The dread balloon, round VI

[pauraque_bk]

Round I: Dolores Umbridge
Round II: Vernon Dursley
Round III: Cornelius Fudge
Round IV: Bellatrix Lestrange
Round V: Albus Dumbledore

'Can't we draw straws this time?' Percy pleaded. 'Or at least vote?'

'An excellent idea,' said Lord Voldemort. 'I cast my vote for our... gracious host. I am certain Wormtail does as well.' He glanced down, and the rat nodded anxiously.

'In that case,' Dumbledore replied, 'I find myself forced to vote against you. And I am certain that young Weasley will agree, leaving us deadlocked.'

The other three looked at Percy, who was appearing ever more stressed and uncertain. 'Er...'

'Do not speak for this boy,' said Lord Voldemort, stepping towards him. 'Consider, my young friend... think. Who was it who gathered his enemies to him under the pretence of peace? Who proposed this ill-fated voyage? Who has been yammering on about losing altitude? Whose idea was it to start flinging people overboard one by one? As I once said many years ago to your former pet, here...' He picked up Wormtail and scratched him between the ears with one long finger. The rat shivered under the touch, though in pleasure or fear, it was impossible to say. '...the Headmaster may not be "Dark"... but he is certainly dangerous.'

Percy looked helplessly at Dumbledore. 'Is-- is that true?'

'Of course it isn't,' said the old man seriously. 'What cause have I ever given you to doubt me?'

Percy gazed uncomfortably from one side to the other. Wormtail -- Scabbers -- peered at him with beady eyes wide, perched on Lord Voldemort's palm.

'I-- I'm sorry, Headmaster,' he finally said, miserably.

Lord Voldemort smiled. 'I knew you would see it my way. An equitable vote, Albus, and you have lost.'

'Very well,' Dumbledore said quietly. 'I have often wished, Tom, that I had your knack for swaying the loyalties of young men.' He climbed to the lip of the basket, and turned to Percy. 'I hope you will be able to live with your decision.'

'I think I will, Headmaster,' Percy said.

And Dumbledore stepped lightly over the edge, as though fear of death had never crossed his mind.

'Well,' said Percy after a time, sounding a bit hoarse. 'Now what?'

Lord Voldemort gazed over the side. 'Hm. I'd have thought losing those heavy velvet robes of his would have done the trick.'

'You mean we're still falling?' Percy choked.

[Poll #397744]

The Balloon Master Sez: This balloon may be a piece of crap, but it wasn't made by Diebold. ONE VOTE PER PERSON.

[EDIT: This round is closed. Proceed to round VII.]

Comments

[paradox01.livejournal.com]

'Can't we draw straws this time?' Percy pleaded. 'Or at least vote?'

Rock on, Percy! :D

[atalantapendrag.livejournal.com]

*waves the Percy-love flag and resumes Emergency Percy Rescue Duties*

[biichan.livejournal.com]

Already posted my campaign link!

[tekalynn.livejournal.com]

Goodness. Nothing became his life like the leaving of it.

*wipes away solitary, trickling tear*

Ah, good riddance. But what a terrific, guilt-inducing exit speech! Fifty points for sheer class.

And now it's time to take out the Other One. *cracks knuckles*

[bethbethbeth.livejournal.com]

Man, I'm glad I'm not in charge of these sorts of decisions in real life...I let Percy go, and I'm already feeling guilty. *g*

[cleverthylacine]

FINALLY!!!!

[biichan.livejournal.com]

*grins* He went out the way he came in, don't you think?

[noblerot.livejournal.com]

Ahhh, Dumbledore sleeps with the fishes. Praise the (Dark) Lord!

Except... now I have to make real choices.

*thinks very hard*

The Rat must stay. Percy bought me an ice-cream cone in a dream the other night. I guess that means... well, Bella will be glad for the company.

[pauraque]

Percy bought me an ice-cream cone in a dream the other night.

Once I dreamed that Peter came to my store and bought a filing cabinet. What he intended to file, I could not tell you.

[tekalynn.livejournal.com]

Or who?

[atalantapendrag.livejournal.com]

Oh gods, icon love like you wouldn't believe.

And Percy's been busy in dreams lately. He (well, ok, I think it was really Chris Rankin) showed up at a movie theater in a recent dream of mine.

[iibnf.livejournal.com]

I'm going to abstain from voting from now on. Now that Dumbledore is gone, I feel I can rest.

(BTW - people set up sockpuppets to vote? Eeep...)

[pauraque]

(Yeah. Perhaps we should have invited the UN to observe the proceedings...)

[liwy.livejournal.com]

No. People used pre-existing sockpuppets to vote.

[pauraque]

Right, that's true. Afaik no one created a sock puppet for this game specifically.

[ani-bester.livejournal.com]

Oh wow! That was the best yet! Way to write Voldemort's silver tonque. Now there's a villian to be feared!

[pauraque]

Thanks. :)

[chthonya]

This balloon may be a piece of crap, but it wasn't made by Diebold.

LOL :)


I came across this when it had reached (I think) round three, but this is the first time I've voted (and I won't do it again until the next round, promise).

Getting rid of Percy or Peter at this point would be too easy. I want to see how you get Voldemort out of that balloon. :)
Sure to be bl**dy hilarious, if the previous rounds are anything to go by!

[notfudge.livejournal.com]

People are still cheating?!
Jeez, GET A LIFE!
Don't they have better things to be doing with their time?
Plus, it's far, far more interesting this way!

[dailyplanet.livejournal.com]

Now is your time, PETER ...

STRIKE!

STRIKE!!!!

We all know who is the TRUE LORD !!!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_hannelore/]

Ooh, now it's going to be all about the Peter/Percy. "slashing through the snowwww..."

