Birds of a Feather
Chapter 7: Pirates
Summary: After Fawkes rescues Severus Snape in the Shrieking Shack, the phoenix decides to stick around.
The usual disclaimer applies. See Chapter 1.
Severus, Katfish and Seabiscuit were sitting in the mess playing three-way wizard chess (Severus was winning, of course) when three of the hijackers burst in with drawn wands.
"Nobody move!" Dolohov shouted, as they pointed their wands.
Everyone froze, including Severus. There was no way they could draw their wands fast enough, and they knew it. Severus was furious. He'd been caught unprepared. He'd gotten too complacent on the boat. It had seemed so safe. In the old days, he would have had his wand in the sleeve of his robes, or even out on the table. Tonight he was wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt, and he'd stuck the wand in his boot. With his feet under the table, there was no way he could reach it in time.
It took a moment before Dolohov realized who he was looking at. His mouth dropped open and his eyes bugged out. "You!" he said. "They said you were dead!"
"Hello Anton," Severus said calmly. "And Thorfinn … Stan. What an unexpected surprise."
Kat and Biscuit looked at each other.
"Search him, Shunpike," Dolohov ordered. "Get his wand. Then do the others. And be careful! That lying half-blood scum betrayed us."
Dolohov and Rowle kept Severus covered while Shunpike searched him and took his wand.
"I betrayed the Dark Lord because he tried to kill me," Severus told them. "He set that filthy snake of his on me, and I don't even know why. So yes, I betrayed him. I thought I was dying and I wanted revenge, so I did my best to send Potter after him. You'd have done the same. I have no quarrel with the rest of you."
"No?" Dolohov sneered. "So the rest of us were just, what do they call it? Collateral damage? Anyway, Potter said you betrayed us years before that, all because you loved his mommy."
Severus laughed at that. "Potter will believe anything, especially stories about his beloved mommy. It's almost too easy to deceive him. Dumbledore lied to him for years, and the brat never caught on." Unfortunately, it wouldn't be nearly as easy it to deceive Dolohov.
Dolohov snorted and turned his attention to the others. "Who are you two?" he demanded.
"I'm the First Mate," Katfish said cautiously, "and this guy is the cook. Slade here is, um, our navigator."
"Slade, is it?" Dolohov chuckled. "That's a good one. I like it!"
He turned to Kat. "My friends and I have no place to go at the moment. We have to keep moving, or the Aurors will catch up with us. So we thought we'd take up piracy for a while. You can join us, or you can walk the plank, as they say. So what'll it be?"
Kat figured that the hijackers needed them to run the boat, but he thought he'd be pushing his luck to say so. "Sure thing," he said. "We've been thinking about turning pirates anyway, haven't we, Biscuit? Knight Lines is a bunch of cheapskates. They don't pay us anywhere near what we're worth."
Severus was glad to see that he wasn't the only one with a talent for lying.
"Knight Lines?" piped up Stan, who was covering them from behind. "Knight Lines is a bunch of crooks! I used to work for those gits. Everybody hates 'em!"
"You bet!" said Biscuit, trying to sound enthusiastic.
Dolohov smiled. "Good. That's the kind of talk I like to hear. But I'm not sure we can trust your friend 'Slade' over there. I think we may have to do away with him."
Severus appeared unperturbed. "Nonsense," he said. "I would be quite useful to you, as you well know. I'm not going to turn on you. I'm in the same situation that you are. It would be unwise for me to return to Britain, so I'm looking for new opportunities. The boys and I have been considering piracy, but up until now, we didn't have enough manpower. If we join your group, we would be a very effective force.
"Perhaps," Dolohov said. "I'll have to think about it. Are you three all of the crew? Are there others? What about passengers?"
"We're all of it," Severus told him. He knew that the Death Eaters would find out anyway. He told him about the couple from Melbourne, too. "They're the only passengers at the moment. They're in the passengers' quarters. We can hold them for ransom." If Dolohov thought they were worth something, maybe he wouldn't kill them.
~~~~~
"Have you seen this?" Harry asked, holding up The Daily Prophet. He was having breakfast with Ron and Hermione. They were back at Hogwarts to help with the rebuilding. Even with magic, it was going to be quite a challenge getting the school ready to reopen on time.
"The Prince family held a big ceremony to honour Snape. They made sure that The Prophet was there, of course."
"Pureblood snobs," Ron muttered, as he poured another glass of pumpkin juice.
