The Lady's Apprentice

Chapter V: A Game of Luck

"It's nice to see you're awake," said Ginny, walking up to Draco.

"Go away," Draco mumbled with a scowl.

"Lighten up, Malfoy," Ginny said in an annoyingly happy way. "We're stuck here, you know, and we ought to make the best of our stay."

"It'd be much easier if I wasn't stuck here with you, Weasley," said Draco. "Now leave me alone."

"Fine," said Ginny. "But Giladon told me to wake you. He said you have to get yourself ready for supper, make yourself presentable."

"I'm not going," Draco snapped, staring angrily into the space before him. "It isn't as though I'm going to eat anything in this hell-hole anyway, so what's the point?"

"Formal introductions," said Ginny. "They didn't get a chance to hold the crowning ceremony yesterday, what with our late arrival, and most of the knights running errands, but it's scheduled for tonight. We're going to sit in this great hall with everyone at Perimonath, and we're going to eat an extravagant meal."

"I don't want a formal introduction," Draco said, gritting his teeth. "I just want you to leave me alone, so leave me alone."

"Oh, come on, Malfoy," said Ginny. "Anyone else here would be so proud to be in your position."

"But I'm not anyone else, am I?" said Draco. "Now bugger off, Weasley."

"You're such an ingrate," said Ginny with an air of impatience. "You're going to have to come anyway, even if you aren't eating. And you can't just sit out here all night, anyway, it probably won't be safe."

"And do you care about my safety?" Draco asked. "All these shocks and surprises are too much for my cold heart. I don't think I can handle much more of it all. And just so you know, I'm already aware that I'm an ingrate."

"Come on, Malfoy!" Ginny said. "If you don't come by yourself, Giladon might drag you away."

"So you like Giladon," said Draco, as more of a general statment than a question. "I thought you might. I hate him, just like I hate Potter. I hope he dies by the end of this thing."

"You hoped the portkey thing would kill me," said Ginny. "Why are you always wishing death on people? Maybe it's you who should die."

"Get lost, Weasley," Draco muttered.

"Don't make me use my wand on you," Ginny warned.

Draco looked up at her. "As if you'd even try," he said. "You wouldn't dare get expelled for using magic in no time of dire need."

"I can't be expelled," said Ginny. "First of all, we're not at Hogwarts, and they can't even track what we do because we stand in a place that cannot be mapped , and second, I hold certain rights and I'm allowed to use magic whenever I wish to."

"Then I can use my wand," said Draco. "Why did I not think of it before? This place is probably just like Malfoy Manor; the ministry would never find out if I used magic."

"I'm not afraid to use my wand on you, Malfoy," said Ginny. "So get up now!"

"Don't tell me what to do," said Draco, standing up nevertheless. " And don't think I got up because of you, Weasley, I need to stretch my legs." And he walked passed her, across the field, into the sunset.

Ginny stood for a moment watching his retreating figure against the crimson sky, and then she sighed, following his lead.

Draco went to the stables where Giladon awaited him, Ginny a few paces behind.

"Not you," said Draco, seeing Giladon. "You're the last-"

"I don't want to hear it," Giladon interrupted. "Now come along, we have to make you look somewhat presentable."

"I'll tell you now," said Draco, "I won't be attending this formal meal thing this evening."

"Yes you will," said Giladon, taking Draco by the arm. "And we're going to sort out your appearance until you look decent. We've a lot to do, apparently, and this may take a while." He walked to the fireplace in the stable, pulling Draco along behind him. He let go of Draco's arm, taking a pinch of green Floo powder and thrusting it into the fire.

"Go on," he said, slapng Draco half-encouragingly, half-mockingly on the shoulder.

Draco scowled. "No," he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Giladon rolled his eyes, pushing Draco forward into the grate. "What's your name again?" he asked.

"Draco," Draco replied, without thinking, and the blazing green fire pulled him in, transporting him to the room in which he had awoken that morning.

Draco groaned as he hit the stone floor in the chamber. He got to his feet furiously and when Giladon stepped out of the fireplace, Draco glared at him.

"I would've Apparated," said Giladon, dusting a spot of ash off of his shoulder, "but I thought I'd make you feel a little bit better by coming the same way. Obviously, I had a fr more graceful landing. Perhaps we ought to train you to have grace."

Draco fought down the urge to spit on the other boy.

"Right to work then," said Giladon, pulling a wand from somewhere at his side.

"Don't come near me with that," said Draco, pulling his own wand from his robe pocket.

Giladon raised an eyebrow at Draco. "What's your wand made from?" he asked.

"Silver wood and dragon heartstring," Draco replied, speaking with caution.

&qu;Thirteen and a half inches long?" said Giladon.

Now it was Draco's turn to raise a questioning eyebrow.

"Peculiar," said Giladon, studying his wand with a half-amused expression. "We've matching wands, believe it or not."

"How's that possible?" asked Draco. "I thought Ollivander never made any two wands the same."

