Dark Phoenix Rising

Chapter Five: Past, Present, and Future

Theo was dressed in all black, though he didn't have a hood. He glanced down at his hands. They weren't tan and freckly. They were strange; pale like Xavier's. He felt a little taller as well, and the hair that fell into his eyes was not brown or blonde, but a pitch black.

He was sitting in a large hall, next to a figure he knew was Astiliris. However, he didn't have an ounce of fear in him. The hall was filled with robed figures, standing to either side of a path. The double doors at the end of the large hall burst open, and two robed figures came in, dragging a struggling person between them. It was Lena.

Lena looked up at Theo and Astiliris. Her eyes showed her fear, but she bravely said, "I won't help you." It was in heavily accented English. Her eyes travelled over to Theo. She didn't recognise him. "Y quiene eres tu?" she added in Spanish to Theo.

Theo was about to open his mouth when Astiliris interjected, "I don't think that is any of your business." He looked at Theo. "And what are you doing in here?"

"I-I don't know," Theo said. His eyes snapped open.

Ginny's face was the first thing he saw.

***

Hermione, Luna, and Ginny all looked at each other, startled. "The charm!" Ginny mouthed at Hermione, who quickly waved her wand, saying something under her breath. Theo sat up slowly, in his usual body, looking confused.

"Lena?" Ginny thought she heard Theo say. Then he looked down at his hands, and around at the room. "Where am I?"

"You're at St. Mungo's Hospital," Hermione explained. "You were unconscious for a few hours, after Astiliris put the Cruciatus Curse on you. Theo, what did you think you were doing, challenging a fully-trained and powerful Dark wizard like that? You were lucky he didn't kill you!"

"I-I don't know why," Theo lied. "It... he killed my parents, and..."

Hermione and Ginny looked at each other. That line sounded oddly familiar to them. "I-I-I suppose I wanted revenge."

"Theo," Hermione said in a gentler tone. "You don't have to feel like you have to avenge your parents. Astiliris didn't kill them because of you. It's not your fault."

"You don't understand, Miss Granger!" Theo said desperately. "It was my fault! All of it! Astiliris killed my parents because he wanted to get to me! If I wasn't born, then they would still be alive. It's all my fault, Miss Granger." He seemed to calm down. "It was my fault," he repeated glumly.

This sounded even more familiar to Ginny. It brought back painful memories. "It was not your fault, Theo," she ground out impatiently. Theo didn't look at her. "Look at me, Theo!" she said forcefully. Theo looked up reluctantly. "It. Was. Not. Your. Fault. Got it?"

"Yes, Mrs. Potter," Theo said.

***

Xavier sat in the teashop, swinging his legs absent-mindedly. His father had told him to stay there until he came for him, and Xavier didn't feel like doing anything else. Across from him, Colin didn't seem to want to do anything either. They were both worried for Theo. Near them, Jackie, Jack, Evan, and Emily seemed to be discussing what had happened in hushed whispers. Pierre sat at his own table, drinking tea as if he were a depressed person at a bar.

"Why, hello, boys," said an overly-cheerful voice from above them. Xavier and Colin looked up. In front of them was a man with wavy blonde hair and a dazzling smile. Xavier resisted the urge to shield his eyes from the whiteness of the man's teeth. The man oozed dishonesty and annoying attributes, and Xavier was ready to kick him on sight. He really was too cheerful.

Colin recognised the man. "Hello, Professor Lockhart," he said politely, though Xavier could see the annoyance in his eyes. "How are you right now? I heard you have your own fashion and hair-care products line." Lockhart peered at Colin for a moment. Xavier was relieved to see the dazzling grin go away for a minute.

"I'm sorry, I don't seem to recognise you. But I must have known you at some point or another, right? Am I correct in saying that I was the best Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher that you ever had?" Colin rolled his eyes. Lockhart seemed to take that as a yes. "Ah, of course," he said dramatically. "I spent years preparing myself to pass my great knowledge onto the next generation. But of course, dear boy," he added, winking, "I can't be expected to remember everyone's name, can I?" He peered at Xavier. "You must be a Malfoy!" he said jovially.

"Yes," Xavier said coldly. "And?"

