The Next Generation

[salemboy]

Damien knew what she was going to say before she did. At the words "Kill them," He pulled out a pocket knife and lunged at the death eater. The death eater sidestepped, leaving Damien rolling onto the ground. The death eater pointed his wand and started yelling, "Avada Keda-", but he was cut off by Damien making a sweeping kick at his legs. The death eater fell to the ground with a thud. Damien jumped onto him and wrestled away the death eater's wand.

Wiping sweat from his brow, Damien stood up and directed the wand that was now his at the girl. Ryu dragged the death eater away. "Girl," Damien said. "Why do you bring an innocent into this? Let the boy go, and we can duel, one on one."

[Ms. Elsewhere]

"There is no innocence." Geneve said, staring into Damien's eyes. She smiled wickedly. "What are you waiting for? Kill me, and it will all be over." Her wand still raised, she seemed fearless, dangerously at ease. Geneve's true self deep within her struggled. This darkness that had consumed her was risking her very life. She felt the darkness pondering something, and then, it spoke again. "But you won't, will you? You think you can save her, don't you? Well.... You can have one tonight." And with that, she pushed Liam at Damien with such force that they tumbled to the ground, and then, when they looked again, she was gone. Geneve felt for the first time some fear in the darkness that Liam might get hurt. But not with the same compassion she herself felt; it was like if Liam came to harm, it might harm her too......

[salemboy]

Damien wiped the sweat from his brow as he helped the boy to his feet. "What's your name, kid?"

"L-liam."

"Liam, huh? Listen, I need for you to go with that guy there," Damien pointed to Ryu, "to the others in Hogsmeade. I believe you will be safer there than even your house common room." After saying this, Damien went over to the death eater.

Damien pulled him to his feet by the hair and said, "Let's chat. Come, walk with me." When the death eater didn't oblige, Damien slashed him across the face. As blood trickled down the death eater's face, he began to walk. As they walked, Damien said, "Seeing as how my veritaserum is now destroyed, I'll have to do this the old fashioned way." They entered the grand staircase. "Soooo," Damien started. Then he suddenly slammed the death eater against a wall and said, "Where'd she go?!" The look of menace in Damien's eyes, the sheer look that Damien would think twice about hurting the death eater caused the latter to have a great look of fear in his eyes.

"I-I don't know," the death eater stammered.

"YOU'RE LYING!!!" Damien yelled, throwing the man into the marble rail. Both sounds echoed throughout the castle. "NOW TELL ME!!! WHERE DID SHE GO?!!!"

"I don't know," the death eater whispered in terror.

"If you don't tell me where she went," Damien said in a now icy, cold tone. "I'll make you wish you were dead! And then I'll give you to dementors, and maybe you'll get a kiss. That's right. I know how to summon dementors." Of course, he was bluffing. Damien would never give anybody over to the dementors, let alone allow them to kiss someone. He looked over the shoulder of the death eater and saw the place where he had transformed into his werewolf state. In the moonlight, he saw his wand, just laying there.

He grabbed the death eater by the back of the neck and pulled him along to his wand, and before the death eater could notice it, Damien scooped up his wand own wand. Then Damien snapped the death eater's wand in two. "Now," he said, pointing his wand at the death eater. "Where did she go?"

"I don't know," the death eater said in a half sobbing voice.

"You lie," Damien said in his cold voice again. Of course, he didn't know Legilimency. He just picked up a few things as an auror to tell a liar from a truth-teller. "I think I know what will make you talk. Tell me, have you ever experienced the Cruciatus curse?"

"You wouldn't," the death eater gasped. "They'd put you in azkaban for life."

Damien gave a cold laugh. "Do you really think they'll arrest me? They can't. I'm protected by the Japanese Ministry. In other words, I can do whatever I wish to a scumbag like you." Then, without hesitation, putting all of his power into the spell, he yelled, "CRUCIO!" The man collapsed to the floor, giving a bloodcurdling scream as he writhed in pain. Damien held the spell for ten seconds, ten seconds with the man screaming earsplittingly. When Damien stopped the curse, the death eater was on the floor sobbing.

