The Traveler's Secret

CHAPTER 20: HUNGRY BEASTS

The rattle of the cage, and the ear splitting howl woke Marius. He opened his eyes and saw a pair of hungry, yellow globes looking back at him. Marius sat up straighter in his chair, the hair on the back of his neck standing on end. He couldn't fathom how he had been able to fall asleep, but he had. Marius averted his eyes. He knew better than to look into the eyes of a werewolf.

Instead, he let his sight travail across the hard packed dirt floor. Dusty sunbeams leaked through the rotted wood walls of the dilapidated barn, spilling over the floor in gold puddles. Damp, dark hay lay scattered over the earth, mixed in with flecks of sawdust. The barn where they kept the werewolves, vampires, and other nightmarish creatures reeked of dirt, sweat, feces, and dried blood. When Marius had first been given guard duty over the chained and caged creatures in the barn, he thought the smell alone would kill him, but he had gotten used to it.

What he hadn't gotten used to, and what he would never get used to, were the creatures he was guarding. The howl of the werewolves still sent shivers down his spine, but it was the garbled speech of the vampires, and their disturbingly still burgundy eyes that unnerved him; he saw intelligence and anger in them, and he hoped that he would never have to face these creatures unchained.

The werewolf near him howled again, becoming more and more restless, shaking the cage more vehemently. Near the werewolf, the other nightmarish creatures began to grunt and growl in response.

Marius had had to spend the last couple of weeks next to these creatures, and really didn't appreciate this fact at all. He was sure that Conivius, the man who had brought him here, his contact, had done it on purpose, though Marius had no idea why he had done it. Conivius had given the job of guard duty over these creatures to Marius, but the Muggle still had no idea how he was going to be able to protect himself, if these beasts ever escaped.

He guessed he could shoot them. Marius looked down at the gun at his waist, and suddenly wished his friend, Jean Fulver, was there with him. Fulver would have known what to do, and he was more of a sure shot than Marius.

Marius shifted uncomfortably in the small, ancient wooden chair he had been given. He didn't want to look up at the creatures that were there with him; he didn't want to see the slobbering jowls of the werewolves who were caged up in small, metal contraptions; he didn't want to look into the deep eyes of the vampires, who had been chained to the wall; and didn't want to glimpse the hags, whose disfigured faces, and misshapen bodies terrified Marius. There were other creatures in the barn, and each creature had been caged, or chained up by Conivius and his wizard cohorts when they had arrived to this location just a few weeks before.

Marius had no idea where Conivius and his fellow wizards had gotten all these creatures, and how they had caught them. He had seen them give the werewolves some sort of special injection, an experimental potion that kept the werewolves from changing back into their original form. Marius shuddered. He hated what they did to these beings, but found himself powerless to stop it. He had watched as these souls were slowly being driven insane by their lack of sustenance, and cramped spaces. Occasionally, the wizards would come in with scraps of food for the beasts, giving them just enough to keep their strength up, but too little to completely satisfy their hunger.

These creatures had arrived a week after Marius himself had arrived at the headquarters. The headquarters was an old farming house near the great school of Hogwarts. Conivius had said that the Muggles who had owned the farm had left on their own volition, but Marius was beginning to doubt this. Marius had been there for three weeks, just short of a month, and he had noticed that clothes still hung in closets and toys were still scattered over the floor in the children's play room. The Muggles had left in a hurry and had taken nothing with them.

He remembered the day he had arrived at the headquarters, and how odd it had felt walking into the ghostly house for the first time. He remembered Conivius's gleeful reaction to being on English soil and this had disturbed Marius; he had followed Conivius willingly to England after he had faked his death in Russia, but now he wondered why he had been so willing. He remembered it all, as if it had happened just the day before.

Marius had first met Conivius when he had been out on his solitary spy mission for the French government. At first, he had been tailing the man secretly, never letting anyone know, not even the French government, about what he was up to. He, of course, was fully unaware that he was following a wizard. Marius thought he was on the trail of a high ranking military official or an insider to Hitler's regime. He thought that this man was his way in to finding out what the Nazis were up to. One night he followed Conivius into a dark pub. That was when Marius' life was changed forever.

It was the night when Marius learned that there was magic in the world, and people who knew how to wield it.

