You've had a landscaper and a house keeper since you were born
The sunshine always kept you warm
So why see the world, when you got the beach
Don't know why see the world, when you got the beach
The sweet life
~ Sweet Life- Frank Ocean
Chapter 2: Breaking Barriers
"STUPIFY!"
His blonde opponent was pushed into the air, landing on the field with a loud ompf. They had been going at it since dawn, and they refused to stop until some screamed uncle, which both of them knew would never happen. They didn't know many spells, but they knew enough to duel every morning, pushing to increase their magical skill and test out the new defense tactics they'd been taught the night before.
"Expelliarmus!" The blonde boy cried out, causing the black haired boy's wand to fly out of his hand, leaving him defenseless. The two men standing at the side of the field watched intensely, waiting patiently to see who would win the duel. The sun had merely risen, but they could see the shadows of the two boys battling it out.
"I see Draco has improved his counterattacks since last time." Voldemort said politely.
Lucius Malfoy smirked. "Nothing a little motivation can't fix. I think Tobias might need some of that motivation after this match, my Lord."
Voldemort said nothing, only smiling at the scene before him. Back on the field, Draco was approaching Tobias to send out his last spell. Tobias watched him walk closer and closer, anticipating the exact moment where Draco would be right in front of him. Lucius watched with so much anticipation, he didn't even notice that Tobias had not yet made a move to at least defend himself from Draco. He only sat there, watching his opponent walk closer and closer. Voldemort stood there, watching the scene play out.
Draco walked closer, holding his wand up to paralyze his opponent. He opened his mouth to say the words, but then…
"Petrificus Totalus!" Tobias said with a smirk. Draco froze on the spot—he had lost the duel. Lucius' mouth fell open, looking from the Dark Lord to Tobias, finally shaking his head.
"Wandless Magic?!" He spluttered out. "You taught him wandless magic?"
Voldemort nodded. "Only this spell." He said calmly. "I was afraid it wouldn't work. But he played it off very well. Don't you think, Lucius?"
Lucius said nothing but only returned his view to his still paralyzed son and the black haired boy laughing in front of him.
"Finite Incantartem." Tobias said through his laughter, and his friend was un-paralyzed. Draco was reanimated where he stood, his mouth now aching from the uncomfortable position he had been in. He lunged at the boy on the ground and they began wrestling. Tobias then pushed him off and they laid in the grass laughing at each other.
"I had you!" Draco screamed out through his laughter. "Wandless Magic?"
Tobias sat up. "Yeah." He looked towards Voldemort, who had nodded in approval. "Grandfather wasn't sure it would work, though."
"It was bloody brilliant!" Draco said through his excitement. "You have to teach me."
Tobias snorted. "And give away the only trick I know I can use against you? You wish."
Draco shook his head. "Prat."
The two boys sat there for a while, watching the sun rise over the LeStrange Manor. The fall wind had already begun to blow, and the leaves were beginning to change colors. The summer had gone by so slowly, day after day of physical training and learning basic spells. Now their training would end and they would be able to spend the next 10 months around other wizards their age—they would be going to Hogwarts. He would be able to spend his weekends with other wizarding children—playing games and hanging out instead of dueling with Draco all day. He didn't mind, though, Draco was his best friend, but he often wished they could do other things. He felt like Hogwarts would be his chance to actually have that. He knew his Grandfather would want him to focus on his studies and his training, but something down inside him wanted more. He wanted friends—he wanted to have….fun.
"Are you sure that the stone is being moved today?" Voldemort said as he continued to watch his grandson lie in the field.
"Severus has confirmed it." Lucius responded. "The Order will be taking precautions as soon as it is moved to the school."
"Perfect." Voldemort hissed. He turned around with a swish of his robes, walking away from the dueling field.
/
"Another double agent?"
Snape sat in his spot at the kitchen table of 12 Grimmauld place. This was the first Order meeting since the one on Halloween eleven years ago. Snape sat on the other side of Arthur Weasley, who sat next to his wife. Lupin and Tonks sat across from them. Mad-Eye sat next to Lupin—Snape still wasn't used to his new "eye" so he chose not to look at him for too long. Kingsley had just arrived, taking his place right across from Dumbledore. He had brought along a rather peculiar man with him. He was very thin with a turban on top of his head, but he looked as if he meant business and that was enough for Snape to not judge the man too much.