"I know your family, of course. Very rich. My family was rich too. Perhaps you have heard of the Lockhart fortune? Ah, yes, of course you have, Mr. Malfoy. They say that old Gilderoy Lockhart... that's me, you know, has tripled the already-enormous Lockhart fortune." He bent down, as if to tell Xavier a secret. "They even say that the Lockharts are richer than the Malfoy's, even. Isn't that wonderful? I should really congratulate myself, shouldn't I?"

Xavier and Colin exchanged disgusted looks. "Right, Mr. Lockhart," Xavier said sarcastically. "You go do that." Lockhart beamed at him so that his overly-white teeth nearly blinded the two boys, and walked away, strutting like a peacock. "What an idiot," Xavier said. "He doesn't even notice that if you were his student, you would be an adult now. He didn't even get suspicious!"

"Unfortunately," Colin said. "Not everyone's like that. I think I'll have to spend the entire first term telling everyone about how I was home schooled for a while, and that's why I know some things already." He sniffed at his cloak, drawing away with a disgusted look on his face. "Ugh. I smell like lilacs," he said. He looked at Xavier. "You know, we should go do something. D'you want to go take photos of the hospital?"

"Well, all right," Xavier said. It was the first time Colin had mentioned his camera. Draco had told Xavier about the menace Colin had been at school, but Xavier didn't see that in this Colin. He followed Colin out of the teashop, and into the corridor, where a few Healers were bustling around, carrying plants. Colin took a picture of a Healer lugging a large, screeching plant behind her. "That wasn't a Mandrake, was it?" Xavier said, watching the Healer's retreating back.

"Nah. If it was a Mandrake, we'd both be dead," Colin said. "I read somewhere that their cries are fatal to anyone who hears them. But that plant was screaming, and all that happened was that our eardrums feel like they were destroyed." Xavier was about to ask him how he knew about Mandrakes when he realised Colin had gone to two months of school already, and may have heard about them. Suddenly, Colin stopped walking. "Look!" he said, pointing to a guard who was looking shiftily around. When he was satisfied no one was watching him, the guard walked off. "He's guarding something," Colin said.

"Let's go see what it is," Xavier said. He and Colin crept over to the door. "It's open," Xavier said. "Did you do this when you were in Hogwarts... the first time?" he asked curiously. Colin nodded, and opened the door. The two boys stepped in and closed the door promptly behind them.

"Ginny and I used to go around sometimes," Colin said. "It was usually to stalk Harry, though. Erm... that's Mrs. Potter and Harry Potter, I mean," he amended. Xavier nodded. He looked around. They seemed to be in some kind of containment corridor. He reached out and opened the second door.

At first glance, there was nothing in the nearly empty room. However, when Xavier scanned the room a second time, he saw a very pale, almost paper-white old man sitting pensively in his chair, looking at them, his eyes twinkling. "Well, it seems I have some visitors," he said in a hoarse and weak, but amused, voice. "Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Creevey, I presume?"

"Pr-professor?" Colin said incredulously. "What are you doing here, in St. Mungo's Hospital? Aren't you supposed to be at Hogwarts?"

"You're Professor Dumbledore?" Xavier said in awe. Draco and Icicle had always talked of Dumbledore at home. He seemed to be some type of half-real, half-legendary person that always was able to save the day. Xavier hadn't expected a weak-looking old man.

"Mr. Malfoy, to answer your question, yes, my name is Professor Dumbledore. Would you care for a sherbet lemon?" Dumbledore asked, taking out an old-looking bag of Muggle sweets. Xavier and Colin shook their heads. "Very well," Dumbledore continued. "In what was supposed to be your sixth year, Colin, I became ill. Afterwards, we found out your impostor had been poisoning me." Colin blushed. "No, no, Mr. Creevey, no one blamed you," Dumbledore said. "Anyway, I was sent to St. Mungo's, and deemed highly contagious. However, after many years of solitude, I have come to the decision that Mr. Fudge is keeping me in here. He was never the brightest student," he added.

"Why don't you just break out, then?" Xavier said. "You're the most powerful wizard in the world, Mr. Dumbledore. Everyone says so. You'd be able to defeat Astiliris..."

"Astiliris?" said Dumbledore, a faint frown crossing over his benevolent face. "Has Voldemort returned?"

