A Dark Path Considered

The headmaster's opinion was neither given nor sought. Albus had chosen not to attend, preferring instead to sulk alone in his office. His tentative plans were growing darker as his mood worsened. Memory charms, compulsion charms and loyalty spells were all running through his head. He was justifying them to himself under the banner of the greater good. When he found himself contemplating the imperious curse, a cold shiver ran down his spine as the justification dissolved into smoke.

It was 1899 all over again except Albus was finding himself on the other side of the argument, Gellert had argued that anything was acceptable for the greater good. To build a utopian society was going to have some cost in terms of lives and beliefs but it would be worth it in the end. Albus had countered with 'worth it to who?' That argument had eventually cost him his sister, Ariana was much too high a price to pay and had changed him forever.

His dilemma could no longer be considered anything other than a personal one, his reasoning of the greater good didn't stand up to the most basic of scrutiny. The measures he had been considering were purely to save his own tarnished reputation, Albus didn't think he could do that. To do so would be a declaration that he had turned dark, it would be better if the name Dumbledore was forgotten rather than being remembered in the same breath as Voldemort or Grindelwald for being dark.

....

Draco had spent the entire evening scrubbing a toilet by hand while Filch happily supervised his unwilling conscripts. They were spread throughout the castle with the squib and that bloody cat of his keeping a close eye on them all night. He had just been dismissed for the evening with the promise of lots more cleaning ringing in his ears.

Draco was slowly heading back toward the Slytherin common room. He was in no hurry as his standing in the house was only marginally above that of Weasley. Considering that the carrot top was the laughing stock of the entire castle, that wasn't really saying much.

He passed the Gryffindors on route back to their common room and noticed a few green trimmed robes amongst them. He was totally ignored by the entire group, Draco was wondering how he could prevent the Slytherins getting back to the dungeons before their curfew when his world suddenly went black.

....

Ron noticed the drapes still drawn on Draco's bed the next morning, if he wanted to miss breakfast then that was his business.

Horace was keeping a close eye on the group of five Slytherins responsible for attacking the Potters, their actions did not bode well for his efforts to ingratiate himself with the young lord and lady. Noting that one of them had yet to enter the hall for breakfast, Horace dispatched a prefect to discover the reason why.

The seventh year prefect was distinctly unhappy about having his breakfast disturbed in order to check on this little blond ponce, he stormed into the first year's dorm in a foul mood. "Right you little blond wanker, get your arse out of bed now!" The curtains were pulled back to reveal an empty bed that obviously hadn't been slept in.

The panic at the staff table when they learned this news was immediate and pronounced, Hogwarts couldn't afford to lose another student. Horace headed straight for his house table while Albus spoke to Argus.

"I had him cleaning a toilet until about half an hour before curfew headmaster. He left me heading in the direction of the dungeons."

Horace quickly returned and added a few minutes to that timeline, "A few of my Slytherins were in a large group of mostly Gryffindors that passed him in the corridor."

This sent the other heads of house scurrying to their respective house tables.

At Gryffindor, it was Lavender that answered McGonagall. "Yes we passed him in the corridor but didn't actually speak with him. We were all in Harry and Hermione's until just before curfew." Minerva then had that confirmed by a Slytherin as Miss Bulstrode was in her usual seat beside Mr Longbottom.

"That's right professor, normally Neville walks me back down to the dungeons but we were running late last night. Since Blaise and Pansy were there also, we walked back down together after saying goodnight to Neville and the others outside the fat lady's portrait. We left Harry and Hermione's barely ten minutes before curfew and just made it back to our house in time."

Minerva thought that Miss Bulstrode had just intelligently provided the Potters and Neville with a cast iron alibi. In the event something untoward had happened to Draco, those three would be near the top of the suspects list after their altercations with the boy.

The corridor sighting proved to be the last time anyone had laid eyes on the boy. Since that group consisted of all the first year Gryffindors, three Slytherins with Miss Bones and Miss Abbott from Hufflepuff, the chances of the group colluding in some form of cover up was nil.

It was quickly decided that their classes would continue while the ghosts and elves searched the castle. It was a worried Pansy who made her way over to the Gryffindors as they all had Herbology next. "Do you think seeing me in your company last night has caused Draco to do something stupid?"

Hermione figured she knew the girl well enough now to answer that, "Pansy, Draco is thick enough to do something stupid without your help or inspiration. Don't worry, I'm sure he'll turn up."

As the large group caught sight of the greenhouses, a clearly terrified scream had them all looking up.

Draco regained consciousness but found himself disorientated and unable to move. On opening his eyes the terrified boy screamed his lungs out and pissed himself from fright. This was not a good idea since piss, like everything else, has to obey the laws of gravity. Liquid will always take the shortest route down, with Draco dangling from the astronomy tower while tied by his ankles it had a couple of choices.

It poured out his collar and down his neck before running off his hair. The alternative route was through his armpits, down his outstretched arms and off his hands. He had a couple of beater bats charmed to be ten times heavier tied to his wrists, rendering him completly immobile. The only part of his body Draco could move was his head, he shook it wildly, creating a spraying image that would never be used in slow motion by a shampoo commercial.

They all stood frozen and stared at this sight, not one person was in any doubt who was responsible for this. Harry's words may have confirmed their suspicions but proving it would be an entirely different matter.

"Wow, looks like Draco pissed off the wrong people. I do hope his shampoo can cope with that, otherwise there may be a few Slytherins asking for a transfer out of his dorm."

Blaise managed to deliver his comment with a straight face, "Now if you could manage that Harry, I really would be impressed!"

What started out as gentle sniggers progressed to full blown laughter with the realisation that, though in a great deal of discomfort, Draco wasn't in any danger of falling.

Ron, Vin and Greg weren't laughing, that could so easily have been them up there. The terrified trio would now live in fear of what was planned for them.

Overall the message couldn't have been any clearer if the wicked witch had written it in the sky with her broom, don't mess with the Potters!

.....

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