A Contradiction of Terms

Chapter 17: Plop Plop, Fizz Fizz

The charity ball had been a triumph, raking in thousands upon thousands of Galleons for the Society for Promoting the Education of Underprivileged Witches and Wizards in Great Britain. Ramona Prattle was the privileged witch who wrote up the review. For once, Kate wasn't thrown into a deep depression by the news.

CHARITY BALL A SMASHING SUCCESS

Ramona Prattle, Staff Columnist

Over 300 people were in attendance at the annual charity ball and auction held by the Society for Promoting the Education of Underprivileged Witches and Wizards in Great Britain, or SPEUWWGB, last Friday. The SPEUWWGB brought in well above 10,000 Galleons from ticket sales and auction.

Celebrities in attendance included Minister Fudge and his wife, Misericordia; Katherine Hanover, with her escort Remus Lupin; Camilla Brooking-Smythe; Gilderoy Lockhart; Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy; Ludovic "Ludo" Bagman; Bathilda Bagshot; Newton "Newt" Scamander and his wife, Porpentina; and Brutus Scrimgeour.

The auction itself yielded over half the night's earnings. It was also the scene of some fierce bidding. The most violent action centred around a signed tunic, donated by Miss Katherine Hanover, from her days with the Manitou Marauders. With several admirers in the audience, the tunic went to Gilderoy Lockhart, who paid out 1002 Galleons for it.

Minister Fudge purchased his own bowler back for 22 Galleons and 13 Sickles.

-~-

"Thank Merlin she didn't say anything potentially damaging," Kate muttered, tossing the paper aside. She stretched, her tee shirt riding up to show her belly button.

Hermione was early to class that day, all ready to head outside, except that her hair wasn't pulled back at all.

"Are you asking for tangles, Harmony?" Kate asked. The girl self-consciously touched her hair.

"Well, no, but-" Hermione was at a loss for words. Her hair had always been fine before, without tying it back.

"Harmony, we're going outside-into the forest. Twigs and burrs will love getting tangled in that mop of yours. Do you have anything to hold it back?"

"Uh, no."

"Not even barrettes? Don't look at me that way, I know what barrettes are. Anyway, let's find you something," Kate said.

A quick search of her desk yielded nothing. At a loss to find a suitable hair tie, Kate decided that she didn't like the shirt she was wearing and cut off the hem of the sleeve.

"Miss Kate!" Hermione exclaimed.

"What? The shirt? Oh, well, the cuffs were too tight anyway."

To make it look even, Kate sliced the other hem off as well. Taking a brush, she attacked Hermione's hair.

"My stars, girl! When did you last brush your hair?" Kate griped, trying to pull the brush out of the tangled mess.

"This morning," Hermione said meekly, wincing slightly as Kate tugged on the brush.

"All of it, or just the top layer?"

The girl was reluctant to answer.

"Okay, I know." Kate was guessing, but she had a good idea. "It's such a mess underneath that you can't brush it properly, so you stopped trying. I know how that goes."

She tied the mass of hair with the severed hem and walked around to face Hermione.

"I had the same problem when I was your age-God, that was 20 years ago!-and my mum cut it off. All of it. I looked like my brother for the whole summer. You wouldn't believe how much James and Sirius teased me when I got back to school." She paused. Now wasn't the time for reminiscing. "Anyway. You'll have to do something about that, Harmony. It's only going to get worse."

"Yes, ma'am."

The rest of the students started filtering into the room, standing around and waiting for Kate to call them to order. Hermione noticed that all the other girls had their hair in ponytails, braids or buns.

"All right. We're heading outside-I trust you can all find your way out to the main doors. Wait for me there, then we'll go into the Forest."

With the slightest noise, the classroom emptied. Kate was just putting the brush back into her desk before she left.

"Miss Hanover?" Draco's voice came as quite a shock. Kate slammed the drawer shut, her thumb still in it. She howled in pain.

"MALFOY! Don't do that to me! I swear, you're out to kill me."

"It's not my fault you can't pay attention to what you're doing," he sneered. "Or that you're so jumpy."

"Point taken," she said, bringing her thumb to her lips. Draco looked blankly at her. She looked like a baby, with her thumb in her mouth. "Is there something you wanted?" she asked momentarily.

"Would it be alright if I talked to you later?"

"You mean like set up an appointment? Certainly. Or we can talk now-so long as it's short."

Draco debated this. A few moments passed, and Kate lost her patience.

"I'm going now. You can talk to me after class."

She was almost to the door when Draco made a startling announcement.

"My father wants me to spy on you!" he blurted. Kate stopped and turned.

"What?" Kate felt as if she would faint. "I don't believe it."

"My father wants me to tell him everything that you do here-where you go, what you do, who you talk to, how many owls you send out. That sort of thing."

"And why are you telling me this?"