"Oh, perhaps he lost track," said Giladon. "Or maybehe did it purposefully."

"Now why would he do that?" Draco asked.

"You don't give enough credit to the wand maker," said Giladon. "He knows before hand what sort of wands will choose what sort of person. Perhaps he saw that two persons would need matching wands."

"Are you comparing yourself to me?" said Draco, outraged by the thought of being compared to someone who, in his mind, was a rival. "Don't compare yourself to me."

"Don't tell me what not to do," said Giladon,"and I would never compare myself to a rat like you, no matter how proudly your father may speak of you."

"My father?" said Draco.

"Oh yes," said Giladon,"he tells me all the time how powerful you will one day become. Of course, after seeing you, I don't believe a word of it; you're too stubborn to have any power. You could've won me over, at least, if you had been kinder to start with."

"Kind?" said Draco, looking just about ready to spit as though the word were poison.

"Even a Death Eater can be kind," said Giladon. "And I would know."

"And how would you know?" said Draco doubtfully.

"Because Death Eaters are constantly stopping by here," Giladon replied airily, . "and I'm part one myself, I suppose."

"You're a Death Eater?" said Draco in utter disbelief. "I thought you Perimonath people didn't care about the pointless wars amongst lesser men."

"Well, with the exception of a few," said Giladon. "My father before me was a Death Eater, but he was killed by blunks a year before Voldemort's fall."

"Was your father a part of all this stuff?" said Draco, waving his arm around, as if gesturing to the air all about him.

"My mother was the Lady of Perimonath," said Giladon. "That was sixteen years ago, and she too was killed by blunks. After that, they never replaced the lady, but we've known for quite some time that the dark queen is making a return. The blunks have obviously been working strenuously towards the rise of their queen, and I can feel her rising."

"Feel her rising?" Draco asked. "How so?"

Giladon sat down on a chair, looking tired. "Being the son of the late Lady of Perimonath, I'm the perfect target for Nargarorth," he said, now sounding distressed. "Do you know how blunks come to be?"

"Men, they were," said Giladon. "A thousand years ago, they were mostly supporters of Slytherin and the Lady Andrathea, she was jealous of Salazar Slytherin's power over these men. She was beautiful, perilously beautiful, and she lured these followers of Slytherin into her trap, brought them to her castle and corrupted their hearts. Slytherin was evil, yes, but not evil enough to match the power of Andrathea. She immortalized herself and turned the men who she had trapped nearly unbreakable. She changed them, turning them against Slytherin. She burned out their souls, forced them to work tirelessly for her. She made them to feel no hurt, nor emotion. This was a match for Salazar, who lost all his men. He turned to Godric Gryffindor for counsel, hating this as he had abandoned Hogwarts. Gryffindor was never to tell a single living soul about Salazar's return to him, and he was to fight a secret war against Nargarorth, which the Lady Andrathea had claimed as her palace.

"Of course, he'd have to tell, the two could not fight an entire army alone, so men were called from all over the world in secret. Gryffindor and Slytherin fought, losing many of the men who were loyal to them. It was Gryffindor who created Perimonath, a sort of haven from the perils of Nargarorth. Later, Perimonath became an ongoing enemy to Nargarorth, never ceasing, as the Lady could rise at any time. But the war was fought and won, although the lady, being immortal was not dead; she'd only fallen from power. And for almost a thousand years, she was never heard from, and Perimonath was becoming very suspicious indeed.

"The Lord Grindlewald, who knew next to nothing about this war, and thought it a revolt against Muggles, had thought himself something quite evil in about 1939, and he also thought he could join forces with Nargarorth. He begun a reign of terror, killing Mudbloods and Muggles left and right, even persecuting quite a few pure-bloods. The Muggles thought nothing of it, as they were at the time fighting their own war, but in 1945, Dumbledore felled Grindlewald rather successfully. And strangely, the Muggles' war ended at the same precise time.

"Grindlewald was just another Voldemort, trying to finish of Salazar's work, although he did not know that Nargarorth was not allied with Slytherin but rather rivalled, as that history was recorded only at Perimonath. Grindlewald roused the dark queen, though she did not much damage, except that her blunks killed a few men here and there on her command. But she was still weak and did not rise to her full power, only to fall into sleep again.

"Then the blunks seemed to go on a mad rage in Voldemort's last year of full power, and they somehow found the Lady of Perimonath and her husband, killing them both in the most barbaric way. Barbaric is how blunks do everything; they do not use the Unforgivable Curses, but something much worse: they burn a man from the inside with an intense magic. And blunks are hard to fell, as they feel no pain and they are so cold inside that even 'Avada Kedavra' does not take proper effect at most times. That is why we fight also with swords."

Draco thought all this over for a moment, questions swirling around in his mind. "So how do you feel t rising of the dark queen?" he asked at last.

"As I said, I'm the perfect target," said Giladon. "Her face haunts my dreams, her voice agitates my mind."

"You hear her voice?" Draco asked with growing curiosity.

