Chapter 2 My Everything.
Zehir woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and exited. She was on her way to Hogwarts again and she was going to see all her worries and fears vanish. She was not the chosen one or anything silly like that. She was Zehir Shafiq and that was who she would remain. She was going to go into it headfirst like a proper little Gryffindor and love the hell out of one Tom Riddle to the point where he could do nothing but accept her love and perhaps if she was lucky he would return it. She was not going to hold her breath for that one though. She was of course try to help everyne who made a mistake in the past but her attention for the most part was going to be on Tom. She was shoved into the past for a reason and damn if she was going to botch it up.
She got of the bed stretched and walked into the shower. She primped and prepped for the day and picked out the clothes she was going to wear. She decided to wear and green pantsuit with the Shafiq crest on it as it was the first time people were going to meet her and she did not want to leave a bad impression.
Back when she was still Harry Potter she had done a lot of extra reading on various subjects knowing that there was no way in hell otherwise that she would defeat Voldemort and that had helped her ace her tests in the past. He was a very talented wizard sho had decdes of experiance on her. She was a Gryffindor but she was not stupid. Another thing she had to accept was the fact that Dumbledore was not going to help her, infact he probably did not like her very much at all but had to deal with her. She was very sure that once her purpose was completed she would have been expected to marry one of the Weasley boys and make more Weasley babies.
Not anymore. She had a chance and she was going to do it right. She dressed and combed her hair into a plain bun and pulled it under her hat. She knew that her hair was a very big eyeturner and she wanted it out of the way, she also added a little black eyeliner and her red lipstick. She quickly packed her carry bag with a few books and her cosmetics case. She knew that her elves would pack food for her and she would get candy on the trolley. She then got Fontane and travelled downstairs for breakfast. She knew she was early but she wanted to get to the platform early and get a compartment all to herself. The only person she knew in Hogwarts at this point was Abraxas Malfoy and she did not want to depend on him for everything. She wanted to be her own person.
A little while later she had eaten and it was time for her to go to the platform. She grabbed her trunk and carry on and a little shrunken picknik basket that the elves had packed for her and flooed over to the platform after giving them instructions on what to do while she was away. She was a good half an hour early and the station was not crowded yet so she could find herself a compartment easily. She settled herself in and put her trunk up into the overhead compartment. She sat down and waited for things to start happening.
- LINE BREAK-
About fifteen minutes after her arraival she saw shocking blonde hair outside her window accompanied by many raven haired people. The Malfoys and the Blacks. She could not wait to meet them. she saw Abraxas looking around searching for something, so she waved and got his attention. He turned around and gave her a nod in greeting and turned back to his parents, his mission accomplished. Zehir contemplated going to greet the Malfoys but when Abraxas made no indication of the matter she let it slide. If the current generation of Malfoys are anything like their decendents the they would prefer to do their farewells in peace without an outsider intruding on them and she could respect that. Besides she was searching for a certain dark haired prefect. Where was Tom Riddle anyway, she knew that he would never stay in his orphanage longer than necessary so where was he?
She thought about it for a little while longer before realising that he was a prefect and was hence probably off doing prefect duties.
She went back to looking at all the people walking around and telling their goodbyes. It was a lot quiter than her platform. She looked aorund and realised that most of the people standing here where purebloods and etiqutte had been bred into them from birth. The number of halfbloods was very low from what she could see and there was an even lesser number of muggle borns. Atleast that was what she was able to decipher judging on what she knew on behavior from the futrure.
A loud whistle brught her out of her musings and she realised that the train was starting up and was going to move. She looked around and saw that most of the families had begun to seperate and the children were boarding the train. She calmly settled herself back into her seat and waited for it to move.
She had just begun to dose off when her compartment door slid open to reveal Abraxas and a few other children along with him. She glanced at him and smiled.
' Hello Abraxas, it is good to see you again.' She said.
' Zehir a pleasure, allow me to introduce my companions, Orion Black Heir to The Most Noble and Ancient House of Black, Dorea Black, Cygnus Black, Theodore Nott Heir to the Most Noble and Ancient House of Nott, and Xerexes Lestrange Heir to the Most Noble and Ancient House of Lestrange. They are all in our year.' And so saying Abraxas and his group all invited themselves into the compartment. Abraxas then introduced Zehir to the group and they all got talking and forming tentative friendships.
Before long it was time for lunch and Zehir was getting antsy. Where was Tom, the first prefect round should be over by now. She looked to her group and saw them all pull out the lunches that their elves had packed for them and set up. She did the same. She apparently had a very healthy salad and a few sandwiches to tide her over and she just put salad in her mouth when the compartment door opened and in stepped the person she had wanted to see all morning.
