Chapter Twenty-Six
Confronting the Faceless 💀 CompleteFebruary 1-5, 1998
"The best of us must sometimes eat our words"
Despite being made of stone, Hogwarts normally doesn't feel all that cold in the winter. Even the dungeons usually retain some form of warmth even on the coldest nights. But these days the halls have adopted a constant chill, and the lower you go the more damp that chill becomes.
Gabe mentally laments the terrible conditions as he follows his team leader - Ginny Weasley - further into the dim corridors of the dungeons, winding towards their ultimate goal. His robes are going to be wet and cold after this outing which is no fun, but it's well worth it.
This is the biggest raid Gabe has planned yet, and he's incredibly excited to see it to completion. Seamus had reported to the DA about a week after they got back - and after his third detention - that the Carrows are now keeping students locked up in one of the dungeons while they wait for their punishment. Gabe of course immediately saw an opportunity to cause some chaos.
And so here they are a few weeks later, sneaking down to release those students being kept chained up overnight. Gabe had put a bit more time into this one than the rest of his jobs, since the safety of non-DA affiliated students is involved, hence why it's taken so long to respond to the new form of punishment.
Gabe is with Nathan, Ginny, Logan Griffith, and new member Demelza Robbins. Coming in from the other direction is a team composed of Ernie Macmillan, Terry Boot, other new members Cole Blishwick and his younger cousin Dorian, lead by Neville Longbottom. A third team headed by Susan Bones hasn't entered the dungeons as they're serving as lookouts.
Gabe knows he probably should have divided the lookout team, but he's confident that his two strike teams can handle anything that comes their way, even if it's unexpected.
The halls are quiet as they move towards the room Seamus had indicated on the map of Hogwarts that one of the Ravenclaws had magic-ed up some time ago. Gabe's team is the point, while Neville's is serving as backup, and the two fourth years - Demelza and Dorian - are keeping in contact using the gold coins left over from Harry's time as leader of the group. So far everything is going according to plan.
Honestly, Gabe isn't sure when exactly everything starts going sideways - it didn't happen with his team so he only knows the part of the story that he was present for. What he does know is that the other team was caught off-guard by a patrolling Slytherin prefect, who then sent her patrol partner to get the Carrows while she tried to disarm the strike team alone. She'd failed, of course, but obviously the team didn't get her partner in time because Susan had sent an alarm to Gabe's group warning that Amycus and a whole group of Slytherin students were on their way to Gabe's team's location. From there they'd been forced to scatter, racing back to their respective common rooms but taking different routes in order to throw off any pursuit.
That had been five days ago, and tonight is the first DA meeting since the whole debacle.
Gabe goes early as he always does, walking with Nathan and Seamus Finnigan, whom Nate has struck up a casual friendship with in the months since they joined the DA. They aren't the first to the room, that's always Ginny and Neville, but they're close to.
Ernie Macmillan is already there as well when they arrive, and he waves distractedly in their direction, not moving his eyes from the training dummy he's dueling. Nathan waves back but continues his conversation with Seamus while Gabe beelines to where Neville and Ginny are sitting together, talking with their heads bowed close.
"Heyo fearless leaders." He greets lightly, and is startled when Ginny looks up at him with a flash of annoyance. Between her and Neville, Ginny usually is more open to his ideas, so being on the other end of her infamous Weasley glare is a new experience for Gabe.
"Good, you're here. We need to talk. Did Seamus- yeah, he did, good." Ginny is all business. "You. Sit. I'll get the other two."
Gabe frowns but does as directed - one does not argue with Ginny Weasley when she takes that tone. He looks over at Neville questioningly while Ginny rounds up Seamus and Ernie (both of whom have become something resembling lieutenants for the DA in the months they've been active and are thus included in all important decision making) in hopes the older boy will provide some hint as to why Ginny is so irked. However, Neville just looks at him somberly, giving nothing away.
Ginny returns shortly afterwards and doesn't waste any time getting to the point. "What happened Gabe? You had weeks to plan that raid, you knew how important it was. We're lucky none of us was caught!"
Gabe raises an eyebrow. "Obviously the lookout team should have been divided differently but I really thought we would be the ones to get jumped, not the other team. And besides, you should have been able to handle it, I picked the people working each side for a reason."
