Birds of a Feather
Chapter 21: The Split
Summary: After Fawkes rescues Severus Snape from the Shrieking shack, the phoenix decides to stick around.
The usual disclaimer applies. See Chapter 1.
A/N: This story is usually updated first at fanfiction.net. See wolfwillow there.
"What?" said Drew Saunders, shaking his head a bit. "Did you say something?"
Saunders didn't realize that he'd just been Obliviated, but of course he wouldn't; Severus was an expert at memory modification, thanks to his career as a spy. And now that he'd found the information he needed, the young Agent would never remember him taking it.
"I was saying that I want to meet with everyone in the garden in a half hour," Severus said. "I have a theory about what's been happening here, and I want to discuss it with all of you."
"Oh, yeah," said Saunders. "Right. I'll be there."
~~~~~
"I believe our killer is a Dementor," Severus told them when they were all assembled by the fountain. "Last night I felt an unnatural coldness out there, and experienced terrible feelings of despair." He'd felt nothing of the sort, of course; he'd been nowhere near a Dementor, but he wasn't about to mention that he'd been running around in Saunders' mind, viewing the fellow's disastrous encounter with the thing.
"I think maybe that happened to me, too," Saunders said quietly, realizing that he should have told them much sooner. "The despair was overwhelming. I … I couldn't handle it." He didn't want to admit that he'd been completely terrified.
"Those are symptoms of a Dementor attack," Angie agreed. "But there are no Dementors here." She had been well trained about unnatural creatures at Department X. "From what I can remember, Department X records say that during the mid-1800's, a group of renegade wizards in England released the Dementors from another world. They couldn't control the creatures, but the British Ministry stepped in and somehow managed to negotiate a deal with the things. They let the Dementors act as prison guards, in exchange for allowing them feed on the prisoners. It got them out of circulation, and made them useful to the government."
Kat looked alarmed. "They suck all the hope out of you until there's nothing left, don't they?" he asked. "And I've heard they'll suck out your soul, too, if they can."
Angie nodded. "Yes, I believe that the Ministry uses them as executioners, as well."
"That's true," Severus said. "It's called the Dementor's Kiss. I think that's what happened to the victims here. Their souls were taken." He suppressed a shudder, knowing that could have been his fate after the so-called First War, if Albus or Aberforth had revealed that he'd given the prophecy to the Dark Lord. At that time he had believed he deserved to die for what he'd done, because of what had happened to her, but no one deserves to have their soul sucked out, no matter what their crime. Except that twisted creep Pettigrew, he thought. And possibly Sirius Black.
"That's barbaric!" Armstrong said, thinking of his lost colleagues.
"But the Dementors are all in the UK, working for the Ministry, aren’t they?" Saunders asked.
"They were until recently," Severus told him, "but the Ministry lost control of them. They got involved in the recent ... difficulties ... in the UK, and I don't know what became of them after that. Perhaps they fled, and it's possible that one of them might have come here."
"What can we do?" asked Armstrong. He wanted to destroy the thing before it got any of the children. He wanted to avenge his friends, too.
"Can all of you cast a Patronus?" Severus asked.
They all nodded that they could.
"Good," he said. "You may need to."
~~~~~
When twilight came, Fawkes returned to his perch, but strangely, he didn't fall asleep. He kept thinking about the movie that he'd watched, where the birds were attacking the muggles. It was very exciting, but he couldn't understand why the birds were attacking like that. He didn't realize that no one else, muggle or wizard, who'd ever watched that movie had understood it, either.
He'd enjoyed the treats that the two girls had shared with him. The girls were okay, once you got used to their unusual plumage. They had given him some sort of roasted beans covered with dark chocolate. They were crunchy and quite tasty, although a bit bitter. And now he felt wide awake and strangely energetic, despite the fact that night was falling. It was inexplicable. Well, if he didn't fall asleep soon, maybe he'd go out for a night flight.
~~~~~
"Let's split up," Angie said enthusiastically. "That will double our chances of finding the thing."
"That's not a good idea," Severus said. "A Dementor can trigger overwhelming despair, terror and panic. Or have you forgotten? We should stay together."
Saunders eyed Severus suspiciously. "How would you know anything about it, Slade? Is that just hearsay, or were you in that British prison with them?"
Kat cringed. Doesn't that guy have any sense? After all, maybe his friend actually had been.
But Severus took the remark in stride. "I encountered one once, when I was at the Ministry," he said casually, implying that he'd worked there, when in fact he'd been dragged there for interrogation and they'd threatened him with the thing.
