The Mystimorph Chronicles

The next morning, Draco sat at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall, reading an article in the Daily Prophet about next year's Quidditch World Cup. He rolled his eyes at the fact that, so early on in the season, people were already placing bets as to who would take part in the Cup.

Draco had been there for almost ten minutes when Pansy came strutting into the Hall, lightly sitting herself down next to him. She absentmindedly touched a finger to her bruised cheek that she had been covering up with make-up that morning, which had caused her to be late to breakfast. When Draco didn't do or say anything to acknowledge the new presence of his ex-girlfriend, Pansy cleared her throat, but to no avail. Finally she decided to just be straightforward with him, saying, "I hate your father, Draco."

At this, Draco placed his copy of the Daily Prophet onto the table and turned to the girl next to him, raising an eyebrow. "So do I, but what does that have to do with anything?" It was common knowledge in Slytherin that Draco hated his father, but this meant nothing, as many Slytherins felt the same way towards their parents and still aspired to be Death Eaters in the future.

Pansy's eyes shone with pride as she thought about the events of the night before. "I visited him last night, and--"

Draco's hand involuntarily flew to Pansy's shoulder, gripping it hard. "You WHAT?!"

Startled by his reaction, Pansy swallowed and said uncertainly, "I went to Malfoy Manor last night, but--"

"WHY did you do this without my consent?! Not that I would have given you permission of ANY sort to see my father..." Pansy noticed the same sort of flaming anger in Draco's eyes that she had seen the night before in Lucius's.

"Just because he's your father doesn't mean he's off limits to visits from me, Draco!" Pansy felt herself get fired up also, roughly shrugging Draco's hand off her shoulder. Her voice lowered to a quiet whisper as she spoke the next sentence, just in case someone other than a Slytherin might overhear. "He's a powerful Death Eater, and if I ever have valuable information for the Dark Side, then as a supporter of the Dark Lord, I am allowed to bring the information to Lucius's attention!"

Draco sneered at the girl; not only was she stupid enough to say these things out loud in the Great Hall--whispering or not--but she was also dumb enough to visit his father by herself, and even tell Draco about it. He knew what probably took place last night--a prideful child, glowing at the hopes of pleasing Lucius, then brought down to his knees by the cold strike of his father. This was why he'd learned early in life to avoid being alone in a room with Lucius at all costs.

"And what did he think of this information of yours?" he smirked. "Did it PLEASE him?"

Pansy frowned slightly at Draco's tone. "Well... I made the mistake of making it sound as if my information was inaccurate and invaluable, so Lucius slapped me," she spoke, once more touching the cheek that still throbbed.

"Good for him," Draco sneered, leaning back in his chair and reaching to pick up the Daily Prophet once more. He may have hated his father, but he couldn't help but be glad that Lucius had brought Pansy down a few pegs, even if it had to be through violence.

"Don't you care what the information was?" Pansy enquired, energized by a need to please the son of the powerful Lucius Malfoy in order to have a high standing with the family.

Draco began to search through the newspaper to find the article he'd been reading before he was interrupted by Parkinson. "No, I rather don't care to know."

Pansy pouted, "Well, I'm going to tell you anyway." She paused to watch for a reaction from Draco, but found none. She continued, "I saw Ginny Weasley transform into a phoenix last night, and I thi--"

"WHAT?" Draco asked, forgetting the quidditch article for the second time that morning. He cursed himself for reacting in such a way, as it could give away the fact that he knew anything about the Weasley.

"I saw the Weasley girl become a PHOENIX last night! I think Dumbledore might be using an ancient magic so he can turn his ranks into phoenixes! When I told Lucius all of this, he thanked me and told me I'd be highly rewarded," she finished, grinning triumphantly.

Draco stared at the girl, his jaw hanging open slightly. Pansy mistook this expression as wonder and admiration at the valuable information she held, when in reality it was shock and fear at what would happen because of this girl's stupidity. He was sure the Death Eaters must know about the mystimorphs, so Lucius had just been led straight to one of them. Draco still didn't know what exactly the mystimorphs were to do in the war, but he was sure that it would not be good if the Death Eaters had a hold on Ginny...

"Aren't you so proud of me, Draco?" Pansy gushed.

Draco ignored Pansy, standing up from his chair. "I can't let the Dark Side have Ginny... I can't let them win this war..." he decided inwardly.

