Windbound 30/35

[herumtreiber]

Title: Windbound - 30/35
Chapter: Thirty
Author:herumtreiber 
Genre: post DH, slash, romance, adventure
Disclaimer: The world and characters of Harry Potter belong to JK Rowling. I don't make any money from writing these stories.
Rating: R
Warnings: Violence
Epilogue compliant? Epilogue complaisant
Chapter length: ~4,112 words
Summary: Draco/Harry, Ron/Hermione, Hannah/Dean, Justin/Daphne, Ginny/??? My take on the Marriage Law. Should they obey the government’s edict or fight it the Muggle way? This leads to marriage equality. Plus there’s a twist exploring how a Horcrux operates. Good!Lucius, finally:) Hufflepuff house is amply represented here.


Table of contents


Chapter twenty-nine

January 29th, 1999
Hogwarts

That Friday, Hermione researched more about magical containment fields. It was incredibly hard to glean some information from the often cryptic phrases written in the books, but she tried. She remembered when she was talking with Harry, months ago, about the incident when he lost his life to Voldemort, woke up in King's Cross and had that conversation with Dumbledore. She snorted angrily at herself. All this time and no one had seen it!

When Harry was in that elusive plane of existence between life and death, he met his wonderful mentor, who told him all manners of interesting things. No one wondered how it was possible for Harry and Dumbledore to meet there. Why did Harry not meet with his parents or Sirius? Why did it have to be Dumbledore? Even then, he was Dumbledore's hors crux.

But Dumbledore made a grave mistake. He didn't think Harry would tell his friends about the encounter, or if he did, they would all forget it, after all, they were flighty teenagers and could be counted upon to be irresponsible and silly. He didn't foresee that a Slytherin would sense the connection.

Probably Dumbledore's prejudiced views about teenagers informed his tenure as Hogwarts' Headmaster – and his concocting the Marriage Law. He must have felt that the enraged teenagers would succumb to the Law after grumbling a bit, and then would promptly forget the way they were treated – after all, that was how Harry reacted.

A bit of heartache was not too much to pay for the perfect world, where there would be no blood divide, according to Dumbledore's rose-tinted glasses.

Hermione returned to her research, more determined than ever to put an end to Dumbledore's machinations from beyond the grave. She took a book titled, "Magical containment through the centuries by Blanco Abejon."

Hermione started to read. She learned that magical containment fields could also be created inside important wards, like those of the Wizengamot, to prevent magic from interfering in political discourse.

Hermione closed the book and checked it out with Madam Pince. Then she put the book in her bag and prepared to search for Draco. As she was nearing the point where she would take the stairs one level down to the Hufflepuff den, she noticed a flash of red she knew so well and saw Harry and Ron, hurriedly making their way to meet someone.

She saw them reach the door to McGonagall's office. Ostensibly Harry knew the password, because after a little while the door opened and the two students went in.

Hermione had a sudden hunch. With her heart in her throat, she opened her bag with trembling hands and took out the book about magical wards. She checked who had taken it out before and found the name: Harry Potter.

oOoOo

When Harry insisted on talking alone with McGonagall, Ron left the room. However, he was not the brother of the Weasley Twins for nothing. He took out his Extendable Ears and used them to hear what Harry and McGonagall discussed.

When they finished talking, Ron was completely floored. He had willingly participated in the Marriage Law scheme because he wanted to chastise the uppity Purebloods. He had laughed at Malfoy marrying Lavender. He had trusted Harry completely, believing that Harry would never lead him astray.

But what he had just heard was beyond the pale. It changed the way he saw Harry. If Ron was right, they were headed right to a big confrontation, and they would all lose. He could not allow that to happen. He owed it to Hermione, Ginny and whatever remained of Harry.

The thing was, Ron had privileged information that could prove crucial to insure everyone's safety, but he could not act on it because he didn't know where to start, what to do. With a sinking heart, Ron prepared to do his duty, like a Gryffindor.

He conjured his Jack Russell terrier Patronus and prepared a message to the person he knew was ready for a counteroffensive and had the means and power to carry it out. Ron sent the message to Draco Malfoy.

