Lucius Gracchus Malfoy (sans_foy) wrote in whatprice, @ 2009-04-24 17:17:00 |
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Entry tags: | adrian pucey, chris warrington, devon urquhart, draco malfoy, juliet travers orfanos, lucius malfoy, marcus flint, oswald bole, zacharias smith |
That old black magic
Who: Lucius Malfoy, Chris Warrington, Juliet Orfanos, Adrian Pucey, Zach Smith, Marcus Flint, Oswald Bole, Charles Pucey, Devon Urquhart, and a special guest appearance by Draco Malfoy.
What: Rescue planning
Where: Malfoy Manor
When: Late night, April 24 (the night of the new moon)
The house elf had extremely long arms. They dragged the floor as he led visitors to Lucius' study. The room was a study in contrasts. A brightly lit, well apportioned room with every wall covered with mirrors and the space hung with crystals to take advantage of the light that came in from the south-facing windows gave the impression that the enlightenment was in full swing. The potions and grimores on the table were indicative of a more medieval timeframe, and the entrails wrapped around the knife were simply unsettling in the dim starlight. The house elf must be an expert at lighting candles, if this room was anything to judge by.
"Thank you for coming," said the Master of Malfoy Manor, "I'm sure you'll be interested in the news."
The company comprised, besides Malfoy, a quidditch side's worth of wizards and a witch, all from some of the oldest families in England, even if some of them were more low-hanging fruit than the most illustrious branches. While Slytherin dominated, two of the other three Hogwarts houses were represented, and if you looked hard at some of the family trees, it might be said that some were of less than the perfectly purest of blood, or perfectly purist of opinion. Each had been greeted, relieved of his or her cloak, and escorted to the study sometime in the last half-hour.
"Gentlewizards, Madame Orfanos, I shall get right to the matter at hand. I've gathered some information that I hope you will agree is adequate cause to spur ourselves to action. In more normal times, I assure you I would leave such matters to the Ministry, but that seems to be unlikely to bring about satisfactory results and the only other candidates for the task seem to be caught up in horological mayhem." Lucius frowns. "Although if my sources are right about who played that merry jape are correct, they might not be too willing to help us in any case.
"The matter at hand is a simple one. I've had a breakthrough with one of my divinatory experiments and I've located on of our missing cousins, alive and in muggle hands. We need to gather more information, but I am proposing that we take matters into our own hands, and take her back. Warrington, it's Astoria. You may exclude yourself if you need to."
Confirmation sent a cold sort of thrill racing down Chris' spine, but he shook his head. "I believe I would rather remain. It's important that I know precisely what's going on so that I might use my abilities, such as they are, to the greatest advantage in this endeavor." His tone was calm and he kept himself tightly reigned, not moving a muscle. Perhaps only Adrian would understand the focus it cost him, but this gathering was more than merely important. This was about his wife.
"I'm in," Adrian said. He was likely to be the most squeamish of the lot, and this was likely to involve things he didn't approve of, but it was important for any number of people to see that he was willing. From a shadowy corner of the room, he saw Marcus Flint nod approvingly, and he gave a quick nod of his own in return.
Zach couldn't help the small part of him that was intimidated by this gathering. He knew that he had every right to be here, but still, he was aware that it was lucky to be counted in among the heavy hitters. Of course, the question didn't require much deliberation, especially considering the fact that it was Astoria, after all.
"I'm in as well. Whatever you need."
Juliet, a steadying hand on Chris's elbow, merely nodded. Her involvement was, naturally, a given.
Lucius surveyed the room, pleased with the level of commitment he'd gotten. He hadn't expected less. "Excellent. So, what we do know is somewhat limited. First, we know that muggle soldiers have her, and that she's alive. Second, we know that they are attempting to move her to Azkaban, by boat due to the weather. They've tried once and turned back. Third, we know they will try again.
"That's what we need to disrupt. An armed ship at sea. I think that we can muster adequate overwhelming force to take her off such a vessel." He looks around the group again, making sure of his audience.
"Tonight, there are two things to do. The first is to learn when our opportunity will be. The second is to plan our attack."
"Pardon me," Zacharias asked deferentially out of habit to Lucius. "But why don't we just blast the bloody fuck out of their headquarters? Wouldn't that be more useful in the long run?" And much more enjoyable.
"My wife is in their headquarters, Smith," Chris answered, voice low. After a short pause, he quirked a brow toward Malfoy and asked, "Do we even know where their headquarters is located? I'm assuming we don't, based on your list from moments ago."