"Oh," Damien said. "So you've never experienced an unforgivable curse, have you? Well, you don't seem to have a problem using them, do you? You know, you disgust me. You aren't even worth my time anymore. I'll just get where she went from one of your pals. Goodbye. AVADA KEDAV-"

"WAIT!!!" The man screamed. Now he was actually crying on the floor. Damien lowered his wand. "I'll-I'll t-tell you where sh-she went."

[Ms. Elsewhere]

Geneve watched her so called loyal servant give in to the her enemy. She had not disapparated; she was hidden from view just a few steps from where they were talking. She scowled. "Weak." she mouthed. Her hatred boiled inside her. Could she trust no one? No, she was sure she could not. The death eater was bleeding terribly from the gash on his cheek, he looked so pathetic. He layed on the floor, he had seen Geneve and their eyes had met. She stared at him, her hatred still churning, and then, the man began to coil up in pain; his screams echoed through the halls. The other wizard stood back, and looked around, knowing that someone else was causing this. Geneve's thoughts ticked over, and then she saw with satisfaction that the man's tongue swelled in his mouth, his screams wer muffling, he was choking, he was dying. Deep within her, Geneve pushed at the darkness and a feeble voice within cried "Stop!". Geneve stopped, the man's tongue swelled down, but from then on, he would be unable to speak. "Like I said before, weak, weak weak!!!" Geneve spat as she turned around and pressed on a stone on the wall, and then disaapeared into a secret passageway.

[salemboy]

Damien looked around as he saw the man writhe in the ground, screaming in agony. Whoever was attacking the death eater, sure knew how to keep hidden. He turned back to the man when he heard him stop screaming. The man wasn't breathing either. Damien was about to go help the death eater when the death eater started breathing again. Damien decided to find out before anything else could happen. "Where did she go," he said in a calm coaxing voice, so as to calm the death eater.

The death eater didn't say anything, but instead pointed to his tongue. Damien looked, and realized that the tongue was swollen to the point where the death eater couldn't speak. Damien pulled out his wand and tried to shrink it. Nothing. Damien thought, and finally, sent out a patronus to everyone in his order, saying (in Japanese), "Captured death eater. Taking him to HQ to interrogate. Tongue swollen by spell, need help in removing spell. Return to HQ." Then he pulled up the death eater whom he had tortured. Damien involuntarily shuddered. He disliked torture, even torturing death eaters was something he wasn't keen to do. He did it only when he felt he had to.

He was going to drag the death eater all the way to outside the Hogwarts gates, but then remembered that all of the protective spells that Hogwarts had had been shattered. So, he put a bandana over the death eater's eyes, and thought with all of his might of a building of ancient Japanese Architecture that lied deep within the Japanese mountains. Then he took a step forward and turned on the spot, disappearing into the suffocating darkness, holding onto the death eater.

[Ms. Elsewhere]

Geneve followed the secret passage way down. She lifted her wand and light streamed from it into the tunnel in front of her.

[choki]

Together, the group apparated into the castle for the magic barrier protecting the castle was already destroyed.
"First of all, let's take Bill to the Hospital Wing. Mdm Promfrey will fix him up in no time."
"And we gotta find the girl a.s.a.p!" said Ron, anxiously.
"Alright, we need to split up, here... Fleur and Hermione will bring Bill to the infirmary. Aberforth, Nikolaus will go find the headmistress whom I believe, Galena is at the headmistress room. And the rest will follow me to find the girl..." Harry said, "and be careful, there might be death eaters lurking around..."

[FawkesthePhoenix]

Valencia nodded, her mouth in a grim line. There was no time for jokes and light-heartedness with a situation this serious. Leading the way into the shadows (for surely that was where the girl would be), Valencia fingered her wand. She could feel the connection between her and the girl, even though it wasn't complete. Geneve had made a mistake. A grave mistake. Through this connection Valencia could find Geneve anywhere, and even foretell some of her impulses. The girl would soon wish she had never come within a five-foot radius of Valencia Saran Marcellus's magic.

