Lee Jordan (riverlee) wrote in attheclose, @ 2011-03-09 22:36:00 |
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Potterwatch!
Who: Lee Jordan, Remus Lupin, George Weasley (Unwelcome appearance by Bellatrix Lestrange and other D.E.'s)
What: Potterwatch! And Death Eater Raid!
When: Thursday Evening.
Where: An unused rental cottage in Kent.
Rating: TBD, probably high for violence.
It was time for another edition of Potterwatch. This moving about all the time wasn't exactly easy to do, given Lee had to haul about the equipment and redo the charms every time. Plus he and the rest of the Order had to re-ward wherever it was the broadcast was being held that week. Which meant hoping it held up because there was only so much you could do without taking enough time to do it that someone might notice the lot of strange people hanging about.
So they made do. This week was set up in a smallish cottage in Kent with the windows conveniently still boarded up from winter, and no renters in for the season yet. Lee gathered up his notes, and then started up the charms to broadcast.
"Hello lads, ladies, and undefined. This is River, your double-jointed and flexible host, bringing you another edition of Potterwatch! Here today we have Romulus, following up on some information in from the enterprising and probably unwashed pipsqueaks at Hogwarts, and Minnie is going to talk to us about muggleborns, squibs, and halfbloods."
"First up though, we're checking on the man himself. Reports have come in from a reasonably not-full-of-it source that say Potter has not only been elevated to Undesirable Number One status, which we knew, but that the rewards out for finding him are climbing. So Potter, best of luck, keep your head down. I'll be wanting you to sign an autograph when all this is done, it'll probably be worth something, and I'll need it, what with not being able to turn you in. Kidding, mate."
Lee scanned his notes and went on. "We've also had reports, and firsthand accounts, that the recent sinking of The Fair Horizon, a muggle cruiseliner was the work of a Death Eater attack. The Death Eaters involved are unnamed, as are the motivations behind the attack, but Potterwatch sends out its sympathies to the family and friends of those injured or killed in the attack. Remember folks, just because it hasn't been your family or friends targeted yet, doesn't mean it won't be. It's not safe for any of us, and no one can afford to be casual about all this. As a great, extremely paranoid man once said "Constant Vigilance!" He was a nutter, but he was a good bloke, and he was right. Keep your eyes open, your wands ready, and a plate of biscuits out. Just in case it's me on your doorstep, running from someone some night, and I'm feeling peckish."
"Last Potterwatch, I asked you all to look into famous muggleborns and the like who've made the wizarding world a better one. So here with more on that is our own Minnie. Who isn't nearly as fetching as his name implies." Lee turned the microphone toward George, giving the faint hiss of static a chance to clear before motioning for George to begin.
“River seems to be a bit mixed up on my name,” George muttered into the microphone, all the while glaring at Lee. He mouthed Minnie? while shaking his head at his friend. “This is Rascal here with a report on famous muggleborns, halfbloods, and squibs that’ll hopefully be half as long and twice as informative as any lecture old Binns ever gave back at Hogwarts.”
George quickly glanced at the notes he’d scribbled down as reminders for himself. “First up, for those of you who like your wizards both hairy and musically talented, you’ll be interested to know that none other than the Weird Sisters’ very own Donaghan Tremlett is a muggleborn - and anyone who has heard him play knows that Donaghan’s a true musical master.” George scanned across the parchment to the next name on his list. “And for the Quidditch fans in our audience, you’ll be pleased to hear that the Golden Snitch was invented in the Middle Ages by the eminently talented halfblood Bowman Wright - we at Potterwatch are sure that the endangered Snidgets are certainly glad he was around.”
He continued, a smirk tilting his mouth as he moved on to his next subject. “Now, I can’t say that he’s notably talented for anything but sniffing out troublemakers, but I’d be remiss in not at least mentioning every Hogwarts student’s favorite squib - one Argus Filch. Keep on trying to stop the rulebreakers, won’t you, Filchie? They have so much fun finding ways to sneak around you.” He flipped the parchment over, coming to the last few names on his list. “On a more pleasant note, we can thank muggleborn Bertie Bott for his truly every flavored contributions to wizarding candy. As anyone who’s ever tried his beans can attest, they’re a delicious risk with every mouthful.” George paused, his tone shifting as he moved to his last two subjects. “Now, on a more serious note, I think we can all agree on the worthiness of this next halfblood.”
George looked over at Lee and then at Remus before continuing solemnly. “Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore - Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Headmaster of Hogwarts, vanquisher of Grindelwald, all-around stand up bloke, and the only wizard old Snakeface ever feared. Well, that is, except for the last halfblood wizard on our list, the one this show is named for - Harry Potter. We all know the things he’s already accomplished, and he’s only just of age. No one can argue against it - he’s the true face for what mixing bloodlines can do.”
George nodded at Lee, signaling that he was finished. “Now, back to River for our update from within Hogwarts’ walls.”
