- o0o -
Sorting Things Out
- o0o -
The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful, for Raven at least, since she spent it with Malfoy and his goons, who were about as silent as Hedwig while she and Draco spoke about various things, shared plans and so on. Raven didn't really trust Malfoy, but he seemed fairly useful, having a father with money and influence… who had also been a former supporter to the Dark Lord and likely a part of his inner circle. Not to mention the fact that Draco himself seemed fairly easy to influence, as long as one made sure to make it seem like it was Draco himself who was holding the strings, but even if Raven desired a certain amount of influence she preferred having allies who actually thought for themselves instead of just following the lead. Independence was allowed, as long as they didn't try to beat her into submission, like her dear Uncle Vernon and Cousin Dudley had done before she discovered her abilities.
As they had finally reached their stop they got off the train and were met with a giant person who Raven silently wished she hadn't met again.
"First years, first years!"
Hagrid.
"Remember… Two in each boat, only two in each boat…"
And, as the icing on the cake, it appeared that all first years had to travel in small boats over a freaking lake…
I hate water, I hate water, I hate water, I hate water…
To Raven's surprise and utter shock Draco discreetly took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. She withdrew it from his grip almost immediately, staring at him. He smirked cockily at her.
"Shall we?"
Raven gave him a very unfriendly glare, but tagged along anyway.
Raven and Malfoy sitting in a boat, will soon be in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g…
Shut up or I'll make sure we both drown.
- o0o -
"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,
But don't judge on what you see.
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can top them all
There's nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can't see,
So try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
If you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folk use any means
To achieve their ends
So put me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands (though I have none)
For I'm a Thinking Cap!"
- o0o -
Raven stared at the hat on the stool as it fell silent again before giving the rest of the school in the Great Hall a glance before once again staring at the hat. Talking hats… those wizards really were insane…
Professor McGonagall, the Deputy Headmistress, brought out a parchment and read out loud.
"Hannah Abbot!"
Hannah Abbot sat down on the stool and put the hat onto her head and the hat called out "Hufflepuff!"
Raven's eyebrow twitched. So this is the Sorting…
What the Hell did you expect? Dragons?
"Susan Bones!"
"Hufflepuff!"
Raven tried to resist yawning; this was clearly taking too long.
"Hermione Granger!"
The bushy haired girl went to get sorted.
"Gryffindor!"
Now… Let's hope we won't get in the same House as either her or Weasel, shall we?
"Neville Longbottom!"
"Gryffindor!"
…And that guy ran off with the hat…
"Draco Malfoy!"
"Slytherin!"
Then finally…
"Raven Potter!"
The Great Hall broke out into whispers as Raven, without the least of concern, strolled up to the hat and placed it onto her head. Soon another voice was heard inside her head.
"Let's see here, let's see here… What do we have in here…?"
And to make it even better, the singing hat from before was now shifting through her memories while muttering, mostly to itself. God, was there no bloody privacy in this place?
"You needn't worry yourself for what I may encounter inside that pretty little head of yours,"the hat spoke, like it could read her mind, which it did by the way. "My job is to Sort, not to pry… Let me see here now…" the hat paused briefly "Plenty of courage, believe it or not. Oh, don't believe me? Tch, such a skeptic. But foolhardy, I think not. Such emotional control in such years is quite rare you know? But beware; too much control and self-restraint and you may end up losing sight of yourself…"
And what the Hell is that supposed to mean?
"Well… there'd be no fun in spoiling it all for you on the first day; some things you just need to figure out on your own…" the hat continued. "Nevertheless, this much is for sure; you are definitely not Gryffindor material… No matter what kind of expectations our world may have bestowed upon you…"
Well, somebody's got to betray their expectations… It wasn't like I asked to be put high up on some pedestal under a ridiculous name like The Girl-Who-Lived, was it?
"I feel greatly inclined to agree with you on both accounts; magical folks can be surprisingly thickheaded sometimes…"
As much as I do agree to this sentiment, I would very much appreciate if you would be so kind as to continue with this Sorting; I don't want to sit here all day…
"Fine then," the hat snorted. "You are in possession of both loyalty and intelligence, but you certainly do not appear hardworking or friendly enough to be a Hufflepuff, or book-smart enough to classify as a proper Ravenclaw. While not particularly ambitious at the moment you can certainly be cunning enough when you want to be and therefore I'd wager Slytherin fits the bill quite well… Any objections?"
Not really.
"Then good riddance to you. SLYTHERIN!"
- o0o -
The last part was shouted out into the Hall, resulting in a great silence. Raven had a hard time hiding her smirk as she shrugged the hat off and placed it back onto the stool before making her way towards the Slytherin table at a steady pace. The Great Hall was completely silent and hundreds of shocked pairs of eyes were directed at her. Draco stood up at the Slytherin table and started clapping his hands, soon to be joined in by several other Slytherins and the noise got louder and louder as the Ravenclaw table also joined in. The Great Hall went very quiet once Raven sat down next to Malfoy, who looked clearly amused.
"Ron Weasley!"
