Antaeus (After the Flaw: Oligarchy, Chapter 2)
Title: Antaeus (After the Flaw: Oligarchy, Chapter 2)
Author: kanedax
Spoilers: After the Flaw, Previous Chapters
Rating: PG-15 for language and Cruciatus
Summary: A shadowy rendezvous leads to sinister doings...
Notes: Chapter two, and things get thicker. The card game mentioned in the chapter is loosely based on Stephen King's Dark Tower creation of the same name, but tweaked for the wizarding world. The name Deepneau was also borrowed from that universe, but I figured it was common enough to get away with.
I own these characters. The others belong to JK Rowling.
Carpathian Gorynych / Previous Chapters / Muggle Wedding
The high moon cast its pale light onto the streets of Canterbury, and most notably onto a cloaked figure trying its best to look inconspicuous. It made its way down the alley, its head twitching side to side. Finally, stopped in front of nondescript door, looked shiftily to its left, then to its right, and knocked. Three knocks. A pause. Four knocks. A pause. A palm slap.
"Password," came a voice from the other side.
"Queen of Shadows," the cloaked figure replied in a reedy voice.
There was a brief silence from behind the door, then three clicks as the locks were released. The door swung open, revealing a short, pug-faced woman.
"Hello, Miles," she said to the figure with a twisted smirk.
"Hullo, Pansy," said the cloaked figure.
"Took your time getting here."
"Thought I might have been followed."
"Then why are you still standing around stroking each other's cocks?" came a voice from behind Pansy. "Get the fuck inside, Bletchley!"
Pansy stepped aside into the dreary flat, with its peeling wallpaper and balls of dust in the corner. As she did, she cast a sharp look at the older man seated on the other end of the room, pale and stubbly with a crooked nose and dark greasy hair. A second man, stretched out on a sofa to his left, chuckled darkly, taking a sip from a silver flask. Miles Bletchley put a hand on Pansy's shoulder as he closed the door behind him.
"Don't," Miles said simply.
"I've disemboweled men for less," she said, her icy glare never leaving the seated man's face.
"But they got better, didn't they?" the man replied with a chuckle.
"Leave him," Miles insisted. "He's just playing with you, Pansy. You know how he is."
"I never allow anyone to--"
"That's his way," said Miles, taking Pansy's hand, which was twitching towards the wand in her pocket. "Same as his brother and sister. Besides, he's just jealous, thinks yours is bigger than his."
"Yeah," said the fourth from the couch, "reckon Amycus hit Antaeus with a Shrinking Spell when he was a kid, and--"
"Alright, alright, fuck you, Deepneau," said the seated wizard as Pansy burst into laughter that sounded like nails on a chalkboard. "Now, if you two are finished with the foreplay--"
"For now," Pansy Bletchley said, her expression softening (as much as was possible, at least) as she ran her hand along Miles's arm. The two had been married for the last ten years, although the Ministry of Magic didn't know it, at least not officially. Ever since Shacklebolt and his pack of traitors and Mudbloods took over, and former society mainstays like the Malfoys, the Goyles, and the Gibbons showed their true colors, families like the Parkinsons, the Bletchleys, and others took great pains to disassociate themselves with the new regime. In their world, after all, where blood purity mattered above all else, who cared whether a marriage certificate carried the Ministry seal? Such matches were recognized among their exclusive circles, and what else was there?
"If you're done," Antaeus Carrow repeated, standing up, "you said you were followed?"
"Maybe," said Miles.
"Who was it?" asked Deepneau, sitting up. "Ministry?"
"Who the hell knows?" said Miles, flopping onto the sofa beside him. "They've been laying off us for years, but with Finnigan in charge..."
"They're not the only players in town anymore, either," said Antaeus. "Take your bloody pick."
"Could have been my imagination," Miles continued. "Anyway, whoever it was, I lost them about ten minutes ago. Had to do a good share of Apparating to do it, even if it was nothing. Better safe than sorry, you know that."
"Well, we're safe here," said Pansy. "There are enough protection spells around this building, no one can come in or out without our say."
"Good," said Antaeus with a short nod. "But we'll have to be careful when we leave. In the meantime, now that everyone's here, shall we get down to business?"
"Yeah," said Miles. "I came here for a reason. Let's do it."
---------
"Watch Me."
"Oh, balls," Antaeus said in disgust as Pansy spread her cards across the table: Queen of Shadows on three wands.
"Beats your two pair set, doesn't it?" said Pansy with a smirk. "Anyone else?"
Deepneau shook his head, laying his cards out one by one. "Wand, book, Blood Wizard, crown, sword. Total shit."
"I only have a pair of crowns," said Miles as Pansy triumphantly shoveled the pile of coins to her side of the table, joining a stack that was considerably larger than those of the three men.
"You know what, I still don't think it's fair," said Carrow, glancing between the two Bletchleys. "She ain't working for a living. She's using your money, Miles, money she'd be spending either way, and it's going right back into your vault when the game's over. You ain't losing anything to her, she ain't losing anything to you. Feels like it's a double-team, if you ask me."
"Then you'd think our piles would be a little more even, wouldn't you?" Miles said, looking at his stack of six Galleons and ten Knuts.
"We have our own wagers, thank you," said Pansy with a naughty grin, taking a swig of firewhisky.
"Oh, that's disgusting," Deepneau cried.
"Please," Pansy snorted. "Way I heard it from your women--"
"No, I mean it's disgusting that I'm not involved in this wager," Deepneau continued. "What you say? I'm down to my last Knuts. Care to make things interesting? Services rendered?"
"Hey, if you want Miles to fuck you in the arse I'll gladly trade places," said Pansy. "We don't even need to wager, I just want to watch."
The walls echoed as Antaeus and Miles roared with laughter. "Oh, Merlin, she got you, Reggie," said Carrow, slapping Deepneau on the back. "Oh, Lord..."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," said Deepneau, glaring daggers at Pansy's triumphantly arched eyebrow. "Are we playing Watch Me, or aren't we? Deal, already."
"We'll deal," Pansy said, shuffling the cards. "Are you sure you're not interested?"
"Just fucking deal..."
"Right, then," she said, dealing five cards to each player, and slapping the Blood Knight onto the center of the table. "Watch Me, two card max, Knights kill. Carrow's first draw."
Antaeus Carrow nodded, studying his cards. "I'll take one," he said, slapping a single card onto the table.
"Reggie?"
Deepneau shook his head. "I'll hold."
"Baby?"
"Two," said Miles, pulling the first and last card from his hand and replacing them with two from the stack.
"I'll hold, too," said Pansy. "Reg, your wager."
"Hang on..."
"Don't forget, let your muscles relax. It doesn't hurt as much if you just--"
"I said fucking hang on!" Deepneau snapped. "Look, when's the next meeting? I forget..."
"Next Tuesday," said Miles. "Now get your wager on the table."
"Sorry," said Deepneau, throwing his remaining two Knuts into the middle of the table. "There's a good fucking chance this is my last hand, so I needed to know before I left."
"I'll match," said Miles, throwing in two of his Knuts with a third coin. "And raise another Galleon."
