AN: Merry Christmas, Happy Hanuka and seasons greetings! Let's derail canon, shall we? I'm going to be 100% honest. I have no idea where this is going after this, but I'm looking forward to finding out with the rest of you. Hang tight folks because I decided at the start of the month I was going to get some writing done and stock pile just for this. see the end of the update for a brief summary of the canon scenes I brushed past because rewriting canon scenes murders my enthusiasm for any and all writing.
{}{}{}{} Taylor
The train ride was interesting. Not for the novelty of it so much as the chance to meet people. Luna Lovegood and Nevile Longbottom were both interesting people, if more than a little odd in Luna's case. Though given some things she had said… I might have to intimidate as many Ravenclaws as I would Slytherins during my stay at the castle.
Things got a little awkward after Harry was called to meet with the new professor, but we passed the time by debating the best kind of training to put the defense club through. Luna was very excited about the chance to run obstacle courses with target dummies.
The thestrals pulling the carriages were a little unnerving at first glance, but had a certain beauty about them even so.
But the castle…
"It really is something else." I admitted as I looked up at the high stone walls and towers, all ethereally lit by the light of a three quarters moon. It was massive, and beautiful, and so very different from the rundown buildings and skyscrapers of Brockton Bay.
Harry grinned at me, honest and bright. Proud of his favorite place and enjoying the chance to share it with someone new.
I rolled my eyes but otherwise let him have this. It was an amazing view.
The inside of the castle was just as breathtaking. Clean stone lit by torches and candles and even some braziers. The lack of electricity still seemed strange, but all the open flames certainly added to the ambiance. The ceiling of the great hall, enchanted to show the night sky, was also quite the site. Though I suspected it would be better without the torches and candles detracting from the light of the moon and stars.
I ignored the singing hat and the sorting in favor of watching the students and staff. The most concerning students were obviously the upper year Slytherins. Though it clearly wasn't entirely unified. A few seemed like they only wanted to keep their heads down. Those idiots were also incredibly obvious. There would probably be subtler supporters hidden in the other houses. Finding them though, that would be trickier. But there would be time for that later.
The food was delicious, but very heavy. If we ate like this every day, I was going to need to look for healthier options or spend an unreasonable amount of time jogging up and down the castle's many staircases.
Harry was just as distracted, but lacked my ability to multitask. The suspicious looks he was giving the Slytherin table were in no way discreet.
"Relax." I said firmly. "I'll try to check tonight if he's inside my range. If you're right we can deal with it. He's one guy and he won't even know we're coming for him."
Harry grumbled and speared some Asparagus on his fork.
"I know. I just don't want to wait. I want to nail his slimy hide to the wall and let the ministry deal with whatever's left."
Hermione and Ron, still not entirely convinced, shared a look.
To be fair I wasn't certain that the blond was marked either. Honestly it would have been smarter to not mark him. But from what they had told me I was certain that he supported this idiocy. That was reason enough to keep an eye on him and check.
"I'm sorry, aren't you the one who has been telling me daily that I need to be patient and not rush into a fight?" I asked with a little smirk. "Why am I suddenly the one moderating you?"
"Because there was nothing we could do back then. Or at least not safely? Easily? He's right there." Harry didn't quite snarl, but his tone matched the dark look he shot the blond.
I chuckled, just a little at that.
"Be patient, Harry. He isn't going to have time to hurt anyone with me watching." I said as I carved up a chicken breast into reasonable bites.
"I just can't wait to see the Aurors haul him away while he screams, 'when my father hears about this!'" Harry's voice dipped into an almost shrill imitation.
Ron and Hermione looked uncomfortable, but I grinned.
Dumbledore stood drawing the attention of the entire hall.
"The very best of evenings to you!" Dumbledore said, smiling broadly, his arms opened wide as though to embrace the whole room.
Conversation died off immediately as everyone caught sight of the man's desiccated and blackened hand. Then after a moment of stunned silence what seemed like the entire hall began to mutter to one another all at once.
Dumbledore just calmly shook his sleeve until it once more covered his damaged hand and resumed speaking. His smile never even flickered and, in that moment, I had to respect the man a little. It did nothing to change my opinion on him as a leader or educator or anything else. But casually dismissing an injury like that and the reactions of so many? There was something to be said for that, a commendable resilience.
Or maybe the man was just old and didn't care about what a bunch of teenagers thought. Maybe the injury didn't faze him the way it would someone with much more life left to live because he was old and had already made his peace with the inevitable.
Or maybe he was just an ancient shit and got his kicks out of winding up a bunch of teenagers like this.
Sighing I dismissed that whole line of thought and tuned back into the speech.
"We are pleased to welcome a new member of staff this year. Professor Slughorn," Slughorn stood up, his bald head gleaming in the candlelight, his big waistcoated belly casting the table below into shadow, "is a former colleague of mine who has agreed to resume his old post of Potions master."
"Potions?"
"Potions?"
The word echoed all over the hall as people wondered whether they had heard right.
"Potions?" said Ron and Hermione together, turning to stare at Harry. "But you said—"
"Professor Snape, meanwhile," said Dumbledore, raising his voice so that it carried over all the muttering, "will be taking over the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."
"No!" said Harry, so loudly that many heads turned in his direction.
Rolling my eyes I flicked Harry's ear.
Glaring Harry whirled in his seat to look at me in outrage.
