Fan Fiction ❯ The Year of the Phoenix ❯ Enter Shadowmyre ( Chapter 1 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

The leaves were showing signs of changing. Usually change is looked upon among the Shadine as a necessary occurance, and sometimes is even favoured. In the case of Deanne Ember, though, this change brought nothing favourable. It represented an entire summer of wasted efforts. For months the Second Round Table had been conducting its assignments, each mission strengthening the functionality of the group as a whole. Still, the numbers were inadequate for the greater task. Deanne knew that Telarius must have intended for recruitment to occur at some point, but gave her no criterion. Most likely it was something else he had planned on telling her but never got the chance. Albeit the Shadine as they were functioned like a single unit, and that should have been something to be proud of. An accomplishment, given their backgrounds and differing viewpoints and tactics. But the truth was, they were no closer to finding out where Telarius was being held than they were after his execution date. For all her ability, Cordelia lacked the graceful stealth required to acquire the information easily. Meriam could not readily coax such information out of people without arousing their suspicions, which usually neutralized her efforts. If Telarius had not made himself out to be so "evil" during his trial... but he did. He was still capable of mistakes, and this was definitely one of his. Whatever his intention for the trial, he had to have somehow botched it.

And that was another problem. Deanne had witnessed his actions in the trial first hand, but understood none of them. The amount of half-truths and out-and-out lies he spoke of could have filled the core of the planet. His dipiction of the final confrontation was especially embellished, as it did not include the individual who turned the tide.

The title granted to him was Warmaster, though he admitted to be a lesser tactician than Telarius. She could remember as if it happened a minute hence. Their forces were losing badly with the arrival of Voldemort's subterrainian back-up. Telarius had initiated an old eastern strategy against the massive army before him, instructing all the troops to quickly fall back. As the enemies pursued, the fastest of them took the lead, followed by slower enemies and so forth. After they had sufficiently staggered, the forces on Telarius' side would engage the solitary enemy, dispatch them, and then retreat once more.

It was a strategy meant to buy time. Time for Deanne herself to have recovered enough energy to power the Infernus spell. And then...

Her flashback was quickly interrupted by the halting of her carriage. Exhaling a deep sigh, she paid the driver, including a handsome tip to encourage him to forget this location. It was a small shack, barely a thatched roof cottage to be honest. She did not enjoy the burden of command. After but a few months of it, she already understood more about Telarius' troubles during those days. But less enjoyable than the burden of command was attempting to deal with this... this Warmaster.

This man knew Telarius better than anyone. Telarius was Deanne's lover, and yet this man somehow knew more about him. Which buttons made him mad, which combonation of words convinced him that something was true, what phrase would make him giggle... it was as if they shared a psychic link. Not surprising, because they did. This man was one of three, with Telarius being another, and the third as of yet unseen by their forces. The three seemed to be designed to accomplish most any task together. Whatever weaknesses one possessed, the others made up for. Between the three of them there was perfect balance.

Or so Deanne had been told. Having never met the third, and only briefly the second, who was to say? What she had seen of the second was more than enough, though. She both consciously and subconciously feared him. He did not present any actual threat to her well being, nor to any cause she might fight for.

Without so much as time to finish her train of thought, he appeared. Deanne focused her eyes for a moment, attempting to discern where he came from. She had heard no tell-tale sound of apparation, and yet he was there, sitting on a stump and examining his fingernails with seemingly great interest. She examined him carefully, finally noting a bit of straw on his shoe consistent with the roof of his shack. He came from the other side of the roof, then.

No, she was not looking forward to this at all. "Warmaster," she addressed him by title, as that seemed safest.

A gleam of unusual brightness came over his face, as he turned it and tilted his head, establishing eye contact. "Milady, you needn't use titles with me. In fact, I'd prefer you wouldn't. Need I remind you of who I am once more? I am the reflection of shadow in the still waters of the pond. Please address me as such," it was still difficult to get used to that voice.

"Very well, Shadowmyre," Deanne responded, "Have you had an opportunity to look over the transcript from the trial?"

Shadowmyre brought himself to his feet in a smooth, simple motion, as if he were a liquid pouring into a human container feet first. "I have indeed looked over the liberated transcript many times. I'm afraid you will be displeased with my response."

That made her a bit more comfortable. He did acknowledge her authority at least. "Let's have it. I'm used to bad news by now."

