Chapter Sixty-Three: The Death Eater’s Task
The next morning, the recruits met again in the vacuous chamber. If they seemed nervous the previous morning, it was nothing compared to this. Today, they had their official test; whatever task the Death Eaters assigned them had to be done before everybody else finished. Lottie waited as the Death Eaters conversed, and just like the day before, they broke apart and each went to one of the recruits.
Snape’s black eyes seemed to glimmer maliciously as he approached her. She followed his wide footsteps out of the chamber, through more tunnels to the world above.
“The other candidates,” he said as they walked toward the gate of the Muggle Camps, “are doing foolish, symbolic tasks”but not you.” He stopped and glanced down at her. He wore his Death Eater mask, so she could not see his face. “You’re actually going to do something useful.”
He turned his face to the Muggle camp and watched its desolation for a moment before moving again. As he unlatched the gate, he said, “Some may say this is easier than what the others are doing.” He pushed open the gate and let her walk ahead of him. “I believe that it will be infinitely more challenging.”
Lottie just watched him. She knew that there was a reason for why he had chosen her, and why she was doing something different. “What is the assignment?” she finally asked.
“There have been rumors of another Muggle rebellion.”
The words hit Lottie square in the chest. She struggled to keep her face passive as she listened to Snape, though she knew exactly what he was doing and why he was doing it.
“You need to find whoever is at the bottom of this,” Snape went on, “by using whatever means necessary.”
“And then kill them?” Lottie’s voice did not reach above a whisper.
“Bring the filth back to us.” Snape turned on his heel and began to stride away as he said, “We’ll deal with them there.”
Lottie made sure that Snape had reached the gate before turning to stare at the Muggle camp. The urge to be sick bubbled in her stomach, but she repressed it. Her parents had been planning a revolution. There was no way this was a coincidence. Snape knew. But she couldn’t fail”then Snape would definitely know and she wouldn’t get into the inner circle. Sacrificing strangers had been one thing”but her own family?
She looked at the ground. Time was running out. She couldn’t be beaten by the others. Slowly, Lottie glanced around her. It was possible that her parents weren’t the only ones starting a revolt. Maybe she could find another Muggle.
Lottie looked at the desolation surrounding her. Where would she start? Out of habit, she began to walk towards her parents’ flat. The Muggles around her instinctively shrank into shadows. Lottie kept walking. Her parents, she thought, were not the only ones involved in this rebellion. If Snape just wanted to watch her torture somebody, she could find one of the others involved.
Decided, Lottie stepped in front of the apartment building where her parents lived and cast a Disillusionment Charm on herself. She would wait.
After about twenty minutes, the door to the flat opened. A young woman”maybe in her twenties”poked her nose out, decided it was safe, and stepped outside. Lottie acted instantly. She shed off her Disillusionment Charm and approached the woman with her wand extended.
“Who are you?” she demanded.
The Muggle froze in her tracks, her eyes wide and staring. “J-just a Muggle,” she stuttered. “Does it matter?”
Lottie brandished her wand again. “What are you doing here?”
“I live here.” The woman’s eyes traveled from Lottie’s wand back to her face. “Please”don’t kill me. I was just going to try and find some water for my family””
The woman babbled on, but Lottie wasn’t listening. She peered carefully into the woman’s eyes and delved into her mind. The memories were strong, but nothing special. There was fear, hatred, envy, but not a hint of a planned rebellion. Lottie emerged from the Muggle’s mind and glared at her. “Be careful who you associate with,” she finally said. The woman stared at her, until Lottie finally barked, “Go!”
The woman ran off. Lottie again cast the Disillusionment Charm on herself and waited. This time it took much longer. The sun had already crept high into the sky by the time another Muggle crossed by. This one was a man. His dark eyes flittered the street anxiously as he approached the flat. Even from a distance, Lottie could tell that he was the one she wanted.
“You there,” she called, casting off her charm and approaching him.
The man stopped in his tracks and turned to her, horror etched in every line of his face. “Y-y-yes?” he stammered.
“What are you doing here?”
“I”I live”I live here.” The man tried to smile, but Lottie could see his knees shaking. “I mean”my family does”I just”I””
“Shut up.” Lottie looked into his mind, and sure enough, it was filled with thoughts of revolt. She searched carefully, and saw a few fleeting glances of her parents, but that was all. This man did not even know their names. Lottie was slightly comforted. She could torture all of the information out of him, but he still wouldn’t jeapordize her family’s safety.