"Relax, from everything you've told me you've self taught yourselves three out of five years already. He can't be worse than the bitch you had last year." I chided, then took another bite of what was apparently sticky toffee pudding.
"Oh yes he can." Harry muttered. "Umbridge could barely work her own wand. What's to stop Snape from cursing us at random then giving us detention for getting hit?"
"Because if he pushes his luck, he'll suffer an unfortunate accident." I answered glibly. And I meant it too. To hell with his supposed espionage, I hadn't heard anything important from him, and if the man wanted to act like a threat, I'd treat him like one.
Harry blinked once, twice, then grinned.
"Good point, we might not even have to do anything. With a little luck the jinx on the job will get rid of him for us. I'll cross my fingers for it to be lethal this year."
"Harry!" Hermione hissed.
Further discussion was cut off at the knees as Dumbledore launched into a lecture on security and reporting suspicious behavior etc. etc. etc. I barely paid any attention. Watching the various reactions around the hall was more informative than listening. The most apathetic and disinterested shot straight to the top of my suspects list, and sure enough Draco Malfoy was on it.
"But now, your beds await, as warm and comfortable as you could possibly wish, and I know that your top priority is to be well-rested for your lessons tomorrow. Let us therefore say good night. Pip pip!" Dumbledore concluded.
Immediately the hall was filled with the sound of wooden benches scraping along stone floors and the tramping of feet.
Soon enough I was swept up in the crowd and cursing the brain dead fool named Gryffindor who decided to put his dormitory seven flights of stairs above the dining room. Yes, the exercise would help burn off the meal, but this seemed entirely excessive, if Harry's stories were accurate there were still more stairs to between the students and the dorm room. Hell, the seventh years would be climbing fourteen flights of stairs! It wasn't that I couldn't do it. Running all across Brockton Bay had left me in good shape. It just wasn't comfortable with so much food sitting so heavily in my stomach.
I cursed in the privacy of my own thoughts as the Slytherin students left my range. If it was only the vertical distance that would be one thing but they were also on the opposite side of the school as well. And I wasn't entirely convinced there wasn't any space folding nonsense going on here either. Parts of the castle reminded me of my run ins with Vista, only stable.
There was a lot here that deserved special consideration. But right now, there wasn't anything I could do. A quick sweep of the Gryffindor girls' dorms showed that there was no bed waiting for me. Annoying, and suspicious, but I was not marching back through this castle to get things straightened out. I'd take one of the couches tonight and talk to someone about it tomorrow.
I couldn't help but notice the many girls giggling in Harry's direction. Or the number of jealous and angry looks coming my way either. Lovely. Life married to a celebrity was already making me want to swarm school children. Empty headed twits lusting after a boy they'd be murdered for associating with was exactly what I needed. I'd bet some of them are the kind of mean girls that had no qualms about being little bitchy homewreckers either.
If I had to play the defensive girlfriend just to keep these idiots from setting off the stupidly sensitive marriage vows, I was going to make Harry conjure bullet ants for me. I didn't have the patience for these games, and what worked on gang remnants should work just as well here.
{}{}{}{} Harry
Finding the common room empty when I was expecting to find Taylor was mildly concerning. There'd been some confusion last night. Taylor had glibly explained things at high volume by saying; 'We're married because his cousin is a dumb ass that roped us into her plans to lock a man into an inescapable marriage. Magic's involved, so there's no divorce, and no cheating. Fuck off, we're taken and don't need any more stress.'
That had set off a storm she ignored. Anyone trying to press for more answers got chased off by Taylor's death glare and a pair of chittering doxies that rested on her shoulders like tiny toothy pauldrons. Of course, the guys then pestered me with questions. Most of which got an answer of 'none of your damn business, now piss off and let me sleep.' Though I did concede enough to tell them the details of how we got hitched and Taylor's cover story.
"Morning Harry." Hermione said as she stepped into the common room, her bag already loaded down with books.
"Morning Hermione. Have you seen Taylor?"
A ladybug chose that moment to fly in front of my face and land on the portrait hole.
"Ahh, never mind. I guess she decided to get an early start this morning." I said.
Ron loosed a jaw cracking yawn as he passed me on a straight line for the portrait hole.
"Come on then." Ron mumbled. "We'll meet her in the great hall. I need breakfast."
Sharing a quick grin with Hermione we all headed out.
I spent the walk wondering just what Taylor had gotten up to so early in the morning and if I should be worried.
Seeing her calmly eating a bowl of oatmeal was a good sign, but I was pretty sure she'd have looked just as calm while setting a swarm of venomous insects on someone. So that didn't really prove anything. Especially considering she could do both at the same time.
Taylor waved at us with her spoon without even looking up.
"You're up early." I said, trying not to make any assumptions as I slid onto the seat next to her and grabbed a few slices of toast.
"Couch was comfortable, but not a bed." She answered absently. "Decided to try and check on your hunch." She looked up intently. "You were right."
It took a second for that to sink in but when it did a malicious grin spread across my face. I shot Ron and Hermione a triumphant grin. Those two by contrast looked poleaxed.
"Don't get carried away." Taylor said mildly. "Sit on it till we have a plan. I'll keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't try anything."
"How long?" I demanded.
"You have any truth serum?" She asked, arching an eyebrow. "If we can steal some from either of the potions masters in the castle we can move whenever. If not? This could be trickier. Thing about interrogations is you need someone very clever to tease things out of someone. Pain and threats don't really work, they just make people tell you anything they think will make you stop."
