Daughter of a Criminal

The Dark Mark

"Don't tell your mother you've been gambling," Mr. Weasley implored Fred and George as they all made their way slowly down the purple-carpeted stairs.
"Don't worry, Dad," said Fred gleefully, "we've got big plans for this money. We don't want it confiscated."
When they finally reached the tents, nobody felt like sleeping at all, and given the level of noise around them, Mr. Weasley agreed that they could all have one last cup of cocoa together before turning in. They were soon arguing enjoyably about the match; Mr. Weasley got drawn into a disagreement about cobbing with Charlie, and it was only when Ginny fell asleep right at the tiny table and spilled hot chocolate all over the floor that Mr. Weasley called a halt to the verbal replays and insisted that everyone go to bed. Ann, Hermione and Ginny went into the next tent.
Time Skip
Loud jeering, roars of laughter, and drunken yells were drifting toward them; then came a burst of strong green light, which illuminated the scene. A crowd of wizards, tightly packed and moving together with wands pointing straight upward, was marching slowly across the field.
Ann, Hermione and Ginny came hurrying toward them, pulling coats over their nightdresses, with Mr. Weasley right behind them. At the same moment, Bill, Charlie, and Percy emerged from the boys' tent, fully dressed, with their sleeves rolled up and their wands out.
"We're going to help the Ministry!" Mr. Weasley shouted over all the noise, rolling up his own sleeves. "You lot â€" get into the woods, and stick together. I'll come and fetch you when we've sorted this out!" Bill, Charlie, and Percy were already sprinting away toward the oncoming marchers; Mr. Weasley tore after them. Ministry wizards were dashing from every direction toward the source of the trouble. The crowd beneath the Roberts family was coming ever closer.
"C'mon," said Fred, grabbing Ginny's hand and starting to pull her toward the wood. Ann, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and George followed. They all looked back as they reached the trees. The crowd beneath the Roberts family was larger than ever; they could see the Ministry wizards trying to get through it to the hooded wizards in the center, but they were having great difficulty. The colored lanterns that had lit the path to the stadium had been extinguished. Dark figures were blundering through the trees; children were crying; anxious shouts and panicked voices were reverberating around them in the cold night air. Then Ann heard Ron yell with pain.
"What happened?" said Hermione anxiously, stopping so abruptly that Harry and Ann walked into her. "Ron, where are you? Oh this is stupid â€" lumos!" She illuminated her wand and directed its narrow beam across the path. Ron was lying sprawled on the ground. "Tripped over a tree root," he said angrily, getting to his feet again.
"Well, with feet that size, hard not to," said a drawling voice from behind them. Ann, Harry, Ron, and Hermione turned sharply. Draco Malfoy was standing alone nearby, leaning against a tree, looking utterly relaxed. His arms folded, he seemed to have been watching the scene at the campsite through a gap in the trees.
"Fuck of Malfoy" said Ron
"Language, Weasley," said Malfoy, his pale eyes glittering. "Hadn't you better be hurrying along, now? You wouldn't like her spotted, would you?" He nodded at Hermione, and at the same moment, a blast like a bomb sounded from the campsite, and a flash of green light momentarily lit the trees around them.
"What's that supposed to mean?" said Hermione defiantly.
"Granger, they're after Muggles," said Malfoy. "D'you want to be showing off your knickers in midair? Because if you do, hang around . . . they're moving this way, and it would give us all a laugh."
"Hermione's a witch," Harry snarled.
"And a much better one than you'll ever be Malfoy," said Ann irritably
"Have it your own way, Potter, Black," said Malfoy, grinning maliciously. "If you think they can't spot a Mudblood, stay where you are."
"You watch your mouth!" shouted Ron.
"Never mind, Ron," said Hermione quickly, seizing Ron's arm to restrain him as he took a step toward Malfoy. There came a bang from the other side of the trees that was louder than anything they had heard. Several people nearby screamed. Malfoy chuckled softly. "Scare easily, don't they?" he said lazily. "I suppose your daddy told you all to hide? What's he up to â€" trying to rescue the Muggles?"
"Where're your parents?" said Harry, his temper rising.
"Out there wearing masks, are they?" Malfoy turned his face to Harry, still smiling. "Well . . . if they were, I wouldn't be likely to tell you, would I, Potter?"
"Oh come on," said Ann, with a disgusted look at Malfoy, "let's go and find the others."
"Keep that big bushy head down, Granger," sneered Malfoy.
"Come on," said Hermione and Ann pulled Harry and Ron up the path again.
"I'll bet you anything his dad is one of that masked lot!" said Ron hotly.
