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A Road of Shattered Glass by Ennalee

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Chapter Five: Mice Will Play


“There was another riot in Birmingham yesterday.” The whispers pervaded the school quickly, passed down by the older students who received newspapers.

“I heard three wizards were killed.”

“I heard they were all Muggle-born.”

I heard that You-Know-Who’s back.”

“He isn’t!”

“You’re lying.”

“I’m not! Why else would Muggles be attacked?”

“Who says they were?”

“I heard that two were killed.”

“Three!”

“You’re all wrong. It was over goblin rights.”

“What do you know?”

“It must be serious “ Dumbledore went to help.”

“What for? What can he do?”

“The Ministry doesn’t know what to do “ they’ve been in shambles since You-Know-Who.”

“They’ve been in shambles since before You-Know-Who.”

“They can’t keep control “ no one trusts them anymore.”

“Well, why should we? They practically allowed You-Know-Who to walk in!”

“Even now that he’s gone, they can’t stop fighting over who gets power. If he came back, no one would be in a position to do anything about it!”

“I think they’re doing a good job!”

“Then why are people rioting?”

“I told you “ it’s over Goblin rights!”

“No “ they killed Muggle-borns!”

“What does it matter? It doesn’t affect us!”

“That’s what they said about You-Know-Who, and see what happened then!”

No one knew whom to believe “ no one knew which whispers were true. The carefully perused newspapers were terse and uninformative; the only thing known for certain was that Dumbledore had gone to help, leaving McGonagall temporarily in charge.

McGonagall was worried “ that much was obvious. Tonks had never seen her mouth so thin, nor her forehead so furrowed. She was not the only teacher to show signs of stress; Snape had grown more forbidding and strict than ever. All the teachers talked anxiously during meals, and the older students scanned their newspapers every morning at breakfast.

Matters were different among the younger students. The Muggle-borns among them had not experienced what it was like to live when You-Know-Who was in power, and even for herself and the others who had grown up in the Wizarding World, the affairs of two years past had faded slightly. The lurking presence that had hovered on the edges of Tonks’ life for so many years no longer seemed a reality, and though the thought of You-Know-Who still awoke chills in all of them, it seemed far off and long ago.

For this reason, the weeks that followed proved enjoyable in many ways to the younger students. Many of the teachers were preoccupied enough to miss things which they would otherwise have punished; the students were able to get away with an unprecedented number of things.

In addition to Dumbledore, other teachers began to come and go as well; Snape was often gone, as was Hagrid, the groundskeeper.

Two weeks after Dumbledore left he returned, looking tired; he stayed only for two days. When he left again he took Professor Radkin, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, with him. According to the rumors, he had left McGonagall to find them a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. The rumors were substantiated by the strange array of wizards and witches seen entering and exiting McGonagall’s office, though Tonks personally suspected that some were news-bringers rather than candidates.

In the meantime, they had Defense Against the Dark Arts periods free, a luxury that everyone enjoyed, even the older and more worried students. At first Tonks spent the free time with Justine and Marianne; however as she grew increasingly bored with their conversation, she tagged along with Charlie and Kevin as they explored the school.

“Bill told me he found a couple secret passages,” she had overheard Charlie say. “And he says that there are miles of passages under the school. Haven’t you always wanted to explore underground passages?”

“Er “” Kevin had said.

“Long and dark and stone, with twists and turns, that lead unexpected places “ Bill even showed me a spell to make your wand light up. See “ lumos, ” he demonstrated.

“May I come?” Tonks had been hesitant but eager. “I was in Paris last year and my dad went down into the catacombs, but my mum wouldn’t let me, and I’ve wanted to see tunnels ever since!”

The boys had looked at her skeptically. “Are you sure you want to?” Kevin had asked dubiously. “It’ll be dark, and there’ll probably be spiders.”

“That doesn’t matter.”

“What about snakes?” Kevin looked challenging.

“I don’t mind.”

“Skeletons? Ghouls? There could be anything.”

Tonks did not allow herself to hesitate even for a moment. “I want to come.”

Charlie had looked at her appraisingly. “Promise you won’t get scared and make us take you back?”