Ginny growls. "I'm getting sick of this Gabe. This is the fifth time one of your plans went awry."
"Only the first time it did not work though." He counters pointedly. "I have fixed it every other time."
"Well you need to stop doing that entirely! No more last-second patch jobs!" Ginny snaps, and three of the four boys in front of her flinch slightly (Seamus doesn't flinch at anything anymore, which Gabe thinks is very impressive). "There are lives on the line. Nathan told me that our little foray into Amycus's office a month ago was also seen - we're just lucky whoever it was didn't report us."
Gabe shoots a glare over at his friend - he'd told him not to say anything about that unless they were caught! - who's resolutely studying the walls of the room in an attempt to pretend he isn't eavesdropping.
"Don't blame Nathan, he was right to tell us." Seamus says tightly from where he's slumped tiredly in one of the love seats. "Your plans are good, but there's always something that almost seems like it's intended to go wrong weaved into each of them. Once is a mistake, twice is unfortunate, but this is a pattern Gabe."
Gabe glares at him (and now he's rather disappointed at the lack of a flinch). So what if he likes fixing things on the fly? All his plans have worked up until now!
"Well I do not see anyone else offering ideas." He points out angrily. "And it is not like I do not run plans past you."
"Which is why we've caught a lot of the problems." Ginny points out, still angry. "But we don't always have time to do that, and those are the situations when things fall apart."
"Point is we're taking you off point on planning." Neville interrupts when it looks like Ginny is about to start ranting. "Just for now, so other people can have a chance at sharing their thoughts, and so you can think about that unfortunate habit of yours."
Gabe just glares silently, but even that's not allowed apparently since Ernie addresses the look.
"People could have been seriously injured because of your oversight yesterday." He says sharply, posture perfect as ever and looking annoyingly holier-than-thou. "Don't look at us like you didn't bring this on yourself. This is a war Gabe, and you need to start treating it like one."
That seems to end the discussion, as Ginny gives him the clear 'now get lost' look and he makes his way back over to Nate, fuming.
"I cannot believe you told her, that girl did not say anything!"
Nate winces. "I'm sorry Gabe, but I kind of agree with Seamus?" His voice gets smaller as he speaks, and he's still resolutely studying the room's crown molding.
"You think I am not taking this seriously?"
"I think you're used to following your gut, but you forget that not everyone is on the same page as you are." His friend counters, still quiet and clearly nervous. "But, um, it's just temporary, right? And it'll be good for other people to have ideas?"
"I am the ideas guy Nate, and you know why?" Gabe snaps in reply, "Because no one else has good ideas! This group will fall apart without me, just watch."
"You aren't being kicked out drama queen, just sidelined for a bit. You can still be involved in DA activities." Ernie informs them lazily, and both boys jump having not heard him come up behind them. "You can even offer input on other ideas, you just aren't the sole planner anymore. It's too risky."
"War is risky!" Gabe argues back, still ticked off and unwilling to let it go.
Ernie nods. "I agree, so there's no need to make it worse. When you figure that out you can be the plan guy again." With that he heads back over to the training area and resumes his practice, joined shortly after by Ginny.
Gabe makes a rude gesture at his turned back before dropping onto the floor, crossing his arms and pulling his knees up to his chest, his back pressed to the wall. He feels a flash of betrayal as Nate awkwardly inches away to go talk to Seamus, which quickly adds itself to the fuel of his fury.
"They will regret it soon." He says bitterly as the other DA members begin arriving individually or in pairs. "There is not anyone else in the group who can be the idea guy."
The meeting is called to order about thirty minutes later, and though a few people had waved to Gabe as they came in they all seem to quickly read his mood and move to speak with someone else. As such he's still alone on the floor when Ginny stands up and shouts for attention.
"Alright, I know you all are feeling a little bummed about a few nights ago, but we have to regroup and keep moving!" Ginny says firmly.
Neville steps forward - now that Ginny has gotten everyone quiet and focused he'll run the meeting from here.
