CHAPTER 17 – THE KIDNAPPING
“Hey, what subjects are you going to pick?”
“I dunno, what about you?”
The trio held their parchments on their laps, trying to decide which elective subjects to take for their third year. It was a pretty short list, with only 5 subjects, but the trio was still wracking their brains trying to decide.
“I, for one, am taking Divination,” Jude said, ticking that subject. “No point wasting the crystal ball. I just love venturing into the unknown!”
“I’m definitely taking Arithmancy and Ancient Runes,” Rach declared. “I love to study ancient languages and counting.”
“I dunno,” Becka went undecided. “Care of Magical Creatures sounds OK, but all these subjects seemed difficult yet interesting, except Muggle Studies. No way am I taking that!”
Finally, after much wondering and pondering, Jude decided on Divination, Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures. Becka finally chose Care of Magical Creatures and Arithmancy. Rach stuck to her original decision. They signed their parchment and sent an owl to Prof. Dumbledore’s office.
“Guys, look, look! Look what I got!” Becka squealed as she took out a box she put under the table. Jude and Rach craned their necks and squealed in delight as well. There were 3 kittens: one was pure black, another was pure white and the last one was black with white on its feet, tip of the tail, ears and a shape of a white diamond on its forehead. All of them stared back at them with glassy blue eyes.
“Kawaii-ne!” Jude giggled as she picked up one to cuddle. Rach also took one. “I suppose they’ve done weaning?”
“Almost,” Becka replied proudly. “One of my juniors was shocked to find her white Persian cat missing. She was in a glum for days. Salem also constantly disappeared to goodness-knows-where and only returned during bedtime. Finally we decided to follow Salem to see where he went and we both found him and the Persian cat in a very dark corner of the common room weaning 6 kittens!”
“Interesting!” Rach said admiringly. Of course, the Ice Queen that she was, she didn’t tell anyone about her plans on searching for a remedy to make Slipper human. No way was she going to get him a mate. Slipper belongs to her and her alone.
“My Max had a hitch on one of my juniors’ Doberman dog,” Jude said grudgingly, “and that rascal got that bitch pregnant. My junior was horrified. He insisted on me paying a fine sum of penalty. Could you imagine him asking me to pay 30 Galleons just because of Mother Nature’s natural grace? The nerve of him!”
“So did you pay?” Becka asked.
“Nope. Draco helped me out by somewhat blackmailing the junior. So the junior finally relented by telling me to take all the puppies away as soon as they’re born. He is so bored!”
“Looks like Draco still has a hick on you, even when you are so over-ratedly pregnant,” Rach commented witih a sly grin.
“Excuse me! I’m not the only one over-ratedly pregnant here! You guys are also into this, remember?!”
“Hey, girls! Anything interesting you’d like to share with me?” A voice called them from behind. The ever familiar (and famous) Harry Potter.
“Good morning, Harry,” the trio said in unison.
“Quidditch seasons is here again. Interested in joining?”
“Um…F.Y.I?” Becka cleared her throat and pointed at her abdomen. Rach and Jude did the same.
“Oh, sorry. I forgot,” Harry replied sheepishly. “Well, there’s always next year.”
“How many more months, Harry?” Jude asked. “Of course, we don’t feel any bulge, that’s good news, but the whole thing is just dragging and dragging like heck! We’re tried of being over-protected by everyone, especially that fussy ol’ Madame Pomfrey!”
“Including you!” Becka said, pointing at the awkward Harry.
“Don’t worry, girls. I may not be sure about the whole thing, but when it’s time, I’m sure you’ll be in good hands.”
“That’s what we’re afraid of,” Rach said, a hint of ‘Duh’ in her tone.
The Quidditch game was, again, a big hit. Everyone was enthusiastic, especially the trio. They cheered madly at every game the teams score and every Bludger the team players managed to escape and hit. And most importantly, the exhilaration when the Seeker gets the Snitch.
But their fun was short-lived. Weird things kept happening on the field. The Bludgers suddenly went wild and almost broke a player’s leg and skinned many others. The Quaffle came alive and attacked the players. Even the Golden Snitch deliberately made itself found and bit the players fiercely.
Yes, it actually bites.
The last straw was that the sky suddenly turned dark—like a thunder storm coming—thick with evil. Everyone gasped. They recognized that evil.
It was the evil of Voldemort.
Thunder boomed. Lightning flashed. Showers of fatal, treacherous lightning came down and struck the Quidditch teams and the spectators, focusing on the trio. Everyone panicked and ran to seek refuge in the castle. A strong invisible force pinned the trio down. Jude was able to counter it and was heading towards her girlfriends to save them when all of a sudden, Jude was struck by the incoming lightning. Jude yelled in pain before collapsing to the ground. By then, the force has lifted itself from Rach and Becka.
“Jude! Jude, oh no, Jude! Don’t die!” Becka cried as she tried to shake Jude awake.
“I’m fine. I’m not dead yet. I just can’t move right now…” Jude said slowly. “Am I still alive?”
“Duh! Obviously you are! You scared us…” Rach was about to help her up when she heard a stern call.
