Harry Potter and the Crystalline Darkness

Chapter 11

When everyone gathered around the table that night, there was a certain amount of anticipation in the air. The twins, who were sitting between Sirius and Remus, had immediately picked up on this and were looking around rather nervously. Their gazes rested on the men sitting besides them most of all but the two Marauders were their usual selves and spent their time chatting with everyone. The twins eyed the food in front of them and were unusually cautious about their eating that night. The tension and amusement intensified as the dinner went on though everyone affected not to notice it and the conversations went on as normal. The twins through all of this gradually became quieter and quieter and very, very twitchy and it seemed to be all that Ron could do not to fall off his chair laughing.

Finally they reached dessert and Molly brought out a large treacle tart, much to Harry's delight. She served it out and everyone began eating.

"Great treacle tart, Mrs Weasley," Harry mumbled happily through a mouthful of the dessert.

Molly beamed at him. "Thank you, dear. Don't talk with your mouth full." She was about to comment further when her eyes fell on the twins and she began to laugh.

The others followed her gaze and saw, sitting where the twins had been, two very large and very colourful parrots. Sirius and Remus exchanged smug looks and Sirius turned to the parrot sitting next to him.

"Polly want a cracker?" he said cheerfully.

"Squawk!" the parrot responded. "Polly want a cracker!"

Laughter slowly began to build as Remus turned to the parrot sitting next to him. "Pieces of eight," he said calmly.

"Squawk!" the parrot responded. "Pieces of eight!"

Sirius grinned. "I'm a Slytherin."

The parrot sitting next to him fluffed its feathers. "Squawk! Pieces of eight! I'm a Slytherin! Polly want a cracker!"

The other parrot responded with. "Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! Squawk!"

Ron, who was laughing so hard tears were starting to run down his face, realised what was happening and leaned over. "I like Draco Malfoy."

The two parrots squawked with alarm.

"Pieces of eight!"

"I like Draco Malfoy!"

"Polly want a cracker!"

"I'm a Slytherin!"

"Squawk! Pieces of eight!"

By this stage everyone was in absolute tears of laughter as the two man-sized parrots looked around helplessly. Ginny leaned around Remus and said, "Green and silver."

The parrot closest to her eyed her dolefully before squawking, "Green and silver! Green and silver!"

Neville then cheered the birds up by suggesting "Go Gryffindor" to them and Luna added, "Ravenclaw, Ravenclaw" to their vocabulary. Molly laughingly came up with "Go to your room" while Arthur thought "Rubber ducky" might be fun and Hermione gave them "I like studying". Then everyone looked at Harry to see what he wanted to add. Harry grinned mischievously and looked at the two birds.

"I solemnly swear I'm up to no good," he said then he added. "Mischief managed."

These two suggestions finally managed to reduce Sirius and Remus to helpless laughter. Then Sirius waved a hand at the two birds and choked out, "I think that's enough words. They can play with them for now."

The two parrots, who by now were looking quite agitated at the laughter, started squawking again, something which just caused the laughter to continue.

"Squawk! Go to your room!"

"Pieces of eight!"

"I'm a Slytherin!"

"Green and silver!"

"Mischief managed!"

Molly looked over at the two Marauders and wiped a tear from her eye. "How long will it last?" she asked merrily.

"A few hours," Remus chuckled. This caused the two parrots to start squawking even more.

"Go Gryffindor!"

"I like Draco Malfoy!"

"Polly want a cracker!"

"Squawk! I like studying!"

"Rubber ducky! Rubber ducky! Squawk!"

"Pieces of eight!"

Ron managed to get himself under control for a moment and looked at Remus and Sirius with something close to awe. "You two are the best," he said before dissolving into laughter again.

Molly got herself under control and shooed them all out into the living room, man-sized parrots and all. They settled into various chairs and on the floor and herded the transformed twins into one corner. Ron and Sirius immediately broke out a chess set while Hermione retrieved one of her text books. As she came back, she smiled at the parrots. They glared back at her.

"Pieces of eight!"

"I solemnly swear I'm up to no good!"

"That's nice," she said sweetly as everyone laughed again. "But I think we already knew that."

"Squawk! Polly want a cracker!"

"Ravenclaw, Ravenclaw!"

Ginny wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes and settled back against Harry's chest. The two of them were lounging on one of the couches so that Ginny could watch the impending chess game. Harry wrapped his arms around her and placed a kiss on the top of her head.

"Where did you get the idea for this?" Harry asked Sirius and Remus as he gestured towards the twins.