"We don't, or we're not sure we do. In an ideal world, the muggles will have a ship 'lost at sea', and Astoria can tell us ever so much that will make our next actions that much more ... informed." Lucius smiled, a tight-lipped, controlled smile that no one would mistake for an indicator of good feelings. "I think we need to turn the tables a bit. They know far too much about us given how precious little we know about them."
"True enough," Juliet said, "but perhaps we should cross that particular bridge when the mission at hand has been completed. How do you propose to determine our opportunity?"
"We need to know when the ship will next attempt the trip to Azkaban. A number of factors are involved, including just simply knowing the weather. I expect it cannot be in the next few days, because it takes them a bit to prepare those ships. I'd rather not try Aeromancy, because it's not very accurate and it won't tell us how bad it is in the sea or exactly when. I have picked up a bit of macharomancy... from that book you sold me, Juliet. The down side is that it requires the blood of a virgin."
Juliet raised an eyebrow. Once upon a time she might have been certain of at least a few people meeting that requirement in almost any given group, but these days...? She looked from one face to the next, wondering at the odds of any of the youngsters being of use in this, and when her gaze passed Adrian, she couldn't help giving him an utterly sardonic and irritable look as if he were completely to blame for all the failings of the youth of today.
Adrian smiled pleasantly at Juliet and shrugged slightly, throwing up his hands in a "what can I say?" sort of way.
There was a snort as Oswald Bole caught the interchange, and then Flint elbowed him into silence. The wanderingest hands in the dungeon had been notorious enough when they were all boys that none of the younger Slytherins thought Adrian likely to fulfill the requirement. Most of them were better able to mask their amusement than Bole.
Chris' expression remained completely unchanged, but he arched a superficially inquiring eyebrow in Juliet's direction, then Adrian's, before pointedly turning toward Malfoy once more. It wasn't as though standards of virginity had ever truly been held in any regard for men, anyway, and at least Adrian wasn't the sort of have complaints laid at his feet once he'd finished with the lady of his choosing.
Zacharias frowned momentarily as he ran his hands through his hair. This wasn't something he wanted to announce, let alone in this circle, but this was Astoria they were talking about - a good friend and colleague. If he could help, then, well, embarassment was worth it. And perhaps it would combat the reputation of a coward that he'd acquired in his Hogwarts days.
Coughing quietly, he raised his eyes towards Lucius. "I may be able to help in that regard."
Off to the other side of the room, Charles Pucey relaxed.
"Good man," said Lucius. "Macharomancy is about how the blood travels down the knife-blade, so it doesn't need much. If you take off your robe, this shouldn't take too long." Lucius looked around the room as if he'd misplaced something.
"It's also about the purity of the blood being used," a slender blond man said cheerfully as he entered the room, stepping in front of the house-elf who had intended on announcing him. "Isn't that correct, Father?" Draco asked as he made his way toward Lucius, casual as if he's been away ten minutes instead of ten years.
But Father was not alone - Lucius' study was filled with people. Out of the corner of his eye Draco mentally cataloged the members of this meeting. Old friends of the family, Slytherin cohorts- he caught Flint's eye, nodded at Pucey - and some people he'd never met at all.
The room full of serious looks, as if decisions were being made. Perfect timing, he thought to himself. "My, what a gathering," he added loudly, noting that even the faces he knew had changed dramatically. "Whatever is going on here?" he said, unable to keep the smirk off his face.
Lucius didn't smile, but he was pleased at his son's steady demeanor. He chose to go with the lad's approach. "Good to see you, my boy. We're planning how to rescue Cousin Astoria from the Muggle Army. Speaking of purity, can you fetch me your Great-Aunt Lucretia's silver dagger? It should be in the usual place, third display chest on the right, top shelf."
Adrian had moved to Chris' side when Draco opened his mouth. Before Chris could say anything--not that Adrian thought he would--Adrian laid a reassuring hand on his arm. The presence of Juliet Orfanos on Chris' other side was just something he was going to have to endure for the rest of it.
Stepping through the crowded room, Draco was inwardly amazed how familiar it all felt. Some things never changed, and Lucius' study seemed to be one of those things. Carefully reaching for the dagger, he gave the room another sweep with his eyes as he took the knife to Lucius, flipping the blade toward himself and offering his father the ornate handle. "Who's the lucky victim?" he asked, knowing that any spell that involved blood would be fairly dark in nature.
Juliet was no happier being in Pucey's vicinity than he was about being in hers, and she was starting to get irritated at the assorted theatrics (what, she wondered, did young Malfoy mean by simply blowing in unannounced like that?) and ongoing chatter. She took a few brisk steps forward and took Zach Smith by the arm, gently but firmly. "Come now, Zacharias. Best to get it taken care of quickly."
