Dark Marks, Orders, and Aurors

Chapter 3 - A Cave-Siren in Hogwarts.

"You want to go dodge the Whomping Willow?" said Harry with a nostalgic air to him.

Sure enough, as they rounded the corner, following a path that circled the school, in the far distance was the Whomping Willow. Settled behind a patch of other trees that had obviously been planted more recently, it looked almost harmless. It"s huge fist-like branches looked static and void of danger as the tree stood completely still, the only movement, that of the leaves dancing softly in the wind. "-It could be fun."

"I don"t think so," said Ginny, trying to sound disinterested. "I think we are a little old for games."

Even after her own words, Ginny wanted nothing more in that moment, then to run up to the tree, and beat Harry to the knot-like root that opened the secret passage into Hogsmead.

"We play with our targets," said Harry shrugging. The wind blew his dark black hair - revealing the lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead - which he quickly combed down.

"And I keep telling you not to."

"You do with all your spells," said Harry. "Not to mention playing with your potions all the time."

"It"s called torture, Harry," said Ginny almost at the Whomping Willow now. "What you do. Well, it"s all yap, yap, yap."

"Are you sure-"

"No," snapped Ginny. "I do not want to dodge the Whomping Willow ... I don"t even know why you want to do that. If you"re going to get sentimental, then at least do it over something we actually done! When did you ever dodge the Whomping Willow before?"

"Well, once in a car by accident," said Harry shrugging. "Okay then. Something else to do ... Let"s walk round the lake."

"We"re supposed to be here to-" began Ginny, but seeing her words would most likely have no effect, she agreed to just one walk around the lake.

They neared the lake, not even a five-minute walk from the Whomping Willow, the body of water reflecting the dark sky above but with a shimmering property as it swayed with the wind. The breeze every now and then cut darting streaks in the lake. Twenty-five feet out, where the water took a darker tone as the shallow waters met deeper ones; a large black silhouette darted across the lake. Two large purple tentacles that protruded from the depths, reaching all the way to where Harry and Ginny sat, signalled the arrival of the giant squid.

"They are the best years of our life, aren"t they?" said Ginny with a content sigh. The redhead chucked a morsel of food into the lake, the squid swallowing down whatever it was quickly.

"Now who"s getting nostalgic, Gin?" gloated Harry. His eyes met Ginny"s as he stared down at the woman that was lying on the grass, her head resting on his lap.

"You know," drawled Ginny. "I have a serum of my latest potion in my cloak."

"And on that note," said Harry promptly. "I would like to add that I feel, in my opinion, no one here is getting sentimental, and furthermore I would like to quickly change the topic."

"I don"t see how we got in here, though," said Ginny as she got up, dusting her cloak down, sending the blades of grass cascading into the waters edge.

"Hmmm," said Harry, still staring into the water.

"Another blunder by the Ministry?"

"I don"t know," said Harry. With a grunt, he pushed himself to his feet. "You would think the Ministry would do this right. You"d think they would make sure of it, the way they reacted."

"Yeah, but it has to be ... come on, we better get going."

Harry and Ginny continued walking towards the castle door itself. Five minutes later, the huge oak mass was in sight, looking as bold as ever, they managed to slip inside still wondering exactly how they had managed to get past the Ministry charms so easily.

"We should go see the fat lady," chuckled Harry. "And or old dorms ... What do you think the password is?"

"I have no idea," said Ginny. "Perhaps they recycle passwords every few years. Might be something we used when we were here."

"Well, It"s better then my guesses," said Harry. "You don"t think "Please open" would be the password, do you?"