Conivius had known that Marius had been following him, and had waited until he could get the Muggle alone to confront him. He then proceeded to tell the Muggle about the world of magic, and all about his master, Grindelwald. It was the first time Marius had ever heard of Grindelwald, and had seen magic performed in front of him. From that moment on, Marius became obsessed with learning magic for himself. Conivius had promised Marius that if the Muggle helped Conivius keep an eye on a certain person, that he would insure that Marius would learn how to do magic.

Marius used to always getting his way, and fully convinced that he was someone special, accepted those terms of agreement without much thought, and set off to watch the person his new companion needed to be watched; that person was Sergei Krum.

Grindelwald and Conivius had heard suspicions from the Krum family that one of their members, Vladimir Krum, had been secretly working with the plans. They also had viable information that Vladimir had opened up contact with Sergei Krum, a member, the family mentioned with complete disdain, who had been disowned by the family awhile back.

Both Vladimir and Sergei were watched closely. Vladimir was a gifted wizard, known for his experimental spells, and he was not one to be taken lightly. He was a respected member of the wizarding community in Russia, and Grindelwald knew better than to take on someone of that standing from a pure-blood family. Sergei, on the other hand, was not as much of a worry for Grindelwald or his second in command, Conivius, but that didn't stop them from keeping an eye on Krum. Since Sergei was so thoroughly immersed in the Muggle world, Grindelwald knew he would have to get a Muggle to watch Krum; only a Muggle would know the ins and outs of the Muggle world, and a Muggle spy could easily blend in.

That was what Marius' job had been. He was to follow and watch Sergei Krum, and in exchange Grindelwald and Conivius would teach him how to do magic. Marius had always known he was destined for great things, and took the job with glee, reporting to the French government that he was going undercover, in order to get them off his back.

Everything was going smoothly. Marius watched Sergei and his family in their home in Moscow. He watched when Sergei went to work everyday at the same time, and returned home everyday at the same time; Sergei was an aide to a high ranking politician. He came to know Sergei's wife Elena as he watched her wait in the food lines at the market, buying only what the allowable quota of food was. He watched little Ivan Krum running unsteadily about the yard. Occasionally, the little boy managed to move things without touching them, or cause objects to change colors. Marius had come to know the routine of Sergei Krum and his family, but all of that changed when Marius's cover was blown.

Sergei Krum started taking random walks, and Marius knew that people didn't often break their routine unless there was a reason; so he began following Krum whenever he took these spurious walks. One day in the middle of fall, Sergei strolled over to a nearby park, and sat down on an empty bench. Minutes passed and nothing happened; Sergei hadn't moved a muscle, looking about him as if he were waiting. Soon Marius saw what Krum had been waiting for.

A stocky gray haired man walked up to Sergei and sat down. Marius immediately knew that this man was different; the man wore a dark suit that would have befitted a gentleman of the 1890's, but was not a style worn in 1939.

The Muggle thought he had had a good cover, but then he went and did something stupid; he had moved to get a closer spot to the pair of men. The older gentleman must have spotted Marius, because he quickly whispered something to Krum, got up and walked away.

Krum remained on the bench for a few moments, trying to pretend everything was normal, but his nervous fidgeting, and terrified glances around him were giving him away. Soon though, Krum got up and walked home.

The very next day, Marius knew something was off. He had taken up his usual post in the boarded up house across the street from the Krums, watching the family from the openings in the slats. He noticed that there was a flurry of activity around the Krum residence, mostly from the servants who were coming and going from the house. Sergei had not left for work that day, and this worried Marius; it was yet another thing that Krum had done differently.

In fact, Marius had not seen any of the Krum family all day. He kept trying to catch a glimpse through the windows, but was having no luck. It was when night fell, and the servants had locked up the Krum house that Marius knew something wasn't right. The servants never locked up the house; Sergei liked to do that himself.

Marius became absolutely sure that things had gone wrong, when a few wizards Apparated just outside Krum's front door. Marius watched in horror as they wizards blasted the door in, and started to tear the Krum residence apart. He expected to hear the terrifying screams of Elena Krum and her son, and felt his stomach lurch because of it. He had never wanted Krum's family to get hurt, but as he waited his tension subsided; no screams were coming. This puzzled Marius, and his confusion grew when he saw Sergei Krum, his faced bruised, being led out of the house alone by a pair of wizards. His wife and son did not follow. Marius looked at Krum's face and saw a slight glimmer of triumph; his family must have somehow escaped before the attack, but Marius was puzzled as to how they had done it.