Zach did his best not to scowl. He didn't really look forward to having to strip or perform the ritual in public. What if he flinched or worse, fainted? What would happen to his position in Lucius' eyes then?
"Yes, ma'am. Sorry, ma'am," he said apologetically as he stripped off his robe and folded it carefully and following it with the dress shirt he'd worn underneath. Leaving his trousers on, he swallowed before gazing at Lucius. "Will that suffice, sir?"
Lucius nods. "Yes, that will be fine, Smith." Just lie down on the table." Lucius retreated behind a large desk and opened a drawer, pulling out an elaborately bound leather book that looked very, very old. He turned to an early page and returned to Zach. The pages of the book were brightly illuminated and the manuscript seemed to crackle with power.
Lucius held the book with one hand and the blade with the other. He started speaking in aloud, chanting in an obscure language. He took the blade and slowly sliced through the flame of a nearby candle three times; left, right, left. The chanting became slightly louder and Lucius leaned down towards Zach, but didn't look at him. He lowered the knife-blade slowly and placed it against Zach's forehead. Zach could feel it pressing into the thin skin above his eyebrows, but it didn't break it yet. Lucius took a breath and smiled at him, then made a thin cut along the length of Zach's hairline.
It bled, as head wounds are wont to do. Lucius let the blade of the small knife become covered in blood. He put down the Codex, whose pages seemed to be made of some sort of leather, and took the blade to the fireplace. He thrust the blade into the fire, holding it at arm's length and cast another spell in the foreign tongue at it. The blood slid down the knife's blade until it reached the point and slowly, exactly seven drops fell from it into the fire, each smoking and smelling acrid.
Lucius pulled his hand back quickly and dropped the hot silver blade. "Seven days!" He turned to Zach, whose forehead was quite bloody. "Thank you, sir. You've given us the data we need."
With a calmness he did not at all feel, Adrian spoke. "How difficult will that be to heal?"
Trying not to show how confused he was by the proceedings, Draco's eyes turned from the fire to Zach's forehead. "It's not as bad as it looks," he said quietly. "Head wounds," he added with a shrug. "The magic Father used itself won't harm him," he said to Adrian. "Might be tender for a few days, but..." he said in Zach's direction. Virgin blood, he thought to himself. Interesting.
"If there's nothing persistent, and neither the wound nor the knife is--" he did not say cursed "--special in that regard, I can deal with it now. Don't move, Smith. I'll have you good as new in a bit." Adrian moved over to Zach and began to clean him up in preparation for healing the wound Lucius had made.
While Draco spoke, Juliet helped Zach sit up and handed him a handkerchief to wipe his face. She stepped back as Adrian approached. "Seven days. Very well, time enough to plan and get in position. I believe you suggested an attack at sea, Lucius? Port, obviously, is far too risky. Though we shall have to ensure that a team is ready on shore to secure her on her return. With a Healer or two, I expect." She pointedly didn't look at Adrian.
"Portkeys. We'll want portkeys to Eryri Ysbyty for Chris and Astoria. Unless," and he looked up at Juliet, and then Lucius, from his examination of Zach's wound "we have some reason we don't want the world to know what we've done."
Zach reached for his shirt, pulling it on slowly. The moment Lucius had brought out the book, he'd recognized it from one of their previous meetings and was incredibly grateful that the ritual wasn't as bad as it could have been, considering some of the spells in that book. Hearing Adrian's comments, he frowned. He didn't put it past Lucius to use a cursed weapon, but he wasn't about to accuse Lucius of that, not in public. Besides, loyalty was loyalty - and did not include ducking out of a ritual because of fear.
"I assume you can heal this so it doesn't scar," Zacharias said, attempting to mimic the normal Slytherin snottiness.
Adrian was too busy casting to give Zach anything but a withering look.
Lucius looked amused. "I think, Pucey, that it would be rather good for the world to know what we've done, which will be that we saved an innocent witch from the hands of the muggles. If nothing else, it may encourage others to have some faith in Wizarding Britain again." He picked up the dagger, and placed it on his desk. "Portkeys for escape seem prudent, both because the wounded may not be able to leave otherwise and because there are reports that the muggles can cause people to splinch themselves." Lucius shuddered. "I am envisioning three teams, all entering on brooms. Team One stays outside, on brooms, keeping the muggles busy there. Team Two enters the ship and makes trouble. Team Three is after Astoria.
"I think I shall personally lead Team Two." Lucius had that smile again.
"It no one objects," Chris said, speaking for the first time in quite a while, "I should very much like to lead Team Three."
"I'll go with you, if you'll have me," Juliet said to Chris, her tone gentler than when she'd spoken earlier. She was concerned; on the one hand, no one could or should gainsay a husband running to his wife's rescue. On the other hand, Chris had been living with his grief for so long, and his emotional reaction (understandably) so strong that she wanted to make sure his high feelings didn't lead him to make any unfortunate mistakes.
