SALEM ᵈ ᵐᵃˡᶠᵒʸ

xix. Shit Goes Down

A beat of silence, then, "Excuse me?" Amycus said slowly as he made his way too up close to McGonagall's face. The old witch, however, did not falter or back away and just stared at him with the same disgusted expression.

"It's not a case of what you'll permit, Minerva McGonagall. Your time's over. It's us what's in charge here now, and you'll back me up or you'll pay the price."

Then, he spat on her face and Harry lost his shit.

He pulled the Cloak away from himself, sliding it off from us as well as he did so.

"You shouldn't have done that. Crucio!"

"Oh my god, Harry!" I screamed as Amycus was suddenly lifted mid-air, thrashing and choking with howls of pain, then was slammed against a bookcase, glass shattering around him as he crumpled to the floor.

"Harry—" I whispered, staring at the Death Eater. "What the fu—"

"I see what Bellatrix mean," he said darkly, "you really need to mean it."

"Potter!" McGonagall whispered as she clutched her heart. Her eyes locked on mine and Luna's figure, the shock of it all causing her to stumble backwards. "Lovett—you're here! What—? How—?"

I cringed as she wildly whipped her head between the two of us, deciding who to probably address first; her eyes stopped on Harry at last. "Potter, that was foolish!"

"He spat at you," Harry said casually.

"Potter, I—that was very—very gallant of you—but don't you realize—?"

I sighed through my nose and went to McGonagall, gently grabbing her arm to help her stand upright as I glared at Harry lightly.

"Blood hell, Harry," I said. "You could've killed her; giving her a heart attack like that."

He smiled sheepishly.

McGonagall set her lips in a straight line and yanked her arm away. "Don't think you are off the hook too, Lovett. Do you two not realize the mistake of coming here—?"

"Yeah, we do," Harry assured her. "Professor McGonagall, Voldemort's on the way."

"Oh, are we allowed to say the name now?" Luna asked curiously.

"I don't think it makes any difference what we call him, he already knows where I am—and probably Margo too."

"You must flee," McGonagall whispered. "Now, you two, as quickly as you can!"

"We can't," I told her. "There's something we need to do. That's why we're here, you see, we had to take a look at Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem."

"Professor, do you know where it is?" Harry asked.

"The d-diadem of Ravenclaw? Of course not—hasn't it been lost for centuries? Potter, Lovett, it was madness, utter madness, for you to enter this castle—"

"We had to. Professor, there's something hidden here that we're supposed to find, and it could be the diadem—it is the diadem," he corrected himself when he saw my sharp look. "If we could just speak to Professor Flitwick—"

Amycus was beginning to stir awake. Without hesitation, McGonagall casted the Imperio Curse on the Death Eater, made her hand over two wands, then lie down next to her brother and bound them together with a silver rope.