Hermione looked for Draco, but couldn't find him at all. He was neither in the Library nor in the Great Hall, and the Room of Requirement was empty. Where could the elusive Malfoy be?

Hermione decided to look for him in the Hufflepuff den. She found the gang there. Susan and Hannah were engaged in a heated discussion with Justin. Robert and Terry appeared to be discussing the merits of a scientific philosophy – or a girl. With a bored face, Daphne followed their discussion tiredly.

Ginny was glaring unobtrusively at Justin as she finished her Potions homework. Dean was assiduously reading what appeared to be a book about soccer matches through the years.

Draco was reading some books dealing with magical containment fields. Hermione nodded in greeting to the gang and sat down beside Draco.

Hermione said worriedly, "I have important news. I've found that magical containment fields could be cast inside wards, nullifying any attempt to perform magic in such places like the Wizengamot, or Hogwarts. I looked up who had read the book and Harry's name came up." Hermione bit her lower lip as she said, "I think the confrontation we have been hoping for and dreading is at hand."

Right then a grey terrier Patronus appeared and stopped in front of Draco. The message sent was, "I need your help, Malfoy. Harry is out of control and conspires with McGonagall to put some wards upon Hogwarts, to take away our magic. Several Aurors with guns will then swarm into Hogwarts and capture you. Harry wants you in some prison so the Purebloods' cause is ruined in front of the public. I followed Harry, but no more. He is acting as if he's possessed, and I want the rest of the students to be safe."

Draco took out the Serpent's Map from under other parchments. He put his hands on it and waited for it to activate but nothing happened. A nervous blond started shaking the parchment, trying to make it show the school so he could locate Harry, but still nothing came up.

Hermione grabbed his hand and whispered, "I know what is going on. The containment field has been activated and at the moment no magic can be performed in Hogwarts." Hermione grabbed both of Draco's hands with hers and whispered, "My research indicates that wandless magic still works as it depends more on magical meditation, so our plan is still on, Draco!"

The blond had an inkling that the Black Mirror may function still, because it did not depend so much on ambient magic as on the presence of the other Mirror. But he realized that Miriam would undoubtedly answer his call. He would have to deal with his sister, and spend precious minutes trying to get her to call Lucius. He needed to find a faster way.

Of course, if the Black Mirror functioned, the magical portraits would still work, too. The portraits depended on intricate magical dimensions to move through physical space. But he just couldn't leave here and search for Severus in the midst of the final confrontation.

Draco opened the door and stepped out of the den. He went to the wider corridor and noticed a scrawny figure passing by. Draco mentally shouted with glee, of course, a Slytherin could help him!

He called a greeting to Elias Flint. The young Slytherin, when he heard his name called, turned and beheld Draco. He said, "How are you, Draco? Things going fine?"

Draco smirked half-heartedly and said, "I need a favor of you, Elias. I need you to go to the Headmistress's office and ask to speak to Snape about a potion, make something up so McGonagall does not suspect."

"I need you to relay a message to Severus. Tell him that Hogwarts is magically interdicted; no magic can be performed here. We need the help and succor of my father. Tell him I would go speak with him personally, but I have bearish thoughts."

"Got that?"
"Yes, Draco."

"Now go, before the others notice their powers are gone and stampede McGonagall's office!"

The young Slytherin left immediately, heeding Draco's advice. He had some trouble reaching the Headmistress's office, because the magical stairs no longer worked. Fortunately for him, they were still connected to the right floors; unfortunately, he had to climb them without any assistance from the stairs themselves, so it was tiring.

Elias made it to the door where the gargoyle usually was. The statue was motionless, but the door was ajar, so Elias was able to sneak in, climb the stairs and enter the room.

McGonagall was startled and jumped when Elias showed up. She said, "What are you doing here, Mr. Flint? Is this another plot of yours?"

Elias answered calmly, "I need to speak to Snape. I have trouble understanding how the Felix felicis potion works. I need his explanations. Slughorn does not want to assist me."

"Impossible, Mr. Flint! Of all the nerve…"
Flint smirked to himself as he replied calmly, "Then I will have to inform the ombudswoman of your less than stellar support of a student under your care."