"We got the original idea from the Canary Creams," Remus said with a smile.

"Excellent!" Ron said as he made his first move. "Using their own pranks against them!"

"I agree with that," Neville said with a small laugh. The other Gryffindors grinned at him as the remembered the number of times Neville had fallen for Fred and George's Canary Creams.

"Squawk! I like studying!"

"Go to your room!"

"Yes, we thought it was a good idea too," Remus continued. "And then we decided to add a slightly altered version of Silencio to it. It just stops them from saying anything other than what we wanted them to."

"And then we added another charm that makes them repeat everything that's said to them until the phrase 'I think that's enough words' is said," Sirius chimed in with as he shot a wicked look at the twin parrots. "Don't worry, boys, it will wear off."

"Pieces of eight!"

"I like Draco Malfoy!"

"Squawk! Green and silver!"

"Eventually," Remus chimed in with.

The parrots got a little agitated at this and the volley of squawks and phrases started everyone laughing again. When they settled down, Sirius glanced over at his godson.

"So are you sure you can't tell me what the Guild said about the training?" he asked with a grin.

"Yes, I'm sure," Harry replied with amusement.

"Darn," Sirius said good-naturedly. "Well, if you won't tell me about that, what about these other Night Warriors you met? What were they like?"

Harry settled into the couch a bit more. "I liked them," he said thoughtfully. "And I'd like to think I'll be like them eventually."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, looking up from her book.

"They...seem to have dealt with what happened to them," Harry explained. "What made them blind. I mean, they even make jokes about it. I...don't think I could do that right now."

"Well, that's to be expected," Hermione said matter-of-factly. "It's only been a year, after all. They've obviously been blind for much longer than that or they wouldn't be on the Council." She looked kindly at Harry. "You'll get there. Just give it time."

"Yeah," Harry sighed. He rested his cheek on the top of Ginny's head as she gently rubbed his arms where they were wrapped around her.

"Green and silver," one of the parrots said quietly.

"I like studying," the other replied.

"So what were they like?" she asked softly, trying to distract her boyfriend a little. "What were their names?"

Harry was silent for a while then he drew in a breath and let it out. "Jun'ko Watanabe and Nyugen....uh, Dinh Tien," he said.

Remus eyed Harry for a long moment. "So how did they go blind?" he asked calmly.

The others looked at Remus with surprise; blindness was normally a bit of a taboo topic. Remus ignored them and just watched Harry intently. All but Remus were surprised when Harry gave a wry laugh.

"Tien admitted it was all his fault and that he was young, arrogant and stupid and was messing around in an old mine field when one blew up in his face," Harry said with a shake of his head. "I thought it sounded pretty horrifying but he just shrugged it off almost."

"Well, if it happened a long time ago, he's probably had time to adjust to it," Hermione said logically as the parrots chimed in with "Go Gryffindor!" and "Rubber ducky!"

"Yeah, I think you're right," Harry said thoughtfully. "He did say he didn't adjust well at first. Apparently he tried to deny it, which is a bit hard with blindness."

"Yes, that would be rather hard to deny," Luna said dreamily. "It's a bit hard to say 'no, I can see' when you're bumping into walls all the time."

Luna's offhand comment startled laughter out of everyone. The twins seemed to find it funny as well as they joined in the laughter.

"Mischief managed!"

"Go to your room!"

"Good point," Harry said with a grin. "He still managed it for a while though. He'd barely started his training after a year."

"What about the other Warrior?" Ginny asked with interest.

"Oh, Jun'ko had a degenerative eye disease," Harry replied. "Her eyesight just slowly deteriorated until she was totally blind. Apparently she tells a good sob-story about it. Gets a lot of sympathy."

"You know, that's the weirdest form on one-upmanship I've ever heard of," Sirius said absently as he considered his next move.

Harry laughed. "Yeah, it is. Apparently not all of the Warriors are as honest as Tien though, in admitting their own faults, if that was part of what caused their blinding. They wouldn't tell me who those Warriors are though; apparently I have to find out for myself." He paused. "They suggested I spend some time at the Academy after I graduate from Hogwarts."

"Are you going to?" Ginny asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, I think so," Harry mused. "It'd be nice to spend some time around people who've been through the same thing I have. And Tien said that there are other trainers there I could learn things from. His actual words were: 'No one master can teach you everything'. It'd be interesting to see what else there is to learn."

"So you're going to leave?" Ginny whispered.

"I like studying," one of the parrots observed sagely.

"Polly want a cracker," the other replied matter-of-factly.