"Raise again," said Pansy, throwing in two Knuts and two Galleons.
"I'll match," said Carrow, throwing in his coins. "And don't tell me you don't have it, Reggie. You carry three Galleons in your boot. You always do."
"Fuck," Deepneau growled, reluctantly removing his boot. Running his hand along the inside, he eventually removed three Galleons, tossing two of them into the pile while leaving the third on the table in front of him. Miles quickly threw down a third Galleon, and Pansy and Carrow responded in kind, forcing Deepneau, with a grunt of frustration, to place his last remaining coin on the pile.
"Watch Me," said Miles, placing his hand down. "Dual Queens, Dual Witches."
"Out," Pansy sighed, laying her cards face down on the table.
"Watch Me," said Carrow. "Three Wands, Dual King."
"Damn it," Miles groaned. "Deepneau?"
Deepneau sighed in defeat, laying his cards down. "Watch Me. Three Crowns, Blood Wizard, Knight of Shadows kills."
"You fucking wanker," Carrow cried out. "Telling us all 'Oh, this is my last hand.' Cocksucking--"
"It's all in the game, Ant," said Deepneau with a broad grin, hauling in his winnings. "Had you goin, didn't I?"
"Yeah, you had me going," said Carrow, watching Deepneau carefully. "Better watch what you're saying, I spose."
"Spose right, yeah," Deepneau said as he stacked his now-respectable coins.
"Anyway, might not be Tuesday we get back together, after all," Carrow said, re-organizing the cards. "I've been hearing whisperings."
"Bout what?" Miles asked as Carrow placed the deck to the side and leaned in.
"Well, you didn't hear this from me," he said conspiratorially. "And this doesn't leave this room until someone else gives the go-ahead, right?"
"Yeah, sure," said Miles, and both Pansy and Reggie nodded emphatically.
"I had a meeting with Rosen last week," Carrow explained. "Jakob Rosen. The alchemist, you know? From Poland?"
Pansy and Miles exchanged confused glances. They spent their entire lives in pureblood society, but very little of it in its dirty dealings. Many of those names, especially ones from outside of England, were unknown to them. But Reggie, who often left the country with Carrow to partake in more Dark work, nodded. "Yeah, I know him," he said. "What did he say?"
"He's found the formula," Carrow said with an excited nod.
"Formula?" Deepneau asked, his brow furrowed.
"Rosen's brilliant, I tell you," said Carrow. "We may be able to bring Him back."
The silence that fell upon the table was powerful. All four looked around at each other, and Miles saw the same look of confused shock on both Deepneau and Pansy's face that he was sure matched his own. At last, Pansy spoke.
"Him?" she breathed. "The Dark Lord? We can...?"
"Rosen says it's possible."
"But how?" Deepneau asked. "How can we? I mean, without making him, I don't know, an Inferi."
"And even if he could be brought back to life," Miles included, "How are we supposed to know he'd be back to full power?"
"The Horcruxes."
"What about them?" asked Miles. They all knew about them, of course. Former followers of Lord Voldemort had spent the last twenty years researching the reason for his death. Eventually, everything that wasn't common knowledge among the magical community they pieced together by themselves: Voldemort's knowledge of Horcruxes, what he used, how he created. And more importantly, how they had been destroyed. It was all academic, of course. It was historical data only, a cautionary tale for anyone who ever thought they could live forever. "If Lord Voldemort couldn't do it," the research suggested, "why would you be stupid enough to consider it?"
"It's all terribly complicated," Carrow said carefully. "And a lot of what we'd need to do is pure speculation. But Rosen said it has something to do with the definition of a soul that was preserved in a Horcrux. How, I don't know, how it's fortified, and how it's able to continue to exist, even after its separated from its body."
"I don't follow..." Pansy said, and Miles and Deepneau nodded in agreement.
"I didn't, either," Carrow grunted. "Hell, it's Rosen we're talking about, he's bloody brilliant. All I know is the gist of it. He has the formula, the enchantments and the most of the ingredients, to bring the Dark Lord back."
"Most of the ingredients," said Pansy. "What else is there?"
At this, Carrow smiled darkly. "You know what this could mean for us, right? To be able to bring Him back? To prove to him how devoted we have been? To do this for him?"
"What ingredients?" Pansy repeated.
"Souls can't be removed from the ether without a soul to take their place," said Carrow. "Spefically an avenged soul. One that pulled the original soul from its hiding in the first place."
"Meaning we have to... We have to kill someone?" Deepneau said, mildly uncertain. "Who?"
"Someones," Carrow corrected. "If a soul is removed from its container by someone else, by force, then that someone else has to replace. And Lord Voldemort had eight souls. Which means more than one someone."
"Are you telling me," Pansy said slowly, "that I have a reason to kill that Mudblood Granger after all these years? Please tell me that..."
"It's common knowledge that she destroyed the cup," said Carrow, "and that her husband destroyed the locket."
"And Longbottom killed Nagini," Miles continued. "And Potter... Potter..."
"But, wait," Deepneau said, raising his hand. "Is this possible? I mean, what about Dumbledore? He destroyed the ring, and he's already dead..."
"And Crabbe destroyed the diadem," Carrow said. "But I guess Rosen said a representation is all that's needed. They don't need to be alive when the formula's produced. Hell, it's preferred that they aren't living. We only need pieces of them, so I guess there's going to be some grave digging involved."
"Please tell me I get to kill Granger," Pansy repeated, more viciously than before. "Please, please..."
"You will," Carrow said patiently. "We'll also have to take pieces of the Dark Lord himself, as he was the one who destroyed the piece within Potter."
"Define 'piece'," Deepneau said. "I doubt the Dark Lord will be too pleased to return from the dead with a leg missing."
"I wouldn't think it would be that much," said Carrow. "But that's not important anyway. His body is dead. His soul will have to be placed in a different vessel. A living vessel."
"Like who?" asked Miles.
"Doesn't matter," Carrow said with a shrug. "I know I'd gladly sacrifice myself in order for the Dark Lord to regain power."
"As would I," said Pansy.
"But imagine if we chose, say, Potter's blushing bride?" Carrow's eyes narrowed as he spoke. "Perhaps one of his children? He's the reason my brother and sister are sitting in Azkaban as we speak, I would give anything to make them suffer more."
"Yeah," said Deepneau, swallowing hard. "That'd be... That'd be great."
Carrow glanced sideways at Deepneau. "Problem, Reg?"
"No, no," Deepneau replied, quickly regaining his composure. "Just wrapping my head around it, is all. Sounds bloody risky, you ask me. I mean, He's dead, you know? And we're still alive. And we're... God, is it even worth it to bring Him back? To start all over, knowing that He failed?"
"You're sounding mildly mutinous, Reg," said Miles.
"We've been leaderless for decades," said Carrow. "I've been doing my best to hold the wand with Him gone from our midst, but there's no reason why He wouldn't solidify us, return us to power, especially with the rest of the world growing soft in His absence."
"I suppose you're right," Deepneau admitted. "I... Alright, I'm in."
"Excellent," Carrow said with a nod, drawing his wand and waving it around the table. Instantly all four glasses were refilled. "A toast, if you will..."