McGonagall was forced to cave in, grumbling about slimy Slytherins while she left the office to look for her good students.

Elias approached the portrait of Severus Snape. The former Headmaster and Head of Slytherin observed the student curiously. He was one of the younger Slytherins and one he had hopes for. Severus nodded.

Elias nodded back and proceeded to tell Draco's message. He concluded with, "At the end he said he had… tiggerish thoughts, or maybe leonine recollections, or was it bearish thoughts? I don't remember, I only know it was a big animal."

Severus told him adieu and also advised him to barricade himself in Slytherin, if the need arose.

After receiving the disquieting news, Severus knew what Draco expected him to do, especially with that comment at the end. Really, he needed to teach the boy more Slytherin finesse, that remark was too Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw.

Scowling, Severus prepared to travel to his frame in Malfoy Manor. Once before, he had traveled through the Vanishing Cabinets and felt the sense of disorientation when you ceased being here and started being there. He'd found that the same sensation appeared when he traveled through frames.

He duly appeared in his frame at Malfoy Manor and found the parlor empty. He started bellowing, "Lucius, get your skinny ass right down this minute!" A startled elf dropped the containers he was carrying and went to get his master.

Presently Lucius appeared, together with Narcissa and what Severus took to be the parents of Justin Finch-Fletchley. That curly hair was pretty unique.

Severus said peremptorily, "The situation at Hogwarts is untenable. It has been put under some condition that interdicts magic. It appears that no magic may be used inside Hogwarts. Draco sent me word of this and expressed his bearish thoughts. Got that, Lucius?"

Lucius made to grab his cane and go out of the room. Narcissa held him and asked him worriedly, "What does that mean, Lucius?"
The blond replied, "Draco wants me to go to Hogwarts and help him, using my Animagus form. Of course I will do it. You need to stay here with Jason and Antonia."

This time it was Jason who put his foot down. The curly-haired blond replied enraged, "So you want to leave me behind as you face a big problem, Luc? I know I am only a Muggle; you wizards seem to have the firm opinion that either a Muggle is a child that is completely helpless, or he is a dark being intent on destroying everything different. The truth lies in between, Lucius. I can take care of myself among wizards, maybe using some Muggle inventions."

Jason lowered his voice as he finished, "And I know you are not all powerful as a bear, Lucius. You have your Achilles' heel that needs to be taken into account."

Lucius replied, "I know you care about my safety, Jason. But I have seen wizards react with utmost hate and destruction in their souls – I have even been a part of them, which I deeply regret. I know their unrestricted power and the havoc it causes. I would not have you in it if I could avoid it." Here Lucius raised up his hand, forestalling Jason's argument. "But I also know how stubborn you are, so if you want to come, do so, just use your Muggle inventions and take care."

Lucius said hurried goodbyes to Narcissa. He said, "If I don't come back, take half the money and go to Europe, don't stay and sacrifice your life and the children lives' too. Say goodbye to Mi for me, will you?"

Jason bid goodbye to Antonia, promising to take care of Justin's welfare. Antonia turned away as he left, brushing the tears from her cheeks.
Lucius kissed Narcissa as he led Jason outside, ready to go to the gates of Hogwarts. He waved goodbye to Severus and smirked one last time.

They used a portkey and were duly transported. The castle of Hogwarts looked impressive, expressing the endurance that had withstood the centuries. Twilight was here. There were shadows everywhere, the muted colors of the end of day permeated the atmosphere and lent everything a reflective, sad aura.

When they were about to touch the gates, Lucius transformed. He knew what he had to do; he had known it since receiving Draco's message. So Hogwarts was interdicted? That meant the person behind it, and that could be only Potter, would manipulate things so the Aurors would storm a defenseless enemy. The thing was, no one could do magic in Hogwarts, not even the Aurors. What to do?

They must have thought that they would prevail if they used sheer numbers. The problem for them would be when they faced an enraged Polar bear.

Lucius became such a bear. He roared as his paws made mincemeat of the front gates of Hogwarts and he pushed away the troubling doors.

