And what did you find... Torchwood!

Title:  Arcanum 101
Series:  House of Torchwood
Rating: R/NC-17
Summary: Hogwarts has fallen to the enemy.  Now holed up under the protection of the Cardiff Rift, the team rushes to get things ready for the final battle while old friends and old enemies resurface.  Nothing is as it seems yet it more important than ever for the good guys to prevail.
Pairings: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones; Gwen Cooper/Rhys Williams; Owen Harper/Toshiko Sato; Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy; Hermione Granger/Pansy Parkinson; Neville Longbottom/Ginny Weasley; Ron Weasley/Lavender Brown; Blaise Zabini/Luna Lovegood; OCs
Warnings: Male Pregnancy; Semi-Graphic Torture; Parallels to real world history (Nazism & African Slavery) which could be disturbing to some readers
Spoilers: All Torchwood up to S2X06 Reset; Harry Potter up to the end of Goblet of Fire
Disclaimer:  Torchwood is ©2006-2009 British Broadcasting Service Wales (BBC Wales). Harry Potter is ©1997-2007 J. K. Rowling.  Copyrighted material is used without permission with no intention of profit from the works contained herein.
Author's Notes:  I totally blame this story on my beta, bookwrm89, and her cohort, cjharknessgirl. Also special thanks to merucha for her assistance and many head smacks on getting this done. This story is the third in the House of Torchwood trilogy following A Kind of Magic and Where the Road Diverges.  For purposes of this story, all events after Torchwood episode 2x06 Reset and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire should be disregarded and are not relevant to this story.

 

* CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE *

As the Tardis settled down within Honeydukes’ basement, Harry pulled the Marauders Map out from the bookcase it was stored on. He still couldn't get over the fact that his Tardis had created a little reading nook - complete with armchair, bookcase and lamp - for Draco in the control room. Once again forcing away thoughts of Draco, Harry tapped the map and murmured the access spell. He was indeed in luck. It seemed Voldemort and all of his Death Eaters were gathered in the Great Hall, likely eating lunch, which meant he could slip inside via the secret passages. If he was truly lucky, he could get to the hall without getting captured by anyone.

Tucking the map away again, he patted the console of the Tardis one last time. "Remember what I asked," he said softly. He felt her melancholy response and wished he could reassure her that he'd come back in one piece. He crossed the room, slipped out the door and paused to look back inside. "I'll be fine, my girl," he said as he slowly closed the door, locked it and patted it once.

Harry scanned the cellar until he found the opening to the secret passage which led into the castle. He took one last glance back at his Tardis before slipping into the passage way. It was a long walk from Hogsmeade up to Hogwarts. A walk which gave him plenty of time to think of all the ways this could potentially go wrong, yet he refused to allow himself to linger on those thoughts. To do so would be to set himself up for defeat.

Reaching the other end of the passageway, he eased it open just enough to listen for activity on the other side. At first he heard nothing, so he prepared to slip out into the hall. Just as he opened the door further, voices drifted down the hallway beyond toward him.

"So why are we searching the DADA classroom and office again?"

The first voice sounded more than a bit petulant. It was followed by a more aristocratic toned voice which vaguely reminded Harry of Ianto.

"Because the Dark Lord wants us to," the second speaker began. He paused for a moment. From the volume, and the results of a quick peek out of the passageway, the man was standing just in front of where Harry was hidden. "Rastaban, you know our Lord is hoping that my son was stupid enough to leave a clue behind as to where he and his partner have hidden the Potter brat."

"We know where he is," the now named Rastaban snarled. "He's in Cardiff, Rodolphus. Protected by those Welsh bastards who have no idea of purity, breeding with muggles all the time."

"Be that as it may, Cardiff is a large area," Rodolphus replied. "Our Master seeks a definitive clue as to where in Cardiff to look though he swears that it's more likely someone he refers to as 'Handsome Jack' has taken the boy out of the city."

Hidden away in the passageway, Harry mentally raised an eyebrow as Rodolphus's words confirmed both his and Jack's opinion. Voldemort was the Master. It made him both infinitely more dangerous and infinitely easier to kill. This time, this time, he vowed to kill the Master; for the man he was now was not the playmate of his Gallifreyan childhood but a dangerous psychopath. He shook his head just a bit, still unable to believe that his eleven previous selves had kept giving the man chance after chance when he'd long ago proven he'd never change. He bit back the sigh and mentally counted to one hundred while he waited for the Lestrange brothers to continue on their errand. All his planning on sneaking into the castle came to naught as Peeves appeared by the statue and started taunting both him and the Lestranges.

"Ickle Harry's back... thinks he's a sneak... Peeves finds and wins..."

Harry had just enough time to draw his wand before the passageway swung open to reveal the two men. Both had wands in hand and before Harry could even think of a spell, Rastaban disarmed him. A muttered curse escaped Harry who struggled a bit before being stunned, wrapped in magical ropes and levitated in the general direction of the Great Hall. All the while Peeves cheerfully sang as he soared amongst the castle rafters.

Floating along on his back, Harry's eyes traced the familiar path from an unfamiliar perspective. He recognized certain portraits along the way and could just hear their dismayed whispers at the sight of him as a prisoner. If he could move, he was certain his lips would have twisted into a rueful smile. He'd made two mistakes in this plan of his. He'd forgotten his invisibility cloak and, as Draco would put it, he'd behaved appallingly like a Gryffindor. He really should have known better than to attempt to sneak in without a better way to hide from the Death Eaters. Finally, his view changed to the ceiling of the Great Hall.  He was unceremoniously dropped to the floor before the dais at the far end. He wanted to groan yet couldn't make a sound.

"Search him!" Voldemort's raspy voice ordered.

Harry felt himself shifted about, patted down, and the sonic screwdriver slipped from his pocket. As soon as it was gone, Rastaban's voice gleefully echoed about the room.

"All he had was his wand," Rastaban was saying. "Shall I snap it, Master?"

"Go ahead."

Voldemort muttered a quick finite. Harry found himself abruptly freed and twisted about to look at which of the brothers was closest to him. He couldn't help but stare as the man crouched beside him gave him a quickly concealed wink while tucking a hand beneath his arm to pull him from the floor.  The snap of his wand echoed throughout the room. The whole situation was a bit surreal; however, one thing did stand out to Harry.

"Why aren't you gloating?" Harry said. He shook off the Lestrange's hands and struggled to his feet. He clasped his hands behind his back, bounced a bit in place, and barely refrained from reacting as Rodolphus slipped his sonic screwdriver into his hand. "You always gloat and pontificate right about now."

"I read that list, Potter," Voldemort snarled. He uncoiled from where he lounged on the throne-like chair once used by Dumbledore at meals. "I start gloating at you which, of course, buys time for Handsome Jack and the gang to come swooping in to save the day." He leant forward toward where Harry stood below the dais at the front of the Great Hall. "I don't think so!"

"So, are we late?" As if he'd just been waiting for his cue, Jack's overly cheerful voice drifted into the Hall from the doors behind Harry. Harry twisted about to return Jack's grin. He was relieved that while many members of the Slytherin-Gryffindor group followed Jack in, Draco wasn't among them. "I really hate to be late for a party."

Chapter Thirty