Chap 37 - The Other Side:
Lucius Malfoy had never been in a patient man, and in the last two days his patience had been tested to the limit. Yet, he steeled his features into impassivity, knowing that while he was not the center of attention here, he was being closely watched. If nothing else, his son Draco was watching him intently to take a cue from him on how to behave in this rather bizarre situation.
Lucius stood off to one side of the raised platform where the Hogwart's staff normally ate their dinner, and watched as Minister Fudge and several other Ministry candidates were rather expertly manipulated by Dumbledore and his followers. The Great Hall of Hogwarts was crowded, not just with the students who had returned from the Holidays yesterday, but with Aurors and the entire Press Corp of every Wizarding paper in Britain. The Boy Who Lived was presumed missing - possibly kidnapped if the rumors were to be believed - it was likely the story of the century. Or at the very least, the story of the week - no doubt something more amazing would happen in a day or two that would make this seem pathetic in comparison.
Lucius had been in a private meeting with Minister Fudge when one of the man's spies - aides - had informed them that something was going on with Potter. Dumbledore was speaking with various members of the Wizengamut and the Auror Department. Chaos had followed Fudge and a dozen other candidates whose spies - aides - had also informed them of the situation. Lucius had followed along, hoping to glean some useful information out of the situation.
Truthfully he had thought about going straight to Lord Voldemort with the information that Potter was potentially missing. Problem was, he couldn't exactly confirm that. Oh, there was definitely something going on - it seemed Lord Brand of the Winter Land had 'taken' Potter somewhere, but Lucius had no idea where that 'somewhere' might be. And while Dumbledore seemed dead set on getting Potter back, he was also making it extremely difficult for anyone, even the Aurors, to find out where it was Potter might have been taken.
The whole chaotic mess had quickly moved to Hogwarts - to question witnesses Fudge had explained - and there the story had become even more convoluted. The only three witnesses, the Weasley children and the Mudblood Granger, seemed to have been struck with a stupidity charm as they could not answer a question clearly to save their lives. As for the teachers - according to McGonagall, Potter was in Germany, Flitwick claimed he was in France, Sprout claimed he was in Russia, and Hagrid actually had the gall to claim that Potter had been taken to Hawaii. The only place no one had suggested was the Winter Lands themselves - which meant of course that it was likely he was there. But without proof - exact, unquestionable, accurate proof - Lucius didn't dare go to Voldemort with the information.
Lucius shuddered with the thought of going before Lord Voldemort any time soon. He was still suffering a faint tremor in his left arm from the last time he had taken the initiative and tried to curry favor with the Dark Lord. A few seconds longer under the Cruciatus Curse, and he would have suffered permanent nerve damage, possibly madness. As it was, he still didn't understand what he had done wrong.
When Voldemort had returned he had seemed disgusted with the body he'd been trapped inside - the reptilian features were really repulsive. Lucius had set out to find a potion to restore his human form to its former glory, and after much expense on his part, had finally succeeded. But somehow in the time it took Lucius to find the restoration potion, Voldemort had grown fond of his new form - indeed it seemed to Lucius as if he was transforming still, becoming more reptilian each time he saw him. When Lucius had presented the potion to the man and explained what it did, Voldemort had reacted with rage, destroying the potion and nearly killing Lucius in the process.
There was no way around the fact - the Dark Lord was utterly unhinged. And he was growing more so each day. All of them had noticed - even Bellatrix who was barely sane herself. And the more insane the Dark Lord grew, the more withdrawn he became from all of them. They all knew he was planning something - something big - but none of them knew what it was. And he had other servants now - not Death Eaters, but something else, something darker. Twice now Lucius had seen him walking in the gardens of the Fortress in Spain accompanied by figures cloaked and hooded all in black. Not Dementors, but something like them, something horrible. Their very presence filled Lucius with a sense of horror, and that was saying something after all the years he'd spent practicing the Dark Arts.
Lucius was no stranger to blood and death, even the occasional murder - would anyone really miss a few Muggles? But there was something else going on here, something worse than a few killings. Something he was fairly certain he wanted no part in.
But what was he to do about it? This wasn't really what he'd signed up for - Voldemort had been a charismatic leader, a true king among men. Lucius, and those like him, had craved that - someone to follow, someone strong and great and fearless to lead them. Someone who would put the Wizarding world back on track, return them to their rightful places in society instead of forcing them to cower and submit before pitiful, pathetic Muggles. Even now the Muggles were trying to tighten the screws once again; the Muggle Prime Minister had proposed the Wizarding Registration Act, which would require every Wizard and Witch in Britain to register with the Ministry as if they were little more than animals who needed licenses to exist. And for whatever ridiculous reasons, the Ministry of Magic was considering agreeing to the thing just to placate the Muggle government. Why in Merlin's name they needed to placate the Muggle government, Lucius would never understand. But the very idea made him want to murder Muggles.
