She whispered

by Lucas Chesterton

  ‘Alright, Cassie’, Elena beheld the other witch more shyly than was usual for her ��� there was something about her which she liked very much, but she couldn’t quite tell whether this was merely because of the unexpected offer. ‘I don’t know how to thank you.’

  ‘Don’t. I’m glad I can help.’ Cassie Cleary came closer to Elena and gently adjusted the pointed hat. ‘Just walk up to that door now ��� not the one Eddie’s guarding, mind you ��� and act as if you had every right to be here. The guys sitting next to me in there don’t know me, so they won’t notice. Don’t worry, it will be fine.’

  ‘Will you wait here? Because of your coat ���’

  ‘I will. And then we can have tea.’ Determinedly, she hooked her handbag to Elena’s arm and gave her a radiant smile. Then she shoved her firmly in the direction of the winged door. ‘Courage now! You’re a proud witch from Ireland and a Cleary at that. Nothing scares you!’ She winked.

  Elena was lost for words. Inside her, excitement threatened to bubble over. She could do nothing but beam at Cassie Cleary. ‘Um ��� see you later then ���’ she stuttered.

  Cassie nodded and, wrapping herself in Elena’s coat, sat down on the stone steps with a happy grin.

  The disguise worked fantastically. The Ministry official guarding the door only gave her a superficial glance and then opened it a crack, wide enough for Elena to slip through. With determined strides, she went down the steps of the aisle, counted the rows ��� three, four, five ��� and there was the empty seat right in front of her. She looked around quickly, but all eyes were down on the platform now, nobody was interested in a girl who’d just come back from the bathroom. Her heart beat nervously as she slipped into the seat and focussed on what was going on.

  To her chagrin, she found that Periwinkle was still in full swing. Of the five members of the bench, he did most of the talking, in fact he was having a field day, not much interrupted by the presiding witch who followed the proceedings with an air of serene boredom. ‘As I said before’, Periwinkle was snarling, ‘many of my esteemed colleagues would prefer to let the past rest. Leave all the old worries behind. I disagree on that point. I believe that there can be no future without proper processing of the past.’ He had started to pace in front of the chair on which Jack Daysen still sat, once more immovable. However, even from her seat which was quite at the back of the courtroom Elena could see him clenching his fists in his lap although his face was as stony as that of a marble statue, and she thought she could detect beads of sweat on his forehead, but maybe she was just imagining it because she could read his inner strain from the way he held himself.

  ‘During the last ten minutes, Professor, you have regaled us with stories on the involvement of some of your former associates’, at the word ‘regaled’, a little jolt went through Daysen and his fingers cramped even more, ‘mostly regarding persons who have already met their demise and can thus not refute your testimony.’

  ‘Cunning old bastard’, Elena thought, ‘suggesting that Jack only blames the dead and gives no information on the living.’

  ‘Hence, I would like to direct the Wizengamot’s attention back to yourself.’ There was a predatory smile on Periwinkle’s thin lips. ‘There is one incident specifically on which I would like to hear what you have to say, and I’m particularly curious on your own role in the affair. ��� I am talking, of course, about the McKinnon assassination.’

  The words dropped into the courtroom like so many buckets of stone. Again, there were sharp inhales, and it was obvious to Elena that everyone knew what Periwinkle was referring to. Even she had heard about it, and from Jack himself. She remembered it very clearly. That night in the lighthouse when they had both thought that they were going to die. His sudden urge to tell her about things and to issue some kind of confession. As a result, she knew that this was very dangerous ground.

  Elena almost felt relief when she saw Nell Nolan get up from her seat at the bench.

  ‘Madam Chief Warlock’, she said in her clear, even voice, ‘I am well aware ��� as are probably most of us ��� what a shattering event the murder of the McKinnon family was to the wizarding community. There is hardly anyone of us who hasn’t heard or wept about it. I specifically sympathize with my esteemed colleague who was perhaps closer to the McKinnons than anyone of us ���’ Her voice trailed off and she looked at Periwinkle in a way that was at the same time unsmiling and genuine before she took up her thread again. ‘However, past investigations have shown that the extent of what can be learnt about that night are limited. It is almost certain by now that Bellatrix, Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange committed most of the heinous crimes carried out on the night of the McKinnon assassination, and this is in line with other deeds of these individuals that have come to light since then, such as the torture of Alice and Frank Longbottom. I would also like to remind the Wizengamot that this event has occurred more than seventeen years ago, and although I am all for processing the past, I do question the rationale of going back that far. Certainly, very heinous crimes have occurred in the far more recent past on which the respondent might be able to shed light.’

