Categories > Books > Harry Potter > Tender Beast
"You might have tricked a devastated squib, but DON'T THINK I AM AN IDIOT!" Draco was creaming at top of his lungs at Auror #28's office. "I am telling you, in front of my eyes, only five hours ago, a girl was kidnapped by Demian Ekrizdis. I can find them, and YOU CAN'T LIFT YOUR ASS FROM CHAIR! STAND UP, AND LET'S GO FIND THEM!"
"Mr. Malfoy, we are doing everything we can. We are ready to start negotiations. All we are waiting for is the Minister's permission."
"What kind of negotiations are you talking about?! I am telling you, that one psycho stopped the whole Hogwarts Express and stole a girl in front of my eyes. So what's the plan? You believe you make him ashamed, and he will bring her back?! Are you FUCKIN INSANE?!"
"Leave my office now! I will not allow some-"
"Watch it! Think again till you say the next words!" Draco's finger pointed at Auror's nose. "First, I'm gonna return Elvein; then I will make sure you curse the day you stepped foot in the Ministry!"
Malfoy tore the door open and burst into the corridor with such an insane face that everyone stepped aside.
"Where the HELL is Potter?!"
...
The young man sat in the resident Auror's room, when in the most unexpected place at the most unexpected time, he recalled a moment from the battle of Hogwarts:
In the requirement room, a very pale and very, very skinny girl approached him. She was insisting on Harry visiting Snape.
"Listen, you don't want to murder Snape more than I do, but right now, I don't have time for this. I have Dumbledore's mission to complete."
"Not to kill him. Talk to him!"
"Are you kidding me?"
"There is no time for jokes! Listen, Harry; Snape was Dumbledore's most trusted man. Go, talk to him. Trust me, Everything is not as it looks. You see..."
"Listen, I can't remember who you are, but you must be nuts to give me such advice. Leave me alone. I have no time for this nonsense. Out of my way!"
He sat there, thinking. What would have happened if he had taken her advice? Would Lupin still have died? What about Fred? Tonx? Colin? Or maybe, he would not have had the courage to destroy the last Horcruxes? He was consumed with those thoughts when bloodied Malfoy burst into the room with the face of a mad man.
"Potter! He took her! Elvein Tempels, our classmate, was kidnapped from Hogwarts Express. The case was given to some bastard Auror #28, who wants to trick me into leaving him alone with some absurd negotiations. The Ministry does not want to act cause it's Demian Ekrizdis who took her."
Harry's blank expression unmistakably told Draco that he did not understand half of what he said.
"Potter, you are one step away from being Auror and still have no idea who Demian Ekrizdis is?! Ekrizdis- Dementor's creator. Move your brains, Potter! His Great Grandson stole my Elvein!"
Finally, Harry realized what he was screaming at him.
"Woah, Woah! Calm down a Little. Sit down."
"Tell me one more time to calm down, and I will add a second scar on your forehead for pure symmetry!"
"Sit down! Let me think!"
Draco realized that he was threatening his only chance of Elvein's active search, so he shut up and sat down.
"Elfy? What for?"
"Because, Potter, Ekrizdis strongly believes that romance is long gone in the past, and the best way to make a girl fall in love with you, is branding and kidnapping her!" He took a deep breath and added: "He is obsessed with her, addicted to her! While she loves ME! So he kidnapped her."
"Listen. Stay here. I'll go, ask around." Said Harry and left the room.
He came back only after half an hour. Malfoy was dashing on walls like a trapped wild beast.
"Malfoy, let's go. Minister Shecklebot will receive us and will explain everything."
Draco was first to tear into the corridor, only to realize he had no idea where the Minister's office was.
"Please, hold yourself together. Less you scream, the faster we will understand what the hell is going on." He grabbed Draco's shoulders, turning and pushing him in the right direction.
...
Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt was nervously pacing his office. Seeing Harry and Draco, not even offering a seat, he started:
"Listen carefully, both of you. What would be said here, must not leave these walls? Do you understand?" Strictly eyeballing them, he continued only after receiving silent nods. "Demian Ekrizdis is not someone, the Ministry of Magic can afford a war with. We are still running after especially skilled death eaters, and more than half of Aurors were killed in the war. We are still too weak, while Ekrizdis is one of the most powerful wizards of our time. After the war, he came here. And do you know what we have told him? - Thank you! For not fighting alongside Voldemort. He asked for Dementors, and we gave them to him—every single one, from first to last one. If you can recall, Dementors were banished from Azkaban. He is the one who can handle them. He is the one controlling them. It's thanks to HIM; no one has seen a single Dementor for almost a year. And do you know why? He has them trapped. All of them! Tied like rabid dogs!"
"That bastard kidnapped my Elvein!"
"Mr. Malfoy! I am well aware of Miss Tempels' situation from the beginning. I also am sure that he will not harm her physically." Last words were said quietly, even with shame.
"Has everyone here gone mad?! Is this some kind of collective marasmus? He would not kill her, so let him torture her?!"
"Keep your voice down! You are forgetting yourself!" Kingsly's bass thundered in the office. "Now, listen. The Ministry can't fight with Ekrizdis, but we are not responsible for two adult wizards who are trying to save their classmate." He gave both of them significant glares, and Draco and Harry nodded.
"In that case, those two wizards might want to be ready for EVERYTHING. Dementors will be the least of your problems. He is a mighty wizard—the only one in the world who can use magic with the same effectiveness with and without a wand. So don't even think of "expelliarmus" Harry. Be aware of both of his hands. He flies as Voldemort, and his head works even better. Not to mention that his castle is impossible to detect."
"I will take care of that. I can find Elvein even under Fidelius' charm." Draco said.
Kingsly eyed him with a curious glare. Then he shook his head and sat at his desk, placing his face between his palms.
x"Do you realize that I'm sending you to death? Even a fool can see that this is a trap. Don't you think he could have whipped your memory with ease? Even Dumbledore would have struggled against him!"
"I will die for her." Draco's voice left no place for an argument.
Harry sighed audibly, then shrugged with a half-smile:
"Would not be my first death mission."
"Hope you have not forgotten how to fly, Potter. I will know the direction but will have no idea about the distance. So, we are leaving. We will talk about details on our way."
"Mr. Malfoy, we are doing everything we can. We are ready to start negotiations. All we are waiting for is the Minister's permission."
"What kind of negotiations are you talking about?! I am telling you, that one psycho stopped the whole Hogwarts Express and stole a girl in front of my eyes. So what's the plan? You believe you make him ashamed, and he will bring her back?! Are you FUCKIN INSANE?!"
"Leave my office now! I will not allow some-"
"Watch it! Think again till you say the next words!" Draco's finger pointed at Auror's nose. "First, I'm gonna return Elvein; then I will make sure you curse the day you stepped foot in the Ministry!"
Malfoy tore the door open and burst into the corridor with such an insane face that everyone stepped aside.
"Where the HELL is Potter?!"
...
The young man sat in the resident Auror's room, when in the most unexpected place at the most unexpected time, he recalled a moment from the battle of Hogwarts:
In the requirement room, a very pale and very, very skinny girl approached him. She was insisting on Harry visiting Snape.
"Listen, you don't want to murder Snape more than I do, but right now, I don't have time for this. I have Dumbledore's mission to complete."
"Not to kill him. Talk to him!"
"Are you kidding me?"
"There is no time for jokes! Listen, Harry; Snape was Dumbledore's most trusted man. Go, talk to him. Trust me, Everything is not as it looks. You see..."
"Listen, I can't remember who you are, but you must be nuts to give me such advice. Leave me alone. I have no time for this nonsense. Out of my way!"
He sat there, thinking. What would have happened if he had taken her advice? Would Lupin still have died? What about Fred? Tonx? Colin? Or maybe, he would not have had the courage to destroy the last Horcruxes? He was consumed with those thoughts when bloodied Malfoy burst into the room with the face of a mad man.