That was absolutely horrifying. Taylor glanced up and rolled her eyes at us.
"Oh relax. The American school system likes to stress that fact when they talk about the Salem witch trials. Got to teach little monsters to be civilized human beings by shaming us all with things people long dead did to one another. I used pain to win fights and enforce rules. Interrogation was my best friend's specialty. She could read every twitch of a person's face and body and figure out their every dirty secret like she was reading from a book without so ever touching the person."
Taylor sort of slumped after saying that. Not much, but enough to be noticed. It was another reminder that while we were stuck together, she still had the worse end of this deal. She made it so easy to forget, with how she jumped into all of this. But being cut off from all her friends, family, and even her world, it would be like if I was stuck at the Dursley's without even Hedwig for company.
With that unpleasant thought bouncing around my skull I dove into breakfast with a will in the hopes that a full stomach would lead to more productive thoughts.
{}{}{}{} Taylor
Hermione ran off to class, and though Harry was primed to start plotting, I'd sent him running after Ron for a chess match when I mentioned I was going to work with my new spiders. Which was for the best. I really wanted some time to myself and while we hadn't always stayed in the same room this summer we'd always been in the same house. The castle was bigger and the chance to make some real distance and be on my own for a while was something I'd latched onto like one of Rachel's dogs with a bone.
Following the directions I'd gotten from Professor McGonagall up to the second floor I found a room that was absolutely operating under some kind of spatial warping.
One doorway that should have been a room maybe fifteen feet square was now an entire studio apartment plus two attached workrooms. One obviously meant as a place to store spiders and the second set up with a spinning wheel, loom, mannequin, and a pedal powered sewing machine.
I wasn't really sure how I felt about the bed being queen sized. Or the second dresser. Or any of the other little details which hinted that Harry could move in. No one had said anything on the topic one way or another, but the fact the option was apparently available was… disconcerting.
Clamping down on all of that I let the swarm run a little wild and hauled the spider box into the appropriate room. I had started my new costume but it wasn't complete yet. This one would need multiple layers too. A body stocking was a good base to build from, and the dragon hide vest was a solid addition. But if Scottish Winters were anything like Harry described I'd need more than just that. I had a few ideas, but nothing was set in stone just yet.
I'd keep a watch on some of the more interesting and important people here in the castle. Pixies actually had really good hearing and decent vision. I was going to shamelessly abuse that fact for all it was worth.
Though I was a little concerned that my power actually considered pixies bugs, when the only bug feature they seemed to have was their wings. Maybe my power was just as curious about magic as I was.
{}{}{}{} Harry
I hadn't seen Taylor all morning. Or at Lunch. It felt weird not seeing her. It felt weird that I found it weird. It had only been a month and a half. Why was her being there all the time my new normal? Maybe we could all hang out and do homework in whatever room the Professors had set up for her.
The second floor was a lot more central than the Gryffindor common room and would probably be quieter. The shorter walk might sell the idea for Ron. Hermione might go for too, if only so she could spend a few more minutes focused on studying. The presence of Acramantula might be a deal breaker. Which, fair. I wasn't really thrilled at the thought either, but Taylor was perfectly willing to keep creepy crawlies out of sight. I'd seen less insects in Grimmauld than I had in Privet drive. And I knew there were many times more insects hiding in that dank pit of a house.
So when I sat down for potions and almost immediately six Cornish Pixies delivered three small vials that looked like they were full of water and secured them in my bag… I wasn't sure if I should feel confused or concerned. When not five minutes later Hermione identified what looked like a cauldron full of boiling water as Veritaserum things clicked neatly into place and I had to work incredibly hard to keep my expression blank.
My wife is utterly terrifying. I really should buy her something nice. I'd have to ask her what kind of chocolate she likes before the first Hogsmeade weekend.
{}{}{}{} Taylor
With my base costume more than halfway done from all the work I'd put in at Grimmauld, I'd decided to focus on the essentials for Harry and company. Right now, that just meant getting sleeves added to the dragon hide vests we had ordered. With more time I'd add a silk underlayer for comfort, but protection came first. I was making good progress. Maybe it was the magic or maybe it was the size of the spiders but they certainly produced more silk than I was used to per spider. Which was lucky because there was simply no way to get as many of them as I'd stocked black widows back home.
The day had been productive if not terribly interesting. Maybe I could offer to make Harry a mask with those quidditch goggles he had bought. At least that would be more interesting than generic sleeves. If he was interested, we could even make him an actual costume. A grim theme to honor his godfather maybe? Or a deer for his father? I could make it a trend for our theoretical faction. Bring some of the cape culture into this world.
I shelved those thoughts as Harry, Ron and Hermione entered the great hall.
Seeing Harry and his friend's glairing and arguing with one another when they were all perfectly happy just that morning made me want to march off. I did not want to get dragged into whatever idiotic drama this turned out to be. Sure, I'd kept an eye on them and several other teachers and students of interest, but I only had so many magic insects with good hearing and eyesight, and I had a lot of ground to cover.
"Dare I ask why you three are fighting? It's barely been a day."
"Harry cheated in potions and now he's being ridiculous." Hermione stated as she dropped down across from me with a huff.
Ron slid into a seat beside her and Harry sat next to me.
"Come off it, Hermione." Ron scowled. "So Harry's book had some extra tips that improved his potion. He still brewed it himself didn't he? Not like he turned in something he bought at a shop is it?"