It's impressive, really, Gabe thinks as Neville explains that they're looking for other people to contribute ideas and plans for DA activities, how much Neville has grown even in the past month. With Luna gone and Ginny an enforcer more than a leader, Neville has had to step up and take primary control of the DA. Considering how hesitant he was even at the start of the year it's impressive how quickly he's taken up the mantle.
Of course, Gabe is distinctly less impressed right at this moment since Neville is using those newfound skills to take away his job.
However, when the floor is opened to ideas, to Gabe's delight no one steps up.
See? He thinks smugly, You can't do this without me. But he stays on the floor, waiting. He's not going to offer his plethora of possible jobs until the leaders apologize and ask him to. After how they treated him today-
His mental ramblings cut themselves off abruptly, and Gabe frowns and starts paying attention to the gathering again. Had he just heard what he thought he did?
Sure enough, Terry Boot is talking. "Obviously we'd need to talk to him, but Minki is absolutely brilliant with seeing all the angles. If we can recruit him I bet a lot of the stuff we weren't able to do before would become viable."
Gabe is standing before he can actually think about it. "Excuse me? Who is this Minki exactly? Can he be trusted?" He demands.
Terry Boot looks over with some caution. "Hey, no one is replacing you Gabe, but we do need more than one person making plans, don't you think? I mean, you can see why it makes sense logically to diversify-"
"You don't need to if what you have got works." Gabe counters heatedly. "This is war, if you guys turn tail and quit everytime something goes wrong-"
"Gabe." Neville snaps, and Gabe actually falls silent because that's the tone Ginny uses, not Neville. Heck, he didn't think it was possible to piss off Neville - the guy is the type to apologize to you after you'd dumped a bucket of soup on his head.
"That's enough." The leader continues. "Do you see any of us giving up? How many people here have been sent to Friday detention?"
Out of twenty six people Gabe counts nearly a dozen hands (then mentally subtracts one because Seamus is holding up two, the cheeky bastard).
Neville and Ginny's hands are both up as well. "And do you see any of us backing out or losing their nerve? No. So do not tell us we quit when things go wrong because that is blatantly incorrect. Just because you don't like how things are going does not give you the right to minimize what we've been through - some of us because of your plans."
Gabe glares, but it's more to keep up appearances at this point. Neville never raises his voice, but there's a power and frustration behind the words that sharpen them to points that drive straight into Gabe's ego.
He stays quiet for the rest of the meeting, during which the group does end up deciding to try and recruit 'Minki' - a seventh year Ravenclaw who apparently has a knack for thinking things through in unique ways.
So do I. Gabe thinks bitterly, but he holds his tongue. No need to start another fight that could end with him being sidelined even longer. With luck, this Minki won't even accept the offer - he doesn't sound like he's very friendly anyway, chances are high that Gabe will be back on the job within a week.
That doesn't stop him from wanting to be back sooner - especially not when he already has a plan in mind that he'd intended to share tonight.
Nathan waits for him after the meeting has ended and the others - minus the prefects getting ready to patrol - are all sneaking back to their common rooms.
Nate is with his brother, who looks amused when he spots Gabe walking over.
"You know I always wondered why you were in Gryffindor and not Ravenclaw, but I think I get it now." He jokes lightly.
"Poor taste." Gabe snaps back. "Shouldn't you be on patrol?"
"Nah, Anthony's the prefect, remember? I'm just waiting for Terry, he's doing something with the bosses."
Gabe grimaces, figuring he knows exactly what Terry would need to talk to Neville and Ginny about and not wanting to think about it. "Cool, great, see you later. Come on Nathan."
Nathan shrugs apologetically to his brother before hurrying after Gabe, who's stormed out of the room in a huff.
Gabe barely acknowledges his friend as they sneak back to the common room, but he immediately drags Nathan into a quiet corner once the Fat Lady has let them through with nary a remark on their being out after curfew. She's become very lax about such things this year, which the entire DA is quite thankful for.
"Am I in trouble?" Nathan asks immediately, practically in a squeak.
Gabe rolls his eyes. "No, idiot. I have ideas and since the DA does not wish to be reasonable we are going to do them ourselves and prove why I am the ideas guy."
"Just to put it on the record, I'm saying this is a bad idea." Nathan sighs. "What are we doing?"
