Oh wow, there is now a lot of people interested in this… Jeez, that's some pressure to handle… JK I LOVE YOU GUYS AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE SUPPORT AND AMAZING REVIEWS!
EDIT: For some reason, this story has more favs and follows than some of my favourite stories on the site… what the hell… Jee what a way of making me feel responsible about this story… *wink* *wink*
For those who asked, I did get into college! Yei! So writing fanfiction is actually a really nice way to practice for my career, so I guess I'll just get on with it.
Jun-27 Sorry for the long delay! A bunch of stuff has happened! And I had to re-write this chapter like 4 times, and even still, I think I'll re-write it somewhere down the line, as I just want to move onwards with the story.
FYI! My Harry is a tad more mature than in canon, that doesn't mean he isn't a teenager that can f**k up real bad, so just reign in your expectations XD.
Chapter 4: Sleepless Nights.
Sleep wasn't going to come easy that night, as Daphne found out soon after getting back into her dorm. However, what kept her awake though, wasn't necessarily fear.
In her candlelit room, Daphne clutched her father's book close to her chest, as memories from a happier childhood threatened to bring her to tears.
Above all else. Above the fear of an unknown wizard posing as her teacher, and above the trepidation in getting caught in something dangerous, above all that was Harry Potter.
She snorted to herself as once again the blurry image of Potter reacting to potential danger came to the forefront of her mind.
Stupid, stupid Potter.
Were all Gryffindor's so reckless and such hopeless troublemakers? There were a thousand other ways on how to deal with a situation like that, but no, Potter had charged in, head first into heaps of trouble, like some sort of deluded Don Quixote.
And yet…
A shudder ran up through her spine and left her uncomfortable in her own body. She sighed and clutched the book tighter.
Of course, not every Gryffindor was like that… the ones that were still alive weren't at least. And that was the problem, as only one other person in her life had reacted like that when in danger.
It cost him his life and one of the few things she had to remember him by was the long, pale scar that ran across her back and onto the nape of her neck.
Another shudder ran through her body as the scene played again in her head.
She had been so confused by the Boy Who Lived in those moments. One second he was turning out to be someone decent to hang around with and the next one he went full hero mode.
"Hero…" Daphne muttered, scoffing as she did so…
Her mother had taught her that heroes were self-righteous bastards who want to make the story about them or something along those lines.
Heroes were people who disregarded their own safety for a second in the spotlight…
And yet Potter…
There were so many wild rumours with him smack in the middle. Some were downright ludicrous, along the lines of Potter being some sort of reincarnation of Merlin or something.
But some of the other things, the minor stuff…
There were whispers among the students about the long hours in the library spent by Potter and his friends, along with the rumoured several stays in the hospital wing. And it seemed that she managed to find herself smack right in the middle of one of Harry Potter's supposed adventures.
But there was no way Potter would be daft enough to not take the situation up to the authorities, or at least a teacher. Then again he had completely forgotten to tell her when or where she was supposed to meet her.
As the morning light began filtering through her window, she rose up from her bed and set the book back on her desk.
Somehow her place seemed different, unfamiliar. Showering and dressing up for the day somehow had a new edge to it, and before exiting her private room, the trepidation and fear of an unknown person impersonating someone they were supposed to trust, came back to the forefront of her mind.
It was funny how unsettling Jamais vu really was.
Her first mission of the day was to find Potter and to see what he made of the situation.
She was certain her word alone wouldn't be enough to convince anyone that professor Alastor Moody was, in reality, an impostor. Maybe along with Potter, who was known to be in good graces with the Deputy Headmistress, then, maybe, they had a better chance of being heard.
Potter had told her to meet him by the lake, but s far as she was concerned, the sooner they met up, the sooner they could do something about the whole situation.
Ooo
A ragged looking man stood against the wall of one of the unnamed streets in Knocturn Alley. Half amused half angry, the man banged his fist on the wall.
Stupid. He had gotten careless and he had almost blown his cover. In the middle of the Great Hall no less. He had a good excuse for his lapse in judgment, however.
A wide, cruel smirk spread across his face, hidden under the cover of the night.
'What an unexpected turn of events,' The man thought to himself as he pondered what to do with the information he had just found out.