Tom Marvolo Riddle in all his glory had just stepped into the compartment. Damn was he handsome. He had jet black hair that was perfectly combed away from his face, and his eyes were the richest royal blue she had ever seen. He was tall for his age and very fit. His face was angular with high cheekbones and soft pink lips. The thing that had her almost swooning however was his magic. She was not sure how the others could not feel it but to her it was icy and and very very powerful. Rather like a thunderstorm in winter. It was reacting to her own magic and making it sing. She looked at him again and realised that he had noticed her. The one new face in what was usually his compartment. Along with him had come another girl.
She had long blonde hair that was neatly combed and a very beautiful face. Amaia Crouch. Abraxas' betrothed.
' Good Afternoon everyone, I trust your holidays went well.' His voice was extreamly seductive, just low enough to have her enticed.
Abraxas was the one to reply to his greeting. ' Good afternoon Tom, yes our holiday went well. Thank you for asking.' At this point he noticed that Tom was glancing at me and with a nod of encouragement from me he spoke up again. 'Might I introduce to you Ms Zehir Laila Lady to the Most Noble and Ancient House of Shafiq. She will be joining us at Hogwarts from this term onwards.' He then turned to me and introduced the two standing at the door. ' Zehir this is Tom Riddle and Amaia Crouch my friend and betrothed respectivly. Tom is in Slytherin and Amaia is in Ravenclaw.' And so saying he made room for the both of them to sit down.
' Pleased to meet you both.' Zehir said , not being able to form long sentences.
' Please the pleasure is ours and might I be one of the first people to say welcome to Hogwarts I hope you enjoy your time here. ' Tom started of with a slight lilt to his voice. No doubt he was expecting her to have commented on his muggle name and was slightly shocked when she had not done that.
' I hope the same, what classes are you taking and which house do you think you will be in? Asked Amaia.
' I will be taking all the required fifth year classes as I cleared the exams for them and as for my optional electives I am taking Ancient Studies, Art and Orchestra. As for which house I will be in I am almost sure I will be in Slytherin but there are chances of me going to Ravenclaw as I am very fond of reading simply for the pleasure of it.' Zehir said with a small smile on her face. Best to answer as honestly as possibe.
' Forgive me if this is a bit untoward Ms Shafiq but how come you are joining us so late, normally witches and wizards are enrolled a lot earlier. And how do you know Abraxas, he is not one to go around meeting people unless it has a purpose' Amaia cntinued her questioning honest curiosity peaking through her mask. The Slytheirns of this generation were a lot less guarded than those in her generation. She wondered what happened between this time period and hers.
' Please call me Zehir and as for why I joined so late, I was home schooled by my parents until quite recently when they both passed away in an accident. I was forced to look for schooling elsewhere. As for how I met Abraxas, I was in desperate need of a good lawyer and so my Gringotts account manager recomended Abel Malfoy who happened to be Abraxas' uncle. Abel insisted on introducing me to his family since Abraxas was also in fifth year.' Zehir replied.
' I am so sorry to hear that. It must have been horrible to suddenly have your life uprooted like that. You must be a very strong person to be able to speak about it like that. In any case I wish you all the best in hopes that you past will not dampen your future.' Amaia it seemed was a very warm person. Well Zehir was not one for complaining about warmth so she just gave her a warm smile and settles down. She noticed that Tom had been quietly observing the happenings. He seemed to be in a mind of his own.
During the time that she had been talking she noticed that the others had drifted into their own private conversations. The conversation went from holiday outings to presants and then slowly drifted towards the summer homework that had been assaigned and what they thought about it. For the most part apparently it had been easy. The arithmacy equations were a joke and the herbology and transfiguration essays had been a little more challenging but nothing they could not handle. Potions had been interesting but a breeze so thoughts were not spared on that either. No what was on everyones mind was the essay they had been set for runes. The teacher had assaigned an essay about using runes of different origins and scripts in the same rune chain. She wanted to know if such a thing would work and an example and reason for whatever conclusion they had come to.
Zehir knew that runes from different scripts could be used in the same chain but in a specific way but she decided to remain silent on the matter until she could get a clear view on what everybody else thought. It was quite obvious to her that the general consensus in the group was that such a thing was not possible as runes from different scripts may have similar shape and hence there was no possible way for the chain to function as the caster wished. They had all done their research along that line and used various examples of failed experiments over the past as proof.
She wanted to disprove them but waited to see what Tom's opinion would be. There was no way he agreed with these people and she wanted to see what he said. What argument would he use, it was actually very thrilling to watch him work, back in her own period she had wondered how someone so powerful and intelligent became what he was but now she got the chance to actually see him at work. She was not dissapointed.
