Patrick Stump and the Flying Car Brigade

Chapter 39

 Chapter 39

The next weekend, I was walking through the Great Hall to get to Hogsmeade when I saw something strange. Brendon was also walking through the hall, but he was wearing a travelling cloak, and he was carrying some luggage and a cage containing a large brown owl with bright yellow eyes. "Where are you going?" I asked him as he hurried by.

"Wiltshire," he replied.

"There's no way that you're going to make it to Wiltshire and back before dinner," I said. "It's all the way in West Country."

"I know that, but I'm not going to be back for dinner," Brendon said.

"Why not?" I asked. "Professor McGonagall will take away house points for sure if you don't show up for dinner, and you could get in even more trouble."

"I'm dropping out," Brendon said. "I already talked to Professor McGonagall. I'm leaving Hogwarts for good."

"Why would you want to leave Hogwarts?" I asked. Even the least dedicated witches and wizards I knew would never even consider dropping out. Hogwarts was like a second home to most of us.

Brendon sighed. "It's a long story," he said.

"I have time," I stated. I would simply have to explain to Pete later that I was talking to Brendon. If I was lucky, I would be able to talk him into staying at Hogwarts.

"I got an offer to join a rather important organisation," Brendon said. "I think that things could work out really well with them, but they want me to drop out of school to help them full time."

"You're being very secretive, Brendon," I said. "Who exactly is this 'rather important organisation?'"

"Stop asking me questions!" Brendon shouted. "I'd hate to see you cry!"

"I can't help you if I don't know what's going on," I said.

"If you only knew what I've been up to, I guarantee you'd keep it secret," Brendon said.

"I'll keep it secret then," I said, and I meant it. I would never betray a friend like that.

"The Death Eaters are coming back," Brendon said. "They're regrouping, and I'm going to join them. They're going to take over the Ministry one day, and I want to be on the winning side of this war. That's why I'm leaving."

"Brendon, you can't do this," I said. "Even if the Death Eaters are reforming, they're evil."

"We're not evil!" Brendon exclaimed. "We're just taking back the crown from the Muggles. Finders keepers, losers weepers, Patrick."

"Muggles are just as good as wizards," I said. "You should know that. You're a half blood too."

"Don't remind me of that," Brendon said. "If only my father had married a pure blooded witch like he was supposed to, then I wouldn't have to hide from my own mother."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

Now, it was Brendon's turn to cry. "My dad still hasn't worked up the nerve to tell my mum that he's a wizard. They've been married for years, and he still keeps his wand locked away. She doesn't know that I'm a wizard either. I can't even tell my mum where I go to school or that I'm the captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team!"

"Is that how you got that telephone as a back to school gift?" I asked.

"You mean the fellytone?" Brendon said, wiping his eyes. "Yes. Mum kept asking me about school when I came back from Hogwarts last year, so I complained that everyone else had those things and I didn't. She got me a fellytone, and I didn't even know how to use it!"

"It's called a telephone," I corrected.

"Whatever," Brendon said. "Muggles are clearly inferior, so maybe if we get rid of them, then this won't happen. Wizards won't have to hide anymore, and everyone will be better off."

"Except for the Muggles," I said. "Remember, Muggles are people too."

"You don't understand Patrick, but I didn't expect you to get it," Brendon said. "It's not like I could go back anyways." He pulled up the sleeve of his cloak, revealing a jet black skull with a serpent coming out of it tattooed onto his forearm. "It's the Dark Mark," he explained. "It shows that I'm one of them now."

"It's not too late," I argued. "Things are better if you stay."

"How am I supposed to do anything if I stay?" Brendon said. "Patrick, there's a war coming, and I want to fight for what's right. Magic will triumph, and we will have a safe world for all wizards. Don't you want that?"

"I want wizards and Muggles to live in peace, and your Death Eaters are only trying to start a war," I argued.

"War is what we need!" Brendon exclaimed. "I don't what anyone else to go through what I did because of the Muggles."

"What about Dallon or Josh or Frank?" I asked. "Plenty of great people here at Hogwarts are Muggle-born."

"They're nothing to me," Brendon scoffed. "Patrick, things have changed for me, and that's okay. I feel the same, and you will only hear these elegant crimes."

"This isn't right," I said. "The Death Eaters are evil, and the Muggles are just like us. They just can't do magic. Everyone knows that."

"Maybe you're the one who's wrong," Brendon said. "We're taking back the crown, because the throne is our rightful place as wizards. You need to realise that before it's too late. Anyone who isn't with us is our enemy."

I tried to protest, but Brendon gave me a nasty glare and left the Great Hall. "So long and goodnight," I said, but he didn't respond. Brendon was gone, and there was no going back. All I could say was that I had done my best.

I hated to be the bearer of bad news, but I had to explain everything to Professor Howell and my classmates in Defence Against The Dark Arts the next day. As promised, I didn't tell them that Brendon had joined the Death Eaters, but I did had to tell them that Brendon had dropped out. Needless to say, everyone was shocked. "I don't get it," Miss Jackson said. "Why would he just drop out of Hogwarts?"

"Why didn't he tell us?!" Ryan exclaimed.

I couldn't answer them, so I decided that maybe it was time to adopt Brendon's mantra. Things had changed for all of us, and I was the only one to blame.