Gabe grins. He knew Nate wouldn't argue about it - they're best friends for a reason after all.
They sit on the floor and Gabe begins laying out his plan.
"Obviously I'll need to adjust it for just the two of us, unless you think your brother would help." He muses, thinking out loud more than really asking Nathan, who answers anyway.
"Nah, Mike's loyal to Ginny, you know that." Nate says idly. "If you don't mind me saying-"
But he never gets to say it - a sound coming from the girls' dorms has both boys falling still and silent, hoping to not be spotted.
Gabe glowers silently when he recognizes the figure at the top of the girls' stairs. Can't he ever be free of Romilda Vane?
Luckily she doesn't seem to notice them, and after hesitating for a few moments longer returns to her room. Gabe exhales slowly, frowning.
"Bed time then?" Nate whispers after a moment, and Gabe reluctantly nods. If their planning woke Romilda it's only a matter of time before someone else shows. So they slink up the stairs and into their room, careful not to disturb their other roommate as they change and get into their beds.
The next morning Gabe is still in a rotten mood, and most of the House is avoiding where he and Nathan have settled to have breakfast. However, true to form, Romilda fails to read the situation and takes a seat across from the two boys, cheerfully helping herself to toast and eggs even as Gabe glares daggers at her.
"Morning boys." She declares once she's pleased with her spread.
"Good morning Romilda." Nathan responds, and then gives Gabe a sheepish shrug when the glare turns on him.
"Oh don't be mad at him for having manners Gabe, you could learn from it! I know they don't teach those in France but you're in England now." Romilda says airily, grinning like it's an inside joke.
" off Vane." Gabe snaps. "No one wants you around, least of all me."
"Well then it's a good thing I don't run my life according to what you want isn't it?" She replies cheekily. "Anyway, you'll want me here soon enough, when you hear what I've got to say."
Gabe rolls his eyes. "I never-"
"Need a third person for a certain nighttime caper?" She finishes for him, grinning knowingly as she spears some scrambled eggs onto her fork.
Gabe shuts up, and he feels Nathan tense next to him.
Romilda casually cuts off a piece of toast to adds to her fork as she continues. "You two at being quiet you know, you really should work on that." She says idly, stuffing the food into and maintaining her lazily confident air.
Gabe kind of wants to punch her smug face but- "How much did you hear and what do you want?" He grits out.
Romilda swallows and leans forward, voice dropping in volume quickly. "I just want to help. You two need a third person, that much was clear. I can be that. Ginny doesn't trust me so has been keeping me away from DA activities - you two give me a chance to show what I've got and I'll help you out with whatever hairbrained nonsense you're getting into."
"Ginny has a point." Gabe grumbles, and Romilda rolls her eyes.
"I had a crush, so sue me. I was fourteen for Merlin's sake." She groans. "That girl needs to learn how to let things go."
"She's a Weasley." Nate points out with a grin. "To my recollection that's a flaw they all share."
Gabe sighs. If Nate's already in there's little else he can do. "Fine, you can help. Come down to the common room tonight after curfew and we will-"
"Counter offer, come meet me in the library after classes. I know a secret spot where no one will be able to hear us." Romilda declares cheekily, and Gabe has to remind himself that they're temporary allies now, and hexing her is a bad idea, no matter how satisfying he knows it would be.
And he'd never admit it, but Romilda comes through on her word. The corner of the library she leads them to is deserted, and no sound reaches them from the rest of the room.
"Don't you love this place? Jill and I found it a couple years back, brewed a whole attempt at a love potion without Pince even raising an eyebrow." She beams, and then abruptly frowns, forehead creasing in worry. "I hope she's alright." She sighs, before straightening up and pulling out one of the chairs. "So I only heard bits and pieces last night - gimme the full outline of what we're doing here."
"We are hitting the Dark Arts classroom." Gabe says, quickly shifting into planner mode, which helps him ignore who exactly he's planning with for the time being. "Full defacing, free that Kneazle if we can."
"Yes please, it hurts my heart every time he pulls out that cage." Romilda interrupts, and Gabe glares at her. She raises her hands in surrender and mime's spelling shut, waving for him to continue afterwards. He ignores Nate's amused snort as he does so.