"No, sir," Colin said. "Astiliris just started rising a few years ago. And today, he attacked for the first time. In Diagon Alley. Our friend, Theo, was put under a curse that tortured him. I'm not sure what it's called," he added apologetically. "He's after Theo for some reason; I don't know what it is."

"Who is Theo?" Dumbledore asked.

"Theo Finnigan, sir," Xavier said. "And Astiliris's different from You-Know-Who. It didn't matter whether you were pure-blood or not in Diagon Alley. Mr. Dumbledore, if you escaped, then you could defeat Astiliris, couldn't you?"

Dumbledore sighed, looking older and wearier. "I'm sorry, my boy," he said. "The illness was real, and I have been sapped of most of my powers. All that remains is my influence and my memories. I cannot escape, even if I wanted to. And if I did, by some random means, Minister Fudge would use it as another way to show my 'revolting nature'. He and I are often on opposite sides of an opinion."

"But... sir," Xavier said. "Theo could be..."

Dumbledore looked at him. "I can only tell you to help the Order of the Phoenix," he said weakly. "They will know what to do."

"The Order of the Phoenix?" Colin said. "What's that? Who's in it?"

"I cannot tell you," Dumbledore said. "I have had no contact with the outside world for a while, except for a few short visits from some members. And I believe it is their wish to keep you from the Order until you are ready for it. I advise you not go looking for the members. They are already disliked... barely tolerated by the Ministry, and many of them are in rather dangerous positions."

"Like?" Xavier said.

Dumbledore sighed again. "Mr. Malfoy," he said.

Xavier looked at him, confused. "Yes, sir?" he said. Then he heard footsteps from the containing corridor. "Colin! Someone's coming!" he hissed. The two quickly hid underneath Dumbledore's bed, hoping whoever it was didn't see them. The door opened, and two pairs of feet came in. One was a pair of dragon-hide boots, the footwear of all Aurors on duty, and the other was a pair of very stylish black shoes under shorter robes, like a dress. Xavier wondered who they were. Maybe they were Order members. Xavier imagined Order members to be half-criminals, on the run from the Ministry, dressed in cool clothes. They were all young and smart, and had interesting lives.

He sneaked a peek up at the two people who entered. And was surprised. Very surprised. His parents were standing there, looking down at him. They seemed very tall all of a sudden. "Er... hello, Mother. Father," Xavier squeaked. "How are you this fine afternoon? Hey," he said, changing the subject. "How's Theo? Is he awake yet?"

"Get. Up," Draco said tersely.

"What are you doing down there, Xavier Malfoy?" Icicle demanded. "Do what your father says. Now." She glared at him.

"But Mother," Xavier said sweetly. "To get up, I have to come up out of here fir-" Draco's arm came out like lightning and pulled him out roughly. "Ow! Father, that hurt!" Xavier complained. Icicle immediately bent down worriedly.

Draco sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "Draco, dear, you really hurt him, though," Icicle said, turning to her husband. She went back to Xavier. "Darling, where does it hurt?" Xavier groaned theatrically, and shot a smirk at his father when his mother wasn't looking. Dumbledore chuckled.

"Looks like one of us likes female contact," Draco said dryly.

Icicle stood up, looking at Draco furiously. "Your father used to do that to you, didn't he? That's why you're using the same techniques on your son!"

"No, my father never touched me... himself. No, he whacked me with a cane instead," Draco said. Xavier had the sudden mental image of himself being chased by his father, who had a cane, around Malfoy Manor. He shuddered. Colin crawled out from under the bed as well. Draco raised a eyebrow. "Both of you?" he said.

"Yes... uh..." Colin said, wondering what to call Draco.

"Just Malfoy," Draco said impatiently. "What else?"

"...Malfoy," Colin said.

Xavier, however, had caught sight of a necklace on his mother's neck. It had an amulet on it in the shape of a phoenix, with the letters 'OP' inscribed on it. "You're in the Order of the Phoenix?" Xavier said disbelievingly.

"How do you..." Draco said, before trailing off and looking at Dumbledore accusingly. "You told them about the Order?"

"You can't be part of the Order of the Phoenix!" Xavier protested. His parents shot him questioning looks. "You're not young or cool!" he added. "I mean, you're both dusty old Aurors who sit around at a desk most of the time. And you're parents! I mean, Order members are supposed to be teenagers or in their twenties, with cool clothes and lots of boyfriends or girlfriends. You're married! They're criminals running from the Ministry, not working for it!" Xavier looked at Draco. "You don't even have long hair!" he half-wailed.

