The Sallow Saga - Vol. 1 - In the Shadows of a Legacy [a HL fanfiction]

Chapter 11. Charge the Castle

Overall, Cassy was quite impressed with the performance they tried to sell at the main entrance. As she and Natty feigned their struggles, Nick and Jackdaw marched them up to the main gates and were approached by three more astute guards. Jackdaw shook Cassy slightly, as if showing off a trophy proudly to his superiors.
"Look who we found snoopin' in the 'edges. No doubt lookin' for their boss!" he gloated.
The middle guard, who appeared to be the main figure in charge, took a few steps closer and wrinkled his nose. He wore a grotesque sneer as he appraised both Cassy and Natty.
"I recognise these! Marked as heroes for taking down Harlow a few years back. Students back then, all grown up now." He smiled wickedly, showing off a row of crooked, yellow teeth; "take them to the cellars to join their comrade. I'll update Marvolo of our latest guests, he'll be pleased to know his suspicions were spot on." He turned to walk away.
Natty grimaced and struggled against Nick's grip, "what do you mean?" she hissed angrily.
The guard slowly turned on the spot, and took two great strides to tower over her, spittle congealing in the corners of his mouth as he grinned maliciously.
"D'aww, it seems this one's not quite up to speed yet. You really think Marvolo was going to miss an opportunity to toy with the ex-head of Slytherin house, who besmirched the Gaunt's birthright by allowing mudbloods into his common rooms? Nice try, coaxing the disappointment Gaunt into your schemes, Marvolo saw right through Ominis's invitation. He suspected it would be a hoax distraction to allow a few of Sharp's team to infiltrate the grounds to get their leader back. Lost without him I suppose." He nodded to Jackdaw's guard, "put them in the cells next to Sharp, I'll head up and inform Marvolo that we have a couple of guests he would love to meet."

Nick and Jackdaw marched the two witches through the grand entrance and paused. Where exactly were the cells? Thankfully, another guard approached the group, with a forced smile on his face, as he glanced at the captives.
"Will! I had to see for myself. I spotted you approaching the doors from upstairs – so it's true, you have indeed captured the two who took down Harlow!" He observed the two women, and a strange expression crossed his face. Cassy glared at him untrustingly.
"Hm..." the guard continued, "Why not let me help you? I can take these two off you and let you carry on with your duties..." he made a grab for Natty, but Nick pulled her back.
"Er... that's quite alright ahhh... thank you." He nodded Will's head jovially to the stranger in front of them, "wouldn't want you stealing all the glory now." He winked knowingly.
The strange guard, squared his jaw and stood straight, "very well, then at least let me walk with you to the cellars. I'm intrigued to hear how you caught these two. Especially, as I thought they were supposed to be bunkered down near Feldcroft, according to recent reports..." He cast a quick glare in Cassy's direction. He nodded toward Jackdaw, "lead the way."

Jackdaw took an unsteady step to his right, and shoved Cassy hard to make her move forward. The guard cleared his throat behind them.
"If I might interject Goyle, I think you would have better luck through there?" He stood aside and pointed toward a small arch in the wall behind him.
"Of course... er... sir..." Jackdaw stammered, quickly shifting his direction and marching Cassy toward the darkened archway.
The archway led to a set of narrow limestone steps which spiralled down to a cold and unfriendly cellar with a large, vaulted ceiling. As they moved along each of the makeshift cells, both Cassy and Natty kept their eyes peeled for signs of the missing children. Their efforts were in vain. Aside from two figures in the last two cells, the cellar was sparse.

Of the two captives, the first was a small, shivering, and whimpering wreck. He looked up wild-eyed at their entrance and pointed at Cassy and Natty. It was the impish man from Feldcroft! His face had been lacerated to nearly beyond recognition. His fingers had been broken and bent at awkward angles as he staggered toward his cell's door, pointing toward them accusatorily.

"That cell will do..." the unknown guard pointed toward an empty space next door to the other prisoner. This figure looked up menacingly. He was wearing a tweed suit, several sizes too small for him, the seams popped from having been forced to accommodate the size of the man. His face was wild with rage and upon seeing them, he had leapt to his feet, pointed accusingly at the group, and tried to cry out. All he could do however was wretch and gag, Cassy recognised the effect of the tongue tie jinx.
As they watched, the figure became more excitable, pointing toward their fellow guard. The group turned around, just in time to see Aesop Sharp morph out of his guise painfully, by the looks of things. He didn't allow the transformation to phase him too much however before he raised his wand.
"I suggest you lease these two - Will, Goyle... before you join your colleague over there." He smiled kindly, but his eyes were cold and fierce.

