A Gaunt Tale

Summer was the worst time of year for Katalina. She had grown accustomed to locking herself in her room and eating dinner when her father and brother were asleep, knowing she was bound to get hexed by someone if she came down durring the day. She had endured three summers of this madness so far and was just beginning her fourth, which she planned to be her last.

After a bit of studying, she had learned about the Knight Bus, which she was going to take to the Leaky Cauldron in London and stay there. Her father might find her, but she had no intentions of going back. He had taught her more than enough to be able to stand up to him, which was - in her opinion, anyway - his one mistake.

Once at the Leaky Cauldron, she would borrow an owl from someone and send a letter to Dumbledore explaining her situation. If abuse wasn't enough to keep her father from getting her back out of school, she didn't know what was, and the Cruciatus Curse could have been nothing short of abuse. If Dumbledore accepted, she would be sent a letter telling her what she needed for school. She had learned everything she was supposed to from her father up to that point; he had just decided to twist a few different things around. She suspected she knew plenty to come to Hogwarts for her fifth year.

She did need money, however. In her will, her mother had left quite a large sum of money to Katalina alone. She had already taken the key to that vault and planned to use it to buy her school supplies. She planned to leave on the night of August 29, giving her a couple days to buy her school supplies and a few days to stay at the Leaky Cauldron before again catching the Knight Bus to King's Cross Station to get on Platform Nine and Three Quarters. She knew that it cost money to ride the Knight Bus, so she had taken a bit of money from her brother's stash (it wasn't like he was going to miss it, he had plenty more and their father gave him whatever he wanted).

She waited anxiously all day on August 28 - she planned to go out at midnight. She had all of her things packed and stowed away in her closet where her father couldn't see them if he barged in. It was lucky, as he had chosen to barge in at around eight o' clock on the evening of August 28, looking somewhere between livid and bemused.

"Have you any idea what happened to the key to your mother's Gringotts vault?" he asked her.

"No." She silently thanked whatever higher power there was for allowing her to inherit her father's knack for lying. "Is it missing?"

"Yes," he said. "You're sure you haven't seen it?"

"I haven't. Lindy might've taken it, she seems to like taking Mum's old things."

"I figured she probably had..."

Grumbling about house-elves being ignorant creatures, he turned and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. Katalina picked up her wand from her bedside table and flicked it in the direction of the doorknob, which locked itself accordingly when a jet of purple and red sparks hit it. That was the good thing about living in a town that consisted much of witches and wizards: she could just blame any indication of underage sorcery coming from their area on the neighbors if the ministry came knocking, and they would never know the difference. She was safe as long as her father didn't catch her at it.

She jumped at the sound of a loud crack in her room and looked around. She jumped again when she turned her head and almost hit her nose on something else's nose. She then shook her head, looking at the house elf that seemed to have taken a great liking to her.

"Lindy," she said, sitting up and grasping her chest to keep her heart from beating out of it. "Why in the world can't you just knock on the door?"

"Master Gaunt is looking for Lindy!" she whispered. Katalina couldn't help but wonder how even her whisper was squeaky. "Can't Mistress hide Lindy? He thinks Lindy stole Mistress Gaunt's Gringotts key and Lindy didn't, Lindy wouldn't ever do such a thing!"

"Well..." said Katalina, biting the corner of her lip, "it is sort of my fault... but if I hide you, you'll owe me."

"Anything, Miss!" Lindy piped, her large ears twitching.

"Shh, he'll hear you if you keep squeaking!"

She clasped both of her hands over her mouth and nodded obediently.

"Hide in the closet behind the trunk. If he checks, he'll see the trunk and overreact as it is, he'll never notice you."

Lindy nodded. With a crack, she vanished, and Katalina heard another crack, indicating she had reappeared in the closet. Katalina lay back down on her bed and continued to stare up at the ceiling, counting the minutes until midnight.

It wasn't until a couple hours later that she heard two loud pops, and she looked over to see Lindy again.

"Master Gaunt has stopped searching for Lindy," she whispered. "What does young Mistress Gaunt wish for Lindy to do in return for letting Lindy hide in her closet?"

"I would quite appreciate it if you would apparate me and my belongings to the next block over," said Katalina, looking back up at the ceiling and tucking her hands behind her head. "Preferably near a road, but not near any Muggles."

"Of course!" She paused for a moment, her wide purplish eyes looking at Katalina curiously. "May Lindy ask why?"

"I'm going back to Hogwarts. Keep it a secret from my father that you helped me, I don't want you getting into any trouble."

"But young Mistress Gaunt's mother left Lindy to Mistress!" Lindy said. "If Mistress Gaunt leaves, Lindy must as well."

Katalina looked at Lindy, blinking. "Did she? First an invisibility cloak, then thousands of galleons, now a house elf? Huh. I wonder if she really was that bad..."

"She treated Lindy kindly," Lindy said, nodding. "But she wasn't nice to muggleborns."

