Chapter Four of A Loyal Friend. Enjoy!
Three years had passed since Scott Peck was assigned a most
dangerous job by Albus Dumbledore. In that time, the Hogwarts potion master,
Severus Snape, had assisted Scott in preparing for the dangerous road ahead.
Snape had taught him Occlumency which Scott excelled so well at that it was
difficult even for Dumbledore to penetrate his mind. In addition, Snape had
also taught Scott advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts which Scott was also
proficient at, enabling him to block all curses sent at him by Snape. Scott was
also able to sufficiently counterattack Snape, to the point where Snape would
have to react in a split second to defend himself. Because of this, when the
time came that the Dark Lord returned, Scott would be more than ready to prove
himself.
It was June 24th and Scott was sitting in the stands of the
Quidditch Pitch which had been turned into a hedge for the third and final task
of the Triwizard Tournament. Scott was keeping his eye out for anything
suspicious; he had been told to do so by Dumbledore. Harry Potter, a friend of
Scott's, had somehow illegally been entered into the tournament and Dumbledore
suspected that something was amiss about the entire situation and had asked
both Scott and Snape to keep their eyes out for anything unusual, especially
during the third task. Scott noticed that Professor Moody, the ex Auror serving
as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, seemed rather agitated as he paced
around the entrance of the maze, waiting with the rest of the staff for the
winning champion to exit the maze.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, two figures emerged from the maze and
landed right outside the entrance. One of them was Harry and it looked as
though he was laying on top of the other, who appeared to be unconscious. Scott
slowly stood up and made his way down to the entrance, noticing that Dumbledore
and the Minister had run up to Harry and that Snape and McGonagall were making
their way down toward them. Scott caught up with Snape and McGonagall just as
they reached the bottom of the stands. Cornelius Fudge then stood up from Harry
and ran over toward Snape and McGonagall.
"Keep everybody in their seats!" he shouted to somebody
in the stands. Turning to Snape, McGonagall and Scott, he added in a whisper.
"A boy has just been killed." The three of them gasped and ran after
Fudge toward Dumbledore and Harry. Lying on the ground was the dead body of
Cedric Diggory, his eyes still open wide in shock. The crowd around them suddenly
seemed to realize that something bad was happening and started to gather around
the body. Screams of terror then filled the air as people realized that Cedric
had returned from inside the maze, dead.
As he tried to take in what was happening, Scott looked up and
noticed that Moody was taking Harry away from the scene, apparently unnoticed
by anyone else. Without hesitation, Scott told Dumbledore at once. Dumbledore
then stood up at his fullest height, drawing out his wand.
"Thank you for telling me, Scott," he said, his blue
eyes flashing with anger. "I need you to assist Professor Flitwick in
getting all of the students back to their houses and once you are done, I want
you to return to Ravenclaw Tower until I summon you. Severus, Minerva, come
with me."
With that, Dumbledore departed with Snape and McGonagall who drew
out their wands as well. Scott then helped Professor Flitwick see to it that
everyone would return to their houses at once. After making sure the stadium
was empty of all of the students, Scott bade Flitwick goodnight and headed to
Ravenclaw Tower. Once inside, he found the Common Room nearly deserted,
everyone had decided to go to bed immediaetly rather than stay up. He sat down
in an armchair next to the fire and waited for Dumbledore to contact him. After
waiting for about an hour, a Phoenix Patronus fluttered in front of him and
spoke in Dumbledore's voice.
"Your mission starts
tonight. Meet Professor Snape outside of the hospital wing as soon as you can.
Good luck with your mission."
The Patronus faded. Knowing what he had to do, Scott went up to
his dormitory and put on his blue robes that represented Ravenclaw house and
stowed his wand beneath his sleeve, ready to draw it out at a moment's notice.
He then left Ravenclaw Tower and headed upstairs to the fourth floor where
Professor Snape stood waiting outside the doors to the Hospital Wing. When he
approached, Snape spoke to him.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
"Yes, let's go." Scott replied.