"Gryffindor!"
"Blaise Zabini!"
"Slytherin!"
And so the Sorting ended and Blaise Zabini sat down at the Slytherin table next to Raven while the Headmaster stood up and said a few words of wisdom…
Four words of utter stupidity.
"Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!" before adding a swift "Thank you!" to it and bowing for the applause while further convincing Raven that he really was out of his mind.
Dumbledore having every student singing what appeared to be the school anthem gave Raven an urgent need to bang her head against the wall or the table in front of her. Once they had finally finished it Raven was more than ever convinced about the fact that she was making a grave mistake by joining this society.
- o0o -
"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,
Teach us something please,
Whether we be old and bald
Or young with scabby knees,
Our heads could do with filling
With some interesting stuff,
For now they're bare and full of air,
Dead flies and bits of fluff,
So teach us things worth knowing,
Bring back what we've forgot,
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,
And learn until our brains all rot."
- o0o -
"There she is."
"Where?"
"Over there."
"Did you see the scar?"
"Is she going dark?"
"Slimy snakes…"
It was already early in the morning, way before noon, and Raven still had to apply all her self-control not to cause any random fires to erupt, setting their hair on fire or something along those lines. Those persistent whispers annoyed her to no end and were giving her a headache, along with the fact that the castle was the ideal place to get lost in, so Raven, due to the fact that her sense of direction was virtually inexistent, was already lost and annoyed enough to hurt somebody.
The only faintly amusing part of it all was the various reactions she had gotten so far from the members of different houses. The Gryffindors loathed her, she was able to tell as much; according to them she was a Dark Witch in the making and quite frankly Raven would at the moment not want to disappoint them since the majority of them seemed to consist of a certain number of prejudiced gits. The majority of Ravenclaw and Slytherin regarded her with a sense of cold dissatisfaction, since she was nothing like they had expected. Some Slytherin, Death Eater spawns, loathed her even if a few of them seemed very eager to make her acquaintance, just like Draco Malfoy. The funniest reaction belonged to the Hufflepuffs, or at least the first and second years, since they ran as fast as they could in the opposite direction whenever they encountered her, amusing Raven and her fellow Slytherins to no end.
Raven even considered hissing at them, merely for the effect of it, but she refrained from wreaking havoc, seeing that she hadn't even made it into class yet. Double Potions with the Gryffindors… she could already see where this was going. The teacher in that particular subject, Severus Snape, was the Head of the Slytherin House and well-known for favoring those of his own, but Raven, who had locked eyes with him, wasn't late to notice the fact that Snape loathed her almost as much as he loathed Gryffindor even if he had only laid eyes on her once and she hadn't actually done anything… yet.
Now that could actually be investigated, and seeing that the Beard… Hagrid… lived on the premises then Raven might even have a way to find out.
Almost a week had passed since Raven arrived at Hogwarts and she could say, with complete honesty, that so far the curriculum of the school was about as interesting as watching paint dry.
Wandering down into the dungeons and entering the classroom Raven gave the rather interesting items around the walls a brief glance before sitting down at the back of the classroom, joined at the same table by a girl named Daphne Greengrass.
Snape made his dramatic entrance, pulled out the list and started checking the attendance. When he arrived at Raven's name he looked up at her, giving her a look very similar to the one Uncle Vernon usually gave her across the table every morning at Privet Drive.
"Raven Potter…" he said in a low voice. "Our new… celebrity."
Raven stared straight at him with an indifferent look on her face as Snape made a more or less longwinded explanation on his subject, before he suddenly got to the part Raven supposed he had been waiting for all along, namely the chance to grill new students he didn't like with questions of some sort.
"Potter! What happens if I add powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
"You would get the Draught of Living Death… sir," Raven replied, keeping her voice level and her face indifferent while silently thanking her inner voice for having provided her with an answer.
Snape affirmed it before moving on with the next question, also directed at Raven. "Potter, where do I find a bezoar?"
"Inside the stomach of a goat… sir."
Snape raised an eyebrow. "Indeed. Then what, Potter, is a bezoar?"
Raven tilted her head to the side, contemplating the question for a brief moment. "A stone capable of counteracting most poisons… sir."
Snape continued glaring at her. "Correct," he said before continuing with his next question. "What is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"
Raven tilted her head to the other side. "They're the same plant and it is also called aconite… sir."
Snape gave her an odd look before turning away and writing instructions on the board. As they had started on their potion Raven quietly asked Daphne which color the potion was supposed to be, earning herself a very odd look. Still, Snape had no complaints about their potion as he swept past them on his way to remark the poor quality of some Gryffindor's potion. It was soon after that when the Gryffindor named Neville Longbottom blew up his cauldron, getting himself drenched with the failed potion, but Raven didn't look all surprised since she had heard her inner voice laughing about it more than five minutes before it actually happened. Points were taken from Gryffindor and Longbottom was taken to the Hospital Wing by another Gryffindor named Finnegan or something like that. Luckily enough this brought Potions class to an end and Raven had just got her stuff and was on the verge to leave when somebody stopped her.