“What are you girls still doing here?!” It was Prof. Snape, risking his life through the showering lightning bolts towards the trio. “You dunderheads will be killed! Get inside the castle this instance!”
Hagrid was behind him, and with one swipe, he picked up Jude by the waist and hobbled along behind Prof. Snape leading the other two back into Hogwarts castle. Jude groaned slightly—she was hoping Prof. Snape would carry her in his arms.
Everyone gathered at the Great hall. Rach and Becka were ushered inside towards the staff’s table. Jude was taken to the Hospital Wing straight away and, to Jude’s dread, Madame Pomfrey got shocked off the roof again and fussed at her all over. Prof. Dumbledore announced to everyone to stay in their dorms for the rest of the day. Prof. Dumbledore then took the other duo and Harry to the Hospital Wing to check and see if Jude was alright.
“You OK now, Jude?” Rach asked, feeling her forehead for a temperature.
“Yeah, I suppose. I thought I was a goner.”
“Are you sure?” Harry asked, worried. “That was one hard blow. Any normal wizard or Muggle could get killed.”
“I’m perfectly a-OK,” Jude reassured them. “No biggie, really. Although I am surprised of being able to survive.”
“Then…is the baby…?” Becka asked, feeling even more worried than the others.
“The child is alright. He really is a fighter, that baby,” Madame Pomfrey replied, then turned to Jude and said, “It’s a boy. I used a spell to see it.”
Everyone sighed in relief.
Prof. McGonagalle and Prof. Snape stepped into the Hospital Wing. Jude blushed and looked away from him. Her heart still thumped at the sight of the cold, shoulder-length haired professor—she didn’t want him to see her blushing.
“All students have been sent to their dorms. The Great Hall is totally evacuated,” Prof. McGonagalle, as Deputy Headmistress, reported to her superior. Prof. Dumbledore nodded.
“I’m sure you’re aware that what happened just now is neither ordinary sorcery nor bad weather. He’s finally found out about the Witches’ whereabouts.”
“But even if he knew about where we are,” Rach said, “he would never enter Hogwarts! He couldn’t even step into Hogwarts! The book on Hogwarts’ history said so.”
“Unless we have a spy or an accomplice working for him. A Death Eater, perhaps,” Harry secretly eyed at Prof. Snape.
“Or maybe Voldemort has become so strong, he could penetrate the castle within seconds!” Becka said in dread.
“Alright,” Prof. Dumbledore decided to take charge of things. “Suppose Harry’s right. Maybe there is a spy among Hogwarts, maybe not. I shall go and see to this matter personally. The point is we have to ensure the Witches’ safety.”
“I suggest we move the Witches to our own dormitories. It is not safe to let them go back to their own dorms anymore,” Prof. Snape suddenly suggested. Everyone, except Prof. Dumbledore, looked at him as if he had lost his marbles.
“Very well,” Prof. Dumbledore nodded in agreement. “Girls, you are going to live in your house teachers’ room for the time being. You’ll be safe with grown-ups around you.”
“But I don’t want to live with Prof. Flitwick!!” Rach protested. “He may be nice, but I don’t fancy living in the same room with him!”
Prof. Dumbledore chuckled and said, “Very well. You can stay with Prof. Sinistra then.”
Rach clapped her hands with glee.
It has been 2 weeks since the trio has been living with their teachers. They were adjusting pretty well with their new surroundings, except Jude. It was the first time for Jude to step into Prof. Snape’s domain. Everything was as dark and as sinister as he was. Jude couldn’t help feeling awkward every time she entered his room. The first time she came, Prof. Snape gave her so many ground rules, like ‘Don’t touch this’, ‘Don’t move that’, ‘Don’t sit there’, ‘Don’t let your dog on anything’, etc, etc…
“Are you expecting me just stand here and don’t move?”
“If you are capable to do so, I suppose you should.”
Jude scowled at him and said, “Very well then. I will do the exact opposite of everything you say, if that’s the attitude I have to face every time I enter this room.”
So saying, she ran towards Prof. Snape’s bedroom and jumped onto his grayish-blue bed, tossing and turning around as she let her whole body have the feel of the soft, fluffy bed. When Prof. Snape gave chase, she got off the bed and got herself a drink from Prof. Snape’s jar and glass on his table. She even rushed to his bathroom and tested the running water from the eerie gargoyle-shaped tap he had. She rushed to his shelves of books and flipped through almost every book he had there. Finally she went into his office which was attached to his room by a secret door on the wall and looked at all the potion ingredients he had on his shelf. Prof. Snape stormed into the office and grabbed the jar of silverweed she was holding.
“If you ever step into this office without my personal permission and touch my things, I am going to…”
“What?” Jude looked at him as if he was just an insignificant other. “You’ll put a curse on me?”
Prof. Snape glared at the unmoving Jude venomously before letting out a sharp huff, saying, “If there is nothing else you want to do here, I shall have to ask you to leave immediately!”
Jude let out a sweet smile and said as she left the office, “That wasn’t so bad now, wasn’t it?”