"But he didn't follow the recipe the rest of us did." Hermione fumed.
Teenage drama. Teenage school kid drama. In the middle of war. Why was this my life? How could these three who had been through life and death adventures on a yearly basis have such weird priorities?
"Harry?" I asked as neutrally as I could manage.
"The old textbook the Professor leant me is full of all kinds of notes on how to improve the original recipes. My potion wasn't coming out quite right so I figured I didn't have anything to lose." He shrugged. "I followed some of the advice and the potion was almost perfect."
"And won yourself a bottle of liquid luck." Hermione fumed.
Ahh, jealousy. She was probably on track to win the bottle before Harry stole a march on her. Ignoring that though…
"Copy down all the altered recipes and make notes on what's changed, then bring the original to the professor to make sure none of them will turn the potion into a bomb." I shrugged and took a bite of chicken. "If it's all safe and any of the potions are useful, we can brew them up for the bug out bags."
Harry looked mulish at first, but then he clearly stopped and took a moment to think. He didn't get time to come to a conclusion.
"What?! That's all you have to say about this?" Hermione almost shrieked the first word but quickly got her volume back under control.
"If he's not going into research, then he just needs to know how to brew. If better recipes make a better potion, following a better recipe is just common sense. If an expert says the changes aren't going to make things blow up, and they work better than the original, then it just makes sense to use the new recipe."
"But it's not the approved recipe!" Hermione growled.
"So what?" I asked, now fully exasperated with this conversation. "If what Harry did worked that just means at least some potion recipes can be improved doesn't it?"
Hermione glowered still, but Ron was nodding. Harry instead looked thoughtful.
"So, why am I copying the altered recipes?" Harry asked.
"In case your professor takes the book then sits on it until he can publish a new book using the altered recipes to make a bunch of cash." Mom had more than a few stories about professors making money by having the students buy something they published for class. Stealing the work of a student who must have graduated years ago, but apparently never bothered to publish their work, wouldn't surprise me at all.
Hermione sputtered and looked like I'd proposed sacrilege. Ron by contrast actually perked up.
"Hey, maybe we could publish it." Ron said around a bite of stew. "I mean we'd have to test every recipe ourselves, but can you imagine how much money we could earn? Or the look on Snape's face if we published a potions book and the school started using it?!"
"No one would publish a potions book written by students!" Hermione snapped. The girl grabbed up a sandwich and stormed away from the table.
"Oh, Hermione, don't be like that!" Ron called after her. With a sigh he snagged two sandwiches in a napkin and went after the girl.
I looked Harry dead in the eye.
"If every day is going to be like this, I'm going to snap within a month and start chasing the students with spiders and doxies."
Harry laughed. I glared. Harry stopped laughing.
"Ah, you're being serious, aren't you?"
"Yes."
"Ah…"
"Harry, this is when you reassure me that the school year isn't going to be full of this kind of stupid drama."
Harry looked away not saying anything. I opened my mouth to demand he promise me I wasn't going to have to deal with this kind of stupidity on a regular basis just as a group of girls walked past us. Every one of them was staring at us, and either giggling as they looked at us, or glaring at me. I scowled back at them using every trick of posture I'd learned in my career as a supervillain.
The group hurried off. Apparently, those were still worth something even without my costume, reputation, or swarm. At least when dealing with empty headed brats.
Huffing I turned back to Harry who looked concerned. Before I could start making demands for the people in this school to have rational priorities, or to at least be left out of any stupidity, Harry changed the subject.
"I got your delivery." He said alluding to the tiny vials of truth serum I'd stolen before his potion class started and passed to him when I realized the pixies wouldn't be able to get the tiny bottles out of the room without being noticed. "When can we go after the snake?"
"Think you can cover our tracks? Don't think anyone would take it well if they found out we asked him questions first." I asked.
Harry hesitated. No doubt debating the merits of erasing a chunk of a person's memory.
"If I had time to practice? Maybe. The problem is that it would require more than power. It would take precision. I'm good at practical work, but getting something like that perfect on the first try is… daunting. Hermione would be a better bet. Maybe if I had a way to practice for a few days, but where would I find someone willing to let me practice something like that? Think we could find someone older we can trust to handle that part?"
That was fair. Unfortunate but fair. I didn't like the idea of screwing around with mind altering powers either. It was far too close to some of the nastiest threats back home for comfort, but it was convenient and useful. I'd also done or allowed worse in the past so it's not like I could say it crossed some line for me either, as long as it was used responsibly. But I sure as anything wasn't about to volunteer as Harry's practice dummy for this.
"Not a bad idea, but who would we ask, and how would we get them into the castle?" I countered. "We could just make him disappear. You were brewing draught of living death, right? If you saved your potion from class, we could even do it without making a mess."
Harry shook his head.
"Vanished at the end of class. They don't want controlled substances just floating around the school, especially not potentially flawed ones made by students."
I clicked my tongue and thought for a moment.
"Let's finish eating then take the discussion back to my room. If we're going to do this, we need to plan it properly. We can talk more freely there at least."
"Sounds like a plan." Harry smiled at me.
I looked back to my food feeling vaguely pleased. I set that aside though in favor of focusing on just how Harry and I should play our opening strike in this war.
Obviously we needed to know whatever Malfoy could tell us, but after that? Dumbledore, Snape, and the Ministry. We were going to be smacking the hornets' nest no matter what we did with the little shit.