Even though Jason had read up on bears and was aware of the transformation, it was a shock seeing your best friend transform into a Polar Bear weighing 1,300 lb, and having a length of 9 feet. This made him feel like one of those elves, Jason felt very small. He mused if his son Justin could also transform into an animal. What would he transform into? Maybe a Kodiak bear. He was interrupted out of his bearish thoughts by the soft sounds of Lucius's pads as he moved.

The polar bear had an elongated body, a longer skull and nose than normal bears.

Bear Lucius' legs were stocky and he had small ears and tail, of course the bear had striking grey eyes and completely white fur, except for the nose.

Jason noted that fortunately the temperature of the January night was around 10° C, which was ok for Lucius, because if the temperature was too hot he would overheat more rapidly. He knew that polar bears have an enormously sensitive sense of smell, so he hoped that Lucius would direct them to the point where their sons were probably fighting for their lives. Jason tentatively touched his jacket pocket, where he had something that could potentially save them.

Bear Malfoy entered Hogwarts, and smelling the air tentatively, reached a conclusion and with a lumbering gait, started climbing the stairs.

oOoOo

When Elias left, hopefully bearing his message, Draco returned to the den and sat down next to an anxious Hermione. He asked the Gryffindor, "Do you have everything?"

Hermione replied, "Yes, I do, Draco. Will everything turn out ok?"
"I hope so. We have worked hard to ensure it comes our way."

The next minutes passed uneventfully. Then the door was forcibly yanked open and Aurors started pouring in, at least ten Aurors entered. All of them were brandishing guns. At last, a smirking Seamus made his grand entrance, followed by a twinkling Harry.

Harry beamed at them, and one could almost believe it was really Harry except when the illusion was broken by the all-knowing, twinkling eyes or cruel semi-smirks.

Harry/Dumbledore finally said, "Isn't this a great thing I do, Hermione? I made sure that no magic could be done in Hogwarts and then I invited our true friends, the Aurors, to join us via the Vanishing Cabinets that my esteemed counterpart repaired! Is it not an act of great retribution?

"When the other side knows what has happened to their prince, they will capitulate and allow the Marriage Law to prevail, as it was meant to be. Their side will be shamed with all the things Malfoy has done, or rather, the things I say Malfoy has done. No more Blood wars, and if some Purebloods have to suffer, that goes with the territory. The game is mine, now. No one will dare revolt against me when the vaunted Draco Malfoy sits in Nurmengard Prison. Of course, 'it's for the greater good,' as is thoughtfully written over the entrance."

Now Harry/Dumbledore directed his stare to the other members of the gang, and he said cordially. "Of course nothing will happen to you, Hermione, you will go on to marry Ron as planned, and as for the rest of you, all you have to do is stand aside and let me deal with this Dark wizard and you'll be free to go."

Harry/Dumbledore affably took out a bag of candy as he offered, "Lemon dr…
"Hey, Hermione!"

Hermione had interrupted the self-congratulatory speech of Harry/Dumbledore launching herself at him. She slapped him thoroughly and then ducked to avoid an Auror hitting her in the face with a gun.

So the battle was joined. The gang remained true and fought like a bunch of Tasmanian Devils. But they were wary of the guns in the inexperienced hands of the Aurors, as well they should be, and the tide of the battle was turning inexorably to the side of Harry/Dumbledore.

Seamus was smirking and glorying in the defeat of Malfoy, which is why he paid no attention to a certain bushy-haired witch, who appeared to be surprisingly calm and collected in the middle of the storm.

Hermione entered a meditative trance and flawlessly performed wandless magic. She bound Seamus: he could neither move nor speak to alert Harry.
Then there was a commotion at the door as the two Aurors who had been holding it open were seemingly yanked outside and disappeared after really frightful screams.

Three other Aurors went there to hold the fort, and two of them quickly disappeared, while the third one, a middle-aged woman, screamed, "A white demon is attacking us, Merlin save us!"
Then she disappeared too.

The number of Aurors was quickly diminishing, which meant that the ones remaining in the room had fewer chances. Two of these went down after Justin brandished a chair and hit one of them in the head with it; he threw the other one on the wall and punched him, knocking him out. Dean Thomas kicked another one and jumped on him, knocking his head to the floor and leaving him unconscious.