"Well, with any luck, the Ministry will catch him!" said Hermione fervently. "Oh I can't believe this. Where have the others got to?" Fred, George, and Ginny were nowhere to be seen, though the path was packed with plenty of other people, all looking nervously over their shoulders toward the commotion back at the campsite. A huddle of teenagers in pajamas was arguing vociferously a little way along the path. When they saw Ann, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, a girl with thick curly hair turned and said quickly,
"Où est Madame Maxime? Nous l'avons perdue â€""
"Er â€" what?" said Ron. "Oh . . ." The girl who had spoken turned her back on him, and as they walked on they distinctly heard her say, " 'Ogwarts."
"Beauxbatons," muttered Hermione.
"Sorry?" said Harry.
"They must go to Beauxbatons," said Hermione. "You know . . . Beauxbatons Academy of Magic . . . I read about it in An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe."
"Oh . . . yeah . . ." said Ann, lighting her wand.
"Fred and George can't have gone that far," said Ron, pulling out his wand, lighting it like Ann's and Hermione's, and squinting up the path.
"Ah, no, I don't believe it . . . I've lost my wand!" said Harry
"You're kidding!" Ann, Ron and Hermione raised their wands high enough to spread the narrow beams of light farther on the ground; Harry looked all around him, but his wand was nowhere to be seen.
"Maybe it's back in the tent," said Ron.
"Maybe someone else grabbed it," said Ann nervously
"Maybe it fell out of your pocket when we were running?" Hermione suggested anxiously. "Yeah," said Harry, "maybe . . ."
A rustling noise nearby made all four of them jump. Winky the house-elf was fighting her way out of a clump of bushes nearby. She was moving in a most peculiar fashion, apparently with great difficulty; it was as though someone invisible were trying to hold her back. "There is bad wizards about!" she squeaked distractedly as she leaned forward and labored to keep running. "People high â€" high in the air! Winky is getting out of the way!" And she disappeared into the trees on the other side of the path, panting and squeaking as she fought the force that was restraining her.
"What's up with her?" said Ron, looking curiously after Winky.
"Why can't she run properly?" said Ann looking where Ron was.
"Bet she didn't ask permission to hide," said Harry.
(I don't like the house elf plotline, it's super problematic and personally I find the idea of slaves enjoying slavery disgusting, so let's just say house elves get paid and move on, because in my fanfic about a fictional world they do)
Another loud bang echoed from the edge of the wood.
"Let's just keep moving, shall we?" said Ron, and Ann saw him glance worriedly at Hermione. Perhaps there was truth in what Malfoy had said; perhaps Hermione was in more danger than they were. They set off again, and followed the dark path deeper into the woods, still keeping an eye out for Fred, George, and Ginny. Farther still along the path.
(I'm also cutting Ron being in love with the Veelas its just weird)
Time Skip
"Stop!" yelled a voice he recognized. "STOP! That's my son!" Ann's hair stopped blowing about. He rolled over and saw Mr. Weasley striding toward them, looking terrified.
"Ron â€" Harry" â€" his voice sounded shaky â€" "Ann-Hermione â€" are you all right?"
"Out of the way, Arthur," said a cold, curt voice. It was Mr. Crouch. He and the other Ministry wizards were closing in on them. Harry got to his feet to face them. Mr. Crouch's face was taut with rage.
"Which of you did it?" he snapped, his sharp eyes darting between them. "Which of you conjured the Dark Mark?"
"We didn't do that!" said Harry, gesturing up at the skull.
"We didn't do anything!" said Ron, who was rubbing his elbow and looking indignantly at his father.
"What did you want to attack us for?" Ann asked helping Hermoine up
"Do not lie, sir!" shouted Mr. Crouch. His wand was still pointing directly at Ron, and his eyes were popping â€" he looked slightly mad. "You have been discovered at the scene of the crime!"
"Barty," whispered a witch in a long woolen dressing gown, "they're kids, Barty, they'd never have been able to â€""
"Where did the Mark come from, you four?" said Mr. Weasley quickly.
"Over there," said Hermione shakily, pointing at the place where they had heard the voice. "There was someone behind the trees . . . they shouted words â€" an incantation â€""
"Oh, stood over there, did they?" said Mr. Crouch, turning his popping eyes on Hermione now, disbelief etched all over his face. "Said an incantation, did they? You seem very well informed about how that Mark is summoned, missy â€""
"Hermoines muggle-born," said Ann
"Muggle-born-ha, likely theory-" said Mr. Crouch turning his popping eyes on Ann "your the daughter of a criminal-" But none of the Ministry wizards apart from Mr. Crouch seemed to think it remotely likely that Ann, Harry, Ron, or Hermione had conjured the skull; on the contrary, at Hermione's words, they had all raised their wands again and were pointing in the direction she had indicated, squinting through the dark trees.
"We're too late," said the witch in the woolen dressing gown, shaking her head. "They'll have Disapparated."
"I don't think so," said a wizard with a scrubby brown beard. It was Amos Diggory, Cedric's father. "Our Stunners went right through those trees. . . . There's a good chance we got them. . . ."