"I want to know if you think I should or not."

"First rule in spying, Draco: Never tell the person you're spying on what you're doing."

"So I should?" Draco was playing with his wand, turning it over in his hands.

"Draco, I'll be honest with you. Your father and I have never been on friendly terms. Aside from that, he is the kind of person who does not like being disobeyed. I can't believe that he actually asked you to do this. I think it's best that you do what he asks. I don't want to see you get in the middle of this."

"He's my father-if you're thinking he might harm me, he won't."

"Still, I don't want to take that chance. It's commendable that you don't want to spy on me, but you need to put yourself first in this case. Think of it as getting an extra lesson in this class-it's about survival, isn't it?" Draco nodded. "This is self-preservation. I wouldn't put it past your father to-Never mind. Be careful, Draco."

He nodded again.

"Thank you for telling me. Now, I think we had better be going. The rest of the class will wonder what happened to us."

-~-

Grandpa, things have gotten serious.

I know, Kitty.

Lucius Malfoy is having Draco spy on me. He told me today.

I know that too, Kitty. You must be careful from now on.

What can I do?

Keep a low profile.

That's kinda hard, grandpa. I'm running for Minister.

Don't leave the castle without an escort.

Who?

Anyone-Hagrid, myself, Severus, Remus or Sirius. Minerva. Arabella.

I can't ask them to be my bodyguards.

They will volunteer, if you tell them about this. Especially after what has happened in the past few weeks.

I don't like it.

I don't expect you would. You are a free spirit, Kitty, a bird who should not be caged.

A bird...

That is another thing, Kitty. No more flying. It would be too easy to reach you while you are unguarded.

So I'm to be a bird in a cage of stone and glass. What about my class? The final is in the wilderness.

We will see about special arrangements. It is possible that we may cordon off a section of the Forest, and place protecting charms on it.

But that would defeat the purpose of survival, if there are safeguards set up. The students aren't in danger from Malfoy.

Perhaps not, but they are connected to you. You are the one in danger. Do not forget that.

I can't... I want to. This is too much.

This isn't like you, Kitty.

I know. Momentary loss of courage.

You don't have to go through with the campaign. It's not too late to withdraw.

No, I want to do this. I want to crush Malfoy like the rat he is.

I've heard him referred to as many things, but not yet a rat. That moniker is usually reserved for someone else.

Peter. When I find him...

Do not be too rash, Kitty. If things continue in this vein, you will be Minister, and you will have to watch your step. The public's eye will be upon you, waiting for one mistake, one little slip. You don't want what happened to Sirius to happen again-when Peter is caught, he will be given a fair trial.

Yes. And then he'll be sent to Azkaban, and Sirius will be free.

God willing, yes.

Chapter 18: A Small Space

It was all arranged. A 100 metre square section of the Forbidden Forest was marked out for Kate's Wilderness final exam, and certain protection charms were placed around the perimeter. Kate had arranged to have the finals take place a few weeks before the end of the term, so that each class could devote 5 days to surviving the forest and not miss the other tests.

The Gryffindor/Slytherin fifth year exam was scheduled for the second week in June. The Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw sixth years would still be in the area, finishing their exams. Kate had it all worked out. She led one group in at noon on Sunday, and out at noon Friday. A second group was led in at noon Wednesday and out Monday. Kate would then deconstruct whatever the students built on Saturday and Tuesday, and have the spaces ready for the next group of students. On top of that, she convinced the other professors to offer extra classes for the fifth, sixth, and seventh year students. That was a feat in of itself, as Professors McGonagall and Snape were very reluctant to change their schedules.

The rules were simple: Each student was allowed one pack into which they could put anything they wanted. That was all that they could take into the forest, aside from the clothes on their backs. Kate would lead them into the forest, where they would set up shelters, build and control fires, hunt for food, and the like. Kate would be observing them, but was not available to help, unless it was a severe emergency. Those who made it out of the forest passed.

Hagrid was going to escort her to and from the castle. If anyone could protect her, it was the half giant. Remus and Sirius had both volunteered, but it was deemed too risky. There was a chance that one of the students-Draco-would be able to identify Sirius in his Animagus form. Remus didn't give off the necessary intimidating aura, and Hagrid had that in spades.

Naturally, Kate hated being watched all the time. She tried several times to get away from everyone, but there was always at least one person a few steps behind her. That was what got her into trouble.

She finally managed to sneak out of the woods without Hagrid hearing her. She was walking across the lawn to fetch the Gryffindor and Slytherin fifth years when she was tackled from behind, trussed up like a Christmas turkey, and carried back into the woods by at least two men. All of this happened with relatively little noise.

Rather than risk being overheard, her captors opted to hit her over the head with a small log. It had the same effect as the stunning spell, and was much quieter. Kate never knew what hit her.