Two other Aurors went to the doors, guns ready to shoot. A lonely Auror was staring intently at Susan and Hannah. The man smirked and raised his gun, directing it toward Draco's heart. Thanks to his movie experience, Draco knew that if he was hit on the chest with one of those things, life would be dim. But there was nothing he could do, at the moment, he was lifting himself from the floor where he'd kicked another Auror and then wandlessly cast an Immobulus spell.

He was still processing all this when the Auror pulled the trigger and the gun went off, really loud and startling. But the bullet did not hit Draco.

Draco looked up and wondered where the bullet had gone, when he saw the reason and he paled. Hannah, his Hannah, had jumped in front of the bullet!
He felt despair gnawing inside him. He could not let Hannah die! It wasn't meant to be!

Jason wanted Bear Lucius to walk more rapidly; but after all, how fast can you move 1,300 lbs? So he contented himself to walk beside Bear Malfoy. The castle was eerily quiet and there were few sconces lighted, presumably the ones that did not depend on magic. The portraits looked on with worried eyes at the bear and the man slowly walking inside Hogwarts.

Even Peeves was diffident. The poltergeist, after seeing Lucius's bulk, obviously decided on discretion and left them to their own devices.

Eventually they arrived at a corridor where a door was held ajar by two men. The Polar bear pounced on them, he mauled them quickly and silently so they could not cause any more trouble. This mode of operation continued as the bear was seemingly intent on catching as many miscreants as he could, before mauling them and sending them cold to the floor. Even if they had guns, the men obviously were not too familiar with such weapons.

Jason marveled at the intelligence of the bear when he mentally smacked himself. 'Of course he is intelligent, he is Lucius after all. I need to look out for him.'

The last two miscreants to come out the door had their guns ready. This time, they were not surprised and pointed their guns at the bear. Jason did not know about the capabilities of Animagi, but he knew that a gunshot could prove fatal, even to a Polar bear.

So he took out from his pocket his secret weapon, a tranquilizer gun. Jason swiftly shot the two would-be assailants and sent them to sleep for long hours.

Then Jason entered the room, while the Polar bear remained by the door. Both were shocked by what they saw.

When Draco finally stood up and turned to help Hannah, he was struck with an Immobulus. Draco swore to himself: of course he should have remembered that Dumbledore could also cast wandless magic flawlessly. Surely this was contemplated in Dumbledore's plans and he was just toying with them before springing the big guns.

From his position on the floor, Draco saw that Hermione had also been struck. He mentally sneered: 'Prepare to meet your doom, Dumbledore!'

Draco concentrated on snakes, 'serpientes,' 'Schlangen,' 'serpens,' 'serpents.' When he achieved the trance he cast Serpensortia wandlessly.

An adult black mamba appeared. He had a length of seven feet. He had grey brown skin; his eyes were obsidian, as black as deepest night. The mamba hissed and followed Draco's spoken order. He slithered close to Harry. A very surprised Harry/Dumbledore hissed to the black mamba, "You cannot attack me, I am a true speaker. I order you to desist."

The mamba paused, as if unsure what to do, when a new voice hissed, "Do not listen to him! I am a speaker too. I brought you here and order you to bite him. You will obey me!"

Harry/Dumbledore turned betrayed green eyes toward Draco. A non-twinkling Harry asked mournfully in parseltongue, "How?"

The black mamba having been given strong orders, he approached Harry rapidly. When he got to the striking position, the mamba flattened his neck, hissed very loudly and displayed his inky black mouth and fangs.

Finally the mamba struck like lightning and bit Harry in the neck.

Draco ordered the serpent, "Stay here, and do not bite anyone else. We may have need of your venom to prepare more remedy."

Then Draco tried to give an uplifting message to Harry to wish him well in his upcoming trials. Unfortunately he could not say 'I love you' in parseltongue, but perhaps he could come close.

As he stared at the green eyes he loved, Draco hissed, "You are my nest, my succor in the coldest night lies by your side. After a grueling day under the relentless sun, your skin soothes me. You are the egg I came from, and the welcoming Earth that embraces us all. Together, side by side, we'll brave eternity."

Then Harry sank into the enveloping darkness, and he knew no more.

Chapter thirty-one