' Have any of you looked at it this way,' he started. 'the more complicated rune chains, compound rune chains to be precise can accomodate more than one script. Each induvidual rune chain can be in a specific script but the runes linking all the seperate chains together will be the same. For example the script that we use on a day to day basis leans more towards offensive rituals, but the indian script leans towards defensive. So by using our script for an offensive chain and using the indian script for a defensive chain and linking it togather using the nuetral salem chain we have a very powerful compound chain that can be used in more complicated wards. Therefore it is possible to have different scripts, infact it is better as dismanteling the chain will be difficult for anyone with nefarious intentions as they will have to first identify all the different scripts. It can also be used when created complicated enchantments over objects, like if you wished for the same object to both heal and injure based on the person it touches.' Tom finished with a flourish looking slightly smug at the fact that he had been the only one to think along those lines.
Zehir decided to add her two knuts to the conversation. 'That is a very interesting train of thought. Maybe that is how the Tarnhelm was created. One chain focusing on the shapeshifting part and the other an invisibility chain linked together using a molecular changing rune as the bind between the chains. Even a pain reliever chain could have been added to the compound along with a silencing and a smell blocking chain. Of course nobody has been allowed to study the helmet , but I am sure such is what was used. Even if that was not done, I am sure a few magical peices and rituals over the centuries would have used such a method.' She looked around to see the people in her compartment were even more shocked than before. Tom seemed to be unable to decide between smirking and frowning so his expression was quite silly but she had caught his attention. Now that her mission was accomplished she went back to her salad.
This seemed to shake everyone out of their stupor and each pulled out his or her essay in an attemt to reread over what they had done and concersation once again picked up. Luckily the essay was not very long and they decided that they would fix it to the best of their ability once they got back to their dorm. The conversation then moved on to what they could expect from their teachers this semester and how taxing it was going to be as this was the OWL year. The conversation never strayed to the political unrest caused because of Grindelwald, which served to intrigue Zehir. She was not going to bring it up though. She was going to keep her head doen for a little while and only put forward a thought or idea when she was sure it would be recieved positivly. She was not going to make enemies so soon.
Slowly converstion swindled down and people began to drift off. Amaia leaned agianst Abraxas and closed her eyes and the others just like that either pulled out a book or leaned back and closed their eyes. Zehir also pulled out a book on wand lore and began reading.
Soon it became dark and the announcement came that they would be arraiving soon. The boys tumbled out of the compartment and into the next one and the girls changed into their uniforms and pulled their cloaks closed around them. Once they were done they called the boys back in and they waited until the train pulled up onto the platform. Zehir had somehow managed to contain Fontane upto now but she knew that she would ahve to reveal him soon. Once the train had come to a halt she adjusted him until she was sure that nobody could see him and made her way out of the compartment.
Once she got out the gamekeeper told her to go with the other fifth years upto school in the carriages and that the deputy headmaster would be waiting for her there. So she walked with her group to the carriages and got in. That was just the same as her time and she enjoyed watching the carriage arraive at the school. Everyone was still tired after the journey and so nobody was very talkative. Once the carriage rolled up she was led up to the great hall where the deputy head master was indeed waiting for her.
Albus Dumbledore. Apparently he had always had his garish sense of fashion. Today he wore a violet couloured robe with yellow ducks all over it.
'Ms Shafiq, I assume, I am the deputy headmaster Albus Dumbledore. Welcome to Hogwarts. I hope you learn a great many things here and most importantly make many good friends.' He beamed at her. She gave a small shaky smile back.
' if you will follow me we can have you introduced and sorted .' He gave her one more beaming smile before leading her to the front of the room. She gave her company a small smile before following him. He had her stand a little to the side before calling the room to attention.
' Hello and welcome back to Hogwarts, now we have a new member amongst us. She will be joining us for her fifth year. Her name is Zehir Shafiq and I hope al of you join me in wishing her a warm welcome.' He then turned to her and gestured for her to sit on the stool. The hat was palced on her head.
'Hmmm this is new, a time traveller and such an interesting one at that. Well your thougts are as genuine as they come so I see no bad outcome at all. Where to put you though? A voice mused inside her mind. Zehir remembered the hat spoke to people from her first time and responded.
'This is the hat I assume. If so please put me somewhere I can really shine. I do not wish to be in a place that will stunt my devolopment as a person. Also i would like to go to a place where I will be accepted for who I am.' Zehir had her priorites sorted out this time around and she needed all the help she could get.
'Very well my dear. I will do as you request. There are two places you can go, Slytherin and Gryffindor. Both places will bring you happiness but one will make the things you wish to see happen a bit more difficult but not impossible. However I like you and so I will put you in..'