Seeing the way everyone jumped would tell us a lot. And I had promised to give Dumbledore a chance to prove himself before doing my own thing. Maybe it wasn't fair, but whatever we did I was going to make this plan with the mindset that he would disappoint me.
"Well, it lasted longer than my visit to Arcadia."
{}{}{}{} First weekend of the year, Harry
I paced back and forth across the empty classroom we'd decided to stake out on the sixth floor. We hadn't been able to intercept Draco on his way up to the room of requirement. Neither of us had been amused to find out that the room had locked us out after Draco went in. Especially when we didn't know what he was doing in there. But we couldn't just wait outside the doorway all day for him to come out.
Taylor just huffed and dragged me to this room right at the base of the stairs to wait. She checked all her weapons, then settled into a chair, shut her eyes, and presumably started doing something with her swarm. That had been two hours ago.
I really envied that calm. I couldn't get my nerves under control at all. This was too important. Draco had really gone and sworn himself to Voldemort and now he was here doing who knows what on that monster's orders. We needed to stop him before he had time to do anything to put the school in danger.
For once I wasn't going to be struggling to figure out what was happening. I wouldn't be stuck on the defensive without even knowing what I was defending against! Racing up here there hadn't been time to think about it, but now all I could do was worry. What if our ambush failed, what if someone found us while we were still interrogating Malfoy? What if we were too late and the reason that git was taking so long is that he already accomplished his mission?!
"Relax, Harry. We're ambushing one teenager." Taylor said.
"I know." I kept pacing. "Do you think we should have brought Ron and Hermione?"
"She's still not talking to any of us."Taylor answered.
I couldn't hear any particular inflection in Taylor's voice and she didn't have nearly enough insects in this room for me to use them as an indicator for her mood. But I'd like to think I knew her reasonably well by this point. And she'd had suspiciously little to say about Hermione all week. Taylor had essentially been ignoring the other girl.
It was… it honestly hurt to see Taylor's opinion of Hermione go from positive and friendly to dismissive so quickly. They were getting along alright even after the rough start, but not now. At least they weren't at each other's throats but they weren't even looking at one another.
"And Ron?"
Taylor sighed.
"Either of us could handle this on our own. We're doing this together as a precaution against a lucky hit, and if Ron thinks he can get through to her, let him. I'm not going to debate the relative importance of school during a war with her again."
I winced.
That had not been a friendly debate. Hermione had ranted about the importance of education and Taylor had brushed that aside with the argument that the only things worth studying now are the things that might help keep us alive. Hermione ranted about the importance of grades for getting a good job. Taylor cut her off at the knees with a reminder that she wouldn't get any job if a Death Eater killed her. Hermione insisted it wasn't our job to be out there fighting and Taylor asked how many near death experiences we'd had in Hogwarts.
In the end Hermione stormed off like thundercloud and Taylor stalked away radiating the same energy as a furious cat looking for an excuse to hiss and swipe at someone.
"Heads up, he's coming out." Taylor said as she stood up. "Does your map still say we're in the clear? Only other people I'm tracking are two floors down, but I'd appreciate the confirmation with all this magic."
A quick scan of the Marauders map didn't show anyone nearby and the kids she'd noticed on the fourth floor were heading down not up.
"We're good." I confirmed as I drew my wand.
Taylor nodded sharply and snapped a police baton out to its full length. We both moved to stand primed on either side of the door. Almost a minute later I could hear quite footsteps out in the hallway and Taylor held her free hand open for a countdown. I grabbed the doorknob in my left and waited.
Her fingers flicked down one after another as the footsteps grew louder, then passed us. As she made a fist there was a yelp outside the door and I moved.
Flinging the door open and jumping into the hallway I brought my wand up. Draco was standing there, robes covered in dirt and dust, frantically trying to wave off a cackling flight of Cornish pixies.
"Stupefy!"
The red light of the spell took Malfoy square in the back. The blond ponce toppled.
I blinked. That had been… easy. Did catching people off guard really make things this simple?
Taylor stepped out of the classroom, around me, and started to haul Draco by his shoulders.
"Come on, give me a hand with him. Clear or not, I don't want to stay out in the open for this."
Shaking it off I rushed to help her. This really had been the easy part. I'd already charmed the walls to block sound, but that still left the actual interrogation.
Taylor was all business. She took Malfoy's wand and tied him to a chair facing a corner for some reason. We both changed into generic traveling cloaks that covered us fully. Then pulled heavy silk veils over our faces and hid our hair under hoods. Finally, I hit the two of us with a voice changing charm I'd tracked down in the library. Taylor had even gotten a stick she carved into an imitation wand so she could look the part of a full witch.
The plan was to obliviate the last three days from Draco's memory if Dumbledore decided to be unreasonable, it should be a large enough stretch of time to avoid missing anything if I under shot, and not so much that overshooting a bit would cause serious issues. Just in case I botched it completely though, Taylor wanted to ensure our anonymity. We were ready. Just needed to wrap this up and get to my lesson with professor Dumbledore.
"Rennervate!"
Draco arched in his chair. Immediately he started to thrash and shout in an attempt to get away.
Taylor marched forward, tipped his chair onto one leg and walked him in a half circle before slamming the chair back down onto all four legs. As an extra threat she ground the tip of her fake wand into Malfoy's temple. I got to watch all the blood drain from his face as he looked at me in uncomprehending fear.
"To think," Taylor hissed, her altered voice almost gratingly high and dripping with malicious glee, "that vile creature masquerading as a man has fallen so low as to use school children."