The four Death Eaters raised their glasses.
"To the Dark Lord," Carrow announced, "to His re-ascension, and to the abundance of riches we shall receive upon his return!"
"To the Dark Lord!" the three repeated, taking sips from their firewhisky.
"We have a lot of work ahead of us," said Miles. "Does anyone else know about this?"
"Not yet," said Carrow with a shake of his head. "But they will soon enough. That's why I think we can get a jump on things by starting the killings early. Get the ball rolling, if you will. Rosen, he's a brilliant man. He knows what he's doing."
"He sure is," Deepneau said with a satisfied nod.
"Funny thing, though," Carrow continued, leaning back in his chair as he twirled his wand in his fingers. "About Rosen, that is."
"What's that?" asked Pansy.
"Deepneau killed him three months ago," he said idly, clutching his wand and pointing it at the Death Eater. "Petrificus Totalus!"
Reggie Deepneau stiffened straight as a board, falling backwards onto the floor as the chair toppled beneath him. Miles and Pansy Bletchley both stood up as he fell, jaws unhinged, at a complete loss as to what was happening, what to do next.
Antaeus Carrow, on the other hand, knew exactly what he was doing. His face now twisted in fury, he pointed his wand at the paralyzed Death Eater, raising him from the ground and slamming him against the wall.
"You don't think I'd know?" he screamed as he advanced on the helpless wizard. "You don't think I'd know? Six years I've played Watch Me with Reggie Deepneau! Six years I've studied his tells, his twitches!"
"Ant, what the hell's going on here?" Pansy yelled.
"You didn't so much as scratch an ear the way he normally would!" Antaeus continued, now nose-to-nose with Deepneau, the tip of the wand digging into his neck. "Not all night!"
"Ant, what are you talking about?" Miles yelled. "Put him down! Put him--"
Miles cut his words short at the sound of commotion from the door leading outside. Loud voices were heard, and seconds later they were followed by the sounds of spells ricocheting off the protective barrier.
"Fuck," Pansy said. "They're going to break it. They're going to--"
"Who are you?" Carrow yelled, ignoring everything outside. "Who are you? Ministry? Oligarchy? Who are you?"
"What--?" Deepneau slurred, his control slowly returning to him. "What's--?"
A loud crack was heard behind them, and the three Death Eaters turned to see the wood of the door begin to splinter. Whoever was coming from outside, they'd be in in a matter of seconds.
"Ant, we gotta go!" Miles yelled. "Now!"
"You're coming with us," Carrow snarled, grabbing Deepneau by the collar. "Hideout, now!"
The three Death Eaters spun in unison, disappearing with Deepneau in his clutches as the first hexes flew through the doorway, missing Carrow's Apparating head by inches.
---------
"Wand him."
"What?"
"Wand him before he gets his arms back!"
"Ant, what the fuck is--"
"Do it, Bletchley!" Carrow's voice echoed in the cavernous room where they had Apparated.
Miles sighed, shaking his head. He wandered towards Deepneau, who was now pinned to the slimy stone wall, and dug through his cloak.
"Is he Ministry, Ant?" asked Pansy. "Is he?"
"Who knows?" said Ant, peering closely at Reggie's face.
"Why isn't he dead yet?" she snapped, pacing back and forth across the stone floor. "Kill him!"
"Because we're not done with him yet," Carrow said slowly.
"Found it," said Miles, pulling the wand from Deepneau's cloak.
"Break it," said Carrow, and Reg's eyes widened in horror at the words.
"But... But, Ant..."
"You said you were followed," said Carrow. "You were right. They're onto us, and they're right there in front of you, now break it!"
Miles looked slowly between Carrow and Deepneau, mentally debating the options. But, in the end, a small whimper escaped Reggie's throat as the wand was audibly snapped. Carrow smiled and, with the hand not holding the wand to Deepneau's throat, pulled a pocketwatch from his robe.
"Last time I saw you take a drink from that flask of yours," he said, "was right before we started playing. That was fifty nine minutes ago. Now that gives us one minute of fun before the Polyjuice wears off. Crucio!"
Deepneau's screams reverberated around the huge room as the Cruciatus Curse surged through him. He collapsed to the floor, paralysis completely broken in his agony. Miles glanced at Pansy to see a look of excitement on her face. It had been years since either of them had been involved in anything like this, and he could tell she was enjoying every minute.
After exactly one minute, Antaeus pulled back his wand, and Reggie Deepneau's body relaxed to the point of limpness, although Miles could still see the pain on the man's face.
"Now let's see who you are," Carrow said, sitting on the huge oak table in the middle of the room. He stared down at Deepneau, waiting.
And waiting.
"It's not wearing off," said Pansy.
"Maybe he took a sip when you weren't looking?" asked Miles as the look of frustration grew on Carrow's face.
"Grab his flask," Carrow said to Pansy. "In his inside pocket."
Pansy nodded and strode up to Deepneau, pulling open his cloak and removing the silver flask. She sloshed it around. "Still half full," she said.
"Drink it."
"What?"
"Drink it!" Carrow yelled. "If it's Polyjuice, you'll change, and we'll know. Maybe he was Imperiused."
"Wouldn't put it past the Ministry," said Miles. "Everything's illegal unless they're the ones doing it. And who knows what the Oligarchy's capable of doing..."
"Not Polyjuice," Deepneau panted from the floor.
"I'm not drinking that," Pansy said in disgust, but after seeing the murder in Carrow's eyes she relented. Spinning off the top of the small bottle, she took a swallow, her face contorting as it went down her throat.
"Disgusting," she said, spitting onto the ground. "Sweet and... bubbly..."
"She's not changing," said Miles to Antaeus.
"Not Polyjuice," Deepneau replied, a grin growing on his face despite the pain. "Vanilla Pepsi."
"Peppsy?" Miles asked. "What kind of potion is that?"
"Who cares?" Pansy sneered wiping her mouth with her sleeve. "Why haven't you killed him yet? He's obviously Imperiused, or Transmogrified, but he's a threat either way."
It happened so fast that even hours later, when she awoke, Pansy Bletchley still wasn't quite sure what had happened. One moment she was holding Deepneau's flask. The next moment it was also being held by a stone-faced wizard who was pointing a wand at her face.
"Stupefy," he said calmly, and before Pansy even hit the floor he turned to Miles. "Stupefy."
Unfortunately, Antaeus Carrow was able to react fast enough. He spun in place the second the wizard said "Stupefy" a third time, and the jinx blew past him and slammed into the wall.
"Fuck," the wizard growled, then turned to Deepneau. "Sorry bout the wait," he said, reaching into the pocket of his robe. "Needed to collect some change you left behind."
"My wand..."
"Yeah, I know," said the wizard, throwing the coins, the small handful of Deepneau's winnings, onto the floor. "Didn't expect he'd do that." Before the Galleons even hit the cold stone, there were three wizards and two witches standing in their place, wands in one hand, coins in the other.
"Did we get them, Finnigan?" one of them asked the head wizard.
"No," Seamus Finnigan growled. "We lost Carrow. Damn it. We needed him more than these others."