-~-

The students were getting anxious. It was already one in the afternoon, and neither Kate nor Hagrid had shown up to take them into the forest. Again, speculations flew as to where they were, most decent, but some bordered on the obscene. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Draco had a very close and very similar idea.

Then Hagrid was seen puffing up the slight incline to the castle doors.

"I gotta...talk...ter...Dumbledore," he panted, hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. "Sumthin's 'appened ter Kate!"

And then chaos ensued. Harry and his friends followed Hagrid to Dumbledore's office, while Draco skulked five paces behind. He knew what had happened to her, and he wasn't proud of the part he played.

-~-

When Kate came to hours later, she was quite dismayed at her surroundings. Actually, she was horrified.

The room was clean and bright, but small. Very small. With one window, high in the wall, and one door.

Kate panicked.

She got up and threw herself at the door, ignoring the searing pain in her head. She screamed, hollered, cried, and shouted, but no one came to help her. Finally, Kate gave up and crumpled to the floor.

Something warm trickled down her neck. Further investigation revealed a sizable gash on the back of her head, about 7 centimetres long. The hair around the wound was matted with dried blood. She had reopened the wound with her flailing and beating at the door.

Kate had no choice but to crawl into a corner and wait for whoever had abducted her. She didn't have long to wait. Half an hour after she woke up, the door opened and Lucius Malfoy strode into the cell.

"Hello, Katherine. I see you've finally come to pay us a visit."

-~-

"What do you mean, she's gone?" Remus cried, showing a bit more energy than usual. His cycle had just ended, and he was still weak and sick. He and Sirius came to Hogwarts as soon as Cav appeared at their house, angry and demanding action.

"She was abducted. Kidnapped. Call it what you will, someone-or a group of someones-came onto Hogwarts grounds and abducted Kate." Dumbledore sat behind his desk, gravely staring at the collection of people in his office.

"How could that happen?" Sirius was quieter, but no less upset. "How could anyone get here and take her without being seen?"

"Wasn't that your job, hairy?" Cav snarled, aiming his remark at Hagrid.

"Look' 'oo's talking," Hagrid rumbled.

"Please," Dumbledore said. "Now is not the time for petty arguments. I think young Draco Malfoy has some information he would like to share."

-~-

"What do you want from me, Malfoy?" Kate said, rising unsteadily to her feet. Her head swam, and she had to lean against the wall for support. Lucius grinned, a glimmer of something evil in his eyes.

"I told you once upon a time to give up on this ridiculous idea of becoming Minister. You were warned what the consequences would be."

Beyond him, the door was open. Kate debated making a run for it, and even went so far as to take a step forward, but the pain in her head made the slightest movement unbearable.

"I need to stop people like you from ruining the Ministry, pulling strings like some demented puppeteer."

"Such a noble cause, Katherine. It's a shame you won't succeed."

"What do you mean?" she asked, voice quavering.

"Now is not the time," he said. The expression on his face was very similar to the superior grin Cav wore when he had the upper hand. Malfoy Sr. swirled on his heel and swept out of the cell.

The door slammed shut, and Kate was alone again.

-~-

"I knew you were scum, Draco, but I didn't think you were that far down," Harry said once they were out of Dumbledore's office.

"I don't have to defend myself from you, Potter."

"You betrayed her!" Hermione cried.

"She told me to. Miss Kate told me to tell my father. She knew I was spying on her."

"Why?"

"Because I told her. Contrary to popular belief, I can respect other people, even if I have minimal respect for you."

"Why were you spying on her?" Ron asked angrily.

"I don't need to answer that, Weasel."

"How could you do that to her, Draco?" Harry continued the inquiry. "She never did you any harm."

"Believe me, it wasn't easy! Now leave me alone! My father promised me that she wouldn't be hurt." Draco left the three friends alone.

"I wonder where she is," Harry wondered aloud. "And if she's okay."

"If Lucius Malfoy's involved, she's not safe, that's for sure. Where would he take her?" Hermione picked up Harry's line of thinking.

"She could be anywhere," Ron said.

-~-

Kate was doing all she could to keep herself from panicking. She regulated her breathing, trying to stay calm. It was rather difficult, with the walls closing in on her. She looked up at the window, and tried to gather enough wills to change into her Animagus form.

It was a little difficult for her to fly up to the window. Unfortunately, her efforts were in vain. The window was barred, shut, and locked. It was also too narrow for her to crawl out of-as a bird or human. She fluttered down to the floor and changed back, cowering in the corner.

The door opened and a bowl of thin soup was shoved in, along with a piece of stale bread. She scrambled over and slurped up the soup, dipping the bread in to soften it. The thought that it might be poisoned crossed her mind, but hunger drove it away faster than it came.

Her meal gone, she crawled back into the corner. Quietly, softly, she began to cry.