Voldemort Ascendant

Chapter seven: Phase two.

A small, green snake slithered its way around the boy´s thin, pale wrists, making its way over and under his fingers, across his palms, before making its way back to his wrists and starting over again. Draco stared at it, a bored, somewhat petulant expression upon his face. Holding up his wand, he muttered something under his breath, and the snake rose from his hands, spinning in circles just above his head.

`Were you raised to enjoy such idle pursuits, Draco?´ his father asked from across the headmaster´s office. Draco shrugged one shoulder, and his lower lip poked out just a little more. The snake continued to float above his head. Lucius raised one eyebrow, his expression bland. Recognising the warning signs, Draco lowered the snake, and once more it resumed its course of slithering between his hands.

Silence fell over the office once more, broken only by the occasional sound of Lucius´s quill scratching its way across a thick piece of parchment. Draco´s eyes rolled around the room, before finally settling once more upon his Father, seated at the Headmaster´s desk, where he was filling a parchment with his immaculate writing. Sighing loudly, Draco kicked his shoe against the floor and slumped back into his chair. `I don´t see why that filthy muggle born is so important to Voldemort. Blood-lust or not, she´s still just some dirty mudblood. Why must I be here to hear the smutty bitch discussed?´

Lucius replied without taking his eyes from the parchment. `Perhaps you would rather be down in the dungeons with your hoard of fangirls?´ He asked, and Draco´s eyes widened.

`You . . . you know about that?´

Lucius´s lips tightened. `Who does not know about it? Even the blasted paintings and mirrors are gossiping about your little . . . perversions.´

Draco felt his throat tighten and promptly sat up in his seat. `Father, I . . . that is to say, we just -`

`You´re not here to explain your rather tacky behaviour, Draco. Though it might serve you well to consider your illustrious forefathers in future. The Malfoys are not a family to suffer insult lightly, Draco, and you have taken one-too-many steps in that direction already. No good can come of your whoring.´ Lucius paused, fixing Draco with a meaningful look. Draco shifted uncomfortably, his gaze finally falling to the floor. `Have I made myself understood, Draco?´ he asked, his voice soft.

`Quite, Father,´ Draco replied, his voice barely more than a whisper.

`Good. Now, I want you to stop and use your brain for a while - I trust you´re capable of doing so?´ Lucius asked, casting a sardonic look at his son. At Draco´s weak nod, he continued. `Filthy mudblood or not, our Miss Granger experienced the Battle Lust on the night of our glorious victory. Do you know how much power is placed in the hands of those blessed by the Battle Lust, Draco?´

`Yes, Father,´ Draco replied sulkily.

`Wonderful. There are only a few recorded instances of Battle Lust in wizarding history. Our little muggle-born is the first in well over a century or more. Her presence amongst us is a blessing indeed, Draco. I don´t suppose you can tell me why?´ Draco gave his father a blank look. Lucius frowned. `Because it gives us an opportunity to study her, to understand how the Battle Lust works. Imagine it, Draco . . . if we could understand the Battle Lust and how it comes about, we might be able to create an entire army of wizards and witches blessed with the Battle Lust. We would be invincible.´

`Why bother?´ Draco asked. `We´re already in control of Britain.´

`I see your ambitions in the womanising department don´t extend to external affairs,´ Lucius observed dryly, and Draco flushed. `Not to worry. When the Dark Lord appears, all will be revealed.´

***

`Are they saying anything in the Great Hall?´ Hermione asked as Parvati entered the kitchen.

`No, nothing, as far as I can tell. But Malfoy junior was looking like the cat that got the cream,´ Parvati replied, piling hot loaves of bread into a basket. `Light alone knows what that might mean. It could be anything from some fangirl conquest to having pulled an effective prank.´

Hermione sighed and turned to the giant wood oven, carefully removing several loaves of bread. `I confess this whole business has made me a lot more anxious than I´d expected. I keep waiting for Malfoy senior to storm in here and promptly murder the lot of us.´

Parvati stopped, her hand half-way to her basket, her eyes wide. `Don´t say that, Hermione! Never say such a thing out loud. You´re what´s holding us all together at the moment, Hermione . . . if the other´s heard you say such a thing . . . we´d be over. They need you to show that steely resolve. We all do. Never say you expect us to fail.´