“I promise.” Although the prospect of tunnels had never even entered her mind before, she found herself unable to bear the thought of being left behind.

“Even if “”

“I promise.”

Kevin had been skeptical and Charlie surprised, but they finally agreed to let her come.

Their worry had been unnecessary; Tonks was afraid of plenty of things, but nothing that was found in the cool, dry passages underneath Hogwarts. Bones would have been another matter “ bones and blood, or slimy walls sinking down into underground lakes “ but the passages beneath the Hogwarts dungeons held none of that. They began coming down every day to explore.

Tonks rather suspected that what they were doing was not strictly allowed; while she had never heard that exploring the passages was forbidden, she had the feeling that most people did not know of their existence. Had the teachers realized that a small group of students knew, there might have been rules against it; then again, she was not entirely certain that all of the teachers were aware of the tunnels in the first place.

In any case, they had wonderful times. Kevin, always the sensible one, made sure that they marked the path they had taken with a string. Tonks liked to pretend that they were Theseus searching the maze for the Minotaur, though unfortunately the string never unrolled in front of them to show the way. Though they spoke of hidden treasure and passages that led out of the school, they did not find anything particularly interesting, only long tunnels and bare rooms. Then again, as Charlie said, “half the fun was in looking for them.”

It was fun; they tried to learn the twists and turns by heart, though they never went far without their string. They could not seem to find an end to the passages; Charlie surmised that the entire cliff on which Hogwarts was built was filled with them. His older brother had told him that they were even older than Hogwarts itself, remainders of a tribe of wizards who had lived in prehistoric times. Supposedly the passages had been used for defense; no one who did not already know the way would be able to find their way in or out. According to Charlie the very existence of the tunnels spoke of a way out. Yet however hard they searched, they found none.

Several times Charlie’s older brother Bill came with them; not when they went during the day, but when they sneaked down in the evening. He knew the passages much better than they did “ he had been exploring them for two years “ but he had found nothing either. He said that the caverns had once been used to store treasure; now they were empty and bare, but he always hoped to something that had been overlooked by whoever it was who had removed it.

The explorations with Bill were always the most fun. He had a flair for the dramatic, and always managed to turn things into an adventure. When he led them through the passages; they held their wands high and talked in hushed voices. Something about the tunnels seemed to call for whispers and vigilance, and Bill would play on the atmosphere until they almost believed that what he said was true.

“Today we’re venturing down to the underworld like Orpheus,” he would explain. Or, “now we’re exploring a city lost to man and wizard alike for thousands of years. Ours are the first feet to step on this ground for untold ages. We must be careful; who knows what lurks behind the next corner? With lost civilizations come lost dangers; we must be prepared for the impossible.”

Although Tonks knew that Bill was a lofty two years older than they, and was just humoring his brother and friends, she constantly looked forward to his coming. Even when he did not turn things into a game, his very presence added a new element. He had the ability to make her shiver with delight and fear as they skulked round the corners avoiding their enemies, and yet at the same time she never was frightened, because he seemed to have everything under control.

In all their explorations Tonks was only truly frightened once, on an occasion when Bill was not present.

They were going down one of the passages near enough to the entrance that they were familiar with all the twists and turns. Kevin was teasing Tonks, trying to convince her that something was creeping up behind her. He did it often; she did not believe him and yet she was wary, because she knew that any moment he was going to grab her neck and pretend to be a ghoul. She was determined not to let out any sign of surprise or fear

“Don’t you hear that?” whispered Kevin in his spookiest voice. Tonks giggled, and then fell silent; for once she did hear something.

Charlie and Kevin were pushing each other back and forth playfully; Tonks attempted to silence them. “Listen!” she whispered.

Kevin gave a quiet crow of triumph. “I’ve finally done it!” he announced softly. “I’ve convinced her! I’ve been telling her for days that there’s a ghoul out to get her, and it’s finally sunk in.”

“Most ghouls aren’t that bad,” Charlie defended, as he always did. “The one in our attic is quite friendly, and “ ”

“Oh be quiet, both of you! I’m being serious; listen!”

For once the boys listened to her; everything was silent “ save for the sound of footsteps, coming slowly, evenly, and unrelentingly towards them.

