The Book Of Jude

Disclaimer: All characters and situations associated with the Harry Potter series are property of J. K. Rowling and the following companies, including but not limited to Scholastic, Bloomsbury, and Warner Bros. All other characters belong to me, as does the plot (other than that of Rowling´s wonderful books) of this little tale. No money is being made from this story and no copyright infringements were intended by its creation.

Chapter Eleven: Into the Woods

`The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep

And miles to go before I sleep.´

Robert Frost, Stopping By The Woods on a Snowy Evening

It was growing dark and frigid--it was still winter, after all. She paced in the clearing, trying to stay warm. A hand grabbing her arm and stilled her, warning of the approach of someone. She turned to stare into the dark forest, following the path of the professor´s equally tense glare.

"I told you he´d come." His voice was barely a whisper. Jude watched as the jittery and nervous form of Professor Quirrell made his way into the clearing through a thick growth of trees.

"That doesn´t prove a thing, Professor," Jude replied a little incredulously. "What did you tell him anyway?" She gave Professor Snape a shrewd, sideways glance.

"I told him to meet us here, in the forest, because we had an offer to make him." His lips twisted into a cruel smirk. She wanted proof and she would get just that, from Quirrell´s mouth, no less.

Their whispered conference ended as the third party approached. His mere presence here was enough to cast suspicion on the man. If Quirrell was not after the Stone, then why would he chance to meet Professor Snape and herself under such shady pretenses? Why would he not run straight to Dumbledore and inform him that he´d discovered the culprits? He may be guilty, as his presence here seemed to verify, or he may be just as suspicious of them as they were of him. Jude was determined not to lose a word of what passed between the two and moved closer to where they stood.

"Who is it, Quirrell?" Snape noted Quirrell begin nervously wringing his hands together.

"Who is what, Severus?" His eyes darted around the forest. Jude continued to stare unblinkingly at him.

"Who are you working with? We know you can´t possibly pull something this big off by yourself." Snape spat the words maliciously, hoping he would take the bait.

"I honestly don´t know what you´re talking about."

"You let the troll in on Halloween, didn´t you?" It was Jude who spoke, moving from her place in the shadows into moonlight, breaking a long silence. She noted a twitch at the side of his mouth but he remained silent. "It was pretty impressive. An expert on trolls. You find them fascinating, a little bit of an obsession." He betrayed a slight hint of astonishment, so fleeting that only the deftest of observers would have picked it up. Jude had noticed it. "Yes, I´ve done a little research of my own. Very interesting." She folded her arms and allowed herself a small, victorious smile. She would give him time to explain, to redeem himself, if possible. But the more she observed the nervous professor´s behavior, the more she was convinced of his guilt. "So," she said after an empty silence, "I´m curious as to why you simply didn´t handle the troll on your own?" She leveled a cold stare in his direction. A hint of resentment and hatred was aptly masked by his familiar stutters and nervous twitch as he explained how suddenly it had advanced on him and he was caught unprepared for the fight. Jude listened with curiosity to the tale and knew something was off, not quite right. Something was tipping her off to the fact that this story was a load of bullshit. She narrowed her eyes, trying to grasp what that something was, what was different in the professor´s attitude that had alerted her. Her eyes widened a little as she realized that, about midway through his explanation, Quirrell had become so occupied with creating a believable lie--a story that seemed very likely to Jude--that he´d lost his accustomed stutter. Of course, Jude thought, it could have been a coincidence, just a chance happening, but she highly doubted it. This guy had everyone fooled--he was not who he pretended to be. She fell in to silent thought.

Professor Quirrell turned nervously from Jude to Professor Snape. "Don´t know why you wanted to meet here of all places, Severus..." He resumed his stutter, feigning innocence as to why they asked him to come. He´d obviously not made up his mind as to which side Jude and Snape were loyal to.

"Oh, I thought we´d keep this private," said Snape in an icy voice. "Students aren´t supposed to know about the Sorcerer´s Stone, after all." Quirrell looked as if he were doing his best to size them both up. He continued. "Have you found out how to get past that beast of Hagrid´s yet?" Snape smiled cruelly. He´d previously informed Jude that he´d found Quirrell several times lurking about the Third Floor Corridor. Hagrid´s three-headed dog was the only obstacle that he, or the other teachers, did not know about. It had been kept exclusively between Hagrid and Dumbledore.

"But Severus, I--"

"You don´t want me as your enemy, Quirrell," Snape said, taking a step toward him.

Jude looked around the clearing. She had the feeling that someone was watching them. She could sense eyes following their every movement.