"Frankly, I don't have a clue."

Not the response she was expecting to be displeased with. "What do you mean?"

He smiled. "Simply put, if he truly was capable of hyper-cognition, then there is no way I can make heads or tails of what he was attempting to do here. For all we know, he could have succeeded. In fact, it seems rather unlikely that he did not anticipate events falling into place as they have," there was a flatness to his tone now, which reminded her vaguely of Telarius.

She pushed that association out of her mind quickly. "So you're saying that he intended to be executed? That doesn't make any sense."

"Or does it?"

There was a pause in the conversation. Deanne waited an explanation from Shadowmyre, but none came. Finally, she spoke once more: "Any information about the whereabouts of Xorlempt?"

At this he actually sighed. "None."

"Okay..."

Another pause.

"Was there something else?" Shadowmyre asked, as if to imply that he had other matters to attend to when the meeting concluded.

"Yes. You're going to need to enroll in Hogwarts. I've brought all the necessary forms," Deanne produced several sheets of paper, most of the proficiency exams.

To this, Shadowmyre simply arched an eyebrow. "Would it not make more sense to keep me on the outside?"

Deanne was prepared for this question, and she thanked herself appropriately for it. "No, and for one good reason. The new Headmistress."

Shadowmyre leafed through his forms until he found one that had this new name on it. His eyes widened a bit. "Dolores Umbridge? Fudge's undersecretary?"

"The way I see it, they want to keep a close eye on everyone who was at one point close to Telarius."

"How shrewd of them."

"Now, as of yet you are still an unknown. The form you have taken in the Wizarding world could easily pass for that of a fourth year. If you can transfer in as one, of course."

"And so you believe I will be immune to the watchful eye of the inquisitor?"

"At least for a little while, yeah."

Shadowmyre gave no vocal response to this, and instead leafed through some more of the papers, stopping about three pages in and blinking a few times. "Hey, isn't that...?"

Deanne nodded, grimly. "I assume you're referring to the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for this year."

"Of course I am. Hetmo Fenrir. The same person that, by our intelligence, has been put in charge of Telarius' interrogation."

"Interrogation," Deanne scoffed, "More like psychological torture I'd wager," she attempted to hide most of the concern in her voice. It was a difficult task.

Shadowmyre nodded in concurrance, then seemed lost in thought. After at time, he spoke. "It is a good decision, made in sound judgement. Were I in charge, I would advise it. My personal qualms with it, whatever they may be, must therefore be set aside to benefit the whole," he seemed far more accomodating than Deanne had thought he would be, "I would inquire, however, as to the source of funding for this endeavor. I would also wish to know the role you want me to play. I could easily side myself with the opposing forces, thus giving us an inside ear."

"Meriam will clear the funds for your use. As for your planned infiltration..." Deanne shook her head, "Telarius did the same thing, and look where it got him."

"I'll be honest about this, madamoiselle. Telarius is not as accomplished in the arts of subterfuge as he thinks he is. He also is entirely too trusting and does not analyze every situation as much as he should. Where he would fail, I will succeed, but it will require an almost complete assumption of the role. If they tell me to take you to a lower chamber and torture you in their sight, I will have to do it..." he paused, "Mind you, I so very much like living, and thus would cease the charade before that happened. Telarius is many things, but he's not a weakling. In straight combat I could take him, but he and I have never fully dueled. I am of the opinion that we would annihilate each other."

"Why is that?"

Shadowmyre turned and walked toward his cabin, not saying a word. She expected him to call a response back, or at least a farewell, but nothing was said as he closed the door. "Train leaves in three days. Platform 9 3/4. Make sure you get your books before it leaves and, more importantly, that you're on it," there was no response to this, so she assumed that he heard it and began her journey to London.

* * *

Diagon Alley sure had changed since the last time Deanne passed through it. When before there was one united population of wizards with an undertone of corruption, there was now a united population of corruption with an undertone of despair and rebellion. It was what she had expected to see, though. The missions undertaken by the forces of the Second Round Table reflected this societal change quite well. All of the really high paying missions involved removing someone from power, that another might take the vacant position, or other such political manuvering, backstabbing, sabotage, and blackmail. In a society where the people in power no longer concern themselves with the masses any more than to count their numbers like coins in a sack, this desparity could be expected.