Following our rough script, I did my best to glide forward and grabbed Malfoy by his hair.
"It makes sense." My new voice rumbled out like a rockslide. "Why else implement a breeding plan, he just wants his followers to make him more simple minded minions."
Rage bubbled up on Malfoy's face.
"The Dark Lord-"
Malfoy's outburst was cut short as Taylor gripped him by the jaw.
"I have no interest in listening to your small minded propaganda and threats." She loomed over him and pushed her fake wand into his neck. "The only reason you still breathe is to answer questions."
She was being awfully theatrical about this. Did she just enjoy the theatrics of it all, or was this all the pent up energy from the past two months finally finding a target?
She wrenched Malfoy's head back by his hair and Malfoy shouted in surprise and pain. I quickly pushed a small dowel between his teeth and pulled out an eye dropper. Malfoy tried to thrash, but Taylor had done an excellent job tying him down. She clamped down hard to keep his head still for me.
Three drops of Veritaserum dripped into his mouth, around the dowel, and Malfoy stopped struggling.
Taylor stepped back and pulled out a pen and spiral notebook.
"Are you a Death Eater?" I asked.
"Yes." Malfoy answered vacantly.
"Why did Voldemort want you in Hogwarts?" I asked.
"The Dark Lord has ordered me to kill Albus Dumbledore."
I only barely stopped myself from physically reeling back at that answer.
"How do you plan to accomplish that?" Taylor asked.
"I have a few ideas. I'm going to try delivering him a cursed artifact through an imperioused patsy. Maybe poison, passed along through a middle man. But I'm hopeful that I can repair a damaged vanishing cabinet in the room of requirement. The other half of the set is in good condition so fixing the one in the castle should bypass the castle defenses, and allow a team into the castle to assist me."
I took two steps back.
The crazy arsehole wanted to unleash a team of killers inside the castle. If they properly surprised the staff they could tear through the staff and students like an angry dragon, killing anyone who didn't meet their standards of breeding and ideology. They could take hostages to ensure people on the fence fall in line. With a large enough group, they could seize the castle entirely! They could do so much damage… This was completely unacceptable.
Taylor stepped up behind him and started asking specifics about the vanishing cabinet, whatever that was, and his plan. I wasn't paying attention. I was trying to remind myself that we needed this utter waste of space alive for just a little while longer if we wanted to really see how everyone would fight this war.
And we did need to know. I want to trust Professor Dumbledore and the Order. I really do, but they aren't doing anything proactive. The Ministry track record speaks for itself, but that was under Fudge. How would they do things under new management?
By the time I got myself back under control Taylor was asking about names. I smirked at Malfoy even if he couldn't see it. Taylor might need moderating, but she knew what she was doing. By the end of the night, we would know everything Malfoy did. Even if the Order and Ministry completely dropped the ball, we would have what we needed to take things into our own hands.
It was time for the Death Eaters to be afraid of me for once.
{}{}{}{} Harry
"Acid pops." I said to the gargoyle outside the professor's office.
It leapt aside and the wall slid open to reveal a spiral staircase going up.
Marching up with a will I knocked on the professor's door.
"Enter."
Stepping inside I took a quick glance around. The office was back in pristine condition. Portraits of former headmasters and headmistresses hung up high. Delicate silver instruments whirring and whizzing and occasionally coughing out colored smoke. Faux the phoenix resting on his perch. And of course, Albus Dumbledore sat behind an ancient and ornate oak desk.
"Good evening, professor."
I almost cringed after saying it, because honestly, it's not. It really was not a good evening by any definition I could dream up. Taylor would probably call it productive, but that didn't make things better. Actually, she might not even call it that, Draco knew a whole list of names, but not many locations and no plans at all.
"And a good evening to you as well, Harry. I hope you have found this first week of the new semester enjoyable?" Dumbledore asked pleasantly.
"Honestly?" I asked, not sure if he would appreciate a truthful answer to that question. Professor Dumbledore leaned back in his seat looking nonplussed.
"Well, yes, though I admit I was expecting a more positive response." The Professor sounded a little amused.
"Snape,-"
"Professor Snape, Harry." Dumbledore interjected. I ignored the correction and kept going.
"-demanded we all know how to cast silently, when he knows none of us have done it before, without bothering to explain the theory of how to do it. Then he tried to hex me on the first day of lessons on the pretext that it's teaching, somehow. Which has me pretty well convinced you shouldn't have given him the job even though I'm glad to be continuing with potions because of it."
Professor Dumbledore looked surprised at first, but then his expression shifted to amused, which felt incredibly condescending.
"Hermione is angry at me because the potions book I'm using had a prior owner that figured out some improvements that let me outdo her in our first lesson. She isn't talking to Ron or Taylor either because they don't see the issue as long as none of the adjustments are dangerous. Which I need to ask Professor Slughorn about."
I took a deep breath and looked the professor in the eye.
"And if that wasn't enough stress, I asked Taylor to confirm a hunch of mine and she came through for me." I scowled. "Draco Malfoy is a marked Death Eater."
The professor startled, then closed his eyes with a resigned sigh.
"How, pray tell, did Mrs. Potter confirm that? Is Mr. Malfoy injured?" Professor Dumbledore asked.
"He's fine." I waved that concern away. "Taylor has been, not giddy, she's too controlled for that, but very pleased with the eyesight and hearing of a colony of Cornish pixies she found somewhere in the castle. She only needed to see him changing his shirt. The mark isn't subtle. But that's not the point. Professor, he needs to be dealt with! He's a threat to the school."