"The goal is to make the classroom entirely unusable for at least a day, so it needs to happen during the week and it needs to be worse than just water or fire damage." He says briskly. "I believe that Confringo and Diffindo are our best options-"
"What about Fiendfyre?" Romilda interrupts again, then at least has the decency to look ashamed about it. "Sorry, but what about it? We're learning the theory behind it in class right now, so it wouldn't even be suspicious. Using their own tactics against them and all that. Wouldn't it be harder to link the destruction back to us in that case?"
Gabe glares at her. "Would you use the Cruciatus curse if you thought it would get you benefits as well?" He says dryly.
Romilda glares. "Please, I wouldn't." Then she hesitates, thinks about it, and shrugs. "Well, it would have to be a really bad situation, maybe. But I'd have to be in it to know."
And much to his chagrin Gabe can actually respect that answer - you can't know what you'd do in a situation until you're in it, that's basic common sense. He rather loathes that Romilda seems to have it now.
"You know how to cast it then?" He checks. "More importantly, you can control it? Water will not put it out."
"Having no fuel left will though." Romilda grins, and it's vicious but for once it's pointed somewhere that Gabe thinks it's well deserved.
And so he sighs, and then nods. "Only as a last resort though." He warns as Romilda punches the air triumphantly. "It is still more dangerous than it's worth."
Planning the whole thing thoroughly takes a few more days, but by Thursday they're ready to set the plan into motion (and to his chagrin Romilda had eventually convinced them that the risks outweighed the benefits with the FiendFyre so that added an entire other layer to work through - not that Gabe hadn't secretly enjoyed that).
Gabe knows that Neville is suspicious - Gabe was never quiet about his distaste for Romilda and now she's hanging out with him and Nathan like she's the Ignotus to their Antioch and Cadmus (though personally Gabe considers himself the Ignotus - Romilda is far more like Antioch). But the leader says nothing, just looks at Gabe warningly whenever they cross paths.
Gabe is unfazed. They're going to do the entire school a favor - no Defense classroom means no special Friday detentions after all. And maybe, a small, cruel part of himself he doesn't like acknowledging whispers, Amycus will get caught up in the middle of it all and we'll solve two problems with one act.
He's not sure how he'll feel if that actually ends up happening, but they don't need to worry - they sneak out of the common room well after curfew, when no teacher is anywhere near their classroom.
"I'll find the Kneazle." Romilda whispers once they've reached their destination, taking off before either boy can object.
Nathan shrugs and takes up his post by the door to keep watch for any Prefect patrols coming in, wand held in a white-knuckle grip. Gabe meanwhile gets started on locating which parts of the room will blow up with the least amount of noise, as well as determining what's flammable and what isn't.
They manage to get about twenty minutes of silent concentration before the first domino falls. "Found him!" Romilda declares cheerfully, a bit louder than Gabe is comfortable with. He glances towards her with a frown to see her levitating the still-silenced Kneazle and its cage into the air. "Nate, would you be a dear and hold him for me? Thanks." She drops the animal into Nathan's arms, and he has to lean against the doorframe for balance as he fumbles for his wand to start levitating the heavy object again.
From this point every detail of their movements is planned down to individual steps (which Gabe hadn't been too happy about but Romilda and Nathan had been insistent, especially once Fiendfyre got involved) and it all needs to happen very quickly.
Romilda joins Nathan at the door and begins working on transfiguring the wooden entrance into stone, while Nathan continues watching out for patrols and now the Kneazle as well.
Gabe moves to the spot he'd deemed best to start the fire and waits for Romilda's signal that she's succeeded. If she can't manage the Transfiguration he'll just blow some things up and move on, but he's admittedly gotten attached to the idea of burning the entire classroom to ashes.
It takes about five minutes before the girl gives him the all clear, and with a steadying breath Gabe pulls out his wand and mutters the Fiendfyre incantation.
He's admittedly a bit stunned by how quickly the entire area lights up, and he's racing for the exit with the flames lapping at his heels.
He dives through and Romilda slams the door behind him. They wait for a breathless minute, wondering if the stone will hold or if they've just written their own death warrants.
The door holds, and Romilda pumps her fist in silent victory. But the job isn't done yet - they still have a wild Kneazle to release back into the Forbidden Forest.
