Harry Potter and The Heirs of The Founders

Chapter Eleven

Halloween

"Things are seldom what they seem,

Skim milk masquerades as cream;

Highlows pass as patent leathers;

Jackdaws strut in peacock's feathers.

Very true,

So they do."

--Things are seldom what they seem, HMS Pinafore; Gilbert and Sullivan

Lavender sat gazing out the window of the Divination Tower. She was expecting her third year Hufflepuff class in just over half an hour. She had not had a good week at all. She was still quite annoyed, to put it nicely, that Harry had actually married Hermione. She had had another tiff with Seamus the night of their wedding and couldn't understand how a person could be so persistent in their affections towards someone who had told him that there would never be anything between them. Parvati additionally had been downright rude to her. And she still hadn't worked out why Voldemort would be searching for her. She believed that what she had seen in the Orb was the future and Voldemort searching for her now would simply contradict what she had seen. She therefore wasn't too worried about it. She knew he would find her when the time was right. And she really wasn't in any hurry for that day to come, just as long as no more wizards were harmed or killed.

The thought of her father was still very close to her. He had meant everything to her; it had always been just Lavender and her father for as long as she could remember. She hadn't wanted to think that Voldemort could possibly be linked to her father's death, but now the facts seemed to point in that direction. After all he was a Muggle-born wizard and Voldemort was notorious for targeting Muggle-borns. There was the added factor that it now appeared that he was looking for her. Lavender however, couldn't understand why he would look for her at The Three Broomsticks of all places. She hadn't visited there since the day of The Shrieking shack explosion. Although Harry had been convinced that they had been targeting him, Lavender was sure that it was her they had been targeting. A couple of Death Eaters with the instructions that Lavender was Harry's girlfriend would have seen Harry, Ron and Hermione enter, mistake Hermione for her and then have blown up the Shack. She had been making a habit of visiting Hog's Head, although it was a rowdier pub it gave her a sense of anonymity that she cherished since the events of her final year at school. She didn't think that there was a single person from her year that didn't know about what she had seen in the Orb. Parvati, much to her disgust, had told everyone that Lavender was a true Seer and used what she had confided to her in confidence as an example. Lavender was only thankful she hadn't told her more. Parvati just didn't realise that foreseeing the future was a curse not a gift. It had created a huge rift between them that had been evident at Harry's wedding.

She had tried gazing into the Orb to discover why Voldemort wanted her now. So far she had been unsuccessful. She decided to try again, but this time just to try and glimpse the future. She cleared her mind of all thoughts and feelings. She sat down in front of the Orb and gazed into it, concentrating hard. She cleared her mind and let the Orb reveal its secret to her.

She was in an unfamiliar room and she could tell that she wasn't there by choice. She was sitting in a fashion similar to this, gazing at an Orb. She knew it wasn't her own though. There was something uncomfortable about this ball that did not impress Lavender. She was being asked, no, she was being made to gaze into the Orb and inform her companion of what she was seeing. She did not recognise this person and their presence was making her very uncomfortable. In fact it was disturbing her ability to see properly. She saw herself giving a false prophecy, which seemed to please her companion. She watched as she was released.

Well if that was all Voldemort wanted her for that was fine. She could certainly cope with that. She would just make up a prophecy to suit herself, one that would distract him from the Prophecy of Saoghaland her part in it. That would be simply perfect. She stood up and began to prepare for her lesson.

*~*

Harry sat in their isolated rooms in Hogwarts glancing at the Pensieve, while Hermione was out doing some research. He had agreed to put his memories in there both the good and the bad so his father could get to know him. Harry knew that there was no point hiding the horrid facts of his past from his father. It was all too widely known and James would find out eventually. He was just deciding which memories to put in there.

He decided to begin with the night that they had "died". He had vague memories of the night and felt his father should see them. Then he choose some memories of his time with the Dursley's both good and bad, but especially the time when he set the boa constrictor on Dudley and the time when he exploded Aunt Marge. He knew his father would appreciate them. He put in his memories of the night that he learnt he was a wizard and his first experiences of Hogwarts. He put every confrontation with Voldemort, as well as the night he had met Sirius. He put in his first game of Quidditch, as well as some of his more memorable games and the night of the draft when it was revealed that James had played for Puddlemere as well. He put in some of his memories of Hermione. He put in the Triwizard tournament.

When he was done he collapsed into a chair. It was exhausting work filling up a Pensieve but part of him felt better having done it.

*~*

The sun rose early on Saturday morning despite the fact that winter was approaching quickly. The operatives assembled in the Transfiguration classroom after breakfast. Sirius had managed to locate a charm that would enlarge the projection of the image from the omnioculars he had received from Alec, so that the images would project onto the wall. It was the most practical way of showing the images to the entire group at once. When the entirety of the group had arrived Dumbledore called the meeting to order. Harry sense that although he and Hermione were still hidden, Dumbledore knew they were there.