"Now I hope we've all learned something from that? Thank you, Minnie - I mean Rascal. Really? That's what you're going with? Fine. We've got a lot to cover tonight, so moving right along. Hogwarts students have reported in that sixth and seventh year students are now being expected to perform Unforgiveables in class, and punished if they fail to. And it's not a nice sort of punishment, folks. For more about what students are being asked to do, and the consequences of it, I'll have you over to Romulus." Lee turned the microphone toward Remus, adjusting a charm and then motioning for him to being.
“Thank you, River,” Remus said, feeling uneasy at the microphone when directly contrasted by Lee’s natural talent. “The most important thing that we want to remind you all of is that this is not a normal lesson for N.E.W.T. standard Defense Against the Dark Arts. For those of you who might have forgotten, it is the privilege of the professor, whether or not they care to touch on the Unforgivable Curses at all. Some choose not to, believing that learning about the curses might prompt students to become more curious about actually performing them. Others prefer to educate students on how to defend against them in case they should ever find themselves at the end of a less than legal witch or wizard. Now, the distinction comes in here, River. It’s legal for a Professor to perform these Curses once for a class, to show them what they are capable of doing. However, use of the Unforgivables by the students, or using them on students has always been banned, so no matter what you might hear from Headmaster Snape or Amycus Carrow -” Remus could not actually stomach applying the title of ‘Professor’ to the crude excuse for a man, “this is not a normal lesson on the subject.
The unfortunate thing, however, is that students who refuse to perform the curses are still going to be punished. It’s up to each of you as parents to choose what you want to encourage your children to do in the face of such pressures, but we want you to be well and honestly informed on the matter. To any students that might be listening at Hogwarts, I would ask you to keep an eye out for letters from home, and if your parents want you to use the Curses to avoid finding yourself a target for violent punishments, they’ll mention the word green; if they think it’s wiser for you to refuse to perform an Unforgivable, they’ll use the word red.” Remus looked at Lee and George, sure that neither of them would have given such word from Molly any heed, and wondering if he would have listened to his own mother, decades before. “You might not be inclined to listen to their wishes,” he said with a wry grin, “but we’re hoping that you’re all well informed on the choices you make too. Stay safe, all of you.”
Lee turned the microphone back toward him. "Thanks for that, Romulus. It's a pretty dark day at Hogwarts when those things are being taught as a regular part of the course, if you ask me, but you lot at Hogwarts who might not have parents who know enough to listen in here, or who have a muggle parents - just use your good sense. I'm sure at least a few of you have it. If you don't, talk to a Ravenclaw. They're usually chock full of good sense. And smell a bit like dust and old books, but it's part of their charm."
That about covered it, and Lee flipped to his last page of notes. "All right, and now we move on. We'll be finishing out the night with a wrap up of recent sightings of the Dark Mark, and folks gone missing. The password next time is Spell-O-Tape, and we'll have-"
Lee broke off as he heard a loud crack of sound from outside. Apparation. And not just one, the first crack was followed by a second and a moment later he saw the flash of reflected light that accompanied the first of the temporary wards on the cottage being broken through. "Bollocks. Signing off, stay safe," he snapped into the microphone, grabbing for his wand.
He was about to shut down the broadcasting charms when the front door shuddered hard, solid wood suddenly dissolving in a whoosh of flame and ash, robed bodies blocking the doorway.
----
Bellatrix had been awaiting a chance to do something, and the little radio show had been a source of minor irritation for many of the Death Eaters. When they'd managed to track the location, she'd been eager to be one of those sent to shut it down, and she grinned as she got a look at the cottage's occupants. A wordless flick of her wand sent a stunning charm toward the first in her eyeline, and Lee was blasted away from the equipment before he could shut it down entirely, falling back with a hard thud against the wall behind him.
"Kill the others. Keep the wolf," Bella told the other Death Eaters with her, chin up and eyes turning toward Remus. "Greyback would like a dog of his own."
“Fuck,” George hissed, dropping to the floor as Lee fell and wriggling behind a high backed sofa that stood near the broadcasting area. Hopefully, Bellatrix and her cronies hadn’t seen him yet. He worked quickly, pulling out his wand and conjuring his Patronus. He sent the silvery monkey scampering off into the night with a message that he hoped would reach Bill, Fred, and some of the other Order members, before turning his attention back to what was going on in the cottage. He fired a quick Protego in the direction of Lee’s position, hoping to protect his friend until he could get his bearings...hoping, actually, that Lee was even conscious.
Digging in his pocket with his free hand, he came up with a meager handful of Wheezes products. He tried to always keep a few useful things on him nowadays, for emergencies, as it were. Unable to help smiling, he grabbed one box in particular. Muttering Engorgio, he tapped it with his wand before murmuring the activation charm and rolling the Deluxe Portable Swamp as hard as he could towards the door. Let them get stuck in that for a bit he thought while peeking round the end of the couch, aiming his wand, and shouting “Impedimentia!”
----