Well, that wasn't really up for debate of course, but he'd rather avoid that woman if nothing else. The mere thought of meeting her was enough to sober up Barty Crouch Junior. Even if she was an ally… his master had still spoken wearily of her.
Crouch Jr. fiddled with the small flask in his pocket before pulling his wand out from under his sleeve and pointing it at his head. He closed his eyes and focused.
Through his eyes flashed the memory of young Daphne Greengrass dancing in the Yule Ball with Potter, and paid extra attention at the uncharacteristically serene expression on her face.
When he was done and he opened his eyes, the memory hung from the tip of his wand. Carefully he let it fall into the flask, which he sealed and pocketed.
Barty almost jumped out of his skin when he heard another person walk nearby and was quick to leave the area after that.
As he walked, he cursed to himself and took a swig of his Polyjuice Potion.
Oh, how he detested that potion, handy as it was. Despite that, he had to make sure to never be too far away from his supply. He was getting sloppy, and getting caught in the school would spell disaster for his master's plan.
The familiar sting of an eye leaving his socket was enough to make him suck air through his tightly clenched teeth. Then came the dull, throbbing ache familiar to those who had lost a limb sometime in their life.
Of course, the prosthetics helped quite a lot. After all, Alastor Moody was nothing if not crafty. Soon the pain receded and was replaced by the familiar cold that emanated from the prosthetics.
Once he was settled into the body of Alastor Moody, he quickly debated how to proceed. Any Dark wizard worth it's salt would know how to read the signs. They were there all the time, corroding and corrupting at their leisure. It was written in the stone and whispered into the wind.
A primordial evil, which came as natural to life as life itself.
Lesser dark wizards would lose themselves once the learnt how to read the signs, driven mad by the promises of power.
Weak, pathetic fodder that walked willingly into the spider's nest.
A part of him was amused with himself. Before finding his master, he'd almost been one of those fools. The other side of himself still had goosebumps at the prospect of the journey at hand.
With a sigh, Barty Crouch junior inhaled deeply before he vanished in a mist of pure blackness.
ooo
Finding Potter had been a relatively simple task, mostly since he happened to be looking for her too; but once they had spotted each other in the great hall, and after pretending to be too busy to be bothered, Daphne was finally able to get Potter into a more secluded area.
Her first impression of him that day was problematic.
The look that had invaded his eyes right after the impostor's discovery the night prior hadn't left him, and if she was honest with herself, it was a look that did not suit him. She was more comfortable with the idea of Potter being a bumbling, Gryfindoor fool than him having a lot more to him than met the eye.
He looked tired, dissatisfied. As if the man that had danced with her during the ball had received news of a relative dying. Or something along those lines.
"How was your night?" He asked her tiredly while he rubbed his chin uncomfortably as if he had a beard and was itching to play with it if only to just have something to busy his hands with.
She scowled, although she realized he had asked her good-naturedly. It had taken special effort to settle into her normal attitude that day and had no intent to break it until she was back in her dorm room.
He smiled, and although it did not reach his eyes, that simple smile was enough to erase some of the wear and tear that was present in his appearance.
Daphne knew what he was thinking of course; he had seen her lose her composure once already. What was he going to do with that information was beyond her, but she hoped he would forget that detail about her rather sooner than later.
"So, Potter…" She began, fully intending to get matters moving, as who knew what the impostor would be up to.
But before she could continue he raised his hand to stop her. She then heard footsteps, hurried ones, thundering down the hallway they had chosen for their conversation.
She was about to step away from Potter in that instant. It wouldn't do her any favours if she was spotted chatting with Potter in a more or less empty hallway.
However, she stopped once she recognized the rather obnoxious voice of Ronald Weasley calling out for his friend.
"Oi! Mate! Where are you" followed by someone else who, it seemed, was doing her best to shush the redhead.
Daphne sighed to herself. She supposed that it was to be expected, after all, they were called the Gryffindor golden trio for a reason.
Potter waved them over from their spot on the hallway, and a few seconds later they were standing in front of them. The fact that they didn't immediately comment on her presence somewhat startled her, although she supposed that Potter had told them exactly with who he had had his run-in with the impostor.
Granger was the first one to talk to her.
"Daphne!" she said turning to look at her with a worried expression. "Were you safe last night? Did anybody try to get into your room?"
Daphne didn't say anything but she told her 'no' with her head. Granger nodded, seemingly a little bit put out at her attitude, although Daphne couldn't be sure.