He watched as the wizards took Krum and Disapparated away. Stunned by the turn of events, Marius moved like a shadow out of the abandoned house, running towards the truck he had hidden nearby. Jumping into the truck quickly, Marius started the engine and sped off.

Conivius had set up a meet in a familiar dark tavern later on that evening, and it was to this tavern and meeting the young man headed to. There wasn't much he could do about Sergei at the moment. Marius wondered what he would tell Conivius. He doubted the news of Sergei being captured would be very pleasing to Conivius, and then a sudden horrid thought pounced on Marius. What if Conivius knew about Sergei being taken away? What if it was planned all along?

As Marius drove deeper into the heart of the Moscow, his new worry began to nag at him. When he arrived to the meeting spot, the sun's sluggish glow hovered over the Moscow horizon, seeming to be afraid of the looming darkness. Marius sucked in a shaky breath as he walked into the tavern. He knew exactly how the sun felt.

The tavern was a dull, weary place. Its plain bare walls seem to leech the colors out of the atmosphere. Simple wood tables and benches filled every inch of the sawdust covered floor. It was drab, and unimaginative. Older people sat around tables, eating and drinking, and talking quietly. Marius missed, more than ever, the elegant beauty of Paris, its vivacity; this place was completely lifeless.

He quickly spotted Conivius and his wizard entourage at a table in the far back; they were the only spirit in the place. As he moved towards Conivius, his dread began to rise; why would Conivius need his entire wizard following to be there for a simple meeting with a Muggle spy? Then it hit Marius; this was no simple meeting. The closer Marius got to the wizards, the more he noticed the anger in their faces and their actions. Afraid to sit down next to a group of angry wizards, he arrived at the table, and decided to stand, his eyes and face as steady as they would ever be.

Conivius, who was in the middle of a whispered debate with a wizard to his left, looked up when Marius arrived at the table. The Frenchman saw a flash of anger sweep over Conivius's face, but it was soon gone.

"Ah Marius! You've come. What news do you bring? Has everything gone to plan?" Conivius asked breezily.

Marius could feel the malice underlying his counterpart's words. It unnerved him, just about as much as the blank faces of the wizards. Marius knew that they knew he had failed. Since it was pointless to lie, Marius decided to tell a portion of the truth.

"Not exactly," Marius replied. His hands drifted closer to the gun at his waist. He could taste the anger and tension in the air. Conivius' eyes were lit with it.

"Not exactly," Conivius stated, more as a known fact than surprise. Conivius turned an imperious eye towards his cohort to his left, the one he had been talking to a moment before. The glance was brief, but noticeable by the Muggle. Conivius turned back to Marius.

"Tell me Marius. What happened today that was 'not exactly' the plan? Did something happen it shouldn't have?" Conivius asked.

Marius felt his muscles tense up; there was a lot that happened that shouldn't have. Everything was turning on him faster than he could think.

"Sergei Krum has been captured and taken by a group of wizards. His family was not with him when he was captured," Marius gulped as he said the next words. "I think they may have escaped."

Conivius' smile became predatory. The wizard next to him looked at Marius in disgust. Marius memorized this other wizard's features: dark and ruddy, his brows one thick, black line. He already knew he and this other wizard would not be friendly with each other anytime soon.

Conivius was in no mood for games. His face was stern, and his eyes sharp lances.

"We already know that Sergei has been taken. In fact, we were the ones who took him because of something you did!" Conivius spat out.

Marius recoiled from the table. He had had a feeling that this was the case, and began to consider all the implications of this statement.

"Something I did?" Marius said, trying to feign innocence.

"Yesterday, you were watching Krum as I asked you. You followed him to a park, correct?"

"Yes." The answer seemed to want to stick like glue to the back of his throat.

"When Krum was in the park, an older gentleman came to see him, yes?"

"Yes. I thought it odd how the man was dressed. He sat next to Krum for a moment, and they started to talk. I moved to get closer to hear what they were saying, but the older man didn't stay long."