With his usual presence of mind, Charlie drew both of them back down the hall and into a small but empty chamber. They crouched inside trying not to make a sound. Tonks was certain they would be discovered; their breathing seemed loud, and her heart beat echoed in her ears.

Try as she might, Tonks could not discern the reason for her fear. It was probably another student “ maybe even Bill. At worst it was a teacher who would reprimand or punish them if they were found. It was not logical to imagine that there was a supporter of He Who Must Not Be Named lurking in the depths of Hogwarts. There was no reason to assume that; the Dark Lord was dead, and his supporters were being rooted out. Hogwarts was the last place he or they would come. Yet she was undeniably frightened, and could tell from the pace of the boys’ breathing that she was not alone in that fear. She supposed it was the aroma of fear that had pervaded the school since Dumbledore had left; the whispers of the return of the Dark Lord had left more of an effect on her than she had previously realized.

None of them could resist leaning forward as the footsteps neared their corridor; despite their fear they were overcome with curiosity and the necessity to know who had entered their private haunts. None of them expected the identity of the face illuminated by wand-light.

When the person had passed, they all sat without moving. It was Kevin who broke the silence. “What’s Dumbledore doing here?” he questioned.

It was Charlie who gave the inevitable response. “Let’s follow him and find out.”

They crept along the passage as silently as they could manage. Not silently enough, Tonks thought in chagrin. To be truthful, she had to admit that it was her fault. For all that he was the largest of the three, Charlie moved as silently as a ghost, and Kevin was not bad either. Try as she might, however, Tonks could not keep her footfalls from echoing, and several times she kicked loose pebbles, causing clattering. Kevin and Charlie each looked at her in annoyance at some point or other, and yet Dumbledore never paused in his path. Past forks and through twisting and turning passages, Dumbledore walked without hesitation as the three of them trailed behind.

At last he turned aside into what appeared to be a room; as he did so Charlie, who was leading, stopped short and pressed against the wall. From the chamber came a voice they knew even better than Dumbledore’s.

“Well?” asked Professor McGonagall.

Dumbledore’s voice echoed oddly in the air of the tunnel. “There was no sign of him. There were former Death Eaters, and many pureblood fanatics “ his name was on everyone’s tongue, but I do not believe they were acting on his orders.”

“And the “” Her question hung unfinished in the air.

“I have it.”

McGonagall let out a sharp sigh of relief. “Where did they find it? How “?”

“That is what I’m going to find out. The Ministry thinks that Voldemort’s defeat has rid the world of trouble. People do not want more fighting “ they are sick of war. They are refusing to see the danger, refusing to believe that someone else might use his downfall to come into power. Refusing to believe that the same people might rally under someone else’s leadership.”

“You’re going back, then.”

“Yes. As soon as I take care of this.”

There was a long pause, and then another intake of breath from McGonagall. “Is it really“?”

“Yes,” he said. “I do not think that a replica could have had this effect, do you?” His voice sobered. “Now it is up to us to fix the trouble it has caused. And then we must see about it itself. It has been flawed since its creation “ perhaps even before. I am not sure what effect it may still have “ or what may be the consequences of its destruction.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

“Only what you’ve already been doing.” He paused again. “I suppose you could re-supply my office with raspberry jam. I seem to have run out.”

“Very well, then, have it your way,” said McGonagall, sounding rueful.

Dumbledore laughed. The sound seemed to shake some of the heaviness out of the darkness that filled the tunnel. “When have I not? Well, I suppose I must get down to this sometime. You might return through the spiral passage, instead of the painted way.”

“Why?” McGonagall sounded suspicious.

Dumbledore’s voice was amused. “Change of scenery, my dear Minerva. It doesn’t do to get too staid in our paths. You never know when something new and surprising might come up.”

There was silence from the room and then, before any of them could react, Professor McGonagall came striding out. Tonks thought they would be discovered, but it was pitch black save for the wan light from McGonagall’s wand, and she did not turn towards them but away, walking quickly and steadily down the dark passageway towards places they had never explored. Before she was out of sight the tunnel branched, and she turned left.

Dumbledore stayed in the room for several minutes; they could hear him moving around softly. At one point he spoke a few words, but though Tonks strained her ears, she could not make them out; they were far more muffled than the conversation with McGonagall had been, though Tonks could not discern why.