"Amos, be careful!" said a few of the wizards warningly as Mr. Diggory squared his shoulders, raised his wand, marched across the clearing, and disappeared into the darkness. The four watched him vanish. A few seconds later, they heard Mr. Diggory shout. "Yes! We got them! There's someone here! Unconscious! It's â€" but â€" blimey . . ."
"You've got someone?" shouted Mr. Crouch, sounding highly disbelieving. "Who? Who is it?"
Time Skip
"Come on, you four," Mr. Weasley said quietly. "I want to get back to the tent as fast as we can. What happened to the others?"
"We lost them in the dark," said Ann.
"Dad, why was everyone so uptight about that skull thing?" Ron asked
"I'll explain everything back at the tent," said Mr. Weasley tensely. But when they reached the edge of the wood, their progress was impeded. A large crowd of frightened-looking witches and wizards was congregated there, and when they saw Mr. Weasley coming toward them, many of them surged forward. "What's going on in there?" "Who conjured it?" "Arthur â€" it's not â€" Him?"
"Of course it's not Him," said Mr. Weasley impatiently. "We don't know who it was; it looks like they Disapparated. Now excuse me, please, I want to get to bed." He led Harry, Ron, Ann, and Hermione through the crowd and back into the campsite. All was quiet now; there was no sign of the masked wizards, though several ruined tents were still smoking. Charlie's head was poking out of the boys' tent.
"Dad, what's going on?" he called through the dark. "Fred, George, and Ginny got back okay, but the others â€""
"I've got them here," said Mr. Weasley, bending down and entering the tent.
Time Skip
"Look, can someone just explain what that skull thing was?" said Ron impatiently. "It wasn't hurting anyone. . . . Why's it such a big deal?"
"I told you, it's You-Know-Who's symbol, Ron," said Hermione, before anyone else could answer. "I read about it in The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts."
"And it hasn't been seen for thirteen years," said Mr. Weasley quietly. "Of course people panicked . . . it was almost like seeing You-Know-Who back again."
"I don't get it," said Ron, frowning. "I mean . . . it's still only a shape in the sky-"
"Exactly what's the big deal?" said Ann
"Ron, Ann, You-Know-Who and his followers sent the Dark Mark into the air whenever they killed," said Mr. Weasley. "The terror it inspired . . . you have no idea, you're both too young. Just picture coming home and finding the Dark Mark hovering over your house, and knowing what you're about to find inside. . . ." Mr. Weasley winced. "Everyone's worst fear . . . the very worst . . ." There was silence for a moment. Then Bill, removing the sheet from his arm to check on his cut, said,
"Well, it didn't help us tonight, whoever conjured it. It scared the Death Eaters away the moment they saw it. They all Disapparated before we'd got near enough to unmask any of them. We caught the Robertses before they hit the ground, though. They're having their memories modified right now."
"Death Eaters?" said Harry. "What are Death Eaters?"
"It's what You-Know-Who's supporters called themselves," said Bill. "I think we saw what's left of them tonight â€" the ones who managed to keep themselves out of Azkaban, anyway." "We can't prove it was them, Bill," said Mr. Weasley. "Though it probably was," he added hopelessly.
"Yeah, I bet it was!" said Ann suddenly.
"Dad, we met Draco Malfoy in the woods, and he as good as told us his dad was one of those nutters in masks! And we all know the Malfoys were right in with You-Know-Who!" said Ron
"But what were Voldemort's supporters â€"" Harry began. Everybody, but Ann, flinched â€" "Sorry," said Harry quickly. "What were You-Know-Who's supporters up to, levitating Muggles? I mean, what was the point?"
"The point?" said Mr. Weasley with a hollow laugh. "Harry, that's their idea of fun. Half the Muggle killings back when YouKnow-Who was in power were done for fun. I suppose they had a few drinks tonight and couldn't resist reminding us all that lots of them are still at large. A nice little reunion for them," he finished disgustedly.
"But if they were the Death Eaters, why did they Disapparate when they saw the Dark Mark?" said Ron. "They'd have been pleased to see it, wouldn't they?"
"Use your brains, Ron," said Bill. "If they really were Death Eaters, they worked very hard to keep out of Azkaban when YouKnow-Who lost power, and told all sorts of lies about him forcing them to kill and torture people. I bet they'd be even more frightened than the rest of us to see him come back. They denied they'd ever been involved with him when he lost his powers, and went back to their daily lives. . . . I don't reckon he'd be over-pleased with them, do you?"
"So . . . whoever conjured the Dark Mark . . ." said Hermione slowly, "were they doing it to show support for the Death Eaters, or to scare them away?"
"Your guess is as good as ours, Hermione," said Mr. Weasley. "But I'll tell you this . . . it was only the Death Eaters who ever knew how to conjure it. I'd be very surprised if the person who did it hadn't been a Death Eater once, even if they're not now. . . Listen, it's very late, and if your mother hears what's happened she'll be worried sick. We'll get a few more hours sleep and then try and get an early Portkey out of here."