"I figured as much..." Katalina said with a sigh. "It's a couple more hours yet, anyway. If I can, I'll figure out some arrangement that will allow you to go to Hogwarts with me. Maybe you can work there or something. If not, I'll have to send you back here until I find somewhere to move to on my own."

"Where is Mistress Gaunt going from a block over?"

"Catching a ride on the Knight Bus," she said. "I don't want you coming with me at first. I know you don't want to come back here, but if Dumbledore is willing to let you work at Hogwarts, then I'll let you know."

"May Lindy ask why Mistress is going by the Knight Bus? Lindy could apparate her there herself!"

"I'm headed to the Leaky Cauldron in London. There are Muggles around that area who've probably never seen a house elf before."

"Oh, yes, of course." Lindy nodded. "Should Lindy stay in here until Mistress Gaunt is ready to leave?"

"If you want. Gets pretty dull, though."

Lindy gave a furtive glance at the door. "Lindy doesn't want Master Gaunt to find her..." she whispered. "Master Gaunt is angry with Lindy even though Lindy didn't take the key to the vault!"

Katalina sat up on her rather lumpy and uncomfortable bed and looked at the house-elf, who still looked completely confused about the current situation with the key. "I took the key, Lindy. Mum left me her money and I'll need some way to pay for my books, Father just thinks you did it. You have to admit, you do have an odd habit of taking Mum's old things and stashing them away in my closet."

"No, no, no, Lindy is only giving things to their rightful owner! Mistress Gaunt's mother left them to her and Master doesn't want her to have them but Mistress Gaunt's mother told Lindy to give them to Mistress Gaunt before she died."

"She - Lindy," Katalina said, leaning forward, "are you saying she knew she was going to die?"

Lindy's eyes became impossibly wide at this question. "Lindy said too much. Lindy shan't say another word."

Katalina gave a growl of frustration at the elf before lying down on her bed again. The house elf was the only resident at that house that knew anything about her mother that she might have been interested in. She imagined her father probably knew, but Lindy was the only one who might accidently let something slip on occasion. She always stopped herself before she said anything interesting, however.

Katalina quickly seized her copy of Hogwarts, a History from Lindy, which she was attempting to use to beat herself over her head. That was the other thing: when Lindy did let something slip, she had a tendency to abuse herself as punishment. She had once fried her own fingers on a frying pan for telling Katalina that Voldemort had gone to Hogwarts at the same time as her father. The worst type of house elf was the type that liked to gossip, as they generally only heard secrets that they weren't supposed to tell anyone. Katalina felt a little bad for Lindy; the poor little elf just couldn't help herself half the time.

--

"What did I tell you about sneaking back into that school?"

Katalina sat at the dining room table, her arms crossed, glaring at the wall defiantly. "I have selective hearing. Please feel free to refresh my memory at any time."

"I have told you about back talking me!"

Katalina gave a yelp when the chair she was sitting in was turned around. She looked up at her father, who looked back down lividly. She managed to keep her composure, despite how scary her father could be when angry. He rather reminded her of many biblical depictions of Satan, particularly because of the black goatee. She didn't flinch until she heard a squeaky voice from next to her.

"But Master, she just wants to go to Hogwarts! Master went to Hogwarts when he was young!"

"Be quiet, you stupid creature!" he snarled, glaring down at Lindy. She hid behind Katalina's chair. "I'll deal with you later."

"After you deal with me?" said Katalina indignantly. "Go ahead and try! You've used the Cruciatus Curse on me so many damn times it hardly hurts anymore!"

"Shut up!" She jumped as she suddenly found his wand pointed between her eyes. She nearly went cross-eyed looking at it. "You're never going to comprehend anything I've taught you, are you? The old ways -"

"Are called 'old' because there are new, more acceptable ways to live by," Katalina said through gritted teeth. She recoiled, however, when she remembered the wand.

"Your great aunt was a good deal smarter than you, obviously. When she ran away, she didn't get caught. Do you know what would have happened to her if her father had caught her? He'd have killed her."

"You didn't even give me any time to answer!"

"Do you know what's going to happen to you now that you've been caught?" Katalina's eyes widened. "A Gaunt who doesn't accept their family names isn't worth the space they take up. You're not a Slytherin, you don't believe in Dark Arts, you don't believe in the old ways. You think Muggles are decent people, for God's sake! I don't blame you at all. It's quite obvious that I've failed with you. There's only one thing that I can see to do."

Katalina shook her head, her mouth hanging open. "You're... you've gone mad! I'm your daughter, you can't kill me! It's both immoral and illegal. You'll go to Azkaban!"

"Would you be quiet?" he said through gritted teeth.

"You're insane -"

"Avad-"

"Mistress Gaunt!"

Katalina sat straight up in her bed, looking around for the source of the voice. She fell back down on her bed upon spotting Lindy. She put her arm over her forehead and shut her eyes for a moment, hoping she would quit having that dream when she got out. Its reoccurrences were beginning to disturb her a little.