"I don´t know what you--"

"You know perfectly well what I mean."

An owl hooted loudly, cutting through the icy silence of the forest. Her eyes continued to scan the forest, paying only cursory attention to the exchange between Quirrell and Snape. She knew something was out there--but what? Was Voldemort lying in wait in the forest for Quirrell to finish his job and bring Him the Stone? She doubted it, but it was still possible. She brought her attention back to the scene in front of her just in time to hear Snape cast the last bullying insult.

"Very well. We´ll have another little chat soon, when you´ve had time to think things over and decide where your loyalties lie." He threw his cloak over his head and strode out of the clearing. Casting one last scrutinizing glance on Quirrell, she followed.

"And?" Professor Snape asked as Jude came up on his right side.

"Guilty." Jude had been unwilling to admit such a fact, but now that she´d confronted Quirrell, she knew he was their man. Jude had an uncanny ability to pick up on a lie, no matter how slight it was or how skilled the author. It was a gift she´d perfected as a spy for Voldemort. She had been one of His best and was only used by the Dark Lord to root out those disloyal in His inner circle. Needless to say, she´d formed many enemies within and without the ranks of the Death Eaters. She shook her head and sighed. "But we can´t tell Dumbledore yet--we have no actual proof that he is guilty. And the problem is that I don´t think he´ll give us the ammunition."

"So, we´ll just keep an eye on him until he makes his move."

Jude nodded her head in agreement. She silently hoped that they were wrong, or that their little "talk" with Quirrell tonight would frighten him into giving up his dastardly plot. Voldemort was just using him, as He did everyone. She wondered what He´d promised him in return for the Stone. Whatever it was, the Dark Lord was never a man of his word. She only hoped that Quirrell would come to realize that before he got in too deep. And as far as she knew, Voldemort himself was not around yet, so Quirrell couldn´t be that close to obtaining his prize.

***

"A dragon?" Jude stared unbelievingly at the Deputy Headmistress as if she´d said something totally off the wall.

"Yes. Apparently Mr. Potter and Miss Granger made up some utterly ridiculous story involving a dragon and the Astronomy Tower in order to get Mr. Malfoy out of bed and into trouble." Her lips were pressed together in an impossibly thin line that broke only for her to continue her explanation. "Anyway, Mr. Longbottom heard that Malfoy was going to catch his friends and went off to warn them. Four students out of bed in one night! I haven´t had to deal with such blatant unconcern for rules in twenty years!" She returned to her seat, still fuming over three of her own House members´ disregard for school rules.

Jude furrowed her brow in thought. Hagrid had always wanted a dragon, he´d told her so when she was younger. Maybe now he´d finally gotten one and Harry and his friend were going to see it. Either way, it was an odd event and Jude knew it was more significant than Professor McGonagall was prepared to believe. But just what was funny about all of this, Jude couldn´t put her finger on at the moment. However, she had little time to ponder this, as McGonagall´s voice recalled her from her thoughts.

"I have issued all four students their detention notices today. It will take place tonight in the Forbidden Forest." McGonagall´s eyes were fixed on a stack of papers she was shuffling about on her desk.

"The Forbidden Forest? Isn´t it, well, forbidden to students, Professor?" Jude wondered why the Deputy Headmistress would send four eleven-year old children out into a forest that had earned an infamous reputation.

"It was Dumbledore´s suggestion. Besides, they will be going with Hagrid. Something has been harming the unicorns in the forest and they will be helping Hagrid locate one that was wounded." McGonagall did not lift her eyes from her desk. "And, of course, you will be present to keep an eye on Mr. Potter." At this, she finally looked up and met Jude´s curious stare.

"Yes, of course." She stammered, still lost in thought. It was all very odd, but she would not argue with Professor McGonagall or Dumbledore.

***

Jude pulled her cloak around her shoulders. She was only a few minutes late, but she hurried forward into the dark, cold night with as much speed as she could muster. She knew she must look ridiculously suspicious wrapped in a black coat and running into the forest at a little past midnight, but she didn´t care much for that right now. Slowing her pace when she saw a couple of lanterns bobbing through the trees several paces in front of her, she heard the voices of the children and the booming voice of Hagrid. She followed for a while, keeping a safe distance, when movement in the underbrush off to her left caught her attention. She tried to slow her breath, which was coming out in quick, frosty-white puffs, and strained to listen for any noise coming from that direction. She heard the crunch of footsteps and--voices? Someone was talking to another person. She stealthy moved from the path into the underbrush. The voices and footsteps had continued on and Jude, looking back at the lanterns that indicated Hagrid, Harry and the others moving off down the path, decided to follow.