When Dumbledore finally came out, all three held their breath; there was no question that Dumbledore’s eyes were sharper than McGonagall’s.

Tonks could have sworn they saw his eyes flash in their direction, and yet he turned in the other direction and walked away from them, in the same direction as McGonagall. Except, when he reached the fork in the corridor, he turned right.

They watched him go; Tonks felt a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach, knowing that he was leaving the school once again. She had not realized that the situation was so serious; despite the rumors, she had thought the threat was over. She looked at the boys, but could not make out their faces in the fading light; then Dumbledore disappeared round the corner, and the light was completely gone.

There was a long pause; they stood without moving. “ Lumos,” said Kevin at last. The light reflected the queer, painted walls of the corridor around them, and shone strangely on their pale faces. Charlie’s freckles stood out with unusual clarity, and Kevin’s eyes seemed dark hollows in his face. They stared at each other without a word; Tonks found herself wishing that Bill was with them.

Charlie moved forward; Kevin reached up and grabbed him by the sleeve. “Where are you going?” he demanded hoarsely.

“To see if there’s anything in the room,” Charlie answered. They both followed him in.

At first glance the chamber appeared to be small, but it stretched in an oblong shape, and its rough walls were full of nooks and crannies that disappeared into blackness “ there was no way to tell exactly what size it was. In the wavering light from Kevin’s wand, the shadows seemed to undulate, and Tonks felt as if anything might come creeping out; there was no telling what the crevices were hiding. Without fear, Tonks had adventured with the boys through the many dark tunnels, but this room was different; it was heavy with heat and with magic, and she did not like it.

She caught her breath in fear as Charlie lit up his wand and thrust it into one of the gaping holes in the wall. The light illuminated a small stone nook “ empty. She let out a sigh of relief “ too soon, for Charlie had moved to the next niche. This time the space lit up was larger, large enough to fit a grown person, or perhaps two of herself.

“What are you doing?” asked Kevin uncertainly, and Tonks found herself glad that he sounded as nervous as she felt.

“Looking for that package,” answered Charlie.

“Package?” Kevin sounded mystified; Tonks certainly was. “What do you mean?”

“Dumbledore was carrying a package,” Charlie explained patiently. “Didn’t you see? And he told McGonagall that ‘he had it,’ and they spoke of finding something. When he left he wasn’t carrying anything, and neither was McGonagall. I just want to see what they were that was important enough to bring Dumbledore in person, instead of sending whatever it was by owl. And if it was so important, why did they just leave it here, instead of putting it somewhere safer, like Dumbledore’s office?”

Tonks looked at Kevin, and he looked at her “ neither of them had noticed any sort of package, and Tonks at least had been very confused by Dumbledore’s allusions to ‘it.’

“How could you tell?” Kevin asked skeptically. “It was dark “ they might have been carrying something, or they could have it them in their pockets or under their cloaks. You can’t tell a thing like that “ even with more light it might be hard.”

“Then why did Dumbledore stay so long?” questioned Charlie. “You heard him moving around. I think he hid it - whatever it was “ and I want to find it.”

“If Dumbledore hid them, don’t you think there’s a good reason?” Kevin sounded anxious. “You’d better leave it.”

Charlie was continuing to check the walls as he spoke. “I just want to see what it is, to see if all the rumors are true.”

“I want to go.” Almost Tonks did not recognize her own voice “ it sounded uncertain and almost whiny, the voice of a child much younger than herself. “I think we should go now.”

“I’ll just be a minute,” said Charlie, continuing on to the next shadow.

Tonks couldn’t bear it, could not stand the thought that his wand might light up Something any minute now. If only Bill was there “ Bill, with his steady voice and confident face and his third-year knowledge of magic. But he was not.

“I want to go “ now,” she insisted.

Charlie must have caught the edge of panic in her voice, because he turned aside. “Let’s go, then,” he replied.

“See what comes of bringing a girl with us?” complained Kevin. “I told you it was a bad idea.”

Ordinarily Tonks would have come up with a cutting response, but now she was too eager to leave. Anyway, the look on Kevin’s face belied his words “ she could tell that he was looking forward to leaving as well, and glad to use her as an excuse.

