“Bloody, hell,” Ron groaned, getting to his feet. “McGonagall could’ve warned us the chairs were Portkeys!”
“Well, you were there all day. How could you have not known?” Hermione said.
“Please, Hermione, with your smarts, I would expect you to spot one out in a second!”
“Does ‘ordinary objects’ ring a bell?” she retorted.
“There is no time for this!” Natalya hissed. “Follow me.” As Harry regained his senses, he saw that they ended up in a small, dark room. The window outside showed that the sun was going down, and the town he could see in the distance was a ways away. Natalya then led the three of them out a door into the main room of the house they ended up in.
“If I remember right, you’re the one in charge,” Ron started, scratching the back of his head. “Could you elaborate on what McGonagall said?”
Natalya stopped, took a deep breath, and turned around to face them with a sorrowful look. “First let me tell you how sorry I am about Percy. I was with Charlie when he got the letter, and he was very devastated.”
Ron didn’t meet her gaze, and said, “Appreciate it.”
“Now down to business.” From the corner of the room she picked up two bags and two Invisibility Cloaks. “I saw this encampment for myself yesterday. It’s real! I counted at least twenty-eight dragons with my own eyes sitting at the bottom of a small valley. It’s about an hour’s walk from here.”
“And do we take them down with whatever’s in there?” Hermione asked, pointing at the bags.
Hesitantly, Natalya nodded. “You have no idea how reluctant I am to do this”I swore an oath never to use my teachings for this!” She paused. “But they are unfortunately better off dead than in the hands of the enemy.”
“And how exactly do we use whatever’s in the bag?” Harry inquired.
In response, she opened one of them, and took out a succulent looking roast. “I can say with confidence and guilt that when a dragon eats this, it’ll be its last meal. I’ve been soaking it in my potion for over a day, so it has absorbed it. We get under the Cloaks, and go forth with our mission.” Natalya shoved the roast into what must have been the magically expanded bag. “Ready?” she asked, tossing one of the bags at Ron, who almost lost balance after catching it.
“S’pose I’ll be ready as I’ll ever be,” Ron said, hitching the strap over his shoulder.
Running his fingers through his hair, Harry said, “Let’s get this over with.” At least this time around he didn’t have to dread the prospect of facing off with a dragon one-on-one. After Hermione nodded, the four of them headed out the door.
They headed west in the direction of the dying sun on a dirt path. Soon enough they continued forward off it, and they had to draw their wands out.
“Can I ask you something?” Hermione asked suddenly. Natalya turned her head back. “If you have a problem with doing this, then how come you just didn’t brew up the potion, and have someone else put the dragons to sleep?”
“Because,” she answered, sighing heavily, “Charlie and I are really the best ones in the Order who knows how to deal with them. I met this half giant that takes an interest in them, but he’s really just an amateur.”
“Hagrid,” Harry, Hermione, and Ron chimed together. Harry still remembered how he tried to learn dragon care from a library book.
“Yes, that him. Anyway, it was bad enough that this had to happen now”there’s an outbreak of scale rot, and there’s another medic away that is visiting his sick mother. So, Charlie’s back at our encampment helping with the outbreak, and I’m here to make the poison and have the innocent creatures consume them.”
“You know,” said Ron, “they aren’t exactly innocent if those dragons were meant to cause mass destruction.”
Natalya immediately threw him a filthy look. “Hagrid may be an amateur who thought a dragon would make a good house pet, but at least he understood their soul! You have the common attitude that shouts ‘good riddance’.” Ron hunched over, and retreated a few paces back.
When almost all signs of human occupation were gone, and only empty fields were left, Natalya stuck her arm out to stop them. She produced the two Invisibility Cloaks. “Two under each. Ron, Hermione, take one. Harry, you’re with me. Hold hands, single file, keep quiet, I lead.”
Doing exactly as she ordered, they all proceeded forward. Soon enough the sun went down, and it was got a lot darker. Harry then had to hold on to Ron behind him, keep the tripping over the cloak, and try not to trip over anything on the ground. They walked for a good distance, and soon enough the hills around them became barren.
“When’re we getting there?” Harry asked quietly.
“We’re close,” she answered. “You should be able to tell since the earth is scorched.”
Over the next hillcrest Harry suddenly saw an orange flame shoot into the air. Somewhere behind him Hermione gasped. Ron said quietly, “Blimey!” They climbed up the hill, reached the top, and before his eyes was a terrifying sight: dragons! There really were dragons down there.
He couldn’t see them properly in the dim light, and they were far away, but there was no denying it. At the bottom of the hill were the small figures of over two-dozen dragons spread throughout a valley. The dragons fire breathing created quick shadows of what were undoubtedly Death Eaters keeping watch.