"Yeah," said Harry. "Listen to this: Reginald Prince claims that Snape 'showed the power of the Prince family's pure blood', because he was able to do heroic deeds despite the 'taint of Muggle influence'. Then he went on and on about all their famous ancestors, including the Sheriff of Nottingham. Did you know that they claim descent from Sir Mordred?"
"No, but I can believe it," said Ron. "Anybody want some more sausages?"
"Anyway, he called Snape 'a worthy son of the Prince family'. I wish Snape was still around. I'd give anything to see his reaction to that. From a safe distance, of course."
Hermione smiled and buttered a piece of toast.
~~~~~
The Death Eaters made the captain anchor off an uninhabited island while they searched the ship. It turned out that there were only four of them, the forth being Yaxley, who had stayed on the bridge to watch the captain.
Dolohov broke the wards on the cargo, and Yaxley and Rowle stood guard over everyone while Shunpike searched through the crates. It was painfully clear that the Death Eaters were not going to trust any of them, not even for one split second.
"It's just a bunch of junk," Shunpike said in disgust. There were several crates of potion herbs, a shipment of exotic hardwoods for making wands, some crates of books in foreign languages, and a few sacks of mail. None of it appeared to be particularly valuable.
When they were done, Dolohov locked the two startled passengers in the cargo hold and set the wards. The passengers had been smart enough to tell him that their son was a famous Mediwizard who wouldn't hesitate to pay a huge ransom. Maybe it was even true.
Next they searched the captain's cabin. While he watched them, it occurred to Severus that Fawkes was by far the most valuable thing on the ship. If Dolohov found the bird, he'd want to sell him for potion ingredients. Phoenixes are extremely rare, and phoenix parts almost never appear on the market. There were rich collectors who would gladly pay ridiculous amounts to have a genuine phoenix eye in a glass jar to display on their mantelpiece.
He'd have to find a way to protect Fawkes. And the crew, of course. It wasn't that he liked the bird. Of course he didn't. The thing had no sense. None at all. The fact that it had devoted itself to Albus Dumbledore for several decades was proof enough of that. And if that wasn't stupid enough, now it was following Severus around. Clearly, it was crazy. However, the phoenix had saved his life. He ought to return the favor.
"Nothing here," said Dolohov. So far they'd found no valuables and no weapons. It was disappointing, to say the least. "Move along and keep looking. There must be something valuable somewhere on this stupid ship."
Summary: After Fawkes rescues Severus Snape in the Shrieking Shack, the phoenix decides to stick around.
The usual disclaimer applies. See Chapter 1.
Severus, Katfish and Seabiscuit were sitting in the mess playing three-way wizard chess (Severus was winning, of course) when three of the hijackers burst in with drawn wands.
"Nobody move!" Dolohov shouted, as they pointed their wands.
Everyone froze, including Severus. There was no way they could draw their wands fast enough, and they knew it. Severus was furious. He'd been caught unprepared. He'd gotten too complacent on the boat. It had seemed so safe. In the old days, he would have had his wand in the sleeve of his robes, or even out on the table. Tonight he was wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt, and he'd stuck the wand in his boot. With his feet under the table, there was no way he could reach it in time.
It took a moment before Dolohov realized who he was looking at. His mouth dropped open and his eyes bugged out. "You!" he said. "They said you were dead!"
"Hello Anton," Severus said calmly. "And Thorfinn … Stan. What an unexpected surprise."
Kat and Biscuit looked at each other.
"Search him, Shunpike," Dolohov ordered. "Get his wand. Then do the others. And be careful! That lying half-blood scum betrayed us."
Dolohov and Rowle kept Severus covered while Shunpike searched him and took his wand.
"I betrayed the Dark Lord because he tried to kill me," Severus told them. "He set that filthy snake of his on me, and I don't even know why. So yes, I betrayed him. I thought I was dying and I wanted revenge, so I did my best to send Potter after him. You'd have done the same. I have no quarrel with the rest of you."
"No?" Dolohov sneered. "So the rest of us were just, what do they call it? Collateral damage? Anyway, Potter said you betrayed us years before that, all because you loved his mommy."
Severus laughed at that. "Potter will believe anything, especially stories about his beloved mommy. It's almost too easy to deceive him. Dumbledore lied to him for years, and the brat never caught on." Unfortunately, it wouldn't be nearly as easy it to deceive Dolohov.
Dolohov snorted and turned his attention to the others. "Who are you two?" he demanded.
"I'm the First Mate," Katfish said cautiously, "and this guy is the cook. Slade here is, um, our navigator."
"Slade, is it?" Dolohov chuckled. "That's a good one. I like it!"
