This isn't the greatest picture...I'm still working on it.
This isn't the greatest picture...I'm still working on it.
Chapter 22
Taking the long way around to Hogwarts through the woods kept Sirius and Esme out of sight, but it was slow going. Esme could barely walk. Sirius supported her as they went. Her body was exhausted from the pain it had endured. Even now that she wasn’t hurting any longer, she was weak, and Sirius guessed that she’d need a long rest to recover completely. The evening had clouded over and it wasn’t as cold as it had been. Wolves were howling somewhere in the forest. Esme stopped him to listen more than once.
“I can hear Tanner,” she said. “But there’s more out there than just the two of them.” She paused again. “It has to be Tanner. Rosie would never ask for help, even from other wolves.” She listened for another moment, then shivered and rubbed her arms. “I wish I had my coat back.” Sirius held up a hand to shush her. They both listened and heard feet running through the leaves. They ducked out of sight, and waited a tense moment until Harry ran out of the underbrush.
“There you are!” he panted, only catching sight of them when they moved. He pointed upwards. “I followed Hedwig to you. You can’t go back inside. There are Ministry people everywhere!”
“Raye has a crossbow,” Sirius said.
“That can’t be good....” was all Harry could say. They decided to sneak into the Whomping Willow tunnel to get back inside. Doing their best to be careful and quiet, they had to hide again when Raye appeared around a corner of the castle. Sirius shrank backwards into a shadow with Esme and motioned for Harry to get behind a tree. Raye never saw them. She crept along, also trying to keep out of the open. She carried Hagrid’s oversize crossbow over one shoulder, and a muzzle in her other hand. She passed by them close enough for Harry to reach out and touch her.
“Can’t be good....” Harry repeated when she had passed. After a moment, they followed her. Raye went in through a cellar entrance. Harry went after and Sirius pulled Esme along, too. They went down some steps, stopping often to listen.
“Why are we following her?” whispered Esme as they crept along after. Harry and Sirius shushed her. They let Raye get out of hearing range before answering.
“She’s vampire-hunting,” Harry said. “Which means she’ll either be after Ficus or Professor Zephyr.” Esme didn’t look happy to hear that and she became more worried as Raye seemed to be heading straight for Lorelei’s chambers.
“She held you off,” Sirius said, intending to be comforting. “Raye hasn’t a chance.”
Esme crept into her sister’s room as if she was on eggshells. Sirius and Harry heard her make a teensy sound of dismay and peeked in too. The chamber had been ransacked and in the middle of it was North. The white dog thrashed from side to side, swinging his head wildly. The heavy muzzle was clamped onto his face and the other end chained to the heavy chest of drawers. Esme was trying to get close enough to unbuckle the muzzle, but North snarled as best as he was able and threw his weight backwards.
The chest of drawers didn’t even budge, and Harry went to help hold the dog still while Esme tried the buckle again. Sirius looked the room over. How Raye had managed to make such a complete mess in the few minutes she’d had before they had got there was beyond him. Every drawer was pulled out and the contents scattered. The bed linens had been tossed to the floor and the mattress moved. The closet was in disarray and every garment had the pockets turned inside out.
“What was she looking for?” he wondered aloud. There was a click from the muzzle and an ‘Aha!’ from both Harry and Esme. It came off in Esme’s hands and North shook free of Harry, spraying them both with drool as he shook himself.
“Poor guy,” Esme said. Harry got back to his feet and they all looked around the room. “Lorey will have herself a screaming conniption when she sees this.” Esme went on. She knelt to lock eyes with North. The white dog bristled at her, but she didn’t flinch.
“Go find Lorelei,” she said. North looked suspicious, but trotted out the door.
“We’d better find Raye before she gets in real trouble,” Harry said. He looked at Sirius, who shrugged at Esme. She got up with a sigh, then grabbed one of Lorelei’s coats off the floor. She shrugged into it and seemed to feel better.
“Lorey once invented an entirely new magical lock to keep me out of her closet,” she chuckled. “Took me half an hour to get in there.”
“You didn’t have your own clothes?” Harry asked, thinking how weird sisters must be. He wouldn’t have dreamed of raiding Dudley’s closet, even if they had been even close to the same size. Esme adjusted the collar and grinned.
“I would’ve waded through hip-deep razorblades to drive Lorey crazy at that age,” she sighed. “But it was mutual.” She fell into step next to Sirius as they went. After a moment, she began to hum. Both Harry and Sirius looked at her. “Sorry,” she said. “Not very sneaky, am I?”
“We’re not sneaking,” Sirius said, more relieved than he’d thought he would be that she had recovered enough to be obnoxious again. “We’re just following.”