“So,” Ron said, his voice cracking nervously somewhere next to Harry, “what now?” Harry might not have been able to see it, but his face was probably no more confident.
“Avoid the enemy at any cost,” Natalya ordered. “Hermione and Ron, take the right half. Harry and I take the left.” She gulped. “Don’t get too close, and toss one of the roasts from under the close. After that close the bags securely. We meet on the other side of the valley when you’re through.”
Though he couldn’t see them, Harry could hear the sounds of Ron and Hermione cautiously moving down the hill towards their targets. Harry and Natalya looked at each other, and moved forward. As they crossed the gap between the bottom of the hill and the first dragon, there weren’t any Death Eaters that they had to maneuver by.
“So how do we do this?” Harry asked quietly, keeping down to make sure they had enough cover. In the dimming light, Harry made out the dragon to be not much bigger than the Horntail, but it had silvery look to it. It was just lying on the ground napping oblivious to its surrounding.
“Shush!” she hissed quickly, slowing her pace. The dragon’s head then snapped up, and began to look around in alarm. Natalya then put down the bag, and carefully took out one of the succulent looking roasts. The dragon began to sniff the air. “We clear?” she asked, closing the bag.
Harry took a look around, and said, “Yeah.” He then lifted the Invisibility Cloak ever so slightly off the ground. Natalya then chucked away the roast through the gap. The dragon then looked surprised by the appearance of the sudden meal, but stretched out its neck ate it anyways. It yawned, and went back to its nap.
“Sorry,” Natalya whispered to it, fighting back some tears. “Let’s go.”
As they continued down the lines feeding the dragons one by one, Harry started to look to his left and right at the other lines. Every so often he’d see a dragon’s neck look around in surprise, and then dive back down to the ground with its mouth open. There were no problems so far.
“Did you see that?” they suddenly heard. Harry and Natalya both panicked as two Death Eaters came their way.
“See what?” the other said, looking confused.
“I think that brute just ate something off the ground.” It was too close to comfort when the enemies passed them, and they couldn’t move lest the Death Eaters hear them.
“You’re seeing things, we fed it an hour ago.”
The first Death Eater scratched his head. “But I was so sure.” The dragon then licked its snout, and laid its head back down. “See! It always does that after eating!”
“Get over it. Probably only a bird.”
“But birds never come here anymore.” The second just waved him off and left. The first still seemed unconvinced, but followed all the same.
So vowing to be more watchful, Harry and Natalya continued onward. As they progressed, ever so often they caught glimpses in the distance of a dragon raising its head, and plunging down at the ground mouth open. At least that told them Ron and Hermione were progressing as well.
When they reached a dark green dragon, they went through the same routine. Harry and Natalya crouched down to open the bag of food. As usual the dragon sniffed the air, but then it looked in their direction.
“Head down!” Natalya said in an urgent whisper. Just then the dragon opened its mouth wide, and shot out flames! “Fuego Progar!” Then the flames passed around them as if being deflected by an invisible shield. “Feed it!”
Wasting no time, Harry grabbed one of the roasts, and tossed it out from under the cloak. The dragon blew out some fore fire into the air, clearly feeling uneasy. But eventually it calmed down enough to spot the food, and scoop it up.
“Stupefy!” some Death Eaters shouted, blasting spells at the still rather wild dragon. Using the distraction, Harry and Natalya went on.
She smirked. “They are nothing compared to Charlie.
Finally they reached the last one. The bag had become considerably lighter since only a few were left. The golden brown dragon with spiked chin didn’t seem to notice their presence. They both crouched down again, Harry lifted the cloak, Natalya threw the roast, and the dragon ate it peacefully.
“Let’s get out of here,” Harry said breathlessly, not wanting to spend time there any longer. It took almost an hour of crouching around to feed all of the dragons. His calves were tired, and behind Natalya’s emotionless face he could tell she felt the same way.
Natalya nodded. But they barely moved three steps towards the large hill in front of them before she stuck out her hand to stop him. Harry was about to ask what was wrong, but she put a finger to her lips. Then Natalya looked to her left with a curious expression.
It was then that Harry began to hear the voices of Death Eaters coming their way! He desperately tried to get Natalya to move, but she wouldn’t budge. Slowly her curious expression was turning into pure rage as she stared at the enemies coming their way.
“Sure you can’t stay any longer?” one of them said. “There really is no need to go back.”