  Even before Nolan had finished, Periwinkle’s jaws started to grind. He started spitting as soon as she made to sit down. ‘So if I understand my esteemed colleague correctly, we are to relinquish thoroughness in favour of the contemporary? In my mind, that equals repression! The McKinnon assassination was one of the most gruesome incidents known to the wizarding world, and although I would not by all means want to put it over recent brutalities, I think it my duty to remind the Wizengamot of the family that was slaughtered, the children that were tortured, the souls that were put through unspeakable agony in order to squeeze out every last ounce of pain before they were finally allowed to die ��� Letting a crime like that rest by not utilizing any means available to clear up what happened would be spitting in the faces of those children and I, at least, am not prepared to bear it!’

  During those last words, Periwinkle had thrust out his chest and raised his chin proudly. The problem was ��� he didn’t seem at all ridiculous. In fact, Elena suddenly felt herself sympathizing with the man. She saw that he meant what he said, that the assassination of the McKinnons had hit him in his core and during all those years he had never been able to put the shock to rest. It had defined him, had become the purpose of his life. It was what gave him a feeling of righteousness, and if truth be told, this feeling was entirely conceivable.

  On the pulpit, the Chief Warlock Eve Fawley moved lazily, then nodded at Periwinkle. ‘Please proceed’, she said with a small sigh.

  Periwinkle tried hard to suppress the triumph that made the corners of his mouth quirk, and he turned on his heel towards Daysen. The predatory gleam was back in his eyes. In her seat, Elena braced herself as if it was she who was on the brink of being grilled, not Jack.

  Periwinkle paused in front of Daysen’s seat, collected himself ��� Elena guessed that he chiefly did it for the effect ��� and then dealt out his question with the aggressiveness of a whiplash. ‘I’m sure you remember the McKinnon assassination, Professor Daysen?’

  Jack had followed the exchange between Periwinkle and Nolan with wary eyes, had remained unmovable on his chair, and for a few long seconds ��� during which the entire courtroom waited with baited breath ��� he did not react at all. Then he gave a quick nod.

  ‘I didn’t quite hear you there’, snarled Periwinkle.

  ‘Yes. I remember it’, coughed Daysen, and the angry line appeared once more above the bridge of his nose.

  ‘Good. ��� I have various testimonies here’, Periwinkle shook the stack of papers in his hand ��� these were his stronghold, his backbone, ‘that place you at the scene on the fateful night. Is this true?’

  A few seconds passed and again, Daysen sat very still. ‘Yes’, he acknowledged finally.

  Periwinkle looked smug. ‘So you are aware what happened
that night? What happened to the members of the McKinnon family? How they were wiped out, including the children?’

  Again, a monosyllabic ‘Yes’. Elena bit her lip and her hands started to tremble.

  ‘Anything to say about that?’ Periwinkle’s voice was a rusty bark.

  Daysen inhaled. ‘The Dark Lord had ordered us to kill the McKinnon family. No one was to be left alive. If anyone of us had not complied with that command, it would have meant sure death, and probably torture prior to that.’

  ‘So better torture and kill the McKinnons, eh?’

  Daysen jerked his head. ‘I did not condone the manner in which it was done!’ he said, his voice an indignant hiss.

  ‘You didn’t?’ Periwinkle opened his eyes in disbelief. ‘But you didn’t do anything to stop it, either?’

  ‘I couldn’t. The Dark Lord had ordered me to search the house. To find documents giving valuable information on the plans of the Order.’

  ‘You want us to believe you had no part in the massacre?’

  Daysen looked up, fixed Periwinkle with a stare. However, the anger had gone from his face. His cheeks had blanched once more and he looked pasty, unhealthy. Seconds passed. Finally, with an uncomfortable twitch, Jack Daysen spoke. ‘I killed Lawrence McKinnon.’