"Harry…" the professor hesitated, "Harry my boy, I assure you that's not…" Groaning, the man pinched the bridge of his nose. "I am aware of Mr. Malfoy's status. I assure you the situation is under control and the school is not at risk. I implore you to leave this situation alone."
I gaped at the man. Of all the things he could have said of all the arguments he could have made; he wanted to claim the situation was under control?!
"Professor, have you lost your mind?! He's a marked Death Eater! With full run of the castle! Taylor has tracked his movements, and no one is even keeping an eye on him! If Voldemort gives the order Malfoy could do, do anything! He could poison people, or take a first year hostage, or sabotage madam Pomfrey's potion stores! He could cast fiendfyre over one shoulder and run! Professor, this is not ok!"
Dumbledore looked very sad indeed as he stared back at me.
"Harry, I assure you, that is not his mission, and the situation is under control. I appreciate you bringing this to me, I do, but this is not the purpose of our meeting."
Did he really know Malfoy's mission? Was he just betting on his ability to survive whatever Malfoy might try? But what about the rest of the castle?! Malfoy's favorite plan was to unleash a team of Death Eaters inside the castle! Just because Dumbledore was the target didn't mean other people couldn't be hurt!
I wanted to argue. I was ready to argue. To scream and curse and demand an explanation. But in my sleeve a Cornish Pixie poked my arm twice with its stupidly sharp fingers. Not a demand I stop, just a reminder to think about what I wanted to say and about our backup plan. Growling, I bit down on my temper, and the first half dozen responses that sprung to mind.
"Professor, I am not ok with this. This is reckless, and dangerous, and unless you can give me an explanation for why, and for how you plan to keep him in check I'm going to call it foolish too! I'd need a very good reason to leave this alone, can you give me anything more than that?"
I was halfway to the point of just demanding answers and threatening hell if I didn't get them, but Taylor had expected… not this admittedly. She'd expected Dumbledore to try and make a bid to guide Malfoy away from the Death Eater's or something. So we had a back up plan, not for exactly this, but something close enough that it would work. And I was going to let her use it unless the Professor coughed up a very good explanation.
"I cannot, not now. You must trust me in this Harry. Please, give me your word that you will not do anything rash. The situation is precarious enough and there is a plan in place."
And just like that my temper slipped its leash.
"How am I supposed to trust you when you are allowing the enemy to roam the halls without even watching him?!" I shouted. "Professor, you're not the only one fighting this war, and you're definitely not the only one who can get hurt if things go all to hell! This is a school, most of the students haven't been through the sort of things my friends and I have, they aren't prepared, they aren't cautious, Voldemort is back and most of them are more interested in gossiping about my marriage! A fifth of the defense association from last year have lost interest because they passed their O.W.L.'s and aren't taking their N.E.W.T's!"
"Enough, Harry, enough." Dumbledore declared sternly as he rose from his chair to frown down at me. "We are here to discuss Lord Voldemort, not Mr. Malfoy. Now I really must insist, I need your word that you will allow me to handle this matter."
Grinding my teeth I choked down my first response. He wasn't going to listen. Everyone in this castle deserved better than this, but he wasn't going to listen.
"Fine, you have my word."
Mine, not Taylor's. And part of me felt guilty about that stupidly obvious deception, but this can't go on any longer, it just can't. The open hand of Taylor's controlled pixie patted my arm, and that was all the confirmation I needed. She would take care of the rest. Well I'd have to double back and obliviate Malfoy before meeting back up with Taylor. Still, if we were doing this… well I might as well give him something to think about to keep him from looking too closely at what Taylor might get up to tonight.
"But that's all you are getting without more of an explanation. On a lot of things." I glared. "You keep asking for my trust, but you aren't extending any trust, professor. That's not good enough anymore. You keep making plans and decisions, and you don't tell me or anyone else what they are. But my friends and I keep stumbling into them, and we're the ones in danger."
"Harry, that's hardly fair-"
"First year with the stone," I cut him off, too angry to hear him out, "and fine, you didn't tell a firsty about anything. Fair enough, but you made the school a target and that is not ok. Second year students were being attacked, the school should have been shut down after the second victim, if not the first, for our safety! The dementors are Fudge's fault, and the tournament catastrophe was the work of a spy, but last year? You didn't stop Umbridge torturing us, and you told me nothing. I got baited into a trap and a lot of people got hurt, and Sirius died. Most of that's on Voldemort, and on me for falling for it, but some information, better communication, lessons on occlumency from a competent teacher, something could have prevented that. Now you're demanding I let a Death Eater run loose around firsties. Professor, you're not asking for trust. You're asking for blind faith and I can't give you that anymore." Scowling, I dropped back into my seat, and when had I leaned half way out of it?
Dumbledore sagged back into his seat.
"Very well, Harry, I will think on what you have said, but now we have a lesson to attend to, and we are already running behind schedule."
{}{}{}{} Taylor
Sighing, I stalked through the castle. It was entirely likely doing this would fuck up a long term plan of Dumbledore's. It was possible that he was allowing this for the sake of knowing who to keep an eye on. But Harry hadn't given the abort signal, and all Dumbledore offered was platitudes. I had warned him that day in the forest. Either share plans so we can coordinate, or expect to have a wrench thrown into the works because I was not going to sit back and be passive. Given what I had seen so far, I didn't trust any plan the man might have cooked up anyway.