[DucksRMagical]

Galena began to pace the headmaster's office. No, she thought, my office. It was just so hard to get used to. And now, not twenty four hours into her term as headmistress, there was a battle in Hogsmeade. What was she going to do? She was just Galena Sprague. She wasn't anyone special. How did she wind up being headmistress when Hogwarts had such esteemed headmasters like Dumbledore and Snape?

Dumbledore would have surely had this whole mess sorted out by now. But he was dead. Long dead. He was killed when she was only 21. Now the only thing that remained was a portrait. Galena stopped pacing and turned to look at Dumbledore's portrait, which was directly behind her desk, the largest of all the portraits. He was sitting serenely, staring back at her with his twinkling blue eyes. How the artist managed to capture the twinkling was beyond her.

Dumbledore wasn't saying anything. He clearly wanted Galena to figure this out for herself. Snape, on the other hand, looked ready to burst he wanted to talk so badly. Dumbledore must've told him to keep quiet, Galena thought.

Well, she obviously wasn't helping by staying holed up in her office. She turned around and saw Arthur, who still hadn't made it clear about whether he wanted to continue fighting or not.

"Arthur, I'm going to have to help fight now," Galena began, "You can follow me down to the grounds."

The first year nodded, but didn't say anything. Galena turned back to Dumbledore and Snape. "I'll keep you posted about what's going on."

"I daresay that won't be necessary, Galena," Dumbledore said calmly, "I have, other ways, of knowing what goes on in the school. There is something you might want to know now, though."

"Just tell her already," Snape snapped.

"Very well. Galena, the battle has already reached Hogwarts," Dumbledore said.

Galena froze and gaped at him. "Wha-what?" Her heart dropped. All the students. They were in their dormitories, probably sleeping. Completely unaware of what was going on. She had to warn them. Had to protect them.

"Yes," Dumbledore nodded, "There are Death Eaters in the school."

"Right, well, I'll be going to check on the students, then," Galena turned to leave, and motioned for Arthur to follow. "You'll be returning to your dormitory, Arthur. This has gone too far."

[Ms. Elsewhere]

Geneve paused before descending. She closed her eyes. She could sense the magic in the very walls of the school. She put her hands on the cold stone. There was a vibration, like the hum of something electric. She opened her eyes, realising something. "The children are still here." She looked up at the ceiling of the passage way. Above her slumbered the students of hogwarts; the magical, youthful next generation of witches and wizards. It was time for a change. Soon, everyone would have to make a choice. She smiled. What would people pay to have their dreams come true? To have power, to have wisdom, to be.... irresistable. Would they hand over their souls as easily as she did? She enjoyed the idea of turning everyone. She realised now that even though her grandfather's followers were adults, the future was in the young. She thought about Liam and Arthur. She had pieces of them already. She had to turn them, and soon, but she needed something else first.

Geneve stumbled and collapsed to her knees. Speaking of pieces..... "Valencia..." she whispered, and her voice echoed down the passage.

[FawkesthePhoenix]

Valencia froze. Someone was calling her name. It sounded like the girl. Naturally, she felt her presence through the connection, just as Valencia had. Pulling out her wand and drawing upon every once of training she had, Valencia moved towards the voice.

[choki]

"This way, boy!" said Aberforth as he hurried through the countless passageways and ascended the long flights of stairs.
"You know, I'm not really suited to be called a boy at this age. I'm-"
"Oh just shut up, boy! Harry is older than you, he is a BOY too!" Aberforth rebuked. "And hurry up! There is no time to lose!"

As soon, the pair reached the garyogle statue.
"What's the password?" asked Aberforth. Nikolaus looked at him, confused.
"Think of one!"
"How would I know! I was never a Hogwarts student..."
"Well, if Albus was still around, Lemon sherbet!" The statue gave a snort.
"That's nice... try again..." chuckled Nikolaus.

