Chapter Twenty-Three “ The Chipretta
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Luci Apparated onto the dark, cold street that faced the battered telephone box that would take them into the Ministry.
They looked around apprehensively. The sense of foreboding increased as Harry saw that the street was deserted. It was very early morning, however, and he comforted himself with the thought that people just weren’t out and about quite yet.
“Come on,” Luci said in a hushed voice, and they followed her across the street and into the telephone box. Ron pulled the metal door closed behind all of them.
Harry took the receiver and dialed the familiar numbers: 6 2 4 4 2. The cool female voice greeted him. “Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business.”
“Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Luci Keegan… um… looking for Draco Malfoy?”
Luci smiled up at Harry, and he could tell that it was supposed to be an encouraging smile, but it had looked more fearful than anything else. He obeyed the instinct that had soared into his brain, and he put an arm around her. He didn’t care that Hermione gave him a disapproving glance.
The operator’s voice interrupted the warm feeling that had wrapped itself around Harry. “Thank you. Visitors, please take the badges and attach them to the front of your robes.”
The badges appeared in the coin chute, and Harry retrieved them, as the voice continued, “Visitor to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wand for registration at the security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium.”
“Yes, we know,” sighed Harry.
Then the telephone box began to shake and the pavement rose up past the glass windows, taking the four of them down into further darkness. Harry kept his arm draped upon Luci’s shoulders and he felt her press her body against him. He could hardly focus and thought, to himself, that this hadn’t been the brightest idea.
“I’m scared,” Luci whispered suddenly, “just so all of you know.”
Ron and Hermione gaped at her, and Harry replied, “You’re an Auror,” as if that had been the silliest thing he’d ever heard.
She nodded and took a deep breath. “Courage was never my strength.”
“Well, it’s mine,” he reassured her.
“We’re Gryffindors for a reason,” Ron nodded proudly.
The booth came to a halt, with the cool voice chiming cordially, “The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant day.” The doors burst open to reveal the Atrium, with its many fireplaces. There wasn’t a soul in sight.
Harry stepped out into the corridor, but immediately shoved himself back in, knocking Luci, who had been following him, to the floor of the telephone box.
“What the…” she asked breathlessly, as Harry began frantically pounding on the button to close the doors.
But it was too late.
The Dementor cornered them into the box. Harry fumbled for his wand, but he could already hear the roaring sound of rushing water filling his head, and he began to feel the life being sucked out of him. He struggled to stay on his feet, but the bitter cold was draining his energy, and he felt his legs wobbling. For some reason, everything around him appeared to have been painted a strange ginger color, as if he were looking through orange lenses.
Behind him, he could hear the others yelling at one another, and then someone screamed, “Expecto Patronum!”
The darkness was slowly hollowing Harry and he was weak, but he became aware of a sinewy, translucent panther sprinting past him and straight into the Dementor. But nothing happened. It hovered still, unmoving, above Harry, and he felt it continuing to consume him. His head became filled with his mother’s desperate screams and Voldemort’s heartless laughter. He gripped the door of the telephone box.
Then, as suddenly as it had come, the sensation dissolved, the room returned to its original colors, and Luci was standing in front of him. The Dementor had vanished, but frigid water was rising all around the four of them. What was going on?
Luci was waving her wand frantically at the water, chanting something that Harry couldn’t understand.
“What is this?” he shouted in panic.
Luci didn’t answer. The water was up to her waist now and she was mumbling more quickly, madly flicking her wand at the pool surrounding her. She was breathing heavily and tears were cascading down her face.
Harry just stood there, watching her, completely at a loss for words or actions. Ron and Hermione seemed to be having the same reaction.
Then Luci howled, “I can’t do it!” and lowered her wand.
Hermione, obviously coming into comprehension, yelled, “Yes, you can!” and stepped up behind her, beginning to brandish her own wand in the same fashion. Harry noticed that she had been careful not to stand next to Luci. Was this a Boggart, changing for each person who stood before it?
Luci shakily began again, ostensibly encouraged but still sobbing with fear. Both girls seemed to be concentrating with all of their might, and to his surprise, Harry saw that the water was finally receding, if only slightly.
“Can we help?” Ron asked anxiously.