From the sidelines, Flint spoke up. "I'll take the first team. Ossie, you're with me."
Bole started to nod, but Adrian made eye contact and shook his head briefly. "I think I'm with Pucey, and he's with Warrington." Bole said this as an article of faith.
Having closed the simple cut on Zach's forehead, Adrian spoke up. "I will be. Bole and I can round out the third group. I can lay a hand on someone who might be useful with your lot, though, someone who couldn't be here tonight." He smiled in a way that his former teammates all knew boded ill for someone on the far side of the pitch.
Fate seemed determined to keep Pucey at her side. Juliet suppressed a sigh and focused on the matter at hand. "I assume the plan is to leave no Muggle witnesses, in light of Lucius's 'ship lost at sea' comment earlier. I believe we should also be prepared for the presence of other prisoners. Unless Astoria is of particular value to them such that they wish to isolate her completely, it seems very likely that they'll try to move as many people as possible in any given transport, given the weather conditions around Azkaban."
Zacharias put a hand to his forehead, checking Pucey's work. Sometimes he thought the pureblood was a little to soft on muggleborns and the like, but his work seemed to be decent. He wouldn't mind helping Chris with Astoria's rescue, but any chance to impress Lucius was a good one - and was probably where he would have more fun.
"I'll put myself on Team Two," he announced. "Should three have the responsibility of any additional prisoners or should we leave that to another team?"
"If you'll pardon my candor, I believe I will be entirely focused on finding Astoria. Once the muggles are taken care of, though, I don't see any reason why the other members of Team Three can't search the interior of the ship for other survivors." Chris made sure his tone was even as he spoke, giving Juliet a nod to indicate that he was quite alright. He eyes slid toward Bole and he nodded again. Then he glanced toward Devon and arched an eyebrow.
"What are we doing about the Portkey destination?" Urquhart had been an excellent Quidditch player - and he was a good enough man to have received Chris' blessing to marry his sister, which spoke volumes. "I'd hate to miss out on the action, but I think someone needs to prepare the area, make sure it's secure and that all necessary personnel are on hand when the patient, or patients, as Madam Orfanos has pointed out, arrive. I could take care of that, once it's determined that the other teams are taken care of adequately."
Adrian had seen prisoners of war before and had some idea of what they might be facing. "The clinic isn't fit to receive Astoria and keep her there for any period of time, and if we have additional prisoners, it's not designed for that capacity. For serious illnesses, I prefer house calls, or to send people directly to hospital in Wales. An intermediate staging point might be best, though." He looked to Juliet, whose antiquities business he was sure had some capacity for rapid transit.
Juliet smiled thinly and nodded. "I believe I can manage such a thing. My people have a station a few miles south of the port that the Muggles are likely to use. It's an old harbour town that we've warded, and I can provide the Portkeys. Mr Urquhart, if you wish, I can provide you the rest of the information you'll need when we're finished here."
"Draco?" said Lucius, "The flying team seems light, will you be with them or ... elsewhere?"
With a look over to Marcus Flint, Draco gave him a tight smile and nodded. "I'll fly," he answered. "Tell me where and when, and I'll be there."
Charles Pucey, seeing which way the wind was blowing, surrendered himself to the inevitability of flying under his brother's old captain. "I'll be with the flight wing as well."
"Is that everyone? Good. Three flyers, two of us belowdecks committing mayhem, and four on the rescue party. Warrington, I think you should cede the leadership role of team three to someone else. You've got the primary mission and someone else should be watching your back. Teams should talk about strategy and plans now and I'll chat with the team leaders when you're ready. Gentlewizards and witch, we are about to strike a blow for Wizarding Britain."
Chris thought about objecting, but held his peace for a moment, then nodded. "Very well." He could understand why they wouldn't want him leading the group - he wouldn't be looking after anyone else or attempting to coordinate their actions. His one and only concern was getting to Astoria and getting her off that ship.
"Madam Orfanos should be in charge of our group," Adrian interjected before there could be any further argument. Bole looked at him curiously, but nodded his agreement.
Only Juliet's self-possession kept a surprised look off her face at Adrian's interjection. "It would be my privilege," she said mildly, and funnily enough, meant it.
Adrian clarified, "My first priority should be any casualties, ours, or among the prisoners."
"Of course. Very well, then, I believe our group is prepared to confer amongst ourselves."
"Healy!", called Lucius. When the large-handed House Elf bounced in he looked at it, as if expecting someone else to be there. "Refreshments for any that need it. I shall have my usual."