This knowledge did not make Deanne any more comfortable walking through the streets, acquiring school supplies. Every Ministry employee from the secretaries to the aurors to the black-balling beaurocrats themselves recognized Deanne. Each one of them knew that she was in charge of the shadow organization known as the Second Round Table, but no formal charge had been pressed. Some feared retaliation, and why shouldn't they? The Second Round Table was the closest thing the wizarding world had to a Section 8. Adding to that was a rumour spread on Deanne's authority by Meriam that Telarius body-swapped with a look-alike and was now stalking anyone who harmed his former comrades, annihilating their spirits with the Harmonis spell. Others were benefitting from the services provided by their squad, and thus were not as interested in getting rid of them or publicly exposing them.

Mostly, though, they just did not have enough evidence. Between Meriam's social skills, Cordelia's ability to alter short term memory (and, scarily enough, sometimes long term), and Shadowmyre's stealth capabilities, their squad might as well not exist in terms of evidence against them is concerned. Deanne was decently certain that, between the three of them, they could do everything short of assassinating the Minister of Magic without legal reprocussion or a trace of their presence left behind. She knew that she was likely exaggerating in her own mind, but the more she thought of it, the fewer tasks seemed impossible between those three. Mind, body, and spirit in harmony.

Hence the reason for her discomfort. It was not the many pairs of eyes focused on her at any given point, and it was not any kind of fear of reprocussion from one of the targets of the group she led. It was the fact that this scene reminded her that she led the most feared mercenary squad in the wizarding world, and yet in every mission she was relegated to merely an advisory role. Anything that could be accomplished could be accomplished better by anyone in the team but her. Her skills lent themselves more toward open combat than stealth and precision; yet every mission required more of the latter than the former. The only time open combat would be required for their missions would be in the case of a botch.

In all of their missions, the Second Round Table had never botched.

And so she was uncomfortable because the eyes on her reminded her of her role, a role that seemed largely useless, save for the fact that she was delegated leadership by their former commander. In times like this, she found herself wondering if this was the reason Telarius made her leader. She wondered if he did it so she would not feel so useless in the time ahead. This time was no exception, and like all other times, she felt a brief pinch of anger toward her lover, quickly cooled by a blind acceptance that only love could provide. Telarius had a reason for assigning her to leadership, and that reason was likely beyond her comprehension. He was capable of confusing himself, so it was easy to believe that his hyper-cognitive thought process was beyond her level of comprehension. But this, too, frustrated her. She could not help but feel like a tool being directed by him, even though she knew that was not his intention. If only she could actually be useful to the group on a single mission. Just one. But she wasn't even necessary for coordination, as Cordelia was more than capable of accomplishing that at the speed of thought itself. All she did was give the go-ahead order.

"Something vexes thee?"

The voice from behind her caused an involuntary leap. She hadn't realized until this leap just how tense she was holding herself. There were finger imprints on her newly-purchased books, and she barely kept her balance after being startled, as her knees did not wish to bend to support her. She loosened a bit, then shook her head at Shadowmyre. "It was nothing. Just thinking too much, that's all," her response might have been too quick out of the box, but hopefully he wouldn't catch on.

If he did, he left it be. "Thinking too much is always dangerous, madamoiselle," he smirked a bit "Look at Telarius. Perfect example of a man who thought too much."

Deanne chuckled a bit, but that comment still ran some icicles through her heart. She missed him, after all. "Have you got everything?" she asked, her tone quasi-sarcastic as he gazed in awe at the mountain of books in his cauldron.

"I was never a fan of the academic pursuit of anything spiritual," he replied, "But if my infiltration is to be successful, it would be in my best interests to be a 'good student'. That will get me noticed and closer to the faculty."

Deanne nodded. It was a good idea, but she saw no purpose in telling him thus. She took the time spent in silence to observe Shadowmyre. So rarely was he out in open light that she never was capable of appraising his appearance in his child form. He was quite short, topping off at four feet even, even though their child form ages were comparable. His hair was thin, beautifully straight, and so blonde it might as well have been white. His eyes reflected the second half of his namesake, as the irises could be used as mirrors, were it not for their size. She had often talked with him about his eyes in child form, and he told her that there was a reason he chose to kill his quarries in shadow if he was assigned to assassinate, and that he generally saught shadow as opposed to light. He wished to give his victims the courtesy and honor of knowing they would die. A gift to the brave, he called it. However, if this occurred in a brightly lit area, they would see their own death through his eyes. They would see themselves before they died, and that would induce cowardice and fear in pretty much anyone. In Shadowmyre's mind, it was morally wrong for him to rob his victims of a death with pride and dignity.