After a few minutes of this pursuit, the crunch of the footsteps ceased. Jude quietly moved forward to catch a glimpse of whomever she was following. There was a solitary form on the path clad in a long, hooded, black cloak. It was bent over, examining something--and muttering. Was this person talking to himself? She couldn´t distinguish any other figures around. The cloaked figure began to move forward again, this time at an even greater speed. Jude followed, glancing at the space where it had examined something. She saw a few leaves of a low shrub covered with a thick, silver liquid that glistened in the faint moonlight. Unicorn blood.

She attempted to keep the hooded figure in her sights, but trying to follow the person and remaining quiet at the same time seemed like a hopeless task. The figure disappeared into a growth of trees and thickets. She stood, rooted to the spot, straining against the wind for a sign of movement anywhere.

"Damn it." She stomped the frozen ground hard with her foot. She´d let whatever that thing was get away. Should she try to find it again, or return to Hagrid and the children and make sure they were okay? Just as she was debating this dilemma, she was startled from her thoughts.

"Jude Elliot." She jumped and turned to the person who´d spoken her name. Her eyes were wide with surprise, but she quickly regained her composure. It wasn´t a person at all, but a centaur with a gleaming chestnut body and reddish hair. "I didn´t expect to see you around here again. What are you running from this time?" The centaur crossed his arms across his chest and stared at her.

Jude heaved a sigh and slumped wearily against a tree. "Hello, Ronan, good to see you again, as well." She bit off the words a bit too sarcastically, she regretted. But to her astonishment, Ronan didn´t turn and leave. Maybe he would have some information for her. "Listen, you haven´t noticed anything," how would she put this without sounding psycho or paranoid? "Unusual?"

The centaur crossed the little clearing and stood under a gap in the tree branches, where a small patch of the night sky was exposed. He looked up and stood silently for a few moments. "Mars is bright tonight. Unusually bright." Jude looked up. The planet that resembled a slightly larger star was, indeed, brighter.

She nodded her agreement. What did that mean? she wondered. It had been a while since she´d paid attention to the night sky and had forgotten most of what she´d leaned in Astronomy, anyway. If she just stood there long enough, maybe the centaur would end the cryptic game and tell her what she wanted to know. She was familiar with most of the centaurs in the forest--she´d explored the woods just as thoroughly as the castle corridors. She understood that the centaurs were stargazers and interested in nothing closer to the earth than the moon, but they were a great help in matters such as these if only one had the patience to wait for the answers they were looking for. But Jude didn´t know how much time she could afford to lose.

"In dark times, the innocent are always the first to suffer." Ronan´s voice was low as he continued to gaze at the heavens. "You are looking for the one responsible for harming the unicorns." He allowed his eyes to fall from the stars and rest on Jude. "Your suspicions are correct, my friend. He is using the blood of unicorns to cling to life long enough to secure immortality forever."

She nodded. "Voldemort is here, in the forest." It was more a statement than a question.

"Now, yes. He is in the forest now, but not always. He is living off of more than the blood of unicorns." Ronan closed his eyes and shook his head sorrowfully. "He has the aid of a trusted servant."

Jude remained motionless and silent. So it was true, then--Quirrell was harboring Voldemort somewhere and supplying him with the necessary blood to keep him alive until he can get the Stone. "Ronan, how long has this been happen--," But she was cut off by a terrified scream from somewhere in the thick of the woods. Her head snapped around in the general direction of the noise, her face diffuse with fearful anxiety. "Harry," she whispered.

Ronan turned on his heals and bounded off at a quick gallop in the direction of the scream. Jude followed as fast as she could command her feet to carry her, however, she was soon left behind by the powerful centaur.

After a few more moments of running through the thick foliage, Jude found herself in the shadows surrounding a clearing created by a fallen tree, whose gnarled branches lay heaped on the ground. Ronan, who had been joined by another centaur Jude recognized as Bane, was admonishing yet another centaur. This third centaur was younger and Jude did not recall his name. He was carrying a rider.

It was Harry.

"I´m sure Firenze thought he was acting for the best," she heard Ronan speak in his accustomed gloomy voice.

Bane kicked his back legs in angry impatience. "For the best!" he thundered. "What is that to do with us? Centaurs are concerned with what has been foretold! It is not our business to run around like donkeys after stray humans in our forest!"

Jude stepped further back into the shadows as Firenze suddenly reared on his hind legs in anger. "Do you not see that unicorn?" Jude glanced at the base of the twisted, fallen tree and saw moonlight glinting off of the white body of a unicorn surrounded by puddles of the thick, silver blood that resembled mercury. It was dead.

