Harry Potter: Dragonborn comes

The Price of a Betrayal

A couple of days had passed since the end of the hectic Christmas holidays. Hogwarts breathed a strange silence, as if the entire castle were holding its breath. The Ministry, humiliated and bewildered, didn't dare send another Inquisitor. Instead, Professor McGonagall had been appointed interim Headmistress by unanimous decision of the Student Council—a victory that many celebrated with a relief tinged with defiance.

However, the Ministry did not remain idle. Several squads of Aurors arrived to patrol the corridors, searching for any trace of the supposed demon they claimed to have seen on the night of the attack. None of the students admitted to witnessing such a creature. Between barely concealed smiles, they all insisted it must have been a hallucination caused by their professor's magical power.

And as if that weren't enough, Hermione and the Weasley twins took it upon themselves to quash any lingering suspicion. They explained that Dren was a magical servant, a kind of foreign house-elf with customs different from those known in England. They said it with such conviction that even the most skeptical preferred to believe them. After all, it was much easier to accept a curious story than to acknowledge the possibility that a real demon was walking among them.

Meanwhile, in the Gryffindor common room, the fire blazed with a golden glow that cast gigantic shadows along the stone walls. Harry sat in an armchair, his elbows resting on his knees, watching the flames with a furrowed brow. His eyes held a restless gleam, as if he were searching for answers in every spark that burned away.

"What's wrong, Harry? You've been distracted all week," Neville asked quietly. He was holding a deep red mask, smooth and polished, with two holes that fit perfectly over his face. Though it looked like wood, it was actually made of some unknown material that seemed to absorb the light around it.

Harry took a moment to react. His pupils shifted slightly before he raised his head. Hermione looked up from her book, letting it close slowly on her lap. Her expression mirrored the same contained worry.

"It's Sirius," Harry finally said, his voice tense and raspy. He extended his hand and revealed a crystal sphere that glowed faintly, as if its light were dying. "I've tried to call him, but he doesn't answer."

Hermione swallowed hard. "Did you try asking the members of the Order?" she inquired cautiously.

"No," he replied, his jaw trembling with anger. "Sirius set up a direct link to his own so no one else could listen in on our conversations. That way they wouldn't spy on me… or I wouldn't learn too much." He took a deep breath, as if he couldn't quite catch it. "What if the Ministry captured him and the Order doesn't want me to know?"

"I don't think that's it, Harry. If they'd caught him, it would be in the Prophet…" Hermione said, though the tremor in her voice betrayed her own doubt.

Harry turned to her, his gaze heavy with resentment. "What do you know? They always hide everything. If it hadn't been for a random photographer catching the attack on Cedric, I'd be in Azkaban right now and no one would know."

That shut her up at once. An icy silence spread through the room while Neville lowered the mask in discomfort.

"We have to ask someone," Harry muttered, lowering his eyes to the sphere that felt colder by the second in his palm. An unpleasant tingling spread up his arm.

"The twins?" Hermione said quickly. "After all, they were the ones who created these crystal balls. If anyone tried to spy on the Order…it had to be them." She spoke in a rush, remembering how many times Fred and George had attempted to plant spheres in the meeting room.

"That's it," Harry exclaimed, a determined glint in his eyes. He leapt to his feet and strode from the room, his cloak billowing behind him. The Marauder's Map wasn't far.

Hermione and Neville exchanged a silent look before running after him.

When Harry found the twins, they were in a side corridor, sitting on a closed chest, leafing through parchments with conspiratorial expressions.

"You're right, my little stowaways," Fred said with a half-arrogant smile as soon as he saw them, with Hermione and Neville panting behind Harry. "We have a few spheres scattered around the house."

"But…what do we get in return?" George asked, raising an eyebrow as though negotiating the price of a minor favor.

"This isn't the time for jokes!" Hermione snapped, her voice trembling with impatience. "Harry is worried about Sirius."

The twins' smiles vanished. For a moment, the tension became so thick it felt like they were all holding their breath at once.

"All right," Fred relented with a sigh. "But we can only connect to a few rooms. It depends on whether someone's there to hear us."

George pulled a pouch with an Undetectable Extension Charm from his belt and began rummaging inside. Finally, he pulled out a smaller black wooden chest. When he opened it, a faint blue glow lit up their expectant faces. Inside were at least thirty crystal spheres.

Harry stared in surprise. Hermione leaned closer to see, while Neville let out a low whistle.

"Well…we tried too many times," Fred admitted with an embarrassed smile. "At this point, we've got more eyes in that house than a basilisk."