"What should we do, sir?" one of the witches asked, glancing down at the two unconscious bodies.
"Bring them in for now," he said. "Rooney take Miles, Agnon take Pansy. You other three take a look around, try to figure out where we are, and what we can use. We might as well make something out of this mess."
"Something out of this mess?" Deepneau said, pushing himself to his feet. "Christ, Mr. Finnigan, they almost killed me! You'd better make something out of this!"
Auror Seamus Finnigan glared at Deepneau, then turned back to his cohorts. "Do your jobs, be careful about any traps," he said to them. "Leave me alone with him for a minute."
"Yes, sir," said Aurors Paul Rooney and Marybell Agnon, now with the slumped Death Eaters on their shoulders. The two disappeared in unison as the other three Aurors left the room to search the premises. After they all left, Finnigan turned back to Deepneau.
"You can change back," he said. "And I would ask that you not disrespect me in front of my Aurors. Are we clear?"
"We're not clear," Deepneau snapped, his features shifting. "I'm not one of your men, Mr. Finnigan. I'm not made for this kind of work. I signed on to do this as a low-risk, personal favor for the good of the Ministry. If I had known I was going to Cruciated and threatened with my life, if I had known they were going to break the wand I've had for the last ten years..."
"Shit happens, Lupin," Seamus said with a shrug as Deepneau's face contorted into that of Teddy Lupin. "That's the way things go with the Auror Department. Most of the time we get it right. Sometimes they throw us a curveball. Rosen was one hell of a curveball, the Watch Me tells were another..."
"Tell me we got something out of it," said Teddy. "That threat on Harry's life. Ginny's, Aunt Jean's, Uncle Ron's..."
"Might be credible," Seamus said, sitting wearily in a mouldy chair. "Might just be bullshit Carrow was making up once he recognized you were a plant. Fuck, if we only could have had him..."
"We got the other two though, right?" asked Teddy. "They'll be charged with something?"
"Maybe," Seamus replied with a slow shake. "Maybe not. Carrow's the only one we had something pinned on. Those two have been leading reputable lives, at least on the surface. It'll take a lot of digging."
"Threats about killing Aunt Jean?"
"We might be able to get Conspiracy to Commit Murder, but Parkinson was a thorn in Hermione's side since first year," said Seamus. "Never did anything to her except schoolgirl pranks, though. A good lawyer could convince the Wizengamot that she was always a big talker, and what she said at the table was more of the same."
Teddy sat down in the chair beside Seamus, his head lowered. "Damn it," he said. "I'm sorry, Mr. Finnigan, I should have..."
"Hey, don't get yourself down, Teddy," Seamus said with a smile. "It wasn't a complete loss. We lost Carrow, but we found one of his big hiding places. And even if we can't pin anything on the Blatchleys we still have Deepneau, plus now we might have testimony that he killed Jakob Rosen. Not a lot of help for us, but the Ministerstwo could be very interested. Rosen was... Well, let's just say he played both sides of the field, and the Poles want to see some justice in his death."
"But still," Teddy sighed. "I know you wanted Carrow..."
"I wanted to complete the set, yeah," Seamus sighed. "It'd be great to see him sharing a cell with Amycus and Alecto. But, again, we'll take what we can get. Personally, I've been wanting to put a Stupefy on Parkinson since she insulted my Mum second year. Little brat...
"Besides," he continued, studying the flask that was still clutched in his hand, "the eggheads in R&D will be happy to know that their Dualkeys worked in the field, and through as many protective barriers as this place has around it. They did their job."
Teddy nodded. He wasn't too clear on what how specifically these so-called Dualkeys worked, but he had been giving the fuzzy outline before accepting Finnigan's request for this job. With normal Portkey enchantments, which are complex enough to begin with, a traveler can only go to one specific place, the location that the Portkey was "programmed" to go.
However, with Dualkeys, researchers at the Ministry discovered that if an object is duplicated with the Geminio spell and then turned into a Portkey (along with more than a few other top-secret enchantments) it will send the holder to wherever its twin is located, even if the user is unaware of the specific location or protective barriers. A great leap forward, the small, bespectacled wizard had explained as he handed Teddy five Galleons and the flask, capable of allowing an entire army of Aurors where only one could infiltrate.
"Who's the Oligarchy?"
"Hm?" Seamus asked, looking away from the flask.
"Carrow asked if I was Oligarchy," Teddy repeated. "What's that?"
Seamus shook his head. "We don't know," he said. "We've been trying to get as much information as we can on them the last few years, but we haven't been able to do any more than poke pinholes into whatever's covering them up. Nothing more than low rumblings in the underground. Another reason I wish we had gotten Carrow. He seemed to have some idea of who they are, and if he's afraid of them..."
"Maybe they're the good guys? I mean, if they're going after Death Eaters, then they can't be all bad, can they?"
"I don't know," Seamus repeated. "I just don't know."
Teddy sighed. "I'm sorry again, Mr. Finnigan."
"It's Seamus, Teddy, alright? You're twenty-one, you're all grown up, and you just risked your life for me. I think you can drop the formalities."
"Okay," Teddy said, sounding unconvinced.
"You did as well as you could," Seamus continued. "Hell, you did better than that. You held up under a lot of pressure, I'm sure your Mum and Dad would be proud of what you did tonight. You can expect a glowing commendation from Minister Shacklebolt for your work, and maybe a nice fat tax-free donation to your wedding budget, how's that?"
Teddy softened a little. "I think Dan and Charlotte would appreciate that, yeah. So what happens now?"
"Now we take you home to your beautiful fiancee," Seamus said, standing and slapping him on the back. "Tomorrow we'll take you into Diagon Alley and get you a new wand on the Ministry tab, and we'll get you back into your regular life as quick as we can."
"I hope so," said Teddy with a shake of his head. "I've had to turn down two auditions for this thing. It'll be good to get back on the horse. But what about the Potters? The Weasleys? Neville?"
"I'll let them know that a threat's been made," said Seamus. "Unfortunately, it's not the first one that's been made against them in the last twenty years, and it won't be the last. Not everyone was happy to see Voldemort go, even if they won't admit it. I'll tell them to keep their eyes open, and that we'll be on the lookout for Carrow. If they want a security watch, I'll gladly supply them with an Auror or two, but I doubt it will come to that."
"Are you sure?"
"Antaeus Carrow was in the Battle of Hogwarts," Seamus explained, "and was cunning enough to be able to escape even as his brother and sister were tied up in the Ravenclaw common room. He's been hopping in and out of the criminal world for the last twenty years, and has been smart enough to get away with it. I seriously doubt that he'd be stupid enough to explain his real plan after he found out who you were. I wager he was making it up in order to throw us off his trail or to get you to break character. But, again, we'll do what we can for Harry and the others."
Teddy sighed. "I just wish I could have done more, is all..."
"Hey, I call this a win on my score card," Seamus said as the three Aurors returned to the room after searching the hideout. "So I'm still invited to the wedding, right? Even after putting you in mortal danger?"
"If there's still a groom," Teddy said, picking up the two halves of his former wand. "When Hermione finds out what I did tonight, she's gonna kill me the old-fashioned, Muggle way of choking me to death."