“I see her!” hissed Harry. “She’s heading outside again. Towards the Quiddich practice fields.” The three of them leaned forward to see the crossbow-bearing shadow duck out the door and vanish into the darkness. They went after, keeping to the underbrush. They were keeping an eye on Raye, so it took a moment to notice the other figure waiting in the field. Esme spotted it first and grabbed Harry’s arm to keep him from stepping forward. It was tall and draped in a hooded robe. It called to Raye and she jumped, noticing it for the first time too. Esme cursed under her breath, using a word even Sirius had never heard before.
“I am 6,” the figure said.
“The vampire hunter she was writing to!” Harry whispered.
“My eye!” hissed Esme, glaring at him. “Don’t you recognize the voice?? It’s Ficus!” Before the men could reply to that, a dog barked somewhere. Esme’s ears perked. “Lorelei’s on her way. Stall Raye!”
“What?” Harry asked, but Sirius nodded and so he stepped out of the shrubs and called out to Raye, making her spin in fright.
“There you are!” he said, walking closer. “Um, what are you doing out here? Professor McGonagall is looking for you.” He pretended to notice the other figure. “Headmaster Ficus!” he said, sounding as awkward as he felt. “What’s going on?” Raye gasped and the hooded figure seemed taken aback.
“You aren’t 6! This is a trick!” Raye cried, swinging the crossbow up to aim. “You’re the vampire!”
“Calm down, child,” the figure said, holding up its hands in a placating gesture. Harry could recognize Ficus’ voice now as well. “I am not a vampire,” he went on as the crossbow leveled at his chest. “I have been writing you all year to be sure that you were the one.”
“You’re a liar,” snapped Raye. Harry kept quiet. Raye’s face was pale and furious. She looked as if she fully intended to kill the Headmaster. Ficus pushed his hood back to show his face.
“Did you complete the spell I sent you?” he asked urgently. “The Eye of Heaven?” She just stared at him. Sirius remembered the spell, because he and Lorelei had found it in the cave. He almost laughed, but Esme elbowed him. She was trembling, eyes fastened on the Elmskill Headmaster.
“Where is the Eye of Heaven, Raye?” Ficus demanded, his voice becoming sharp. Raye looked uncertain.
“I...I couldn’t find any grave dirt,” she admitted. “I looked in her room. I looked everywhere, but there was nothing!”
“I can bring you the soil,” Ficus’ eyes had become eager. “Bring me the rest of the spell, and I’ll complete it.”
“What are you talking about?” Harry asked, just so he wouldn’t be standing there uselessly.
“He’s lying!” Raye cried. “He doesn’t have a reflection! He’s a vampire! He wanted me to make the Eye so he use it for some vampiric...thing!”
“That’s absurd!” Ficus protested. “I was in your Potions class just today in broad daylight, Raye! You sat two tables away from me at breakfast and watched me eat a grapefruit! How could I be a vampire??” He sounded frustrated, but there was a very real edge of anger in his voice.
“Raye,” said Harry, as calmly as he was able. “Ficus is not a vampire.”
“You don’t know anything!” She snapped back.
“I know where his reflection is,” Harry told her. Ficus looked at him sharply. “There’s a reason it isn’t in the mirror.” This puzzled Raye enough to make her look at Harry. Ficus took a step toward her and she jerked back to him before he got far.
“I’m cursed, Raye,” the Headmaster told her. “I need your help. We must have the Eye of Heaven.”
“I don’t believe you,” she said. His composure shattered.
“You must make the Eye of Heaven!” Ficus suddenly roared . “It is the only way and our only chance!” He advanced another step. Harry scooted back as Raye’s finger tightened on the trigger. She didn’t budge, but her pulse was visible in her throat and she had to bite her bottom lip to keep it from trembling. Out of sight, both Esme and Sirius tensed to act. “It is the only way to stop these creatures!”
“Creatures are we?” came a new voice, much more threatening than all of Ficus’ raving. Snape stepped into the open. His arms were crossed over his chest. Raye swung the crossbow to point at him, then quickly put it back on Ficus. Snape ignored her. He was looking at Ficus with the same intensity Esme was. “One might ask why a Headmaster is unable to make a fairly simple talisman on his own.”
“Stay out of this, Potionsmaster,” Ficus said, but he had drawn back. Snape tilted his head, like a snake studying a bird. Caught between that black, glittering stare and Raye’s crossbow, Ficus’ tall cane was suddenly in his hand.