I really had hoped I would learn more about Dumbledore from this, but realistically all this did was cement the fact that he would never willingly let others in on his plans. A large part of me could relate to that. I wasn't one of his people, he had no reason to trust me, but for seemingly no one to be in the loop? The Undersiders had planned more than a few jobs in advance together. Sure, I'd taken charge after Bonesaw, but even then, I consulted with the others when I had the time when things weren't blowing up all around us. Also my lieutenants about what my territory needed. I hadn't tried to run everything myself.
I don't know enough about all this to run the show. I'd want to bounce plans off of Harry, and Moody, and even Bill and Dumbledore. But I didn't need council to know you don't win this kind of war by staying on the defensive. The Protectorate tried. They spent something like a decade or more being ineffective, then got out done by a group of teenagers. Dumbledore wasn't even matching that low standard.
Here and now I only have this one card to play. So I would play it, flip the table, then change the game.
Finding the correct painting I reached out and tickled the pear. When the painting swung aside to reveal a massive kitchen sized for, well I wanted to say hobbits, but the real answer is house elves. Which was especially relevant considering I was now being stared down by a small army of house elves. Part of me was screaming, 'biotinker creations, run'. But I'd met one of these before, and Harry had good things to say about all but one of them.
Crouching down, because looming over them somehow felt rude, I started to speak.
"Hello, my name is Taylor Potter. I was hoping to get some help with a few urgent matters from a house elf named Dobby. My husband said he might be willing to help?"
One of the gangly little things came running out of the crowd bedecked in three pairs of knitted socks and a half dozen knitted hats. Honestly given the castle was entirely made of stone I was a little concerned he was the only one wearing socks, walking around barefoot could not be comfortable during the winter.
"Dobby would love to be helping the great Harry Potter's Mrs." Dobby bounced in excitement nearly losing his top three hats.
I very carefully did not react to my newly acquired title.
"Thank you, Dobby." I smiled a little just to reassure the excitable… elf. "I've got a stack of letters for the members of Harry's old defense association. We found a Death Eater in the castle." The elves all gasped or shrieked and I had to raise my voice to be heard over the sudden noise.
"It's alright! It's alright." The elves quieted quickly. "Harry and I have already captured the Death Eater. As soon as I'm done here I'm off to the Owlery to send word to the Ministry." And Moody, he could put some of my new information to good use, and he needed to be made aware of Dumbledore's latest reluctance to act. I had a strong suspicion he'd be even less amused than Harry or I.
Many of the elves sighed in obvious relief. Dobby if anything became more energetic. Gently I handed the elf the stack of short letters Harry had written for the DA members he thought most reliable. Really the letters just said a marked student had been found and caught and everyone needed to be on guard around known supporters of pure blood ideology, and Snape, because quite frankly we couldn't know what side he was on.
"Harry wants everyone to be on guard and ready in case any other supporters are inside the school and we just haven't found them yet. This is too important to wait until tomorrow. They need to know as soon as possible. Can you do this for us, Dobby?"
The little elf puffed out it's chest and took the letters reverently.
"Dobby is proud to be helping!" The little elf declared. "Is great Harry Potter's Mrs. needing anything else from Dobby?"
"No, Dobby." I smiled a little more genuinely now. "This is a big help, thank you for taking care of it. If any of the recipients are asleep already just leave the note somewhere they're sure to see it."
Swelling with pride, Dobby nodded rapidly, once again flirting with the loss of his hats, before snapping his fingers and vanishing with a pop.
Standing I waved awkwardly to the remaining elves.
"Sorry for the intrusion. You all have a nice night." I said and turned to leave.
Next stop the owlery. Hedwig off to Moody with a copy of what I learned from Malfoy and a letter explaining things. I'd happily cooperate on a case by case basis, but I was going to put some distance between the Order and myself, because Dumbledore was taking unacceptable risks and unwilling to explain himself.
Then I was sending a school owl to the Ministry telling them we had a captured Death Eater. Fuck the Headmaster's authority over the school. I didn't know the man well, and obviously his motivations were different, but this kind of idiocy reminded me far too much of Principle Blackwell. If the Ministry turned out to be as incompetent as the Protectorate we needed to know.
One way or another, Draco Malfoy was leaving this school.
AN: I cannot make myself rewrite canon scenes. I just can't. this story will die a slow ignoble death if I try. For those of you curious about canon but unwilling to re reread it, wise choice, harry goes to defense, Snape is an ass, passionate about his subject, and as always incapable of conveying information in such a way that the students might actually learn something.
Harry gets to go to NEWT potions because Sluggy does not require perfection, gets an old book with a lot of notes as a loaner and outperforms Hermione by following those notes. She gets jealous of him winning and stealing her academic spotlight then proceeds to disdain the book because it's what allows Harry to outperform her. Which, some credit to her, he is being disingenuous about his skill. But that's pretty clearly not why she hates it. Harry, being angry with her for being angry at him, tosses away common sense to be as contrary as possible and puts the original owner on a pedestal. Which is stupid and later gets him into trouble.
Oh, and Harry and Dumbledore have their first "lesson" that first Saturday. Where they discuss how Voldemort's Mother was abused, then decided to change her situation using date rape drugs. Then gave up on life when it turns out that carrying the baby of the man you raped does not actually make him want to stick around and live out his life with you. Go figure.
