Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction ❯ Reassignment: Project Amshas ❯ The Hunter and the Hunted ( Chapter 3 )

Reassignment Project Amshas

 

By Amerise M. A. Rei

 

Chapter 2: The Hunter and the Hunted

 

Diagon Alley

May 29: 6th day of Hunt

 

I've finally pin-pointed the patterns of the ghost culprit and narrowed its activities down and came up with these conclusions:

The ghost only comes out at night and doesn't just prey on one victim, but a handful at a time

No patterns found regarding what days or times

It preys mainly on flashy tourist - all recent “attacks” reiterated by store clerks where the occurrences happen

It attacks in crowded areas as if to go unnoticed but never on regular patrons or well known locals of the stores - how peculiar

 

I'm bound to get to the bottom of this, seeing as I have only 1 more day to accomplish this task. I must come face to face with it immediately!

- Percival I. Weasley

 

Percy rolled his parchment and tucked his quills within its center before reciting a quiet spell and minimizing both writing implements to the size of matches and placing them within in his spectacle case.

 

`Sigh It's been a few days since its last sighting. It's bound to turn up soon…hopefully.'

 

Percy got up from his table at the Leaky Cauldron and started to head in the direction of Nocturne Alley.

 

“Though there were some incidents in Diagon alley the majority of them happened here.” Percy thought to himself.

 

Wandering aimlessly between the good and the bad side of town, morning turned to afternoon and afternoon - not too long after - turned to evening.

 

Still no sign of the perpetrator.

 

On the verge of giving up, Percy walked pass the Dark Arts Shop, Borgin & Burkes, and heard a frantic yell as a frightened tourist in a bright rainbow colored robe fled from the store in a hurry, not willing to stop for no one and just about ready to plow down anyone who would bother to try.

 

Percy quickly whipped out his wand and would-be fleeing wizard was then running at the exact same spot before him, just a little under a meter off the ground.

 

“Sir, whatever is the matter?” Percy asked cordially seeing as his persistent interviewee was still running in the exact same spot, but didn't quite notice that he wasn't going anywhere.

 

“Get me away from here!” he shrieked in a thick Scandinavian accent. “This place is haunted and I'm not staying to be assaulted again!”

 

With that, the foreigner blinked emphatically and `popped' out of Percy's hold.

“…Well…there goes our tourism from Iceland.” Percy frowned and looked around at the barren alley. `And just when I thought I had a lead! If only-' “OW!”

 

Too shocked to really know what had just happened, he turned around swiftly to find nothing but this air before him. Suddenly, Percy looked closely at the path in front of him and thought he saw a glimpse of shoes ahead of him before it disappeared again.

 

“Last I heard, ghost did not have feet, let alone scurry away in such a manner.” He took his eyes off the creature for just a second, but that was all that it needed to disappear completely. `I think I have an idea what's going on.'

 

 

 

 

Percy looked in the mirror and found in his reflection a very loudly dressed individual of not red hair but long, blonde hair. He didn't know whether to be disgusted by the getup's tie-dye spirals - that actually spun in a dizzying manner - or be amused to no end.

 

`Well, at least I was able to put this into good use. It wasn't a total loss to raid father's closet, after all.' Percy thought with a slight chuckle.

 

“I sure do hope no one recognizes me.” He stated in resignation as he added the finishing touches to his hair and pulled it back into a low ponytail at the nape of his neck, slicking it back so that no extra strands of hair fell out of place.

 

Percy's thoughts kept on coming back to him and he kept on recalling his “encounter” with the poltergeist:

 

* Stomp Stomp Stomp *

 

`Ghost aren't able to manifest in the physical world unless they are like Peeves, a chaos spirit or demon but it still makes me wonder…'

 

“OW!” Percy cried at the sharp pain he felt suddenly shoot from his cranium.

 

`It ran away after it took my hair. There are many things that hair could be used for but why would a ghost need it? What would it use it for? It doesn't make sense…that is unless…'

 

`Well, if my hypothesis is correct, I'll have this problem solved sooner than I thought.' He though with a grin and headed out from his quarters.

 

As soon as Percy headed out the Leaky Cauldron, he noticed that people in the crown were anything but discreet about staring at his…unusual choice of robes.

 

`I know I'm sort of asking for their attention with this nauseating robe but-' “Do have a little more decency and decorum than to stare and gawk at me like I can't see you!” Percy completed his thought in an outright shout at all the on-lookers, startling them and embarrassing them as they jumped out of their stupor and busily tried to resume what they were previously doing.

 

Seeing that everyone started to avert their eyes as well as blatantly ignore him as he walked by, Percy strutted through the street with his head a little higher and a cheeky grin on upon his lips.

 

Long gone were the days of being the meek `Perfect Prefect” but not without his own struggles. Working in such a competitive field with such conniving characters, one has to grow a back bone…or at least put up a front that he wasn't completely made of jelly. Granted, he one day would like to stand up to a certain person within the Ministry whose name begins with a “M”…and ends with an “alfoy”, for this complete disregard for his potential, but he and many others will just stepping be stones to achieve his own goals. One day…but for now, he can feel like a king!

 

Percy continued to walk down the street and tried to ignore those that were still persistent with the staring and obvious head turning, but he continued to hold his mission clear in his mind.

 

`I've got to send out something to the Minister before the end of the night. I can not go to him empty handed!'

 

Just as that thought came to his mind, he rounded a street corner and saw in the limits of his peripheral vision, what looked like a tall red-headed figure.

