found anything yet. She was going to ask Professor McGonagall for permission to visit her home for emergency reasons. She would then floo to James' house to investigate his attic. James told her if anything were there, it would be in the dusty, abandoned attic which held memories of the past.

"I can't do this. Not today," Lily said miserably, looking at her unchanged quill. It was supposed to become the Drought of Peace, but had remained still as she had muttered the incantation. James was worried and was barely concentrating on his work. Normally, he loved Transfiguration, as it was his best subject.

"Me neither. But, if we don't do this, McGonagall will flip her wig. I don't want any extra homework. I have never gotten extra in this class and I don't plan on it. We'll have to just relax until class is over," James said.

He concentrated on his book and muttered "Pillago." The book changed into a cauldron bubbling full of a turquoise substance. He smiled. He could start worrying now. Professor McGonagall made her way over to James' table with Lily, who was still struggling.

"Very good, Mr. Potter. Can you identify the Potion you have made?" she asked.

"Um," James was always horrible at Potions.

"The Cooling Potion. It, um, relieves stress and takes away anger," he said, flipping through his notes.

"Very good. Ten points to Gryffindor. Can you put that in a vial for me and mark it with your name," she said and walked away. Lily frowned sadly, she didn't want extra homework.

"Wow, Sirius, I did it!" Halle screamed. She was always bad at Transfiguration.

"Good job, baby," he said, leaning over to hug her.

"Miss Douglas! Second in the class to finish. That has to be a personal record for you. Great job! Whatever you've been doing, it's been working for you," Professor McGonagall commented nicely. She had always liked Halle and helped tutor her on evenings.

"And that would be Sirius Black," Sirius joked.

"Gross Sirius," Halle said, laughing at his perverse joke. She got up and grabbed a vial from the Professor's desk.

Katy had to finish her potion. Professor McGonagall surely wouldn't allow her a visit off the grounds if she didn't even complete her work.

"Professor, can I talk to you for a moment?" Katy asked Professor McGonagall after class.

"Absolutely, Miss Jones. Is something wrong?" she asked her. Katy nodded.

She had practiced this in the mirror several times. Katy had never lied to a Professor before, and she was horrible at it.

"Yes, my great uncle passed away the other day. On my mother's side. I was wondering if I could visit my home tomorrow night for a visit with my family, for comfort. I want to let them know I take this loss seriously. My mother's favorite uncle," Katy said, sadly, looking at her toes and glancing at Professor McGonagall. The woman seemed to sympathize.

"Of course Miss Jones. I can write you a pass tonight and give it to you at dinner. You can take the Knight Bus tonight and you are expected to return tomorrow night. Please tell your family that I am sorry about this tragic loss," Professor McGonagall said.

"Oh thank you Professor. You have no idea how much this means to me and my family" Katy said. She smiled and left the Professor's classroom. She grinned to herself.

Katy Jones, undercover reporter, was successful in her deceit. She just told an exceptional lie to her favorite teacher.

She felt bad about lying to McGonagall, but knew that there were bigger problems than that. Venus Adams happened to be the biggest zit on Prom night and Katy was determined to solve that problem first. She knew there was huge scandal, and she was to uncover it.

James and Lily walked slowly to their final class of the day. It was not going to be pleasant and they knew that Venus was going to be as vindictive as ever. They walked together, hand in hand, towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts room. They noticed that Halle's bubbly spirit had gone away and she was sitting fearfully in her regular seat. Everyone was thinking 'What is she going to do next?'

Remus walked in without Katy and sat quickly to his seat behind Sirius. James and Lily stepped in the classroom and took their seats. There was complete silence and no one was speaking. Katy ran into the classroom. James turned to her and she gave him the thumbs up. Their plan had worked.

"Good afternoon, class," Venus' wispy voice said from the corner of the room. "I thought we'd review what was on our OWL's today. Since this year, NEWT covers everything you have learned, I feel it's best if we review today."

With a flick of her wand, the door to the class opened and a huge wardrobe made it's way into the room. It came to a halt next to Venus and she gestured for everyone to stand. They did so, and she moved all the chairs and desks to the side of the room.

"Everyone line up. It's time to confront your worst fears. Inside of this closet is a boggart. You all learned how to fight one in your third or fourth year. It's time to see if you actually remember how since then. Line up," she snapped.

