The Princess and the Dungeon Bat

Once her father had gone, Apollonia looked up at her three baby-sitters: the two red-headed brothers and the strange girl with bright blue hair. Her father’s order was in the back out her mind. “Make sure that these three have a miserable day and teach them a lesson in breaking the rules.” Well, Apollonia would do exactly that. She would make sure that her father’s wish came true. Plus, there was always the fact that Apollonia wanted to see just how far she could push before they cracked. The two red-headed boys—Bill and Charlie—assured her father that because they had a brother around her age that they could handle a morning of watching over her; Apollonia wanted to see just how long they would last.

The little girl peered up at her three baby-sitters who seemed to be talking amongst themselves about the baby-sitting job they had for the duration of their unique detention with her father. Apollonia could tell that they were not paying attention to their charge as they should have been. And, that would be their downfall; they’d regret not doing as they were told. “This should be a piece of cake,” Charlie was saying. “After several years of dealing with Fred and George, I’m sure that this will be no problem for us. Besides, what could a five year-old do that those seven year-old twin brothers of ours haven’t done?”

Apollonia scoffed. Clearly they thought that they would have no trouble baby-sitting her, that this detention her father came up with was nothing more than a nuisance. Well, Apollonia would prove them wrong; she would make them understand just how much a mistake it was for them to underestimate her. At that moment, Apollonia began plotting her revenge on them, particularly Charlie who seemed to think that this detention was a joke. Charlie Weasley will be in for a surprise, Apollonia thought. Hmm? I wonder if I can pull the Pepper Up incident on him. That would certainly be an interesting sight to see. And he’ll be suffering the effects of the potion for a good ten days. She laughed. There is no way that I ever pass up the chance to do this, not when Dad basically gave me permission to do so.

Her father was definitely going to regret giving her the chance to do whatever she pleased for the duration of this detention. Didn’t he understand that Apollonia would try to push the limit of his understanding in regards to what she was allowed to do? Since he gave the order, it appeared as if he didn’t, so the young Snape would use that to her advantage. While her baby-sitters were busy talking amongst themselves—not paying attention to her as they should—Apollonia slipped off to her father’s lab to prepare her revenge. Dad, you’re a genius. You warned them of what I did and still they did not listen.

***

Tonks seemed almost wary of what was going to happen. Charlie was indirectly bashing Professor Snape’s daughter and it would be a mistake. Because it was Professor Snape’s daughter—compared to anyone else’s—there was a chance that Apollonia might try something. Young Apollonia Snape could probably be as vindictive as her father. Tonks turned to her friend. “Charlie, are you sure you want to be bashing Professor Snape’s daughter?” Tonks asked him. “After all, you may be wrong. She might very well turn out to be a handful, even more so than your brothers. I don’t think that we should be underestimating her; not the daughter of a Slytherin.” She peered around the room, unable to find the five year-old. “Bill, Charlie, where is Apollonia anyway?” she inquired.

“You mean she isn’t here?” Charlie asked.

“No,” Tonks replied.

“Oh, yes; nice one, Charlie,” Bill scolded. “That was real smart. What if this was Ron, Ginny, or the twins? What would Mum do if it was discovered that we lost track of one of them?”

The younger Weasley rolled his eyes and looked up at his brother. “We’d be de-gnoming the garden until graduation,” Charlie mumbled. “And grounded until the end of the century.”

“Now triple what Mum would do to us and that’s the punishment Professor Snape will give us if he discovers that we lost track of his daughter almost immediately after he left,” Bill warned. Tonks noted the odd look that crossed the elder Weasley’s face as he began thinking this over, trying to figure out what was going on. “Where could a five year-old have disappeared to? How far could a five year-old have gotten in about five minutes?”

“She could be anywhere!” Charlie realized.

“And this is why we should have been watching her,” Tonks replied. “We have no idea where Apollonia could be because you had to start complaining. So thanks, Charlie; thanks for giving us even more trouble. Now, come on; we have to go find her. Like you said, she could be anywhere, getting into anything. Professor Snape will have our hides if he ever learns what happened.” She led the boys out of the room. “Okay, now where could she have gone?”

Bill shrugged. “It can’t be far. She’s five.”

“Could she have gotten outside?” Charlie queried.

“If she did, you better go find her,” Bill warned.

As Charlie disappeared to search the grounds for any sign of the young five year-old, Bill Weasley and Dora Tonks made arrangements to search the castle. “I’ll search the lower floors and the dungeon,” Tonks stated. “You know more of the castle, so you can search the upper levels.”

“This had better work,” Bill muttered, “else I’ll skin Charlie.”