"Potter, stay behind."
Raven turned around, looking at the man in question, namely Snape. Come to think of it, that man looked far too much like a vampire for comfort.
"The Headmaster has requested to see you."
Somehow, Raven had a bad feeling about this.
- o0o -
Headmaster Dumbledore's office was a rather interesting place. It contained all kinds of interesting items, such as silver instruments on the Headmaster's desk, the portraits of former Headmasters of Hogwarts and a bird which looked like it was going to croak at any minute, and Raven took the opportunity to take her time while looking at them, making sure to avert her eyes from the person sitting behind the desk as she did so.
Yes. Albus Dumbledore, aka Twinkle-Twinkle as Raven sometimes privately referred to him as, the very personification of what-would-happen-if-one-mixed-Merlin-and-Santa-together himself, except with a complete lack of fashion sense and a ridiculous hat… and half-moon glasses which Raven suspected was only there to make him look smart. The long white beard spoke of great age and probably wisdom, but Raven knew better than to trust this somewhat grandfatherly appearance, mostly since those insanely twinkling blue eyes of his proved to be quite unnerving.
Actually, Raven's initial thought had been that she never wanted to be left alone with Twinkle-Twinkle, much less in his office where she would be completely at his mercy, so she adapted the very simple state of mind that as long as she never looked him directly in the eye, she was probably safe.
"Raven, you seem awfully… distracted?"
Oh really? Are we on a first name basis already, Headmaster?
"I hear you wished to see me… sir."
Technically, he has seen us, since he's been staring at you for the last five minutes or so. Can we leave?
No.
Can we set his clothes on fire? Her inner voice pressed on, doing a fair impression of the pyromaniac she had originally been.
No. Not yet at least.
"How have your day been, Raven?"
Raven's eyebrow twitched and she looked up at him for the first time, staring bluntly at his crooked nose, still avoiding eye contact. "It's Miss Potter, sir."
The twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes faded a little but Raven paid it no heed. "Then, Miss Potter…" the old man said in a soft and overly friendly manner as the rather insane twinkle returned. "How do you like the school so far?"
Raven resisted the urge to roll her eyes, retaining her very neutral expression as she let her eyes wander away from the man and onto his bird, which looked like it was on its last ropes. "Do you want an honest answer, sir?" she asked.
The insane twinkling intensified. "Yes, that would be greatly appreciated."
Sighing, Raven turned her head towards the portraits that were all watching her with keen interest while pretending to sleep.
"The curriculum is outdated and incomplete. Some of the teachers are downright boring or incompetent. The Sorting encourages segregation and the presence of different Houses encourages prejudice and further segregation which leads to bullying…" she said, turning her head back towards Dumbledore and locking eyes with him for the first time. "To sum it up, this school isn't so different from all other schools I've gone to, with the exception that this one is magical. What more do you want me to say?"
Almost immediately she felt a feather light presence brush against her mental shields while her alter-ego let out a disapproving growl, pushing the presence back and shoving it out before the probe managed to accomplish anything. Dumbledore blinked, obviously surprised.
"Now, now, my girl…" he said, once again with the same grandfatherly tone. "It can't be that bad…"
Raven stared straight at him, seeing right through him. "You're right actually, sir," she said frostily. "It isn't that bad, it's worse than that. Now stop trying to probe inside my head or I'll do something very regrettable…"
Dumbledore once again looked surprised, but made a swift recovery. The twinkle had dulled yet again. "Why would I be probing inside your head, my girl?" he asked in a soft tone.
"I'm not going to speculate about your reasons…" Raven said in a voice which seemingly caused the room temperature to drop several degrees. "…But I can clearly tell that using Legilimency on a minor without the consent of his or her guardian or the individual herself is illegal…"
And thank you Inner Voice for teaching me such big words.
A snicker was heard from inside her head.
"I don't know what you're talking about, my girl…" Dumbledore said, still in the same grandfatherly way even if his façade was steadily crumbling to pieces.
"I'm not your girl and I will never be…" she said, her voice silky yet laced with poison. "Neither will I allow myself to be used as a mere pawn in your game, old man. Not all people can be bent to your will. Deal with it."
With that she turned around, walking out of his office without even waiting for permission. Dumbledore wasn't even fast enough to stop her or even try to protest before she had already disappeared down the winding staircase.
That had been her first one on one conversation with Dumbledore, a process she wasn't very keen on repeating anytime soon, at least not before she had been able to dig up some dirt on him so that she would be able to use blackmail… or tip off the newspapers about that Legilimency thing.
Well… that didn't go all too well…, her Inner Voice announced as they were at enough distance.
"Oh… you don't mean that…" Raven stated in a low voice dripping with sarcasm. "I thought it went astoundingly well… Besides, I'm not done with him just yet."
Picking a fight with members of the big league already, are we? You're more reckless than I expected.
Not necessarily too reckless. Regardless, you did a great job in shoving the old coot out of my mind.
Well… I can't have him messing around with what's mine now, can I?
Raven paused momentarily. "Yours?" she inquired.