Hermione held up a hand, as if to silence him, and kept at it. The pool was definitely shrinking significantly now.
Harry watched as it all appeared to evaporate around them. Eventually, there was nothing left but a few puddles upon the marble floor. At this point, Luci’s body crumpled backwards into Harry’s arms. He slid her gently onto the floor. He could hear her heart pounding in the silence.
She wearily opened her eyes. “Thank you, Hermione.”
Hermione, who looked equally drained, nodded and leaned against the wall of the telephone box.
“What was that?” asked Harry. “Everything was… orange.”
“A Chipretta,” Luci sighed weakly.
“Ky-what?”
She sat up slowly, but Harry kept a hand against her back for support.
“Chipretta,” Hermione echoed.
“I thought it was a Boggart…”
Luci shook her head. “Your greatest fear isn’t a Dementor, is it?”
“My greatest fear is fear.”
She smiled faintly. “As it should be.”
Hermione was drying all of them with her wand, and she had moved from Ron to Harry.
“Yours isn’t?” Harry asked, not paying attention, but grateful to be dry again.
Luci looked at him hesitantly. “Mine is loss.”
Harry stared at her for a moment. Loss was something that he knew terribly well.
“A Boggart can’t kill you,” interjected Hermione. “A Chipretta’s sole purpose is to kill you, in the worst way that you can possibly imagine.”
Luci nodded. “In your case, a Dementor, even though Dementors don’t actually kill you; they just steal your soul.”
“Scariest bloody thing I ever heard of,” breathed Ron, following a shudder.
Understanding lifted the confusion in Harry’s head. “And you’re afraid of drowning?”
Luci cringed.
“How did you get rid of it?” asked Harry, curiously.
She opened her mouth to answer him, but, instead, he heard Hermione cry, “Harry!”
“Well, well…” came a cold voice.
Bellatrix Lestrange stood directly in front of Harry, with her hand on the door of the telephone box, preventing it from closing, though it seemed that the water had rusted it permanently open anyway.
Harry stood hastily.
“Hello, baby Potter,” she grinned maniacally.
Luci had also gotten to her feet, apparently regaining her strength. She stepped protectively in front of Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Still soaking wet, her shoes made a sloshing noise on the cold floor.
“Back off,” she hissed at Bellatrix, who laughed callously.
Harry was just thinking, We can take her, when a host of hooded Death Eaters appeared behind her.
“I think you lot will be coming with us,” said Bellatrix.
“Where’s my brother?” Luci replied fiercely.
Bellatrix laughed again, and this time, the rest of the Death Eaters joined her.
With a wicked grin, Bellatrix responded, “We’re very pleased you fell for that. You don’t think I’d hurt my nephew, do you? Draco is just fine.”
Luci shot Harry a terrified, remorseful glance, and then she made a noise as if she were trying not to scream. Still standing between the Death Eaters and the door of the telephone box, Luci growled, “Am I what you want? Then take me. But you let them go.”
Bellatrix smiled sadistically. “You think you’re important? We have no use for you, though there are some of us who would like to see you dead, if for no other reason than to restore the Malfoy name… No, the Dark Lord wants Potter, and you were stupid enough to bring him here. Selfish, aren’t you?”
Before Luci could respond, Bellatrix had seized her by the arm and yanked her from her guardian position. Then several masked Death Eaters grabbed Harry, Ron, and Hermione, the last of whom had dried herself off in the interim, and their captures dragged them from the telephone box and down the hall, past the golden fountain, and towards the lifts. Harry wondered why there were no Ministry staff members to be found.
The golden grills clanked apart, and the four of them were shoved into a box, followed by Bellatrix and her hooded gang. One of them pressed a button and they began to slowly climb upwards, the lift clattering noisily as they went.
Harry felt Luci entwine her fingers into his. She was transferring her weight from one foot to the other, restlessly. Slosh, slosh. She had always sent him such mixed signals. He didn’t know what to make of this one either, so he just squeezed her hand reassuringly, though he was anything but confident. They were certainly being taken to Lord Voldemort. He wasn’t ready for this. Not yet. He needed more time. More training. More… preparation.
“Ninth floor, Department of Mysteries,” called the pleasant female voice as the lift ceased its traveling.