Carpathian Gorynych / Previous Chapters / Muggle Wedding
Author: kanedax
Spoilers: After the Flaw, Previous Chapters
Rating: PG-15 for language and Cruciatus
Summary: A shadowy rendezvous leads to sinister doings...
Notes: Chapter two, and things get thicker. The card game mentioned in the chapter is loosely based on Stephen King's Dark Tower creation of the same name, but tweaked for the wizarding world. The name Deepneau was also borrowed from that universe, but I figured it was common enough to get away with.
I own these characters. The others belong to JK Rowling.
Carpathian Gorynych / Previous Chapters / Muggle Wedding
The high moon cast its pale light onto the streets of Canterbury, and most notably onto a cloaked figure trying its best to look inconspicuous. It made its way down the alley, its head twitching side to side. Finally, stopped in front of nondescript door, looked shiftily to its left, then to its right, and knocked. Three knocks. A pause. Four knocks. A pause. A palm slap.
"Password," came a voice from the other side.
"Queen of Shadows," the cloaked figure replied in a reedy voice.
There was a brief silence from behind the door, then three clicks as the locks were released. The door swung open, revealing a short, pug-faced woman.
"Hello, Miles," she said to the figure with a twisted smirk.
"Hullo, Pansy," said the cloaked figure.
"Took your time getting here."
"Thought I might have been followed."
"Then why are you still standing around stroking each other's cocks?" came a voice from behind Pansy. "Get the fuck inside, Bletchley!"
Pansy stepped aside into the dreary flat, with its peeling wallpaper and balls of dust in the corner. As she did, she cast a sharp look at the older man seated on the other end of the room, pale and stubbly with a crooked nose and dark greasy hair. A second man, stretched out on a sofa to his left, chuckled darkly, taking a sip from a silver flask. Miles Bletchley put a hand on Pansy's shoulder as he closed the door behind him.
"Don't," Miles said simply.
"I've disemboweled men for less," she said, her icy glare never leaving the seated man's face.
"But they got better, didn't they?" the man replied with a chuckle.
"Leave him," Miles insisted. "He's just playing with you, Pansy. You know how he is."
"I never allow anyone to--"
"That's his way," said Miles, taking Pansy's hand, which was twitching towards the wand in her pocket. "Same as his brother and sister. Besides, he's just jealous, thinks yours is bigger than his."
"Yeah," said the fourth from the couch, "reckon Amycus hit Antaeus with a Shrinking Spell when he was a kid, and--"
"Alright, alright, fuck you, Deepneau," said the seated wizard as Pansy burst into laughter that sounded like nails on a chalkboard. "Now, if you two are finished with the foreplay--"
"For now," Pansy Bletchley said, her expression softening (as much as was possible, at least) as she ran her hand along Miles's arm. The two had been married for the last ten years, although the Ministry of Magic didn't know it, at least not officially. Ever since Shacklebolt and his pack of traitors and Mudbloods took over, and former society mainstays like the Malfoys, the Goyles, and the Gibbons showed their true colors, families like the Parkinsons, the Bletchleys, and others took great pains to disassociate themselves with the new regime. In their world, after all, where blood purity mattered above all else, who cared whether a marriage certificate carried the Ministry seal? Such matches were recognized among their exclusive circles, and what else was there?
"If you're done," Antaeus Carrow repeated, standing up, "you said you were followed?"
"Maybe," said Miles.
"Who was it?" asked Deepneau, sitting up. "Ministry?"
"Who the hell knows?" said Miles, flopping onto the sofa beside him. "They've been laying off us for years, but with Finnigan in charge..."
"They're not the only players in town anymore, either," said Antaeus. "Take your bloody pick."
"Could have been my imagination," Miles continued. "Anyway, whoever it was, I lost them about ten minutes ago. Had to do a good share of Apparating to do it, even if it was nothing. Better safe than sorry, you know that."
"Well, we're safe here," said Pansy. "There are enough protection spells around this building, no one can come in or out without our say."
"Good," said Antaeus with a short nod. "But we'll have to be careful when we leave. In the meantime, now that everyone's here, shall we get down to business?"
"Yeah," said Miles. "I came here for a reason. Let's do it."
---------
"Watch Me."
"Oh, balls," Antaeus said in disgust as Pansy spread her cards across the table: Queen of Shadows on three wands.
"Beats your two pair set, doesn't it?" said Pansy with a smirk. "Anyone else?"
Deepneau shook his head, laying his cards out one by one. "Wand, book, Blood Wizard, crown, sword. Total shit."
"I only have a pair of crowns," said Miles as Pansy triumphantly shoveled the pile of coins to her side of the table, joining a stack that was considerably larger than those of the three men.
"You know what, I still don't think it's fair," said Carrow, glancing between the two Bletchleys. "She ain't working for a living. She's using your money, Miles, money she'd be spending either way, and it's going right back into your vault when the game's over. You ain't losing anything to her, she ain't losing anything to you. Feels like it's a double-team, if you ask me."
"Then you'd think our piles would be a little more even, wouldn't you?" Miles said, looking at his stack of six Galleons and ten Knuts.
"We have our own wagers, thank you," said Pansy with a naughty grin, taking a swig of firewhisky.
"Oh, that's disgusting," Deepneau cried.
"Please," Pansy snorted. "Way I heard it from your women--"
"No, I mean it's disgusting that I'm not involved in this wager," Deepneau continued. "What you say? I'm down to my last Knuts. Care to make things interesting? Services rendered?"
"Hey, if you want Miles to fuck you in the arse I'll gladly trade places," said Pansy. "We don't even need to wager, I just want to watch."
The walls echoed as Antaeus and Miles roared with laughter. "Oh, Merlin, she got you, Reggie," said Carrow, slapping Deepneau on the back. "Oh, Lord..."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," said Deepneau, glaring daggers at Pansy's triumphantly arched eyebrow. "Are we playing Watch Me, or aren't we? Deal, already."
"We'll deal," Pansy said, shuffling the cards. "Are you sure you're not interested?"
"Just fucking deal..."
"Right, then," she said, dealing five cards to each player, and slapping the Blood Knight onto the center of the table. "Watch Me, two card max, Knights kill. Carrow's first draw."
Antaeus Carrow nodded, studying his cards. "I'll take one," he said, slapping a single card onto the table.
"Reggie?"
Deepneau shook his head. "I'll hold."
"Baby?"
"Two," said Miles, pulling the first and last card from his hand and replacing them with two from the stack.
"I'll hold, too," said Pansy. "Reg, your wager."
"Hang on..."
"Don't forget, let your muscles relax. It doesn't hurt as much if you just--"
"I said fucking hang on!" Deepneau snapped. "Look, when's the next meeting? I forget..."
"Next Tuesday," said Miles. "Now get your wager on the table."
"Sorry," said Deepneau, throwing his remaining two Knuts into the middle of the table. "There's a good fucking chance this is my last hand, so I needed to know before I left."
"I'll match," said Miles, throwing in two of his Knuts with a third coin. "And raise another Galleon."
"Raise again," said Pansy, throwing in two Knuts and two Galleons.