"Draco?" Pansy looked up into his face, which was deep in thought and contemplation. "Draco, aren't you happy for me? Or are you JEALOUS that I'm regarded so highly in your father's eyes now?"

Once more ignoring the girl, Draco fled from the Hall, turning around to give Pansy a death glare when she attempted to follow him. The first thing he had to do was make sure Ginny was safe right now; if he kept an eye on her, then he might be able to prevent something bad happening to her by means of Lucius. However, if something had ALREADY happened...

This was all Parkinson's fault. If it weren't for her nosiness and want to please others, then Draco wouldn't be forced to watch over that Weasley girl. Why him?...

Suddenly, a flash of red turning the corner caught Draco's eyes, and he began to sigh with relief that Lucius had failed to do anything to Weasley just yet. However, as the redhead fully got around the corner, Draco sucked in his breath in fury and annoyance--it was the MALE Weasley. In fact, it was the male Weasley AND Potter. Draco stood for a second, trying to decide between using this chance to let out his frustrations on the pair or leaving them alone in order to get to Ginny more quickly. He chose the former.

"Well, well, well," he drawled. "If it isn't ickle Weasley and his LOVER." Draco smirked at the embarrassed and angry reddening hue of Weasley's face.

"Oh, just go away, Malfoy," Harry said, rolling his eyes. "We've got more important things to do right now than trade insults with you," he added, hurrying down the hall with Ron, only to be blocked by Draco.

"Oh? And what could be more important than that?" Draco asked innocently.

"Finding my little sister, that's what!" Ron shouted, drawing out his wand and pointing it at Draco. "And if you don't get out of our way, I'll hex you so badly your parents won't be able to recognize you!" Harry put a hand on Ron's wand, looking at him in a way that said, "Calm down, Ron."

In shock, Draco stepped aside, letting the two continue rushing down the hall. Ron was smirking in triumph, for he thought his threat was what surprised Draco and caused him to move, but in reality, Draco had moved aside in shock at Ron's first statement.

"Shit..." Draco thought, putting a hand on his forehead in defeat. He could've bet his entire fortune that he knew where Ginny was, and this was no comfort to him.

--

Lucius gazed through the cold iron bars of the wooden door that was the barrier between the Weasley girl and himself. She was still asleep... This was good, for he planned to contact Voldemort at that moment to inform him of his accomplishments of just fifteen minutes earlier.

For the past quarter of an hour, Lucius had been attempting all sorts of spells on the amulet in order to find a clue as to the whereabouts of the other transformation jewel, but his trials were fruitless. He even tried the spells using the girl's own wand, which he had confiscated from her nightgown before throwing her into the dungeon of Malfoy Manor. He now held both her necklace and wand in his hands, sneering at the old piece of wood that splintered his fingertips. How anyone, peasant or not, could tolerate such an dilapidated wand, Lucius knew not.

Lucius pocketed these objects, retrieving his own wand while doing so. After another quick peek into the cell to make sure the girl was secure, Lucius spoke the words, "Morsmordre" and the Dark Mark appeared out of thin air, a bright green brilliance in the dark hall. Voldemort, by some strange power, could sense whenever and wherever this spell was cast, and now that he was at full strength, the Death Eaters would use it to call him to them in the way that he would use their marks to call them to him.

Seconds later, a crack reverberated in the stone hallway, waking up Ginny. Dazed and confused, she slowly opened her eyes to the view before her. Fear registered in her mind as she realized where she was--this was the room from her nightmare! She was about to push herself up off the cold ground when she heard voices from the hallway, and she shivered as she pressed her body closer to the floor. She quieted her quick breathing in order to listen intently to the conversation taking place outside of her room.

"Lucius, why have you called me here? Have you a good reason?" a voice hissed.

Ginny shrank back further into the shadows at the recognition of the pair in the hallway. One must be Lucius Malfoy, she realized as she heard the other speak, though she had no idea what was going on, why he was here, or what HERE was. The other man... Ginny could recognize that voice anywhere, for it had haunted her dreams for years now. No matter how distorted it had become over the last fifty years, Ginny could recognize the voice of Tom Riddle quite easily, or the one who USED to be Tom Riddle.

"My Lord, I would not have called you if that weren't the case. Here, look into the dungeon cell, and you will see the purpose of my calling," Lucius urged eagerly, waving a hand towards the cell door.