'Mine," the other affirmed.
Then, Evil Mastermind, would you care to define what the Hell that's supposed to mean?
I'm a voice living inside your head, meaning that I have a quite comfortable little room inside your mind. Think of it as a cozy little apartment which I do not like company in.
Raven's eyebrow twitched. You arranged my mind to look like an apartment of some sort and you're living in there?
Well… technically your mind is the living room where I sit and enjoy the view. My room is a cupboard.
Right… I'm heading off to the library now since I doubt Binns will even notice I'm gone. We can continue talking about this… issue… when we get there.
- o0o -
Raven made her way to the library, not at all surprised that she found Hermione Granger seated at one of the tables, barely noticeable behind a mountain of books.
"You must really love books…" she said, seating herself on the other side of the table with a random book she had snatched from the bookcase closest as she had swept by.
Hermione looked up, visibly surprised, but then her eyes narrowed and she looked back down into the book she had been reading.
"What are you doing here, Da… Potter?" she asked, spitting the last part out as if the words tasted badly in her mouth.
Raven had to restrain herself not to laugh. "You may call me Darcie, since I happen to favor that name much more than my given one."
Hermione's head snapped up and the bushy haired girl almost snarled at her. "You didn't answer my question… Darcie."
Raven blinked. Then she smirked, flipping the pages in the book she was holding.
"Right… What am I doing here?" she said in a thoughtful manner. "Since 'here' is currently in the middle of a library and a library is filled with books and books are filled with useful knowledge and knowledge is power and I need power in order to survive my twentieth birthday…" she paused briefly, glancing at her. "Why do you think I'm here, Granger? Did you think I'm here hiding from my tormentors like you are?"
"I'm here to read," Hermione stated, flipping the page before starting on another one. "I'm not hiding from anyone."
Raven tilted her head to the side. "Not even Weasley and his lackeys?"
"I'm not afraid of them," Hermione stated, still not looking up and therefore missing the rather feral grin that had spread across Raven's face.
"I never suggested that you were…" she purred, obviously enjoying herself. "I merely suggested that you were hiding."
The other girl's head snapped up. "I'm not hiding from anyone, Darcie…" she said in a calm voice. "Now… unless you've got anything you want then I suggest you leave."
Raven actually found herself admiring the girl for not lashing out at her yet.
"Sorry, but I have nothing better to do than to pester you right now with my very existence…" Raven stated with a grin. "So… How's it going?"
"Tell me why I should answer that."
"If you answer my question then I might leave you alone…"
Hermione glared at her.
"Right… So Weasley hates me, he calls me a know-it-all and a nerd and no one really ever talks to me, except when it comes to requesting me to do their homework…" she spat. "Is that what you wanted to hear, so that you can call me a mudblood like Malfoy and spit after me wherever I go?"
Raven blinked, surprised for real this time. "…Why would I do that?"
Now it was Hermione's turn to look surprised. "Why? Because you're a…"
"…Slytherin?" Raven questioned. "A slimy snake who is basically a Dark Witch in the making?"
Hermione didn't answer and Raven sighed soundly as she slammed the book shut and slammed it onto the table. The Librarian, Madam Pince, looked up briefly from her desk before looking down again.
"Really Granger…" Raven said, speaking in an almost disappointed undertone. "I expected more of you than to listen to Weasel's ramblings about Slytherin. That prejudice is exactly why Slytherins behave like they do, since such behavior is expected of them. It's like a self-fulfilling prophecy. And, if a Slytherin doesn't act like a Slytherin he or she becomes a traitor. In order to play the game one has to be sly and cunning, ready to befriend or to backstab in a heartbeat. The other houses won't trust Slytherins, so Slytherins must trust themselves, to stay together at all costs. And, since we're speaking of prejudice, just look at yourself for a moment…" she paused briefly for the effect before giving the girl an overly critical look before she continued "You spend most of your time reading, wants to do your very best in every subject… When you speak you speak like you do know everything, or at least like you know better than anyone else… And, as far as I know, you worship authority figures. What does that make you?"
"I don't act superior and I don't worship authority figures…" Hermione protested.
"Prove it," Raven countered. "Allow me to quote you… 'You're saying it wrong. It's le-vi-oh-sa, not le-vi-o-sah'."
Her eyes narrowed at this.
"I didn't say that…" she snorted. "And you're pronouncing it wrong."
Raven tilted her head to the side.
"You just proved my point…" she said, earning herself an accusing look.
"You did that on purpose."
"Guilty as charged."
Hermione muttered something incoherent as she returned to her books, then she looked up again, as the one disturbing her concentration still had not left. "So what do you want anyway, Darcie, besides decreasing my study time?"
"Nothing really, but then again, now that you're asking, what would you say about an alliance?"
Hermione Granger looked like she didn't believe her ears. "A what?"
"An alliance." Raven repeated in a light manner, as if it would be the most natural thing in the world to purpose. "It would be beneficial for both of us."
The bushy-haired girl's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What sort of alliance?"