"He didn't stay long because my cousin Vladimir saw you!" This came from the man to the left of Conivius, the man with the unibrow. A sneer disfigured his rough features. Conivius looked slightly annoyed by this man's interruption.

"This is Yuri, one of Sergei Krum's Uncles," Conivius stated as he pointed to the man with the unibrow. "The man who saw you with Sergei in the park, the older gentleman, was Sergei's other uncle, Vladimir. We have information that he planned on giving the plans to Sergei. As my friend Yuri pointed out, Vladimir saw you at the park before the transfer could take place, and warned Sergei. He probably even told the Squib what you look like. Luckily we got wind of this early and were able to capture Sergei, but not before Vladimir, Sergei's family and the plans disappeared. Because of you, we lost an opportunity to get the plans from Vladimir. You have failed us!"

Marius wanted more than anything to run from the spot he was in as he watched Conivius pull out his wand. Surely the man would know better than to kill Marius in a public place, but Conivius did have a temper; Marius would see anger darkle in his stone gray eyes. Unable to move, and finding his tongue a heavy, useless thing, Marius waited for their judgment.

"So what do we do with a useless Muggle? You can't track Sergei anymore, and tracking his family will do no good. It was one of the first things we extracted from Sergei; he said his family had nothing to do with the plans, and didn't know where they were. Sergei says he knows who has them, but we still haven't gotten that information from him yet. As of now, we think Vladimir still has them. You, on the other hand, have no value at the moment, and it's pointless to keep you around."

Marius felt his anger rise up in him. It was not pointless to keep him around; he could still do a lot of things that Conivius and other wizards couldn't. It was his anger that opened his mouth to speak.

"I am not useless. If it wasn't for me, you would have never known that Sergei had changed his routine. You wouldn't have caught that tiny fact. This can still be rectified. I know someone who is an excellent tracker, someone I can convince to help us. My friend and I can track Vladimir if you want. We will get the plans, and I will get my reward as our bargain stated!"

Yuri snorted in disdain, then said, "You track Vladimir? You couldn't even track a Squib without being caught. How do you plan to track a powerful wizard?"

"Yuri's right. Vladimir will not be your concern. I have wizards who will follow him. Hmmm. You said you have a friend, someone who is better than you. Maybe I should have asked him instead of you!" Conivius retorted.

"Jean would never have agreed. He wouldn't have been interested in learning magic, but he will listen to me. We have been friends since we were boys. Together we will get your plans back!" Marius replied. Just mentioning his friend's name made him feel better.

Conivius lowered his wand, and then turned to Yuri. They began to whisper between each other. Occasionally one of them would look up at Marius; they were deliberating on his fate. Finally the conversation ended.

"We have agreed that you may still be of use. Sergei still has not cracked about where the plans are, but we feel Vladimir won't let Sergei stay in our grasp for too long--"

"My cousin always did have a preference for that Squib over my Marabella, which is absolutely revolting," Yuri mumbled, interrupting Conivius once again. Conivius shot Yuri a venomous look, but Yuri caught none of it.

"Find this friend and I will give you further instructions later. Remember Marius, neither I nor Grindelwald will tolerate failure from you again! And this time, your friend will be just as much marked for death as you will be if you fail!"

The words rung like hollow shots out of a gun, and hung in the air around Marius like stale smoke. His memories seem to cling to the walls of his mind. They jerked him out of the slight slumber he had been in. A cold tremor passed through him as those awful words rebounded in his head.

Marius steadied himself on the rickety chair, looking around him. He half expected to still be in the tavern, but recognized the dull weather beaten boards of the barn. He must have dozed off again. The creatures had settled down a bit, maybe out of weariness or boredom. Only the vampires looked at him curiously; he must have been talking in his sleep, but he didn't care anymore. That memory was now haunting his waking moments.

Marius still felt the fear he had felt that day, that looming horror. That day had lit a fire under Marius' backside. He had done exactly as Conivius asked. He went to France to get Jean; it hadn't taken much to convince his friend to come because Jean was loyal. Marius knew this of course, and thus only told Jean enough information necessary to get his friend to come.

Fulver followed Marius across the war torn European continent to Russia, where Marius finally received the information he had been waiting for. It was in the pub in the little farming community not far from the Krum estate that Marius learned of his new assignment.