"Hello? Is anyone there?" Fred called, gently shaking the chest. His voice echoed in the gloom, making Harry shiver. "Hello!" he repeated, louder.

Nothing. Not even a whisper from the other end. The absence of any response was more terrifying than any confirmation. The idea that the entire headquarters was empty seemed impossible.

Then a soft, slightly ethereal voice startled them from behind.

"What are you doing?"

They turned as one. Luna and Ginny stood there, each flanked by a pair of spectral wolves. Their eyes glowed white in the dim light.

"Ah… it's you two," George murmured, pressing a hand to his chest. "What are you doing out of your dormitories?"

"Practicing," Luna replied calmly, pointing to one of the wolves wagging its tail. Ginny said nothing, but her gaze settled on Harry with curiosity.

Suddenly, Luna pointed at the chest. Her voice sounded almost like a prophecy.

"House-elf."

Everyone looked down at the same time. One of the spheres was glowing brightly, revealing Kreacher's withered, tense face.

"Kreacher," Harry exclaimed, grabbing the sphere with hands he could no longer keep steady. "Where is everyone? Where's Sirius?"

The elf seemed to have hidden behind a cabinet. His eyes flickered with an anguish Harry had never seen in him.

"They're not here," he said in a thin, strained voice.

"Do you know where they went? What's happening?" Harry pressed urgently.

"Kreacher… does not know anything. No… does not know. Master… is not here. They took him."

The words hit like a hammer. Harry felt a cold dread flooding his chest.

"Who took him, Kreacher?" he shouted, his voice breaking.

But Kreacher opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something else—and suddenly his image flickered and vanished completely.

"Kreacher!" Harry bellowed, shaking the sphere, but it was already dead, opaque.

Silence fell like a slab of stone. No one dared to break it. Until one of Luna's wolves raised its head and began barking fiercely, staring fixedly down a dark corridor.

They all turned at once, hearts pounding. The wolf shot forward, and something fell with a dull thud.

"Wait… help me!"

They ran toward the sound, and what they saw stunned them. Ron was pinned against the wall, a spectral wolf baring its fangs at him while the others circled, growling.

"Ron?" the twins exclaimed in unison, hurrying to help him.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Hermione demanded, her brow furrowed.

"I… I just went out… and I saw them," Ron stammered, looking away. His breathing came in nervous gasps.

The wolves kept growling, tense, as if they might pounce at any second.

"Get your monsters away from me!" Ron cried, his voice trembling, while Luna tilted her head, watching him with the same unsettling calm as always.

"Why are you acting so suspicious?" Ginny asked, narrowing her eyes at her brother. Her tone was soft, but there was a sharpness in it that made Ron swallow hard.

"I… I just didn't want to come near you, that's all," Ron said, trying to sound steady. But his voice wavered, and the thin sheen of sweat on his forehead betrayed him.

"Ronald Weasley, what did you do?" Ginny demanded suddenly. She knew far too well how her brother behaved when he was hiding something.

"I… nothing," Ron stammered, his voice cracking in the oppressive silence that followed.

Fred, George, and Ginny stared at him in wordless accusation. The tension grew so thick it felt like it was pressing on his chest. Ron felt their eyes like knives, and his lips quivered. He couldn't stand it anymore.

"I… I… I took Sirius's sphere," he finally confessed. His voice came out strangled.

Harry stepped forward so fast that Ron instinctively shrank back. His green eyes burned with a fury he made no effort to hide.

"Why?" Harry asked in a low, contained voice that was as dangerous as a freshly sharpened blade.

Ron drew in a shaky breath, and for a moment it seemed he wouldn't be able to speak. His hands clenched at his sides.

"They… they came when I was out shopping with Mum. They showed me photos of my whole family. They knew where every one of us was. They just… couldn't get inside because of the Fidelius Charm, but if we stepped out, we wouldn't be protected anymore. They told me… to do it. To take the sphere. They wanted to catch Sirius because… because he's the owner of the house. If they captured him, the Fidelius would break… and then… they'd let us go."

Ron's voice broke in a choked sob. The corridor fell into absolute silence. No one dared to speak.

"How could you…?" Hermione murmured, her voice so cold Ron dropped his gaze to the floor.

"They had my family as hostages!" Ron suddenly shouted. His hands flew up, trembling, as if to ward off invisible blows. "My mum goes out every day to buy food! They took pictures of her and she didn't even know! My dad, at work! Charlie, with the dragons! Even Fred and George's new shop… They showed me every place. They knew everything, but they couldn't get in… What was I supposed to do?"