The first item if business was of course the omnioculars' images of the Isles. Everyone knew they must contain something, otherwise Alec would not have sent them. And they must contain something that was indescribable in words; either because it was just too difficult or Alec feared that someone would overhear the conversation. Sirius used the charm and set the omnioculars running.

At first there was nothing. A few images of trees far off in the distance were all that was visible on the wall. Thick shrubbery that let in almost not light and appeared as if there were no entrance. Harry began to wonder if it were a waste of time. Finally small images emerged from tiny gaps in the greenery that could be animal, but certainly weren't plant. They were pale in colour with touches of brown and black. It was difficult to try and focus on them. As the images came further into focus it became more evident that they could be human. Could be was the operative word. Perhaps a better way to describe it would be used to be human. The faces that Harry was seeing looked haunted, starved and broken. Their gaolers looked dazed as if they existed in a dream world. Perhaps they were under the Imperius, forever floating in a dream world of commands. This was almost certainly the work of wizards. There was no way what Harry was seeing could possibly be anything but magically induced. His heart began to pound as he glimpsed two faces that he recognised from Hogwarts. There appeared nothing to hold the prisoners except the iron chains that bound the ankles of one man to the next. Chain-gangs. The shivers began to run up and down his spine. They reminded Harry of the pictures he had seen in history classes at prep school of the Muggles who were transported to the colonies for crimes no worse than stealing a loaf of bread to feed their starving families. Glancing at the wall again, he saw the conditions under which they were condemned to sleep. In the freezing Shetland Islands, only 640 kilometres south of the arctic and as close as Scotland gets to the Arctic Circle; they were bound to sleep with little more than the ragged clothes on their back and a few tattered rugs to share around the group of over one hundred wizard and witches. The whole scene was reminiscent of the Nazi concentration camps of World War II. Harry shuddered at the thought as he came to the realisation that there was probably nothing the small group of operatives could do in the near future.

'I'm going to be sick,' Harry heard someone say behind him. 'Minerva do you have a bucket or something?'

It was Chrys. Hermione whispered that she wondered if it was morning sickness or the gruesome images that were on screen. Sirius took the hint, as McGonagall located a bucket, and switched the omnioculars off. The room was full of people who appeared as if they were in a trance.

'Severus, do you know anything about what's happening here?' Dumbledore at last broke the trance-like state of everyone in the room who realised that there was work to be done.

'I have no idea,' he said almost reluctantly. 'If Voldemort is responsible for this I'd almost be surprised. It's not really his style to hold people. If this is his work he must have a plan, given that he would usually just kill them. He may torture a few for a while but usually his instructions are to kill. There are at least a hundred people there if not more.'

'I recognise a good many of those faces,' Dumbledore said despondently. 'They are all Muggle-born witches and wizards, all of the ones that I recognise. And additionally they're not surprisingly the ones that have been missing.'

'Their families believe that they are dead,' McGonagall said. 'In my opinion they'd be better off dead than alive like that. It's simply terrible.'

'The point is that we can't just storm in there and save them,' James said. 'We don't have enough people for starters and we have no idea exactly what we would encounter there.'

'We shall have to do some background investigation,' Sirius said. 'I can think of the most appropriate way to do it.' On his face a grin emerged. Harry could tell he was reminiscing of the days when the Marauders explored the school grounds and got up to other such mischief. Chrys lifted her head up from the bucket. She looked green.

'Are you serious?' she asked.

'Yes,' he replied. 'On both accounts, I'm Sirius and I'm serious.'

'Any wizard is going to realise what's going on,' she replied. 'And don't try and be funny Sirius, it's not an appropriate time.'

'Perhaps you should inform us,' McGonagall said. 'We're not telepathic despite our other strengths.'

'We have an unusually large number of Animagi in the room,' Sirius began. 'And Animagi have to be good for something other than amusement purposes. I am proposing that we send the Animagi to the Isles to investigate. From the outside it appears that the keepers are only concerned with the people. It probably would be dangerous to send people to investigate.'

'Sirius does have a point,' Dumbledore said. 'It may be the best option. Chrystal, the keepers do appear as if they aren't concerned with wildlife. Terri would have had to have been quite low to record these images.'

'You have a point,' she conceded before she was sick again. Her head emerged with a more determined look. 'When do we go and who will be going?'

'Well unless you stop throwing up you won't be leaving the bathroom,' James replied tongue in cheek.

'It's morning sickness,' she replied. 'Everything seems to set it off.'

'Well in this room we have two cats, a stag, a dog, a winged horse, a lion and a thylacine' Sirius began. 'If we located Rita Skeeter we'd have a beetle.'

'I don't trust Rita,' Snape said. 'In fact, I don't trust journalists' full stop.'

'Good point,' Sirius replied. 'Then there are the students I trained last year.'

'How many of them are trustworthy?' Snape asked. 'I know you trained two from my house.'