They all stepped out to face the plain black door that Harry knew so well, Luci dripping a path of water as they went. Bellatrix flung it open and they were pushed forward into the large circular room with the black marble floors and ceilings. A dozen unmarked doors greeted them.
One of the Death Eaters closed the door behind them and the room was plunged into darkness, lit only by the glow of the blue candles that hung between each of the doors. Suddenly, the walls began to rotate, but Bellatrix commanded, “The room, please.”
A door directly to Harry’s right flew open. A Death Eater pried Luci away from him and he felt her fingers slip from his. They were led into the open room, which Harry recognized immediately. It was a dimly lit, rectangular space that looked almost like an amphitheatre. Stone benches descended many feet down into the middle of the room, where there stood a raised stone dais that held a stone archway, which held a veil “ the veil through which Sirius had fallen!
They were marched around the top of this area and through a door to the left, which led into yet another room that was brightly lit and empty, except for one thing.
Malfoy sat in a chair towards the back of the room. His head was lolled onto his chest. Luci ripped herself away from the Death Eater that had been holding her captive and ran, splashing, to her brother.
Bellatrix drove Harry, Ron, and Hermione forward with her wand, in the direction of the other two.
“Sleeping charm,” Harry heard Luci murmur to herself. Then, taking out her wand, she spoke, “Evigilo.”
Malfoy’s eyes fluttered open. He seemed disoriented. Finally focusing in on Luci’s face, he breathed, “You came…”
“Of course, I came,” she said affectionately. “You’re my brother.”
“It was a trap…” His eyes went to Harry. “What is he doing here?”
“It’s OK, Draco.”
“You’re wet.”
Luci turned her wand on herself and finally dried her clothing.
“He’s going to kill us all,” choked Malfoy.
“I won’t let anyone hurt you,” promised Luci.
Then came a familiar laugh. “You won’t need to protect the boy from his own father.”
Slowly, all of them turned to see that Lucius Malfoy had removed his hood. Bellatrix was looking very satisfied with this entire situation.
Lucius and Luci stared silently at each other for what seemed like a very long time. They appeared to be assessing one another, and Harry wished that he knew what Luci was thinking.
Finally, Malfoy asked in a hoarse whisper, “Father?”
“You are safe, Draco,” replied Lucius Malfoy, breaking eye contact with Luci and gazing at his son. “Come here and join us.”
Malfoy didn’t move, but instead looked utterly bewildered. “But… how…?”
Lucius smiled nastily. “The Dark Lord has welcomed us back.”
“Why on earth would Voldemort welcome you back?” Luci seemed to have found her voice.
Lucius responded, “Do not speak his name.” Then, with a sneer, he continued, “In order to prove my loyalty, I offered him your life in return for Draco’s and mine.”
The expression on Luci’s face very nearly broke Harry’s heart into a million pieces. She remained brazen but he could see the tears in her eyes. She appeared to be at a loss for words.
“That doesn’t prove any loyalty, you coward!” spat Hermione unpredictably. “It’s not a sacrifice if you don’t care about the person!”
Lucius looked as if he might retaliate, but Malfoy exclaimed, “NO!” and leapt to his feet, tottering dangerously, as he was still groggy. He fell back into the chair and put a hand to his head.
Lucius frowned. “What do you mean “ NO?”
Malfoy looked insolently up at his father. “She’s my sister and I won’t let you.”
“How dare you speak to me that way, Draco?” snapped Lucius.
On his feet again, Malfoy began fuming. “You let the Dark Lord send me after Professor Dumbledore and you knew, you knew that I wouldn’t be able to do it, and I could have been killed, but all you cared about was getting back into his good graces!”
Harry was dumbfounded by this, and he saw that his friends shared his reaction.
Lucius cleared his throat and fumbled with his robes. “That’s ridiculous, Draco. You’re my son. I’ve done nothing but protect you.”
“Luci has protected me,” Malfoy hurled back. “She came here to save me from you!”
“Rubbish. That Mudblood has done nothing but lie to you.”
Lucius gave Luci a look of revulsion. She shook her head, almost as if she were trying to wake herself up from an awful nightmare.
Malfoy looked hesitant, and then glanced at Luci, who said, “It was to keep you safe. It was all for you.”
