Hogwarts: Era of Darkness

It was the night of Hallowe'en; from the third year up, many were already in Hogsmeade while the rest remained in their common rooms. We, on the other hand… sneaked out of the castle. We were now far behind the usual spots that students frequently visited. We were somewhere between the back gardens where the spare brooms were kept for the first-year students and between the famous Whomping Willow. Looking up at the clear sky and the big, fat full moon, I was delighted. We already had our vials and all the required extra resources.

Spitting that accursed leaf into it was such a relief I wanted to cry. We hurriedly added our hair, a silver teaspoon of dew we collected a week before, hiding it in the Room of Requirements, and finally, the chrysalis of a Death's-head Hawk Moth that Quincy got through Professor Slughorn.

"Finally!" I laughed, looking at the vial and watching the leaf dissolve in the dew and the whole thing turning into a weird, greenish liquid.

"Sssh!" Quincy waved hurriedly, "It needs peace and silence!"

"Sorry…"

"It seems fine; I hope we did everything in order!"

"It's okay!" I reassured her, and she just waved her hand.

"Let's go… we still have to sneak back and place them in the Room of Requirement!"

Creeping back the way we came was not an issue as most people were out in Hogsmeade, and the castle was fairly abandoned. We were just coming up on one of the side entrances when we heard voices up ahead. We slipped behind the nearby thick bushes, inching along the stone wall and the green foliage, trying to hear who was talking further along.

"You want… THAT girl? Are you out of your mind? Do you want to shame our family?!"

"Is that… Lucius?" Quincy asked, whispering into my ear, and I nodded. It does sound like him… who is he talking to? Isn't he supposed to be at Hogsmeade with his son? Hosting an event in celebration of HIS victory? Giving a speech about Draco and how to best serve HIM?

"It's not like I would really marry her! It is more about getting a one-up on the Anguines!" Another voice replied to him, which belonged to Draco. What the… Is this a ploy against us? "I just showed you where the room is that they found…"

"I heard about it from you multiple times already…" Lucius nodded as they walked down the narrow footpath, approaching our hiding spot. I knew already he was talking about the Room of Requirements… I would bet a lot on the fact that they were trying to get into it when the least number of people were present. Damn! It was lucky we missed each other! "But even if it is there…"

"It is! I was in there!" Draco protested but then failed to remember why he was in there... and what he did.

"Then you were fooled on how to open it." Lucius retorted, and I heard his cane landing on Draco, making him groan and wince. "Hogwarts's magic is ancient; I can't break it! You should have paid more attention to it!"

"..."

"So…" They stopped almost at the other end of the hedges, making us hold our mouths' shut, trying not to breathe too loudly. "What the room has to do with this all?"

"I already told you!" Draco replied with subtle anger in his voice, "It is Conrad who found it! Maybe it is his father that knew about it and passed it on! Who knows what they are hiding? You always said you suspected the Anguine family of working with the Order!"

"..."

"Conrad is clearly smitten by the Black's only daughter! I bet he told her everything! If we can't get something on his father, why not get something on the son?"

"Sometimes, you can make me proud," Lucius answered in a kind yet sneering voice. "I can speak with Walburga and see what we can do. She promised her over without thinking… but now, you, the youngest Death Eater, must be a much more desirable prospect! It would also be a great blow to their family's reputation if we can do it."

"And we could get to know everything that the girl knows! Even the method of how to get into that room! And… after that… we can discard her. If she survives it!"

"You are growing up to be a fine Death Eater…" Lucius said, repeating it in his low, sneering voice that made me want to kill the two right here, right now, while Quincy was grasping onto my hand with such force, it started to hurt. "But I sense you have an unnatural hate for the kid, not that I am complaining!" He laughed, and I heard him pat Draco on his shoulders.

"I don't know…" He answered, sounding puzzled about it too. "I just feel like… as if I want him… gone."

"I do too, son. His father is untrustworthy, and somehow all my failures, when I looked back on it or started investigating, had ties leading to him! Yet nobody is listening to my calls! I know he is a two-faced bastard… I just can't prove it! We will get the girl, then through her the son! From that on, I will bring down the main bastard himself!"

