His Teacher

His Teacher

Chapter Seven: Nebulous Spirits


“Dumbledore, are you mad?!” The man’s chocolate brown eyes glinted with outrage.

Albus put up his hand. “Dmitriy, please –”

“Please?! Please what? I am not suicidal, Dumbledore!”

“Silence!” Albus’ voice boomed throughout the office.

Fawkes ruffled his feathers, seemingly disapprovingly.

Dmitriy’s angry demeanor fell, and he slumped back in his chair, taking a pack of cigarettes from his pocket.

Albus stood up calmly and walked over to his phoenix, lightly stroking his feathers. “I am absolutely serious. I doubt that we can do this without you.”

Devilsky let out a sharp bark of laughter. “You weren’t so desperate for my company when you sent me to Azkaban.” Hearing Albus sigh heavily, he k hik his head and rubbed his temples. The arrogant and teasing tone disappeared from his voice. “You know I’m right about this, Dumbledore. She will know it’s me, and she will kill me the moment she sees me.”

Albus smiled weakly. “What makes you so sure?”

Dmitriy laughed again. “She didn’t even flinch when she killed her own brother.”

Albus sighed and handed him the same roll of parchment. “Just be there, Dmitriy. Have faith; it will be worth it.” And with that, he Disapparated.


* * *


The boy lay on his bed in the East wing of the Masters Mansion, half-asleep. It was a state that he was not really familiar with, as if he was awake, but his senses weren’t exactly doing a good job at seeing and hearing everything. But at the same time he was not, indeed, sleeping.

He stirred and let out a soft groan as he felt a slight ache starting to buzz in his head.

“M-master… t-time to wake up…”

He winced as the squelchy voice seemed to drill itself right into his brain.

As the teen opened his eyes, and blurred images gradually swam into focus, he found himself staring into a pair of big green eyes. He shut his eyes tightly and re-opened them, hoping that the eyes would go away… and they did. The boy sat up in bed and looked around at an unfamiliar room. He started to panic, even though he did hope that he would remember how he got there. Nothing came back into his mind. He shook his head.

“M-ma-master Draco?” He heard the screechy voice again and glared at the floor beside the bed.
A house elf stood there, his bright green eyes shining with worry and fear.

“What do you want?” Draco sneered; the elf he looked as if he were about to run away screaming – and Draco really hoped that he would. The elf’s face seemed to pale, and he backed away a few steps.
“I is Iny …Miss Lauren tells me to wake you up…she says you have to-” The elf actually looked thoughtful for a moment before counting the things he had to say. “- take a shower, bring him breakfast, take him to the study.” The small creature looked very nervous. “That is all she is saying, master…”

“Fine.” Draco spat. He had a nauseating headache, and the elf’s voice wasn’t helping much.

Draco started to get of bed, and glanced around the room.

It wasn’t very big; a deep, forest-green color decorated the walls, and the ceiling was enchanted to show a starry night. A king-sized, four-poster bed stood in the far end of the room. The elf led Draco to a wooden door on the left side of the room, leading to a bathroom. Draco stepped through the doorway and looked around.

“Hello there,” came a rather high-pitched voice from behind him. He glared over his shoulder. “Ahh, prissy today, aren’t we?” the mirror laughed.

“Can you just go away?”

“Sorry, I can’t do that.”

Draco sighed and stripped from his boxers, stepped into the shower, and turned the hot water as high as his body could stand. He emerged from the shower minutes later, feeling refreshed, a towel wrapped around his waist and with his headache subsiding. He glared again as the mirror spoke. “Hey, kiddo, you’re in good shape…”

“Whatever.” The boy sighed and walked out of the bathroom. He didn’t see any clothes anywhere, but instead, Iny pointed to a wardrobe that, Draco could swear, was not there before.

“Master…”

Draco ignored the elf as he walked up to the wooden wardrobe.

“I is setting the table for you, Master… I go now, I will wait outside.” The elf dashed to the door with a tiny squeak.

Draco scoffed as he rummaged through the clothing. “Pathetic.”


* * *


“Oh, my god!”

Molly Weasley jumped up from the couch at Hermione’s shriek. Before she had even considered rushing upstairs, she heard rapid footsteps, and Hermione, followed by Ron and Ginny, clambered down the staircase.

“Mum? Mum.. you have to see this!” Ginny cried breathlessly. The frantic girl looked wildly about for her mother, not noticing that she was standing in the middle of the room.

“What is it?”

The three teens began babbling simultaneously, Molly only catching snippets of ‘Harry!’ and ‘letter!’ and ‘tomorrow!’

“One at a time, please!” Molly raised her voice, and the three kids fell silent.

“Mrs. Weasley, Harry sent us ater;ter; Hedwig just brought it!”

Molly’s eyes went huge, and she tore the piece of parchment from Hermione’s hand, ignoring anything anyone else wanted to say at that moment.

‘Dear Ron and Hermione,

How have you been this summer? Everything is good with me, too…’

She didn’t read the letter any further and just feel back into the couch, handing the parchment back to Hermione.

Ginny sat down with her and put her arms around her mother, “Mummy, do you want to know what was said in that letter?”

“Yeah, I mean, Harry says that he’s OK… and err, that’s kind of Harry’s handwriting, too –” Ron was cut off by a stern look from Hermione. He mouthed a silent ‘What?’ at her and shrugged his shoulders.

