Chapter Fifty-Three: The Wolf Den
“Halloween is not the best time to go out on a mission,” Palmyitor explained to a select group in her dimly lit office. “So we will be going tomorrow.”
Lottie grinned. She, Andrea and Colm had all been chosen for this mission, along with one of the Clynalmoy girls who had accosted her after Ally’s death, and one of the seventh years who Colm had cursed. “Professor,” Andrea said, “what exactly is this mission?”
“Nothing dangerous, I assure you. No, it is more of a mission for information. Professor Clynalmoy will be accompanying you.”
“But where are we going?” Lottie asked.
“To a werewolf reserve, where””
“Not dangerous?” Lottie interrupted. “If werewolves aren’t dangerous””
“These are old and endangered werewolves,” Palmyitor said, glowering at Lottie. “They are on our side, and perfectly safe in daylight.”
“Then why are we going?”
“Rowe, if you will stop interrupting, I will tell you.” Palmyitor glanced at all of them carefully with an unnaturally straight face. She was hiding something; Lottie could see all of the obvious signs of Occlumency in use, but didn’t dare break into the old professor’s mind (even though she was sure that she could if she wanted to). “We are gathering primary data for a future mission”a mission that will involve werewolves.”
Lottie glanced at Andrea and rolled her eyes, hoping to get some agreement on how stupid this mission sounded. When Andrea did not share her feelings, though, Lottie turned to Colm. He was more than willing to grimace with her.
“Well, that’s that,” Palmyitor said. “Meet tomorrow morning in the Great Hall at seven.”
“What was that all about?” Lottie asked after her and Andrea parted ways with Colm on their way to the Palmyitor common room.
“What do you mean?” asked Andrea.
“There’s no way they’re just listening to stories and need us to go along. Doesn’t that seem odd?”
“They just want us to have experience, Lottie,” Andrea said in such a typical tone that Lottie laughed.
“Experience with what? Listening to ancient werewolves complain about their lives? There must be some more important reason why we’re going.”
The morning broke crisp and bright. Lottie and Andrea silently packed their duffle bags with parchments, quills, and wands and crept into the Great Hall. Colm greeted Lottie with a sleepy smile from the center table. Lottie sat down next to him, and Andrea sat on her other side. Together they waited for the two others to arrive. Clynalmoy stood silently until all of the students had gathered.
“Good morning,” he said, scanning his tired eyes over the five students. His hair was dark, but now that Lottie stood in close proximity with him, she realized how many grey hairs had appeared at his roots. As always, his voice was so quiet that they had to strain to hear him. “Although the mission ahead of us is not dangerous,” he began, “we must take the greatest precaution, for danger often lies in the most innocent of places.”
Nobody said anything. Lottie wondered if they were supposed to. “All ready then?” Clynalmoy asked. “We’ll be taking a Portkey.” He extended his hand. In it rested a large dinner plate. “Everybody hold on, now.”
Lottie grabbed the plate and immediately felt a sharp jerk in her stomach. They were traveling very quickly”bumping into each other”and finally landed with a crash on a cold stone floor. Lottie collided dully with the ground and Andrea fell on top of her. She blinked. They were in a pitch-black room.
“Here, let me help you up,” came Colm’s voice from in front of her, though she couldn’t see his face. Lottie gratefully took his hand and followed him to where Clynalmoy stood, with his wand extended.
“Thanks for waiting, guys,” Andrea growled after she caught up with them.
“Where are we?” Colm asked Clynalmoy, not even acknowledging Andrea.
“That, I cannot tell you,” Clynalmoy said. “All you need to know is that we are miles underground. The entrance is a slight walk”so if you’ll follow me.”
Lottie pulled out her own wand and lit it. The others did the same and soon there was enough light to illuminate almost all of their surroundings. They stood in a narrow passageway. It reminded Lottie very much of the London sewers, but without the smell of decaying flesh. The entire corridor was made of stones, and from somewhere vaguely overhead came the sound of a steady drip of water, though Lottie could not locate its source. This was not all what she had imagined the werewolf reserve to be like. She imagined them to have large fields of fresh air”they were wolves after all.
