When All is Lost One is Found

Chapter 104: Plans That Go to Hell

When All is Lost, One is Found

Author: Rinoaebastel

Chapter 104: Plans That Go to Hell

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and gain no profit from this fanfiction other than writing practice. JK Rowling owns Harry Potter.

AN: This story may contain scenes taken from the Harry Potter movies and books, but it's not exact dialogue, just rewording of dialogue or omission. It is not marked.

December, 1997

No more news came from Phineas' portrait in the next weeks. All he knew was that their whereabouts or the situation hadn't changed for the two adventurers he needed to protect. He learned that the red haired coward was back at his mother's house. Did the boy not have enough sense to realize he was still a target? Granted the Death Eaters were mainly after Potter, but they wouldn't hesitate to kill Weasley to get at Potter if they found out where he was. They might even torture the boy for information regarding what Potter was doing.

He supposed that no reply or words were better than bad ones, but he still wished for any comment from her that confirmed she was still out of Death Eater clutches.

He'd forgotten what it was like not to have anyone to talk to at all. What it felt like to shoulder everything. He'd done it for most of his adult life, but then this witch had transformed him from a cold man to one that needed warmth. That now acknowledged he could pity people rather than push it back and pretend he didn't care.

The situation at Hogwarts was calm one minute and the next it was as if a bomb went off. Today yet another group of students were sent to the infirmary with violent shivers after the cruciatus curse was cast upon them in the Carrows class. Admittedly, he didn't disagree with someone experiencing the curse through teaching. The experience meant that one knew how it felt would be less hesitant to cast it. It built up a sense of empathy.

For some people that is.

In the end, though it was suspicious of him doing so, he'd gone to the infirmary in the middle of the night to check on the students. Pomfrey had been in her office and he'd made sure she didn't see him as he checked each student from a distance.

Fortunately, Pomfrey had plenty of experience treating this curse since he'd often come in with the aftereffects of it still wracking his body.

He leaned back in his chair, but he wasn't focusing much on his surroundings or the words coming out of the teacher's mouth. This was all useless. Anything they tried to do, any new rule, any new curriculum, he would have to squash before they even tried it. All because the Dark Lord would never agree unless it benefited his ultimate goal.

He was sure the professors knew that too, because they ignored his presence and treated him as if he were under Potter's invisibility cloak. They would listen much like the way he did, some would pretend to be concerned about matters, but in the end, their only concern was to make as much trouble and chaos as possible without getting caught.

But extremely slight chaos. Nothing that the Carrows would notice but things he'd noticed and overlooked. They'd listened to his words telling them to just teach. Still, he knew they were withholding as many punishments as they could. Even Minerva with her Gryffindor temper was cunning enough to behave properly and choose her battles.

He snapped out of his thoughts when the chairs moved and the staff started to leave. He took a deep breath and waited for the last footsteps to fade before releasing the air.