“Do you think he really is alright?” Molly asked quietly.

Hermione glanced at Ginny before sitting down opposite them. “Well, he says so in his letter, and says that it is all a set up for some kind of training. We don’t really know anything.”


* * *


“I swear, one day I will kill that boy!” Laurens voice boomed around the corridor.

A black panther, seeming to be made from smoke, quickly dissolved into thin air as Lauren strode past it.

“Thanatos!” Lauren whispered; a light blue ray erupted from her wand and seared through the air, disappearing into the ceiling.

She waited.

“…You summoned me?” a whispery voice questioned.

Lauren pulled her cloak tighter around herself as a cold breeze swished into the room, and a pale, ghostly figure descendeforefore her.

“Yes, Thanatos.” There was a pause as a few more smoky figures glided into the chamber. “Where did you take the boys?”

“I did not take your boys anywhere… Ms. Masters.”

Lauren glared and pointed her wand at one of the gliding silhouettes. “Solvo Animus!”

It seemed that the ghosts’ eyes widened when the figure dissipated with a distant shriek.

Lauren pointed her wand at the ghost.

“… Very well. Follow me.”


* * *


“You wanted to see me?”

A strained smile graced the man’s lips. “Yes, Charlie… I wanted to see you.”

“So? Get on with it. I do not have much time right now.” Charlie sighed heavily and sat down.

It was a beautiful night. There wasn’t a single cloud shielding the moon. The skies were like deep blue, almost black, velvet, with bright stars as bits of a shattered mirror, reflecting the moonlight.

“Beautiful night, isn’t it?” Bill asked, even though it sounded more like a statement than a question.

Charlie looked at him, and then back to the ground. He picked up a small rock, trying to concentrate his attention on it, “What did you want with me, Bill?”

Now it was Bill’s turn to sigh. “Just to ask you a few questions.”

“Ask away, then.”

Only the dull swishing of the wind could be heard for a long moment.

“What are you doing? Why are you doing it? … What is going on?” Bill’s voice was raspy and slightly shaky. He sat down beside his brother.

Charlie threw the rock into a nearby tree, and they both watched as it tumbled down the hill for a moment.

“I’m not doing anything.”

Bill laughed and shook his head in disbelief. “Do you really think I’m that stupid, Charlie?”

“Yes?”

Both men laughed. One could think that just for that one moment, they both forgot the actual seriousness of their meeting.

“Lauren is trustworthy, believe me, Bill.”

Bill stood up suddenly, his fists clenching. “There you go talking about that woman again. Do you actually believe what you yourself are saying? She is a murderer, she was charged and was supposed to be sent into Azkaban. And just because of that… guy she was set free.”

Charlie stood up too and snarled. “I told you once, she is trustworthy, and you should believe me… brother.”

Bill rubbed his eyes slightly and sighed again. “Charlie, really.”

“Don’t ‘Charlie’ me right now. Is there anything in particular that you wanted to know?”

“I already aske--”

“Fine then, I answered. Goodbye, Bill.” With that, a crack was heard as Charlie Disapparated.

Bill stared at the place where Charlie had been a moment ago and sat down again, sighing softly. “It is still wrong… brother.”


* * *


A short man with auburn hair fidgeted slightly as he sat on the couch. “Professor Dumbledore, I certainly find those requirements unnecessary.”

“Oh, sure!”

“Mr. Dolohov, please stay quiet, for Mr. Cardea is not addressing you at the moment,” Albus stated calmly. He decided to re-read the letter that had been brought to him.

Robert pulled a flask out of his pocket and took a large gulp.

“Thirsty, Mr. Cardea?” the man with a thick Russian accent questioned.

“A lifesaver,” Robert answered, raising his flask slightly.


* * *


He heard a distant voice. “Harry?... Harry…”

He felt a someone shaking him gently. “Harry… wake up.”

As soon as Harry opened his eyes, pain shot through his forehead, and he screamed.

“It’s OK, Harry.”

The teen felt a soft caress on his forehead, and the tip of something between his eyebrows.

“Ponere qui.”

Warmth spread from his temples to his neck, and he tried to open his eyes.

“Does it hurt?” the same soft voice asked.

It took Harry a few moments to focus his vision, and he blushed momentarily when he saw Adam smiling at him. “It did…”

“Get him up, and let’s go.” Lauren walked up to them.

“Can’t you see, he can’t!” Adam raised his voice at her

Lauren laughed coldly. “Carry him, if it concerns you so much. We must leave now.”

Harry shook his head and sat up, realising that he was lying on a cold floor. “No, no, I’m fine… really.” He smiled at Adam, who, for a change, looked concerned.

“They should be punished… both of them –”

“Silence, Thanatos. I know better.” Lauren flicked her wand, and Harry felt himself being pulled up. “Hurry up, both of you, or I’m leaving you here.” With that, she stalked of of the small, cold chamber.

“Come on, Harry.” Adam draped Harry’s hand over his shoulder and wrapped his own around Harry’s waist. “We have to hurry.”

Harry’s legs felt wobbly, and he truly felt exhausted. He frowned. “What happened?”

Adam sighed as they started walking. “We’ll talk about that later. Right now, I have to get you out of here.”

“Is something wrong?” Harry asked, feeling Adam’s pace quicken.

Adam pointed at the ghostly figures floating around them with a whisper. “You could say that.”


* * * * *