Third Time's a Charm

Chapter Two: A New Order

Draco Apparated into the Chateau de Malfoi, called Hag's Hill by the local villagers because to everybody who didn't know better, the castle was a ruin. It was only fallen stones with a few half-standing walls and turrets, but a great oak, twisted and gnarled by age and nature so that it looked like a stooped witch, grew on a hill near the edge of the Malfoi land where the villagers passed quickly as they went about their business. Shortly after Draco came Gregory Goyle, Vincent Crabbe, Emma Moon, and Blaise Zabini. He asked Gregory and Vincent because they would probably still do whatever he told them to do, though they had been out of Hogwarts for nearly two years, and Emma and Blaise because they too had been set to join Voldemort. Gregory and Vincent were slow and thick, no two ways about it, but they would be loyal. Emma and Blaise would have to be convinced, but it would be more than worth it once they were. They were both intelligent, and there was no one in Slytherin house during Draco's time there that was more talented at Charms than Emma. Blaise had a knack for Transfiguration. Naturally, they knew a thing or two about curses as well, which would come in handy for Draco's plan.

"I want the four of you to help me bring Lord Voldemort back," Draco said, wasting no time.

Vincent Crabbe was the only one to speak. "What are you on about, Draco?"

"Lord Voldemort. He's not gone. Yet. You should know that, Crabbe, and you Goyle. Some inner circle Death Eaters--your parents included--are still looking for him. I'd bet Dumbledore is too, which is probably why Lord Voldemort's still hiding." He faced only blank stares. Emma twirled a strand of her long, smooth, black hair.

"Oh, come on. You don't really think Lord Voldemort, Slytherin's heir, could be defeated by the Killing Curse after all those rituals he did to protect himself against it. I know you've heard all the same stories I have."

"Maybe," Emma said. "Maybe it's true, that he's out there somewhere, weak and barely alive. But that begs the question, who's to say he can even be brought back to full strength? And why don't you just leave it to the real Death Eaters?"

"The real Death Eaters, most of them, are rather old and weak themselves. They don't care about anything besides society and position. The Death Eaters were a social club; I bet half of them didn't ever care two whits about the cause. Then after the first fall, naturally they wanted to avoid Azkaban and didn't even try to bring him back. Well he came back, and they were punished for disloyalty, so they followed him again because it was that or Avada Kedavra. Like my father, for example. Now that he's gone again they're not exactly waiting in line to bring him back. The handful who do think he could be restored to full power have been running around like chickens with their heads cut off, no plan, no nothing. We"--he gestured around the circle indicating the five of them--"could actually find him. Could actually bring him back."

"OK, I'm listening," Blaise said. "But what's in it for us?"

Draco laughed. "Power. Voldemort would probably give us anything we wanted. The things he could do with magic--he could do spells with nothing more than a whisper that normal wizards couldn't do with a wand. There's a reason those who opposed him were afraid to say his name. Still are, and they don't even know he came back. The chance to get rid of all the dirty blood and send it back to the Muggle world where it came from. Overturning the Ministry." He laughed again. "None of you can tell me you wouldn't be glad if all the laws against certain spells were abolished."

"And I suppose you have a plan. To bring him back," Emma said.

"I do. But I can't tell you what it is until I know you're going to help me and you won't breathe a word of it to anyone not in this room. You have to swear," Draco said.

Emma shrugged. "I swear. Don't you?" she gestured to the others. They all nodded.

"Don't be such a bunch of Gryffindors," Draco said scornfully. He pulled a silver knife out of a sheath on his belt. "You have to make a proper wizard's oath or I'll Obliviate this little conversation and send you home with a memory charm hangover. So think about it. Are you in or not?"