“You won’t be the only one,” Tonks replied.

***

As she searched through her father’s stock, Apollonia could hear no noise coming from the other room. She peered out into the other room and found that her baby-sitters had disappeared. “Perfect,” Apollonia muttered when she realized that they left the room “Now I can work in complete silence, without interruption.” The five year-old returned to what she was doing, searching for the bat wings that would spell doom for Charlie Weasley.

***

Bill Weasley was searching the towers for any sign of Apollonia Snape. The chances of her being up there were slim, but he had to try. And, the worst part was that he, Charlie, and Dora were the only students aware of the five year-old’s existence, so he had no way of knowing where the five year-old might have run off to. Where could she be? the elder Weasley thought. It hadn’t been all that long since Apollonia disappeared. So, how was it that Professor’s Snape’s daughter could have disappeared so quickly? Under what circumstances was Apollonia Snape capable of disappearing right under her baby-sitters’ noses?

As he was searching for any sign of the girl, Bill came across one of his housemates. It was a friend of his, one of the few people he told of the detention with Professor Snape. “Hey, Bill, already done with your detention? For a Snape detention, that was pretty fast.”

Since there was no way for Bill to explain the true nature of his detention without revealing the Potion Master’ daughter, the eldest Weasley found himself incapable of providing an answer. “It’s a bit more complicated than that, my friend. Apparently, my brother caused a bit of a problem and is forcing me to come out here. My detention isn’t ending until early afternoon.”

“Oh, that’s too bad,” his friend stated.

“Yeah,” Bill grumbled, thinking of Apollonia and her disappearing act. Watching over Professor Snape’s daughter was definitely different than watching over the twins, Ron, or Ginny; Apollonia seemed to have inherited her father’s cunning. She found a way to sneak away from the trio of students that her father roped into baby-sitting her. Now it forced the Weasley boys and Dora Tonks to scour the school for any sign of the precocious little girl. “Sorry, but I’ve really got to get going. I have a bit of a deadline here.”

Once he was able to get away from his friend, Bill returned to his search. Finding Apollonia was far more important than chatting it up with one of his housemates. This was a Professor’s daughter—the Slytherin Head of House’s five year-old little girl—and if it was ever discovered that any of this occurred, Professor Snape would gleefully hand out even more detentions. Unfortunately, the fact that Apollonia disappeared gave Professor Snape ample reason to do so; Bill couldn’t afford to let that happen. Snape would have an even worse punishment lying in wait if he learned of the disappearing act Apollonia pulled.

***

Searching the grounds seemed a rather futile effort, Charlie soon realized. It was still warm out these days, meaning a lot of the students would probably be sitting outside on this Saturday morning. Out in the courtyard; by the lake; on the Quidditch Pitch; no matter where he went, Charlie found that his fellow classmates were around. Apollonia was a five year-old girl whom very few people seemed to know about. For those who knew nothing about Apollonia Snape’s existence, they would wonder why a five year-old girl was wandering about the school. There was no way that Apollonia would ever dare venturing out to the Hogwarts grounds without revealing herself to the entire school. It wouldn’t happen.

For awhile, Charlie wandered the grounds, not really wanting to go back in. He knew that this was all his fault; Charlie was the one to start making comments about what was going on. But, he was not really willing to sit through any lectures that Tonks or his brother decided to give. Charlie understood that he was to blame; he felt no need to have Tonks or Bill lecture him about what he caused. The Gryffindor stood at the base of the Black Lake, staring out at the cool, clear water. He lost track of exactly how long he was out there, at least until the giant squid slapped over the lake, causing a humungous wave to come crashing down on Charlie and some of the other students who were sitting at the lake.

Charlie left the lake sopping wet; his clothes were drenched as he walked up to the castle. Drat! I don’t have my wand, he realized. There was such a thing as a Drying Charm, only he couldn’t cast it without his wand. So, he trudged through the school, dripping the water through the halls. Filch is going to kill me. Argus Filch was almost as mean-spirited as Professor Snape, sometimes even more. He would not take too kindly to the fact that Charlie was dripping water all over the castle. “I shouldn’t have gotten that close to the lake.”

“No kidding,” a voice called.

The younger Weasley looked up from his feet to see that Tonks was just in front of him. “Still no sign of her?” Charlie asked. Tonks shook her head; the answer a resounding no. “Damn it!” Charlie gave Tonks a pointed glare. “Don’t say it, Dora. I know!”

“Well, you still shouldn’t have done it,” Tonks scolded. “We might not be in this if not for your callous remarks. Remember that, Charlie, for when Professor Snape decides to murder us.” She looked up and down at him. “Now, why are you sopping wet?”