In reality Raven wasn't exactly sure about what sort of alliance she was planning either, but then a plan slowly took shape inside her mind.
"Let me put it like this…" she stated with a neutral look on her face. "It's nothing major, but I need you to watch my back from Gryffindors and in return I will watch your back from Slytherins…"
"You want me to spy on my housemates?" she immediately bit back.
"No," Raven said in a slow voice, as if she was explaining herself to a small child. "I would just like to know whether any of them are planning my untimely demise."
"Darcie… You're really paranoid," the other concluded.
"Hermione…" Raven said in the same explaining manner as she raised her index finger. "A Dark Lord megalomaniac tried to kill me when I was merely a toddler; I have reasons to be paranoid." she offered her hand "Deal?"
The Gryffindor looked very suspicious at the offered hand, but then, after a bit of hesitation, she took the hand and shook it. "Deal."
They let go almost immediately, as if they had both been burned. Then Raven got to her feet, walking off in direction of the exit, where she stopped briefly and turned around.
"Oh… and by the way… If Malfoy ever bothers you, tell him you're in an alliance with Darcie le Fay. He'll understand."
"And if he doesn't?"
"Then I assure you that he'll regret it."
"Wait, Darcie. What about Wease… Weasley?"
"I have my own plans for Weasel," Raven announced as she disappeared out of the library, leaving a surprised and wondering Hermione Granger behind.
- o0o -
"So…" Raven stated in a low voice as she had entered a seemingly empty corridor. "That went awfully well."
We've got Granger roped up into our net, now what? You never explained this new grand scheme of yours to me.
I told you earlier, didn't I? I need allies and in case the Slytherins decides to backstab me too early in the game then I want to have a backup plan.
And what's wrong with a solo performance? We've done pretty well so far.
We went over this earlier.
Fine then. Now tell me this vaguely established plan of yours.
Right… Draco Malfoy has access to great amounts of money and other resources, along with the influence of his father since that man, according to our investigation, has supplied quite a lot of gold into the pockets of the government, which is corrupt if you ask me, but that makes being on friendly terms with Malfoy's son a much better arrangement. So, with Malfoy I might have some influence if I'm lucky, but if I'm seeking to establish some sort of control then I need more. That's where Hermione Granger comes in.
She's a loner, studious and practically a wandering lexicon. Is she supposed to supply you with intelligence?
I was rather considering giving her a book about wizard law for Christmas. One could always use a lawyer…
And what makes you so sure this grand plan of yours won't just backfire then?
To me it doesn't particularly matter whether it succeeds or not, seeing that I'm just in it for the entertainment.
You're getting awfully manipulative as of late. Did I miss something?
Not really, I'm just getting bored with this place. And no, you can't torch it yet.
Too bad. So, who else do you have in mind for this so called plan of yours?
Raven snickered, making her way to DADA lesson with Professor Quirrell.
We'll see, we'll see.
Well then… Do you know what's interesting in all of this?
No. Enlighten me.
You told Dumbledore earlier today that you would never be his pawn, yet now, maybe an hour later, you wind up getting your own pawns to play around with. Isn't that just a little strange?
Raven stopped briefly.
It's called guarding yourself against the wickedness of Fate. I hear Voldemort was one persistent bastard and Dumbledore is no doubt of a similar construction, so I quite frankly find it hard to believe that he would give up merely by that. I'm merely getting myself insurance for later on and perhaps a bit of entertainment if I'm lucky.
Fine then, I'll play along. But only if I get the prime seats.
You're living inside my head; you already have the prime seats.
Fine.
Also, this question may be somewhat strange, but what do I call you from now on? This Inner Voice and Alter-Ego crap is getting old.
Darcie?
No, because that would be like begging for a misunderstanding.
How so? We share a body and originated from the same source, so by a stretch that makes us the same person… hence, I see very little problem with us sharing the name you've given yourself.
Okay, fine. You're Darcie, I'm Raven. End of story. That ought to clear up any potential confusion of identity we may have in the future…
Darcie snorted,As if.
- o0o -
Raven was not entirely content with the course her life seemed to have taken lately, sitting day in and day out in a boring class, memorizing worthless text and socializing with a number of people she wasn't even sure she even liked. Therefore, it was a welcome distraction when Weasel walked up to Draco with his two lackeys and downrightly challenged him to a duel for insulting his family by calling them blood traitors. Some odd pureblood thing as it appeared. Raven didn't care much about the reason, as long as it took away some of the boredom.
So, Draco and Weasel would be dueling at midnight in the Trophy room. Weasel would be seconded by Seamus Finnegan and Draco would be seconded by Raven herself, who wouldn't pass off such an opportunity for a brawl when one presented itself.
"You're a cowardly spoiled brat Malfoy, who wants a girl to fight his battles for him…"
"This girl, Weasel, would easily wipe the floor with the both of you."
The redhead had looked a bit scared then, but certainly not scared enough.
"One has to wonder…" Draco said as they made their way towards the Trophy room. "…Whether Weasel will show up or not."