“Stop him!” gasped Esme. She launched a fireball from her palm, her ring flashing silver. Harry’s robes were whipped around him from the force of the fireball’s passing, and his eyes dazzled by the blast of red light. It should have hit Ficus head on, but was snuffed out before it actually touched him. The spell had died on its own.
“You ARE a Slider!” said Lorelei, appearing out of nowhere. Raye gasped and swung the big crossbow wildly toward her. Snape’s arm whipped out and snatched the bow to the side, even as she fired. The arrow flew into the trees with a whistling sound. Ficus tucked his robes around himself and ran into the trees. Wrenching the crossbow away from Raye, Snape looked ready to throw some fire of his own. For once, Harry thought there was good reason for it. Lorelei didn’t give them time to think about it, though.
She ran after Ficus, North right beside her. Esme jumped into the open and made after them, too. Sirius and Harry also followed, leaving Snape to drag Raye along by her arm. The howling voices of wolves spun around them as they ran. Harry saw the howlers themselves, loping along on either side of their group as they ran, silver and blue shadows in the forest’s darkness. An awful scream rose up ahead of them, and was quickly drowned out in a sudden chorus of snarls and growls. Lorelei paused before running on.
She lead them to a clearing, but stopped at the edge of the trees. Harry, then Sirius and Esme, caught up and looked past her. There were wolves, more than a dozen, fighting over and tearing at something they blocked with their leaping bodies. Snape and Raye got there a moment after. Raye’s protests fell silent as they all stared at the wolf pack. The wolves were bent on destroying whatever they had caught.
It HAD to be Ficus, Harry thought, feeling a little sick. What else could the wolves have caught?? He found himself looking for Lupin’s dusty coat among them. These were different creatures altogether, though, huge, sleek animals, twice the werewolf’s size. After a moment, Snape let go of Raye and stepped forward into the clearing.
“Careful,” warned Esme. Lorelei had opened her mouth to speak as well, but her sister had beaten her to it.
“Yes,” she added awkwardly. He gave no sign that he had heard either of them. A wand appeared in his hand and he pointed it at the cluster of frenzied wolves. ‘Patronus,” he said. Harry and Sirius stared, not expecting that. Lorelei, Esme, and Raye just watched with interest. A silver blaze shot from the wand, unfolding into the shape of a massive jumping spider. Huge legs unrolled to land as the spectral monster went sailing into the pack. The wolves scattered in panic, natural senses repelled by the ghostly spider. Harry was glad Ron wasn’t there see it.
The spider bounded after the wolves, leaping from tree to tree. It scurried around the clearing once to be sure they were gone and then dissipated. In the clearing there was a spatter of blood, and in the middle of it lay Ficus. He was mangled, missing one hand and most of his face. His throat and belly were torn open, but he was still alive. He moved feebly, stretching his remaining hand towards his cane, which had fallen in the grass.
Two wolves appeared at the edge of the clearing again. One was Tanner, his red face shiny with blood, the other was Rosie, also with a wet mask. They paced forward, as did Esme. Snape began to raise the wand, but Lorelei stopped him. Esme came up and took the staff up. The shapechangers stepped to either side of her, glaring down at Ficus. His ruined face contorted in pain and anger.
“Summon!” he wheezed, a bubble of blood appearing and popping on his lip. “Release...!” There was a ripple in the forest air and the blood-drinking ichling appeared, only to dash away. Tanner was after it with a snarl. They were both gone in a heartbeat. Esme hefted the cane again.
“You’ve lost,” she told Ficus. A broken and bloody smile split what was left of his face. He rasped out a word, obviously a spell. He gagged up more blood and began to cough. A shuddering wheeze came from somewhere in his chest as his body went limp. The jaw of the gargoyle carving on his cane opened with a click and a black mist poured out of it. Esme dropped the cane with a gasp. Rosie snarled, baring bloodied fangs, as she backed away from it. The mist poured out into the open wounds on Ficus’ body. The wounds began to close. Esme cursed and turned to run back towards Snape. She snatched the crossbow for him but there were no arrows.
“Where are the other bolts??” she screamed at Raye. Raye just stared. “You can’t hunt vampires with only one bolt! Are you crazed??” Behind her, Ficus’ body got back to its feet. The black mist now swirled around him, flowing from his wounds and eyes like dark smoke. An inky aura appeared around him. Sirius recognized it as the physical manifestation of the miasma he has sensed in Esme. Ficus’ features shifted, realigning into something else, as if the Headmaster’s face was being stretched over a new skull structure.
“Ms. Zephyr,” he said, in voice nothing like Ficus’ smoker’s rasp. This voice was deep, with a touch of a Middle Eastern accent, rich and oily. Ficus’ eyes glowed red. “We meet again, it seems.”
