CHAPTER 18 – ENEMY AT THE GATES
“What?! Rebecca has disappeared?!” Prof. Dumbledore exclaimed.
“I’m sorry, Albus. I didn’t know she would sneak out. I didn’t even realize that she left. I’m so sorry…” Prof. McGonagalle apologized profusely.
“No time for that now,” Prof. Lupin urged. “We have to look for her now. She might still be in the premises.”
Jude and Rach, who overheard their conversation, also joined them in their search. They searched from one place to another and even checked the dungeons. When all places were checked but there was no sign of Becka, Jude decided to use Max for a change. She let him smell her shoes and ordered him to track down the scent. Max took them all the way to the Quidditch field where they found Tony lying on the grass unconscious. His robes were torn to shreds and his back was not a pretty sight. It was exposed, and I mean fully exposed to the bone. It was as if someone ripped his back skin apart, revealing his muscles and tendons and everything. He was immediately rushed to the Hospital Wing where Madame Pomfrey sprinkled some brick-coloured dust onto his back. The duo could see his new skin crawling up his literally bare back.
“What happened?” Jude asked, but Tony’s face looked as if he was close to death that she decided not to press it further. She noticed the slash scars and burns on the rest of his body, which proved that he was an ex-Death Eater. Madame Pomfrey shooed them out of the Hospital Wing and continued her work in bandaging his back.
“It looks serious,” Rach commented.
“Serious? He looked like Fluffy just had him for a midnight snack!” Jude exclaimed.
“Fluffy? Who’s Fluffy?” Rach looked at her surprisingly.
“Hagrid’s Greek 3-headed dog. About this big and this tall,” Jude replied, using her arms as a measurement.
“You gotta be kidding me!” Rach said in disbelief.
“You can check it out if you want.”
“As a matter of fact, I will. Take me to him.”
When Jude took her to the prohibited third corridor and showed her Fluffy, Rach froze on the spot. The huge, giant 3-headed dog sniffed and growled at her. Jude went over to pacify him.
“There, there, Fluffy. It’s alright. We’re here to visit. She’s a friend. That’s a sweetie pup.”
A small rumble came out of Fluffy—a sort of dog-purr—as he rubbed his 3 heads onto Jude’s palm. Rach still remained at the same spot, quite taken aback by the humongous ferocity of the canine.
“How did you actually make friends with this…beast?” Rach asked.
“I, uh, sorta skipped Prof. Snape’s class a few times and during my free time, Hagrid introduced me to Fluffy.”
“Fluffy? That’s one big irony if I would say so myself.”
“The more vicious the animal, the nicer the name. That’s what Hagrid told me.”
As the girls played around with Fluffy, Hagrid appeared with three large dog bowls dragging behind him on a trolley. Hagrid smiled and said, “Aye, lassies! I see ye bin friends wi’ ol’ Fluffy ‘ere, eh?”
“Hi, Hagrid!” the girls said in unison.
“It’s very rare to sees ol’ Fluffy ‘av any friends. He gits lonely ‘ere sometimes. He’s only got ol’ Hagrid ‘ere fer company, ye know. He’s very hostile to ‘em students.”
“I bet,” Rach agreed. “Just look at how he sucks up on Jude.”
“That’s because I handle dogs a lot, unlike you being obsessed with your Slipper! You oughta marry that serpenet if you love him so much!” Jude replied with a grin.
“Maybe I should, you dogface!” Rach scowled as she blushed. That was exactly what she intended to do anyway.
“Speakin’ of snakes, is dis snakeskin belonging to yer lil’ snake, Rachel?” Hagrid asked as he held up a long snake skin he took out from his bushy coat.
“Yes! Absolutely!” Rach exclaimed as she took a look at the snakeskin. It definitely was that earth colour her Slipper had. “Where did you get it, Hagrid?”
“I found it on me way tuh ‘ere. I wuz cleaning de spectators’ benches at de Quidditch field when I sees this snake skin. Then ye girls suddenly appeared at de field wi’ dat golden-haired boy lyin’ on the field. Funny I didn’t sees him coz he was right der. Must be me age…”
“Thanks, Hagrid!” Rach said as she dragged Jude back to her room at Prof. Sinistra’s domain. Jude was surprised at her sudden behaviour.
“What is with you, Rach? If there’s something in your mind you can just say it!”
“I’ve read stuff about your father being a Parselmouth, you know, as in having the ability to talk to snakes,” Rach said as she said the password to the wall, revealing Prof. Sinistra’s room.
“Yeah, so?” Jude was getting confused.
“Whatever your father had, you must have inherited some of it. You can talk to him about last night. Slipper! Slipper, where are you?”
“Why would I want to talk to your snake?” Jude wrinkled her nose.
“Try to recall. Hagrid said that he found Slipper’s skin at the Quidditch field—Slipper, come here—so he must have been there last night for some reason!” Rach stooped to pick up the python. “He must’ve seen something last night. He might know who kidnapped Becka!”
“By gosh, you’re right!” Jude said as she took Slipper and put him around her neck. “OK, I just learnt how to do this—Harry taught me—let’s see how it works.”
Jude started to hiss and slur at Slipper, talking to him in Parseltongue. When they finished their conversation, Jude’s face became dark and her eyes were screaming murder.
“So…what did he say?” Rach asked.
Jude didn’t reply. She got up abruptly and ran out of the room. Rach didn’t have time to ask questions. The only thing she could do was follow Jude from behind.
Tony was quite taken aback when he saw Jude storming into the Hospital Wing. He somehow knew that his secret was discovered. He was ready for it. He had been waiting for this moment a long time.
“How could you do this? How could you be in alliance with Voldemort and help him kidnap Becka?! You’re a Death Eater all along!!” Jude’s eyes blazed green with fury. Harry, who was visiting Tony, was taken by surprise.