That night, when they were about to turn in, Jude was ordered to sleep on the sofa bed that was opposite the grayish-blue bed of Prof. Snape. He threw her some old, but still intact, blankets for her and retired to his own bed. Jude stayed on the sofa bed for quite sometime until she heard the faint breathing of Prof. Snape asleep on his bed. Slowly she sneaked out of the sofa bed and let Max the dog take her place. She hushed the dog, tucked him in and crept as silently as possible towards Prof. Snape’s bed.
When she was about to climb up the bed, Prof. Snape suddenly sat up with his wand pointing dangerously at her throat. Jude gasped and froze in the midway. Prof. Snape let out an exasperated sigh and growled, “What do you think you’re doing?”
“I just wanna sleep with you. That sofa bed was quite uncomfortable,” Jude replied as she slipped into his blanket.
“Get out, Light. You know very well you’re not supposed to be here.”
“No,” Jude said indignantly as she brought the blanket over her. She closed her eyes and refused to budge. Prof. Snape actually had to use the Wingardium Leviosa spell to get rid of her.
That was the first night in Prof. Snape’s room. The next nights to come, she tried to creep up to Prof. Snape’s bed again and again, but to no avail. He always shooed her away with the levitation spell. Finally, at the second last day of the first week, she succeeded. Prof. Snape did wake up to find her sleeping beside him and wanted to use the spell but in the end, he got tired of it. He let her be.
Jude, half-asleep as she was, could have sworn she felt Prof. Snape’s arm around her.
The night was calm. The trio slept peacefully at their respective house teachers’ rooms. As usual, Jude would climb up to Prof. Snape’s bed and lay down to sleep beside him. Only Rach and Becka had no complaints about having a sofa bed as a place to sleep.
Suddenly, a soft mellow music echoed through the moon-lit sky. It was the tune of a flute, playing nice and slow, like a song from the horizon. It was obviously directed only to Becka because she got up from her sofa bed automatically and yet Prof. McGonagalle didn’t stir. She walked out of the room, her eyes glowing red. Salem woke up when he felt himself slide off Becka’s tummy and tried to grope at her in vain. The trance she fell into was too deep.
The music brought her to the Quidditch field. A dark figure was standing there, waiting, playing the flute. If Salem were to follow her, he would’ve recognized the smell of that figure, including another smell. A smell of evil.
Pure evil. Pure venom.
The figure stopped playing. He put down his flute and waited until Becka regained her consciousness. The clouds moved rapidly by a strong gust of icy-cold wind. Becka came back to her senses and look to see where she was.
“This…is the field. What am I doing here? Have I been sleep-walking? Weird…”
By then, she noticed the figure’s presence. The moon was covered by the dark clouds. She squinted her eyes to see him better but she could only make out his shape.
“Who are you? What are you doing here? What am I doing here?”
The figure didn’t reply. He just stood there in silence. Slowly, someone else appeared, descending himself to the ground from above. He passed his broom to the first figure and walked towards Becka. He held her down. Becka recognized this grasp. It felt like…
Before she could make sense of it all, a grayish-black mist emitted from the first figure’s back. It stood tall and mighty, like a huge Eiffel Tower of Paris. Becka gaped as it continued to tower over them and tried to cower away, but the person holding her had a much stronger grip. All of a sudden, the ‘mist’s’ eyes popped open, glowing red. Like serpent’s eyes. The mist continued to form into a shape of a middle-aged man.
Those eyes rang a bell. Becka staggered backwards, “Vol…Volde…”
“Get the Dark Witch. Now,” A deep rumbling came from the man. He stretched out an arm with spidery fingers and gave the figure a slight shove. The figure dug out his wand from his robe sleeve and advanced towards Becka. As the moon slowly reappeared from behind the clouds, Becka could see the people who tried to get hold of her. She looked behind, then looked to the front. She gasped and stammered, “You…It’s you…!”
The figure waved his wand at her and immediately, the mark she got on her left wrist began to burn like hell. She tried to scream but the figure that first held her down clasped his hand over her mouth. Becka’s eyes burned red for a few seconds as the mark on her hand glowed like a burning coal. Slowly Becka fainted and fell into the figure’s arms. He picked her up and sat her beside him on the broom. Voldemort let out a devilish laugh.
“My Lord…What are you going to do with her?” the figure with the broom asked.
“What do you think I want to do with her?” Voldemort asked with a hint of evil in his voice.
“But you promised…”
“Emotions are always a weakness. Have you forgotten that? Isn’t this what you wanted to get back at Harry?”
“But I…” the figure held Becka closer to him.
“Come away. We’ll discuss this later.”
“My Lord…” the other figure breathed as he fell on his knees. He seemed weak after the ordeal of letting Voldemort who was attached on his back out into the open.
“You will not die. I promised you your life now, haven’t I? You’re on your own now.”
Voldemort materialized a broom from his hand and flew away with the other figure out of Hogwarts ground. The weak figure fell onto the ground like a fallen tree, gasping silently for breath.
“I’m sorry, Rebecca…I had to do this…”
Under the moonlight, his golden long hair shone.
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