“Brohm,” gasped Esme. The color had drained from her face and her hands shook. She had fought this monster before and it had nearly killed her. Now he was reborn. I should have known... she hissed mentally. He kept the old leech’s spirit in his cane! Now that he’s dead, the spirit can inhabit the body. Her fear flickered out and a battle spell shouted itself from her throat before she even had time to think about it. Blue shards of ice blasted from her fingers into Ficus-now-Brohm, and shattered over him to fade out without touching him.
“A vampire Slider,” said Lorelei, horrified. There was a blur of movement and Brohm tackled Esme, with inhuman speed. She screamed in pain and suprise as he threw her to the ground. Ficus’ gloved hands fastened on her throat. Rosie attacked him from behind, but was driven back from him again. Lorelei unleashed a wave of spells on him, but they rippled off easily. The black miasma grew, tendrils of it undulating like flame. Esme’s breath wheezed and she struggled against the vampire’s grip. She sank her fingers into one of his eyes and blackness flowed out over her hand. She jerked it back with what would have been a scream if she wasn’t being throttled.
Brohm opened his new mouth to hiss and fangs unsheathed from his teeth. Lorelei lunged forward to grab his scarf, even as he darted for Esme’s throat. He was so strong, she could barely hold him off. Esme was fighting back, raining kicks and strikes that had the old Headmaster’s bones breaking audibly. The body was dead though, and felt no pain. Rose sprang in and sank her own fangs into Brohm, only to fall back, reeling and retching. Raye stood watching this with her jaw hanging open. Reading the Vampire Hunter’s Manual hadn’t prepared her for anything like this. Sirius was torn between helping Esme and guarding Harry, and in his second of hesitation, Snape waded into the fight.
A long, sliver of knife appeared in the Potionmaster’s hand from his long sleeves. He spun it once under his wrist and stabbed it upwards into the base of Ficus’ skull. Blackness oozed around it like congealed blood and Brohm screamed a curse in an ancient language. He shook his head from side to side, trying to shake the blade loose. Sirius grabbed Esme’s shoulders and yanked her away from the creature.
“Everyone back!” Snape shouted. His wand was back in his knife hand and he as soon as Rosie and Lorelei jumped clear, he cast a lightning spell at the blade’s hilt. Electricity crackled through the knife, into Brohm’s new brain and body. Bolts ripped through his skin and burst from his eyes and mouth. The ancient vampire shrieked in agony and the stench of something foul burning was choking. He slumped to his hands and knees, and then a roar like a freight train shattered the second of almost-victory.
“Oh no...” moaned Lorelei. She looked to the east and they all turned to see the noxious fires of the Morthahg through the trees.
“The ichling released it,” Esme said. “Tanner didn’t catch it in time. Oh hell...”
“Exactly,” rasped Brohm. He struggled to force his burned and broken body back to its feet. It was hard to tear their eyes away from the menacing glow of the approaching Morthahg to pay attention to him. Every instinct in Sirius soul was screaming at him to get Harry away. A feral sound escaped him and he turned his back on the orange light. Ficus’ staff lay where Esme had dropped it. A quick spell sent it flying to his hand and he faced the vampire again.
“We have to leave,” Esme gasped, also tearing her eyes away from the Morthahg. “We can’t fight it here! Lorey, Rosie, come on!” She started backing towards the trees in the direction of Hogwarts. “Sirius, you and Harry move! And you too,” she added to Snape.
“Noooo,” growled Brohm. “You’ve run far enough and you’ll get no farther.” He pulled himself upright and Esme backed away slightly faster. He tore into her again, breaking her arm with an audible crunch when she held it up between them. Sirius ran to swing the staff over his head like a club. He brought it down on Ficus’ skull and it sank in with a squelching sound. Brohm turned from killing Esme to throw Sirius across the clearing. He landed hard with all the wind knocked out of him, but managed to hang onto the staff.
The vampire’s strength amazed him. How had Esme managed to kill five of those things?? he wondered dazedly. He heard Harry calling his name and lurched back to his feet. He called a spell that made the end of the staff sharpen into a longer point. With a burst of speed, Sirius charged Brohm and stabbed the cane into the vampire’s back. He had been tempted to go for the heart, but remembering what Esme had told him, he aimed lower. He shoved it between Ficus rib cage and spine, driving the point through him and into the dirt. It pinned Brohm like a hideous butterfly and the impaled vampire thrashed wildly. More of the black blood sprayed and Sirius shied away from it, remembering the Bind.