Tony grinned and showed his Death Eater mark on his wrist to her, “That’s right, Judith. I am in alliance with the Dark Lord. I was chosen by the Dark Lord to keep an eye on you Witches for years now! I’m not an ex-Death Eater. I never left the Dark Lord. I’m a Muggle-born, born and bred at your birthplace in Asia after my parents migrated there from Scotland. I have been watching you girls ever since you have developed your powers, Judith. Did you know how long that is?”
Jude slapped Tony real hard, squarely on his cheek, until the corner of his lips bled. Madame Pomfrey slowly inched her way out of the Hospital Wing to report this to Prof. Dumbledore. Tony licked the blood off his lips and said, “You’ll have to do better than that, Judith. The Dark Lord is best at torturing people. This is child’s play.”
“How could you?! How dare you?! I trusted you!! You’re…You’re my best friend!”
“Friend?” Tony laughed bitterly. “That is a foolish movement. Emotions are always weaknesses of man. Nevertheless my love for you, Judith, is true. Well, it used to be.”
“Bull! If you love Jude so much, you wouldn’t be doing this! Betraying her, betraying us, betraying Hogwarts! Entering here as a spy! You got some nerve!” Rach snarled, her eyes also beginning to glow blue.
“Do you think I would be stupid enough to fall in love with an archenemy? Well, unfortunately, I have become a temporary fool, but not anymore!” Tony replied with a smirk.
“Why are you doing this, Tony? Jude is your friend!” Harry said as he moved towards Rach’s side.
“You call someone who killed your parents a friend?! Get real, Harry, you hated the Dark Lord down to the bone for killing your parents! You should know how I feel!!”
“I don’t know your parents,” Jude replied. “I didn’t kill anybody.”
“Oh, you didn’t!” Tony waved his hands sarcastically. “What do you call killing off a whole bunch of innocent people in the playground? I was there, Judith. I saw you going all freaky and you murdered my parents right in front of my eyes!! You killed without mercy, damn it! If it weren’t for Lucius Malfoy, I would’ve become your victim too!!!”
“Lucius Malfoy?!” Harry exclaimed. “Draco’s father?! He’s still with Voldemort? That dirty rat…”
“The Dark Lord took me in. He trained me to be cold and heartless and to show no mercy. He gave me the assignment to watch over you, to spy on you for many long years. The year you got your letters from Hogwarts, I reported it to Voldemort straightaway. Lucius helped me enroll into Hogwarts. He had been a good help. The Dark Lord borrowed my body so that he could pitch into Hogwarts to get a closer look at our dear Witches.”
“The same way he did with Prof. Quirrell!” Harry exclaimed again.
“Exactly. Finally when I came to you face to face at the Hogwarts Express, I swear I wanted to kill you there and then. But you saved me from choking, and I found myself being a fool and fell in love with you. I hoped that once you’re on my side, the Dark Lord would spare your life and make you into a potential Death Eater. But no, you have disappointed me. The Dark Lord was right; emotions are foolish things! You broke my heart and I wanted you to pay! That’s why I sort of ‘swept you off your feet’ that night you rejected my confession. I was hoping you would break your neck, but the Dark Lord actually turned you into inferno.”
“So it was you who constantly send her on fire!” Rach growled in contempt.
“Not me, it was the Dark Lord. He could be murderous sometimes,” Tony grinned evilly.
“You never loved me! You only wanted my body, not my heart! You’re just like Voldemort!” Jude shouted at him, only to be replied by Tony’s evil laugh.
“What about Becka? Why did Voldemort want her?” Harry asked.
“Do you remember Cedric?”
“What about him? He’s already dead last year.”
“On the contrary, Harry, he is very much alive. The Dark Lord brought him back to life and he has now become one of us. It seems that he had his hicks with Rebecca. The Dark Lord wants to keep her until she gives birth to your child and then kill it in front of her eyes before killing her too! Cedric hates you, if you want to know. He practically blamed you for dragging him into the mess with Voldemort last year and got himself killed!”
“It was…It was an accident! None of us wanted to be there more than Voldemort wanted us to!” Harry replied.
“Unfortunately, Cedric doesn’t feel this way. The Dark Lord is not taking any chances of letting the prophecy come true. After he has killed Rebecca, he’ll be after you!”
Without warning, he pointed his wand at the girls and Harry. He smirked and said, “The Dark Lord said that I’m on my own now, so that means he has given me the chance to fulfill my revenge on Judith. And if I get to kill Rachel and Harry in the process, he might make me his trusted right-hand man. I’ll be able to kick off Pettigrew from his stand! Oh, by the way, Judith my sweet, thanks for the memories.”
They couldn’t think of any plan. If they were to reach out for their wands, they would be killed for sure. Yet if they don’t do anything, they’ll be killed for sure anyway. Tony laughed wickedly and started chanting, “Avada…”
“Expelliarmus!!”
The girls and Harry turned around. Prof. Snape has used the disarming spell just in time. Tony was flung backward and hit his head on the bed, knocking him unconscious. Prof. Lupin rushed over to take him out of the ward. Prof. Dumbledore sighed and said, “Remus, put this child under dorm arrest. The Ministry will deal with him later once I’ve contacted them. Place him in the towers at the West Wing.”
The kids sighed with relief as they gathered themselves together within the grown-ups. Jude felt herself being dragged close to Prof. Snape’s chest with one of his arm and was asked, “Are you alright?”
“Uh, yeah, I’m OK. No bones broken or anything,” Jude replied, blushing a little.
“Good,” Prof. Snape replied before letting her go abruptly and walking away.
Jude didn’t know whether to be happy or sad at Prof. Snape’s sudden attitude.
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