 

“Bullocks, I can't let George or Fred see me in this! I'll never live it down!...Or is that them…? No. That person is too tall to be either of them.” Percy deduce as he got a closer look at the figure and followed him at a safe distance. “That could neither be Bill or Charlie as Bill is on a mission in Albania after his transfer and Charlie is too busy with Wedding preparations. It's not Ginevra unless she cut her hair…and changed her sex and Ron would never set foot in this side of the Alley unless he bumbled into the wrong fireplace…who could that be?”

 

Just then, the red head turned to look over his should as if paranoid and scanned the periphery for anyone that might catch sight of him. Luckily, Percy ducked in a dark corner before his loud ensemble caught the mystery person's attention. As he peer around the corner, he had to bite his tongue to practically stifle a gasp as he saw his very own face looking back in his general direction!

 

The Percy look-alike rounded another dark corner before Percy felt it was safe to follow his quote-unquote shadow.

 

Another loud shriek echoed from the alley the clone entered and Percy ran off in a sprint after them. All the way down the other end of the alley, he saw two shadowy figures disappear behind a dark bend.

 

“This is highly arbitrary to my hypothesis! It's not night yet but I have a feeling I'm not going to like what my carbon copy is planning on doing!”

 

Halfway down the dark alley, the shrieking stopped and all went silent.

 

`No!' Percy ran as fast as he could muster his heart beat as loud as his hollow stomping.

 

Closing in upon two shadowy figures, Percy's doppelganger was holding a knife in its hands and raised it high with intentions to bring it down swiftly.

 

“Stop this, this instant!” Percy shouted before his double could do any harm that he, himself, could not take back.

 

The faux Percy looked at him briefly before his eyes went wide and the dagger fell with a loud clatter to the ground. He suddenly slumped to his knees.

 

“What is the meaning of this?”

 

The other Percy looked at the towering figure before him in both fear and awe as all he could see was a silhouette and the sun's light beaming against the figure's back. Though the indistinguishable figure seemed to be wearing something totally out of place, it was the booming authoritative voice as well as the platinum blonde hair that caught the fallen man's attention.

 

“F-father…? How did you find me?” He asked weakly squinting as the sun's rays were blinding him

 

“Don't-don't do anything you'll regret.” Percy stated carefully, slowly, while puzzling over why he was called “Father”.

 

Percy's replica looked down at his hands, almost in disgust or defeat but when he looked up, his clear blue eyes looked back at him with emptiness before his features distorted to a disgusted sneer.

 

“`…regret'. Just like being a failure of a son.” Percy's double spat before the nothingness and something almost fragile over took his features.

 

Suddenly, he darted for the dagger before him, but not before Percy reached for his wand.

 

“Expelliarmus!”

 

His double flew back into the wall behind him and lay unconscious next to his would-be victim.

 

*Sigh* “What a day. Now what?” Percy asked no one in particular as he nudged the person with his very likeness using the tip of his black shoe toe for movement. No avail.

 

 

 

 

Percy apparated his doppelganger to his room and laid the figure on his mattress to rest as he took care that the unsuspecting tourist got the medical help he needed…and rightly obliviated.

Percy sat at his desk writing a report of events that transpired since his last entry and waited for his guest to awaken.

 

May 30, Day 7

Last Entry

Since my 1st entry, I've not only located the spirit but was also a victim myself. I devised a play to disguise myself as a tourist and lay myself at its mercy. To my credit, I lured it to my trap and capture the pol-

 

“Is that a work of fiction because I don't remember any of that happening?” A voice startled Percy enough to make him draw a line up the middle of his entry and right though the paper!

 

Percy turned at the familiar voice and was started yet again, this time, to the point of falling off his chair and shrieking in a high pitched tone as he looked at the person before him with his own face - he forgot about that very minute detail in such a short time.

 

“Would you please, stop startling me?!”

 

“If I don't recall, you did it first by dressing like my father…with ridiculously outrageous taste - god, that robe was so loud, I almost got deaf looking at you and good God, you're still wearing it!”

 

Percy took a quick glance at himself and realized that he was indeed still wearing his father's, “woman inveigle” robe of his younger years and forgot to take it off in all the commotion. That's why they were staring at me the whole time! Percy quickly snapped his attention to the person before - whom had a very annoying smirk at this moment - and brusquely disengaged himself from the horrifically bright thing. Not enough `mojo' to wear such hip clothes, I guess. With that, he threw the robe in the fireplace like it was the carrier of the “plague” and watched as it lit up like a sparkler and the dizzying swirl slowed down before it turned different shades of grey and flames consumed it.

 

“Like it or not, that robe suites your personality.”

 

“Wha-What-Who are you?!” `mother had better not have kept the fact of my being a twin a secret until this moment, otherwise her and father would have some - no, no - Lots of explaining to do!' Percy said and thought exasperated, pointing an accusing finger to his `twin' as he-it-whatever looked at the grandfather clocked in the shabby room with a bored and nonchalant expression, answering, “It seems you'll find out soon enough.”

 

“Now, I don't have time for your rid-” Percy started heatedly but stopped short as the person before him started to change with each tolling of the clock.

 

Percy gaped in confusion and astonishment as his clone's short red, curly hair turned to platinum - similar to that of his wig - and grew a few inches longer. His facial features that still had a boyish charm to it, transformed to a more angular, aristocratic look and the final transformational difference was from the bluish/hazel eyes to deep blue with grey flecks.

 

* Gasp! * “Draco Malfoy?!”

 

 

 

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Thanks for reading. I'm cutting it short here and I'll have the next chapter up by the next week. Promise, scout's honor :P I hope you like it so far but the first few chapters are going to be a little slow because I'm just setting up the plot. There will definitely be more interaction with other characters coming up but if you have any questions about what's going on or comments, feel free to contact me. I'll have more details about what's to come in the next chapter's author's note. Thanks for reading.

~ Amerise M. A. Rei