As they left the chamber, some of the weight that seemed to have been pressing down on Tonks’ chest this whole adventure lifted; she was left with the feeling that the air in the chamber had been stuffy and the air in the passageway was clearer, though she knew that was not true. In any case, she was relieved to turn down the tunnel they had come through “ the tunnel back towards Hogwarts. That is, until they arrived at the first fork in the passageway. It was not until then that Tonks realized what had happened.

“What are we going to do?” she moaned. “We have no idea how to get back.”

Charlie realized at the same moment “ in the light of his wand his face appeared grayish. “Bill’s going to kill me for sheer stupidity “ if we ever get out of this alive.”

They both turned to Kevin, only to see that he was holding out their trusty ball of string; one end was stretching into the blackness, towards the left hand branch. “I thought we might need this,” he said, with justifiable pride.

He led the way down the passage. Dropping back, Charlie whispered to Tonks ruefully, “He’s never going to let us forget this.”




“You saw who?” Bill asked incredulously.

Coming back from their adventure, the three of them had cornered Bill, drawn him away from his friends, and forced him into a corner, where they related what had occurred.

“Dumbledore,” Charlie repeated. “Meeting secretly with McGonagall to tell her what he’s been doing.”

“I don’t believe this,” Bill groaned. “Of course you overhear a secret conference “ when I’m not there. Why couldn’t the exciting things wait for me?”

“You wouldn’t have been able to do anything differently,” Charlie protested. He left out the fact that but for Kevin they would have been lost; they had decided that Bill did not need to know that.

“You nearly got caught!” Bill exclaimed indignantly. “Do you realize that if they had seen you, then we wouldn’t be allowed to go down there anymore? Especially not if the teachers are using it for secret communication.” He paused, his brow furrowed. “Why didn’t you stay?”

They looked at him in surprise.

“Why didn’t you keep on looking for that package?”

Kevin opened his mouth, but Tonks saw Charlie step on his foot. “Er,” Charlie said, “well, we . . .” He stopped, obviously stuck.

“I made them come back,” said Tonks, without any real idea of why she was confessing to cowardice in front of Bill. “I didn’t like it.”

Bill nodded. “Fair enough. Anyway, that’s not important. What I really want to know is whether or not you’ll be able to find your way back.”

“Back?” said Kevin.

“Yes, back,” replied Bill, sounding for the first time slightly exasperated with them. “How else are we supposed to find out what’s going on?” No one answered, so he continued. “But you’re not going back down there alone.”

“We didn’t get caught, did we?” protested Kevin.

“You could have been easily,” retaliated Bill. “It was just luck. From now on, wait for me before you go exploring. Especially in that direction.”

They protested indignantly; Bill did not have Wednesday afternoons off to go exploring as they did. However in the end, it did not turn out to be worth the argument.


“I would like you all to welcome Professor Greggens, our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher while Professor Radkin is away,” McGonagall announced during breakfast the next morning. They all clapped politely as a slight, dark-haired witch stood up at the staff table.

“She doesn’t look like a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at all,” complained Marianne. “She’s so little.”

She was very unprepossessing “ not at all like burly Professor Radkin, who was a retired Auror. In fact, she was quite pleasing to look at, with curly hair and dark eyes. She blushed as everyone stared at her, and sat down hastily.

The usual speculations began to spread across the tables.

“She looks like she won’t be too hard on us.”

“She seems so quiet!”

“D’you think we can convince her to let us leave?”

However, when Tonks and the others entered their first class with her, she proved to be made of much sterner stuff than they had thought. She quickly brought order to the disorganized class, and taught them a rousing lesson on Hinkypunks.

Though resentful of her loss of freedom, Tonks could not help but be interested “ but she still would have preferred to go exploring.

It seemed that their subterranean adventures were doomed to come to an end; Snape had taken to skulking round the dungeons, and they could not find a way to get past him without attracting undue attention.

Eventually life settled back into its usual pattern, except that now Tonks was as liable to be found with Charlie and Kevin as with Marianne and Justine.




AN: Many, many thanks to Ashwinder, for betaing this chapter for me!