'I trained two from each house,' Sirius replied. 'Only five of them succeeded. Of those there's Harry and Hermione, a lion and a thylacine, as already mentioned.'

'A what?' asked Charlie.

'A thylacine,' Sirius replied. 'According to Hermione it's an extinct Australian animal. It's kind of like a cross between a wolf and a tiger.' McGonagall began to shake her head.

'Trust Hermione to come up with something original,' she said with a laugh. Harry realised that it must have been the first time McGonagall had heard of Hermione's Animagus form. After all she may or may not be aware that Harry and Hermione were in the room.

'Then there's Draco Malfoy,' Sirius continued. 'He's a snake.' Harry laughed so hard that he was glad that only Hermione, who shot him a dirty look, and Lily, who ignored his reaction, could hear him.

'A snake?' Snape said with a touch of disbelief. 'How Malfoy-like.'

'The form chooses the wizard, Snape,' Sirius said.

'No I understand why you're a giant mutt of a dog then Black,' Snape retorted.

'Do you think he is trustworthy?' Lily asked Snape, ignoring the previous exchange.

'Black? Definitely not,' Snape said. Then seeing the look on Lily's face he was quick to add, 'Now Malfoy, I would trust him with this assignment.'

'And I don't know about the others,' Sirius said. 'I'm not particularly willing to find out where their loyalties lie right at the moment.'

'So we have a wide range of creatures,' Minerva said. 'We will set out soon to ensure that we have the most amount of time possible. In the meantime I guess we should keep our eyes and ears open. Severus, how's your list going?'

'I'm finding it extremely difficult to write,' he said. 'I do not think I can give it to Voldemort in good faith, especially after having seen what Terri has found. If there was away that I could give him a false list, or assure him that the Muggle-borns will not leave Hogwarts. He'd see right through it and I would be no use to anyone anymore. The only thing I can do is help to prepare students for what may lie ahead.'

'That's all that anyone can do,' Dumbledore said. 'We shall meet back here in an hour and hopefully we shall discover what we're up against. Until then.'

*~*

McGonagall had located Lavender in her quarters. She felt uneasy asking a Seer to look into the future for her, especially given what she herself thought of Divination. But Lavender was really a small chance that they might actually discover what Voldemort was up to. Minerva was unsettled at how careful Voldemort was being. He was covering his tracks and now that he had regained his body he was no longer desperate. He knew he held the balance of power with his followers and since his well-crafted attack on The Shrieking Shack last year fear was beginning to grow in the hearts of witches and wizards all over the country.

'Lavender, I'm sorry to interrupt' she said softly to the girl who was delved in books. 'We need you to try and find something for us. We think Voldemort is planning something for April. We're not sure what and we need to be prepared.'

The blonde girl glanced up at her.

'I can only try,' she replied. 'I cannot guarantee anything. I've never seen something that would happen in a specified amount of time before. I've just seen glimpses of the future. I cannot necessarily tell you when they will occur.'

*~*

Draco took a deep breath in. He couldn't think of a reply to his mother's accusation, which was extremely unusual for him. It just went to show him that she didn't understand him one little bit. And on top of that it had really stung. Because it was true. Draco struggled to comprehend how someone he loved so much could always hurt him so much.

'Mother,' he said solidly. 'I will not be returning to Malfoy Manor just yet. I have work to do and when I am finished I will return. I have been given assignment and I will complete it if my life depends on it. I will not end up like my father. A bitter failure.'

'Your father was a fine man Draco,' she replied. 'You just were not able to see that.'

'He was a lying, cheating adulterer,' Draco spat. 'He tried to kill a twelve year old boy when he lost Dobby and where did get him? Absolutely nowhere.'

'He had his moments,' she replied looking reminiscent. 'When will you come and see me then? I've been quite lonely since your father was kissed. He just isn't the same anymore. In fact I've been quite lonely for quite a few years Draco.'

'I'm almost finished my training Mother,' he replied. 'I'll be home for Christmas. I promise you that.'

'Wonderful,' she replied. 'Bring that girl, what's her name again? Virginia?'

'Yes,' he replied sighing. 'I'll bring Ginny.'

Draco sat down on the couch once his mother had left. He opened the Divination books in front of him. He wondered why The Dark Lord had given him such an assignment. He hadn't taken Divination at school and was now given an assignment on a Prophecy. Then again he had taken Arithmancy and the Prophecy dealt largely with Arithmancy.

Draco heard a knock on the door. He opened it to find Snape there.

'Are you particularly busy this weekend Draco?' he asked.

Draco shook his head. After all he was only planning on decoding the Prophecy. And the longer he could put off doing anything about it, the longer he wouldn't have to see the Dark Lord.

'Come up to Hogwarts,' he said. 'We're doing some undercover investigation. Meet us in the Transfiguration classroom in about forty-five minutes.'

Snape turned around and headed back to the castle. He had some work to do before they gallivanting began. He had a feeling that although he was not an Animagus his services would be required.