Snape nodded and led him outside to the grounds. Together, they
made their way to the entrance gate where they would disapparate to wherever
Snape had been told Voldemort was. Once past the entrance, Snape held out his
arm for Scott who grabbed onto it. Instantly, they were swept off their feet as
apparated to the location where their mission would start. Quick as flash, they
stopped and both paused for a few moments as they regained their composure.
Snape then led Scott through the graveyard they had arrived in and made their
way toward what looked to be a very old, abandoned house. Scott was led through
the house where they stopped in the dining area that was connected directly to
the living room. Sitting around the table were a group of men that Scott
recognized from Snape's description as the Death Eaters that avoided prison
time in Azkaban when Voldemort had fallen. At the head of the table sat
Voldemort himself, his hands caressing a large snake that was slithering around
him. When Scott and Snape entered, Voldemort raised his head and spoke to Snape.
"Severus...you have returned," he hissed. "And you
brought some company. Who is your friend?"
"Scott Peck, my Lord. He is a Ravenclaw student from Hogwarts
who supports our movement. He is here to devote himself to you, my Lord,
working as a spy for you to watch Dumbledore, as I have."
"Ah yes. You knew that I would very much want a student at
Hogwarts to work for me in addition to you Severus. Very well, Scott, you are
how old."
"Fifteen, my Lord," Scott replied without the slightest
show of the fear he was feeling. Thanks to Snape's training, he was able to
hide it. "I'm in my fourth year at Hogwarts, about to enter my
fifth."
"I see," Voldemort replied. "Are you sure you will
be able to work for me? I cannot have a useless soul working for me in Hogwarts,
especially not one who will be spying on Dumbledore."
"Test me."
"Very well, Crabbe, Goyle, Lucius, and Mulciber, attack
him."
Four of the men sitting at the table stood up and drew their
wands. Scott however, was faster than them. He pulled out his own wand and shot
a stunning spell at Crabbe, who had barely taken his wand out. Goyle then aimed
a curse at him, which he deflected back to him. Lucius Malfoy aimed a stunning
spell at him, which he dodged. Scott then disarmed Malfoy. Mulciber drew out his
wand and aimed an curse at Scott. Scott blocked the attack and threw his wand
back, then forward again. A whip suddenly sprang from the wand and extended
towar Mulciber's hand, which sent his wand flying. After defeating Mulciber,
Scott put his wand away and faced Voldemort, his expression indifferent to the
fact that he had just single-handedly defeated four Death Eaters in a duel
without so much as getting a scratch.
"Very good, Mr. Peck. I see that you have been prepared to
join our ranks. Was this your doing, Severus?" he added to Snape.
"Yes, my Lord. Scott came to me earlier this year with
intentions to join our ranks."
"Good," Voldemort said happily. For the rest of the
meeting, he then questioned both Scott and Snape of their intentions. He also
had to make sure that both were working for him, as he suspected that Snape had
left his ranks forever when he had not gone searching for him when he was
defeated by Harry Potter. Once he was satisfied that both Snape and Scott were
prepared to work for him, Voldemort dimissed the meeting and everyone departed.
Snape led Scott back outside and they apparated back to Hogwarts. Once back at
the school, they went to Dumbledore's office and rapped on the door.
"Enter," came Dumbledore's voice. They quickly entered
the office and took their usual seats in front of Dumbledore's desk.
"Well?" he asked.
Snape explained everything. Once he was done, Dumbledore smiled in
triumph. "Well done, Scott, you have done more than I could have asked for
you and I am very proud of you."
"Thank you, Headmaster."
"Now, it is very late, and I suggest you return to Ravenclaw
Tower and get some sleep."
Scott left Dumbledore's office and returned to his dormitory. He
then got into bed and slowly drifted off to sleep, wondering what was to come
next in his quest for Dumbledore...
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