  Suddenly, the courtroom was so silent one could have heard a pin fall onto the stone floor. The words echoed and only very slowly a scandalized murmur rose up from the ranks. Elena’s fingernails dug into the flesh of her palms. ‘No, Sev, why did you say that?’ she thought frantically, but of course she knew. She had felt it in the night in the lighthouse, that he wanted to come clean, own up to his past mistakes. He wanted to be accepted for what he was, for the hero in him just as well as for the villain. Probably no one in Courtroom Ten other than she saw it, but it was the most poignant sign of his reform.

  Periwinkle’s eyes, however, glittered with a strange delight. ‘You did?’ he hissed.

  ‘He stood in my way when I tried to proceed to the first floor’, Daysen explained coldly. ‘We fought. I won.’

  The murmur increased. Suddenly, there was a holler from one of the backseats. ‘Offed him with an Avada Kedavra, as you did with Dumbledore, right?’

  While dozens of voices muttered assent, Daysen twitched and half-turned in his seat.

  ‘Silence!’ Eve Fawley’s voice rang through the courtroom, shrill and authoritative at the same time.

  ‘I did not use an Unforgivable Curse!’ Daysen thundered. ‘It is true I was a Death Eater. It is true I endorsed their world view for a while. But I never indulged in undue brutality. I found no pleasure in violence!’

  Nell Nolan got up suddenly, but Daysen ploughed on, not giving her half a chance.

  ‘As for Lawrence McKinnon ��� and if you absolutely have to know ��� I used a strong Stunning spell on him. It blast him backwards into the wall and broke his neck. He was dead instantly.’

  Elena closed her eyes. Around her, the murmurs swelled, developing into heated comments. When she looked again, she saw that people around her appeared either glum or scandalized. From where she was sitting, she could see Remus Lupin in his seat, hand at his mouth, slowly shaking his head from side to side.

  When Periwinkle spoke again, his voice quavered with excitement. ‘So you’re admitting to the murder of Lawrence McKinnon?’

  ‘Yesss’, hissed Daysen angrily. ‘You can put me in jail for that if you want to. But you should bear in mind that he was probably the only one in the family that had a comparatively painless death.’

  A new wave of shocked comments abounded. A female voice behind Elena said ‘The cheek!’

  ‘Do you want to make us believe, Professor, that what you did was a noble thing?’

  ‘War is not noble’, Daysen replied coldly. ‘It does, however, put people in a position where it’s either one’s own life or that of one’s momentary opponent. That is not a pretty truth, but a truth, I daresay, that everyone in this room has experienced in the past years. When it’s about life and death, there is no leeway for nobleness.’

  The murmurs died down a little, making place for silence again, but it was difficult to tell whether it was thoughtful or simply stunned.

  ‘Can anyone corroborate what you are telling us here?’ Periwinkle asked. ‘That you had no part in the massacre?’

  Again, Daysen did not reply for a few seconds. ‘Yes’, he said finally. ‘Lucius Malfoy. He was with me at all times, looking for the documents.’

  Ansgard Periwinkle nodded at the white-bearded wizard at the bench, Aeneas Crowley, who dutifully took some notes. ‘We are certainly going to question Mr Malfoy about this’, he said to Daysen with a note of malice in his voice.

  Elena watched Daysen looking down at his fidgeting hands.

  ‘I also ask the Wizengamot to take due notice of the respondent’s admission of guilt regarding the murder of Lawrence McKinnon, for further perusal. At least, that’s one issue finally cleared up.’ There was another gleam of triumph in Periwinkle’s eyes. ‘I have no further questions at the moment.’

  And with that he sat down, looking like the proverbial cat who’d ate the canary while his colleagues took notes and conversed in hushed voices.

  Finally, Nell Nolan got up again. Slowly, she advanced a few steps towards the chair where Daysen sat and then looked up at him with wide eyes. ‘You said you didn’t condone the McKinnon massacre, Professor Daysen?’

  He stared at her critically, then shook his head.

  ‘Tell us how you felt about what was done that night.’ Nolan’s voice was gentle, almost persuasive.

  ‘I thought it unnecessary’, Daysen murmured.

