Lady Celestial Stars wonderful story

Part 157

: The TrialChapter Text

Wormtail crept slowly through the tall moonlit grass towards one of the bigger elm trees on the grounds of the Riddle House. He had been ordered by the Dark Lord to investigate the Rangers that were watching and patrolling the grounds, so almost every night, when the moon would be trapped behind the clouds, he would transform down in the basement and then crawl through the small holes in the stone to the outside world.

He had been sent out to spy on their captors for almost four days now, but there had been only one constant Ranger that he could recognize most of the time. Discovering the consistent Ranger was a lucky strike as the Dark Lord deemed it the one chink in their armor available to them. So on the orders of the Dark Lord he had to crawl up the same tree for four days, stay hidden in the same hole and watch the man every single night. He needed to study the man and see if the weakness went further than just having the same guard over and over.

On the fifth day, he nestled himself in the deep hole of the tree and waited for the man to show up. Almost right on schedule, the figure dropped carefully on the limb just in front of Wormtail. The Animagus looked over the man carefully, taking in all that he could, he saw what he had already known for a few days now. The man was tall, thin and pale, with oddly bright eyes hiding just underneath the mask he wore. So far...the only thing that Wormtail could tell the Dark Lord was that the man needed to eat a good meal and get some sun...he must normally have the night shift for the Rangers...

Tonight however, brought about a different thought, the man took out a flask from his hip and took a dip swig of it, a little of the contents dribbled down his chin and landed on the wood. After a few minutes, he leaped over to another tree and took watch there.

Wormtail waited a bit longer, and then crawled out of the hole, and inspected the drying liquid on the limb. If the Dark Lord heard that he passed up learning even the smallest detail of their captor, he would pay dearly for it. He sniffed the drying droplet on the bark..he knew that smell...it wasn't wine, water, or spirits...that was blood...the man was drinking blood.

That meant...the Ranger guarding them...was a vampire.

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When Harry came back on Sunday, after relaxing sufficiently at Night's Rest, (Roasting marshmallows in the Winter's Den and sleeping peacefully on the large plush couch) he walked into the Great Hall and saw quite a few of the adults talking in the middle of the Great Hall. They turned towards him when he entered, their faces grave. Madam Bones walked over to him, a grim look on her face.

"Mr. Potter, I've done my absolute best to keep you out of it, to prevent you from any...discomfort, but I fear that I have no choice." said Madam Bones with an exhausted sigh.

"What is it?" asked Harry quirking an eyebrow. Somehow he knew that this wasn't going to be good, whatever it was if she looked this put out.

"It's the Dursleys, it has finally come time for them to face the courts for what they have done to you in the past. These proceedings have been going on for the past three days, and let me just say this...it is becoming rather muddled. So we can get things back on the track they need to be, (finally disregarding all the showboating done by the defense) we will need your testimony to finally bring this to a close and have them adequately punished." said Madam Bones polishing her monocle with a piece of fabric.

"What?" said Sirius as he came to stand behind him. "Is there someone contesting his word, is that what you're saying?"

"There is. They, the defense counsel, do not believe that Potter has been...innocent in all this, they believe that he might have instigated more than half of it." replied Madam Bones with a sigh.