Draco and Icicle blinked at him. "What? You want me to have long hair?" Draco said. "Father looked like a woman with long hair," he sniffed. "And he wore ribbons in it. That made it worse."

"Darling... the Order..." Icicle said.

"Wait a minute," Draco said. "Do you know how old we were when we joined the Order?" He looked at Xavier, who looked sullenly back. "Twenty. Straight out of the ISD. And yes," Draco said. "I had a lot of girlfriends-"

Icicle rolled her eyes. "That's an understatement, Mr. Leather Trousers." Draco began choking on his own spit.

"That was only once," he gasped. Xavier snickered. "Besides," he said, going back to normal, "Once we had you, our ability to be cool was taken away from us."

"Exactly," Dumbledore said vaguely. "I remember, before I was put in here, there was some time when Mr. Potter and Miss Weasley broke up, and Mr. Potter insisted on seeing a wide variety of French veelas. I told him that was unwise, but he said he wanted to be 'cool' before he had to settle down with someone." Everyone looked at him blankly, but he was busy unsticking two sweets.

"What?" Draco said finally. "I thought it was a German veela and five Dutch veelas," he said. Icicle rolled her eyes.

"Professor, what should we do with these two? They know about the Order..."

"Simple," Dumbledore said. "Introduce them to the Order of the Phoenix. Tell them about it." Draco and Icicle opened their mouths to protest, but Dumbledore held up a hand. "I learned that lesson the hard way," he said quietly. "Twice. I was lucky that the second time, I turned around just in time. The first time caused tens of thousands of deaths, and mass sorrow. I would hate to see what would have happened if I hadn't told..." he trailed off.

Xavier was confused. He didn't know what Dumbledore was talking about. Draco and Icicle, however, nodded and led the two boys out into the corridor of St. Mungo's. "Where are we going?" Colin asked.

"Headquarters," Draco said shortly. They boarded the lift, and stepped off on the first floor, where they headed into a room marked 'Muggle clothes'. Half an hour later, they emerged in Muggle clothes. Draco and Icicle stood in matching black outfits. Colin thought they looked like they had come straight out of a spy movie. They both were wearing sunglasses even though the sun was beginning to set outside. Colin was the only one not in black. Even Xavier was sporting a black T-shirt and black jeans. He had a hat with 'West Ham' emblazoned on the front.

Draco looked at the hat, frowning. "West pigs?" he said in disgust. "Muggles."

They headed out into the Muggle world. "It's not far to walk, really," Icicle said as Xavier scowled at being pushed by hurrying Muggles. They walked down the street, Colin gazing around at Muggle London, which he hadn't seen for a while, not since he was found in Knockturn Alley over a month before.

"Oi! Malfoy!" called a voice. Fred Weasley headed over, dressed in a shirt, tie, and khakis. "You're headed for the meeting, right?" he said. He looked at Colin and Xavier. "What are these two doing here?"

"Dumbledore told them," Icicle said. "They snuck into his room when the guard wasn't watching." Fred nodded, and looked at the boys again before turning away. The group walked on, until they entered a dingy neighbourhood with almost no one around. A pale, skinny man darted in front of Draco. He was scrawny, and several inches shorter than Draco.

"Well, what do we have here?" he said. "A couple of rich people from the better parts of London." He scanned their clothing. "Not here to bust a bunch of drug dealers, are we? You part of M16?"

"No, not M16," Draco said calmly.

"Then why the sunglasses?" rasped a chunky man from behind. He came up to Xavier, who gulped. "A little lad, with a 'West Ham' cap. How cute." He moved closer, and his hand came closer. There was a knife in it. "Gimme your money, you lot," he growled. "Or the boy gets hurt." Colin saw Draco reach into his pocket, and Icicle silently warn him. He couldn't use his wand.

However, Draco didn't pull out a wand. There was a click, and Draco said lazily, "Don't move." Colin was shocked to see a Muggle gun in Draco's hand. So was everyone else.

"He is M16!" the scrawny man exclaimed. "Help!" he called.