[(Anonymous)]

Not a voting party, but I just wanted to add my compliments to Eo on the writing of this, er, tale (tail? Given that Peter's still around...)

The quality of your vignettes and of the characters has been excellent, particularly considering the brevity of each piece. Keep up the good work! :-)

p@,
Glenn

[pauraque]

Thanks, Glenn. I'm glad you're enjoying it. :D

[erinellii.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I'm hoping all the pro-Peter people are voting for Voldemort, and at least some of the pro-Percy's are already voting Peter, otherwise my rat is in trouble.

If only they could both stay...

[strangemuses.livejournal.com]

'Very well,' Dumbledore said quietly. 'I have often wished, Tom, that I had your knack for swaying the loyalties of young men.' He climbed to the lip of the basket, and turned to Percy. 'I hope you will be able to live with your decision.'

'I think I will, Headmaster,' Percy said.


Hahahahahaha! Of course he'll be able to live with his decision!

I voted against Voldemort this time. I'm hoping that it gets down to Percy and Peter.

[trobadora]

I used to think I wanted Peter to survive, but after this part I think I want a Voldemort/Percy showdown...

[pauraque]

Either outcome would be fun to write, I think.

[trobadora]

Eep! Now it looks like it's going to be Percy/Peter... what the hell?

(and is there any reason why they aren't Apparating, anyway? - yes, I'm slow; that only just occurred to me!)

[joiedumonde.livejournal.com]

Because that would make sense. And we all know that fanfiction (much like the books) is supposed to be as unrealistically real as possible.

did that make any sense whatsoever? Didn't think so. *Is going to bed now, as she has to be up in 4 hours*

-Joie
(Great storyline by the way. Took me awhile to figure out the whole voting thing, but I'm hooked now!)

[erinellii.livejournal.com]

Because it said in the very first post that they didn't bring wands on the balloon, as it was a peace summit. And you need your wand to apparate.

[liwy.livejournal.com]

You do?

[chthonya]

It's not specified in canon, to my knowledge. (I went looking after panicking about the original draft of Invictus C3.) JKR may have said something about it in an interview, though I've never heard that she specifically addressed the issue. She has indicated, I think, that wandless magic is less reliable/strong/easy to use, though personally I think it's arguable that Apparition could use the body as a focus so could be more reliable than most.

As for the balloon, I found myself wondering the same thing last night, re-read the first chapter and just assumed that pauraque was going with the 'you do need a wand to Apparate' option. Alternatively, perhaps they put Anti-Apparition wards on the balloon to prevent unwelcome visitors during their peace conference?
(And if they didn't, perhaps we can get an occupant top-up and the story won't need to end after all! ;)

[liwy.livejournal.com]

Well, I can't remember a single instance of a wizard using a wand to Apparate or Disapparate, and I think that notion is sheer fanon. But wards would be effective, I agree.

[chthonya]

Yes, I couldn't find one and I looked, believe me! But neither does it say explictly that a wand is not needed. So personally I reckon it's still open. I tend to the view that wands aren't required, but I've found it difficult to write plots that depend on it because I never know which assumption readers are going to make.
(Hmm. It just struck me that a wandless aspect to Apparition could account for its difficulty.)

I suppose we'll find out in Book 7 if not before, as Harry will be old enough to learn by then.

[trobadora]

as unrealistically real as possible

That's a really wonderful way to put it!

(And it's a shame, isn't it, that soon no one will be left and the story will have to come to an end...)

[pauraque]

In the first round, it was explained that they don't have their wands.

[leni-jess.livejournal.com]

I see the numbers are against me, but realistically, unless Voldemort has a reason to hang on to an incompetent if enthusiastic Ministry flunky, why wouldn't he and Peter agree to toss Percy? I don't envy you, having to rationalise a successful tossing of Voldemort! Next step, of course, is exit Peter.

Has anyone brought up the issue that if Dumbledore could get out of Azkaban, no probs (and he said he could), why couldn't he get safely out of a sinking balloon? wandless or not - wandless magic is rather a thing of his. I've been assuming this was his aim - to get rid of some at least of the worst threats to the wizarding world (Voldie too, if he got lucky) then come back and declare peace.

[pauraque]

In answer to both of your questions, realism doesn't play a very big part in this game. *g* I have my hands full rationalizing the will of the people without worrying about anything else!

[noblerot.livejournal.com]

I think we should instigate a new genre called fanfic verite. Everything will be written in grainy black and white, and sentence rhythm will undulate like a hand-held camera. Non sequiters and extraneous background converation will add to the grainy realism. Fanfic verite writers will not be authors, but auteurs. You know, purveyors of an indie, lo-fi aesthetic and champions of street credibility. Art, baby, art.

*makes popcorn*

[atalantapendrag.livejournal.com]

Because Percy's sexy :) Voldemort can toss Peter over the edge (sorry babe!) and get some tasty Percy action.

[ellid.livejournal.com]

Ah, but remember - Percy was Peter's master for longer than Voldemort. Think of all the ratlove! Think of him whispering vile nothings into little Percy's shell like ears! Think of the baby bunnies!

WILL NO ONE THINK OF THE BABY BUNNIES??????




*what baby bunnies, you say? Why, the ones Peter threw out of their hutch so he could shiver, cold and alone, in the Weasley rabbit hutch so little Percy could find him and bring him inside and hug him and love and call him Scabbers!*

[s8219.livejournal.com]

Hmm...

::starts making room in the boat for the Dark Lord::

[luinthoron.livejournal.com]

Come on, people - Percy deserves to go for this. And it would be so extremely amusing!

[slinkhard.livejournal.com]

Bwhahaha! *lives with her vote to toss Albus*
I'm afraid it's time to toss Voldie. Can't possible choose between Peter and Percy until the bitter end. *dreads*