"I'll match," said Carrow, throwing in his coins. "And don't tell me you don't have it, Reggie. You carry three Galleons in your boot. You always do."
"Fuck," Deepneau growled, reluctantly removing his boot. Running his hand along the inside, he eventually removed three Galleons, tossing two of them into the pile while leaving the third on the table in front of him. Miles quickly threw down a third Galleon, and Pansy and Carrow responded in kind, forcing Deepneau, with a grunt of frustration, to place his last remaining coin on the pile.
"Watch Me," said Miles, placing his hand down. "Dual Queens, Dual Witches."
"Out," Pansy sighed, laying her cards face down on the table.
"Watch Me," said Carrow. "Three Wands, Dual King."
"Damn it," Miles groaned. "Deepneau?"
Deepneau sighed in defeat, laying his cards down. "Watch Me. Three Crowns, Blood Wizard, Knight of Shadows kills."
"You fucking wanker," Carrow cried out. "Telling us all 'Oh, this is my last hand.' Cocksucking--"
"It's all in the game, Ant," said Deepneau with a broad grin, hauling in his winnings. "Had you goin, didn't I?"
"Yeah, you had me going," said Carrow, watching Deepneau carefully. "Better watch what you're saying, I spose."
"Spose right, yeah," Deepneau said as he stacked his now-respectable coins.
"Anyway, might not be Tuesday we get back together, after all," Carrow said, re-organizing the cards. "I've been hearing whisperings."
"Bout what?" Miles asked as Carrow placed the deck to the side and leaned in.
"Well, you didn't hear this from me," he said conspiratorially. "And this doesn't leave this room until someone else gives the go-ahead, right?"
"Yeah, sure," said Miles, and both Pansy and Reggie nodded emphatically.
"I had a meeting with Rosen last week," Carrow explained. "Jakob Rosen. The alchemist, you know? From Poland?"
Pansy and Miles exchanged confused glances. They spent their entire lives in pureblood society, but very little of it in its dirty dealings. Many of those names, especially ones from outside of England, were unknown to them. But Reggie, who often left the country with Carrow to partake in more Dark work, nodded. "Yeah, I know him," he said. "What did he say?"
"He's found the formula," Carrow said with an excited nod.
"Formula?" Deepneau asked, his brow furrowed.
"Rosen's brilliant, I tell you," said Carrow. "We may be able to bring Him back."
The silence that fell upon the table was powerful. All four looked around at each other, and Miles saw the same look of confused shock on both Deepneau and Pansy's face that he was sure matched his own. At last, Pansy spoke.
"Him?" she breathed. "The Dark Lord? We can...?"
"Rosen says it's possible."
"But how?" Deepneau asked. "How can we? I mean, without making him, I don't know, an Inferi."
"And even if he could be brought back to life," Miles included, "How are we supposed to know he'd be back to full power?"
"The Horcruxes."
"What about them?" asked Miles. They all knew about them, of course. Former followers of Lord Voldemort had spent the last twenty years researching the reason for his death. Eventually, everything that wasn't common knowledge among the magical community they pieced together by themselves: Voldemort's knowledge of Horcruxes, what he used, how he created. And more importantly, how they had been destroyed. It was all academic, of course. It was historical data only, a cautionary tale for anyone who ever thought they could live forever. "If Lord Voldemort couldn't do it," the research suggested, "why would you be stupid enough to consider it?"
"It's all terribly complicated," Carrow said carefully. "And a lot of what we'd need to do is pure speculation. But Rosen said it has something to do with the definition of a soul that was preserved in a Horcrux. How, I don't know, how it's fortified, and how it's able to continue to exist, even after its separated from its body."
"I don't follow..." Pansy said, and Miles and Deepneau nodded in agreement.
"I didn't, either," Carrow grunted. "Hell, it's Rosen we're talking about, he's bloody brilliant. All I know is the gist of it. He has the formula, the enchantments and the most of the ingredients, to bring the Dark Lord back."
"Most of the ingredients," said Pansy. "What else is there?"
At this, Carrow smiled darkly. "You know what this could mean for us, right? To be able to bring Him back? To prove to him how devoted we have been? To do this for him?"
"What ingredients?" Pansy repeated.
"Souls can't be removed from the ether without a soul to take their place," said Carrow. "Spefically an avenged soul. One that pulled the original soul from its hiding in the first place."
"Meaning we have to... We have to kill someone?" Deepneau said, mildly uncertain. "Who?"
"Someones," Carrow corrected. "If a soul is removed from its container by someone else, by force, then that someone else has to replace. And Lord Voldemort had eight souls. Which means more than one someone."
"Are you telling me," Pansy said slowly, "that I have a reason to kill that Mudblood Granger after all these years? Please tell me that..."
"It's common knowledge that she destroyed the cup," said Carrow, "and that her husband destroyed the locket."
"And Longbottom killed Nagini," Miles continued. "And Potter... Potter..."
"But, wait," Deepneau said, raising his hand. "Is this possible? I mean, what about Dumbledore? He destroyed the ring, and he's already dead..."
"And Crabbe destroyed the diadem," Carrow said. "But I guess Rosen said a representation is all that's needed. They don't need to be alive when the formula's produced. Hell, it's preferred that they aren't living. We only need pieces of them, so I guess there's going to be some grave digging involved."
"Please tell me I get to kill Granger," Pansy repeated, more viciously than before. "Please, please..."
"You will," Carrow said patiently. "We'll also have to take pieces of the Dark Lord himself, as he was the one who destroyed the piece within Potter."
"Define 'piece'," Deepneau said. "I doubt the Dark Lord will be too pleased to return from the dead with a leg missing."
"I wouldn't think it would be that much," said Carrow. "But that's not important anyway. His body is dead. His soul will have to be placed in a different vessel. A living vessel."
"Like who?" asked Miles.
"Doesn't matter," Carrow said with a shrug. "I know I'd gladly sacrifice myself in order for the Dark Lord to regain power."
"As would I," said Pansy.
"But imagine if we chose, say, Potter's blushing bride?" Carrow's eyes narrowed as he spoke. "Perhaps one of his children? He's the reason my brother and sister are sitting in Azkaban as we speak, I would give anything to make them suffer more."
"Yeah," said Deepneau, swallowing hard. "That'd be... That'd be great."
Carrow glanced sideways at Deepneau. "Problem, Reg?"
"No, no," Deepneau replied, quickly regaining his composure. "Just wrapping my head around it, is all. Sounds bloody risky, you ask me. I mean, He's dead, you know? And we're still alive. And we're... God, is it even worth it to bring Him back? To start all over, knowing that He failed?"
"You're sounding mildly mutinous, Reg," said Miles.
"We've been leaderless for decades," said Carrow. "I've been doing my best to hold the wand with Him gone from our midst, but there's no reason why He wouldn't solidify us, return us to power, especially with the rest of the world growing soft in His absence."
"I suppose you're right," Deepneau admitted. "I... Alright, I'm in."
"Excellent," Carrow said with a nod, drawing his wand and waving it around the table. Instantly all four glasses were refilled. "A toast, if you will..."