This part is much easier and less stressful than the last - since both Nathan and Gabe are accustomed to sneaking around with the DA it's easy for Gabe to lead the group silently through the castle and out onto the grounds without passing any patrols. Nathan and Romilda stick close behind him, carrying the Kneazle between them.
When they reach the forest, Romilda blasts the cage open after Alohamora fails to budge the lock, and the Kneazle has vanished into the snowy night moments later.
"You're welcome." Romilda mutters, rubbing at her forearms. "We should have worn our winter cloaks."
"Too flammable, remember? Let's just get back inside." Nathan replies, his teeth already starting to chatter.
Gabe concurs, the February chill settling far too quickly into his bones.
They run back to the castle, a bit less stealthily than when they'd left it, and continue the quick pace all the way back to the common room, where the Fat Lady admonishes them for going outside in their nightwear before letting them all back in.
Gabe is honestly on a bit of a high, right up until he realizes that Neville, Ginny, and Seamus are all sitting in the common room, the former two of whom look less than pleased (though Seamus mostly looks amused).
"So, um, good evening." Nathan says awkwardly after a few moments of everyone staring at each other silently, waiting for the other party to speak first.
"Good evening." Seamus echoes, still clearly entertained. "How's the weather outside then?"
"Freezing. That Kneazle better appreciate what we did for it." Romilda grumbles, as if all this is perfectly normal and they didn't just - probably - ruin their chances at ever working with the DA again (though that's their loss, not Gabe's).
"Kneazle?" Ginny asks, her annoyance briefly shifting into confusion. "What exactly were you three up to, and how much trouble will the DA be in?"
Gabe grins smugly. "Absolutely none. There's no trace left, they can't tie it back to any of us. And besides, they're not likely to suspect a Gryffindor." He pauses briefly, and then adds, "Though if any of you have Dark Arts tomorrow you might want to find something else to do during that time slot."
Seamus is outright grinning now. "Just to be clear, you guys are all banned from DA activities for the next three weeks, but I'll admit that if this actually works I'll be impressed."
Nathan grins back while Neville just looks exasperated.
"I'm not even DA." Romilda points out primly, and Ginny sighs.
"Welcome to the club, you're benched for three weeks." She says flatly. "We can't have members going off rouge like that without proper backup or any idea where you all were. If you'd been caught we wouldn't have been able to do anything. The entire point of the DA is to have a group of people supporting each other, not running off to show each other up."
Nathan is staring at his feet, and even Romilda looks a bit abashed, but Gabe holds eye contact with the redhead. "I get that, but if you refuse to-"
"Don't, Gabe." Ginny cuts him off sharply. "You've said your piece time and again and frankly at this point if you want to get yourself killed you can be my guest." Neville gives her a look but she presess on stubbornly. "But don't go risking other people with your intentionally half-baked schemes." She sighs. "Okay there, that's my piece. Neville, anything to add?"
Neville sighs. "Like Ginny and Seamus said, you're all going to be meetings-only members for the rest of the month, no going out at night with the rest of us. Gabe, I understand that you're frustrated, believe me we all are. But as Ginny pointed out you're part of a team, and if you want to remain a part of it you're going to have to respect the very few rules we place on this group. Is that clear?"
Gabe glares at the floor but nods. Ginny is easy to fight with, but Neville is tougher. And he gets the point, he does - he just hates that he's being needlessly replaced.
Nathan nudges him lightly in a show of support as the three older students head back up to bed, and Romilda gives him a grin. Gabe exhales heavily and smiles back at them.
Three weeks. He can handle three weeks.
Author's Note: I don't have all that much to say on this one, other than the fact we finally get mention of the final POV character! There are still 3 POVs who haven't had chapters, but we've at least met the other two at this point xD OH WAIT! This is also officially the half-way point of the story! Not including the three-part epilogue anyway xD Okay, I think that's everything. See you all next week!
Next Week: Why is it doing the right thing is always the harder option?
So I'm thinking I might do a final 'afterwords' chapter to share my thoughts and feelings on writing this story, if that's something people would be interested in? I'm also open to answering any lingering questions people might have there as well!
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