She pulled out of his mind and stared at him carefully. He was squat, shorter than her, but powerfully built. His arms were as wide as her own thighs, and his neck was just as thick. Despite this, he shook like a child in her presence.
“P-p-please,” he said, “let me g-go to my family””
“Your family does not live here,” Lottie hissed. “Do not lie to me. Be quiet”and come with me.”
“No!” Ferocity sparked in the man’s wild eyes. He leapt towards her, trying to use his physical advantage, but Lottie flicked her wand and froze him in midair. He landed against the pavement with an uncomfortable crack, and, clutching his elbow, began to moan.
“Shut up,” Lottie commanded. “Follow me.”
“No.” The man struggled to his feet, using only his left arm. Lottie rolled her eyes. This Muggle was just making everything harder on himself.
“Stupefy,” she growled. The man keeled over promptly and Lottie levitated his body before her. Muggles gaped at her as she walked by. She was a strange sight, she knew, but still glared at everyone who stared.
Negotiating her way down the stairs to the headquarters with the Muggle floating ahead of her proved to be trickier than she had imagined. A good twenty minutes later, she emerged in the large chamber. With a thrill, she realized that she was the first candidate there. A cloaked figure in the corner glanced up when she entered. It was Lucius. Lottie grimaced at him and flicked her wand. The limp Muggle fell to the ground with a crash, but did not wake.
“Ah”our untraditional candidate has arrived,” Lucius said, examining the unconscious Muggle with a distasteful expression.
“Am I the first one?” Lottie asked.
Lucius looked up. “Always the competitive one, are we? Yes, you are the first one.”
Lottie let a grin crack Shaula’s serious face. “Great,” she said. “Now what?”
“Now we wait for the others.” Lucius glanced at the Muggle. “And question this so we can end this rebellion once and for all.”
Lottie crossed her arms and leaned against the bare wall. “The rebellion has been a problem?” she asked.
Lucius shrugged. “Well we’ve taken care of it before. It was just a little movement”picking off wizards one by one. Barbaric, really. But they just seem to be gathering steam. We killed the entire original group”or at least we thought so, but the attacks are not ending.”
Lottie couldn’t help but feel a small swell of pride for her parents. They had been actually making a difference. And the best part was that the Death Eaters thought they that were dead anyway”so any memories of them would not get them killed. Feeling somewhat less nauseated, Lottie sat down against the wall and waited.
It must have been two hours until anybody else showed up. In moments when Lucius glanced away, Lottie took inconspicuous sips of her Polyjuice, praying he wouldn’t notice. Finally, footsteps approached and Bran entered, carrying a limp child’s body. Lottie carefully moved her gaze to her boots as Bran laid his Muggle next to hers. With an uncomfortable pang, Lottie realized that the child was not breathing.
“You finished first,” Bran said, his voice hushed in almost a reverie.
“Yes.” Lottie turned to him. It seemed impossible to her that this weedy, nervous boy was capable of killing an innocent child. She looked at the little girl’s face. Its eyes were still wide open, but they were glazed over. She had a terrible look of pure horror etched into her expression.
By then, others also began to arrive. It didn’t take long until there was a whole row of children, all with looks of terror and all dead, lying on the ground. As if on cue, Snape entered from one of the long, narrow tunnels and examined each body carefully before turning to Lottie. “You were the first to arrive,” he said.
“Yes.”
“You were the first to arrive”and arguably you had the hardest task.” Snape stepped away from the row of bodies and advanced toward her. “Carrow,” he told the others, “had to go through the entire camp to find the source of this pitiful, Muggle revolt. She finished in record time.” He turned his gaze back to Lottie”his eyes bored into her, but she met his gaze with her Occlumency. “How did you do it?”
“People tell their secrets quickly with a little bit of encouragement,” Lottie said carefully.
“I see.”
Lottie’s heart rate slowed. She couldn’t let Snape know that she had used Legilimency”then he would definitely know it was her.
“Let’s see what the Muggle has to say.” Snape pulled out his wand. “Renervate.”
The Muggle woke with a loud, shuddering gasp. His eyes flew madly in his sockets and, once he saw the Death Eaters surrounding him, he scrambled to his feet. Lottie didn’t think she had ever seen fear like that. It poured out of his eyes so strongly that even she felt it. “Wh-where am I?” he demanded.
“Shut up.” Snape stepped forward with his wand extended. “You are involved in a plot to overthrow the Dark Lord’s reign.”
