Participants:
| Scene Title | And Your Little Dog, Too! |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Sirius stumbles upon a strange scene in the woods.. |
| Date | September 12, 1994 |
| Watch For | What's that, Lassie? Timmy fell in the well again!? |
| Chronology | Sirius encounters a Death Eater in the woods near Hogsmeade. |
| Logger | Sechnall |
It's a clearing in the woods. Use your imagination. It's got trees and grass and stuff.
It's a beautiful day. The sun is shining brightly overhead, there's a light and refreshing breeze ruffling the leaves of the trees (which are settling into their fall colors quite nicely). And somewhere off in the woods a fair distance from Hogsmeade, in a small copse formed naturally by the boughs of several intertwining trees, some Muggles are being tortured.
Well, not really tortured, per se. No physical harm has come to them, as of yet, aside from the fact that they (three in total) happen to be tied up to the trunk of a large tree. It's big enough so that their shoulders don't even touch, since the woods in this part of the country are very old. Evidently they're either very calm sorts or have been hexed into silence, because they're not shouting for help. A black-robed figure is hunched over a table nearby, his face covered by a strange mask: white, bearing several strange designs and markings, with sinister slanted eyes and a mouth made to look sewn-together. His gloved hands hold a small beaker of some kind of black, oily liquid, and another that appears to be full of plain water.
"Ah, almost finished. Now, let's see just what this does, shall we? You should consider yourselves honored…" Walking forward, he selects one of the three persons, the lips beneath the mask splitting into a small, cruel smile. "…to assist in the endeavours of one born with Pure Blood."
The lovely autumn afternoon would be why a certain wanted wizard is out and about in his best disguise ever. All that was on Sirius's mind was enjoying the sun, maybe scaring up a few rabbits. However, those plans fly away faster than a Firebolt as his keen, canine senses pick up on the little fact that He Is Not Alone. Keeping to his canine form, Padfoot sniffs his way towards the intruders within the forest. It would be bad news if he's being looked for here, so this needs checking into.
"Drink up, my boy," Coos the man in the black robe. "It would be considerably easier for you if you complied." The victim, annoyingly enough, does *not* comply. With a sigh, Sechnall withdraws his wand, points it squarely at the man's chest, and mutters, "Crucio." The restrained man opens his mouth in a silent scream, and the Dark Wizard takes the opportunity to pour a mouthful of the water down his throat, then flicks the wand lazily to end the spell. "Very good. Now, let's see…" He leans forward, raises a hand to the prone figure, which has grown quite still, and lifts an eyelid quizically. The brown eyes in the mask-slits blink once out of confusion. "…dead. Why, he's dead as a stone."
The sight of the muggles bound to the tree and an obvious Death Eater torturing them is enough to make Sirius debate a reckless decision in his mind. Risk getting caught by wrangling with a lone Death Eater as himself, or stay put and watch. Neither is a good option, but something has to be done. He's never been the type to sit still when someone needs help. Without thinking, a growl rumbles deep in the dog's throat as one of the poor muggles dies from the concoction.
Ignoring the obvious panic of the other two Muggles (a woman and a teenage boy), Sechnall turns around and deposits the water back on the table. "Very odd. This is… very odd. Perhaps.. but not. I should make certain that these results are concrete." He lifts the vial once more and begins to walk in the direction of the woman, but suddenly stops mid-way and freezes in place, his hooded head twisting slowly in the direction of what he'd thought was a noise. The area under the trees is shadowy despite the time of day, and he sees nothing.. for now. After a few seconds he turns back to the woman. "Drink up. There's always a chance that the results last time were inaccurate, hm?"
Okay, not on his watch if he can help it! Hunching down into the grass, Padfoot watches, waits, then springs into action. Using the power and muscle of this form, he bolts forward, snarling, growling and ready to leap upon Sechnall. This is no attempt to merely frighten off, this is a charge and attack.
The vial gets very close to the Muggle woman's lips, and the Death Eater has his wand posed to forcibly repeat the same process he's already gone through once, when the sound of a growling animal (this time quite unmistakeable) causes him to halt and direct his attention to the charging beast. "What..!?" He hisses, obviously taken aback by the presence of the animal - it wouldn't be so surprising in the Forbidden Forest, but here? His wand snaps down to point at the ground still remaining between himself and the wolf-dog. This'll be close - hopefully he doesn't overshoot. "Expulso!"
Jaws snapping, and moving fast, the dog just barely misses the spell, by a hair or two. Far too close for comfort indeed. Landing in the tall grass opposite Sechnall, wicked teeth bared, the dog continues growling at the wizard. Without magic, this is an even more dangerous game to play. Even if he hid now, transformed and came back, his cover could be blown.
Cursing as the small explosion of dirt and grass blinds his vision momentarily, Sechnall steps back a pace or two. It quickly becomes apparent that he did not hit his intended target when the dog shows up in front of him once more, this time /far/ too close. He trains his wand squarely on the animal's chest. Clearly it's not just any ordinary dog, and his curiousity has been aroused.. but sometimes it's better to shoot first and ask questions later. "Avada Keda—" THUMP. The tied-up woman manages to land a foot firmly on the Death Eater's shin. Hissing in pain, he nearly stumbles over.
Clearly, the dog isn't going to stand around and let more spells get cast his way. He's continuously moving, especially when he hears 'Avada'. The rest is thankfully cut off when one of the muggles decides to get brazen. Snarling yet still, the dog charges at the wizard, aiming to snap his jaws on the wand-arm.
The Death Eater half-falls backward, recovering rather quickly despite the fact that he's just been shin-kicked and there's a large and very dangerous animal after him. Possibly he recovers as quickly as he does *because* there's a large animal after him. At any rate, he manages to get out of the way just in the nick of time, probably leaving Sirius with a few scraps of black material from his robe and just the tiniest hint of blood from having those long fangs scrape his skin. The Wizard continues moving backward, but takes a moment to point his wand in the direction of the conjured table - and the vial full of black liquid still located there. "Accio potion!"
Having the Death Eater giving his last rattling of breath would be nice. Although, when he retreats, the dog can't say he's sorry to see him go. Even with the evidence in hand. Sadly, there is a body left behind that will need to be studied. The bits of cloth in his teeth are spat out before he's snarling and barking once again. If Sechnall doesn't get moving, the dog may have a few other ideas to /get/ him going.
Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor, and whatnot. And these Muggles don't really matter to Sechnall in the least - although he does take the time to aim his wand at the woman. The one who so rudely /kicked/ him. Sure, he could just kill her now for her impudence and flee, but the fact that she dared to touch him is enough to make her end very painful. "/Engorgio/. Goodbye, doggy.. we'll be meeting again. Very soon," He hisses. And with that (and the potion secure), he Apparates with a loud pop, leaving Sirius alone - with two Muggles who are quickly beginning to wriggle in pain as the rope constricting them becomes very, very tight. Uh-oh, Padfoot.. better act quickly!
Oh no, you just did not.. the dog is suddenly gone, transforming hurriedly as the Death Eater Apparates away. With a quick flick of his wand, he's casting the reversal spell necessary to save the woman's life, "Reducio!" He doesn't give a damn if the two muggles see him. They're contained, and he can always alter their memories after the fact. Spell cast, he's flicking his wand again in the direction of Hogwarts. A large silvery shape sliding from the wandtip and flying to the castle.