`It´s not that I expect us to fail, Parvati . . . though you should all know there´s a chance of that or else you´re just deluding yourselves. I just . . . ` Hermione paused and lowered her voice. `When we were down there, Justin told me that it seemed too simple. And in a lot of ways, I think he was right. I told him that they guarded the castle from without, not from within. But even if that´s true, it does seem like it was too easy . . .´

Parvati shook her head, gathering a few more loaves. `Hermione, it´s too late to take these things into consideration. You´ve already been done there and made your way back without any problems. It has been three days. If anyone noticed anything, surely they´d have confronted us by now?´

Hermione bit her lip. `You´re right, of course.´ And though she couldn´t shake the feeling that something ominous was coming, she smiled. `Onto phase two of the plan then, I suppose.´

Parvati smiled. `Onto phase two.´

***

`So you and Parvati keep mentioning this "phase two" business . . . but what exactly is it?´ Justin asked, dusting the surface of a large bookcase.

`Phase two is where we rescue Harry,´ Hermione replied, pushing a large chunk of fuzzy hair from her eyes before dipping her scrubbing brush into her bucket. `And phase three is where we manage to escape the castle.´

`I take it phase three is the difficult part?´

Hermione nodded. `Provided things in the dungeon don´t change substantially from when we were last down there, I imagine getting Harry free of the dungeons won´t be too difficult. It´s getting us . . . all of us . . . out of the castle that´s going to be a problem.´

Justin looked uneasily over his shoulder. `Should we really be discussing this sort of thing outside of the kitchen? I mean, no one comes into the kitchen . . . but how do we know someone isn´t walking around out in the hall just waiting to burst into this room?´

Hermione paused. `I guess we don´t. But you´re the one who brought it up.´

`Oh. I see. Blame it all on Justin. Justin´s the silly fucker that - ow!´ Bending over, Justin retrieved the sopping wet cloth that Hermione had just pegged at his head. `Fuckity-fuck, no need to get violent. I suppose you´ll be wanting this back?´ he asked, dangling the cloth from his fingers.

Hermione shrugged. `I´m content with my scrubbing brush, quite frankly.´

`Here, have it anyway,´ Justin replied, and promptly threw it directly at Hermione´s head, where it landed with a dull thunk. Cringing, Hermione pulled the cloth from her head and tossed it back into her bucket.

`Edward´s coming down to the kitchen later tonight,´ Hermione said softly. `We can discuss it all then.´

`You still think we can trust him?" Justin asked, dusting over the large desk at the front of the room.

`You still think we can not trust him?´

`What? No, of course . . . I think he proved himself to us mighty well.´

`Then why did you ask?´

Justin paused. `I guess . . . because he´s Slytherin. And he might be setting us up for a fall.´

Hermione dropped her scrubbing brush into the soapy bucket of water, then looked up at Justin. `I can´t believe what I´m hearing. You still don´t trust him, do you?´

Justin turned to face Hermione. `I don´t want to feel this way, Hermione. I´m not trying to be stubborn or purposefully cast doubt on him. I just . . . I guess I can´t get over the fact that he´s a Slytherin. No matter what the rest of his family were like, he is a Slytherin. And Slytherin´s are Slytherin for a reason, Hermione. They´re sly and tricky and-`

`And that´s exactly how we managed to get into the dungeons, and that´s how he´s going to help get us out of here. He´s sly and tricky, Justin. But he´s on our side.´ Rising to her feet and picking up her bucket, Hermione sent Justin a meaningful look. `Remember that, Justin. He´s the Slytherin on our side.´ So saying, she walked out of the room, leaving Justin to finish the dusting on his own.

***

`Nothing has changed down there,´ Edward said, gripping Sally-Ann´s hand tightly. `We went down last night - and yes, we were careful,´ he added, looking at Hermione. `And nothing has changed. Travers took my money and led us to the same room as we always use. He didn´t say a thing about what happened the other night. And I haven´t heard any other students mentioning anything.´

Hermione felt faintly amused when she noticed Sally-Ann had turned a shade of crimson at Edward´s mention of their room.