Her tone finally seemed to register with Harry and he hugged her tightly. "No! No, of course not."

"But you said you were going to go to the Academy?" she retorted. "Isn't it in Tokyo?"

"Yes, it is," Harry said calmly. "But that doesn't mean I have to stay there all the time. I can commute, either by apparating or by using portkeys. Besides the Guild wants to meet the Battle Guard as well. They're pretty impressed with what we've done."

Ginny blushed and settled down against Harry again. "Oh, I...didn't realise that."

Harry grinned and tipped her head back so he could kiss her. "I said we'd all come. You all should have some time after we graduate and before you all head off to whatever you have planned and before Ginny and Luna start school again."

"We've got a few weeks," Hermione said after a few moments of thought. She then frowned at Harry. "But what are you planning on doing?"

Harry shrugged moodily. "I don't know. I had planned on becoming an Auror but I don't think that's going to be an option. I like teaching the DA but I don't know whether teaching's really an option either. That's why I thought I'd spend some time at the Academy after I graduated; see what its like. Maybe I'll come up with something. I don't really want to just sit around doing nothing."

"What about Quidditch?" Ron asked. "You're damn good at that!"

The twins seemed to agree with this.

"Go Gryffindor!"

"Ravenclaw, Ravenclaw"

Harry considered the idea. "I...suppose it's a thought."

"It's more than a thought, Harry!" Ron said indignantly, taking his attention away from the chess game for a moment. "Look, the fact that Charlie beat you is a good sign. It means that your Oversight isn't cheating. You just see the snitch a little differently from everyone else. It still just comes down to your skill against the other Seeker's skill."

"Mischief managed!"

"Go to your room!"

"Not right now," Harry said absently to the parrot as he rolled the thought over in his mind. "You know, you might just have a good idea there, Ron. But how do I do it?"

"Don't worry about it," Ron said easily as he turned back to the chess game. "Scouts from all of the teams come to the school Quidditch games all the time. They don't make a lot of noise about it but they're there. How do you think Oliver Wood got recruited by Puddlemere? Just play well; they'll make the approach to you. Probably towards the end of the year."

Harry looked over at his godfather and guardian. "Well, what do you two think about this?"

Sirius grinned at him. "Harry, whatever you want to do, we'll support you."

"Exactly," Remus added with a smile. "I think it's a good idea and I think you'd enjoy yourself."

"Go Gryffindor!"

"Squawk! Go Gryffindor!"

"I think Fred and George approve as well," Ginny laughed. "You know, I'm sure they'd be able to give you a job if nothing else pans out."

The two parrots began bobbing up and down excitedly.

"Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!"

"I like Draco Malfoy! Green and silver!"

Harry laughed. "You know, you might be right."

****************************************************

Draco sat in a comfortable chair in the larger of the two parlours in the house. Bella and the remaining Death Eaters sat in front of him. He leaned back in his chair and eyed them from underneath lowered eyelids.

Well, what do you think? He thought at the Dark Lord.

It could have been worse, I suppose, Voldemort answered dryly. It could be Crabbe and Goyle in front of us.

Draco chuckled mentally, True, the junior versions have apparently attached themselves to Pansy.

Isn't she lucky, the Dark Lord responded. Still at least this lot are marginally intelligent. We can work with them. Be careful of Bellatrix though. She's insane.

I am aware of that, Draco thought irritably. I can handle her.

A dark chuckle threaded through his mind. Oh, really? came the disbelieving reply.

Draco snarled mentally and directed his full attention at the others in the room. "Welcome to Malfoy Manor and thank you for coming," he said smoothly.

The Death Eaters nodded nervously. "Why did you want to speak to us?" one asked belligerently.

Antonin Dolohov, the Dark Lord whispered in his mind. The highest ranking survivor.

"I wanted to know whether you wanted to spend the rest of your life hiding in crevices or whether you wanted to aim for glory?" Draco replied lazily.

Dolohov's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean? The Dark Lord is dead and so is your father."

"That is irrelevant," Draco said dismissively. "I intend to succeed where they failed." He ignored the snarl that came from the Dark Lord and glared at the Death Eater. "And I am not my father."

The other Death Eaters looked between the two of them and Draco realised that Dolohov was the important one. If he could bring him over to his side, the others would follow. He just wished that Tybalt Parkinson had been able to attend this evening. The man was firmly in his camp; Draco's acceptance of his daughter sealing his approval.

Dolohov sneered. "And what have you done, boy? Apart from fail miserably in the Battle at Hogwarts."