He turned to Kat. "My friends and I have no place to go at the moment. We have to keep moving, or the Aurors will catch up with us. So we thought we'd take up piracy for a while. You can join us, or you can walk the plank, as they say. So what'll it be?"
Kat figured that the hijackers needed them to run the boat, but he thought he'd be pushing his luck to say so. "Sure thing," he said. "We've been thinking about turning pirates anyway, haven't we, Biscuit? Knight Lines is a bunch of cheapskates. They don't pay us anywhere near what we're worth."
Severus was glad to see that he wasn't the only one with a talent for lying.
"Knight Lines?" piped up Stan, who was covering them from behind. "Knight Lines is a bunch of crooks! I used to work for those gits. Everybody hates 'em!"
"You bet!" said Biscuit, trying to sound enthusiastic.
Dolohov smiled. "Good. That's the kind of talk I like to hear. But I'm not sure we can trust your friend 'Slade' over there. I think we may have to do away with him."
Severus appeared unperturbed. "Nonsense," he said. "I would be quite useful to you, as you well know. I'm not going to turn on you. I'm in the same situation that you are. It would be unwise for me to return to Britain, so I'm looking for new opportunities. The boys and I have been considering piracy, but up until now, we didn't have enough manpower. If we join your group, we would be a very effective force.
"Perhaps," Dolohov said. "I'll have to think about it. Are you three all of the crew? Are there others? What about passengers?"
"We're all of it," Severus told him. He knew that the Death Eaters would find out anyway. He told him about the couple from Melbourne, too. "They're the only passengers at the moment. They're in the passengers' quarters. We can hold them for ransom." If Dolohov thought they were worth something, maybe he wouldn't kill them.
~~~~~
"Have you seen this?" Harry asked, holding up The Daily Prophet. He was having breakfast with Ron and Hermione. They were back at Hogwarts to help with the rebuilding. Even with magic, it was going to be quite a challenge getting the school ready to reopen on time.
"The Prince family held a big ceremony to honour Snape. They made sure that The Prophet was there, of course."
"Pureblood snobs," Ron muttered, as he poured another glass of pumpkin juice.
"Yeah," said Harry. "Listen to this: Reginald Prince claims that Snape 'showed the power of the Prince family's pure blood', because he was able to do heroic deeds despite the 'taint of Muggle influence'. Then he went on and on about all their famous ancestors, including the Sheriff of Nottingham. Did you know that they claim descent from Sir Mordred?"
"No, but I can believe it," said Ron. "Anybody want some more sausages?"
"Anyway, he called Snape 'a worthy son of the Prince family'. I wish Snape was still around. I'd give anything to see his reaction to that. From a safe distance, of course."
Hermione smiled and buttered a piece of toast.
~~~~~
The Death Eaters made the captain anchor off an uninhabited island while they searched the ship. It turned out that there were only four of them, the forth being Yaxley, who had stayed on the bridge to watch the captain.
Dolohov broke the wards on the cargo, and Yaxley and Rowle stood guard over everyone while Shunpike searched through the crates. It was painfully clear that the Death Eaters were not going to trust any of them, not even for one split second.
"It's just a bunch of junk," Shunpike said in disgust. There were several crates of potion herbs, a shipment of exotic hardwoods for making wands, some crates of books in foreign languages, and a few sacks of mail. None of it appeared to be particularly valuable.
When they were done, Dolohov locked the two startled passengers in the cargo hold and set the wards. The passengers had been smart enough to tell him that their son was a famous Mediwizard who wouldn't hesitate to pay a huge ransom. Maybe it was even true.
Next they searched the captain's cabin. While he watched them, it occurred to Severus that Fawkes was by far the most valuable thing on the ship. If Dolohov found the bird, he'd want to sell him for potion ingredients. Phoenixes are extremely rare, and phoenix parts almost never appear on the market. There were rich collectors who would gladly pay ridiculous amounts to have a genuine phoenix eye in a glass jar to display on their mantelpiece.
He'd have to find a way to protect Fawkes. And the crew, of course. It wasn't that he liked the bird. Of course he didn't. The thing had no sense. None at all. The fact that it had devoted itself to Albus Dumbledore for several decades was proof enough of that. And if that wasn't stupid enough, now it was following Severus around. Clearly, it was crazy. However, the phoenix had saved his life. He ought to return the favor.
"Nothing here," said Dolohov. So far they'd found no valuables and no weapons. It was disappointing, to say the least. "Move along and keep looking. There must be something valuable somewhere on this stupid ship."