Harry Potter and the Dark Lord's Servant

Chapter 3 - Sebastian Linquist

Penelope gasped, looking straight into Percy's eyes. The shock of the question seemed to frighten her. She then looked around at all of us with our mouths open. She then smiled and turned back to him, pulling out her wand.

"Yes!" Penelope said, touching the end of her wand to his. Suddenly, there was a small spark of golden light and when the light faded a moment later, a ring lay on her middle finger. Both Percy and Penelope got up and kissed each other.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Ginny were clapping. Fred, George and Ron sat there sort of stuck in the moment. They were still in shock. Harry was just confused. He'd never thought of people proposing to be like that. In the Muggle world, they would just buy rings, ask and give the ring if they said yes.

"Ron, is that how people propose?" Harry asked him, nudging his arm and pulling him out of his trance. Ron blinked a few seconds before answering.

"More or less. Most rich people have a brighter spark and a longer lasting light. The brighter and longer the spark, the more the ring is worth."

"So, do they buy rings?" Harry asked.

"Not exactly. Custom spells for rings are made for them. That's what they buy." Harry had never thought that proposing would be so different. When Percy and Penelope had finished their kiss, dessert was served. It was a medium-sized flaming pudding. All of them dug in quickly, Percy and Penelope feeding each other and talking all through it. At the end of dessert, Percy stood again. He cleared his throat loudly before speaking.

"We have decided on a marriage in two weeks at the 'Castle de Amore."

"Isn't that a bit expensive?" Mr. Weasley said, standing.

"We'll manage," Penelope said, standing and grasping Percy's hand. Mr. Weasley smiled and took up his glass. He raised it to them and took a long sip, then sat. Fred and George were told to do the dishes, grumbling all through it, so Ron and Harry went upstairs to play a game of Exploding Snap. After three games, they started yawning so they went to bed. They both laid in their beds, Ron slipping into sleep first. Harry dozed next, trying to imagine in his dreams what the marriage would look like.

*****

The dank, dark chamber was lit only by an occasional torch on the wall. Lord Voldemort sat on his throne looking at the Death Eaters before him. His thin mouth went straight across his face. His eyes, the darkest green, flashed at what he saw.

"This is the year that I am very proud to be in," Voldemort called. "This is the year I find a new servant. One that is as loyal, brave, and strong as I wish him to be." Wormtail finished at his side.

"My lord," Wormtail quivered out of his mouth. "Is it that time already. Surely you know how loyal I have been..."

"Wormtail!" Voldemort said, shutting him up. "Your time has fallen. The new must prevail." Wormtail gulped nervously.

"I can easily bring you a sacrifice to renew my..."

"No, Wormtail! You time is spent!" Voldemort bellowed. "Do NOT defy me!" Wormtail cowered into the darkness behind the chair.

"My lord," said a voice from the group. Voldemort turned to see that Lucius Malfoy had stepped forward.

"Speak," Voldemort said.

"If you search for a new servant, search no further. I am the one who was meant to sit beside your throne." Voldemort squinted his eyes at him, as if checking him over. Wormtail peeked out from behind the chair, wishing that this was not true.

"I am sorry, Mr. Malfoy," Voldemort said, "You are qualified but I am looking for new blood." Lucius bowed his head, cursing himself, and rejoined the group. Wormtail sighed thankfully. "You shall all see the spoils of this new arrival and of what we can accomplish. Snape!"

"You call, my lord," Snape came forward and said.

"Tell me of the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher," Voldemort said.

"It's a Linquist. Sebastian Linquist. Very young to be a professor, yet quick witted. Overall, not a problem to us, my lord."

"Excellent," Voldemort said as Snape rejoined the group. "It seems we are ready for my plan to come into action. Fifteen years are almost up." Voldemort looked up for a moment, savoring it. "All of you are dismissed." Slowly, the Death Eaters left the chamber in silence. Voldemort sat on his throne, a small smile sitting on his face, feeling humble at the moment. Wormtail came from out of the complete darkness slowly as the last of the Death Eaters left the chamber.

"I shall leave you to your chamber alone," Wormtail said.

"Yes, please do, Wormtail," Voldemort said. "I have many things to think about." Wormtail bowed his head then turned on his heel and left the chamber. Though Voldemort thought of Wormtail as a follower, Wormtail's mind was as useful as his. Wormtail had a plan of his own, against Voldemort's will, and awaited the right time to unleash it.

*****

Harry fell out of the Diagon Alley fireplace, flat on his stomach, making his glasses fall off of his face and to Ron's feet. Another week had gone by and they now thought that it was the time to get their school things. Ron picked up his glasses and went over to Harry. He helped Harry up and gave him his glasses, which he promptly put on. Dirt had accumulated on them so he took them off and wiped them with his shirt.

"I'm sorry Harry," Ron said, "I forgot you're not that good with Floo Powder."

"It's okay," Harry said, putting his glasses back on. They all headed to Gringotts first, the underground wizard bank. On the way down to the Weasley's vault, Mr. Weasley seemed to be getting nauseous in the cart. Everyone tried to stay away from his part of the small cart as they went farther down. When they got the vault, they removed the few coins that lingered there. Harry felt awful when they got to his vault. He removed piles of coins into his bag and filled it to the brim.