"Mistress, it's midnight and Mistress wanted to leave at midnight!"

Katalina sat back up again quickly and looked at her room. All of her luggage was already out of the closet. She tilted her head as she looked at the pile, then she directed her attention to house elf looking completely pleased with herself seated atop the pile.

"Lindy has already prepared Mistress's luggage!" she whispered happily. "Is Mistress ready to leave?"

"What about my Hogwarts -"

"Lindy put Hogwarts, a History in a bag, too."

"Oh, good." Katalina grabbed her wand and stuck it in her pocket, then pulled her invisibility cloak out from under her pillow and slung it over her shoulder. "How are you going to apparate me?"

"Just touch the luggage. Lindy is apparating the luggage, so Mistress will also be apparated."

"Oh, good, then. I hope apparating isn't nearly as unpleasant as Portkey travel..."

Katalina walked over to the luggage and put her hand on her largest trunk. "Is Mistress ready?"

"Definitely," Katalina said, looking at Lindy. "Go on."

"Okay! Three... two... one... and go!"

As it turned out, apparating was twice as unpleasant as Portkeys. Travelling by Portkey felt rather like spinning through the air. Floo Powder also felt like spinning, just through different fireplaces. This, however, felt like being sucked through a keyhole. However, seconds later, it stopped, and they were on an empty stretch of road, all of Katalina's belongings still there. Katalina fell over when she felt her feet land on the ground, which caused a giggle from the house elf still sitting atop her luggage.

"Mistress isn't used to apparating at all," Lindy pointed out, jumping down off of the stack of luggage. "How do you get the Knight Bus here?"

"Like so." Katalina stuck out her right hand and waited a moment. She then heard something that sounded a bit like crashing and sputtering, and something large and purple was zooming into view from off in the distance. Lindy stared in interest as a purple triple-decker bus came to a screeching halt in front of them. Then the door opened and a conductor in a purple uniform stepped off with an index card in one hand and what appeared to be a ham sandwich in the other. He appeared to be reading off of the card as he spoke through a mouthful of sandwich.

"'Elcoom 'oo the Knigh' Boosh, merg'ncy tr'nspert fer 'a strand'd wish o' wuzzard." Katalina and Lindy were both struggling not to laugh, but he managed to swallow the sandwich and then continued. "Just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is 'insert name here' and I will be - wait, no - that's... that's not right... oh, 'ell, I'm too tired for this anyway..." He shook his head and put the card in a pocket on the front of his purple shirt. He looked up. "Where're you planning on going with all that mess?" He said, indicating the luggage.

He pushed his round glasses up the bridge of his nose, and Katalina was sure she recognized him. She couldn't put a name to him, but he had been in the same compartment as her on the Hogwarts Express for her first year... or first week, rather.

"To the Leaky Cauldron," she said. "How much would it cost?"

"From here? 'Round... nine sickles, probably."

"That's good, I've got enough then..." she mumbled, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a handful of silver coins. She counted out nine and handed them to the conductor, then put the rest back in her pocket. "Lindy, you mind helping with the luggage?"

"Of course, Mistress," she said. Both she and the luggage were gone with a pop, and then Lindy was back by herself with another one. "It's up near the front of the bus."

"Thanks."

Lindy gave a short bow in response. "Should Lindy go back home now?" asked Lindy in a whisper.

"For now, yes," said Katalina quietly as the conductor looked back on the bus in disbelief at the sudden transportation of the large pile of luggage. "I'll let you know more as soon as I can, I'll start working on the letter to Dumbledore as soon as I get on the bus."

"Lindy will go home for now and wait patiently then, Mistress. Goodbye!"

She snapped her long fingers and disappeared. The conductor looked back at the sound of the snap and shook his head. "Wish I had one of those.... Come on then, we haven't got all night... er... morning, actually, I think."

"I'm coming," Katalina said through gritted teeth, pushing her way past the conductor of the bus.

"Oi, watch it!" he said, stumbling out of the way before getting on the bus himself. "That wasn't very polite!"

Katalina rolled her eyes and sat down on one of the many beds situated across the bus that took the place of regular seats like there were on Muggle busses. It was rather interesting to look at, as she had only read about it before. She wondered how the beds stayed in place while the bus was moving.

"Leaky Cauldron in London, Ernie," the conductor said to the driver before taking a seat on an empty bed near the front of the bus.

Katalina reached down next to her bed and opened one of her bags to pull out a roll of parchment, a quill, and a bottle of ink. She heard a laugh from the bed across the isle, behind the driver's seat.

"I wouldn't suggest doing that while you're on here," said the conductor, picking up a copy of the Daily Prophet from next to him.

"And why not?" Katalina asked indignantly.

"You'll probably end up spilling ink all over everything," he said.

Katalina found out quite quickly, when the bus jumped into motion at around a hundred miles per hour - maybe more - exactly why this wasn't the best environment for writing letters.