"Do you not understand why it was killed?" Firenze continued to bellow at Bane. "Or have the planets not let you in on that secret? I set myself against what is lurking in this forest, Bane, yes, with humans alongside me if I must."

Jude watched as the centaur whisked around and carried Harry out of the clearing. He would take the boy back to Hagrid, Jude was certain of that. She, however, turned to make her way through the thickets back to the castle without being seen or heard by any one else.

Upon reaching the castle, Jude climbed a marble staircase and headed toward her room to remove her cloak before making her rounds on the third floor. She unclasped the thick material from around her throat and let it fall to the floor at her feet. She was about to collapse wearily onto her welcoming bed, when her eye was caught by shimmering material. Taking a few steps, she saw a note resting on a length of soft, glistening and very odd-colored fabric. She picked up the parchment and saw the familiar, looping hand of the Headmaster.

"Jude," she read, "Please return this to Mr. Potter. He has misplaced it, I´m afraid, and I´m sure he will appreciate its return." She sighed and picked up the article. It had another note attached for Harry. "What the hell," she decided and draped the fabric over her arm, heading out the door. "I guess I´ll have to do it myself, it´s nearly three and I´m sure Tibbs has already gone to bed."

She climbed the stairs to the Gryffindor Tower and whispered the password to the fat lady in a pink dress guarding the portrait that doubled as the door to the common room. Passing through the portrait hole, she noticed Harry´s redheaded friend asleep in a chair. She made her way quietly past the chair and up the stairs to the dorm Harry shared with the other Gryffindor boys his age. Two other boys were asleep in the room, snoring loudly as Jude placed Harry´s invisibility cloak on his bed along with the note from Professor Dumbledore.

Closing the door as quietly as she could manage, she crept down the stairs, hoping to make her escape before Harry and his friends returned from the forest. She heard voices coming from the common room below and realized that she hadn´t been lucky enough to make an easy break. She quickly ducked into the shadow of a tapestry as a round-faced and slightly chubby boy made his way wearily up to his room.

Mr. Longbottom, Jude noted absently as the boy passed. After he was out of sight, she continued down the stairs. She concealed herself in the darkness behind the stairs´ railings, where she could see but not be seen by the three students crowded around the fireplace, deep in discussion.

"Snape and Elliot want the Stone for Voldemort...and Voldemort is waiting in the forest." Jude smiled sadly at the words she´d just heard, spoken by Harry. So, he suspected her and Professor Snape. She had to admit, that they would be the likely suspects--the way she wandered the halls constantly at night and the suspicious midnight conferences she´d had with Professor Snape seemed to cast a shady sort of light on the pair. She listened more intently as Harry explained to his friends that he´d overheard their conversation with Professor Quirrell in the Forbidden Forest a couple of weeks ago. So she had been correct in believing that they were being watched. If Harry had seen that, then no wonder he suspected them. If she were in Harry´s shoes, she had to admit, she´d suspect herself in a heartbeat. But that didn´t stop the words from stinging a little.

"Firenze saved me, but he shouldn´t have done so...Bane was furious...he was talking about interfering with what the planets say is going to happen...They must show that Voldemort´s coming back... Bane thinks Firenze should have let Voldemort kill me...I suppose that´s written in the stars as well." Harry took a deep breath. So, he´d seen Voldemort tonight. Jude closed her eyes. Yet another close call and Jude was not near enough to be of any help to Harry. If the centaur had not been there, Jude did not want to think of what could have happened. She mentally kicked herself. Why had Dumbledore insisted that she was the only one who could do this job? Dumbledore was seldom wrong, but Jude had a feeling he´d made a grave mistake.

"So all I´ve got to wait for now is them to steal the Stone," Harry went on, "then Voldemort will be able to come and finish me off...Well, I suppose Bane´ll be happy."

"Not if I can help it," Jude whispered, an unpleasant, nervous feeling had settled in her stomach. This kid was apparently aware of how much danger he was in, but did not realize that he had a few unlikely friends that would give anything to keep him safe.

"Harry," his bushy-haired friend spoke up, "everyone says Dumbledore´s the only one You-Know-Who was ever afraid of. With Dumbledore around, You-Know-Who won´t touch you. Anyway, who says the centaurs are right? It sounds like fortune-telling to me, and Professor McGonagall says that´s a very imprecise branch of magic." That definitely sounded like something McGonagall would say.

This seemed to reassure Harry enough, and after a few more moments, the three students went off to bed. It had already turned lighter outside when Jude, her confidence shaken a little after what she´d witnessed and heard that night, emerged from the portrait hole and proceeded to the third floor.