[Ms. Elsewhere]

Geneve pulled herself back up to standing and put walls up in her mind. It was like a dark fog clouding her mind. She reached up and dabbed her nose with the back of her hand. It was bleeding. She sniffed it back. This body was weak sometimes, but it was young, and it would adjust. She held up her wand and reached along the wall until she found a bit of parchment in a thin capsule hidden in the wall. She pulled it out, and put it into her pocket. Then she walked down the passage and took a sharp left. she exited the passage in the dungeons and approached the Slytherin Common room Entrance. She stood there for a moment. Then she said the password, and entered. The place was so quiet. She went to her room, her room mates were all asleep. She opened her trunk and changed her clothes by moonlight. She lifted up a long black dress, something she used to wear all the time in the muggle world. Ironically, it was much like what a witch would wear, and she never knew that was what she was. She pulled it on. Over that she pulled on a long black coat, and then some high black boots. She pulled her hair into a long plait, and then left the room to check herself in the bathroom. She stared at herself in the mirror. "Don't look so closely, Geneve, u might like what u see." she told herself. She looked so young, but her eyes were boiling black, dark and almost cruel. Satisfied, she left the common room.

"First things first. " She said. And she made her way through the halls to the headmasters office. But on the way, she ran right into Arthur. "What are u doing here?" he said. "We have to go back to our common rooms, something big is about to happen."
Geneve grasped his shoulder and looked into his face. "Oh, you have on idea."

[choki]

"Butterbeer!"
"Treacle tart!"
After naming countless food items as the incorrect password, the statue guarding the headmistress office simply ignored Aberforth. Flabbergasted, he pointed his wand at the offending gargoyle and threatened to blow its head off if it did not open the passageway for him, in a menacingly tone. The stone gargoyle gave a displeased grunt, but it relented as it turned to reveal the hidden passageway.

"Galena!" Aberforth yelled out the new headmistress name as he stepped into the office. Nikolaus followed suit and was taken aback by the grandiose of the room. The array of magical equipments was amazing for its humble size even though he had seen greater treasures at Gringotts. These were the private collection of the Hogwarts' headmasters and headmistresses.

Then, he spotted a peculiar ragged hat, sitting on top of the high chair. He walked towards it.
"Galena? Where are you hiding! We got trou-"
"OH just be quiet!" Nikolaus almost jumped up when the Sorting Hat spoke, "What? Never seen a talking hat before?"
"Aberforth," said an familiar voice. Nikolaus took his eyes off the Sorting Hat and glanced up to the source.
"Albus..." Aberforth replied, as he looked upward at the portrait of his elder brother.
"Galena has just stepped out of the office, if you are still looking for her, that is..." said Dumbledore in an all-knowing tone. His eyes drifted to the young man standing at the far corner.
"Oh hello there... pardon me but I couldn't get a good look at you... Phineas, over there is blocking my view," said Dumbledore.
"I'm not leaving... I just gotten myself a good resting position!" Phineas answered back as he crossed his arms.

Nikolaus then took the initiative to step further out to a position where he could see the famed Dumbledore eye to eye. The moment Dumbledore saw him, he couldn't believe his eyes.
"Hmpf, yeah I know... he looks exactly like him, don't you think so, my brother?"

[DucksRMagical]

Galena ran through the castle as fast as she could. She had to ward the common rooms against intruders and fast. The battle was already beginning. Galena could hear shouts and curses being thrown about as she ran through the corridors.

Galena rounded a corner and looked behind her. "Arthur?" she shouted. The boy was no longer behind her. Damn, she thought. Hopefully he just went to the Gryffindor common room like he was supposed to.

Hufflepuffs first, she thought as she descended the stairs. She must get to her own house first. Then, Slytherin would make sense, since it was closest to the Hufflepuff common room. Hopefully she wouldn't be too late by the time she managed to make it to all the common rooms.

Protecting the students, that was her main priority. Before battling whatever Darkness was looming in the castle, Galena had to ward the common rooms against intruders. Of course, anyone of age could fight if they so desired. She decided she would briefly explain what was going on to the students and then ward the common rooms, letting anyone of age decide for themselves what they wanted to do.

Then, she would fight. Galena would defend the school, her school. With thoughts of defeating the new Dark regime, Galena descended into the Entrance Hall, only to see evidence that the battle was already underway.