`Perhaps Travers didn´t tell anyone what happened?" Justin suggested hopefully. `I mean, would you want to tell Malfoy Senior that someone slipped past your guard?´

Hermione bit her lip a little. `That´s quite possible. Or maybe he honestly didn´t think that much of it. He was muttering about the Dementors when I went past him . . . perhaps he genuinely believed it was them.´

`And what about the Dementors? Do you suppose they . . . somehow . . . communicated anything to Malfoy?´ Justin asked nervously.

Edward shrugged. `I have no idea. I really don´t know how they work, if that´s how we should describe it.´

`No one has said anything that I´ve heard of,´ Parvati added. `And you know what the students are like. There simply aren´t any secrets within these walls.´

At that, the room collectively fell silent. Realising what she´d said, Parvati blushed. `I don´t mean like that! I´m sure our secret is safe . . .´

`We know what you meant,´ Hermione replied. `And I´m sure you´re right. If no one is speaking about it, then there´s a good chance we got away with it. And if you´re still able to enter and leave the dungeons without being harassed,´ Hermione continued, looking at Edward and Sally-Ann, `then there´s an equally good chance that we´ll be able to get Harry free without too much trouble.´

`It´s just getting out of the castle that´ll be a problem,´ Justin contributed, nodding his head wisely.

Parvati rolled her eyes. `Figured that out all on your own, huh, Justin?´

`As a matter of fact-`

`No fighting, please,´ Hermione interfered, her voice placating. `We need to be able to work together as a unit on this. Edward, I´m presuming that you know enough unlocking spells to get Harry out of the dungeon easily enough?´ Edward nodded, and Hermione continued. `Good. Then I say we get him out using roughly the same plan we used to check on him.´

`What about the dementors?´ Justin asked.

`What about them?´ Hermione replied.

`Well, if Edward´s unlocking the door, who is going to distract the dementors?´

Edward sent Hermione a look. `I can cast the spell to distract them, then quickly join Hermione in the left hallway. It just means we´ll need to work quickly. Are you happy to play the part you played last time, Justin?´

Justin nodded. `Yes . . . but presuming Hermione is Polyjuiced to look like Sally-Ann . . . and Edward´s under that shadow spell thing . . . we´ve still only got one invisibility cloak. That leaves two problems. One: how are you going to get Harry past Travers when both Hermione and Harry need to get past him? And two: once Hermione´s leaving the cell as Sally-Ann, who goes under the cloak then? Harry or me?´

Hermione frowned. `I´d suggest that the simplest thing to do would be to Polyjuice you into Edward´s form. Edward will be under the shadow spell when he exits, so that won´t be a problem. And when I´m fetching Harry, I can simply hide him beneath the invisibility cloak . . . there´s plenty of room beneath it. When we leave the dungeons, Edward will be hidden by shadow, Justin shall be disguised as Edward, I shall be disguised as Sally-Ann, and Harry can hide beneath the cloak.´

`What about Harry?´ Sally-Ann asked quietly.

`What about him?´ Justin asked curiously. `He´s beneath the cloak-`

`No . . . I mean when Hermione enters his cell. She´ll be looking like me, not like herself. How will Harry react to that?´

Hermione bit her lip. `I hadn´t thought of that . . .´ she cast a mournful look around the room. `I guess . . . he´ll just have to place his faith in us.´

`And there´s the fact that he´s mad,´ Parvati added. `You can´t predict how he´s going to act . . .´

`I can simply stupefy him and use mobilicorpus to get him out,´ Edward suggested.

`I´d rather we didn´t have to . . . but if we encounter any problems, then that´s the safest option,´ Hermione said softly. Light, please let him trust me.

`Then what?´ Justin asked. `To the kitchen first, or straight out the front door?´ Parvati thumped him, and he gave her an affronted look.

`This is where it gets tricky,´ Hermione replied. `Obviously we´ll have to do this at towards midnight or early morning; less students in the hallway, and no one will be in the Great Hall, so hopefully we can get past there without too much trouble.´

`The doors will be locked and tightly sealed at that time,´ Edward offered. `I´m not sure I´d be able to open them. It´s a safety measure, to prevent outside assault when everyone´s asleep.´

`Damn,´ Hermione hissed.

