Albus Potter and the Curse of the Deceiver

Articus

—CHAPTER 15—

Articus

Articus paced up and down the room. His dark, dirty hair fell scruffily onto his face as he walked. Timothy was dead. This wasn’t good. He heard the ongoing argument from the other room on who was going to be the new leader. Articus was next in charge but the argument was whether he would be able to carry out what Timothy had planned. Articus scowled to himself. Timothy would’ve never doubted his abilities. Timothy didn’t even show up until everything was over. He’d been a coward...sending his followers to do all the dirty work instead of facing it himself. 

‘Of course Articus will follow through!’ a voice shouted. ‘He does more than Tim ever did!’ 

‘But will he have the mind and the will to complete the task?’ another voice demanded. ‘Who knows?’ 

‘Well, we’re never going to know until we give him a shot, are we?’ the first person shot back. A small silence before quiet, unanimous murmurs of agreement. 

‘Sir?’ a timid voice asked Articus. ‘Sir...the boy who killed Tim...the Lupin boy? He’s leaving Hogwarts and is going to America.’ 

Articus raised on eyebrow. ‘Is that so?’ 

‘Yes sir.’ 

‘And is a teacher going to replace him as head of the legendary self defence group, Dumbledore’s Army?’ 

‘...No, sir.’ 

Articus waited for him to continue and when he didn’t, whipped out his wand and yelled ‘Imperio!’, pulling the messenger towards him before breaking off the curse. ‘Who is taking Lupin’s place?’ he demanded. 

‘A...Alanna C...Carter...sir,’ the messenger stammered. Gasps and shocked whispers filled the room and Articus stomped his foot angrily. ‘Silence!’ he roared. He turned back to the messenger. ‘Are you sure?’ he asked, his voice slightly sweeter. The messenger nodded. Articus threw him to the ground, swearing. Alanna was a threat. They had no location of Jordan, or Jared...they didn’t know who had been in the forest that night...therefore couldn’t track them down...but those people knew them. That was a disadvantage. However, Dumbledore’s Army had no idea that Articus knew about their new leader. That was an advantage. He guessed they would be smart enough to put two and two together and realise that he had taken power of Timothy’s group...

‘Sir?’ someone interrupted. ‘Sir, do we get rid of the Carter girl? She poses as a threat to us.’ 

‘No,’ Articus said sharply. ‘No...we don’t.’ 

‘T...then what do we do?’ the messenger whispered. ‘Who do we find?’ 

Articus smiled suddenly, his eyes narrowing. He leaned back in his chair, twirling his wand in his fingertips. He looked up to gaze upon what were now, his followers. ‘Gentlemen,’ he said silkily. ‘We want to avenge our old friend, Timothy Lockwood’s death. That will send a message to our dear friends who were in the forest. Find the Lupin boy...’ Articus hesitated, and then grinned sadistically, ‘...and kill him.’ 

FIN