My encounter with an Inferi
It had been a horrible couple of weeks and was about to get much worse for me, but at that point in the day I didn't know it yet. Some crazy cult of people has been roaming the halls of our beloved school posing as 'DaKeed Napper' and kidnapping students at random. Or maybe not at random. All I know is that for the first little bit, everyone was afraid to go out alone. "Safety in Numbers" was the line of thinking. Supposedly if you were in a group you were less likely to be kidnapped.
That worked for all of 5 minutes, until the most recent interpretation of the clues started people thinking it was a group. Now you may be in a group of two or three or even ten people but then you were even more worried. What if the group that was passing were DaKeed Nappers? Were they going to start taking out groups next? Or worse, what if the group of friends you were with were DaKeed Nappers?
No one knew what they were after or what they were up to. Rumors flew around faster than the Gryffindor Quidditch team doing laps around the pitch when at practice. Some said that they were being taken to form a 'Fantasy Quidditch team' others said it was the Head Offices way of keeping students in line. Letting them be too terrified to misbehave. But really it didn't matter who was right, the rumors were enough to keep everyone's paranoia high.
So now I had taken to walking outside of groups when in the halls. Close enough to look a part of them but far enough away to run if I need to. My friend was taken last week and I miss her. So I have been extra, extra, EXTRA careful. And looking for clues everywhere.
It started while I was walking to the Great Hall to get some supper. I was following this nervous group of first years when they stopped short to let a larger group of seniors go by. It happened to be right out side of Professor Kimil's office. While I waited for the kids to move along so I could, I'd heard some banging and crashing around inside. Some groans and curses, and then something breaking. Then the obvious sound of an incantation. I'd felt like I was frozen. Could it be that Professor Kimil was in charge of this DaKeed Napper?
While this thought was going through my head, a very disheveled Professor Kimil came out of his office. He saw me and straightened up and neatened his clothing. He gave me and the first years a stern look and proceeded on his way. The kids ahead of me started moving again so I did too. But the idea that Professor Kimil was the bad guy really worried me. I know a lot of people liked to say he was evil but I had never been completely convinced by that. But what I had just heard in his office....
So I made a plan. I ate my meal in silence in the Great Hall only half hearing the latest round of rumors that Zonko's joke shop was taking students to be used as testers to try and make their shop more profitable. I went to my common room with the rest of my house and waited until everyone was asleep. When I was sure I was the only one awake, I got ready.
Creeping silently out of bed I gathered a few things I thought I might need. My wand (obviously), my loudest whistle (to call for help), and my favorite aluminum baseball bat from home (I'm a fan of 'If all else fails, bash it'). I made my way carefully out into the hall and started towards Professor Kimil's office. If you have never wandered through a school at night, let me tell you it is creepy. Such large areas that normally would hold hundreds of students empty and dark is a scary thing to see.
Eventually I made it to the door. It was ajar! I couldn't believe my luck. I figured the Professor had forgotten to lock it and or had only partially closed the door when he did. Either way the way was clear for me to go in and search for my friends. I crept inside, keeping my wand light low so if anyone passed by they wouldn't know I was there. The walls were covered with assorted items from collections of ancient artifacts on one wall to books describing wand making techniques on the other. There was even a hastily stacked pile of books with a basket of odd shaped items beside it. I looked closer hoping for a clue but only found Professor Rictusempra's note books on her charms class.
Dejectedly I was about to return to my room having failed to find my friends when I heard a noise coming from the mop cupboard. Cautiously I opened the door and was surprised to see it had changed since I had taken his class last year. Instead of finding the cleaning supplies and emergency med kit that had been there before I found another room! I stepped inside and gasped! It was covered in bits and pieces from this muggle show I had heard him going on about last year in Wands Workshop class. It looked like he was trying to build some of the characters from the show, Darlings I think he called them. He must be close to success because the one in the corner was moving. Groaning and creaking along on what sounded like rusted gears. I was about to go back to my dorm satisfied that Professor Kimil was batty but not DaKeed Napper when I turned to leave and bumped into the Professor himself!
"Um, Ah, Er, Um, Professor, Um, Hi?" I said to him lamely. I was so busted at that point. He merely looked at me strangely and locked the door behind him before moving into the middle of the room, with his wand aimed at me of course. I knew I was in trouble but I didn't think that meant he had to look at me so strangely.
