Chapter 8. I'm amazed that this is going as well as it is. I never really thought that I would be able to take this anywhere. It was an idea that got lodged in my head and just wouldn't ease up until I put it on paper, so to speak, though this is more like electronic paper and not real paper. Oh well, I'm rambling, and I don't want to be, so on with chapter eight. Hopefully there will be a little more action and less boredom in this one. So, on with the story.
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Sebastian faced his parents, godparents, aunts and uncles, and grandparents. Also present was Oliver Wood, Alisa, their three children, including Noah's girlfriend Olivia, who was starting her seventh and final year of Hogwarts, Sirius, Lupin and Tonks. Their children were nowhere to be seen. There were two of them, one at university and the other with Tonks' parents for the summer.
"Okay. Now that you've seen all of our research," he looked at his mother pointedly, "and gone over every inch of every book I used to get it from, what do you think?"
Harry was having very little luck not laughing at the exchange between his wife and son. It was quite humorous. Hermione cleared her throat. "Sebastian, your research was correct. I couldn't find one hole in any of it. Having said that, I still think that it's a little unlikely that we're dealing with a witch. There are reasons that the great, if you can call them great, evildoers, for lack of a better word, are always wizards."
"That doesn't mean that it can't be a witch," Carys said, "Aunt Hermione, I thought that to, until I looked at his research. Add to that the fact that Desdemona Knightley has been missing for twenty years, and that our new problem is being called the Dark Knight? It just seems a little obvious to me."
"Exactly. Carys, I looked at the research. It's correct. There's nothing wrong with it. It's completely perfect." Hermione shook her head at her son when he started to speak. "However, that's part of the problem. It's too perfect. Too right. Too obvious, and if there's anything we've learned over the past thirty years or so, it's that those things that seem to be obvious are most often the wrong things."
Harry was, unfortunately, forced to disagree. "Herms, not always. I remember being eleven and swearing that Snape was evil and working for Voldemort. We didn't know we were right until five years later because no one wanted to believe what seemed to be obvious."
Hermione glared at her husband. Harry suspected that Hermione wasn't going to put up more than a token protest, but that she would argue a little because she was upset that she hadn't come up with the theory herself. "Look, it's worth a look, but I don't want you to be disappointed if it turns out to be another wizard who's playing at being the Dark Knight. This person, whomever he or she, is, hasn't really put on much of a display yet."
"You don't think attacking our children last night was much of a display?" Ginny demanded, gripping Carys' hand tightly. "I'd say that was a pretty damn large display of power."
"Not compared to things that Lord Voldemort did." Draco said gently. "It scared me too, Gin, but think about it. Possessing students, attacking Hogwarts, the TriWizard tournament, the Department of Mysteries, everything he did while we were in school was bigger than what this person has done. And yes, it is big. Whoever the hell it is has been gaining followers and power steadily for eleven years. I think that means it's safe to say that he or she has considerable power. Perhaps they're just choosing to be more modest about showing it off. Letting the public, specifically us, underestimate them and not go full out fighting. That's how battles are lost. By underestimating your enemy."
Ron nodded, stopped pacing the living room. "I'm forced to agree with Draco." he said mournfully. "I think we have to sit back and see what happens." Before all the adults in the room could jump down his throat, he elaborated. "Not just sit and act all helpless. That's not what I mean. But we need to be able to judge what they've got, and we really can't do that from the front lines."
"You think we should just go home and leave our children to face this on their own?" Ginny's voice rose with every word. "Over my dead body, Ronald Weasley. That is my daughter, and your son. It is our job to protect them and keep them safe."
"That's not what I'm saying exactly. I just think that we should let them start, be right there to help if and when they need it, and just see if they're looking at the kids as a major threat."
Harry thought he grasped what Ron was saying, but thought that his best friend wasn't expressing himself well. "Okay, let's see if I can say this any better. The kids are adults, as much as none of us want to admit it. They are. They are capable wizards and witch. And if we keep them from doing this, we are hypocrites, because we were much younger when we started fighting Voldemort. We need to be available for help. But not interfere. Because ultimately, the main goal is to bring the Death Eaters and their new leader down for good. And that's going to be easier to do if they think they're fighting three teenagers and not us. It's the same principle as us being able to defeat Voldemort. We were severely underestimated because we were young and inexperienced. It's an advantage. One we don't have anymore."
"No," Hermione said, "But we do have an advantage. People are scared of us. Death Eaters don't want to mess with us. That's a powerful advantage too."
Harry took his wife's hand. "'Mione, we've always known that eventually we would have to step back and let them do their own thing. I think this is that point. However, one of us will be staying here each night in rotation. Very low key, no one will know about it outside this room." He looked at Oliver and Alisa. "You two don't have to stay, but we thought you should be aware, because of Olivia and Mikayla probably spending a lot of time here."
Wood nodded. "I know we don't have to, but they're our family too." he said, and Alisa nodded. "We'll stay too."
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Carys paced around the library, holding one thick book in her hand, several more spread out on the desk. Every few minutes, she would switch books so that she could read a passage. She was researching all of the known Death Eaters and other major dark witches and wizards through out the ages. She was mainly trying to lend credibility to their theory that the Dark Knight was a woman.