And Lord Voldemort - he had laughed when he'd heard the news - laughed! As if he found the whole thing amusing, as if this somehow fit in perfectly with his plans - or as if it no longer mattered in the grand scheme of things. Lucius didn't understand. None of them did - this was the very thing they were supposed to be fighting against. But Lord Voldemort, caught up in his own world now, didn't seem to care.
Every hope and dream Lucius had had about restoring the Wizarding World to its former glory was crumbling around him. And he felt trapped with nowhere to run; all he could do was try to keep a leash on the Ministry through bribery and blackmail. And with the election looming - and no candidate yet thrust to the front of the pack - he was uncertain whom he should be backing.
For the hundredth time, he wished Severus hadn't betrayed them. Severus had always been his sounding board, always willing to argue any stance Lucius might be considering, always willing to play the Devil's Advocate. But in light of his betrayal, Lucius could see now that it wasn't the Devil's Advocate he'd been playing - Severus had actually been attempting to manipulate Lucius into changing his viewpoint.
But why! That above all else, he could not figure out. He had always assumed that Severus, like all of them, had been drawn to power. Voldemort was the means to obtaining that power - or at least he had been before this new madness had gripped him. Why would Severus abandon that for Dumbledore - a man who would never step up and take the leadership role in their world? Dumbledore was happy here in his school, manipulating the world from the sidelines. He had no desire to step into the heart of the storm and actually change anything. And yet Severus had turned his back on everything to follow Dumbledore into obscurity and marry that silly broom-riding Gryffindor. What could Dumbledore have promised him? Besides Potter, of course - Lucius found himself laughing silently at the thought. Surely Severus had not been swayed by a pretty face - or pretty ass as the case may be?
Lucius glanced around the Great Hall - the Minister was working himself up quite spectacularly, the press writing down everything he said. Madam Bones, perhaps his most well known Ministry rival, was attempting to instill some sense of order on the proceedings. Lady Marla Davenport and Alexander Mulburg, two other Ministry candidates were doing everything in their power to get their own words heard. Mulburg was actually suggesting that the only possible course of action was to invade Hawaii - apparently he believed Hagrid's story. And Davenport felt that imposing import sanctions on both Germany and Russia were necessary. Apparently no one believed France had anything to do with the 'kidnapping'.
Vicund Blackborn, a rather obscure offshoot of the Black family, was suggesting a letter writing campaign to Lord Brand, and Dulcinda Marshawnd was trying to convince everyone that this was a prelude to a new Viking Invasion. Any time two or more of the Ministry candidates came even close to agreeing on a course of action, Dumbledore or one of his people quietly murmured something, which would send them off in a completely different direction. Lucius could only conclude that Dumbledore guessed that regardless of what was really going on, the Ministry involvement would only screw things up; the man was stalling for time.
Fudge, Lucius suspected, knew more than he was letting on. The man had sent for Connor Stark, the leader of a crack team of Aurors. Already Aurors were gathering, joining the children in the Great Hall. Lucius guessed that Fudge was planning on sending them directly into the Winter Lands to retrieve Potter - he just wanted to make certain the whole thing was staged perfectly for the press. Rita Skeeter never once left the Minister's side.
Across the hall at Gryffindor table, Lucius could see Arthur and Molly Weasley sitting with their children. When word of Potter's kidnapping had reached them, all the Weasleys had come to Hogwarts to be with the younger children. Lucius had to admit to a pang of intense jealousy when he saw Arthur sitting there with his 7 healthy children. He'd always wanted more than one child, but Narcissa had refused. As it was Narcissa was just about the coldest woman Lucius had ever met in his life - he counted himself lucky he had Draco. Molly Weasley might be no match for Narcissa in both looks and class, but at least she didn't turn away from her marital duties.
Arthur caught Lucius looking at them, and quickly Lucius sneered at the man because - well, it was what he did. Just beyond the Gryffindor table, he saw Draco catch the exchange and immediately turn to sneer at all the Weasleys as well. Lucius suspected Draco didn't have a clue as to why he was sneering, beyond the fact that they were Weasleys of course. And then Lucius caught a look - something unexpected - as Draco's gaze moved over the second oldest Weasley boy, the dragon tamer if Lucius remembered correctly. His pale son flushed a most unbecoming shade of red and quickly averted his eyes as the Weasley boy looked up and winked at him.
