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“I think you’ve gone crazy.”
“Shut up.”
Harry pulled the invisibility cloak tighter around himself as he edged towards the open door. The two Death Eaters began to argue as he slowly slipped out. Harry ducked into a dark corner just outside the door. If Snape was right and the Death Eaters hadn’t rerouted the floo system, he should be somewhere in Lucius’s wing…which was on the opposite side of the house as Draco’s. Now that he was actually here, he didn’t really know exactly what he was going to do. Somewhere in this house was Draco, Lucius, a whole lot of Death Eaters, and maybe Voldemort. He had to find the first two without running into the second two.
“Master Draco!” a House Elf squealed as the boy slipped into the kitchen. The boy hushed the House Elf, listening to see if there was any movement in the hall before turning back to the creature that was cowering at his side.
“Speak quietly. What has happened?”
“Oh it was awful, Master Draco!” The House Elf, buried her face in his robes as she sobbed. “They sent these things to attack Master Lucius, Master Draco, big black creatures that make the air freeze!”
“Is my father alright?” Draco recognized the description of a Dementor.
“They is ordered not to hurt Master Lucius, Master Draco. That was for…s-someone else…they said. Then other people came, lots of people in black like Master Lucius used to wear.”
Black like his father used to wear? His father still wore…Draco then realized what the Elf was saying. Black like his father used to wear, black robes like his father used to wear, Death Eater robes.
“Then a man with red eyes came!” the House Elf continued. “Eyes like blood, Master Draco, and skin like no one who ever came to the Manor had!”
Lord Voldemort was in Malfoy Manor?
“When was all this?”
“They is coming one week ago, Master Draco. Diddy hear…Diddy hear that they is making Master Lucius write to Master Draco as if nothing is happening. Diddy hear they is planning to gather all the black robed people here, Master Draco, so that when you come home for the summer they can make someone else come here too.”
“Who?”
“They is not saying, Master Draco. They is saying their Master wants to kill him, Master Draco.”
Harry. They wanted Draco to lead Harry to Malfoy Manor.
“Diddy hear they say that many more come tonight, Master Draco! You are not safe here, Master Draco!”
“Many more? If they have all the Death Eaters here, who else is coming?”
“They is saying those that would become Death Eaters will come here tonight, Master Draco. You have to leave, Master Draco, before they is finding you!”
Draco felt sick. Initiation. Tonight was the Initiation. That had to be what the House Elf was taking about. He had to get-
He heard someone try to turn the doorknob and he froze, looking for a place to hide. Diddy barely held back a shriek and pushed Draco into an empty cupboard under the countertop.
There was a muffled word from outside the kitchen and someone entered the room.
“C-can Diddy h-help you? S-sir?” The frightened house elf cowered before the closed cupboard door.
“You can move out of my way for a minute.” The Death Eater pushed the House Elf aside and stepped up to the counter. He sighed and sat down on the counter. “I know what you’re doing Draco, and I think you’re crazy.”
Draco’s eyes widened as he realized he knew who this Death Eater was. Very well in fact. This Death Eater was Blaise.
“You picked the worst time to do a rescue mission too. This is the weekend for Initiation, and You-Know-Who is here somewhere along with all the Death Eaters and those who want to become Death Eaters. Most of the Slytherins from school are going to be hanging around if they’re not here already.”
“And I didn’t think you were going through with the Death Eater bit,” Draco said quietly through the wood.
“I don’t have a choice in the matter. Listen Draco, you may be my friend but once the Initiation takes place I’m not on your side anymore. So you have to find your father and get out of here before then. I heard some of the others talking, and he’s being held up in the north tower. That’s really all I can do for you at this point.”
Blaise got off the counter and left the room, pausing at the door to add. “Don’t let me see you.”
Draco waited a minute before exiting the cupboard.
“I-is you okay, Master Draco?”
“Yes, Diddy, I’m fine. Diddy, can you get me to the north tower?”
Diddy began to shiver. “Master doesn’t want to go there. There’s a big snake up there. It eats House Elves sir! Diddy doesn’t want to see Master Draco hurt.”
“My father’s up there, Diddy. Can you get me up there or not?”
Diddy nodded sadly and snapped her fingers. The kitchen disappeared and the hallway of the north tower appeared around them.
“Diddy, I need you to do one more thing for me.”
“What is it, Master Draco?” Diddy whispered.
“I need you to go back to your normal duties and act as if nothing is wrong.” He turned his back to her.
“But—”
“Do it Diddy.”
There was a small popping sound and Diddy disappeared from behind Draco. Keeping to the shadows of the hall, Draco silently thanked his third great-grandfather for wanting to redo the entire house in the gothic style. He’d only been able to talk his wife into redoing the towers because she never went up there and would never have to see it. But as Draco pressed back into the shadows caused by an obsidian gargoyle and a Death Eater passed by on her way to the stairs, missing him completely, Draco made a resolution to redo the whole house in that style.
But there weren’t many places that one could hide someone in the north tower, Draco had to admit. There was only an old owlery up here and a hardly used platform for stargazing.
He continued his way down the hall and towards the stairs up to the owlery. There were no sounds echoing down from the top of the curved staircase, so he began to slowly climb them.
“There’s no sign of Mr. Malfoy anywhere in Hogsmead,” Professor McGonagall said wearily. “I believe we must act as if he really has left Hogwarts.”
“There is something much worse going on, Minerva,” Dumbledore said gravely. “I’ve just gotten word from the Ministry. Azkaban has been attacked by Dementors. I believe it is safe to assume that any Death Eaters who were in Azkaban have been released.”
“Do you…Albus, do you think the Malfoys have something to do with this?” McGonagall asked suspiciously.
“No, Minerva, I do not think they do. I do, however, think that someone wants us to think that.”
There was a loud banging sound on the door and the sound of two frightened voices from outside the office shouting, “Professor Dumbledore! Harry’s disappeared!”
Almost as if on cue, a figure dressed in black stepped from the fireplace in the Headmaster’s office. Snape paused slightly at the shouting before wincing and turning back to the Headmaster. “He’s calling, Albus. And I’ve noticed that a few other Slytherins are missing, not just Draco Malfoy.”
Harry was lost. He was somewhere in the south wing…or was that the south part of the north wing? He had no idea. But wherever he was, it wasn’t where he wanted to be.