“The Morthahg is here!” Lorelei screamed. “Run! Use no magic until it passes!” Harry was scrambling at Sirius’ side, trying to pull him away. Sirius grabbed his arm and they fled into the trees. Esme and Snape had dragged Raye with them and Rosie and Lorelei were well ahead. They ran wildly, instinct taking over. Putting as much distance between themselves and the Morthahg was all they could think of. Then, Harry looked back.
The Morthahg engulfed Ficus/Brohm. Harry saw the outline of the Headmaster’s body against the fiery glow and then it swept over him like a tide. There was no sound at all, not even a scream. The Morthahg didn’t stop. It flowed past and went rumbling off through the trees. When its light vanished from sight, the panic died down and they all slowed their pace. Esme cradled her broken arm. She was gasping harder than the others. Hand-shaped bruises were already forming on her throat.
“We have to go back,” panted Lorelei. “Just to be sure he’s dead.” Nobody liked that idea, but she went marching back and after a moment so did Snape and Esme. Sirius and Harry looked at each other wearily. Harry sneaked a look at Raye. She seemed to be in shock, on her feet, but not really comprehending any of what she was seeing. Sirius sighed.
“Bring her along,” he said, and they followed the others back the way they had come. The clearing was empty again, except for the crumpled body of Ficus. The staff had vanished, perhaps destroyed by the Morthahg. The Elmskill Headmaster still had a gaping hole through his body. The look on his face was just startled. Esme knelt beside him and began to go through his pockets with her good hand.
“What are you doing?” Lorelei asked.
“Looking for the World’s Door,” she said. Lorelei narrowed her eyes.
“What for?” she snapped. “If you want to prove that it wasn’t you who summoned the Morthahg, you needn’t bother. It’s well known that you wouldn’t be able to summon a stray dog if you had a pork chop in each hand.” Sirius gave a half-stifled laugh at that. Snape glanced at him at the mention of dogs, but he didn’t speak.
‘Oh, hardy-har,” Esme grumbled. “If Ficus had it with him, it’s destroyed now and getting the Morthahg back where it belongs is going to be a lot harder.”
“What??” Lorelei stalked over to glare harder at her sister. “Send it back? What we need is a way to kill it.”
“How?” Esme returned the glower full force. “How do you kill something that was never alive? There’s too much at stake to waste time throwing spells that won’t work. But it was imprisoned once and if we can get the World’s Door, we can send it back there.” Lorelei didn’t have a ready answer to that and fell silent. Esme continued searching the body ,
“It’s not here,:” she sighed finally. “Small mercies! I miss my compass though.” Lorelei jumped a little and then reached into her pocket and handed Esme the compass.
“Can you fix it?” she asked. Esme forced her broken arm up to hold it in her cupped hands and concentrated. Lorelei began to move to help her, but then caught herself. After a moment, Esme shook her head.
“No...It’s dead now. It won’t even point north.” Esme pocketed the compass anyway.
“In the meantime,” Snape said suddenly. “We have an impaled Headmaster to explain.” He looked hard at Raye.
“He was a vampire!” the girl insisted weakly. Esme snorted.
“Vampires turn to dust when they die,” Snape said. He then turned to look at the bloody body. Raye followed his gaze and then looked away quickly, tears welling in her eyes.
“It was the Morthahg that killed him,” Esme said. Snape raised an eyebrow at her.
“Did it also bite and stab him?” he asked. “Would YOU believe it?”
“I’ll take the meat into the woods,” Rosie said. She had become human while they weren’t paying attention and was getting tired of talk.
“Body,” Esme corrected gently. “We don’t call dead humans meat. They are bodies.” Rosie sneered, but dropped back into wolf form and grabbed the corpse by its shoulder to drag it away.
“Will she really eat him??” Harry had to ask. Esme shrugged.
“It’s hard to say...” she said, then snapped back into focus. “We still need to find the World’s Door. Where would he have kept it?”
“Surely he wouldn’t have just carried it around.” said Lorelei. “It could be in his chambers. Hold still a minute.” She took Esme’s hand and cast a violet glow over her arm with her wand. “I can’t mend it, but that’ll keep it from hurting.”
“If he couldn’t touch it to use it, maybe his reflection has it,” Harry offered.
“Fine,” Esme pointed at him and Sirius. “Show me where that is.” She turned to Snape and Lorelei. “You two can check his room....and do something with her...” She nodded towards Raye.
So, they split up. Snape and Lorelei took Raye back towards Hogwarts, while Harry led Esme and Sirius into the woods to try to find the hollow tree the reflection used as a chimney. The wolves had begun to howl again.