James and Lily made their way to the back of the line, where students had already started to face the boggart. Many things had happened to all of them since third of fourth year. Their fears had grown and some of them had faced evils unimaginable. Deaths had occurred and Voldemort had come to his prime. Facing a boggart was no easy task. Lily saw several people move to the back of the line after they had finished looking pale and frightened.

Then, Lily heard many people gasp. She couldn't see, but apparently James could. Halle's turn had come up. Lily looked around some kids and saw two Venus Adams standing there. Obviously, one was a boggart. Halle was afraid of Venus.

"You silly girl, just get rid of it!" Venus snapped at her. Halle whimpered and pulled her wand up with enormous effort.

"Riddikulus," she said. Venus changed into Sirius making a silly face.

Halle hiccupped and ran out of the door. Venus had mocked her so badly for not being able to get rid of a simple boggart quick enough. Lily saw Halle leave and she ran after her, James and Sirius following.

"Where are you going?" they heard Venus yell. "50 points from Gryffindor."

"Shut up you ugly hag," James yelled back as he made his way for the door. He ran to the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Halle, this will be all over. We need to find proof that this woman is evil," James said. The four of them were sitting on the Gryffindor couch. Halle was crying and choking back tears at the same time.

"It's not just her James. I feel different every time I'm around her. She just makes me feel like I'm sick again. Like I can't escape my own body. Like I am trapped. It's awful," Halle said.

"She can do much more than that," Lily said.

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked.

"I mean, she's dangerous. We need to watch our step around that woman," Lily said.

"I hope Katy finds out about her soon," James said.

Katy arrived at her parents home, waving goodbye to the driver. She knew McGonagall would make sure she had arrived safely at home. Katy didn't even want to go inside, it would leave her parents with questions she didn't need to answer. So, she waited until morning, outside in the bushes. She had a backpack of things, and needed to make sure her parents were at work, and her twin brothers away at wizarding primary school.

When everyone had left she entered the small home she had grown up in. She made her way to the fireplace and took a handful of floo powder. She stepped into the fire and said clearly, "Potter Manor, Godric's Hollow."

She felt her body leave the fireplace and before she knew it, she landed into the Potter's nicely furnished home. James had told her the House elves would not ask questions.

She looked around. Not one house elf had noticed the strange appearance of a blonde 17 year old witch in the home. She wondered why the elves still worked when no one lived there anymore. She figured they were just extremely dedicated.

Katy made her way up the wooden stairs and into the attic. It was large and dusty. Cobwebs were hanging and she sneezed. No one had been up there in a long time. Katy made her way around. There were millions of boxes. She knew it would take a while to get to the bottom of things.

"Mr. Lupin, where is Miss Jones?" Venus had asked at dinner. It was unusual for a teacher to go to the house tables. Yet, after seeing Katy's absence she had made her way down to the Gryffindor table.

"Excuse me?" Remus asked.

"I asked where your friend, Katy Jones, was. She is not at dinner. I find that rather odd. Students normally always attend dinner. Is she ok?" Venus asked.

"Why do you care? She's not hungry," Remus lied.

"I was just concerned," Venus said simply. She made her way back to the staff table.

"Concerned my ass," James said. "More like being a nosy broad."

"She knows," Lily said. "She knows something is up."

"Probably. But there's not much she can do to stop her. Katy's already there," James said.

"I hope you're right," Lily said.

Katy had been searching for what felt like hours. She had found a large trunk with the Hogwarts crest on it. The name Judith Myers was engraved on it. It must have belonged to Mrs. Potter while she had attended school. The article Katy had read had said that Venus had attended school with Mrs. Potter. Katy heaved in a sigh of anticipation. She hoped this was it. She had already looked through everything else.

She opened the trunk with, "Alohamora" and had wiped the dust off the top. She found that there were several items inside the trunk.

She saw a picture of a younger Mr. Potter with hearts on the back of it. She saw an odd picture. It was a picture of Mr. Potter, Mrs. Potter, and a young woman with glasses and long hair. The girl was smiling pleasantly and was standing in-between Mr. and Mrs. Potter. Everyone seemed happy. Katy turned the picture over to see a caption.

Judy, we did it. Me, you, and Harry. We made it through seven years at Hogwarts. Now, I know we'll make Auror training together and become successful Dark wizard fighters. We had a rough time in sixth year but I think we made it through things stronger than ever. I love you and you are absolutely my best friend.

Best friends forever, Venus.

Katy gasped. Venus was the Potter's best friend??? How could this be? This disproved all her theories. Venus was their friend. Maybe she had become bitter. Katy had to keep looking.