Ginny clenched her fists, her cheeks flushing red with rage. "You're an idiot if you think they'd really let us go after that!"

"At least I did something to save our family!" Ron roared, tears pooling in his eyes. "I didn't just sit here following stupid orders that will get us all killed!"

Harry didn't reply. His fist shot out and connected with Ron's cheek in a sharp, clean punch. Ron dropped to the floor, one hand pressed to his face, breathing in ragged gasps.

"Where is Sirius?" Harry asked, his voice so deadly even Neville stepped back.

"I don't know!" Ron cried, his voice raw. "They just wanted to lure him into a trap… while he was guarding something… something important… I don't know what."

The silence that followed was unbearable. Harry stared down at Ron as if he might draw his wand—or something worse—at any moment.

"Harry… the Ministry," Hermione said suddenly, her voice low, as if she were afraid someone would hear. "Mr. Weasley was attacked there… because he was protecting something."

"Yes," Fred agreed, with a gravity that was rarely on his face. "From what we heard… they were taking shifts guarding it. Something very important."

"We have to go there," Neville said without hesitation.

Everyone turned to Harry. His face was pale, his knuckles still tight from the punch.

"Yes. But… how?" he murmured in a thin voice. He knew every Floo Network connection was being watched. If he used one, they'd catch him instantly.

"Why don't we ask Shadow?" Luna suggested suddenly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Shadow?" they all repeated, confused.

Harry, however, opened his eyes wide in sudden recognition.

"Dren," he whispered.

"Were you calling me, young sir?" came a voice behind them, so unexpected that a couple of hearts nearly stopped beating.

They turned around with a start. Dren was there, his silhouette more shadow than flesh, as if he had emerged from a dark corner itself. Everyone stepped back instinctively, except Harry, who took a step forward.

"Sir… could you help us? Sirius is in danger," Harry asked, his voice filled with a fervor that bordered on pleading.

Dren inclined his head slightly, his face impossible to read. "I cannot. My duty is to remain here, protecting my master's dear students."

"Then… could you at least send us there?" Harry insisted, not daring to raise his voice too much.

Dren regarded them for a long moment. His eyes, two bottomless pits, seemed to weigh every possibility.

"My master… will not be pleased if I let you go to a dangerous place," he said calmly.

"But Einar said you would help us with whatever we needed!" Hermione interjected, her voice steady with determination.

Dren's gaze fell on her, and for an instant Hermione felt her blood turn to ice. The silence grew so deep it almost hurt.

"House-elf," Dren said suddenly.

A blue flash lit up the corridor. Dobby appeared among them with a nervous start. He trembled slightly when his eyes landed on Dren, but when he looked at Harry, a spark of happiness lit up in them. Even so, he didn't run to embrace him as he usually did. He remained still, as if waiting for permission.

"Take them where they wish to go," Dren ordered in a serene voice. Then his figure dissolved into shadows and vanished without a sound.

Dobby let out a long sigh, as though he had been holding his breath all that time.

"Dobby…" Hermione and Harry murmured at once.

"Hello, sir Harry Potter," Dobby said, bowing his head with a smile. "Dobby is very happy to see you again."

"How do you know Dren?" Hermione asked, her throat tight with unease.

"Not only Dobby… All the house-elves have known him since the very first day," Dobby answered, and for a moment he seemed to recall something that made him shudder.

"It doesn't matter now," Harry interrupted urgently. "Dobby, you have to take us to the Ministry."

"Is Harry Potter going to a dangerous place?" Dobby asked at once. His voice was sweet, but his gaze was full of concern.

"No," Hermione replied quickly, shooting Harry a pleading look. "We're just… leaving school for a moment. That's all."

Dobby looked at them as though weighing each word. Finally, he nodded slowly.

"Mmm… Very well. Dobby will take you if it is not a dangerous place. The Supreme Dren will not allow Professor Einar's students to come to harm," he said, pronouncing that strange title with a respect that seemed almost forced.

They all stepped closer, their hearts pounding. Dobby raised a small, trembling hand.

A second later, they vanished in a blinding flash, leaving Ron alone in the corridor, sitting on the floor with a hand pressed to his bruised cheek, staring at the empty space where everyone had disappeared.

—-

N/A: Do you think I went overboard with the drama? Personally, it felt pretty intense to me. By the way, get your popcorn ready for the next chapters.

P.S.: I made this chapter a bit longer because I didn't upload one last time, and I feel a bit guilty, hehe.