Chapter Nine: Enter Bellatrix Lestrange…Oh Dear
A couple weeks before the holidays, snow began battering the old castle relentlessly. Any chance of escaping outdoors was out of the question. Within a week, everyone began developing a case of cabin fever. This combined with the Weasley twins was a definite recipe for disaster. As a result, the twins began pranking nearly anything that moved. By the time they only had a week left, suits of armour were singing Christmas Carols very loudly, paintings all were dyed red and green, every Slytherin showed up each day covered in soot as a result in some sort of explosion, and Harish resorted to taking the map and hiding somewhere from the devils to keep from being ambushed and forced into another ridiculous scheme.
On top of this, at the beginning of that last week, Harish had received a letter bringing…bad news? Harish wasn't sure if it was quite classified as bad when it was actually a good thing.
The day he had received it the Slytherins (all except for the trio) were sporting stringy grey hair that stuck up straight. The twins were trying to dye Dungbombs underneath the table, accidently spraying dyeing spells all over Hubert Warrington, who was unfortunately sitting across from them. Harish was sitting in his usual seat, eating happily when an envelope dropped in his lap. He fed some bacon to Augustus before opening the letter. When he read it he let out a groan.
"What's the matter?" the twins asked.
"Bellatrix has come back from her mission in France. She's going to be coming over to stay with us for the holidays."
"And that's—"
"Bad?"
"Well…it's good that she's home but she's just…" he trailed off.
"She's not that bad is she?" George asked hopefully.
Harish gritted his teeth. "You'll see."
And indeed they did. Their holidays started with a kick. The twins had pulled one last prank and frankly, everyone was more than glad that they were going to be leaving for the holidays. Then when the boys had gotten off the train they had been greeted by Voldemort himself (the twins managed to act as if they hadn't a clue who he really was) and Draco, who was hopping up and down beside the ominous man.
Then they had had their ears chattered off by Draco on the—very long—drive to Harish's manor.
"Mr. Blake just picked me up for my father—he's with the Minister of Magic!"
"Hey, did you know that Dobby used to be my servant?"
"Hey, did you know that thestrals can only be seen by someone who's seen death?"
"Well I didn't."
"Did you really make pumpkins puke—sorry—upheave guacamole?"
"I'm having to take courtesy lessons—ugh—they are soo boring!"
Harish was really glad when they finally arrived at the manor, but that relief was short lived when a large, curly haired, black blur sped towards him and he found himself scooped into a very tight hug, his toes a couple inches from the ground.
"Oh, Harish! I've missed you so much!" Bellatrix cooed, looking down at her 'nephew'. "How's my favourite nephew? Let me look at you!"
"I can't—breathe—"
"You are such a darling thing! How is your Cruciatus coming?"
"Hey—" Harish choked out, catching sight of her actual nephew. "Look at how much Draco's grown!"
Draco's mouth fell open in horrific silence, his eyes looking so betrayed.
Soon Harish found himself in a heap on the floor as Bella bustled over to embrace the younger boy.
"Oh, Draco! Look how you've grown!"
"I'm going t-to—kill you," Draco gasped as his lungs were crushed.
Harish smirked. There wasn't a chance that he would be beat now, not with training on pranks from the twins.
UH-BELLA—I-DON'T-THINK-THEY'RE-QUITE-READY-FOR-THE-CRUCIATUS-YET
"Come on," Harish whispered to the other three boys. They were currently standing outside his father's meeting room. That was where he met with all of his Death Eaters on numerous occasions. The boy was never allowed in there, hence the whispering, but he wanted to show the room off to his friends.
He crept forward and silently pulled the door handle down, letting it swing open. Then the insane boys went quickly into the room and shut the door behind them.
"Where are we?" the three other boys whispered almost at once.
"This," Harish stated. "Is where my father holds his Death Eater meetings."
This got the reaction Harish had completely expected. The twins glanced at each other before quietly glancing around and Draco…he was excited.
"Really? Have you ever been in a meeting? Have you at least watched one?"—Harish nodded slowly—" Oh, cool! You're so lucky!"
"Draco," Harish said, failing to get the boy's attention.