More gang members emerged. Some had guns. Finally, a very short and fat man, about five feet tall, came out. Xavier recognised him. It was the man who had flirted with his mother when Colin had been at Hogwarts. The man stopped short, craning his neck to look up. "You!" he said.

"Hello, Dursley," Draco said icily. "I thought I told you to avoid us."

"Y-you don't kn-know how to shoot that," Dudley stammered nervously. Draco smirked, and there was a loud bang. Dudley stood stiffly, frozen. His gangster-style hat, which he had been wearing, was lying on the ground behind him, a hole through it.

"I don't?" Draco said sarcastically. "Funny. I thought I just did." The group passed silently through the gang. Xavier was a bit awe-struck.

Icicle frowned. "Where did you learn how to use Muggle weapons?" she said. "We didn't learn it at the ISD."

"Correction. You didn't. You never took the Weaponry course. The gang gives Order members trouble often, so I brought this. The Ministry had a hard time Obliviating that group last time, after Hestia used her wand." They stopped in front of two grimy buildings. Suddenly, a building seemed to appear out of a space that was made when the two grimy buildings were pushed aside. Draco knocked on the door. It was opened by none other than Ron.

"What are they doing here?" he said, looking at the boys.

"They found Dumbledore," Icicle said simply. Ron rolled his eyes, and let them in. When they reached curtains, they were extra quiet.

"Why are we being so quiet?" Xavier said loudly. The adults winced as the curtains came apart, and a mad-looking woman with a yellow complexion began screeching.

"How did she get back, anyway?" Fred said. "I thought we took her down."

"Must have been Kreacher," Ron said. "If I ever find that house elf..."

"He's hidden himself for the last twenty years, Ron," Fred reminded his brother.

"MUDBLOODS AND BLOOD-TRAITORS IN THE HOME OF MY ANSCESTORS!" She spotted Draco and screamed. "YOU! YOU BLOOD-TRAITOR! THE WORST OF THEM ALL, MALFOY!"

"Shut up!" Draco snapped.

"NARCISSA SHOULD FEEL SUICIDAL RIGHT NOW FOR LETTING YOU LIVE, YOU TRAITOR TO OUR NOBLE BLOOD! YOU ARE NO RELATIVE OF MINE, YOU..."

With difficulty, all of the adults were able to shut the curtains in front of the woman. "How the hell did she get back here?" Fred asked again. "I am personally going to strangle Kreacher, even if it takes me years to find him in this miserable dump."

"Good luck," Draco said wryly as Hermione came up the stairs from the kitchen.

"You're here! Tonks couldn't make it, since she had to take the children home, but she couldn't find Colin or Xavier..." Hermione trailed off, looking at the two. "What are they doing in here? I thought we were supposed to keep the Order from them. You don't want to involve them, do you? You know, I thought we were going to let them grow up normally..."

"Dumbledore," Ron said wearily. He sounded uncomfortable, talking to his former wife. Hermione nodded.

"Everyone's here except for Mark and Kingsley. And Tonks. Mark and Kingsley are doing something... I don't know what..." Hermione said. Everyone followed her down the stairs, Colin and Xavier a little apprehensively. It seemed like all these people they had thought were boring were all part of an intricate underground organisation.

The kitchen was large, like a cavern. However, the long rectangular table in the middle of the room was crowded, and many were sitting on the many short (probably made for house-elves) counters on the walls of the room. Xavier tripped ungracefully on the cobbled floor, and flushed a very light pink.

There was a light buzz of conversation as they entered, but the room was silenced as the occupants saw Colin and Xavier. "Dumbledore," Draco sighed. Many of the Order members nodded and smiled kindly at the two. Draco frowned down at Xavier, and said, "You can take that ridiculous hat off now."

"Ridiculous?" said a black man with rather puffed up hair incredulously. "What do you mean, Malfoy? West Ham is never ridiculous."

Draco scoffed. "Muggle football will never come close to Quidditch," he said. "And who in their right mind would name their team after pork?" A few non-Muggleborns snickered. "I, for one, prefer the Holyhead Harpies, since their Seeker has the loveliest ar-" Icicle slapped him. "-behind," Draco finished. Icicle rolled her eyes, as if annoyed. Xavier sniggered.