After leaving Gringotts, they all split up and agreed to meet in front of Gringotts when they finished. Fred and George obviously went to the joke shop down the street. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley took Ginny to a second-hand shop for some of her items she needed. Harry and Ron had gotten hungry from the Gringotts trip and headed to the ice cream shop. Harry ordered a chocolate fudge sundae while Ron ordered a strawberry-kiwi float on a cream soda. After they finished their cones, they headed towards Flourish and Blotts to get their new books.

"Hey guys!" they heard on the way into the store. They both turned around to see Hermione Granger, her brown bushy hair longer than before, standing behind them.

"Hey Hermione!" they said together, then chuckled.

"So what's been happening?" Hermione asked, her face getting brighter. "I didn't hear much from you this summer."

"Percy's getting married!" Ron said spat out. Hermione's mouth dropped. It looked like she wanted to laugh so badly but didn't want to do it out loud.

"What! To Who?" Hermione asked quickly.

"Penelope Clearwater!" Harry said. Hermione's mouth went back to its normal position after that. It seemed like it wasn't that big of a deal after that remark. All of them had known about Percy and Penelope since second year. As they went through the store finding their new books, they talked about each other's summers. Ron was particularly interested if Hermione had gotten rid of Crookshanks, but Hermione said that she loved her very much, so it was a lost cause. When they got down to the last book on the list, Ron looked puzzled.

"What's wrong with you?" Harry said, adjusting his glasses on his nose.

"Our last book, 'Monsters and Myths: You guides to Dark Beings' by Martese Minotaur," Ron said.

"What about it?" Hermione said, "Sounds like a good book."

Surprised you haven't read it already?" Harry said, chuckling. Hermione kicked him in the shin for the remark. Harry immediately felt the pain, knocking him over into the person behind him. "Sorry, sir."

"It's okay, kid," the guy said. He wore long purple robes with white Muggle sneakers showing under them. His hair was shimmering black and his eyes were a dark blue. "Accidents happen," he said, picking up the books he had dropped. Harry quickly picked himself up and the books he had been holding.

"Well, sorry again Mr., um..."

"Linquist," the man said, shaking Harry's hand slowly. "Well, I must be off."

"Wait a minute!" Hermione said. "Linquist..." Hermione snapped her fingers for a moment, thinking of the name. She finally stopped and pointed at him. "You're the new Defence teacher."

"At Hogwarts, yes. How did you know?"

"I'm a prefect at Hogwarts," Hermione said. "Just got the news and my badge last week. I also received some information about the school with it. I get those kind of things now that I'm a prefect and all."

"And she's bragging..." Ron said. Hermione made for his shin, but Ron dodged, knowing it was coming. Ron then looked as if he had remembered something. "Professor Linquist, I have a question."

"Shoot," Linquist said.

"Well, about the book 'Monsters and Myths', I'm not sure why we need it," Ron said.

"I'm not getting your point," Linquist said.

"Well, we already know about pretty much all the monsters in this book," Ron said. Linquist raised an eyebrow. "Why do we need this book if we know everything about it?" Linquist let his eyebrow down and seemed to think for a moment.

"So you say that you know about all of the monsters in this book." Ron nodded. "And you know how to defend yourself against them?"

"Well, some of them," Ron said with hesitation.

"You know how to get away from them if they are too powerful?" Ron thought about this for a moment. Ron then frowned and shook his head. "You see, knowing about them is the first step. Defending yourself against them is the second. And knowing when you are over your head and how to get away is the next. That is why you need this book. It not only explains about them but how to know when you cannot defend yourself and must get away. That is what most people don't understand."

"I get it now," Ron said slowly, starting to smile. "Thank you, Professor Linquist."

"Anytime, kid," Linquist said. He took his hand and put it to his forehead, then whisking it away from it. "Well, I must be off. I need to get back to the school. See you kids on the flipside." He then started to leave the shop, but turned and called back "Be sure to read the book a little bit before you come to class." He then turned and, with a pop, was gone.

"He seems pretty cool," Harry said, with a smile. Hermione obviously didn't think so.

"He seems pretty ridiculous to me," Hermione said. Ron rolled his eyes.

"Just because he's not some old wizard that acts like they know everything or Gilderoy Lockhart doesn't mean he's ridiculous," Ron said. Hermione put a hand on her hip. She would have put both but she had books in her other hand.

"Anyway, Dumbledore wouldn't hire someone who was unqualified to teach," Harry said. Harry then corrected himself. "I mean unless they were the only person for the job." He had remembered how Hagrid had said that the only reason Gilderoy Lockhart had been the teacher was he was the only person for the job.

"Well, unless you all want to stand here for the rest of our lives, I'm going to go up and pay for these books," Hermione said, and left them there. Harry and Ron followed her to the register and paid for their new books. As they left the store, Hermione went in one direction and they went in the other. They waved goodbye one last time and went their separate ways.

Harry and Ron arrived in front of Gringotts a few minutes later. Ron's parents and Ginny were there waiting. It took about five more minutes for Fred and George to come. They waved good bye to Lee Jordan at the door of the joke shop and joined the group. As Mrs. Weasley stared into the blue flames in the Diagon Alley fireplace, she stepped in an in a moment was gone. One after another they stepped into the fire and were gone seconds later until only Mr. Weasley and Harry were left.

"Go on, son," Mr. Weasley said. "I'll go last." Harry gulped and looked into the flames. He stepped forward and stepped into the fire. With a solid voice, Harry said, "The Burrow."