“No”I’m”I’m not”I””
“Sectumsempra.” A gash appeared across the man’s cheek. Dark blood spilled down his face and stained his shirt. “Tell the truth.”
“I’m not.”
Snape rolled his eyes. “You are weak and you are pathetic. We will get the truth from you.”
“No””
“Crucio.”
The man’s shrieks echoed in Lottie’s own heart. She wanted to look away, but knew she could not. The man was crying. Lottie had never seen a grown man cry like that. Tears rolled endlessly down his cheeks, mingling with his blood. “Please,” he sobbed. His arms flailed helplessly”his legs curled up beneath him. “P-p-please”stop.”
Snape raised his wand. “You want to talk?”
“Yes”please”anything.” The man lay on his hands and knees, groveling at Snape’s feet.
“You have participated in these wizards’ murders?” Snape asked.
The man hesitated, but, seeing Snape reach for his wand again, nodded. “Yes”I”yes. I have.”
In the corner, Lucius scoffed. Lottie wasn’t sure whether it was of disgust or celebration.
“And what was your goal in these barbaric actions?” Snape continued.
The man sobbed harder. “I don’t know”I”just thought””
“Crucio.”
The man screamed again. His eyes rolled into his skull as his body shivered and contorted in pain.
“Tell me,” Snape growled, lifting his wand. “If you continue to waste our time””
“I didn’t want”I wanted to help,” the man spluttered. His body still shook even though there was no curse upon him. “I wanted to stop this once and for all. I am treated like an animal.” The man, still on the ground, crawled toward Lottie, his eyes wide and pleading. “Please.” He reached up and put a hand on the hem of her robe.
“Don’t touch me.” Lottie almost hated herself for it, but she had to play her part convincingly. She delivered a well-aimed kick to the Muggle’s shoulder, causing him to howl in pain.
“Crucio.” Snape was unrelenting. Lottie watched him, and could feel the joy in his eyes”his love for causing pain, for dominating. The man had almost gone hoarse from screaming. Whatever noise he made was halfway between a bark and a sob. “Do not touch us, filth,” Snape said. “You are swine. You only pollute the world””
“No.” The man had pushed himself up to standing and clumsily tried to launch himself at Snape. His eyes flew open wide and his mouth contorted with a silent scream. Before he reached Snape, there was a bang and he was blasted off his feet.
“Crucio.”
Screams.
Lottie looked at the faces of those around her. Most of the recruits watched eagerly, taking mental notes on Snape’s performance. Bran’s whole body quivered, though whether it was in fear or joy, Lottie didn’t know. She turned her gaze to Lucius, who seemed almost bored, watching this dully, numb to suffering by now.
“Crucio.”
More screams.
Lottie wondered how long it would be until the Muggle just died. Snape seemed to have this thought as well, because once the man’s scream became entirely silent, he lifted his wand. The Muggle no longer made any noise, but stared at the ceiling with vacant eyes. His whole body still shook, and drool rolled down his chin.
“Lost his mind,” Snape growled, stowing his wand back in his pocket. He picked his head up and looked at the recruits as if noticing them for the first time. “It’s not wholly uncommon. It’s a shame we can’t get more information out of him”but”” He performed a noncommittal gesture and pushed the unknowing Muggle over with his feet. “That is enough for today, I think.”
The recruits slowly disbanded and began down the narrow tunnel to their bedrooms. Lottie hesitated and watched Snape, who had moved toward Lucius and spoke with him in a low tone. A nudge in the ribs from Bran brought her back to her sense, and with one fleeting look at Snape, Lottie followed Bran.
She knew that she ought to feel relieved, but for some reason, she didn’t. The Muggle had lost his mind”he was useless”a void of information that could have been helpful, but was now lost. Her parents were safe. But something still nagged the back of her mind. Snape did not have a look of defeat that she would have expected. Lottie was filled with ill ease. He looked like he was still up to something.
Lottie reached her room and pushed the door open with her shoulder. She wanted to go back to Alsemore”to talk to Palmyitor”to see if maybe there was anything they could do to protect her parents. It was no use though. She couldn’t leave now”not when she could be called on at any minute. Even if she could, though, Palmyitor wouldn’t do anything. She would just talk about sacrifice”ask what was worse”the Dark Lord’s reign or losing a life here and there?
Lottie sat down on her bed and buried her face in her hands. It was very easy for Palmyitor to say”as she comfortably ran the war from her office. She wasn’t the one who had to sacrifice her life, her friends, her family or, Lottie thought bitterly, her soul.
“Why was your task different?”