Five minutes later, they both found themselves at a flight of stairs, at the top, where a coat-of-arms stood either side, was a junction. The left passageway was a short cut to the Gryffindor common room. By going left, and then behind a great hanging tapestry, they would find themselves on the same floor, just south of the place they had once slept. The path straight-ahead lead - eventually - to the headmasters office, hidden behind the large gargoyle statue. The third path, which which snaked off to the right, winding down far beneath the ground floor, led to the dungeons that ran deep below the school. An icy cold already blowing from the right, where, once, long ago, they had both had Potions lessons with Snape. Both looked at each other, conflicting ideas running through their heads, they spoke at the same time.

"Left."

"Straight ahead."

The decision was made for them. An ear-piercing scream coming from the right path made them both dart down to the isolated and icy cold regions below the castle. Who ever had screamed would more then likely not be heard by anyone but themselves, no one would be in the dungeons after dark. Running as fast as they could, cold mist escaping their mouths and nose whenever they took a breath, they both reached another junction. Looking at each other for just a second, such a small insignificant glance, they barely made eye contact. They didn"t even stop running; Ginny went right and Harry left.

Harry ran as fast as his legs could carry him, his feet pounding the rock hard floor, causing echoes so loud, he was sure someone would hear. Fifteen feet ahead, one of the doors to a converted dungeon was wide open, the lights within shinning out into the dark corridors outside.

"Ginny," he shouted, hearing his voice again and again as it bounced off the walls of the thin corridor.

In the room, which was obviously once been a Defence Against the Dark Art"s room (Judging by the dusty posters and decorations) but now stood unused, a boy stood, looking ... Well, Harry didn"t know quite how to describe it. He stood on shaky legs, wobbling ever so slightly as he took one step after another. His body, the way it shook, the way it took only tiny steps forward, looked as if it were being forced to do things against his will, but was fighting. But his face, his face held an expression of sheer happiness. A wide grin, that showed rows of milky white teeth, was plastered across his face, beneath twinkling, happy eyes. It took a few seconds for Harry to figure out what was going on, but hearing a gagging noise, he finally realised.

"Revealiosa," he shouted just as Ginny"s heavy footsteps could be heard fast approaching.

Within a flash, a creature appeared on the floor meters from the boy who was still walking towards it, every now again gaining control and taking a step back. An ugly dull brown, the creatures skin was wrinkled and sagged, deep gashes and cuts marking it"s body. No more then three feet tall, the creature was one of the ugliest Harry had ever seen, and that included going to every one of Hagrid"s lessons when he was at Hogwarts. Underneath the wrinkled skin, the creature was unnaturally thin; the bone structure could be made out where the skin didn"t hang. Even more frightening, were the long thin arms that extended out from the creatures skinny body, eventually ending in four sharp, blood covered claws almost five inches in length, that curled round so much, they were starting to dig into the creatures wrist. A foul, gagging noise filled the air as the creature shook, the skin wobbling in rhythm. Holding out and open hand, Harry made a tight fist and the gagging noise stopped; the room silent except the heavy breathing of the three.

The boy suddenly realised where he was, a visible shiver ran through his body, and taking one look at the creature, he shouted loudly, and dived towards Harry and Ginny.

The beast, realising it"s prey had awoke, heard Harry and Ginny"s breathing, it"s face turning to look at them, revealing blind, milky white eye"s and a mouthful of long, dagger-like, rotting teeth. As it went to dive, obviously enraged at loosing it"s lunch, at Ginny and the boy, Harry held out his free hand, open palmed, and the creature seemed to hit an invisible barrier mid air, falling back to the ground. Like a caged animal, it threw itself again and again at the people, but each time hit the barrier, Harry"s elbow bending unwillingly each time the creature hit collided with the obstruction.

"You know what that is?" said Harry looking at the boy.

"Wha-" said the boy, visibly shaking on the floor. "Sorry, what."

"Do you know what that is?" said Ginny softly, helping the boy to his feet, and placing her cloak around his shivering form.

"No," said the boy. "Sorry."

"Fill him in," said Harry, concentrating on keeping the beast caged.

"It"s what"s called a Cave-Siren," said Ginny. "Ever heard of one?"