Jackdaw and Nick hastily let the women go.
Cassy rushed toward Sharp, "don't cast on them, they're possessed!"
Sharp stared at Cassy, confused. His former confident air hindered somewhat; "they're what?"
"Please sir!" Natty interjected, "Will is Nearly Headless Nick, and Goyle is Jackdaw..."
Both the guards smiled sheepishly at the three aurors and waved weakly. Sharp sighed, exasperatedly; "I told you to wait for my owl, Miss Weaver!" he snarled.
"Circumstances changed, sir!" Cassy hissed back, she still had not forgiven him for his outburst on Sebastian. Excited voices could be heard coming from the hallway above them.
Sharp hurriedly grabbed Will and Goyle and pointed his wand at them both.
"Very well, we have limited time. Am I right to presume that should you leave your host; you will be whisked back to Hogwarts?"
The voices were now at the top of the stairs. The two ghosts forced their hosts to nod.
"Very well," Sharp hissed, "get back there now and inform Professor Weasley that I have discovered the whereabouts of the children, things are far worse than we had imagined! We will join her momentarily!" So saying he stood back and cast 'depulso' on the guards. The force with which they were knocked back against the cell walls, ejected the two ghosts out of their bodies. The apparitions shared a brief look of confusion before they both disappeared in a cloud of smoke, as their former hosts slumped to the ground unconscious.
The footsteps were now racing down the stairs as Sharp grabbed hold of Cassy and Natty. As they apparated, Cassy made out the form of a tall, pristine figure with neatly kept dark black hair, a fair complexion and a foul, wicked expression on his face. The last thing she saw was a flash of green light, before they re-apparated outside the gates to Hogwarts, in a heap on the floor.

The trio stood up steadily, gathering themselves; Cassy and Natty spotted a familiar figure running toward them. Their long black hair streamed wildly behind them as they waved at them all. They stumbled and staggered as their skirt gathered around their legs. As they ran, they cast a series of spells over their shoulder! The three aurors stared perplexed as Sebastian in his guise as Melisandre Bones, made a beeline directly toward them, nearly colliding with Cassy as he joined the group at the gates. Sharp's grip on his wand tightened and he looked angrily from Cassy to Sebastian. Panting, the Sebastian gasped out;
"Thank Merlin you're safe... Hogsmeade's overrun... Ominis made it out safely... Weasley informed... Gaunt's team are marching on Hogwarts... I've tried to hold them off..."
The three aurors looked over Sebastian's shoulder. Sure enough, a large crowd of figures could be seen charging toward the gates. Practical as ever, Cassy grabbed Natty and Sebastian.
"Get the students to safety!" She ordered.
Her two friends nodded and ran straight through the gates; Sebastian took one final glance behind him to see Sharp and Cassy setting up a set of protective spells surrounding the entrance. As they rushed into the school grounds, they bumped into Professors Weasley, Garlick and Hecat. Barely a word was spoken between them as the three witches rushed to assist Cassy and Sharp.

Students had gathered at their classroom doorways to see what the cause of the commotion was. Natty and Sebastian took it in turns to rally the students behind them, as the teachers hurried to help with the protective charms.
"Where on earth are we going to hide all the students?" Natty hissed to Sebastian.
He smiled weakly, "I know just the place!"
They hurried toward the Defence against the Dark arts tower. Ominis was stood waiting for them by the display of a large rhino like creature's skeleton. The sound of all the footsteps hurrying toward him, made him instinctively raise his wand.
"Calm yourself Ominis..." Natty ejected, "we have the students, Melisandre and I – we need to hide them!"
Ominis had a look of determination on his face Sebastian had never seen before. His voice demanded silence across the gathered students;
"everyone is to follow me in an orderly fashion, NOW!" Turning on his heel, Ominis guided everyone to the strange mechanism tucked away under the stairway to Hecat's classroom. One by one, each of the students hurried through the secret passageway, Natty and Sebastian bringing up the rear.
"What on earth is this place?" Natty gasped as the doors closed behind them.
"You mean to say Cassy and Ominis never showed you?" Sebastian stared at her, wide eyed. All this time, they had kept the place forever secret!
Natty shook her head, perplexed.
"Welcome to the Undercroft..." Sebastian smiled weakly, as they regathered with the group of students and Ominis.