She found a diary, with several clippings in it. She opened it and turned to the last entry.

Dear Diary,

Yours, Judy.

Katy's head started putting pieces together. Venus had mentioned something about sixth year in her comment on the picture.

Maybe Venus had liked Mr. Potter and he had turned her down! Who could blame him, really? Mrs. Potter looked like a much nicer lady than Venus had. Mrs. Potter couldn't trust Venus after that, yet Katy thought that she had trusted Venus later on in their careers.

She pulled at the Newspaper clippings. There were pictures of Venus at trial, and pictures of Mr. and Mrs. Potter making comment on the trial. There was a letter from the Ministry attached to the clippings.

Judy and Harry, thanks for the tip off. We'll check her out. -Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic.

Katy had been right! Mr. and Mrs. Potter had accused Venus of being a Death Eater. But, the Wizengamot had found her innocent and given her back her job as an Auror. Things must have been uncomfortable after that.

Katy looked through the other items to see nothing more. Mrs. Potter must have thrown the things from the trial in there is hopes of forgetting about it.

Katy grabbed her back pack and made way for the fireplace. She was going back to Hogwarts and she needed to warn her friends about Venus' dark side. Mrs. Potter must have seen it in sixth year and after they left Hogwarts. Venus must have done something bad for her to turn her best friend to the Dementors.

Katy grabbed some floo powder and threw it into the fireplace with her.

"Honeydukes, Hogsmeade."

James had told her about the secret passage in Honeydukes to Hogwarts. She would use that to get back. Hopefully, no one had been given detention.

James and Lily were waiting for Katy by the secret passage just as they had promised. They were waiting anxiously, knowing their friend must have found something out.

They waited in the dark corridor in silence when suddenly the one eyes witch with the hump on her back opened with Katy's blonde head poking out. Lily smiled at seeing her friend successfully fulfill the plan. Katy was risking everything to help Lily and James find out who this awful woman was.

"Guys, I hit the jackpot in James' attic," Katy said. James grinned.

"I hope it was something awful," James said. "That woman seems like one to have some nightmarish past."

"Oh, it's pretty big what I found out. Most of it I suspected," Katy said.

"Tell us."

"She was accused of being a Death Eater by your mum and dad, James. They accused her. She was their best friend at Hogwarts and was jealous that your dad and mum dated. They had this big fall out in sixth year until Adams apologized to your mum," Katy said. They were walking and suddenly all tripped.

Venus Adams came out of the shadows. She was grinning happily, casting off an evil sin. She had her wand out and crossed her arms.

"Very good Miss Jones," Venus said.

"Uh oh," Katy said.

"I knew you three were up to something when she didn't show up for dinner. Usually you guys send me dirty looks, Miss Jones the dirtiest of them all. I knew she wouldn't miss the opportunity for nothing, after all, I had just humiliated her friend Halle. But, she was absent from dinner. Your boyfriend is a horrible liar. So I followed Mr. Potter and Miss Evans, who acted like they were going for patrol. Now, I get my opportunity to rid the world of nosy people," Venus said.

She went back in the shadows for a moment and pulled out Sybll Trelawney.

"I was going to wait for at least a week or two but found that the opportunity came quicker than I expected. So I seized it and decided to bring along our little friend Sybll. The presence of Miss Jones and Miss Evans is just an added benefit," Venus said.

Sybll was shaking and seemed to be bounded by invisible ropes.

"Where are you taking us?" Lily asked.

"Oh, just a little place where I spend my time. I usually go down by myself after dinner. I just get the lucky chance of bringing my guests of honor down tonight. Unfortunately, they won't return from my special spot," Venus said.

"You evil bitch," Katy spat at her. She, Lily, and James seemed to have been stuck to the ground after they tripped.

"Wingardium Leviosa," Venus said.

Four bodies flew into the air. Lily felt a warm sensation trickle down her back as Venus pressed the tip of her wand into Lily's red hair.

"Disillusionment Charm," Venus said, explaining. Lily looked around. James had suddenly blended into the wall and surroundings. She could no longer see Sybll and Katy either. Venus just looked like she was holding her wand out as she walked, but actually she was dragging the four captives along the halls. They headed out the door into the cold air.

"Silencio," Venus said. "Anyone could be near their window."

Lily couldn't help but pray, "Let us live through this."

A/N: Please review. I want to hear your feedback.