𝐎𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 | | 𝕝𝕦𝕔𝕚𝕦𝕤 𝕞𝕒𝕝𝕗𝕠𝕪

𝐁𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐃𝐢𝐞

There were wizards everywhere, dirty and rugged looking men and women who wore leather outfits and carried what seemed like animal traps and other magical objects. Snatchers, she knew their name from reading the anti-Muggleborn propaganda that had been circulating. They hunted wizards. The thought of capturing people who were, although Muggleborn, wizards and a part of the same community disgusted her. The Snatchers seemed to be pulling a few capturees towards the basement of the manor, which led to a dungeon. Katherine had never been near the Malfoy dungeons (she was never allowed to), but she knew they were terribly gloomy and damp. The Snatchers were laughing, proud of their work and success. Standing by the Snatchers stood Lucius, who was pointing them towards the dungeons. Not the Christmas morning she was expecting.

"Katherine, go back upstairs."

She turned her head to see Narcissa behind her, a terrified expression on her face. Her hand rested on Katherine's shoulder as they stared at the wild scene below them.

"Narcissa, what's going on? They've never come here, we've-I mean Lucius has never kept prisoners on the property," she questioned, straining her head to try to get a better view of who exactly the Snatchers were bringing in. Suddenly, she saw a girl with wavy platinum hair clinging to an older man.
"Luna..." she mumbled as she watched the Snatchers lead them out of her sight.

"Come on, dear, let's go upstairs. I'm sure this has nothing to do with us," whispered Narcissa. As she followed the woman upstairs, Katherine made a mental note to explore the dungeons as soon as she got the chance. She had to do something.

-

Her chance didn't come until spring. It was the Snatchers again, and this time they had brought forth a boy who they claimed to be Harry Potter himself along with his friends. She stood next to Narcissa, wanting nothing more than to hide from the chaos she knew would come. Draco stood in front of Harry, Bellatrix begging for him to confirm it was in fact The Boy Who Lived.

"Is it him?" Bellatrix asked gleefully as Lucius held Draco's shoulder. Draco was eyeing the boy in front of him who had a swollen face and no recognizable traits of Harry besides a faint forehead scar.
"Draco, if we are the ones who hand over Harry...everything will go back to normal. We will be back in the good graces of the Dark Lord," hummed Lucius. Katherine held her breath awaiting an answer. She heard Draco say he couldn't be sure much to the dismay of Lucius and the Snatchers.

Katherine could tell Lucius was getting angrier by the moment. This was his chance for redemption, she knew that. But she found it hard to justify his desire to turn a poor boy over to a mass-murderer.
"Katherine, get over here please. Take a look as well," demanded Lucius. She obeyed, meeting him at Draco's side.
"Lucius, I've seen Potter maybe once. I can't be sure either."
As they fought over identifying the boy, Katherine realized she could easily sneak away towards the dungeons. She would only have once chance to possibly free the prisoners being kept in the house, and she had to act fast.

Luckily, Bellatrix had ordered that the two boys of the group be sent to the dungeons, Katherine volunteering to take them down (unfortunately Wormtail had to tag along as well.) She felt awful for the poor Muggleborn who Bellatrix had kept in her sight as she slowly led Harry and Ron into the stone caverns.
"I can handle this from here, Wormtail," she ordered as they reached the stairs that led into the dreary cage. Wormtail reluctantly agreed to retreat as Katherine led the two boys down the stairs.

"You're Elowen's sister, aren't you?" Ron asked. She nodded in response, reaching the metal bars on the cell.
"Don't worry, I'm here to help you. Just stay here for a moment, okay? I'll try to help you escape as soon as I can," she told them, opening the gates before stepping inside with the two boys. Inside the cell sat Luna, along with the elderly man, a house-elf, and a goblin.