Conivius told Marius that Sergei had escaped with the help of Vladimir. They had been right; Vladimir had come back. This had surprised Marius. It seemed illogical and odd that the wizard would come back to save his nephew, especially if he had the plans. He would have thought that the plans would have taken precedence over a nephew. Marius saw something wrong with this, and suspected Krum may have been more important than anybody realized, but neither Conivius nor his fellow wizards saw anything odd about it.

What it did mean was that Marius and Jean were needed more than ever. Sergei had disappeared into the Muggle world, and only Muggles knew how to navigate that world. Due to the slow and finicky transportation situations in Russia at the moment, Marius knew they still had time to catch up with Sergei. Now they needed an accelerant; Jean needed something to ignite his hatred. Marius knew his friend well enough to know that if Jean felt that his friend had been killed, then he would follow Sergei into Hades to get revenge.

So Marius planned out the attack on the estate, leaving Jean the part of execution. Marius knew that the plan he had created was too simple, and was afraid that Fulver would see through it, but if Jean did, he didn't say anything. Everything went as planned. Jean's first explosion was precise, and showed how well Fulver could control explosives. So far Marius' plan was going well.

Next Marius raced into the house alone. He had been afraid that Jean wouldn't have allowed him to go by himself; their argument had been quite heated. Fulver felt it foolish that Marius go into enemy territory alone, but eventually conceded to Marius' stout opinion.

From inside the house, Marius watched as the second explosion was set off. It took place near the front of the house, right where Jean couldn't see it. Marius watched as the orange flames rolled up into the sky like hot waves. Members of the family went out to the veranda to watch the first fire as it raged near the back of the house and ate away at their gardens; it was a necessary sacrifice for them to make. He watched as three other members of the family went out with their wands and began to put the second fire out by magic. This was the only fire that they could put out by magic without being seen by Jean, who waited in a copse near the back end of the estate; the fire near the rear of the house was being tamed slowly by the servants and buckets of water.

This meant that Marius didn't have much time. He knew the fires would soon be put out, and that there would only be one explosion left. Marius paced inside the gray dining room as he waited for Sergei Krum's grandfather; he was beginning to wonder what was taking the Krum family so long. They had a part of the plan to fulfill as well, a part that they had prepared before Marius had arrived. As Marius waited, he looked around at the brown walls with nothing on them, except for brackets of candles and the occasional dusty family portrait. A few house elves moved silently around him, cleaning and tidying up.

Finally, as the second fire was nearly tamed, Marius watched as two menservants dragged a filthy beggar from the lower depths of the house. An elderly wizard followed behind him. This must be the Krum Patriarch. He had the same dark facial features of any Krum.

First, the elderly wizard pulled out the exact type of clothes that Marius wore and handed them to the beggar. The beggar took them precipitously, not sure why fresh laundered clothes were being given to him. Despite the beggar's misgivings, he put the clothes on. They hung long on the man since they were the exact match to the specifications Marius had given of his height and weight. Next, Marius watched as the elderly wizard pulled out a clear flask of a bubbling mixture. He walked over to Marius, plucked a hair from his head, and dropped the hair into the flask. The potion immediately turned a dark red.

The menservants grabbed the beggar by his hair and pulled his head back. They forced the potion down the middle aged man's throat. Marius gasped in shock as he watched the man's features bubble, and his body lengthened to Marius's height. Soon he was looking at his own image; a tall, lean youth with vibrant green eyes (though the beggar's eyes were terrified), and wild, brown curls surrounding an oval face.

The elderly wizard was not finished. The wizard quickly placed the Imperius Curse on the beggar. Marius watched as the man's eyes, his eyes, glazed over, and his mouth fell open awkwardly. The wizard said a few commands in Russian, by which the beggar acknowledged with a nod.

The last part of the transformation required the menservants to let the beggar go, and step away from him. The wizard conjured up a spell of twisting, and writhing snakes of light. They latched onto the beggar, causing the man to shiver. Marius watched as the spell disappeared into the man, and wasn't quite sure what had happened.

The wizard turned to Marius, and said, "Do not touch this man. I have placed a tracking spell on him, so that whoever touches him first will have the spell attached to them. This should make tracking your friend and Sergei easier. I couldn't put it directly on Sergei because of something Vladimir did, but I can put it on your friend. You trust this Fulver? He won't lose Sergei?"