"This is Quirinus Quirrell," Dumbledore began. "he will be filling in as the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts this year."
"Of course," Snape sneered, "that isn't his only task."
"He will also," Dumbledore continued. "be helping in defending the stone once it is moved to the school."
"When will it be moved?" Lupin asked.
"I have Hagrid set to retrieve the stone once Diagon Alley is up and bustling about." The old man responded confidently. Lupin nodded at his answer.
"And you're sure he's after it?" Arthur Weasley asked. "I mean it's so sudden, so many years of inactivity, and his first play is to go after a mere stone?"
Dumbledore shook his head. "This is not just any stone, Arthur. This stone holds the key to immortality, something Voldemort would very much want."
"And why is that?" Mad-Eye asked grudgingly. "He might as well be already counted as immortal. No one can stop him. Only the boy, and he's in his possession."
Dumbledore looked away from Mad-Eye to the stranger sitting beside Kingsley. "I think Mister Quirrell can explain it better than I can."
Quirrell nodded at Dumbledore's acknowledgment. "The Dark Lord is sick. He is growing weaker every few days. He believes the stone can restore his health, immortality is just a plus."
"And how do you know this?" Snape asked curiously, keeping his facial expression the same since Quirrell walked into the meeting.
Quirrell eyed Snape for a moment, then smirked, causing Snape's jaw to clench. "I am his doctor—it would be unprofessional for me not to know these things about my patient."
The table went quiet for a moment. Mad-Eye nodded in approval while taking a sip from his flask. He quickly closed the flask and wiped his mouth with his hand before addressing Quirrell. "And Voldemort knows you're going to work at Hogwarts?"
"Of course," Quirrell said promptly. "He believes that I am his key inside of Dumbledore's plans. He will expect me to bring news on a weekly basis—I hope you can understand Professor, for the sake of my cover."
Dumbledore nodded. "Do what you must."
"What about the boy?" Molly Weasley finally spoke up. "He will be attending Hogwarts this year, there must be something we can do."
"I'm afraid we cannot do much, Molly." Dumbledore said with a speck of disappointment in his voice. "Breaking the deal with Voldemort might risk the boy's life."
"But we can't let him believe that he is Voldemort's grandson!" Molly exclaimed. "Lily and James worked so hard against his cause, and we are disgracing their sacrifice by letting Voldemort corrupt their only child's mind!"
Arthur wrapped an arm around his wife, who was becoming more distraught by the minute. Snape finally took a deep breath and spoke up.
"The best we can do is befriend the boy- show him that he is able to trust us. Once we earn his trust, we can then focus on a way to safely show him the truth."
"Thank you, Severus." Dumbledore said humbly. "When the time comes, Tobias LeStrange will know the truth, but we must wait, until he can understand and he can plan around Voldemort. He will then have allies to help him and he will be skillful in his magic."
Everyone understood what the great wizard meant, but it was all so surreal. The boy was only eleven—what if they waited too late and Tobias was too far into the dark side to listen to the truth. The wizarding world depended on his triumph against Voldemort.
"This meeting is dismissed," Dumbledore said suddenly. "Some of you have children to send off the Hogwarts, and the rest of you have Ministry jobs that cannot afford your absence. So until we meet again." He then stood up and grabbed his robes, exiting the kitchen and entering the hallway. A door was opened then closed, a loud crack barely heard outside the house.
/
Kings Cross was different than the manor. Way different. There were people everywhere—muggles, half-bloods, purebloods. Tobias could barely recognize the difference. He, Draco, and Mrs. Malfoy were making their way to platform 9 and ¾ to board the Hogwarts express. Tobias raised his eyebrow as he read the numbers of each platform—but was disappointed to see that there was no 9 and ¾ written on any of the signs above. Draco seemed to notice the same thing.