There was dead silence while they thought about what Draco had said. Then one after the other they nodded--they were all in. "Right then. Outside is this way," said Draco. They went out to the rocky, unkempt grounds of the ancient estate. It was dark and a slight breeze was picking up, but there was at least enough light from the half moon to see the outline of one's hand. Draco set the terms of an oath, binding them to secrecy and allegiance. Then he opened his left palm and cut it open with the blade, without even wincing. He passed the knife to Gregory on his right, who spoke the words and cut his hand, and then passed the blade on to Emma. When the last person, Vincent, had sworn the oath in blood, a dark purple light went around the circle and connected them. They squeezed their palms and spilt their blood on the earth, and they felt the surge of magic disappear as the light faded and their cuts healed. They were bound.

~~~

Annabel Archer was the newly appointed Head of the Ministry's Department of Magical Law enforcement. Not only was she Muggle-born, she had friends in the Improper Use of Magic and Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Offices, and was a firm supporter of stronger punishments for magical crimes involving Muggles. The Archer family's closest neighbors were far down a narrow country street, which was the main reason Draco chose the family for the first attack.

They tried Alohomora on the door, but it was warded and none of them had yet been able to work spells through anti-magic wards.

"Crabbe, Goyle," Draco hissed. "Break the window. We'll just have to climb in."

"Won't that wake them up?"

Draco thought for a moment. "Probably. But there are only two of them, not counting the little brat. There are five of us; we can handle it. We are trying to attract attention, after all."

They couldn't find any rocks, so Blaise transfigured some rags for Vincent and Gregory to tie around their fists so they wouldn't be cut by glass when they broke the windows with their hands. Standing breathless inside what appeared to be the drawing room, the five heard soft voices up the spiral staircase, echoing in the foyer which opened into the drawing room. "Right," said Draco. "Emma first, in case they have wands. You'll have to disarm them. Then me, then Blaise, then Gregory and Vincent."

They crept up the stairs. The light was on and Annabel's husband was standing in front of the bedroom door when Emma opened it. She cast a quick Avada Kedavra before he even blinked and he was dead in a flash of eerie green light. Annabel screamed, so Gregory hit her in the mouth with one heavy, canned ham-sized fist. She fell back on the bed with a stream of blood trickling down the side of her now bruised face. "Ew, that's nice, Goyle," Blaise said. He walked to the bed and cast the Killing Curse, sneering in disgust at the mess on the pillow, or perhaps at the Mudblood making the mess.

"Emma, go find the kid and kill her," Draco said. "Then we better get out of here fast."

The four boys went down to the room where they came in and waited, shifting about nervously. Something didn't feel right. Draco breathed a sigh of relief as Emma slinked down the staircase. One by one they climbed out the window, Draco first. The flowerbed below the window had several large shrubs, which Draco, and the others as they came, crouched behind. Draco scanned the lawn briefly and mentally urged the others to hurry. When Blaise was the last one in the house, seven figures appeared, all dressed in full, golden, Auror division Ministry regalia that shone in the moonlight. None of them, it seemed, had yet caught sight of Draco and the others. The Aurors moved immediately around the outside of the Archers' property, pounding wooden, rune carved poles into the ground. Portable anti-Apparation wards. "Hurry, Blaise," Draco said, pulling him through.

"Do they see us?" Vincent whispered loudly.

"Shh!" Emma said. "Shut up, Crabbe."

They were very still, lying below the bushes. "What the hell?" Blaise said. Draco looked ready to kill someone. "High level Ministry official, I should've known they were monitoring the house. Damnit."

"Can we just cast AK?" Emma asked.

"No," Draco said, annoyed. "Do you not know anything? They have protections woven into their robes. All our curses will bounce back. Besides, we're a bit outnumbered, if you haven't noticed."

He thought frantically for a moment. "Blaise. Do you remember those firework charms we cast in Potter and Weasley's cauldrons in sixth year?"

Blaise nodded.

"Right, well on the count of three, aim for the Aurors. Vincent, Gregory, Emma. As soon as the confusion starts, run outside of the wards and Apparate back to Hag's Hill. Nowhere else, or they'll be able to track you. Vincent and Gregory, do you think you can make it or shall I transform you into rats and have Emma carry you?"

"No," they grunted.

"OK. One ... two ... three!"

A display of blue and gold pyrotechnics exploded on the Archer family's sprawling front lawn. The Aurors standing nearest to the source of the fireworks flew backwards, and some of the grass caught on fire. As they beat out the flames, Emma, Vincent, and Gregory ran for it. They reached the outside of the wards and Disapparated with a pop. The Aurors looked up.

"Oh, fuck," Draco said. "Come on, more fireworks, then run." Sparkling flames rocketed out of their wands as they raced across the lawn. The Aurors saw them and followed. Blaise reached the outside of the wards and Disapparated. They almost caught Draco as he turned and whispered an incantation. A thin, green light slithered out of his wand. It grew and formed a circle as it floated up in the air above the house. It was a symbol--a snake, eating its own tail. Then he Disapparated.