As they were talking, they were leaving us behind, getting further and further from us. When we crouched in complete silence for a minute straight, I finally stood up, looking at the pale-faced Quincy.

“Let’s go… hide the vials first…”

…
….
……

It was a lot to take in. We had been sitting at the top of the North Tower, in the old divination classroom for the past hour, without saying anything, just leaning against each other, watching the full moon. My mind was whirling with ideas about what to do, but none seemed plausible or doable. I realize that the hate Draco must feel results from his subconsciousness, from my meddling with his memories and using him to kill Umbridge… and trying to sacrifice him in the process.

"I didn't expect him to come up with something like this," Quincy said, being the one between us to speak up first.

"Me neither. I thought him to be a bit… stupid."

"It is still only a plan, and we now know about it. We can prepare…" She whispered.

"I will write to my father to warn him."

"That is a must." Quincy nodded, sitting up straight, looking serious, collected… and calm. Calmer than I was, that is for sure. "I am not entirely sure that my grandmother will hesitate for long! On the one hand, your family is in good standing… Malfoy's name is not so much. Yes, Draco now got fame and restored much of their standings in the eyes of the public… But that does not mean they are out of the hole!"

"You are something else…" I murmured, watching her analyze the situation, and I think I was falling in love with her even more.

"But…" She ignored my remark, biting her thumb, nibbling on her nail, and displaying some nervousness. "She probably will annul the engagement at one point. I have no delusions about that…"

"Our side will have a say about that too!" I raised my voice, "Do you think we would take something like that, lying down, saying nothing? No! That would be an open humiliation to me and to my family!"

"Yes… it would be."

"Plus!" I continued, raising my hand, "I wouldn't let it happen myself! If it comes to it, I am going to challenge Lucius Malfoy himself! Like hell, I am going to let them have you!"

"Thank you~ And don't forget!" She confidently smiled, "I wouldn't let it happen either!"

…
….
……

"You look down, champ; what's wrong?"

It was the voice I did not want to hear right now. It was only the first day of November; I was coming out of the library on a Saturday that I spent all alone. No, not really, because I was accompanied by many codexes and my troubling thoughts… while Quincy was off, attending an extra class with Professor Slughorn and following him to his unique, invitation-only dinner afterward. So, I decided to spend my day reading books to focus my mind on something, or I would already be a nervous wreck… I couldn't help but think about Draco and Lucius and how I would love to gift them a basilisk's eye and watch them turn to stone.

"Professor…" I moaned, turning towards Lockhart, but he interrupted me.

"What's the sad face for? Is it your loss against Draco?" He slapped my back with jovial laughter, "Everyone loses once or twice! Not me… but I am special, ahaha! Want to come with me? I am finishing up my newest manuscript of my next book– Dancing with the Order! You could help me write letters to my loyal fans about it so they can pre-order quickly!"

"Dancing with the what?"

"The famous terrorist organization, what else? My boy, if you want, you can have a sneak peek into it! It has the latest and freshest bombshell in recent history! I dueled against none other but Regulus Black, the second treacherous son of that family! It was a wild battle where his brother Sirius and even Dumbledore himself appeared!"

"You did?" I asked, stopping in my steps. His words piqued my interest. I bet he did not do it… someone else did, and he gets the credit for it. As to why? I don't know. Well… a lot of people read his books, and whenever something… "Ah!" I jumped. "Can I really read it?"

"Yes, yes, of course!" He laughed again, leading me to his office, seeing my eagerness as a sign that I was secretly a big fan of him.

Well… not really. But an idea came to my mind. No matter how secretive the Death Eaters are, no matter who writes the news… information will get out. Especially when the Order of the Phoenix also has its own resources to spread its own version of the events. I remember my father telling me that something significant happened last year and that it was the Malfoys' blunder.

It took time for it to spread, but I am sure many wizards knew about it! If my conjecture is correct, and knowing my Professor's inept abilities… I was convinced he was given a story he spun around and presented as his own. As a kind of… truth about what happened, battling the Order's spreading news under the table. I was most curious as to what he wrote in his manuscript. Especially if it was before any editorial review! I couldn't take it as facts… but I could use it to start and draw a picture that would become clearer later on…