"He was the one who challenged you to the duel, so he is technically obliged to come, or this will count as forfeiting…" Raven replied with great certainty. "Though I doubt the Weasleys in general give much thought to proper wizardry conduct…"
Draco looked mildly surprised. "Weren't you raised with Muggles yourself? How do you learn about that?"
"I read a book about it."
Well technically Darcie read a book about it and told me about its contents…
"You should've been in Ravenclaw," Draco snorted.
"I could've been anywhere I wanted, but I chose Slytherin on my own since it went very well with my personal agenda…" Raven replied with a shrug. "For that matter, I look very good in green and silver."
"But Ra… Darcie, I still don't understand why we didn't set them up with Filch," Draco complained. "Why did you insist on us going to the place after hours and thereby risk getting caught?"
"Because I wanted to set the trap of course," Raven said with a snort. "Not that I would mind dueling a Gryffindor, but I have a rather… personal score to settle with Weasel."
Draco looked vaguely surprised before looking intrigued. "What sort of trap?"
- o0o -
The next day it appeared that the Gryffindor House had lost a total of seventy-five points since the day before, courtesy of Raven's trap, which was a sticky net similar to a spider web, only three thousand times thicker or so and a lot sturdier than a two inch steel wire. Anyone who trampled upon it was dead stuck until the stickiness lost effect, which conveniently happened to be half an hour, which gave more than enough time for them to be found by Filch and for Raven and Draco to be back into the safety of the Slytherin common room, stifling their laughter for a few minutes before retiring to their respective dorms.
The other Slytherin seemed somewhat aware of who lay behind the Gryffindor's latest loss of points and they clearly showed their opinion of it by sending anonymous packets of candy to the one responsible, the one going under the alias "Darcie le Fay". Exactly how all that candy addressed to her alter-ego managed to get sent to her was beyond Raven, not that she minded it, since none of it was poisoned. Darcie rejoiced, especially after Dumbledore appeared in the Great Hall, without his abominable hat and with a new abominable cloak, yellow this time. Said old man announced something pointless again, but it was clear that he had no lead whatsoever on who was responsible for the virtual destruction of his office. Raven could already hear that Darcie was planning to transfigure his robes into those of Santa Claus. Not that Darcie fancied Christmas anyway; she was just in it for the candy. As usual.
Still, thinking of Christmas… Wasn't Halloween the following day?
- o0o -
Raven Potter was bored. Darcie le Fay was very bored as well, and a bored Darcie didn't bode well for the wizarding world. It didn't bode particularly well for the rest of the world either, but that was beside the point. Boredom was never a good thing.
In order to relieve herself of it Raven started planning for what she was going to do after she finished or dropped out of or got expelled from school. If it could be referred to plans anyway, since it was all about burning and pillaging the wizard world. The kleptomania streak in her thinking was a fairly new one, but it went well with the pyromania, as she was now planning on stealing the things of value first and then set the place ablaze.
Now… How the Hell was she supposed to keep herself entertained for approximately six and a half years without being bored to death. Still, it was Halloween and the feast in the Great Hall was about to start. Since Raven herself hadn't particularly planned anything she sincerely hoped someone else was going to provide some entertainment.
On her way back from the library Raven spotted the back of Hermione Granger as she ran off in direction of the girl's lavatory nearby. Seeing this, she raised an eyebrow, but was about to be on her way when Darcie spoke up.
She was crying.
And we should care because?
Isn't she supposed to be your ally?
She'll need to handle Weasel on her own, grow some backbone, you know?
And I'm supposed to be your evil side, right?
Hey, lay off. If I seem like the eviler one then evil up, bitch.
Since she didn't get a response to that one Raven calmly made her way towards the Great Hall, joining in with her fellow Slytherins. For the most part the feast went by without much happenings, before Professor Quirrell barged in of course, panting something about a troll in the dungeons before falling to the floor in a dead faint. In the chaos that erupted Raven suppressed a smirk; this was certainly…
And then along came the news that the Gryffindors were missing one, namely Hermione Granger, and Raven rolled her eyes before sighing and getting to her feet, making use of the confusion to slip out of the Great Hall and make her way towards the dungeons. Grappling with trolls was certainly not a part of her plans for the evening, but on the other hand, why not? She did not however make it out alone…
Draco Malfoy, surprisingly without his goons, was on her tail and was obviously questioning his own sanity for putting himself into this particular obviously rule-breaking situation.
"Right, so tell me one more time…" Draco complained as they walked their way towards imminent danger and possible death. "Why are we going to the dungeons, against orders, in order to save a Gryffindor mudblood, Granger, from this giant troll that may kill us?"
"Because I can't have my informant killed this early in the game…" Raven snorted. "Besides, it wasn't like I asked you to tag along."
"Do you really think you can take out a full-grown troll, Darcie?"
"Well, one can never know before one actually tries…" she replied with a shrug, earning herself a sharp glare from the blond Malfoy.
"If you get me killed down there my father will kill you," he warned.
"Then your father has to get next in line and wait for his turn like everyone else…" Raven replied in a bored voice.
"Still, isn't charging into this without a plan a typical Gryffindorish thing to do?"