They approached what looked like the edge of the tunnel. The path came to a complete stop and stretch of wall blocked their way. “Ah, I was hoping Al would be here already,” Clynalmoy said. “We can’t get in without a werewolf among us.”
He moved his wand carefully over the stone so the light illuminated its many nooks and edges. Lottie wondered vaguely what he was looking for”and why Al”whoever he was”hadn’t gotten there yet. “Here it is,” Clynalmoy said. They al stared. His wand illuminated a tiny bit of stone”Lottie wondered what he saw in it, but if she squinted and moved close to the wall, she could see a crude outline of a wolf’s head. It would have looked like any other piece of rock if she hadn’t been looking for it.
“You cannot open it without wolf’s blood,” Clynalmoy explained. “So the best we could do is knock.” And even though he knocked against what seemed like a solid wall, it echoed before them, as if there were a huge, hollow hall behind it.
“I was wondering when you’d get here,” said a tough sounding voice. The stone melted away and in the frame it left stood a woman. Elderly though she undoubtedly was, she had an air of strength about her. “Alcippe Greyback,” she said to the students.
The Clynalmoy girl gasped. “Greyback,” she said. “He was””
“A Death Eater yes,” Alcippe said. “And a foul waste of oxygen. He was my father, but he died in at the last battle.”
“Is werewolf blood inherited?” Andrea asked with a slight frown.
“No, it isn’t,” Alcippe said bitterly. In that moment she, who must have been over eighty, assumed the indignant expression of a teenager with remarkable accuracy. “He turned me. Wanted to make everyone a wolf, including his own kid. Well, that’s enough of that.” She beckoned them forward. “Come in.”
Lottie followed the group through the stone. Once they were all inside, the wall behind them slid back and they were cast into complete darkness again. Her first impression was one of revolt. Once the stone wall shut, the horrible odor of the place overcame them. It was a combination, Lottie thought, of decaying flesh and human waste. She was grateful that it was so dark so that nobody would see her suppressed gagging.
“We have an enchantment,” explained Alcippe, “so that the lights won’t come on until we’re certain it’s not a trespasser.” Footsteps told Lottie that Alcippe was walking away, but nobody made to follow her.
In an instant, the chamber was completely illuminated, though Lottie could not find any apparent source of the light. “Come on, you lot,” called Alcippe, raising a wrinkled hand and beckoning them onward.
They passed the source of the smell and Lottie had to hold her hand to her nose to keep from retching. A pile of carcasses lay rotting in the corner. Every sort of creature imaginable lay there”pigs, horses, rats”Lottie thought she even saw a human arm. Colm nudged Lottie and pointed to the arm too. “Is that””
“Yeah, it is,” Alcippe said coldly. “Down here we get hardly any food. We’re not going to waste anything. We need to eat after all.”
Andrea stammered for a moment. “That’s”that’s””
“Necessary,” Lottie said quietly. “It may not be pretty, but how else would they survive?”
Andrea did not seem pleased by this answer, but out of the corner of her eye, Lottie thought she saw Clynalmoy incline his head thoughtfully.
“So, are you the leader here?” Lottie asked.
Alcippe stood with her arms crossed. The robes she wore were thin and fading. She gave off an odd air of extreme toughness, though her grey hair and hardened eyes hinted at frailty. “In a matter of speaking, I am,” she said. “After I escaped my father, I started working for our side. But I couldn’t for long. People began to recognize me”and you can’t use Polyjuice Potion if you’re not human. So I went into hiding. With Ryan’s help”” she smiled at Clynalmoy “”I set up this little reserve for us werewolves who can’t fight in the open anymore.” She cast her dark eyes around the group, and said, “Now come on. I want you to meet everybody else.”
Everybody else turned out to be a group of six others who sat together, conversing in low tones. Alcippe introduced them to each one. Most of them had the same gist”the wolf had fought until they were too conspicuous to be useful and then retired. A few of them just seemed bored. Two had the same air of bitter sullenness; one was unusually twitchy, and gave the students an intense look of longing.
Lottie listened to their stories dully. Of course she felt bad for them, but she just couldn’t figure out why they had come here. It seemed pointless to drag the five students off of the campus and make them stand in a smelly room and listen to depressing stories.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, Clynalmoy herded them all to the exit. “I’ll be there in a moment,” he said. “I just have to have a word with Al.”