The four Death Eaters raised their glasses.
"To the Dark Lord," Carrow announced, "to His re-ascension, and to the abundance of riches we shall receive upon his return!"
"To the Dark Lord!" the three repeated, taking sips from their firewhisky.
"We have a lot of work ahead of us," said Miles. "Does anyone else know about this?"
"Not yet," said Carrow with a shake of his head. "But they will soon enough. That's why I think we can get a jump on things by starting the killings early. Get the ball rolling, if you will. Rosen, he's a brilliant man. He knows what he's doing."
"He sure is," Deepneau said with a satisfied nod.
"Funny thing, though," Carrow continued, leaning back in his chair as he twirled his wand in his fingers. "About Rosen, that is."
"What's that?" asked Pansy.
"Deepneau killed him three months ago," he said idly, clutching his wand and pointing it at the Death Eater. "Petrificus Totalus!"
Reggie Deepneau stiffened straight as a board, falling backwards onto the floor as the chair toppled beneath him. Miles and Pansy Bletchley both stood up as he fell, jaws unhinged, at a complete loss as to what was happening, what to do next.
Antaeus Carrow, on the other hand, knew exactly what he was doing. His face now twisted in fury, he pointed his wand at the paralyzed Death Eater, raising him from the ground and slamming him against the wall.
"You don't think I'd know?" he screamed as he advanced on the helpless wizard. "You don't think I'd know? Six years I've played Watch Me with Reggie Deepneau! Six years I've studied his tells, his twitches!"
"Ant, what the hell's going on here?" Pansy yelled.
"You didn't so much as scratch an ear the way he normally would!" Antaeus continued, now nose-to-nose with Deepneau, the tip of the wand digging into his neck. "Not all night!"
"Ant, what are you talking about?" Miles yelled. "Put him down! Put him--"
Miles cut his words short at the sound of commotion from the door leading outside. Loud voices were heard, and seconds later they were followed by the sounds of spells ricocheting off the protective barrier.
"Fuck," Pansy said. "They're going to break it. They're going to--"
"Who are you?" Carrow yelled, ignoring everything outside. "Who are you? Ministry? Oligarchy? Who are you?"
"What--?" Deepneau slurred, his control slowly returning to him. "What's--?"
A loud crack was heard behind them, and the three Death Eaters turned to see the wood of the door begin to splinter. Whoever was coming from outside, they'd be in in a matter of seconds.
"Ant, we gotta go!" Miles yelled. "Now!"
"You're coming with us," Carrow snarled, grabbing Deepneau by the collar. "Hideout, now!"
The three Death Eaters spun in unison, disappearing with Deepneau in his clutches as the first hexes flew through the doorway, missing Carrow's Apparating head by inches.
---------
"Wand him."
"What?"
"Wand him before he gets his arms back!"
"Ant, what the fuck is--"
"Do it, Bletchley!" Carrow's voice echoed in the cavernous room where they had Apparated.
Miles sighed, shaking his head. He wandered towards Deepneau, who was now pinned to the slimy stone wall, and dug through his cloak.
"Is he Ministry, Ant?" asked Pansy. "Is he?"
"Who knows?" said Ant, peering closely at Reggie's face.
"Why isn't he dead yet?" she snapped, pacing back and forth across the stone floor. "Kill him!"
"Because we're not done with him yet," Carrow said slowly.
"Found it," said Miles, pulling the wand from Deepneau's cloak.
"Break it," said Carrow, and Reg's eyes widened in horror at the words.
"But... But, Ant..."
"You said you were followed," said Carrow. "You were right. They're onto us, and they're right there in front of you, now break it!"
Miles looked slowly between Carrow and Deepneau, mentally debating the options. But, in the end, a small whimper escaped Reggie's throat as the wand was audibly snapped. Carrow smiled and, with the hand not holding the wand to Deepneau's throat, pulled a pocketwatch from his robe.
"Last time I saw you take a drink from that flask of yours," he said, "was right before we started playing. That was fifty nine minutes ago. Now that gives us one minute of fun before the Polyjuice wears off. Crucio!"
Deepneau's screams reverberated around the huge room as the Cruciatus Curse surged through him. He collapsed to the floor, paralysis completely broken in his agony. Miles glanced at Pansy to see a look of excitement on her face. It had been years since either of them had been involved in anything like this, and he could tell she was enjoying every minute.
After exactly one minute, Antaeus pulled back his wand, and Reggie Deepneau's body relaxed to the point of limpness, although Miles could still see the pain on the man's face.
"Now let's see who you are," Carrow said, sitting on the huge oak table in the middle of the room. He stared down at Deepneau, waiting.
And waiting.
"It's not wearing off," said Pansy.
"Maybe he took a sip when you weren't looking?" asked Miles as the look of frustration grew on Carrow's face.
"Grab his flask," Carrow said to Pansy. "In his inside pocket."
Pansy nodded and strode up to Deepneau, pulling open his cloak and removing the silver flask. She sloshed it around. "Still half full," she said.
"Drink it."
"What?"
"Drink it!" Carrow yelled. "If it's Polyjuice, you'll change, and we'll know. Maybe he was Imperiused."
"Wouldn't put it past the Ministry," said Miles. "Everything's illegal unless they're the ones doing it. And who knows what the Oligarchy's capable of doing..."
"Not Polyjuice," Deepneau panted from the floor.
"I'm not drinking that," Pansy said in disgust, but after seeing the murder in Carrow's eyes she relented. Spinning off the top of the small bottle, she took a swallow, her face contorting as it went down her throat.
"Disgusting," she said, spitting onto the ground. "Sweet and... bubbly..."
"She's not changing," said Miles to Antaeus.
"Not Polyjuice," Deepneau replied, a grin growing on his face despite the pain. "Vanilla Pepsi."
"Peppsy?" Miles asked. "What kind of potion is that?"
"Who cares?" Pansy sneered wiping her mouth with her sleeve. "Why haven't you killed him yet? He's obviously Imperiused, or Transmogrified, but he's a threat either way."
It happened so fast that even hours later, when she awoke, Pansy Bletchley still wasn't quite sure what had happened. One moment she was holding Deepneau's flask. The next moment it was also being held by a stone-faced wizard who was pointing a wand at her face.
"Stupefy," he said calmly, and before Pansy even hit the floor he turned to Miles. "Stupefy."
Unfortunately, Antaeus Carrow was able to react fast enough. He spun in place the second the wizard said "Stupefy" a third time, and the jinx blew past him and slammed into the wall.
"Fuck," the wizard growled, then turned to Deepneau. "Sorry bout the wait," he said, reaching into the pocket of his robe. "Needed to collect some change you left behind."
"My wand..."
"Yeah, I know," said the wizard, throwing the coins, the small handful of Deepneau's winnings, onto the floor. "Didn't expect he'd do that." Before the Galleons even hit the cold stone, there were three wizards and two witches standing in their place, wands in one hand, coins in the other.
"Did we get them, Finnigan?" one of them asked the head wizard.
"No," Seamus Finnigan growled. "We lost Carrow. Damn it. We needed him more than these others."
"What should we do, sir?" one of the witches asked, glancing down at the two unconscious bodies.