"What about you mate?" Weasely asked Potter. "You didn't tell us what professor Mcgonagal told you!"
Daphne shifted her eyes towards Potter. So it seemed that he had more common sense than she gave him credit for, but truth to be told, the sight had escaped Potter as soon as he was asked was a little worrisome.
He passed his hand through his hair and stared at the ground for a second, before looking up.
"She didn't believe me" was what he said as soon as he had looked them over.
A moment of silence passed over the four before Granger spoke shakily.
"W-what?"
The girl seemed to be at a loss for words. If Daphne was honest with herself, she too was a little bit miffed at the news, although she didn't let it show.
'So that is plan A out of the window…' She mused as she watched Potter's friends process the news.
Before any of them could speak, however, Potter just shrugged and motioned them to follow him.
"Harry?" Granger asked as she began following her friend.
Daphne was about to follow suit but before she could do so, she found herself under the scrutinizing gaze of one Ronald Weasley.
"Weasley?" she inquired, making her best effort to keep her face straight. For a moment it looked as if he was about something to say to her, but after a second of silence, the redhead just shook his head and began walking after his friends.
Daphne began moving soon after, intent on following the trio, but far away enough so that most people wouldn't think she was doing so.
That and she felt uncomfortable. She hadn't expected the two other Gryffindors to show up and had no idea what to do now that they were a part of the equation. Part of her had hoped that she and Potter would be able to solve things without anyone else even noticing.
If she was spotted hanging around Potter there could be one or two excuses she could convincingly use. But if she were to be seen hanging around with a group of Gryffindors things would get somewhat problematic in her house.
However, the news that Potter delivered in a single sentence implied that whatever situation they were stuck in wasn't going to go away that easily.
A shiver went up to her spine when she thought about it. Because, why infiltrate a school in the first place?
No student had gone missing that she was aware of, nor did anything important had been stolen, otherwise, they would have been told, or at least the rumour of it would have reached her.
But there was none of that, just someone masquerading as a teacher. And not even the headmaster had seemed to notice.
It seemed he had played his role so well that even the Deputy Headmistress had dismissed the notion of an impostor.
"Daphne?" she heard her name being called out and looked up only to realize she wasn't sure where she was.
It was a room, not unlike the classrooms of the castle, but this one was dusty and riddled with cobwebs. There were some desks and chairs piled on one of the corners. It wasn't dark enough to not be able to see in it, although she could discern no windows on the walls.
Potter and Weasley had busied themselves by lighting up some candles that, undoubtedly at one point, had been used as the room's primary light source.
"Where are we?" She asked.
Granger, who was the one who distracted her from the musings shrugged her shoulders.
"I'm not sure, Harry led us to this place."
"Its an old part of the castle" she heard Potter comment while lighting a candle. "I don't know exactly what this room was used for" he added once he had set the candle back onto its mount.
Daphne glanced inquisitively at Granger. She didn't seem surprised that Potter knew some hidden part of the castle, although it seemed that she wasn't going to comment on it, probably since Daphne was there.
The screech of metal dragging across the stone floor made Daphne jump. While she had been thinking, Potter and Weasley had dragged one of the larger desks out from the corner and set it in the middle of the room, along with some chairs.
Granger was the first one to take a seat, setting her bag on the table and quickly unpacking. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was mostly books which came out from it.
"Harry…" Granger began while looking over the books she had brought. "What did you say to Professor McGonagall?"
Potter sighed and sat down besides Granger. "The truth!" he said, out loud, "Well, most of it anyway."
"What do you mean most of it?" Daphne intervened; while she didn't show it, she couldn't fathom the possibility of Potter not going into detail when a situation like that arose, much less when it was with someone who they supposedly trusted.
Potter seemed to think to himself, then, with a look that Daphne didn't recognize, he glanced at Granger, who sighed.
Without looking at her, Granger began speaking.
"Polyjuice potion can be very dangerous… There are records of people impersonating others and destroying their lives… sometimes worse. Students aren't supposed to know about it… Much less know how to recognize it."
She didn't say much, but Daphne was able to read between the lines.
"What did you do?" was all she could ask.
The Gryffindor trio remained silent and shifted uncomfortably in their seats. The unusually silent Weasely let out a grunt, breaking the silence.