“What was that about?” Lottie asked once Clynalmoy had gone.
“What do you mean?” asked the seventh year boy.
“I mean”what was the point of that?”
“To learn,” Andrea said. “I’m sure Palmyitor wouldn’t waste our time with a pointless mission.”
“I agree with Lottie,” Colm said. “That was just dumb.”
Andrea gave him a poisonous look. “Of course you do,” she said.
“Hey,” Lottie held up a hand to shut them up. “Can you hear what they’re talking about over there?”
Off in the corner, Clynalmoy and Alcippe spoke in fervent whispers. Lottie couldn’t hear their words, but judging by the glances they were throwing back at the students, she knew it was important. What was more, she had the odd feeling that they were talking about her.
“Does it matter?” Andrea asked with growing exasperation. “It doesn’t concern us.”
“I think it does,” Lottie said, but after the look Andrea gave her, she said no more.
They didn’t speak any more, and stood in silence until Clynalmoy finished his conversation with Alcippe. Without another word, they took the Portkey back to Alsemore.
The next two days passed uneventfully. Every time Lottie tried to rehash her suspicions about the werewolf mission, Andrea gave her a piercing stare and changed subjects immediately. It wasn’t until early one morning, when Lottie left for the Great Hall early to meet Colm that something happened. She was just passing Palmyitor’s office door, on the way up to the ground floor, when arguing voices stopped her in her tracks.
“Absolutely not,” said Palmyitor’s voice, carrying a rare hint of hysteria. Lottie inched closer to the door. “I have not just spent the last five years for nothing.”
“It’s not for nothing,” Maelioric barked. Lottie widened her eyes. She had never heard him shout like that. “It’s very important.”
“Not as important as””
“You only say that because you want to retire.” A slam against wood suggested that he had punched the desk.
“This has nothing to do with me””
“It does,” Maelioric cried. “You don’t want to””
“It is not a matter of want, Fornax.” Palmyitor said his name with a stab of anger. “It is a matter of age”and talent. We are old. I cannot go on doing this forever.”
“We’ll get somebody else,” Maelioric said.
“I rather think it would be easier to pick another for the werewolf mission than for mine,” Palmyitor growled. “You agreed yourself”we only sent her to not raise suspicion.”
“But she surprised us all and qualified the most,” Maelioric said in the same tone of one explaining something very simple to a small child. “What do you say, Ryan?”
There was a pause. Lottie frowned. The argument between Maelioric and Palmyitor had been so intense that she was surprised to find there was somebody else in the room.
“I think,” came Clynalmoy’s quiet voice, “that Fornax may have a point, Naesa. We made a short list, and said we should pick the best. What does it matter who the best is?”
There was another silence. Even through the door, Lottie could feel Palmyitor’s rage boiling over. “Out,” she hissed. “Get out.”
Lottie knew she only had moments to act. As silently as she could, she ran in the direction of the Great Hall and had wrenched open the doors before Maelioiric and Clynalmoy had even reached the stairs.
“Where were you?” asked Colm grumpily from his seat at the Maelioric table.
Lottie collapsed next to him and drew a few deep breaths. “Sorry,” she whispered. “Overheard an argument in Palmyitor’s office.” She drew some toast onto her plate and began to butter it.
“About what?”
“About”about”” Lottie frowned. Saying ‘about me’ did not seem appropriate, even though she knew it was true. “About the werewolf thing,” she said. “I was right”there is more to it than we had thought. They’re picking somebody for something. They were arguing about who to pick.”
“Well, did they decide?” asked Colm with interest.
“No. Palmyitor just yelled at everyone.”
“Well what else is new?”
The doors to the Great Hall swung open and Andrea walked in. Lottie, who was sitting at the Maelioric table with Colm, watched her cross to the Palmyitor table and plunk down. Andrea looked up and down the table before stealing a glance at the other houses’. Her face fell when she saw Lottie. Lottie smiled apologetically and pointed to Colm as explanation. Andrea’s face fell further.
Andrea didn’t talk to Lottie for the whole morning. Finally, when they were filing into Occlumency, she turned to Lottie and said, “Snape is staring at you.”