"Is this some kind of joke?" He grumbled. Tobias only shrugged, but noticed that Mrs. Malfoy seemed to be unbothered by the fact that none of the signs had their destination written upon it. They soon reached a plain brick wall between platforms 9 and 10. They stared at the wall, waiting for some type of magic portal to show up that will lead them to the right place, but nothing happened. The boys then looked to Mrs. Malfoy, who gave them both a motherly smile and walked towards the wall. Draco and Tobias watched, hoping that she hadn't lost her mind, but then something amazing happened. She walked through the barrier.
The two boys looked at each other before putting on an eager smile and pushing their carts towards the brick wall as well. Tobias felt a small tingle flow through his body as he went through the wall but soon forgot about it as he saw the enormous red train glittering in front of him. He looked up and read the sign above him. "Platform 9 and ¾." They had made it. Tobias became entranced by the crowd of wizards and witches before him—children saying goodbye to their parents and parents wishing their children good luck at school. The train itself was marvelous, Tobias had never seen anything like it. The trained read "Hogwarts Express" in gold writing with the school emblem on the side. He saw older students hanging out the window waving goodbye to their parents and owls flying in and out of the train. Draco nudged Tobias, guiding his attention back to Mrs. Malfoy who had been waiting for them towards the front of the train.
The two boys loaded their trunks and owls aboard the train before saying their goodbyes to her. She hugged them both, wishing them good luck in their first year at Hogwarts and told them that they will be returning for the Christmas holidays. The boys quickly nodded in understanding, their skin itching to return back to the train and begin their journey to Hogwarts. The hopped on the train just before eleven o' clock and found an empty compartment in the middle of the train. Draco laid himself out on the seat while Tobias stared out the window as the train began to move.
"I can't believe we are finally here." Draco said finally. "We're finally going to Hogwarts."
"Do you'll think we'll be put in Slytherin?" Tobias asked suddenly.
Draco snorted. "I don't just think, Tobias, I know we'll be put in Slytherin. Just look at our heritage—every single last one of our ancestors has been in Slytherin—since like- the beginning of time."
Tobias nodded. His Grandfather had told him that his mother and father were in Slytherin and that he was in the same house during his years in school. He was confident that he would be put in Slytherin, but he didn't want to let his grandfather down. His thoughts were interrupted as someone knocked on the door to their compartment and opened it. Tobias and Draco looked to see a young girl about their age standing in the doorway. She already had on her Hogwarts robes and her hair was awfully bushy. She stood there with her hands on her hips and a concerned look on her face.
"Can we help you?" Draco said with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes." The girl said promptly. "Have any of you seen a toad? A boy named Neville has seemed to have lost his. I'm helping him find it." She stuck out her hand. "I'm Hermione Granger."
"Draco Malfoy." Draco said promptly, shaking the girl's hand. "And this is my best friend—"
"Tobias LeStrange." Tobias interrupted shooting a look at Draco.
"Pleasure to meet both of you." She said as she shook Tobias's hand. "So are you two willing to help?"
The two boys looked at each other and shrugged. "I guess so." Tobias said.
"Great!" Hermione said excitedly. "I'll go grab the others and we can start searching the train."
The two boys nodded and sat back down in their seats.
"Have you ever heard of that name before? Granger?" Draco asked.
"No." Tobias answered. "Maybe she's a half-blood?"
Draco shrugged. They sat in silence until Hermione returned. She was followed by two boys. One who they recognized as Neville Longbottom. Tobias could tell that Draco was trying to suppress his laughter as the dopey boy stood in front of him—barely being able to keep his robes in one piece. The second boy arrived soon after. His robes were clearly hand-me-downs and his red hair was everywhere. The freckles on his face stood out more than anything else and his wand seemed to be the only new thing he had. Wait. Tobias thought. Red hair and Hand-me-down robes?
"WEASLEY?!" Draco yelled out.
I will posting every day until Chapter 4, then I will start my weekly publications. This is only to get you all intrigued into the story. I hope you all are enjoying it so far! Follow, Fav, and Review.
~TheeStoryTeller