“Have to,” the other said in a Greek accent. “If I play my cards right I should be able to get inside of the Order of the Phoenix soon.” He chuckled, and Harry’s attention was totally on the Death Eater. “That blood traitor Weasley hasn’t said anything to me, but if I keep on pretending to be against the Dark Lord, I should be in.”
Harry had a fleeting suspicion that the Weasley the Death Eater was talking about was Charlie”it was reaffirmed by Natalya’s furious expression. And by the way her eyes were full of loathing, her fangs seemed sharper, and her fingers dug into the ground, it was obvious that it went way beyond a simple misplacement of trust. Harry was worried she’d act irrationally, so he put a hand on her shoulder.
“Hmph,” the first said, in disapproval, “were you serious when you told me about him and that half breed woman?”
The second nodded shamefully. “Yes, to further disgrace his bloodline, he actually began a courtship with it”I also suspect she’s part of the Order.” Harry had to practically hold down Natalya. They were under orders not to engage in combat. But holding her down was no easy task. She was easily loosing control of her human side, and wanted to extract her revenge. Harry guessed that it would’ve been nearly impossible for him to hold down a full-blown vampire. “Anyway, she’s the one that was gullible enough to cover my shift, so I better get back to the encampment.”
The two Death Eaters then went their separate ways. Since the Greek one was going up the hill, Harry wanted to climb up on another part of the slope. But when the fist Death Eater was out of sight, Natalya broke Harry’s grip, and took out her wand. She pointed it at the enemy going up the hill, and then his limbs snapped together and he collapsed.
“What the hell are you doing?” Harry asked, keeping his voice down. “The Council doesn’t want us taking hostages!” A few months prior Harry would’ve been aboard, but after so many quiet months with Draker, he no longer saw the point.
“We aren’t,” she snarled, moving him towards the petrified Death Eater. Natalya grabbed the enemy through the Invisibility Cloak, and began to drag him up the hill. They reached the top of the hill, and Ron, Hermione took off their cloaks looking confused. Natalya took off theirs too, and kept moving.
“What’s going on?” Hermione asked. “We were aren’t supposed to expose ourselves.”
But Natalya didn’t answer. She only picked up the Death Eater with one hand off the ground. After taking off the hood and mask with the other hand, she used it to wave her wand around, causing the enemy to go limp. Natalya then brought her lips next to his ear, and whispered dangerously, “Hello, Kostas.”
The Death Eaters yelped loudly, and stammered in terror, “N”Nat”alya! What”what are you doing here?” He was squirming in her grip with his legs flailing wildly.
“So this is what you call visiting your sick mother?” she hissed angrily. “I’ve been covering for you every month for almost half a year Kostas, and this is what you’ve been doing! I’ve been wondering how these dragons managed to stay in health.”
Harry gasped. Was that Death Eater the person she was talking about earlier?
“I was forced into this, Natalya, I swear it!” Kostas pleaded, sweating profusely. “They said they’d kill me if I didn’t help care for the dragons here!”
“I heard what you said when you talked with that other bit of filth,” she said furiously, tightening her grip to choke him further. “So I am nothing more than a half breed, am I?”
He squealed. “I will tell you anything I have learned during my time if you have mercy”ANYTHING!” he cried with tears of fear. “Please, Natalya.”
She brought her lips to his ear again. “I respected you before, Kostas, so I never told you that you have no usefulness outside dragon care. I doubt you know anything that is of any interest to us.”
Harry, Hermione, and Ron just stood there staring at the scene before them. They might have done something, but it would be no use. Natalya was so angry, there was no reasoning with her.
“I do, I DO! I’ve heard things,” he struggled to say.
“You used the skills we learned together for evil purposes,” she said, moving her lips down to his neck, baring her fangs. “Because of you I was forced to do away with innocent creatures, and that is unforgivable.”
“Can we let her do this?” Hermione asked Harry urgently.
“It wouldn’t be smart to get in her way when she’s peeved like this,” Ron said, getting in her way.
“LECTUN ISLE!” Kostas hollered suddenly.
That immediately caught Harry’s attention, and he shouted, “Wait!” Natalya looked from Kostas to Harry, and withdrew.
“Make use of the extension your life was given,” she whispered, throwing him down and pointing her wand at him.
“L”Lectun Isle,” he muttered, eyes closed and breathing heavily in relief. “Lectun Isle, Lectun Isle, Lectun Isle.”
“What is it exactly?” Harry asked, taking out his wand too. How come that Death Eaters said the first word of the spell Harry couldn’t get to work? “Tell me!” Ron and Hermione looked at each other in amazement.
“You don’t think…?” Hermione breathed.
Kostas took a deep breath and said, “Two months ago””
“The time you were gone for a week?” Natalya shouted.