Well, hell, Lucius thought. When had THAT happened?
It was then that the door to the Great Hall opened, and the room fell utterly silent.
Four men stepped through the doorway into the Hall and Lucius found himself frowning at the sight. He of course recognized his traitorous friend Severus Snape, dressed in Wyvern leathers, his sword sheathed and hanging over his shoulder. He looked rather wild and windblown - rather like a Gryffindor with his hair tangled in those messy locks, though there was no mistaking that Patrician profile of his.
And the other man, also clad in dark battle-scarred leathers, was Remus Lupin. He held an enormous war mace lightly in one hand, the display of strength reminding Lucius all too clearly of his werewolf heritage - as if the gleaming amber eyes that flashed momentarily yellow in the torchlight were not reminder enough. Sometimes he thought Dumbledore's people were mad - letting a werewolf run freely among them. Who knew what infection he was spreading?
The other man was enormously tall, golden-haired and wearing the leather and fur armor of a Winter Land Viking. He had to be one of Brand's men Lucius guessed - perhaps the missing husband of Lady Diana Snape-Brand who even now sat in Severus' seat at the head table.
But it was the fourth figure that drew all of Lucius' attention. Clad in a gleaming coat of scale-mail, metal bracers around his arms and legs, Harry Potter looked nothing like the boy Lucius remembered. Granted he had not really spoken to the boy since the disaster with Riddle's diary, and had only briefly seen him the night Lord Voldemort had returned to them, but the boy had changed a great deal since then.
The glasses were gone, the hair longer, the body a bit taller - but really it was the look the in the boy's green eyes that caught Lucius most off guard. There was power in those eyes - a quiet power, one buried and hidden, but Lucius could see it clearly. He'd always been drawn to power - knew how to recognize it in its most obscure forms, and this boy had power Lucius had not guessed at. Had he simply grown into it, stumbled across it, been given it by outside forces, or had it always been there? Surely he must have possessed something of it to have defeated Voldemort as a baby, but why had Lucius never noticed it before? Perhaps it was nothing more than a trick of the light? He had to admit it was rather attractive - deliciously so. Maybe Severus really had been swayed by the boy alone?
"Harry, my boy!" Dumbledore's voice startled them all out of their silence. The old man moved swiftly forward to take hold of both of Harry's hands. "Thank Merlin you've returned." The relief on the old man's face was obvious to all. Lucius sneered. Potter really was Dumbledore's favorite golden child.
"I'm alright sir," Potter assured him quietly.
"Mr. Potter!" Fudge exclaimed, stepping forward as well. Lucius imagined he was rather put out to have had his speech interrupted - he'd been telling the Press Corp about his plans to rescue the boy hero. "We were under the impression you were being held prisoner!" Fudge didn't handle change well - he sounded angry by Potter's return, a tactical error Lucius thought.
The boy glanced over at the waiting Press Corp, his eyes lingering briefly on Rita Skeeter before returning to the Minister. "And your response was to wait three days and then hold a press conference?" he asked plainly.
A murmur of surprise sounded through the room and Fudge stopped and sputtered indignantly. Lucius had to stifle his own impulse to smile. The boy was certainly outspoken, even insolent. Even Dumbledore's mouth twitched upward at the words.
"Rescue operations take planning and time, Mr. Potter!" Fudge protested.
Potter merely nodded. "I'm glad my family was not so impeded," he gestured to Severus and Lupin, and Lucius had to wonder what Severus though about being claimed in a 'family' that included a werewolf. But surprisingly, Severus said nothing. Perhaps he'd already been infected by the wolf's darkness.
But Potter's gesture had drawn Fudge's attention to the fourth man with them, and the Minister's eyes widened as he too realized that this must be one of Brand's men. He snapped his fingers at his Aurors, motioning Connor Stark forward. "Stark, arrest that man!"
But before the Aurors could take even one step toward him, Potter stepped forward, placing himself between the stranger and the Aurors. "You will not," he stated simply, and the Aurors all stopped dead in their tracks. It was a display of a type of power Lucius had not expected and he narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.
Lucius had not been present at the battle last summer that had taken so many lives, but he'd heard plenty of stories in the aftermath. After what Potter had done, there were very few Aurors who would raise a hand against the Boy Who Lived, regardless of the Minister's orders. The boy was a hero in their eyes.