“Giant squid,” Charlie noted, as if that explained it all.

“No drying spell?” Tonks asked.

“No wand,” he admitted.

“Idiot,” Tonks muttered, pulling her wand out from her pocket and casting the drying charm on her friend. “So, no sign of our charge outside on the grounds then?” Charlie shook his head. “If Snape ever finds out, you’re taking the blame for happened. Got that, Charlie?”

“Yeah, I’ve got it,” Charlie grumbled. They parted ways and Charlie headed off to the Great Hall to check for the five year-old little girl. Maybe Apollonia was hiding under one of the tables. Charlie hoped that they’d find the girl fast; otherwise, he was in major trouble.

***

Finding the Pepper Up was easy; Apollonia found it in a cabinet, a cabinet that seemed to be organized alphabetically. The bat wings, however, was a different story. After the incident when she was three, the bat wings were hidden away so she would never do something like that ever again, not like Apollonia would have. But, today was different; today she needed to teach Charlie Weasley a lesson. So, Apollonia searched for where her father might have hidden the bat wings, wanting locate these so that she could give the concoction to the younger Weasley brother. An idea was in place; all she had to do was find what she needed. “Where are they?” the five year-old muttered. “Where could they be?”

***

Upon parting ways with Charlie, Tonks slipped down to the dungeon. Maybe she was still down there. She, Bill, and Charlie had looked everywhere except the dungeon. After not being able to locate Apollonia anywhere in the castle, the dungeon was the only place left unturned. Tonks trooped back down to the dungeon. Tonks could see very little when she went down to the dungeon thanks to the dank, dimly-lit corridors. For whatever reason, Dora found that there were no signs that a five year-old girl was there. It was almost as if Apollonia had not stepped foot into the corridors. She never left, Tonks realized. She’s still somewhere within her father’s quarters. It seemed as if Tonks and the Weasley boys just wasted half an hour of their detention searching for a girl that wasn’t really missing.

The young metamorphagus carefully slipped back into the Potions Master’s private quarters and began turning the place upside-down. If Apollonia was nowhere else, she was hiding somewhere within her father’s quarters. Her room was empty along with her father’s study and the living quarters. “Damn it! Where is she?” the Hufflepuff grumbled.

“Where is who?” a small voice asked.

Looking up, Tonks found that a small girl with black hair had appeared, two vials in hand. “Apollonia,” Tonks scolded. “You can’t disappear like that without telling anyone. We were worried.”

“Sorry. I needed something,” the girl replied.

“You could have said something,” Tonks reminded.

“I did not want anyone to know,” Apollonia admitted. “I had to do something without the three of you learning what I did.” She indicated the two vials she held in her tiny left hand.

“Well, stay here,” Tonks informed the girl. “I need to go inform the Weasleys that I was able to find you. It’s pointless to continue any search. I’ll be back.” The second-year Hufflepuff emerged from the Potions Master’s quarter and went to find the Weasley boys. Apollonia was safe inside her father’s quarters; she wouldn’t be wandering anywhere around the school. That was definitely a relief. I’m sure Charlie will be happy to know that Apollonia is okay. He was beating himself up over the fact that she disappeared.

***

A good twenty minutes elapsed before Apollonia Snape was met with the sight of her three baby-sitters. She glanced over at the table where the Pepper Up potion and bat wings were sitting. All she had to do was convince Charlie to add the bat wings into the potion and it would blow up in his face…literally. I have to lie then; it’s my only chance. Charlie sneezed. Perfect, the girl thought. He’s coming down with a cold. I can use that to my advantage.

“Bless you,” Tonks said quickly.

“You have a cold,” Bill grumbled. “Well, see this is what you get for starting this in the first place. If not for you, we would have had to waste all that time searching for a little girl who didn’t seem to be missing at all. I hope you remember that, little brother; it is your fault.”

Charlie grunted. “I’ll store that away for future reference.”

It was at this point that Apollonia hopped from her seat, determined to see her plan through. She grabbed the two vials and handed them to Charlie. “Daddy had this lying around. I think it will help. Just dump the smaller vial into the large one; it should make it more potent.”

The Weasley willing took the vials from the little girl. “Thank you, Apollonia. I appreciate you help me, even after I said certain things.” He shot a pointed glare at Tonks and his brother before turning back to the vials. Apollonia had a somewhat evil grin on her face as Charlie dumped the bat wings into the Pepper Up potion, setting off a rather loud explosion. Apollonia giggled as Charlie began freaking out. Mission accomplished, the girl thought. Charlie is going to be in for ten days of absolute hell. It will not end well.