"Who said I didn't have a plan?" Raven replied in a low voice as they hid behind a pillar, having caught sight of the troll. "Besides, if I can outsmart a Gryffindor I think I can outsmart a troll…"
Draco gave her a critical look. "But unlike Gryffindors this troll is several times bigger than you and armed."
Raven smirked and pulled out her wand. "Who said I wasn't armed?"
- o0o -
Beating a troll wasn't all that hard, the only trouble in the act was to do it without being caught in it, and seeing that she already had two possible witnesses, Draco and the scared-out-of-her-wits Granger, she would absolutely hate to have Dumbledore seeing what she could do just yet. Therefore, she said the first thing that came to her mind.
"Draco, close your eyes."
Not surprisingly, the Slytherin immediately protested.
"Do it," Raven firmly commanded, having switched fully over to playing Darcie le Fay. "Or I'll stun you and obliviate you." Then she shouted over to Granger, directing the troll's attention towards herself at the same time. "Granger, close your eyes!" A protest was coming along, she could feel it. "Just do it if you want to live!"
Trolls did not appear to be sturdy against fire, as the troll was at the moment nothing more than a smoldering carcass and a few meters away stood Darcie le Fay, looking appropriately bored as she laid eyes on it.
"Is the fun over already?" she muttered under her breath before stretching her stiff arms. "There we go. One troll down."
The two other occupants in the wreck that was the girl's lavatory, opened their eyes and didn't wait with their scolding.
"What the Hell did you…?"
"Could've gotten us all…!"
Raven, having reverted back to her normal self, placed a finger at her lips and hissed: "It would be in our best interest to get out of here before the teachers arrive. You two, get back to your common room."
"But where are you going?" Both asked at the same time before glaring begrudgingly at each other for doing so.
"The library, where else?" Raven replied with a shrug. "I'm off to craft myself an alibi. You can make up whatever excuse you like as long as I'm not in it. Have I made myself clear?"
The supposed natural enemies exchanged a short look before replying at the same time.
"Inescapably clear."
Then they both stormed off into opposite directions as soon as they had made their way out into the corridor. Raven smirked with a great sense of triumph before she swiftly located the secret passage entrance she had discovered the other day before disappearing into one of the passages. An old castle with tons of secret passages and possibly even chambers… How utterly cliché…
- o0o -
"Potter, why did you disappear from the feast?"
She looked up from her book, coming face to face with a very disgruntled Minerva McGonagall. Raven looked down again, placing her face in the appropriate indifferent expression she had prepared for this occasion.
"I kind of lost my appetite."
The Gryffindor Head of House scowled at her. "Why didn't you go back to your common room?" she inquired.
"One…" Raven said with a great amount of patience. "…Because I wanted to be alone. Two… because my common room is in the dungeons, which was at the moment the location of a troll."
When there was no proper response from the professor and Raven got the feeling she was about to lose a great amount of house points she looked up again, pinning Professor McGonagall with a serious gaze accompanied with a very serious question.
"What's the today's date?"
Minerva McGonagall blinked, obviously a bit put off, but she found herself swiftly. "October 31st…" she replied.
Raven gave her a blank look, accompanied by another question, asked in a voice with a great amount of sarcasm. "What date… was my parents' untimely demise ten years ago?"
McGonagall cringed at this, finally catching onto things. "October 31st."
Raven continued giving her the same blank look as before.
"Now…" she said. "Why the Hell would I like to celebrate my parents' untimely demise or spend it together with overly cheerful people when I want to crawl up inside a corner and weep my heart out while thinking about what could've been?"
Ah, the pity card. Undignified, but still very much useable…
"You're pardoned…" she announced with a sniff before making her way out of the library.
- o0o -
"You utterly disgust me, Potter…" Snape announced as he entered the library a few minutes later.
Raven looked up with a skewed smile adorning her lips. "How utterly disappointing; I who thought you thought of me fondly… Professor Snape."
His eyes narrowed. "You're just as arrogant as your father."
Raven returned the look with interest, along with a few well thought out words. "Lucky I'm not as dead as him then."
"Lucky for whom?" he asked, looking clearly amused for some odd reason.
Raven had to do her best not to stare at him. Snape smiling was just so wrong in so many different ways. Seeing him this cheerful it kind of made her wonder whether somebody had actually died. Oh right… that troll thing.
"You've got a valid point there Professor…" she replied with a shrug. "Fortunately, I don't believe in luck. Regardless, I fail to see how I could turn out as arrogant as my father when I have not had the same experiences as him. You see, I grew up with muggles who considered and still do consider magic as a disease and who spent the early part of my life trying to suppress me in order to make sure I didn't turn out as a freak like my parents apparently were."
He didn't have a snappy response to that, so she blatantly assumed that they had stirred up some kind of reaction. Still, nowhere enough, so Raven continued.