Lottie, who had been avoiding Snape’s eye since the incident that summer, looked up. He had spent all of the lessons of this year lecturing and demonstrating on others, pointedly avoiding confrontation with her. Lottie knew that he didn’t want her to break into his mind again.
“Rowe,” Snape drawled. “Professor Palmyitor asked to see you in her office for this period. Apparently the art of Occlumency is not as important as what she has to say.”
Lottie sneered right back at him and said, “It probably isn’t.” She swung her bag over her shoulder and left the classroom.
In the corridor, her heart hammered. Had she been right in her suspicions? Were the heads really talking about her? If so, what would she have to do? Lottie took a moment outside of the office to take a breath and clear her mind. She knocked.
“Enter,” said Palmyitor.
Lottie pushed the door open and stepped inside. Like always, Palmyitor sat behind her desk with her hands folded. Maelioiric was perched on the corner of the desk”half sitting and half leaning. Clynalmoy stood behind, his arms crossed, watching her carefully.
Palmyitor glanced at the other two and started to speak. “You have been asked here today to take on a mission.” Whatever the mission was, Palmyitor seemed pretty glum about it.
“Does it have to do with the werewolves?” Lottie asked.
“Yes.” Palmyitor shot a glare at Clynalmoy and spoke through her teeth. “The werewolves of England”for the most part”live in hidden communities. They are persecuted by the Dark Lord, if they are not doing his bidding. Recently, the Dark Lord’s influence has grown and it seems that they are favoring his side to ours.”
Palmyitor took a breath and continued. “We need a spy. We know almost nothing about these wolves’ actions and beliefs. They are all young, and live apart from society, though we think we have found the location of some of their communities.”
Lottie kept her face blank and stared at Palmyitor carefully. This sounded like an interesting job”what more important could she have to do?
“Due to the nature of this mission,” Palmyitor went on, “we are giving you a choice. You may accept the job and begin training”or you may not.”
Lottie looked between the three of them. Maelioric and Clynalmoy seemed to expect her to say yes, but Palmyitor’s surly glower implied otherwise.
“What do you mean by the ‘nature of this mission?’” Lottie asked.
“Ah, I knew we’d get there,” Palmyitor said with a sidelong glance at Maelioric. “In order to become an effective spy in the werewolves, of course, you would need to become a werewolf yourself.”
Lottie felt her heart drop with anxiety, but still retained her impassive face. Being a werewolf was something she definitely did not want to do. The werewolves in the reserve lived like animals”they ate each other and lived in the sewers. But if she said no, would she seem like a coward? Would they ever give her a mission again? Or would Palmyitor be happy about it? Lottie chewed on her lip as her head spun with thoughts.
“Could I”erm”take a day to think about it?” she asked. “And tell you tomorrow?”
Maelioric began to speak, but Palmyitor swiftly said, “Of course. Meet us back here before breakfast tomorrow.”
Lottie nodded and left the office. The door clicked shut behind her. She couldn’t go back to Occlumency now. Her heart raced in her chest. Both choices seemed like the wrong answer.
Without thinking, Lottie trudged to the common room and collapsed into an armchair. What she wanted more than anything was to not have even been offered the mission in the first place. Spying was what she wanted to do, but not at that price. She did not want to have to sacrifice everything.
The hour wore on, and after classes ended, people began trickling into the common room. Lottie sat in almost comatose state, watching the fire dance and cast shadows on the ground.
“Lottie?” Andrea plopped down onto a sofa next to her. “What did Palmyitor say? Why didn’t you come back to class?”
Lottie shook her head. How could she explain to Andrea? Andrea, who was selfless and brave, of course would do it. How would she understand the sacrifice that Lottie was so terrified of making?
“Are you sure you’re okay, Lottie?” Andrea asked. “You look sick.”
“Yeah,” Lottie croaked. “Don’t feel well.”
Andrea frowned. “Lottie”after so many years, I can tell when you’re lying to me, even if I can’t do Legilimency.”
Lottie rested her face on her fists. Andrea would never understand. “I’m not lying,” she said. “I don’t feel well.”
“Maybe not,” Andrea said wryly, “but there’s something more to it than that.”
