Dark Wizard Collector: A Hogwarts Fanfiction

Chapter 58

Stumbling backwards, I felt onto the floor and gasped for breath. I was ripped from my memory and returned into the present word. Severus stood before me, his face redden deeply; mine did the same and tears seeped from my eyes. A child should not have seen that memory. Inaudibly, I stuttered a response and clung to my desk to help me right myself. "Severus, please. You must understand some memories should be kept private." I could not predict what he would do. Cautiously, I remained behind my desk, fearful of receiving an irreversible jinx or curse from the aghast student.

The child opened his mouth to speak, but a loud and persistent knocking startled us both into silence. "MAVEN!" A baritone I never wanted to hear again boomed from the other side of the door and Severus came to hide behind my desk with me.

"When that door opens, I want you to run as swiftly as you can back to your dormitory. Don't you dare turn back, whatever happens; okay?" Hastily, I whispered to Severus and he nodded in panic. All my attempts to stop Alduin from intruding would not work now that a student was present. My intention now was to keep the children away from the dark magic I meddled in and that meant allowing the enraged professor of Ancient Runes to win this battle. Severus waited next to the door as I prepared to open it. Just before admitting the tall man, I waved my wand over the child to make his disappear momentarily.

Once Alduin grabbed my throat and pinned me to the desk, I heard the distant pitter-patter of small feet escaping down the hallway. Inside, I smiled and let the door slam shut with a locking sound. "It's not that easy to get away from me." The Auror breathed into my ear and tore my wand from my grip.

"Take it, and anything else you want. I will die before I ever tell you my secrets." My voice wheezed through the choke hold on my throat.

"Where is the child you conceived with Grindelwald?" Alduin spat and held his wand next to my chest.

From the next room, Avenger descended upon and tore Alduin's shoulders with massive black talons. In a flash of green, the enormous owl fell to the wooden floor of my office. I screamed in terror and shoved aside the man who had just used the Killing Curse.

"No," I whispered as I gathered the corpse in my arms. Muffling my sobs and crying onto Avenger, I rocked the body back and forth like a mother with her child.

"Let's try this again, Maven. Where is your child?" Alduin's incessant growl was an empty threat to me now.

Lovingly, I shielded the owl's corpse from Alduin and began humming a lullaby.

Behind me, Alduin stopped his pacing and came over to where I knelt, cradling Avenger's corpse. Yanking my shoulder back, Alduin found what he had been searching for. "Merlin's Beard! It was the owl."

Disregarding the professor's astonishment, I continued rocking the dead owl that was slowly returning to its original form. Within minutes, my faithful owl was revealed to be my son whom I had disguised in order to protect him from the world. Carefully, I moved his dark hair away from his gaunt face and realized how identical my son and I appeared. My son looked nothing like Gellert, he looked like Tom, and that pained me greater than anything. Whispering gently, I hugged Avenger who I had concealed for thirty years. "Sleep now, my dear beloved child."

"How could you do that? Keep your only son transfigured as an owl for his whole life!" Alduin gaped at me and the dead body of a man in his prime.

"Do you honestly believe I did this because I wanted to?" I hissed and glared at the dark witch hunter. "My son wanted to see me happy, so he transfigured into an owl to protect me and allow me a second chance at life!" Screaming at Alduin, I remembered how selfless and loving my son was, because he gave up his life to be more of a man than his father. "Gellert never even knew about Gavin." I sighed and stroked the side of my son's face. Tenderly, I spoke to the corpse as if we were alone together. "That's what I named him, Gavin; but when he was a child he, like I had, discovered that he was a metamorphmagus. However, Gavin only ever transformed into Avenger, and only used his powers for good." My voice broke louder as I acknowledged Professor Alduin's presence. "Now, you know." Gently, I hugged my guidance and conscience before resigning myself to the worst of Alduin's tortures. "Do whatever you will. I have nothing to lose anymore."

Easily, the man lifted me up by my hair and pressed me down against the dark wooden desk. "Ah, you see that is where you are mistaken again." Bearing down against my weary body, Alduin whispered in my ear. "You still have your brother."

I winced as my arm wrenched up toward my shoulders and Alduin leaned further onto me. An unpleasant groan escaped me, "Even if I wanted to, I couldn't find Voldemort."

With his other hand, Alduin moved my dark hair and traced the side of my face with his slender fingers. "Fear not, I am well equipped with a plan of my own. All I require from you is complete obedience. Will you help me find Voldemort?"

Lifelessly, I nodded.

"Say it."

"I will help you find Voldemort." My voice emptily croaked and Alduin turned me over to face him. Upon having my arm released, I realized the Auror tricked me into making an Unbreakable Vow. "What have you done?" I asked in shock.

"I have just taken precautions; if you do not keep your word, you shall die." The man straightened up and smiled slyly. "Now, you have no choice, but to obey me."