  Elena groaned. The guy in the seat next to her gave her a dirty look.

  ‘Unnecessary?’ Nolan repeated. ‘Is that all?’

  Jack shifted on his seat. ‘It was my decision to join the Death Eaters’, he explained finally. ‘I had to live with whatever it entailed.’

  Nell Nolan smiled. ‘Meaning that you wouldn’t go into self pity if anything happened that wasn’t to your liking?’

  ‘Now you’re putting words in his mouth!’ Periwinkle shouted from the bench. The Chief Warlock, Madam Fawley, made a cautioning face at the white-haired witch.

  ‘I’m merely trying to assess Professor Daysen’s emotional state at the time’, Nolan argued and looked back at Daysen. Her face was open, everything about her said ‘Come on, talk to me.’ Another jolt went through Daysen as he straightened his shoulders. ‘Also, I would like to know whether the McKinnon assassination did anything to change your ��� attitude?’

  Again, Daysen fidgeted. ‘I already said I didn’t condone it’, he said dully.

  Elena could see that Nell Nolan inhaled deeply. Maybe she sighed. ‘The McKinnon assassination took place in July of 1981. You told us before that you switched allegiance in September of the same year. ��� Did the night at the McKinnon’s contribute in any way to that decision?’

  ‘Relevance!’ snarled Periwinkle, but Nolan quickly held up her hand to Eve Fawley.

  ‘Considering that Professor Daysen went from Death Eater to Order of the Phoenix member quite suddenly, I think it is very relevant’, she argued, again in her clearest voice, and when Fawley gave another languid nod, she went on. ‘Well, Professor?’

  Once more, Daysen didn’t answer for a few seconds. When he finally spoke, his voice was hardly audible. ‘It made me ��� wonder. But it was not the reason.’

  Nolan came closer. She didn’t take her eyes off him. ‘Then what was, Professor? What made you switch allegiance? I think the Wizengamot would very much like to know, and to hear it from you.’

  Another irritable twitch. Suddenly, the colour began to mount in Daysen’s cheeks and he looked away, could not meet Nolan’s eyes. She, however, refused to let him out of her sight, stared at him almost imploringly. On her seat, Elena felt the battle that was going on inside of him; she sensed that he really wanted to shout at Nolan, tell her that sh
e already knew why and not to make him say it in front of this crowd, but to leave him alone at last.

  When the words finally came, it was as if they were wrenched from his throat. ‘It was ��� the murder of Lily Evans ��� I mean, Lily Potter ���’

  A complete hush descended upon Courtroom Ten. Everyone sat very still now, all pairs of eyes were on the wizard squirming in his seat and not daring to meet his questioner’s gaze.

  ‘Lily Potter’, Nolan repeated for those who had not heard it because Daysen’s voice had been so low. ‘You knew Lily Potter well?’

  He nodded slowly. ‘We were friends. When we were kids.’

  ‘Very touching’, Periwinkle broke in, ‘but maybe you should add that she wanted nothing to do with you anymore after you had made it clear that you were going to join Tom Riddle’s bunch of criminals! Or am I wrong?’

  Daysen looked up sharply and gazed coldly at Periwinkle. ‘No, you’re not. It’s true, she wanted nothing to do with me anymore. I never blamed her. In my mind, she was still my friend, even if I wasn’t hers.’ He looked down. ‘She is to this day.’

  Elena leant forward and hid the lower half of her face in her hands to conceal her inner torment. His acknowledgement was like a stab to her heart. ‘He still loves her’, she thought. But at the same time, she realized that this was a good move, him finally showing some emotion and so uncharacteristically letting others in on what was in his heart. Also, she sensed that this love he still carried inside him was the flicker of light that dispersed his darkness. Maybe the people gathered in the courtroom sensed it, too, for they had once more become completely silent.

  ‘Did you know beforehand that Tom Riddle was planning to hunt down and kill the Potter family?’ Nolan asked quietly.

  Daysen nodded ferociously. ‘Yes, I did. And I tried to change his mind. I pleaded, I got down on my knees ���’ He broke off, swallowed. ‘He would not listen. That was the point when I sought out Dumbledore.’

  ‘To what purpose?’

  ‘To beg him to keep her safe. And her family.’