"Now…"she said. "I believe you had a perfectly sensible reason for loathing my late father, but I seriously doubt that we've known each other long enough to be passing judgment. My father is dead and I never knew him, but if you loath me merely because of some childhood grudge you had on him then bury it where it belongs without pestering me about it. Bury it where it belongs or I'll bury you along with it…"
She paused briefly, watching how her words were affecting him. "Now, I know that you're very eager to give me detention, but please, let me finish. It's quite apparent that you have something against me in general, but if that is merely because of my father then you have condemned half of my DNA without a proper reason for it. So tell me, what did my mother ever do to you?"
Now that stirred something up. Snape actually looked like he was about to do something to her, like as if he was going to slap her, punch her, hex her or anything of the kind. Oh well, she might as well continue speaking while she was still able to.
"Oh, would you look at that…" she said, sounding almost accusing. "You knew her, didn't you? You, a Slytherin and a former Death Eater, knew my mother, a filthy mudblood. No, wait… Don't tell me you love her, since if you do and that this animosity is due to some kind of love drama from maybe twenty years ago then I'm going to go tie myself a noose and bungee jump from the Astronomy tower."
He still remained silent, but the silence was more that of shock than of rage. At the moment at least, as Raven was sure the episode would eventually pass and she would end up paying for this… somehow. Still, no use quitting once one has started something.
"No detention?" she taunted. "No retracting of points? Oh yeah… that's because I'm a Slytherin…" she slammed the book she had been reading shut and got to her feet. "Oh well, if you have nothing add then I'm going to continue moping around until curfew, reading The History of Magic. Goodnight Prof." and with that she exited the library, not looking back or stopping before she was well out of hearing range with the book in hand.
He's limping.
Don't you think I've already noticed?
Now… Are we reading this or not?
Raven looked at the cover before making her decision.
Nope… I'd prefer to live, without boring myself to the death…
Tonight was not a night for studying. As a matter of fact, tonight was not a night for studying at all, since sneaking around after curfew wasn't to be considered studying, even if Raven herself had already learnt way more in one night than she had done in class.
Avoiding Argus Filch wasn't even a challenge once she had learned the trick; standing very still against the wall right next to a suit of armor while pretending to be a part of the wall. To be completely honest, she hadn't expected it to work the first time she tried it out, but surprisingly enough both Filch and his odd pet cat Mrs. Norris just passed by none the wiser. It was not invisibility; it was simply not being seen by pretending to be something else. Now that was certainly interesting.
- o0o -
Yawning Raven set off to her next class, which appeared to be some kind of flying lesson, with the Gryffindors of all people. Seriously, the one who set the Gryffindors and Slytherins together in class was just asking for trouble…
Not that Raven complained though, since it was likely to provide entertainment.
- o0o -
She thought there would be entertainment, but there was none. That Longbottom guy broke his wrist, got escorted to the infirmary, got his Rememberall stolen by Malfoy and so on. Then Raven laid her hands on it and considered selling it on ebay, before she realized there was no freaking internet in this surreal place. Then she considered trying out the Black Market, but then she had a morality crisis and gave it back to him, in a sinister and cunning way of course, as befitting of a Slytherin, then she went off to pull a few pranks on the general population in the area, but before she was able to she was faced with the Weasley twins in an otherwise empty corridor. Suspecting they had not approached her with friendly intentions, rather promising retaliation for what she had done to their little brother a while back, she didn't lower her guard. Her face remained neutral as she awaited their next move, and as it came she showed no sign of surprise, as the two redheads bowed down before her.
"Fred and George Weasley…"
"…at your service."
Raven tilted her head to the side, silently questioning their motives for a few moments before swiftly deciding that she didn't really give a damn. At the moment at least.
"Raven Potter…" she said, pausing briefly as she gave the surroundings a glance. "…Also known as Darcie le Fay. What can I do for you?"
They looked up at her and their faces lit up. "Can we be your minions?"
Hearing this, Raven's eyebrow twitched noticeably. "My what?"
They exchanged a look of surprise before looking back at her. "Your minions."
Raven tilted her head to the other side, giving them both a disbelieving look.
"…You're the sons of a prominent light family and the brothers to one of my enemies…" she said. "Why would you want to become my minions?"
Still, regardless of their reasons, having the Weasley Twins as her minions would likely be… an excellent choice, as she would never be bored again with them around…
"Because…"
"…We are…"
"…Convinced…"
"…That you are…"
"…"
"…In need…"
"…Of knights…"
"…To prank…"
"…Thy enemies…"
"Still…" Raven questioned. "You're supposed to be on the light side. Why?"
They exchanged another look with each other before staring at her and stating the obvious.
"You are…"
"…Also…"
"…From a prominent light family."
Raven sighed, raising her hands in resignation.
"…Right. Then join the Dark side, dear minions…" she said flatly. "We'll celebrate with some fire whiskey. It's good stuff."
They exchanged a look before staring at her.
"You are…" Fred started.
"…Eleven," George finished.
Raven raised an eyebrow.
"So?"
So, the wizarding world still didn't make much sense to her, but on the other hand she didn't care much anyway. Seeing her prospects of being properly entertained in the future Raven saw an opportunity and she took it.
- o0o -
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