"No," said the boy weakly.

"That because the last group of them were exterminated from the British Isles fifty years ago," said Harry. "There are only small groups of them in the African tropics now. So what"s it doing here?"

"You don"t think-" said Ginny.

"No! Not even Hagrid would keep one of these," said Harry, flinching as the creature threw itself at the barrier once more. "These things are too dangerous. Definitely creatures of ancient; on par with Basilisks."

"Basilisks," mouthed the boy, his dry throat no longer able to form words.

"Have you heard of a creature called a Siren?" said Ginny. "Sea-dwelling creatures that used to lure sailors to their doom."

The boy nodded.

"Well, these are kind of like land-versions of them. Just as ugly, and no less dangerous," explained Ginny. "Would you know how to kill a Siren?"

The boy just shook his head.

"Well you"re going to kill this one," said Harry. Seeing the boy look pleadingly at him, he added, "Don"t worry, we"ll be here all the time. It won"t be able to hurt you as long as we"re here. You have to face your fears though, sooner rather then later, or they just grow. Always face your fears; never let them get the better of you.

"Do you know about the Imperius curse?"

"Yes," said the boy barley above a whisper. "It"s used to control a wizard. Make them do things against their will."

"Right" said Ginny. "Well, the Siren is a magical creature. It sits in wait, picks a victim, and when it has chosen, it lure"s that victim to it, with a song. The song is kind of like the Imperius curse, but only to its victim. The victim hears a wondrous song, heavenly in fact - or so I"ve heard, Cave-Sirens are before my time - and follows it. Everyone else just hears a gagging noise."

"The victim just walks straight to the Siren; lured by it"s most beautiful song," added Harry. "And then, BAM-" The boy jumped as Harry shouted the last bit, but never said a word. "-the siren kills them. The Wizard or Witch-"

"Or Muggle," added Ginny. "Plenty of those killed by Sirens."

"-Or Muggle never knew what happened. Its song is what"s most dangerous; powerful magic. That"s why I"m struggling to hold it back. I"m having to silence its song - not an easy thing to do - and hold this barrier spell in place. But the song is its weakness as well. To kill it, you have to resist its song."

"I can"t," whimpered the boy.

"Yes you can," said Harry angrily. "We know you can! We heard you break the song enough to shout out a minute ago. You can do it again-" Harry through a glance at Ginny. "-Show him the spell."

Ginny took out her wand and waved the wand in a figure of eight motion, muttering phonetically "Reisyance."

Tiny blue sparks jumped from the end of her wand, flying towards the Cave-Siren, but hit the barrier with an array of lights, never getting through.

"Thanks for that," muttered Harry.

"Sorry," said Ginny, biting her lip. "The key to resisting it"s song is try to concentrate on a gagging sound. Listen with everything you have in you for it"s true song. When you"re out of it"s control, keep listening for the gagging, and you"ll weaken it. The longer you resist, the easier the spell will be. You try it."

The boy drew his wand, his hands more then shaking, and running a figure of eight squeaked, "Reisyance."

Nothing happened.

"Pronounce it Re-Isy-Ance, said Ginny. "Give it another go."

Once again, the boy spun his wand in a shaky grip, and said the words. From the end of his wand, a spray of blue sparks all darted at the creature, once again causing a show of multicoloured lights as they hit the barrier. He practiced three more times, each time, the show of sparks greater and more spectacular.

"You"re ready," said Harry. "When I-"

"One more go," said the boy.

"The sooner you do it," said Ginny encouragingly. "The sooner you get to go to bed."

"Alright," said Harry shooting a grin at the boy. "On the count of three. Three ... two ... one."

Once again, a sickening gagging filled the air, and the boy, looking anxious, scared even, seconds before, looked as though Christmas had come early. One tentative step after another, he approached the now pacified beast.

"Come on."

"You can do it."