"My father barely even glances at me, let alone tells me what happens in the meetings. They're reeeeeally secretive—"
The ten-year-old kept babbling on. "Draco!" Harish repeated louder.
Suddenly they all stopped and listened when George said, "Do you hear that?"
Harish strained his ears and made out the Dark Lord's footsteps as he walked down the hall. They could hear the man talk quietly with Bella. The boys began to panic as the footsteps drew nearer and as the doorknob started turning, Harish thought quick on his feet—The second year spotted a cupboard in the corner, grabbed his frozen companions to drag them into the cupboard, and shut the door behind them, leaving enough of the door cracked to observe the meeting with.
Voldemort walked in right after the boys were tucked out of sight, Bellatrix in tow. Nagini sat atop his shoulders and he was wearing his nice black robes. Bellatrix was wearing black robes as well, but had a mask obscuring her face. The Dark Lord then walked up to a chair that he had at the front of the room and sat down, looking as if he were waiting on something. Bella followed, standing at his left. A minute later a crack sounded and Lucius, adorned with his own skull mask, walked forward and stood at Voldemort's right.
Next thing they knew, other Death Eaters were popping into the room and gathering in front of the three adults. It seemed that the exact moment Harish wished to show his friends the meeting room, they got caught up in an actual meeting. He glanced at his friends. Draco was standing squashed up against the door peering out as well and looking rather smug that his own father was one of the two people the Dark Lord trusted. The twins, who were behind him, had a mixture of excitement and curiosity written all over their faces. Harish quickly turned his head back to the gap as a voice spoke out.
"What are they doing?" the twins whispered.
"Shut up!" Harish hissed as he strained to hear what his father was saying.
"Gibbon," he was saying. "Did you bring me your research?"
"Yes, my lord." Harish watched as Gibbon handed over some parchment to the Dark Lord.
The Dark Lord nodded before turning to another Death Eater. "Yaxley."
"My lord, I have found that the best time to invade would be in the Spring."
The four boys hiding in the cupboard glanced at each other. Invade?
"In the Spring," Voldemort announced, his lip curling in satisfaction. "I want to break into the ministry. Would any of you want to volunteer?" Bellatrix shot her hand up looking excited. "No one? Well, then I'll just choose one of you. How about—Rowle? I will speak with you about details closer to when I want to invade."
Bellatrix stuck her hand back down and looked down at the ground. And with that, the man went about listing things for Death Eaters to do and announcing some things that they may need to know. Then he dismissed everyone. After everyone had apparated out, he turned to Bella, who was still pouting.
"I need you here," he said to her, noticing her jutted lip. "I don't want you to get caught. Anyone who touches the prophesy would be killed."
She smirked at him. "Ah, and Rowle…?"
"His son nearly killed Harish."
Draco, Fred, and George all looked at Harish, who was looking quite shocked himself. His father must really care for him if he was sacrificing one of his Death Eaters just because the man's son had tried to kill him.
"Well," she said, smiling now. "I guess that's not too bad then." And she walked out of the room leaving Voldemort alone in the centre of the room.
The pale man then walked over to the cupboard and opened the door causing all four boys to fall on the floor.
"Next time you snoop in here, you need to be careful not to sit whispering," he said walking out of the room as well.
WHAT—WAIT-HE-DIDN'T-GROUND-ME-FOR-LIFE?
Dumbledore sat in his office sipping tea, and once again enjoying the fact that all of the children were out of Hogwarts for a couple weeks. He was waiting for a staff meeting, which would be held in a couple minutes. The old man's mind wandered from topic to topic as he waited.
The Death Eaters had been rather lively this year, increasingly more so than last year. He had received news the day before of a break-in into the Department of Ministries. He had no idea what they would want out of there. Several things were of possibility and none of them were good. The professor popped a lemon drop into his mouth. After thinking on this for a few more seconds, his mind wandered to Severus. He had been rather quiet of late. The headmaster had no idea what would cause the sinister man to succumb to such a silence. He almost worried for the boy; he was his most valuable spy after all.
Just after he popped another lemon drop he glanced up at his clock and watched the large hand strike six. It was finally time for the meeting. Pocketing another couple sweets, he left his office and made his way to the staff room. There Minerva, Severus, Pomona, and Filius were waiting for him. He sat down and began their meeting talking about the first years' progress. From the first years they moved to the second years.