"Of course I trust Jean. He is an excellent tracker, but that spell won't hurt him will it?" Marius asked anxiously.

"He won't even feel it. That is the beauty of this charm that I made! It'll wear off your friend once we have Sergei in our custody." The old wizard smiled a wolfish grin. Marius was relieved by the information, but a little disturbed by the wizard.

"We don't have much time. The Polyjuice Potion will wear off this man in about fifty minutes. We have to get him on his way," stated the wizard, and with that, he issued a few commands to the beggar. The beggar repeated the commands back to the elderly wizard in perfect French. Marius wondered if the beggar knew a little French or if it was the Curse at work. The wizard seemed pleased, and issued a last command that was both harsh and urgent. The beggar nodded his head compliantly.

Immediately the man, who looked like Marius, ran towards the cellar and down the stairs. The menservants waited a few moments, then ran after the look-a-like. The Krum patriarch beckoned Marius to follow him, and he led the young Frenchman through a series of drab rooms to a room that faced the back of the house.

Marius watched through a dirty window as the beggar burst out the cellar door, followed closely by the menservants, who carried pistols in their hands. He watched as the beggar weaved in and out of the gun fire laid down by the menservants, quickly making his way to the back of the estate. He watched as Jean sped up to the border of the estate in the getaway truck, flung the door open and began laying fire cover for the look-a-like. The beggar had almost made it to the truck undamaged, but was then shot in the back by one of the menservants.

Marius turned and looked at the elderly wizard at his side in horror. He had never thought he was going to be a party to murder.

The elderly wizard caught his frightened look, and said, "He has to be shot. The further he gets from me, the easier it will be for him to resist the Imperius Curse and tell your friend things he shouldn't. You wouldn't want your friend in more danger than he has to be right?"

Marius was terrified by the man's blatant callousness for life. He began to really wonder what it was he had gotten he and his friend into.

Over the weeks, Marius had gone over those last memories again and again, wondering if he could have done something to save the beggar. That thought had been a constant prick on Marius' conscience. He also thought about Fulver, and what pain his friend must have gone through. He didn't want to hurt his friend, but he didn't want to lose the opportunity of becoming a wizard either. Marius envisioned himself casting some of the very spells he had seen others do, seeing himself become a great mage, someone like Vladimir, a person people looked up to. Conivius had promised he would be taught magic, if he just carried out his end of the bargain, except now his end of the bargain had now turned into guard duty over hungry beasts.

Marius thought about Jean, and what his friend was doing at the moment. He had sent Jean a letter, and the traitor inside the castle had delivered it for him. He hadn't gotten anything in return, but it could be that Jean had no idea how to communicate to him without getting caught. He did think he had gotten the message to Fulver that he was alive at the Quidditch match, a game he had to finesse his way in to see.

Marius had full faith that his friend would help him. Fulver had never failed him, and had always been there for Marius through all his crazy obsessions. He just had to become a wizard, and he would do anything to get it. He knew Jean would help, and yet a doubt lingered in Marius.

Marius had changed since the last time he had seen Jean; he was no longer as carefree and joyous as he used to be. Now he was always afraid and constantly haunted, even in his waking state, by his memories. He wondered if Jean had changed as well; would his friend forgive him for faking his death? Would his friend understand his latest obsession and agree to help? As Marius pondered this, he hadn't heard the door to the barn open.

"Marius! Marius!"

Marius snapped to attention, his thoughts fading into the background of his mind. He looked around him to see whose voice had spoken. The vampires were eyeing him curiously or as a snack, he couldn't tell which. When Marius turned towards the barn door, he saw a disapproving Yuri standing in the doorway, framed by the slanting sunlight of evening.

"Get ready. We let the beasts loose tonight on Hogsmeade!"

Marius nodded numbly, his heart pounding in his chest. His stomach churned as he looked on the beasts around him, knowing that in a few moments they would be turned on innocent civilians. Marius shuddered, trying to shut away this thought.

A/N: Thank you so much for reading and supporting this story. I know it took a long time for me to get this chapter up. This was a hard chapter to write and it may be a little rough in places. Please feel free to leave me feedback. Thanks again!