"Potter! He took her! Elvein Tempels, our classmate, was kidnapped from Hogwarts Express. The case was given to some bastard Auror #28, who wants to trick me into leaving him alone with some absurd negotiations. The Ministry does not want to act cause it's Demian Ekrizdis who took her."
Harry's blank expression unmistakably told Draco that he did not understand half of what he said.
"Potter, you are one step away from being Auror and still have no idea who Demian Ekrizdis is?! Ekrizdis- Dementor's creator. Move your brains, Potter! His Great Grandson stole my Elvein!"
Finally, Harry realized what he was screaming at him.
"Woah, Woah! Calm down a Little. Sit down."
"Tell me one more time to calm down, and I will add a second scar on your forehead for pure symmetry!"
"Sit down! Let me think!"
Draco realized that he was threatening his only chance of Elvein's active search, so he shut up and sat down.
"Elfy? What for?"
"Because, Potter, Ekrizdis strongly believes that romance is long gone in the past, and the best way to make a girl fall in love with you, is branding and kidnapping her!" He took a deep breath and added: "He is obsessed with her, addicted to her! While she loves ME! So he kidnapped her."
"Listen. Stay here. I'll go, ask around." Said Harry and left the room.
He came back only after half an hour. Malfoy was dashing on walls like a trapped wild beast.
"Malfoy, let's go. Minister Shecklebot will receive us and will explain everything."
Draco was first to tear into the corridor, only to realize he had no idea where the Minister's office was.
"Please, hold yourself together. Less you scream, the faster we will understand what the hell is going on." He grabbed Draco's shoulders, turning and pushing him in the right direction.
...
Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt was nervously pacing his office. Seeing Harry and Draco, not even offering a seat, he started:
"Listen carefully, both of you. What would be said here, must not leave these walls? Do you understand?" Strictly eyeballing them, he continued only after receiving silent nods. "Demian Ekrizdis is not someone, the Ministry of Magic can afford a war with. We are still running after especially skilled death eaters, and more than half of Aurors were killed in the war. We are still too weak, while Ekrizdis is one of the most powerful wizards of our time. After the war, he came here. And do you know what we have told him? - Thank you! For not fighting alongside Voldemort. He asked for Dementors, and we gave them to him—every single one, from first to last one. If you can recall, Dementors were banished from Azkaban. He is the one who can handle them. He is the one controlling them. It's thanks to HIM; no one has seen a single Dementor for almost a year. And do you know why? He has them trapped. All of them! Tied like rabid dogs!"
"That bastard kidnapped my Elvein!"
"Mr. Malfoy! I am well aware of Miss Tempels' situation from the beginning. I also am sure that he will not harm her physically." Last words were said quietly, even with shame.
"Has everyone here gone mad?! Is this some kind of collective marasmus? He would not kill her, so let him torture her?!"
"Keep your voice down! You are forgetting yourself!" Kingsly's bass thundered in the office. "Now, listen. The Ministry can't fight with Ekrizdis, but we are not responsible for two adult wizards who are trying to save their classmate." He gave both of them significant glares, and Draco and Harry nodded.
"In that case, those two wizards might want to be ready for EVERYTHING. Dementors will be the least of your problems. He is a mighty wizard—the only one in the world who can use magic with the same effectiveness with and without a wand. So don't even think of "expelliarmus" Harry. Be aware of both of his hands. He flies as Voldemort, and his head works even better. Not to mention that his castle is impossible to detect."
"I will take care of that. I can find Elvein even under Fidelius' charm." Draco said.
Kingsly eyed him with a curious glare. Then he shook his head and sat at his desk, placing his face between his palms.
x"Do you realize that I'm sending you to death? Even a fool can see that this is a trap. Don't you think he could have whipped your memory with ease? Even Dumbledore would have struggled against him!"
"I will die for her." Draco's voice left no place for an argument.
Harry sighed audibly, then shrugged with a half-smile:
"Would not be my first death mission."
"Hope you have not forgotten how to fly, Potter. I will know the direction but will have no idea about the distance. So, we are leaving. We will talk about details on our way."
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