Draco chuckled lightly, ignoring the slur. "How many of you have dared to act against Potter since the Dark Lord fell?"

The others looked confused and Bella smirked. Dolohov looked at him suspiciously. "What do you mean?"

"What do I mean?" Draco said airily. "I mean how many of you have taken direct action against the wizard who killed our Lord? How many of you have tried to avenge our Lord?"

"No one can get near Potter or those he considers his family," Dolohov said dismissively. "Dumbledore makes sure of that."

"Really?" Draco said silkily. "If Potter and his...family are so well protected, how was I able to take a pot shot at the werewolf so easily? I could have had Potter as well, if I hadn't wanted to amuse myself first."

Dolohov stared at him in shock as the other Death Eaters murmured amongst themselves. "How? What?"

Dolohov never was very imaginative, Voldemort said snidely.

Draco chuckled, both at Voldemort's comment and the dumbfounded look on Dolohov's faces. "Because I am prepared to take chances. I learnt well from our Lord."

"You killed the werewolf?" one of the other Death Eaters said eagerly.

"No," Draco sneered. "Why would I do that? I wanted Potter to know I could get to his family whenever I wanted, not to goad him into coming after my blood."

More murmurs came from the Death Eaters and respect slowly began to crawl across Antonin Dolohov's face. It was quickly replaced with suspicion.

"So what do you want with us?" he asked warily.

Draco rolled his eyes. "I need people, Dolohov," he said irritably. "I must return to Durmstrang in a couple of weeks. Not even they will allow me to wander in and out as I please. It's an annoying restriction but I do need to get my NEWT qualifications. Since I cannot move freely, I need people who can."

Dolohov nodded thoughtfully. "And what exactly would we be doing?"

"Not much at the moment," Draco admittedly candidly. "My move against Potter, while successful, also attracted Dumbledore's attention. I need to play the good little boy while he is still watching me so annoyingly closely. I should have more work for you after the school year starts. He'll be busy with his work then and...well, let's just say I have a distraction all ready for him."

"But later?" Dolohov pressed.

"Ah, later?" Draco drawled. "Later we are going to get Potter and have our revenge. Who knows? Perhaps we may be able to use him to resurrect the Dark Lord?" He smiled at the Death Eaters and they shifted nervously at the look in his eyes.

Dolohov hadn't seen the look however and he smiled smoothly at Draco. "I think that is acceptable. Plans always need time to come to fruition. If we wait until after the New Year that will undoubtedly give Dumbledore time to calm down and relax." He looked satisfied. "I will join you, Draco."

The others slowly echoed Dolohov's words and Draco smiled with satisfaction. He summoned a house elf and had the creature distribute the wine that he had arranged earlier. He stood and Antonin Dolohov walked over and saluted him with the glass.

"To a long and prosperous partnership," he said smoothly.

Draco inclined his head regally and saluted the other man. "Indeed."

"Do you wish me to take charge of that lot?" Dolohov asked, gesturing with his head towards the other Death Eaters.

Draco eyed him blandly for a moment then nodded once. "If you wouldn't mind," he said smoothly. "They know you better than I. Perhaps it will be easier for them to take orders from you at first."

Dolohov nodded smoothly. "Is there anything you wish for us to do right now?" he asked respectfully.

"Yes, Antonin," Draco replied. "I want you to find out everything you can about the Guild of the Night. Potter is mixed up with them somehow."

"Of course, Draco," Dolohov said with a short bow. "Consider it done." He swallowed the rest of the wine in his glass. "I shall get the search underway immediately. No point in delaying." He bowed again and collected all the other Death Eaters except for Bella. They quickly departed through the floo, leaving Draco and Bella alone. The madwoman looked over at Draco with a small curve to her lips.

"Alone again, Draco?" she purred as she sashayed her way across the room.

Draco watched her appreciatively then his gaze became cool. "Get out," he snarled.

Bella's expression became mutinous and she slithered up to Draco and draped herself around him. She nibbled lightly on his ear. "You don't mean that," she purred.

Draco pulled away from her and slapped her hard enough to knock her to the floor. "I said, get out!" he growled.

Bella's face paled and she glared back at him from her position on the floor. She climbed gracefully to her feet and stalked out of the room, gesticulating and muttering to herself. Draco watched her go then chuckled into his wine glass.

You play a dangerous game, Voldemort said warningly.

I know what I'm doing, Draco replied dismissively. In case you didn't notice, I never let my guard down when she is in the room.

You still play a dangerous game. She may be insane but she is still powerful.

I know what I'm doing, Draco repeated.