Rescuing Dragons

The Legacy

 The only thing that kept Raven from dashing down to the Potions classroom the next morning was an obligation to tell Charlie her plans. He was sitting in his usual spot at the end of the staff table. Except for a tuft of red hair, he was completely hidden behind a copy of the Daily Prophet. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Marco waving his arms, trying to get her attention. Raven quickly waved back as she hurried over to Charlie. "Any interesting news?"

"Several people were cursed by a music box at Borgin and Burkes," Charlie said. "Caractacus Burke told them to go to Gringotts and bring him their money. Goblins realized they were cursed and notified the Aurors. Burke gets to spend some time in Azkaban. Happened weeks ago but the Daily Prophet just found out about it."

"That's horrible! I hope they were able to break the curse."

"Something else you might be interested in." Charlie held the paper out to Raven and pointed to the headline, Lucius Malfoy Pardoned.

"Well, I'm happy for Draco and Narcissa but I'm not sure that's justice," Raven said.

"There was a fluff piece on Lucius a couple weeks ago. Went on about his contributions to Hogwarts and charities. How he refused to fight at Hogwarts and was tortured by He-Who..., I mean... Voldemort. Made him sound like a hero or somethin'."

"Hmm... I guess money can change the past and the future." Raven shook her head. "Charlie, I'm too excited to eat breakfast. I'm going down to the Potions Classroom."

"Can I come?" he said hopefully.

"Of course!"

Charlie seized a plateful of buttered toast and a pot of tea to take with them. They were just outside the Great Hall when they crossed paths with Professor McGonagall. "Raven, have you had any success?"

"Yes! We were able to open the door in the Potions storeroom last night and found my father's research. We were just heading down to take a closer look."

The Headmistress looked pleased but switched back to her usual stern expression. "I hope this hasn't distracted you from preparing for your students."

"Not at all," Raven said. "I've gone over my lessons several times."

"Good — I'd be interested in knowing what you found at some point." She swept into the Great Hall while Raven and Charlie made their way down to the Potions classroom.

As soon as they entered the storeroom, Raven moved the cauldron, put in the key, pricked her finger, and opened the door. She quickly dabbed her finger with some Dittany to keep it from bleeding on the valuable manuscripts before bringing them out to a small table. Charlie flicked his wand towards the classroom door and uttered a version of the Colloportus Charm to lock it.

"Thanks, Charlie. Good idea." While they sorted through the notebooks and papers, Raven told him a quick summary of the letter her father wrote. Charlie and Chit took a few bites of toast. "Don't get crumbs on my father's papers!" she said, exasperated.

Charlie's mouth was full of toast. "I pomish."

Raven sighed and began looking through the loose leaves of parchment. Everything was neatly labeled and detailed. She wondered if this was her father's usual style or if he had gone to extra trouble in case she was looking at them some day. Charlie did a quick Tergeo spell on his greasy fingers before picking up the neatly stacked notebooks. One of them caught Raven's eye. "Charlie, would you mind handing me that green one?"

Raven read through it carefully. Just as her father's letter said, there were descriptions of horrible curses and plans that the Death Eaters had discussed under Voldemort. Most of them were just complex combinations of two or more jinxes, but a few were sinister indeed. One of them described a music box that made the listener very sleepy and opened their mind to an extra powerful Imperius Curse that was impossible to resist. It controlled the victim even if they were left alone for weeks. Now she understood why her father asked her to guard this notebook. Raven frowned. "Charlie, did the Daily Prophet say what the music box did?"