Potter, Granger, and herself turned to look at the redhead.
Said redhead sighed and addressed Potter.
"Look, mate, You know I don't like Slytherins, but you insisted that she should be here right? You told me all of these reasons why she should be here didn't you?"
Then he turned to Granger. "And you were the one screaming my bloody ear off about how I should be more open-minded and whatnot, weren't you?
He then looked at Daphne. "She's already here, she has questions already, we might as well trust her shouldn't we?"*
Daphne raised an inquisitive eyebrow at the trio, who shared a look amongst themselves before Potter sighed.
"Alright," Potter began. He looked at Daphne straight in the eye while she too settled into a chair.
"What rumours have you heard?"
Ooo
Another explosion sounded from amidst the trees and Bary Crouch Junior sighed in relief.
'That should be enough to get them off my back for a little while' He mused as he breathed in.
The moment he had come nearby the forest he ditched the idea of even trying to traverse it while disguised as a crippled Auror.
The place screamed danger. It was dark and filled with things that didn't want to be found. His bloody arm was proof enough of that.
An old forest, hidden to the world and the prying eyes of "modernity". Crouch scoffed at the silly name that the muggles had given to their "advancements".
How did they dare to claim modernity? They know nothing. Not about life, nature, power…
The bloody idiots could see a man breathing fire, and they would still deny the existence of magic. So blind they were that they had missed the forest he was now in, even though it was right in the middle of the frozen tundra that is Siberia.
It was probably for the best. Their fancy weapons wouldn't help them in a place like that. And what remained of a more primordial world needed a place to hide after all.
And it was primordial alright. He was no expert, but crouch could feel that magic worked differently there. The rules by which it worked were different.
The legends that were still told around those parts… about crooked looking witches that made their lairs in the hidden recesses of the forest. About the sacrifices, they made to gods with no name. About the things, they did to please their overlords.
And the forest itself held its secrets. Beasts of a world long forgotten, with no place in human lore, still wandered the place. Plants and mushrooms of properties so potent and unknown, that they were still left alone even by the most renowned potion masters of the ages.
Yes, that wasn't the kind of place to pitch up a tent to get through the night. He was well aware of this, and so Crouch kept going deeper into the woods.
Occasionally he found some of the places that the legends talked about. Blood stained monoliths and skeletons that were still strung up by their toes, even after centuries had passed.
The place he was going to wasn't one that one could merely stumble across. By the will of the magic that was hers, only those who were looking for it could find it. And even then she was at best, very selective of those she allowed into her little retreat.
His master had been, of course, one of them, but Crouch knew that if he hadn't been introduced by the dark lord himself, he would never have left the place alive, were he to have searched for it on his own.
Something changed in the air, and crouch stood still, back straight as a soldier's. The forest became quiet, the lullaby of the insects and wildlife forgotten as a much darker presence made itself known to him.
In a whisper carried by the wind, a voice, cold as winter, echoed around him.
'So, the lackey finally comes on his own, unshielded by the power of his master…'
Crouch looked around. He tried to do as his master had instructed him. To see the forest and not just to perceive it. To feel its own power and to distinguish it from the power of the witch.
But there was very little he could tell apart about that place and about her.
'Thinking are we? What brings you her oh so… alone?'
Crouch had to swallow his nerves at the implications in her tone.
"News, I have news that concern you" he rasped through his dry mouth "My lady" he added as an afterthought.
' Again? I've already told your master that I don't care about that prophecy of his or that Potter boy'
Crouch swallowed hard again "This time, My lady, the news that I have brought to you about Harry Potter, also concern your family… the ones that call themselves 'Greengrass'"
The atmosphere changed again, and her overwhelming presence shifted and diminished. The trees began to fade away to reveal a clearing that once, long ago, might have been beautiful. But instead, it was strewn with animal carcasses, and the life of the plants within it had rotted away, leaving them ashen, empty and dead.
"Why didn't you say so dear?"
The voice was accompanied by the hand of a woman, which stroked at his chin almost patronizingly. Crouch dared to glance at her.
He knew not to be deceived by her beauty. The long, golden blond hair and the striking green eyes, the telltale signs of her lineage, and the doom of any who she deemed unworthy.
He refrained himself from saying anything and just pulled out the vial which contained the memory of the previous night.