A man with lanky, greasy grayish-black hair, who Xavier recognised as Snape, said dryly, "Yes, Mr. Malfoy, we all know that you and Potter spent your free time at that Auror school staring at various assets of the female anatomy."

"They what?" Ginny and Icicle said simultaneously.

Ron snickered. "They didn't do anything, Ginny," he said innocently. "At least, nothing they weren't supposed to be doing. Well, I can't speak for Malfoy, but Harry wasn't doing anything but looking. You couldn't have told him not to look at another female again, could you?" Ginny scowled. She threw a pretty Asian woman with black ringlets a dirty look. The woman smirked back at her, twirling a curl around a finger. Xavier wondered what that was all about. Next to him, Colin seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"We're here, obviously, to discuss the bastard that calls himself Astiliris," growled a very grizzled and quite frightening old man, who was sitting on a stool by the fire. His magical blue eye whirled around furiously, and Xavier could see a wooden leg resting on one of the bars of the stool. He shivered. The man was Mad-Eye Moody, who his father had only mentioned once or twice at home.

"We should just finish him off in one strike. With our best leadership..." Ron started.

Moody looked at him, his electric blue eye still spinning almost hypnotically in its socket. "Problem is, Weasley, the one laddie we had that could have led us to defeat Astiliris cannot lead us. No, he's gone now."

"But surely, we could defeat Astiliris without Potter. I mean, we defeated Pharaoh Aktoramos without Potter..." Draco said.

"Aktoramos was barely alive," Moody said, snorting.

"But..."

"Shut it, Malfoy, or I'll turn you into a ferret like Crouch did," Moody growled. He looked Draco over, then said, "No, I'd turn your little laddie into one. It would be easier. We can't finish him off in one strike without Potter..."

Colin gasped. Harry Potter, beloved by the Ministry, was once part of the Order? "He-he couldn't have been in the Order!" Xavier heard his friend say. "He... the Ministry doted on him! He wouldn't have joined..."

To Colin and Xavier's surprise, Moody laughed. "No, laddie. Potter was hated by the Ministry. Had been since his fourth year. It was only after we proved that Voldemort was back that they came crawling back to us. And it was never fully. No, Potter was one of our best operatives."

"That is not true!" snarled Percy heatedly. Xavier wondered why Percy was at the Order meeting. Surely he wasn't part of the Order. "The Ministry did not go crawling back! Potter had a history of being a liar. Minister Fudge had all the reason in the world to discredit the boy."

"Unfortunately, all his little stories from before just had to be right," Ron said sarcastically, glaring at Percy. "Face it, Percy. The Ministry was wrong, and the Order was right. The Ministry did come crawling back to Dumbledore. And Harry was right all along."

Percy glared at his brother. "Well, Ronald," he said in a poisonous voice. "If you, Ginevra, William, Charles, George, and Frederick-"

"My name's not Frederick!" Fred exclaimed.

Percy chose to ignore him. "If you, our siblings, and Mother and Father hadn't been so narrow-minded and demanding..."

"You were the narrow-minded one!" Ginny said sharply.

Percy looked at his younger sister distastefully. "Ginevra, Ginevra," he sighed finally. "If only you had followed my suggestion and married the Corner boy from the Minister's office, you would be so much more demure and polite, like my Penny. Now you are rude and sharp-tongued, hardly-"

"I don't give a damn about Michael Corner, and you know it, Percival," Ginny mocked. "Why would I want to be a slave, like Penny is? It's so much nicer being an actual person. Don't you agree, Hermione?" Hermione looked at Percy, and nodded. Ginny smirked. "Hermione agrees. And I'm sure Mum would have agreed with my choice as well."

"Don't talk about Mother to me!" Percy hissed. "As for Hermione, why would I care? She was Potter's friend. Her opinion does not matter. And did you know, Ginevra, that children weigh you down? Penny and I lead such a wonderful life because-"

"I wanted children, you prat," Ginny spat.

Percy ignored her. "We don't have any children, so we can do as we please. But Potter impregnated you, and now you suffer..."

"You idiot!" Ginny said. "Number one, you make it sound like he knocked me up and then married me, which is totally wrong. Number two, I just said, I don't care. I wanted a child, and I got one!" Many members of the Order were looking quite uncomfortable.