Lottie picked her head up. Bran stood in the doorway, leaning awkwardly against the frame. She wondered whether he had been standing there the entire time. “I don’t know,” she finally said. Her voice came out cracked, hoarse. “I’m older. That could have something to do with it.”
Bran took a step into the room and Lottie sat up formally. “I don’t think it does,” he said boldly. “And why do you always work with Snape? The rest of us switch advisors, but not you.”
Lottie ground her teeth and chewed on the inside of her lips to contain her frustration. She merely shrugged. “He knew my family. I am the last of the Carrows. You may have pure blood, but it is not as significant as mine.” She smiled in a mocking of sweetness, doing her very best to offend him as much as possible. “Maybe that’s why.”
Bran stood directly across from her in an attempt to intimidate. It was not very effective, since, even sitting down, she was still taller than him. “I don’t think so.” He narrowed his eyes shrewdly. “You always look like you’re hiding something.”
“So you do not trust me?” Lottie asked, cocking her head to the side.
“No, I don’t think I do. There is no good reason why you should get special treatment. I think there is something going on between you and Snape.”
Lottie watched Bran carefully. Although he spoke calmly, his eyes were full of rage. She could understand why”he had waited his whole life for this”he had trained for years”his dreams had come true when he got recruited at such a young age”but it was all ruined by Lottie’s”or Shaula’s”appearance. He was supposed to be the best, but she beat him at everything.
“It is a shame you don’t trust me,” Lottie finally said, “but it is the Dark Lord’s opinion that matters”not yours. I finished first today.”
“You had an unfair advantage,” Bran hissed. “Your task was easier”you had Snape helping you.”
“Do you listen? Snape said my task was the most difficult, and yet I still beat you.”
“It was unfair””
“Life is unfair.” Lottie got to her feet and advanced. Bran backed down with each of her steps until he was out in the corridor. “If it were fair, then there would be no magic”or everyone would have magic. Do you think life is fair for Muggles?”
“That filth,” Bran spat, “they’re animals.” His eyes gleamed savagely. The propaganda of his childhood spoke through him. “They’re lucky to have us watching over them.”
“Are they?” Lottie asked. She had an understanding that he would never have. She had a vision of every part of the war. Bran lived a comfortable life in a mansion. He had no concept of the world around him.
“What you are saying,” he hissed, “is madness. It could get you killed.”
“Well then go run to the grownups,” Lottie sneered. “If you think they will save you, why fight with me yourself? Look around. You’re not at Hogwarts.”
Bran sucked his lips into his teeth. His face was slowly purpling with rage. He took a step back and said, “I’ll figure out what’s going on.”
“Okay, great.” Lottie watched him retreat to his own room. “Soon you’ll find it is merely the favoritism of my ancestors, but feel free to waste your time.”
Lottie slammed the door and once again sat down on her bed. What she had done was foolish”she knew it. But Bran had come a little too close to the truth with his accusations. Lottie lay back in her bed and heaved a sigh. The initiation, at least, was nearly over.
She woke to loud banging on her door. Lottie sat up and rubbed her eyes. It only took her a moment to realize that she was herself once again, and quickly downed a swig of Polyjuice. “Yeah?” she said groggily, opening the door.
A clump of Death Eaters stood there, all masked and cloaked. “Come,” said a voice from one of them. Lottie couldn’t tell who was speaking. “You are to prove your devotion to the Dark Lord.”
Lottie couldn’t find her voice, so merely nodded. She pulled on her own cloak and though she had no mask, dragged the hood over her forehead. They retrieved the others after her”though not everybody. In the end, only seven of the original candidates stood with her. Bran, unfortunately, was included.
As soon as the group had been assembled, they began to move. Lottie, somehow, knew what horrors were about to occur. She repressed her fears and followed the rest up the tunnels and into the open air. The crisp night bit at their noses and fingers, but nobody shivered. Lottie felt a chill in her core, but it wasn’t, at least she didn’t think it wasn’t, from the foggy, London air.
As a single unit, the pack began to move. Lottie saw the camp gates looming in the distance and felt a dark resolve. She knew almost instinctively where they were going, and what they were going to do. Horror filled her like a thick, vicious and biting liquid. She was going to commit terrible, inhuman acts tonight.
None of the recruits were speaking. Lottie looked at the same resolution on their faces and wondered whether she looked the same. A Death Eater in front opened the gate to the camp, let them all file in, and shut it again.