He grinned a twisted grin and went over to his 'Darling' and patted it on the head like a pet. I could hear him murmuring to it quietly but not what he was saying. Then he turned and looked at me again. I was starting to get a bit worried. I had expected a chewing out and instant detention but so far he seemed more concerned about his tin can than finding a student out of bed and standing in his office. Finally he spoke to me.
"I am surprised young lady. I was expecting one of my fellow Professors to find me out but certainly not a student." he said.
'What was he talking about' I thought. 'He isn't DaKeed Napper, none of my friends were here.'
"You have found my little experiment and I must say that shows some intelligence on your part. My plan to build Dalek's and have my own personal army has been found out. I know what you are thinking little one, electronic devices don't work here. But you know what I am doing already so let me show you what I have to power them." He tapped the top of the Dalek in front of him and it split in half like a banana peel. Inside a dark form slowly stood upright and I gasped. It was an inferi!
I started backing slowly up towards the door to his hidden office. I went looking for one mystery and found another I had known nothing about. Professor Kimil must be as evil and insane as they had all said he was but I just hadn't seen it. "Professor!" I sputtered, totally confused and terrified out of my wits. "What... What... What..." was all I could stammer out. That was when he brought the lights up in the room. I got a real good look at the inferi he had released from the dalek. It was Rorey Padfoot, one of the missing students! I stood there rooted to the spot and knew I was done for. That's when the Professor let me know what he had done.
"You see little one, I will raise my army. It is just that since no power but magical power works I had to find an alternate power source. Inferi are great creatures to control because they do my bidding so well. They have to, it is part of their nature. Now since there aren't any shops I can go to to get inferi without alerting the authorities, I decided to make them myself out of pesky students. Once I had the first one I used them to get more for me. Of course It took me a while to get their voices to sound just like a real dalek but I think I have managed quite well. Oh don't look so worried dear. You will get an up close look at how well my machines work." He nudged open the large trunk that was behind him and several more of those dalek machines came out.
"You see, I have many more to make and was going to send these ones out after Missa Matz tonight but since you just walked into my office, how could I not use you. Now be a dear and come quietly." He sat down and grinned an evil grin as Rorey and the other daleks came towards me. It was strange to hear them saying "Exterminate" in metallic sounding voices, but that only bothered me for a second. Just long enough to see the green light come out of the metallic daleks. Then nothing else.
That worked for all of 5 minutes, until the most recent interpretation of the clues started people thinking it was a group. Now you may be in a group of two or three or even ten people but then you were even more worried. What if the group that was passing were DaKeed Nappers? Were they going to start taking out groups next? Or worse, what if the group of friends you were with were DaKeed Nappers?
No one knew what they were after or what they were up to. Rumors flew around faster than the Gryffindor Quidditch team doing laps around the pitch when at practice. Some said that they were being taken to form a 'Fantasy Quidditch team' others said it was the Head Offices way of keeping students in line. Letting them be too terrified to misbehave. But really it didn't matter who was right, the rumors were enough to keep everyone's paranoia high.
So now I had taken to walking outside of groups when in the halls. Close enough to look a part of them but far enough away to run if I need to. My friend was taken last week and I miss her. So I have been extra, extra, EXTRA careful. And looking for clues everywhere.
It started while I was walking to the Great Hall to get some supper. I was following this nervous group of first years when they stopped short to let a larger group of seniors go by. It happened to be right out side of Professor Kimil's office. While I waited for the kids to move along so I could, I'd heard some banging and crashing around inside. Some groans and curses, and then something breaking. Then the obvious sound of an incantation. I'd felt like I was frozen. Could it be that Professor Kimil was in charge of this DaKeed Napper?
While this thought was going through my head, a very disheveled Professor Kimil came out of his office. He saw me and straightened up and neatened his clothing. He gave me and the first years a stern look and proceeded on his way. The kids ahead of me started moving again so I did too. But the idea that Professor Kimil was the bad guy really worried me. I know a lot of people liked to say he was evil but I had never been completely convinced by that. But what I had just heard in his office....
So I made a plan. I ate my meal in silence in the Great Hall only half hearing the latest round of rumors that Zonko's joke shop was taking students to be used as testers to try and make their shop more profitable. I went to my common room with the rest of my house and waited until everyone was asleep. When I was sure I was the only one awake, I got ready.