"Yes, but you don't know where he was those evenings he didn't come home... chasing after Death Eaters, he said. But-"

"ENOUGH!" shouted a grey-haired, tired-looking man. Everyone looked surprised. Xavier recognised him as Lupin, the Deputy Headmaster of Hogwarts. His father had said he was mild-tempered. Perhaps that was why everyone looked dumbstruck. "We are here to discuss Astiliris, not about how Ginny should have married Michael Corner."

Percy opened his mouth to argue, but the door to the kitchen opened abruptly. Mark Evans and Kingsley Shacklebolt came in, leading a heavily-cuffed and gagged robed figure. "We got Gregory Goyle," Mark said. Goyle saw Draco, and looked alarmed. Mark and Kingsley pushed him roughly into a chair, and bound him to it with chains.

"Not that hard," Hermione said disapprovingly as Goyle winced in pain. Mark shrugged apologetically and yanked the gag out of Goyle's mouth.

"Now that's one of the closest lads we've got to Potter," Moody muttered. "If we dyed his hair, no one could tell the difference."

Goyle looked around at the Order, his eyes darting fitfully. Draco moved towards him, smirking. "Well, hello, Goyle. Look who decided to work for the dark again." Goyle gulped. "So, are you going to tell us about this Dark Lord?"

"M-Malfoy..." Goyle said. "W-we w-was al-always g-g-good school ch-chums. Wasn't w-we? W-with Cra-Crabbe? And N-Nott?" He tried to grin in a friendly way at Draco, but failed. Draco continued to look at him in the infuriatingly calm way. "R-right, Dr-Draco?"

"Are you aware that that speech was the longest group of words you've strung together in your life?" Draco asked lightly. "Goyle, we can be friends... if you tell me what I want to know. Tell me about your Master. Where is he? And how can he be defeated?"

"Please, Dr-Draco, d-don't m-m-make me t-tell... M-Master s-said..." Goyle stuttered, sounding deathly frightened.

"What did Master say?" Draco said, a positively evil look on his face. Goyle started shaking violently. Xavier was glad the look wasn't directed at him. He didn't know what he would have done.

"I-I can't t-tell y-you anything!" sobbed Goyle. "Please!"

"Tell us now," Draco said dangerously.

"Please! Please!" Goyle wailed, clutching at Draco's arm. "Don't make me tell you! No! I can't tell you! We was always mates, Draco! No!"

"Father, don't make him tell you," Xavier found himself saying. He felt sorry for the man chained to the chair. "He can't tell. Father-"

"Listen to the boy, mate!" Goyle sobbed.

"Xavier, go," Draco said, not looking at Xavier. His eyes were fixated on Goyle.

"Father-"

"GO!" This time, Draco turned to Xavier. And Xavier saw the scariest thing he had ever seen in his entire life. His father, who usually was either smirking or arrogant-looking, looked down-right... evil. Xavier backed away wide-eyed, his eyes beginning to water. He was scared. His lip wobbled.

"MUMMY!" Xavier wailed, tears jumping out of his eyes. He had even said 'Mummy' instead of 'Mother'. He dove for Icicle, who hugged him to her, and allowed him to sob. "Mummy, Father's evil! He wants to kill me, Mummy!" He continued wail.

There was a sigh from behind, and Draco said in his normal voice, "I do not want to kill you, Xavier. And I am certainly not evil." He paused, then said, "And did I hear you say 'Mummy', Xavier?"

Icicle rolled her eyes. "Draco, just..."

Draco turned back to Goyle. "Tell us," he said.

"I-I can't-"

"NOW!"

Goyle gasped, and recoiled. "All righ'! All righ', I'll tell you!" He suddenly went rigid. The Order shrank back. It was certainly not expected. Goyle started screaming. "Please! Master, no! Please, Master, don't-" He shuddered, and then stood up, a strange smirk coming across his face. His eyes glowed a bright green, as if they were made from Muggle neon lights. He laughed softly, a laugh that sent Xavier's face back into his mother's dress.

"Don't look so surprised," Goyle said, amused. The voice that came out of his mouth was not Goyle's bumbling voice, but a rather London-ish one, like the Malfoys'. "What? You thought I was weak, so weak that I couldn't even attempt a Possession? The Order is truly falling apart, then." The chains on the chair suddenly were cut, and Goyle stood up. Ginny began to rise angrily for some reason, but Hermione and Luna pulled her back.