Said Harry and Ginny together. The boy was now dangerously close. Taking one half step forward, he paused abruptly. His face now a picture of concentration, his head tilted at an angle as he listened for the gagging. He took a step back, and the creature hissed slightly, visibly cringing. Another step back, the beast cringed again.

"Listen to the gagging. The gagging of the beast," Ginny muttered even though the boy couldn"t hear her.

Once again the beast cringed, digging its claws even deeper into its wrists, the gagging grew quieter. Then, with a wave of a wand, blue sparks filled the air, showering down on the beast which let out a hideous shriek, and collapsed writhing on the floor. Ginny and Harry caught the boy from either side as he almost went the way of the Siren.

"Well done," said Harry.

"Not many people can say they"ve killed a Cave-Siren these day"s," said Ginny.

"Thank you Miss Granger" said the boy in somewhat of a daze. "I"m happy to have been a help. Anything for your school, headmistress. And may I add how nice your hair looks today..."

"What house are you in?" said Ginny fighting down the urge to laugh.

"Hufflepuff, Miss."

"Hufflepuff," said Harry sounding disappointed. "Oh well, better that then Slytherin. Ginny, I think we should take him-"

"Ginny!" repeated the boy looking suddenly wide-awake. "Ginny Weasley! ... Then that must mean you"re" Looking round at Harry to the scar, he added, "Harry Potter."

"Nice going, Harry," said Ginny.

"Well he seemed out of it," said Harry.

"Woa," said the boy, looking in awe at the other two. "What are you doing here?"

"We"ve come to see Miss Granger," said Harry ignoring the boy"s blush.

"We were hoping to keep it quite," added Ginny.

"Well... Okay," said the boy. "I"ll keep quite. Because you saved me from the Siren, so you can"t be that bad."

"We didn"t save you," said Harry. "That wasn"t us-"

"That was you. You-"

"I think I was talking-"

"Grow up, Harry. You defeated that Siren... Um..."

"Marcus. Marcus Lockey."

"You defeated that Siren, Marcus. We just pointed you in the right direction."

"I will not grow up. I was talking ... You best be off, Marcus."

The boy nodded at Harry, said his goodbyes, and took of out the classroom.

"We should show Hermione this," said Ginny picking up the brown bony creature that lay dead on the floor by it"s feet. "There could be more of them."

"What do you mean, "grow up"?"

After ten minutes of walking, and quite bickering - during which time they had a close encounter with a teacher who was prowling the hall - Harry and Ginny found themselves outside the gargoyle statue that lead to the headmasters office. After much deliberation, they finally managed to get past the statue, not by guessing the password, but because Hermione had somehow seen them from her office.

"Harry, Ginny," she said, hugging each of them in turn. "How did you get in here?"

"We don"t know," said Harry. "The Ministry probably screwed up again."

"Take a look at this," said Ginny, dropping the Cave-Siren onto Hermione"s desk.

"Is that what I think it is," said Hermione, removing the creature from her desk, and prodding it with her wand. "Oh my. Where did you find this?"

"Just rescued one of your students from it in the dungeons," said Ginny. "There might be more."

"Do you think it was sent on purpose?" asked Hermione looking nervously at the Siren which she had dropped to the floor.

"Possibly," said Harry. "We don"t really know. But you best not take any chances though, they have been know to travel in groups."

"I"ll send an owl straight away," said Hermione looking nearly sick. "I can"t believe I let one of those things get in ... And nearly get one of the children."

"You couldn"t have known, they"re supposed to be extinct from the British Isles, and most of the world for that matter," said Harry.

"We"ve never seen one before," said Ginny. "And we"ve been all over the place."

"I know," said Hermione. "But still..."

"Still nothing," said Harry. His eye"s falling on a letter grasped in Hermione"s hands. "What"s that?"

"A letter from Ron."

"How are you two doing?" said Harry.

"Yeah, when"s the wedding?" added Ginny with a grin. "I expect to be a brides maid."