`What about late evening?´ Colin Creevey offered, breaking his silence. `The doors are open until ten or so; I´ve seen some of the professors locking them in the evenings. Given, some of the students will be up . . . but that´s just a risk you need to take if you can´t get out later.´

`He´s right,´ Edward replied. `If we can´t get out at midnight, our next best option is to escape at a time when there won´t be so many students and professors around. Perhaps if we could create some sort of monumental distraction . . . you know what students are like. Give them something to stare at, and they´ll stare in droves.´

Hermione nodded half-heartedly. `A distraction might just work . . . but what sort? It´d need to be something that still allowed all of us to get past, which means we can´t necessarily be present to cause the distraction . . . which means using magic. And that means you, Edward. You´re taking an awful lot of the workload for this great escape. Are you sure you´re okay with that?´

Edward shrugged. `I´m fine. As long as I do my part.´

`We´d need to get the students away from the entrance, away from the Great Hall . . . `

`Upstairs, near the common rooms. Most students will be getting ready for the evening, heading between bathrooms and bedrooms,´ Parvati suggested.

`Best to make it loud, so the students that remain in the hall hear it and head away,´ Colin suggested. `What if it´s a scream?´

`Huh?´ Justin interjected.

`A scream. A loud scream, that bounces off the walls. It needs to be heard over most of the castle.´

Edward nodded in understanding. `A scream that moves . . . make the students follow it. If it started in a hallway near the common rooms, then moved down the hallway, it´d draw the students towards it. They´d follow it, trying to locate the source, and it´d garner the attention of professors, too. If anyone remains near our escape routes, I can deal with them.´

`It sounds risky . . .´ Hermione started to say, then cringed. `Of course, the entire thing is risky. But I want to minimise risk at all corners. I think this scream idea might work-`

`Why not try to blend with the students?´ Derek suddenly offered.

`What?´ Justin demanded.

`You´re trying so hard to get out the door, trying to make sure no one is around the door . . . but what if you made everyone rush towards the door? If everyone races out the door, then surely we´ve got a better chance of blending in, right? They´re not going to question one or two students passing through the door, if the entire school is passing out the door.´

Derek´s suggestion was immediately met by surprised silence. Hermione sent Derek an assessing look, as if she´d suddenly discovered something sitting before her that she´d never noticed. Derek shifted uncomfortably. `What?´ he asked testily. `It´s not that bad an idea, is it? You´re all looking at me like I´ve just grown a second head.´

Suddenly, Hermione laughed. And laughed. And laughed. `Light, Derek - that might just work. Edward, can you cast your shadow spell over all of us once we´ve returned to the kitchen?´ Edward nodded, and Hermione continued. `We rescue Harry and bring him back to the kitchen. Edward casts the shadow spell over all of us, then creates his diversion at the very entrance of the school. In the rush of students, we all pass through. And that´s it. We´re outside the castle itself.´

`But then what?´ Kevin asked, his voice mild.

Hermione suppressed an irritated look. Typical of Kevin, to cast a gloom over hope. He doesn´t do it on purpose, Hermione, she reminded herself. It´s just the way he is. `Well, when everyone is distracted by the diversion, we stick to the shadows and make our way away from the castle.´

`But where to next?´ Justin asked. `Do we go straight to the gates? Do we jump in the lake? Do we take the road down to the train station? Or do we make a break for Hogsmeade?´

`And what´s the diversion at the entrance to the school going to be?´ Colin asked. `I don´t think a loud scream would work quite so well for that.´

Hermione sighed, raising a hand to her head and rubbing her forehead. `I wish we had more time to take all of this into consideration,´ she said quietly. `I hate to rush these sorts of details, but we really don´t have that much time.´

`Why not?´ Kevin asked loudly.

Parvati rolled her eyes. `Honestly, Kevin, it´s like you´re entirely out of the loop some days. Haven´t you heard anything that has been going on over the last few days? Harry is mad. Mad. He is surrounded by dementors that aren´t just sending him insane, they´re planting false memories in his mind. If we don´t rescue him soon, who knows what might become of him. We need to get him out of there before they harm him beyond repair.´

`But how can you be sure they haven´t already sent him beyond repair?´ Kevin pointed out.

Hermione studied her fingers. `We can´t be,´ she replied softly.

***

In the darkness, Harry´s whimpers subsided into silence as the screams and cries within his soul reached a deafening crescendo. Before his eyes, everything was bathed in pitch-blackness; blackness only occasionally punctuated by bursts of a startlingly green light.