"So you're the pathetic upstart who thinks he's a dark lord," Percy said snidely. "Mind your step, you, or you'll find yourself in Azkaban with the dementors."

Goyle laughed. "The Ministry is less intelligent than I thought. Putting the dementors back in Azkaban. Now that's a laugh." As time progressed, Goyle became thinner and straightened up, as if taking on Astiliris's appearance. What was left was a cross between Astiliris and Goyle.

"So why don't you spare us the trouble of looking for you, and tell us where you are?" Draco said icily. "And who are you, anyway? What do you want?"

"Where am I? You couldn't find it even if I told you, Malfoy," Astiliris said. "I'm right in front of you. You should know that. If I told you where I was physically, then you wouldn't be able to find me, since you can't even see that I'm in front of you... in a sense. As for who I am, does that truly matter? And what do I want?" Astiliris moved Goyle's body to the Order. "I know as much as you that Voldemort was a hypocrite. A half-blood killing his own kind. No, I'm out to rule the world. Surely you heard that phrase in those Muggle children's cartoons?"

"You're insane," Luna Longbottom, the Head Healer at St. Mungo's, said. "Totally insane."

"Insane? Luna, you're hardly the one to lecture on insanity," Astiliris said.

"How do you know?" Neville demanded.

"Please. Didn't we all grow up reading those ridiculous articles in the Quibbler? What was it about Sirius Black being Stubby Boardman of the Hobgoblins, and how Grindelwald was really a Crumple-Horned Snorkack?" Astiliris sounded annoyed.

"Stupefy!" someone called. A jet of red light flew towards Astiliris... and went straight through him. He sighed.

"The problem with Possession is that you can't harm me, but I can't harm you either," he said in a mock-mournful voice. "All you did was stun Goyle. Too bad Goyle's too stupid to know any real spells." It was true that Goyle was not consciously present. The figure standing in front of them was not Goyle. It was Astiliris, hooded and in all black. All that showed from behind his hood were the eerie glowing eyes.

"What are your plans, oh great Dark Lord?" Draco said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Surely there will be a nice luncheon with all the Cimmerians, and then we'll have your head Cimmerian... I suppose that's Aunt Bella, serve wine..."

He was pushed aside by Ginny, who had escaped from Hermione and Luna. "Ah, and we have the lovely Ginevra joining our little conversation," Astiliris said.

"You bastard," Ginny hissed.

"Now, now, my parents were married," Astiliris said. "Oh! Did you not like my present to you, from this morning? Ginny, you know it's not nice to be rude after someone gives you a present... especially if it's to return something of great emotional value."

"You can have it back, then," Ginny snarled, hurling a plastic ring on a thread at Astiliris. It flew straight through him. "I'd rather not keep something you touched, thank you very much." Xavier saw Colin tense after seeing the ring. Ginny went on. "Especially not if you stole it," she spat.

"Ah, Ginny," Astiliris said, sighing in a mocking way. "I just wanted you to have something. Oh, look at the time. I've got to leave." Slowly, Goyle turned into himself again.

"No, Master, please don' leave! Please!" he wailed.

Xavier nearly felt sorry for the Cimmerian. "Master, please! I-I'll tell them who yeh are! Master, no! Please, Master, please don' leave me! I'll die!"

There was a hissing voice from nowhere. "It's your fault for getting caught, Goyle. Therefore, I must punish you by killing you. Goodbye, Goyle."

Goyle shrieked. "Please, Master, don' leave me!" He was openly sobbing. "Please! NO! I'll tell 'em who you really are! I will, Master, if yeh leave me! No, please, I'll die! Please, Master, stay! PLEASE!"

Xavier flinched with every word. Goyle turned to Draco and the Order. "Please, mate, make him stay! You lot have the power to make him stay! We was always good school chums, Draco! Make him stay!" Draco stood, looking at the man icily. "PLEASE! NOOOOOOOO!" Goyle shouted as the last remnants of Astiliris left.

"Who's Astiliris, Goyle?" Draco said coldly.

Goyle shuddered, his face ashen. He drew a rattling breath. "He's..." Another rattling breath, and then he fell to the floor, dead.