Lottie walked in with the others. They followed a familiar path and she knew instinctively where they were going. Her heartbeat quickened and something hot burned like acid in her throat, but she ignored it. She had to, she kept telling herself. This was her role. She had to play her part. Sacrifices had to be made.
They came to a stop in front of the familiar building and Lottie felt her heart harden. Her parent’s flat was still and quiet, as if egging them on, taunting them with its serenity. And again as a single unit, the Death Eaters and Lottie advanced.
Somebody in front kicked open the door. They filed through the narrow corridor until reaching the entrance to Lottie’s former home. Her heart pounded in her throat as they stood there, waiting in silence. She wanted to be sick again. She wanted to faint now, to die now”anything to escape what had to be done.
The Death Eater in front blasted the door off its hinges.
Muggles were crammed into the tiny apartment. They raised their heads as one at the noise”their eyes widened at the mass of blackness. The Death Eaters advanced with shouts, brandishing their wands. Lottie too filed into the room, but did not draw her wand.
Sparks and jets of light zoomed through the air. Lottie saw her father rise from his chair and run toward her mother. In the chaos of death, they were lost for a moment, able to say their last goodbyes. Lottie could see their mouths moving, whispering, ‘I love you,’ or maybe ‘goodbye.’ She was not able to hear them.
A wizard drew his wand on them. Nathaniel wrapped his body around Posy’s protectively, acting as a human shield. His eyes were open, staring resolutely at his to-be murderer. The Death Eater shouted something. Lottie saw the green light reflect in her father’s eyes before he collapsed.
She stood mutely, numbly, unable to think, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
Somebody hit her elbow. A masked wizard was shouting at her, but the words did not reach her brain. Everything seemed to stop as she stared at her father”her father who had always seemed stronger than her”lying dead on the floor. The Death Eater hit her elbow again. Slowly, Lottie turned her gaze to him. He drew his finger and pointed at the mass of Muggles yet to be slaughtered. Lottie moved into the fray.
She killed quickly and cleanly, forgoing the Cruciatus curse and trying, in her own way, to give the Muggles as dignified a death as possible. The line of humans became a pile of bodies. There was stillness.
The Death Eaters looked at each other, unable, due to masks, to see each other’s faces, but acknowledging a job well done. Slowly, one man raised his right hand and drew his finger to point at the opposite wall.
Something stirred there. Lottie recognized the limp body of her father being moved by some life underneath. Lottie shut her burning eyes for a minute and willed whoever it was to stop, to play dead.
But”she wouldn’t. Posy Rowe rose from the pile of dead, eyes streaming with tears. Her mouth was moving, contorting with shouts or pleas or curses. Lottie couldn’t hear. Noise was drowned out by her own ragged breath, her own pounding pulse, as she watched her mother cry helplessly.
Lottie remained as one of the mass. She watched as her mother’s gaze moved along all of the wizards’ faces. When Posy and Lottie’s eyes met, for one horrible minute, Lottie thought she saw a glimmer of recognition. That look disappeared and was soon replaced with hatred. And for that one moment, Lottie felt the urge to break through the wizards, to stand with her mother, tell her everything would be okay, die with her. But she knew she couldn’t.
Posy shouted more. Still, Lottie could hear nothing. The Death Eaters exchanged glances. Lottie felt entirely numb. Somebody stirred behind her, and a figure broke through the mass to stand in front. Posy’s mouth moved more, but she wasn’t begging. The wizard raised his wand. Green burst from it and wrapped around her mother. Lottie saw the instant the life disappeared from her eyes, the instant all hope was lost.
And, in that instant, all sound came rushing back to her. She heard the cries and celebrations of her fellow wizards; she heard laughter; she heard the unrelenting silence of the dead. The figure in front turned so that Lottie could make out his face. Bran stood with his teeth bared, though whether it was a grin or malice, she couldn’t tell.
The Death Eaters left the apartment again as one. Lottie walked with them, though she felt oddly disembodied. She was aware of the physical reactions taking place inside of her, but could not feel them. She was the last to leave the tiny flat”her former home where she had grown up. She swung the door shut behind her, and without looking back, joined the Death Eaters.
Halfway to Infinity by Eponine
Chapter Notes: I hope everybody had a good holiday! I plan on going back to my regular updating schedule now that everything's settled down. As always, thanks to coolh5000 for being a great beta!
Just a warning--this chapter (and really the rest of the story from here on out) is a little bit darker. Buckle up!
This chapter is dedicated to Mark Z. Danielewski for producing one of the most stunning pieces of literature I have ever read.