Lottie stood up in a sudden burst of anger. It drove her crazy that Andrea would never let her have her own private thoughts. Glancing at her friend’s startled face, she quickly said, “I’m going to take a walk. I’ll see you at dinner.”
She left the common room and ran up the stairs to the ground floor automatically. Once she reached the entrance hall, she realized that she had no here to go. She wanted to talk to somebody who would understand”somebody who wouldn’t think her a coward for wanting to say no. She wanted to talk to Colm. But as she turned to the staircase, she realized that she had no idea where the Maelioric common room was.
She stood in the hall hopelessly for a minute before beginning to ascend the stairs. Wherever he was, it was probably on a higher level. She combed three stories and it wasn’t until she reached the fourth, and final level that she saw anybody. A few boys from her year, who she recognized as Maeliorics crowded around a suit of armor.
“Hey,” Lottie called, trotting over to them. “Is this your common room?”
One of the boys raised his eyebrows and asked her, “What? Want to break in?”
Exasperated, Lottie growled, “No, I just want to talk to Colm. If he’s in there, can you ask him to come out here?”
The boy glared at her, but apparently could find nothing wrong with this request, so mumbled as password to the suit of armor and crept into the passage it revealed, followed by his friends. Lottie waited, fiddling with her sleeves, in silence. Finally, after a few minutes, the suit of armor stepped aside again, and Colm stepped out into the corridor. “Lottie?” he asked. “What’s up?”
Now that she was with him, Lottie didn’t know where to begin. She just wanted him to know everything already and just tell her that it would be okay. Colm seemed to sense this. He moved toward her swiftly and put an arm around her shoulder. “Come on,” he said, “tell me everything inside.” He led her to a corner of the common room and they sat down together on a small couch.
The Maelioric common room was decorated very differently than the Palmyitor one. Carpet stretched across the whole floor and large windows made up almost the entire wall, so that they could see every detail of the dwindling, red sunset outside. Like in her common room, a fireplace sat against a wall, and was the source of most of the light.
“Tell me what happened,” Colm said.
Lottie stared into his eyes and took a breath. “They gave me the werewolf mission,” she said.
“What’s the problem?”
Lottie glanced out the window. “I don’t know,” she said, unable to look him in the eye. “I don’t think Palmyitor wants me to. I think”well, I think she has me in mind for something else. I don’t want her to get angry.”
“Well”do you want to do it?” Colm asked.
Lottie turned to him. She didn’t want to sound like a coward, but if she was completely honest… “No,” she said.
Colm smiled faintly. “Then what’s the problem?”
“I don’t know.” Lottie put her face in her hands and stared blankly at the back of a chair. “I guess”I just”” Lottie didn’t know what to say. She wanted to keep her cowardice a secret forever, but she wasn’t sure how to explain without mentioning it.
“What is the mission?” Colm asked.
“To spy,” Lottie said, still not looking at him, “on the werewolves, that is. We want to make sure they don’t give in to the Dark Lord.” She took a breath. “The problem is that in order to do that, I have to become a werewolf.”
Colm sat up straighter. “What? Like get bitten and everything?”
Lottie nodded and turned to him, but was caught by surprise at what she saw. He had a ferocity gleaming in his eyes that she had never seen before. For a split second, Lottie thought that he was mad at her.
“No,” Colm said. “No, of course you don’t want to do it.” He put a hand on her knee and said, “That was horrible of them to ask you.”
“That’s what I thought,” Lottie said, slightly heartened by his agreement. “I don’t want to give up everything”I would have to give up being human.”
“No, you shouldn’t have to.” Colm had a look of hard resolution as he stared out of the window. His mouth formed into a frown, while his brow was furrowed in thought. He rose suddenly.
“Where are you going?” Lottie asked, standing up after him.
“I’m going to talk to Maelioric,” he said and started toward the door.
“What?” Lottie followed him out of the passageway and into the corridor. “No, you don’t””
“It’s okay,” Colm said with a reassuring smile. “I’m just going to go talk to them. Meet me at dinner.”
With that, he turned a corner and disappeared from view, leaving Lottie to feel more miserable than before.
Halfway to Infinity by Eponine
Chapter Notes: Thanks, coolh5000, for beta'ing! This chapter is dedicated to the cast and crew of the films.