He jumped and continued, “There is an island out at sea. I don’t know why, but it is very important to the Dark Lord.”
“Tell me more,” Harry immediately demanded.
“I don’t know why,” he whimpered. “It is only a desolate rock with buildings that was probably used as a facility during the first war.”
“More!”
“I heard talk among the Death Eaters,” he went on, struggling. “They don’t know much either. All I know is that the Dark Lord began having guards put on the island about eight months ago.
“You better have more, Kostas,” Natalya said.
“I don’t,” Kostas said, shaking his head in fear. “I didn’t explore. I just sat on the dock looking out for intruders. I don’t even know how to get there. I was blindfolded before being put on the barge steered by an Inferi.”
Inferi? Harry thought. And it was important to Voldemort?
Natalya picked Kostas back up by the hem of his robes. “Any more?”
“That is all,” Kostas stammered, shaking badly. “If you want more then ask Pendle Draker. It appears to me that older Death Eaters have more knowledge of this place.”
“Draker?” Natalya asked, looking at Harry.
“He’s an old Death Eater that we have in custody,” Harry answered. “We were hoping to get some information out of him”but how did you know we have him?” he said to Kostas in confusion.
“It is common knowledge,” he responded. “Please do now ask me how. It was just talk I’ve heard.”
“Is that all, Harry?” Natalya asked, moving her mouth ever so slowly back to his neck. Kostas started to whimper and squirm again, pleading for mercy.
“Stop it!” Hermione spoke up. “Can’t you see that he’s already beaten? Don’t stoop to their level.”
“He is just Death Eater scum!” Natalya raged told her, pulling away a bit. “He would not be any doubt in his heart if Kostas was going to kill you.”
“Just like you didn’t waste a second before deciding that his life was worth ending,” Hermione shot back. “If this was a fight to the death, I wouldn’t blame you killing him; but he’s defenseless. This wouldn’t be a just kill, it’d be murder.”
Inside Harry’s mind he saw the points of both Natalya and Hermione. From what Natalya said, the Death Eater Kostas only sounded like a grunt that was made useful by keeping the dragons in good condition. But that was it: by keeping the dragons in good condition, he was making sure they would be efficient killing machines when sent to towns.
“Damn it,” Ron finally blurted out, all eyes going on him. It seemed to Harry that an argument was also raging in Ron’s head. “She’s right. Sorry, Natalya, but it would be pointless murder.”
Hermione beamed at him, and Natalya scowled. “He is one of those that killed your brother!”
“And no one wants revenge more than I do!” Ron retaliated loudly, his nostrils flaring. “Percy died right before my eyes because I failed to save him. And as much as I’d like to see this scum dead, Hermione’s right: he’s beaten and defenseless, so it’d just be murder.”
Natalya exhaled and inhaled loudly. “Half vampires may have control over their nonhuman side, but you underestimate our hostility when angered so severely.” She ignored the continued pines of the Death Eater in her grip. “Kostas lied to me, used me, insulted me, made me do something completely against my nature”I won’t let that go so easily! I am not going to simply wipe his memory, and send him on his way. He may help in restarting this encampment.”
“Then turn him over to the Council,” Harry finally said. “I doubt they’ll keep him captive, but he will be disposed of in some fashion.”
“Besides,” Ron said, crossing his arms, “what would Charlie say to you killing someone in cold blood? He’d find out sooner or later.”
Natalya looked back at the fidgeting Death Eater with an angry but thoughtful glare. A battle seemed to rage in her mind for a few seconds before saying in frustration, “Cazzarola!” Then out of nowhere she pulled him in, and head butted him hard between the eyes. Natalya then flung the unconscious Kostas over her shoulder.
“Didn’t that hurt?” Hermione asked, concerned.
“Don’t forget what I am.”
“So I guess he’s coming back with us,” Harry commented.
“We’ll let him repeat what he told us to the Council. I have another idea of how to dispose of him.”
“What d’you mean?” he inquired.
“The dragons will be dead in a matter of hours,” Natalya answered. “The enemy will want to point fingers, and we’ll make Kostas think he betrayed them. Best way to hide out involvement in this.” Harry had some objection due to it being an all to familiar plan, but he decided it was best not to say anything. “Let’s get out of here. It’s a miracle we weren’t discovered.”
“Sounds good to me,” Ron said, picking up the bag that had leftovers.
“Leave them,” she ordered. “They only know of one person with the kind of expertise to make that, and that’s this slime. Most likely it will help to put the blame on him.”
Ron shrugged, and dropped it. The four of them then turned on the spot to Apparate back to the alley near headquarters.