Creeping silently out of bed I gathered a few things I thought I might need. My wand (obviously), my loudest whistle (to call for help), and my favorite aluminum baseball bat from home (I'm a fan of 'If all else fails, bash it'). I made my way carefully out into the hall and started towards Professor Kimil's office. If you have never wandered through a school at night, let me tell you it is creepy. Such large areas that normally would hold hundreds of students empty and dark is a scary thing to see.
Eventually I made it to the door. It was ajar! I couldn't believe my luck. I figured the Professor had forgotten to lock it and or had only partially closed the door when he did. Either way the way was clear for me to go in and search for my friends. I crept inside, keeping my wand light low so if anyone passed by they wouldn't know I was there. The walls were covered with assorted items from collections of ancient artifacts on one wall to books describing wand making techniques on the other. There was even a hastily stacked pile of books with a basket of odd shaped items beside it. I looked closer hoping for a clue but only found Professor Rictusempra's note books on her charms class.
Dejectedly I was about to return to my room having failed to find my friends when I heard a noise coming from the mop cupboard. Cautiously I opened the door and was surprised to see it had changed since I had taken his class last year. Instead of finding the cleaning supplies and emergency med kit that had been there before I found another room! I stepped inside and gasped! It was covered in bits and pieces from this muggle show I had heard him going on about last year in Wands Workshop class. It looked like he was trying to build some of the characters from the show, Darlings I think he called them. He must be close to success because the one in the corner was moving. Groaning and creaking along on what sounded like rusted gears. I was about to go back to my dorm satisfied that Professor Kimil was batty but not DaKeed Napper when I turned to leave and bumped into the Professor himself!
"Um, Ah, Er, Um, Professor, Um, Hi?" I said to him lamely. I was so busted at that point. He merely looked at me strangely and locked the door behind him before moving into the middle of the room, with his wand aimed at me of course. I knew I was in trouble but I didn't think that meant he had to look at me so strangely.
He grinned a twisted grin and went over to his 'Darling' and patted it on the head like a pet. I could hear him murmuring to it quietly but not what he was saying. Then he turned and looked at me again. I was starting to get a bit worried. I had expected a chewing out and instant detention but so far he seemed more concerned about his tin can than finding a student out of bed and standing in his office. Finally he spoke to me.
"I am surprised young lady. I was expecting one of my fellow Professors to find me out but certainly not a student." he said.
'What was he talking about' I thought. 'He isn't DaKeed Napper, none of my friends were here.'
"You have found my little experiment and I must say that shows some intelligence on your part. My plan to build Dalek's and have my own personal army has been found out. I know what you are thinking little one, electronic devices don't work here. But you know what I am doing already so let me show you what I have to power them." He tapped the top of the Dalek in front of him and it split in half like a banana peel. Inside a dark form slowly stood upright and I gasped. It was an inferi!
I started backing slowly up towards the door to his hidden office. I went looking for one mystery and found another I had known nothing about. Professor Kimil must be as evil and insane as they had all said he was but I just hadn't seen it. "Professor!" I sputtered, totally confused and terrified out of my wits. "What... What... What..." was all I could stammer out. That was when he brought the lights up in the room. I got a real good look at the inferi he had released from the dalek. It was Rorey Padfoot, one of the missing students! I stood there rooted to the spot and knew I was done for. That's when the Professor let me know what he had done.
"You see little one, I will raise my army. It is just that since no power but magical power works I had to find an alternate power source. Inferi are great creatures to control because they do my bidding so well. They have to, it is part of their nature. Now since there aren't any shops I can go to to get inferi without alerting the authorities, I decided to make them myself out of pesky students. Once I had the first one I used them to get more for me. Of course It took me a while to get their voices to sound just like a real dalek but I think I have managed quite well. Oh don't look so worried dear. You will get an up close look at how well my machines work." He nudged open the large trunk that was behind him and several more of those dalek machines came out.
"You see, I have many more to make and was going to send these ones out after Missa Matz tonight but since you just walked into my office, how could I not use you. Now be a dear and come quietly." He sat down and grinned an evil grin as Rorey and the other daleks came towards me. It was strange to hear them saying "Exterminate" in metallic sounding voices, but that only bothered me for a second. Just long enough to see the green light come out of the metallic daleks. Then nothing else.