Voldemort looked at Lucius, reading his expression and deciding that if he didn't deem whatever was in this dungeon worthy of his attention, then he would simply use the Cruciatus Curse on Lucius to put him in his rightful place. Moving his snake-like face inbetween the iron bars to see what the cell held in its possession, Voldemort caught sight of a quivering girl. Removing his head from the window, he once more turned to Lucius. "So, Lucius. You have kidnapped little Ginny Weasley. What of it to me?"

Eyes bright with pride, Lucius reached into his robe pocket and pulled out Weasley's amulet, holding it out for Voldemort to get a good look at. Snatching it from Lucius's hand, Voldemort's red eyes widened in glee.

"Yes," Lucius said as if he could read Voldemort's thoughts, "that is the transformation jewelry that was in her possession--the one that can transform her into a phoenix. It seems that our little Ginny Weasley is one the mystimorphs."

As Voldemort turned the necklace over and over again in his hands, examining it with a child-like fascination, he smiled cruelly, a smile which looked extremely out of place on his reptilian features. "My, my. How...fortunate that this girl, the very same one who opened the Chamber of Secrets five years ago, is one of the mystimorphs that I have been searching for for so long." He turned his head upwards to meet Lucius eye-to-eye, saying, "You have pleased me greatly with this, Lucius. But..." He raised a bony white finger into the air. "How do you expect to find the other?" His eyes bore into Lucius's, daring him to lie.

"I have a plan for that, my Lord. Do not worry," Lucius reassured falsely. He truly had not come up with a plan just yet, as he had not been given a sufficient amount of time, but saying so might help pacify Voldemort.

"Do you, now?" Voldemort mocked, knowing that Lucius had no plan whatsoever from the look in his eyes. Only Voldemort was powerful enough to sense Lucius's true thoughts, the ones that he could keep so well hidden from others. Deciding to overlook the lie, Voldemort warned Lucius, "If you don't have the other accompanying the Weasley in this same cell by sundown tonight, I will make sure you pay dearly. Just the one isn't enough, therefore I expect you to do this bidding."

"I will not let you down, my Lord," Lucius spoke, bowing low to the ground as Voldemort dropped the amulet at his feet and moved to the cell door, once more poking his head between the bars.

"Little Weasley..." Voldemort whispered in a falsely soothing tone. "How good it is to see you again. Yes, I remember you quite well. You have a past to be proud of, Virginia, and I see great things in your future, also. Yes, it is GOOD to see you again..." he trailed off, disapparating seconds later.

Ginny waited until she'd heard the sound of her amulet being retrieved from the ground by Lucius, then she breathed a slight sigh of relief when she heard the crack of his disapparation.

So now she had an idea of where she was and what was going on. This must be a dungeon cell located in the Malfoys' house, and she'd been kidnapped by Lucius? Biting her lip, she held back tears for her fear of Voldemort, who had been just meters from her moments ago. This was worse than in the Chamber of Secrets, because this was THE darkest wizard of their time. She gulped as her mind wandered off to what he and Lucius were going to do with her; it was obvious that they wanted her because of her powers. She was completely defenseless, also, as Lucius had taken her wand AND her amulet.

They still didn't know that Draco was the other mystimorph... This was good, Ginny decided, because she didn't want to be stuck in a dungeon with that prat just yet; she would rather be alone than with HIM. He was the only one who knew about Ginny's powers, though, so he was the only one who could save her in time. But it was apparent that Draco was a supporter of the Dark Side, so what hope could she have that HE would save her?

She turned her thoughts back to the matter at hand, finally standing up and straightening herself, trying to keep her eyes off of the tiny skeletons littered across the floor. She moved to the door, twisting the knob carelessly to see if it was unlocked, but of course it wasn't. If her dream was some sort of prediction, then any second now the door would open up before her and let her free. She waited for one minute... Two minutes... Five minutes...

After she waited for what she thought had been about ten minutes, she finally gave up hope and collapsed back onto the floor. Of course her dream wouldn't come true, because dreams always are bizarre and unrealistic. True, it had been a sort of prediction that she'd end up here, but it hadn't seemed to be just a SCENE from her future.

She remembered how her amulet had been completely dull when she woke up from the dream, and she wondered if the dream had somehow been a warning from the jewel.

This amulet was more powerful than she'd thought it was. It couldn't be good that it was in the hands of the enemy...