***

It was a warm and sunny afternoon--one of the last few days remaining in the term. Exams were scheduled to be completed by today, giving the students almost a week of freedom before grades were given and bags were packed for home. It had been quiet for weeks concerning the Stone, Jude noticed--eerily quiet. No new attempts were made to gain entrance to the Third Floor Corridor and Jude hoped that things would continue to be this calm until all of the students were away for the summer.

A knock on the door brought Jude´s attention back from the papers she was going over. "Come in," Jude called in the direction of the door to Dumbledore´s office where she sat alone, engrossed in her work. She looked up to see Hagrid enter the office. "Hello, Hagrid," Jude said cheerfully and smiled. Hagrid, however, did not seem in the mood for pleasant conversation.

"I´ve got ter talk to Dumbledore straight away, Jude--it´s urgent." Jude looked up at the large man with an anxious and worried expression.

"He´s gone. He went to the Ministry for an important meeting with Fudge." Jude was becoming increasingly alarmed with Hagrid´s behavior. "Why, Hagrid? What´s wrong?"

Hagrid was wringing his hands and doing his best to avoid Jude´s stares. "I mighter let summat important slip." He looked terribly guilty.

Jude entreated him to take a seat, which he only did reluctantly.

"I met this fellow down at the pub. Said he had a dragon egg he was keen on getting rid of. He said he´d play me a game of cards for it." So this was what the whole dragon fiasco was about--not some scam cooked up by Harry to get another student into trouble, as McGonagall saw it. "Well, I didn´t get a good look at him--he was wearin´ a hood. He seemed real interested in my job here as Gamekeeper and asked about the type of animals I was used to lookin´ after--an´ I told him about Fluffy."

Jude stood up and started pacing, her mind was racing with possibilities. At length she stopped and turned toward Hagrid. "Did you tell him how to get past Fluffy?" His eyes fell to his shoes and Jude knew the answer immediately.

"I did, but I didn´t know I was doin´ it at the time." Hagrid weakly defended himself. "Harry an´ his friends figured it out before I did an´ got me to tell them as well." Jude felt sorry for him. He looked as if he´d just given someone the weapon to kill his best friend.

"It´s okay, Hagrid." Jude tried to console him. "He would have found out another way if you hadn´t told him--it was just a matter of time. And I´m sure Harry won´t go looking for the Stone--he´s smarter than that."

"Yer right, I guess." Hagrid didn´t look too convinced by what Jude had said.

She had to think quickly. Dumbledore, the only person Voldemort was ever afraid of, was nowhere near when he was most needed. It would be the perfect opportunity to strike. She had to find Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape to let them know what had happened.

***

Jude ran quickly down a hallway lined with doors. She pushed open the third door on her right. The Transfiguration classroom was empty. She threaded her way through the vacant desks to a wooden door to the right of the large desk and blackboard at the front of the room. She knocked on the wood, but no answer came from within. She pushed this door open and peered around Professor McGonagall´s empty office.

The staff room was the next likely place to look for the Deputy Headmistress. As she approached the door, she noticed that it was ajar by a few inches. She reached for the handle, but paused. There were voices coming from within the room. She listened, realizing that she recognized only one of the voices--the voice of the nervous, stuttering Professor Quirrell. Only he was no longer stuttering, but explaining with confidence, his latest achievement.

"He should be at the Ministry as we speak, Master."

"Excellent."

Jude heard a high and raspy voice reply to Quirrell from within the same room. Jude peered through the small opening in the door and saw only the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher--no one else. He was facing her direction, but had his head bowed. He was not wearing his accustomed turban.

"Odd," Jude thought absently, "His head looks abnormally small without it."

But in the next moment, the professor turned away from the door, explaining still another part of his plan. Jude gasped and clapped a hand over her mouth at the sight that greeted her. Another face, with slits for nostrils, like a snake and glowing, red eyes, occupied what should have been the back of the man´s skull.

"Voldemort!" she whispered, her voice caught in her chest. She had to alert Dumbledore right away, but she could not move her feet--they were rooted to the spot. She saw, as if in slow motion, the recognition in the cruel, red eyes.

"Seize her!" He ordered as Quirrell spun to face the door, unaware that he was being watched.

She forced herself to move, but was not quick enough. She felt a hand grab her by the arm and haul her back through the door, slamming it shut behind her.

Jude spun around and found herself staring down the point of a wand raised between her eyes. Before she could think to move or to speak, she heard Quirrell´s cold, unmasked voice.

"Imperio!"