"Bring them in for now," he said. "Rooney take Miles, Agnon take Pansy. You other three take a look around, try to figure out where we are, and what we can use. We might as well make something out of this mess."
"Something out of this mess?" Deepneau said, pushing himself to his feet. "Christ, Mr. Finnigan, they almost killed me! You'd better make something out of this!"
Auror Seamus Finnigan glared at Deepneau, then turned back to his cohorts. "Do your jobs, be careful about any traps," he said to them. "Leave me alone with him for a minute."
"Yes, sir," said Aurors Paul Rooney and Marybell Agnon, now with the slumped Death Eaters on their shoulders. The two disappeared in unison as the other three Aurors left the room to search the premises. After they all left, Finnigan turned back to Deepneau.
"You can change back," he said. "And I would ask that you not disrespect me in front of my Aurors. Are we clear?"
"We're not clear," Deepneau snapped, his features shifting. "I'm not one of your men, Mr. Finnigan. I'm not made for this kind of work. I signed on to do this as a low-risk, personal favor for the good of the Ministry. If I had known I was going to Cruciated and threatened with my life, if I had known they were going to break the wand I've had for the last ten years..."
"Shit happens, Lupin," Seamus said with a shrug as Deepneau's face contorted into that of Teddy Lupin. "That's the way things go with the Auror Department. Most of the time we get it right. Sometimes they throw us a curveball. Rosen was one hell of a curveball, the Watch Me tells were another..."
"Tell me we got something out of it," said Teddy. "That threat on Harry's life. Ginny's, Aunt Jean's, Uncle Ron's..."
"Might be credible," Seamus said, sitting wearily in a mouldy chair. "Might just be bullshit Carrow was making up once he recognized you were a plant. Fuck, if we only could have had him..."
"We got the other two though, right?" asked Teddy. "They'll be charged with something?"
"Maybe," Seamus replied with a slow shake. "Maybe not. Carrow's the only one we had something pinned on. Those two have been leading reputable lives, at least on the surface. It'll take a lot of digging."
"Threats about killing Aunt Jean?"
"We might be able to get Conspiracy to Commit Murder, but Parkinson was a thorn in Hermione's side since first year," said Seamus. "Never did anything to her except schoolgirl pranks, though. A good lawyer could convince the Wizengamot that she was always a big talker, and what she said at the table was more of the same."
Teddy sat down in the chair beside Seamus, his head lowered. "Damn it," he said. "I'm sorry, Mr. Finnigan, I should have..."
"Hey, don't get yourself down, Teddy," Seamus said with a smile. "It wasn't a complete loss. We lost Carrow, but we found one of his big hiding places. And even if we can't pin anything on the Blatchleys we still have Deepneau, plus now we might have testimony that he killed Jakob Rosen. Not a lot of help for us, but the Ministerstwo could be very interested. Rosen was... Well, let's just say he played both sides of the field, and the Poles want to see some justice in his death."
"But still," Teddy sighed. "I know you wanted Carrow..."
"I wanted to complete the set, yeah," Seamus sighed. "It'd be great to see him sharing a cell with Amycus and Alecto. But, again, we'll take what we can get. Personally, I've been wanting to put a Stupefy on Parkinson since she insulted my Mum second year. Little brat...
"Besides," he continued, studying the flask that was still clutched in his hand, "the eggheads in R&D will be happy to know that their Dualkeys worked in the field, and through as many protective barriers as this place has around it. They did their job."
Teddy nodded. He wasn't too clear on what how specifically these so-called Dualkeys worked, but he had been giving the fuzzy outline before accepting Finnigan's request for this job. With normal Portkey enchantments, which are complex enough to begin with, a traveler can only go to one specific place, the location that the Portkey was "programmed" to go.
However, with Dualkeys, researchers at the Ministry discovered that if an object is duplicated with the Geminio spell and then turned into a Portkey (along with more than a few other top-secret enchantments) it will send the holder to wherever its twin is located, even if the user is unaware of the specific location or protective barriers. A great leap forward, the small, bespectacled wizard had explained as he handed Teddy five Galleons and the flask, capable of allowing an entire army of Aurors where only one could infiltrate.
"Who's the Oligarchy?"
"Hm?" Seamus asked, looking away from the flask.
"Carrow asked if I was Oligarchy," Teddy repeated. "What's that?"
Seamus shook his head. "We don't know," he said. "We've been trying to get as much information as we can on them the last few years, but we haven't been able to do any more than poke pinholes into whatever's covering them up. Nothing more than low rumblings in the underground. Another reason I wish we had gotten Carrow. He seemed to have some idea of who they are, and if he's afraid of them..."
"Maybe they're the good guys? I mean, if they're going after Death Eaters, then they can't be all bad, can they?"
"I don't know," Seamus repeated. "I just don't know."
Teddy sighed. "I'm sorry again, Mr. Finnigan."
"It's Seamus, Teddy, alright? You're twenty-one, you're all grown up, and you just risked your life for me. I think you can drop the formalities."
"Okay," Teddy said, sounding unconvinced.
"You did as well as you could," Seamus continued. "Hell, you did better than that. You held up under a lot of pressure, I'm sure your Mum and Dad would be proud of what you did tonight. You can expect a glowing commendation from Minister Shacklebolt for your work, and maybe a nice fat tax-free donation to your wedding budget, how's that?"
Teddy softened a little. "I think Dan and Charlotte would appreciate that, yeah. So what happens now?"
"Now we take you home to your beautiful fiancee," Seamus said, standing and slapping him on the back. "Tomorrow we'll take you into Diagon Alley and get you a new wand on the Ministry tab, and we'll get you back into your regular life as quick as we can."
"I hope so," said Teddy with a shake of his head. "I've had to turn down two auditions for this thing. It'll be good to get back on the horse. But what about the Potters? The Weasleys? Neville?"
"I'll let them know that a threat's been made," said Seamus. "Unfortunately, it's not the first one that's been made against them in the last twenty years, and it won't be the last. Not everyone was happy to see Voldemort go, even if they won't admit it. I'll tell them to keep their eyes open, and that we'll be on the lookout for Carrow. If they want a security watch, I'll gladly supply them with an Auror or two, but I doubt it will come to that."
"Are you sure?"
"Antaeus Carrow was in the Battle of Hogwarts," Seamus explained, "and was cunning enough to be able to escape even as his brother and sister were tied up in the Ravenclaw common room. He's been hopping in and out of the criminal world for the last twenty years, and has been smart enough to get away with it. I seriously doubt that he'd be stupid enough to explain his real plan after he found out who you were. I wager he was making it up in order to throw us off his trail or to get you to break character. But, again, we'll do what we can for Harry and the others."
Teddy sighed. "I just wish I could have done more, is all..."
"Hey, I call this a win on my score card," Seamus said as the three Aurors returned to the room after searching the hideout. "So I'm still invited to the wedding, right? Even after putting you in mortal danger?"
"If there's still a groom," Teddy said, picking up the two halves of his former wand. "When Hermione finds out what I did tonight, she's gonna kill me the old-fashioned, Muggle way of choking me to death."
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