"Mr. Potter!" Minister Fudge protested. "We were told that Brand of the Winter Lands had kidnapped you. That man is Brand's son. Are you-"
"You are mistaken, Minister," Potter interrupted. "It was merely a misunderstanding."
Fudge frowned. "Really?" he demanded. "And was the attack against the Weasley children and Ms. Granger, also a misunderstanding?"
All eyes turned toward the children in question. Lucius saw all three children staring intently at Potter before the boy, Ron, just nodded and grinned. "If Harry says it's a misunderstanding, then it's a misunderstanding." The two girls nodded quickly in agreement. Lucius had to shake his head at the loyalty inspired by the boy - they obviously had no clue what was going on but were willing to take Potter's word on faith alone.
Fudge turned a furious gaze on Dumbledore; Fudge didn't want to leave without arresting someone. It would make him look ineffectual if he did not. "Albus, I can not allow this to be simply swept under the table. If a crime has been committed, it is my duty to-"
"A crime has been committed, Minister," Potter interrupted again, drawing all eyes toward him. The press were furiously snapping pictures and taking notes. "For one hundred years the Winter Lands have been asking for help from the Ministry of Magic, and the Ministry has been ignoring them. If that is not a crime, I don't know what is."
Lucius had no idea what precisely Potter was referring to, but he could tell by the look that flashed through Fudge's eyes, that he has some inkling. Fudge might be an ineffectual leader, but he was a consummate politician. He knew that the presence of the press was no longer in his favor.
"I don't know what on earth is going on here, but I insist we deal with this tonight and clear up whatever misunderstanding has occurred. Albus, if you have someplace private where we may question these people." Fudge motioned specifically to Potter and Brand's son, even while nodding to his Aurors to clear out the Press Corp.
Seeing their story disappearing right before their eyes, the group of reporters surged forward, cameras flashing, Quick Quills writing furiously. "Mr. Potter!" they all shouted as one and then began shouting question after question at the boy. Severus, Lupin and the Viking immediately stepped in front of the boy, and the staff of teachers at the table, surged forward to drive the reporters back.
Lucius, standing well out of range of both the press and their prey, found the whole scene rather amusing - like a well choreographed dance. Dumbledore had his people well trained. While the staff and Potter's three guardians drove the press out of the hall with the Aurors lending their aid, the Weasleys swarmed forward, surrounded Potter and pulled him into the midst of a group of Gryffindors. No one had a chance of coming even remotely close to the boy.
With the exception of Madame Bones, who was a member of the Wizengamut, the other Ministry candidates were also driven from the room. Lucius had no doubt they would be driven from Hogwarts in a matter of moments as well - though they would likely hold their own press conferences down in Hogsmeade shortly.
Lucius stayed in the background, remaining as unobtrusive as possible, and when Fudge and the others began moving from the Great Hall to whatever private room Dumbledore set aside for them, Lucius followed along silently, keeping an eye on Potter as he was ushered after them. Sadly, he was stopped at the door by McGonagall herself, who merely gave him a look that could wither stone.
"Mr. Malfoy," she sniffed. "Where do you think you are going?"
"Come now, Minerva," he smiled coldly at her. "As a member of the Board of Governors it is my right to make certain that the students of Hogwarts are well protected. I have every right to hear Mr. Potter's story."
But McGonagall was unmoved. "As you heard, there was no kidnapping. Therefore there is no need for the Board of Governors to become involved. I'm sure you'll hear all about it later. But for now I must ask you to leave the premises."
"Surely you won't deny me the right to speak with my son?" Lucius asked. "I'm sure he was most shaken up by these events."
She merely raised one eyebrow coldly. "As you wish," she replied, and pointed in the opposite direction. "Slytherin's dormitory is that way, if you remember. Or shall I summon a student to show you the way? "
"That won't be necessary," Lucius glared back, wondering if it were some gift the woman had to make him feel like a recalcitrant child. He turned on his heel and headed down the torch lit corridor.
Perhaps he'd head down to Severus' quarters and wait for his 'old friend'? Or perhaps he'd head down to the Slytherin common room and see if Draco could find out something more for him - or at the very least find out what Draco's fascination with the Weasley spawn was all about - he certainly was not going to allow ANYTHING to come of that.
Either way, he wasn't going to head back home, or back to Lord Voldemort without something more than a bunch of events that would merely lead to more questions. Getting asked questions by Lord Voldemort when you did not know the answers was a bad thing - a very bad thing.