"Sebastian! Noah!" she yelled, hurrying to the door. "Come here, I think I found something!"
Noah got there first, "What?"
"Wait for Sebastian. He needs to hear this too." She waited until Sebastian walked in. "Look at this."
Sebastian peered at the place where she was pointing. "What about it?"
Carys resigned herself to the fact that she was going to have to explain the significance to the men. "Look, this chapter is completely dedicated to dark witches. It's one I nipped from the Restricted Section at Hogwarts. McGonagall ordered it cleaned out and I managed to grab a few before they were pitched. This is Advanced Dark Arts and the Craft of Evil Witchcraft and Wizardry."
"So why doesn't my mom know about this?" Sebastian asked, making a very valid point. He should have expected, however, that Carys would have a very logical, and extremely plausible answer.
Because the last time anyone did anything to the Restricted Section, Dumbledore was Headmaster and he had all the really bad books disguised. This was under the title, `How to Turn Yourself Into a Werewolf.' Our parents never really needed to learn that. I was intrigued, but when I opened it, the pages were blank. I had to decloak it and never got around to actually reading it. Look, the important thing is that for every dark wizard from the time of Merlin, there has been an equally great dark witch. It's all part of the balance. Male and female."
"There have not always been an equal number of dark witches and wizards. There aren't an equal number of witches and wizards period."
"No, but think about it, Sebastian, it's your damn theory anyway. This is all about dark powers rising, and a very renowned scholar of the dark arts wrote it. He lived about five hundred years ago, was the greatest alchemist before Nicholas Flamel, and invented the Draught of the Living Dead."
Sebastian held up a hand. "We don't need a biography on the author, we need to know what the hell is so important about the book he wrote."
"Okay, but this is really important history and should not be ignored. I mean without his contributions-"
Noah cut her off. "Carys! What is so important?"
"Aside from Voldemort, every dark lord has been killed by a dark witch that attempted to take over his post as the Dark Queen. Harry was the first wizard to defeat a dark wizard and kill him."
Noah perched on the desk. "Voldemort was smarter than your average cookie."
"And very interested in the Dark Arts." Carys continued. "I also nipped the old library check out book. I imagine Dumbledore put it there as a joke, but it's really very invaluable in judging who was a possible Death Eater and who was not- anyway," she said before she could get interrupted again, "that isn't the important thing. The important thing is that Tom Riddle checked out the book `How to Turn yourself Into a Werewolf' while he was in school. Which could mean that he was smart enough not to put himself in the position to meet the same fate as all of his predecessors."
"Meaning that he wasn't the original Death Eater. More like their spokesperson."
Carys elaborated. "The five star general waging the way, and biding his time until he could overthrow the Prime Minister. Exactly."
"We have to show this to our parents." Noah said, tucking the book under his arm. "This is very important. I don't know why this pattern hasn't been realized before."
"Because typically the witches didn't get very far because no one wanted to follow the command of a witch. Very sexist, but true. No dark witch ever rose to any amount of notoriety. Not one. Voldemort would have known that. He also would have known who the most powerful dark witch of the time was."
"Desdemona." Sebastian said, his brain fully wound around the idea. "Bloody brilliant on his part. He gets to wage his war and doesn't have to worry about being killed by a dark witch greater than him. It's playing the odds, but it worked for him. And her. She got to technically run the show, and he got to be a Dark Lord. After his death, she gets to really take over and start rising."
"Now all we have to do is figure out how to find her." Carys said, twirling her wand idly between her fingers. "Any brilliant ideas on how we go about that?"
Sebastian nodded. "Actually, yes. I've got a couple."
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She walked the length of her chambers slowly, her back turned to the four men that bowed on the stone floor. She wasn't really angry with them. She'd expected the first batch of young, unseasoned Death Eaters to be defeated by the three teenagers. It hadn't surprised them. But to be defeated so easily, that was the problem.
"I never want to be embarrassed again. We must make a statement." She nodded to the four of them. "You are one third of the governors. Enough to start a movement. I want new legislation drafted. Malfoy, rest his black soul was, on the right track with the purification of the wizarding schools. That will outrage the public, make them easier targets. Tomorrow night, once you've outraged the public, I want a team of our best Death Eaters to attack and battle the teenagers. I want the originals. Those who followed my father. Inferi. I want Inferi. I will personally see to them. I want them chosen very exclusively. Those who will haunt our would-be heroes.
"We will be moving immediately. This place has served its need. It is too conspicuous. I have already prepared a place. Randomized and Unplotable. Impossible to find unless you know exactly where you are going and are allowed in by the wards. Even Mudblood Hermione Potter's spell won't allow you in there. And once the teenagers have been injured, and we've done enough to interest their parents in what's going on, we will fight the battle." She laughed, the sound frightening, "and unlike those before me, we will win. And the world will be mine. Until my successor takes over." She grinned wickedly. "Carys Malfoy will be mine. Her soul is black as night. She just has to realize it. Give herself over to her destiny. And once she does, the circle is complete."
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