"In my thoughts," Giladon replied, "and each time I awake from a terrible nightmare, visions of her float through my head, and I feel weak. Weaker each time Draco, and she gnaws at my will. And the agony is growing stronger still, as she grows stronger; I feel her power surging. She'll soon be at the height of her powers and strong enough to destroy the world. That's why we must fight in this battle and kill as many blunks as we can muster up the might to kill. And thennally, the Lady of Perimonath must confront the dark queen because only a true enemy can stop her."

"Anyone can be a true enemy," said Draco.

"Ginny Weasley is the greatest, though we know not why," said Giladon. "And she has the power within her to overthrow the queen; she's been through a great deal, though few take heed. At age eleven she was taken into the peril of Tom Riddle and she had the will to defend herself, wanting no one else involved, not until the last possible second. But still, she does not hate Voldemort and she may not know why."

"That just proves stupidity," said Draco. "And how do you know so much about her?"

"No, no, bravery," said Giladon. "And she has a heart of gold, as the saying goes, but a will of something more adamantine. I know so much because I have looked into the Mirror of Erecnis, which shows only truth. It shows what one really is, and when the time is right, you can see what other people have within them."

"You seem fond of her," said Draco.

"She replaces my mother," Giladon replied. "I'd be fond of you, replacing my father but you're too stubborn, as I said."

"I don't necessarily have e stubborn," said Draco, sounding ironically stubborn, "and you're probably only jealous that I'm replacing your father and you aren't."

"And you're probably only jealous that Ginny Weasley is fond of Ferton and not of you," said Giladon. "But we haven't the time for arguments; we must make you look presentable."

"What's wrong with how I look?" said Draco. "And I'll have you know, I don't care what Ginny Weasley thinks of me."

"You should be clothed for battle in the Perimonath armour," Giladon began, "and your hair needs washing. You could do with a good bath altogether actually. Take yourself to The Baths and come back to me after you wash up."

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"That's just selling out," said Draco. "Are we resorting to Muggle weapons now? Can we not fight how we've always fought? We're losing our heritage, we're giving in and I blame pillocks like the Weasley's for it."

"Only too true," said Giladon. "But at the end of the day, it's Arthur Weasley's laws that are stopping us from using such Muggle tools."

"What if we're in desperate need?" said Draco, suddenly changing his mind on the subject just to oppose Arthur Weasley. "Weasley'll be to blame again if we can't use the Muggle weapons."

"You say the queen's immortal," said Draco. "How in all the Hell's are we supposed to defeat an immortal dark queen?"

"If we cannot defeat her completely," said Giladon, "we can limit her of power and make her a complete wretch, harmless to anything."

"Gryffindor be felled her," said Giladon. "He locked her in a tower prison on the coast of Ireland and she couldn't escape by herself."

"She didn't have enough power in her to escape a tower?" said Draco. "And in her prime? This'll be one hell of an easy war to win."

"It wasn't just any old tower guarded by just any old magic," said Giladon. "It was an Irish tower held by Druid magic."

"Ah, well, I see," said Draco. "And then what happened after that? Did she just escape and find her way to Nargarorth?"

"She summoned all her blunks from Nargarorth," said Giladon. "They sailed across to Ireland, but they couldn't find the tower for years and years. And when they finally found the tower, a new age had basically begun and anyone who had been involved with the Perimonath war had gone to the after life, leaving their heirs to finish their work. And then they rescued their horrible queen, fighting against the Druid powers with their own ensorcelled powers."

"And then they took her back to Nargarorth?" said Draco.

"Exactly," Giladon replied. "But she was weak at the time; she'd been reaching her mind out to her slaves for so long, she'd grown weary. It took a few hundred years for her to become well-rested again, and still to this day she hasn't reached the peak of her power. But that day awaits us in coming times."

"How do you know all this?" Draco asked. "Have you just had strange dreams and such?"

Giladon laughed, though with less cheer than Draco would have liked. "I studied hard between the ages of eleven and sixteen," he said. "For six years I studied history and ancient runes, and such. I also became quite clairvoyant in those years; Sagacius, the man who raised me, said it was a power which needed only unleashing within me. It was some time around then that he realised I had the powers of a healer and a seer."

"Sounds like you've had an interesting life," said Draco, a fair amount of envy sounding through these words. "But can you play Quidditch?"

"Oh yes," said Giladon, "but I haven't had the chance as of late. I should like to play after the war, though."

"If you live through it," said Draco. "Because you know, you might not."

"I might not," sadon. "But we're playing with chance here, and luck will be evident in all who live, wouldn't you say so?"

"I suppose," said Draco. "But one thing doesn't make sense: Floo powder was invented later than this castle was built, but how come this castle is accessible by Floo powder?"

"The first ever invention of Floo powder was constructed by Helga Hufflepuff," said Giladon. "Three years before Perimonath was built. This form of the Floo network was rarely used as it seemed complex, but they used it here. Of course, Floo powder became popular years and years later..."