All that thinking about death made Deanne uncomfortable again, so she chose to break the silence. Shadowmyre beat her to the punch, though: "Mind if we take a moment to sit down for some tea?" he asked, "I've been walking around the better part of the day, and my legs could use a rest."

It was rare to hear Shadowmyre request rest, so she followed him into a secluded diner where he ordered two cups of Darjeeling for them. After the tea arrived and they were mostly alone, he took a sip and spoke again, his eyes focused on the tea and his lips still touching the cup. "What you told me about the instructor and Headmistress intrigued me, so I investigated the matter further to see if any other faculty members had been replaced."

Instantly she understood why he asked to sit for tea. It was not because his legs were sore at all, but because the atmosphere of the diner coupled with the tea could make it seem like they were enjoying their drinks instead of discussing important matters worthy of eavesdrop. She mimicked his motion for her reply as he set his tea cup down. "Isn't intelligence gathering more the realm of Meriam and Cordelia?"

She set her tea cup down. The form was now known and understood by the both of them. They would sip their tea when they wished to speak, setting it down when their peice was said. "Of course," Shadowmyre sipped his tea, "That's why I tapped them for it."

Deanne felt the pangs of irritation, but kept to the form. An outburst would only create a scene, and she had the good form and control to avoid it. "You should not have done that. You went over my head," she sipped her tea loudly to indicate that this would have normally been a shout, then set her tea cup down with enough force to make it clink ever so slightly, indicating that this would normally have been a reprimand.

Shadowmyre picked up his tea cup with two hands and bowed his head forward to sip, a gesture of apology. "Nevertheless it has been done. I will be certain to pass such things through you in the future. Are you interested in what I found?"

"Of course."

"It wasn't just the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher that got canned. Virtually none of the old crew is left. The Arithmancy teacher is now a fellow by the name of Thomas Lichen, who was completely unknown before Telarius' trial. It seems that the field of Arithmancy has changed substantially from Telarius' insights on Weaving, such that this Lichen fellow has blossomed onto the world stage."

"Why? What is so special about him?"

"He's a theoretical mathematician."

"Wow. Boh-ring."

"Tell me about it, but apparently he's published a book or two on the subject after the trascript from Telarius' trial was 'leaked' to the press."

Deanne was forced to supress a giggle at that comment. "So he's good at what he does, but never got acknowledged before because people thought his knowledge was useless to wizards."

"Exactly."

"How does he stand politically?"

"Unknown. He's apparently one of the best in the field of theoretical mathematics, so he's likely to be rather old. That tends to lean people in the conservative/fundamentalist direction, so I'd venture to say he's on their side. Why else would they hire him?"

"Point. What else?"

"Helena Umbridge."

"Delores' daughter? She's a twit!"

"Yes, but she's got considerable political clout due to her mother's status in the Ministry. She used that to get herself into the job, as it is a high paying gig. Also, it's another person on the Ministry's side at Hogwarts."

"Our list of allies is becoming an ashen list of former allies conveniently burned out of the proper location. Whose job is she taking?"

"McGonnagal's."

"Well, there goes all hope I ever had for getting better at Transfiguration. Pity, I was starting to enjoy it. Any more?"

"Unfortunately yes. They completely eliminated Trelawney's position..."

"That class was a joke anyway."

"The complete mystery is Hagrid's replacement."

"Hagrid has been replaced? What about Parry and Riposte? Who will take care of them?"

"Parry and Riposte left before Hagrid did. I spoke with him, and he said that they just seemed to know that something was up."

"Not surprising. All familiars share a special kind of primal bond with their masters. It's possible that being bonded to Telarius has made them more intelligent than normal animals of their type. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if they started talking one of these days."

"If that happens, then I will kill myself on general principle."

Deanne actually laughed at that. Shadowmyre smiled. They both set their tea down, indicating that the conversation was finished. "Let's go now," Deanne said in a normal voice, "We don't want to miss that train."