"We broke up six months ago," said Hermione.

"Oh," said Harry and Ginny together, looking uncomfortably at Hermione.

Both shifted uneasily in their seats, obviously neither knew what to do or say.

"I can"t believe you didn"t know," said Hermione. "We had a bad argument, and one thing lead to another ... It wasn"t nice. But I think we"re mending. He even asked me out to dinner-"

Walking over to a draw, Hermione chucked the letter in, and Ginny just got a glance of something interesting, tapping Harry to get his attention.

"-But enough about me. How have you two been? What have you been up too, apart from tackling Sirens and taking down Death Eaters?"

"Well we"ve been running from the Ministry," said Harry in a flippant tone. The three of them sharing an awkward laugh. "But mostly we"ve just been catching dark wizards."

"Dressing like a Dementor now, are we?" said Hermione disapprovingly, taking in their clothes as if for the first time. "Don"t you think that"s a bit much?"

"Maybe," said Harry slyly. "But you know what else is a bit much?"

"No, what?" said Hermione wearily.

"Snape," said Harry. "Severus "I"m a slimy git" Snape."

"Almost ran into him on the way up here," explained Ginny. "It"s like he has a homing device."

"I can"t believe he"s here," said Harry looking pointedly at Hermione. "That you would hire him! Don"t tell me you let him get away with what he used to?"

"Maybe w should pay him a visit," said Ginny with a smirk. "I"m sure he"d love that."

"Leave Snape alone," warned Hermione. "I don"t want you stating a fight in my school. I mean it!"

"Okay then ..." said Harry with a purposeful sigh. "But I was really looking forward to it....

"Oh, Herm" said Harry suddenly changing the topic. "Have you got any news for us from Dumbledore?"

"No, Dumbledore didn"t ask me to give you any messages."

"Oh," said Harry, shooting an angry look at Ginny after she kicked him under the table. "OH! ... Um ... Hermione, you wouldn"t have anything to drink, would you?"

"Sure," said Hermione, tapping the desk. "What would you like?"

Harry and Ginny replied together.

"Butterbeer would be nice."

"I"m fine thanks."

"Thanks," said Harry accepting the drink. Taking a sip, he waited for Ginny to give the go ahead. The redhead stood to take a look at a book in the far corner of the room.

"Oh god, sorry," said Harry as he spilt the drink all over the floor. "Here let me get that-"

"-Don"t be silly Harry, I"ll get it."

Whilst Hermione darted forward to clean up the mess, Ginny opened the draw of a cabinet that stood in the right hand corner of the room, and slipped something into her robes.

"Sorry," Harry muttered again feigning embarrassment.

"We best be off then," said Ginny.

"So soon," said Hermione sounding disappointed.

"No rest for the wicked," said Harry. "Listen Herm, things should settle down soon. Things involving me and Gin. When they do, we should all get together again. The old gang, the dream team, back, live and kicking."

"I look forward to it," said Hermione. "Send me an owl ... It was good to see you again Harry, even if it were only for a few minutes. You too Ginny, I"ll tell Ron and your family how well you look."

"Thanks," said Ginny.

"Good to see you too, Herm" came simultaneous responses as Harry and Ginny made a hasty retreat.

Almost as soon as they had arrived, Harry and Ginny were gone, leaving Hermione alone to ponder the strange meeting with the friends she hadn"t seen in a long time.

*

"What was it?" said Harry once they were outside the castle, as both walked towards the forbidden forest. "What did you get?"

"Here," said Ginny, handing it over. "I though, since you were getting sentimental, you"d want it."

"Cool," said Harry, looking at what Ginny had just handed him. "Thanks Gin."

At the edge of the forest, a crow cawed loudly.

"Well, look at that," said Harry, watching the black bird dart across the skyline and over the castle tops. "Who would have imagined, a crow?"

End Chapter 3 - A Cave-Siren in Hogwarts.