Lucius guffawed. “You can’t possibly believe this nonsense, Draco. Now, join us. The Dark Lord will arrive shortly and he will take care of these worthless fools.” He gestured towards Harry and his companions.
Malfoy glanced again from his father to his sister, seemingly unable to make up his mind. He took a step towards the hooded figures, obviously realizing that the Death Eaters had the clear advantage here, but he stopped at the sound of Luci’s voice.
“Draco, you’re not a Death Eater. You’re so much better than they are. You’re so much… more.”
Malfoy turned to her. She was gazing lovingly at him.
“You know I’m right. Remember what I told you. You have a heart and a soul and“”
“Shut up, you ridiculous girl,” Bellatrix cut in.
But there was no longer a need for Malfoy to choose sides.
“What have we here?” an icy voice inquired.
The pit of Harry’s stomach filled with hatred at the sight of Voldemort, who had made his way into the room, followed closely by his large snake, Nagini. The Death Eaters rallied reverently around him.
Harry released a loud moan as his scar began to throb. He closed his eyes on the pain and staggered backwards.
Hermione was immediately beside him. She put her hand gently upon Harry’s forehead and he felt the throbbing subside instantly. He looked at her in wonder.
But before he could ask her what she’d done, Voldemort was speaking.
“This must be Lucius’s lovely daughter. Yes, it’s the eyes.”
He was moving slowly towards Luci, whose face bared obvious disgust.
“You’re on the wrong side, you know,” Voldemort continued. “Your father must be ashamed.”
Lucius scoffed.
Luci was silent but bravely held Voldemort’s stare, her face blanched, her nostrils flaring.
Voldemort ran a long, thin finger along her cheek. Harry saw her eyes slam closed and her jaw clench at his touch.
“Get away from her!” Harry warned, coming nearer.
Voldemort moved his snake-like eyes to Harry, smiling slowly, and stepped towards him.
“So it’s true?” he oozed. “You’re in love with a Death Eater’s daughter?”
Harry was silent. He heard Luci suck in a breath of surprise. Malfoy looked horrorstruck.
“You didn’t know?” Voldemort asked her in a sickeningly sweet tone.
She pursed her lips.
“Oh, yes, I’m afraid so.”
Sounding shaken, Luci commanded, “Close your mind, Harry.”
Harry looked at her, helplessly.
Voldemort’s face contorted into a sardonic smile. “He was never a very good Occlumens, to my great delight. But no. I dare not venture into that territory. I have other ways of learning secrets.”
Luci looked appalled. Either she couldn’t believe that no one had thought to teach Occlumency to Harry or she had identified Voldemort’s methods for obtaining information. Harry was very interested in the latter.
Unexpectedly, two more visitors strolled into the room “ Wormtail and Snape. A jolt of abhorrence struck Harry in the chest. Snape sneered at him triumphantly and Harry tried very hard to empty his mind so that Snape, who had no fear of Harry retaliating, couldn’t pry into it.
For some bizarre reason, Luci’s expression had changed to relief.
“Severus,” Voldemort said, calmly, “kill the boy and his… sister.”
Harry felt fear grip him.
“My Lord,” drawled Snape, “don’t you think that we should let them go? Lucius is a most loyal servant and they are his children.”
Lucius was gaping stupidly, apparently shocked that Voldemort would betray him in this way.
Voldemort replied, “Lucius has failed me. The boy has failed me.”
“M-my son…” mumbled Lucius.
Voldemort glanced at him and seemed to ponder his options.
“Spare the boy,” he said, finally. “He could be of use. But we agreed upon the girl. And Potter seems quite fond of her, which certainly sweetens the pot.”
“No!” Malfoy exclaimed again, stepping in front of Luci to shield her. Everyone in the room looked astounded, including Malfoy himself.
“You’ll have to kill us both,” he went on, erratically.
Voldemort surveyed Malfoy with amusement. “Very well,” he concluded. He raised his wand at the pair of them.
At that moment, a series of loud cracking noises erupted in the next room. It sounded almost like fireworks. Harry and Luci exchanged bewildered glances.
Then, through the door, burst the entire Order of the Phoenix and nearly half of the remainder of Dumbledore’s Army.