' SLYTHERIN'. The hat screamed for all to hear. Zehir gave her audience a smile and gracefully got of her stool and made her way towards Abraxas who was politely clapping. The Slytherins she had met on board the train were warm in their welcome and the new ones were not cold by far. Conversation quietly picked up around them once people began losing interest in her. Zehir served herself a light dinner and ate.
She was digging into her desert of treacle tart when Amaia pulled her into a converstion on the unnoficail rules of Slytherin.
'Zehir there are a few rules that Slytherin house follows that are not in the official rule book. First of all Slytherin house sticks together. You can fight with anyone inside the house but only within the common room. Outside the both of you will act like you are the best of friends. In a nutshell we always show a united front. Secondly there is a ranking system within the house. The most powerful person is known as the king or queen of the house. They are incharge of maintaining house unity and protecting anyone inside the house.' When I gave her a a blank look when she said we needed protection she sighed and continued.
' Something you have to understand is that Slytherin house is considered an evil house simply beacuse of our ancestor. We have to look after ourselves as no one else will do it for us. This is also the reason we present a united front. So anyway, everyone undergoes a test to see where they stand on the Slytherin ladder. The test is decided and judged by the current king or queen. The king for our year is Tom Riddle. You met him on the train today.' Zehir nodded in conformation while she digested all the information that she had just heard. It was very interesting to learn and also warming to know that Slytherins took care of each other like this. She could have used this during her tri wizard tournament. She was jolted out of her thoughts when Amaia continued.
' So your test will be tonight, be ready. I hope you do well.' Amaia finished and went to sit next to Abraxas who welcomed her warmly.
Soon enough she was led down to the dungeons by Amaia who was the female prefect for her year and told the password which was 'glory'. Zehir was feeling very sleepy and tired and did not want to risk a conversation and so requested that she be led up to the dormitories. She cleaned up and once she was safely tucked into her bed and the curtains were drawn, she pulled out Fontane and cuddled him for some time before falling asleep.
Before long she was awoken by knocking on her door. She rolled out of her bed in her sleep wear which consisted of her long white shirt and nothing else. She pulled the curtains closed around Fontane and walked upto the door. She opened it to find a fully dressed Tom Riddle.
' Ms Shafiq, Amaia told you about the test I assume.' He said sharply. She nodded still half asleep. He just nodded and asked me to follow him downstairs which she did still in my sleepwear. That was something she would regret in the morning when she realised how inapropriatly I had behaved.
Once I was downstairs I noticed that Tom and I were the only people there.
' Ms Shafiq, this test is personal to every person who takes it so it will be just us. Now depending on how you perform on this test I will decide where you belong in the ranks. Please do not hold back or do more than you can. What you do now affects you for the rest of the year.' He explained seriously. I nodded fully alert now.
' Your test will be to duel me. Depending on how long you last I will decide where you are to be placed. The rules are no unforgivables. Anything else goes.' He gave me a moment to understand and see if I had any questions. When he saw that I had none he motioned for me to step into my duelling stance. We bowed to each other and started.
He threw the first spell, a simple disarmer. Zehir decide that she would fight with all she had. If she held back now and showed off later then there will be problems of trust later. She was here to win the trust of Tom and his love if that was possible and for that she had to prove to him she was worthy. So she squared her shoulders and fired of a chain of spells including the disarming spell, the binding jinx, the jelly legs jinx and the silencing spell all of them wordlessly. He blocked all of them and threw his on chain back which she dodged. She had never made it a practice to conjure sheilds and she was not going to start now. She upped her ammo and threw a few dark hexes, nothing to harming, just enough to tell him to push more. He gave a almost unnoticable smirk and upped his tactics. This process of back and forth went on for almost half and hour before Tom finally disarmed her by casting a freezing charm followed by the levitation hex and the binding hex. They were so different she had a hard time keeping up. So he finally caught her and they stopped.
Zehir knew that she had used no parsel jinxes and neither had he. But that was something she was going to keep under wraps until a point were he trusted her. If he started thing that she wasnted to usurp his throne there might be a problem.
Both were panting heavily by the time they were done. Tom gave her a small smile before handing back her wand.
' Well Ms Shafiq, you have proven that you are not to be taken for granted and I will keep that in mind. You have cleared your test and you will be informed of your placemnt in the house by tomorrow morning.' Tom said .
' Thank you Mr Riddle, and please call me Zehir. I will see you in the morning then?'.
' Very well Zehir, then you may call me Tom. Good night.' He wished her and without waiting for her reply he walked back upstairs to the boys dormitories.
Zehir stared at his retreating form for a while before heading of to bed herself.