"What do you think of Harish Blake?" Dumbledore asked.
"Well," Minerva said thoughtfully. "He is a very keen boy. He finishes all of his work in class, casts the spells perfectly, and does rather well on tests."
"Of course this isn't surprising," squeaked Flitwick. "Ever since he came here he was something of a prodigy. A such a polite boy too!"
"How do you mean?" Dumbledore asked, filling with dread.
"He always asks his questions thoughtfully and politely. Always thinking of his grades."
"He was one of the few students I have had that have caught mistakes in my directions," Snape said. "I believe that he may have been predisposed to tutoring in my subject, though he does have a natural aptitude for Potions."
Dumbledore reluctantly thought back to the first day the boy had come to the castle as the other teachers prattled happily about him. Blake, only months before his first year, had taken over the Potters' account in Gringotts. When he had been sorted into Slytherin, the headmaster quickly became uneasy. It seemed that not only was the dark boy in charge of a Light fortune, he was bearing several similarities to the Dark Lord Voldemort. If he didn't know that the warlord would be returning, he would've certainly thought that the boy may even become the next dark lord.
DARK-LORD-HAWISH—KING-OF-THE-PURPLE-MONKEYS!
On Christmas morning Neville woke up and sat up to see a large piles of presents. Among them were a letter from Gran, a plain old quill from uncle Algie, a tin of sweets and a sweater from Mrs. Weasley, and a pack of self-shuffling cards from Ron. He was very excited when greeted upon the pile of presents and tore through them happily, Ron doing the same. After they opened every package, the two boys then went down to eat a nice breakfast of eggs and toast. Neville liked meals at the Weasley household. They were so much friendlier than the straight backed silence that his Gran had caused him to grow accustomed to.
"Where are your other brothers?" Neville asked as they began to make a snowman outside. "I thought you said you had five?"
Ron scowled. "I do," he said glumly. "But Fred and George, they're staying at a friend's."
"A friend's?" Neville asked.
"Blake. Son of a Death Eater, I'm sure. He convinced them to get sorted into Slytherin."
"How? What's the problem with that?"
"What's the—all Slytherins are evil that's what the problem is!" he floundered, restating his speech that he used on Ginny. It was the only argument he could seem to come up with. Neville had no way of knowing this of course. He just sat wondering exactly how evil this Blake was.
POOR-NEVILLE—TOO-SHUT-AWAY-IN-THAT-HOUSE-OF-OLD-PEOPLE
On New Year's Eve the twins were shipped back to the Burrow and Harish neatened up to attend the annual New Year's party (which he had missed last year). Draco had insisted that he come, for he would not stand for his favourite cousin to not come yet another year.
Draco hated being stuck with the non-social lumps, Crabbe and Goyle, and the clingy Pansy Parkinson. He couldn't really talk to them. Mainly because A: he was pretty sure Crabbe and Goyle could only mime and grunt, and B: Pansy always wanted to talk about girly things like hair and dolls. The boy shuddered at the thought of it.
When Harish arrived, he had happily dragged the older boy out to play some Quidditch before the others came, and before Lucius came raging madly onto the field, muttering darkly about immature boys and dress robes (they were wearing them in the air not on the grass!). Then they were scourgified and essentially locked in Draco's room until the party started.
Harish used that time to inform his friend on what he had missed. Draco seemed particularly interested in Hogsmeade and the boy's awe of his mentor was renewed. The two of them talked about what they had witnessed during the meeting as well, wondering what Voldemort was doing breaking into the Ministry. Eventually, after the fifth theory, Harish had shrugged and said that his father would tell him if he wished to.
Once the party did start, they did this dance between being polite to adults, trying to get rid of Pansy, and talking amongst themselves in the corner. Harish was somewhat relieved when the Greengrasses got there. He liked to have a civil conversation every now and then, and Daphne was a mature enough girl to provide him with one. Draco slunk off and began talking to some man when the two oddballs started talking about politics and warfare. The rest of the party went by like this. Finally, they all left some time after midnight and it was a matter of waiting for school to start up again.