"Well, I still think that splitting up will double our chances, so I'm going off with Drew, and the rest of you can form a second team," Angie announced.
"Then I'm going with you, Angie," Kat declared, moving to her side.
"Oh no, you're not," Angie told him. "Don't you pull that 'protective brother' stuff on me! I'm going with Drew; we're Agents, and he's my partner. You're going with Slade and Armstrong."
Much squabbling then ensued, and even though Angie agreed that they'd be safer if they stuck together, she wanted to eliminate the Dementor as quickly as possible, so she kept insisting that they split up. In the end, Armstrong convinced Angie that he should join her team. "I want to study your methods," the big man told her. "The Agency's training is top notch."
As they parted ways, Armstrong gave Kat and Severus a look that told them he'd do his best to protect Angie. That made them feel a lot better about splitting up, even though it left the two of them on their own. They weren't worried about that, though.
~~~~~
With caffeine surging through his body, Fawkes flew out of the school and into the night. He felt terrific. The sky was filled with stars and there was a crisp crescent moon over the river. Perhaps nighttime wasn't really as bad as he'd thought. Perhaps he should take night flights more often. Severus and his friends had been going out every night, and Fawkes had been wondering what they were up to. It might be something interesting, and now would be a good time to find out. He flew off in search of them.
~~~~~
Fawkes wasn't the only caffeine-fueled being who was out and about that night. Far below, the two girls who called themselves Darkness and Mysteria were wide awake for the same reason that Fawkes was, and they were busy sneaking out of the school.
"Where'd ya learn to do that?" Darkness asked as Mysteria conjured a rope and made it rise into the air like a charmed snake.
"From my big brother Manic, of course. It's really hard, ya know. I had to, like, practice all summer, but I finally got it. Come on, let's get over the wall." She grabbed onto the rope and let it pull her up to the top.
"Won't we set off an alarm?" Darkness asked as she grabbed the rope behind Mysteria.
"Nope," Mysteria said as they reached the top. "My brother says the alarm spells are set for things coming in, not things going out, except at the gates. The gates have both kinds. He made a study of it. He liked to go sneaking around the swamps at night. I dunno why. Maybe he liked talking to gators or something." She waved her wand and moved the rope to the other side of the wall.
"Okay, so, like how are we gonna get back in then?" Darkness asked.
"My brother made a charm for that. Come on, let's see if we can catch up with Mr Armstrong and those guys. I wanna know what's up with them."
~~~~~
"I still don't like it!" Kat said as they marched down the path toward the swamp. "That guy Saunders is hopeless, and that Dementor-thing is extremely dangerous." He turned to Severus. "I've heard that Dementors can't be destroyed. Is that true?"
"There's nothing that can't be destroyed," Severus said. "But we'll have to find a way to do that, or else send it back to the world that it came from somehow. If nothing else, we should be able to drive it away from here."
"And hope that it doesn't come back later," Kat said despondently.
Severus looked grim. He wasn't looking forward to facing a Dementor again.
"Well, let's try to get the Dementor before it can get anybody else," Kat said. Especially Angie. "Maybe we need a different strategy. Maybe it's hungry for hope and happiness, and we've been too intense to attract it. Greenly and French were probably happy and relaxed when they were attacked. Let's try to emulate that."
Severus frowned. He didn't have much experience with hope and happiness, after all, so he was glad when Kat volunteered to act as bait. "I've had a pretty good life compared to most," Kat said, "and I've got few regrets or bad memories for it to release. I'll just conjure a lawn chair near where Mr French was attacked, it's not far from here, and I'll lie there and think happy thoughts. You can hide nearby and cover me."
It seemed like a reasonable enough idea. After all, prowling around the swamps all night hadn't accomplished anything.
As they walked toward the river looking for the right spot, Kat suddenly stopped and said, "After a Dementor sucks out the soul, the body lives on indefinitely in some sort vegetative state, doesn't it?"
Severus thought for a moment. "That might be possible," he said, "if the body were put on some sort of life-support system like the muggles use. However, since almost all of the victims have been condemned criminals, no one has ever bothered. They just left the bodies to die. It doesn't take long without water or food. The victims here got some medical attention, so they probably lived a bit longer than most."
"Look, I don't want to, like, burden you with this," Kat said, looking around uneasily, "but if that thing gets me, I don't want my body living on as a soulless shell, you know what I mean?"
Yes, Severus knew exactly what he meant. "I'll make sure that doesn't happen," he said, "and I'm sure I can count on you to do the same for me."
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To be continued ...