Not a whisper came from her as she grabbed the memory. The wind didn't rustle the leaves of the trees, and her footsteps didn't disturb the ground.
She uncorked the vial and swallowed the memory whole.
He could see the events of the previous day play in her eyes as she examined his recollections.
The pleasant smile that she wore slowly morphed until it was unrecognizable, and it was twisted into one of the cruellest, most crooked smirks he had ever seen. Her eyes took an unnatural glint.
"Oh, she looks just like me, doesn't she? Although those blue eyes of hers…" she murmured, dissatisfied "but she's still young after all" The witch said through sharp, carnivorous teeth.
Crouch gave a single nod at her.
"And when did you found out hat my lineage had spread all the way to Albion?"*
"Last night, My Lady"
Her pleasant smile returned, her teeth no longer animalistic. With elegance and grace, she began to walk around him, although her eyes never left him.
Crouch winced as he felt the intrusion on his mind. Like a sharp insidious needle, her thoughts invaded his. With the skill of a master and the power of her magic, she entered and left his mind with ease.
"Liar" she whispered coyly in his ear as she strolled around her forest clearing. "But I can't fault a loyal dog for obeying his master's commands, can I? That little plan of his to get that Potter boy alone takes priority in your mind, doesn't it?"
She giggled to herself.
"But now that I can be of… Use, in this escapade of his… I'll give him credit for picking the most cunning ones to be his followers"
She stopped and looked up at the darkening sky
"Go and tell your master that we ought to speak soon"
And just like that, she was gone. The lullaby of the forest returned in full swing, and Crouch was left there to gather his nerves.
Ooo
Daphne listened attentively. What she was hearing couldn't be possible. They were trying to play a game with her, of that she was sure, or had been at least.
As Potter spoke and told her about how he knew the hidden places of the castle, tiny things began to make sense in her mind.
When she asked questions, he answered them, and only a few times did she get the impression that she was not hearing the full story. Potter was being extremely cautious with his words, and after everything he told her, he watched her cautiously.
They had talked about trust, but even then, it was clear to Daphne that it was not something he gave freely. He didn't go into the details but gave her hints as to what really had happened.
Dementors? Sure, fought a whole pack of them. Why? He just shrugged his shoulders. She called him a liar? He shrugged again, picked up his wand, and flicked a Patronus charm into existence.
A beast in the school during the second year? Again, she called him a liar, and all he would do was roll up his sleeve to show her a wound that was yet to fully heal.
A part of her wanted to ask for an unbreakable vow. She knew that that was the only means which she had to ascertain the truth. After all, she knew how to do it, her mother being an expert on such things and all.
But something in Weasley's and Granger's eye's told her that he was being honest enough.
Her latest question answered Daphne, looked at Potter straight in the eye. A second of silence passed in the candlelit room, before she sighed.
"Okay…" Daphne began "I will pretend that what you said is true for the time being… But Potter, I want the full story at some point"
She watched him carefully after that. He had to know that she was pressing for more information right then and there. She expected his ego to flare up and give away some extra details.
But instead, he smirked at her, not unlike how he had done the previous night when she had gotten excited about the music.
"When there is no one disguised as a teacher? Then sure, we can talk" he told her, the smirk never wavering.
That brought Daphne back to reality. As much as she enjoyed prodding the boy who lived for answers, there was a reason they were there in the first place. It was lucky that the Ball had been celebrated in a Saturday, and thus they didn't have to rush to classes.
"Right!" Granger intervened and looked at Potter expectantly. "What happened with the professor?"
Potter leaned back into his chair. "After Daphne and I separated, I went straight to her office; the ball was still going on so I guess she wasn't surprised to see me there. I told her that I saw a strange man coming out of Professor Moody's office, dressed just like him"
"That's all you said to her mate," Weasley asked with a stunned expression.
"Well, Ron, how did you think that that conversation would have gone. Hey Professor, I know for sure that Professor Moody is an impostor; And how do you know that Potter? Well, his office was filled with empty vials of Polyjuice Potion; And how do you know about that potion mister Potter? Oh, I don't know, We kind of used it to sneak into the Slytherin common room in our second-year Professor." Potter said, almost flailing his arms at his friend.
"You did what?!" Daphne intervened, somewhat scandalized.
Potter looked at her while flinching at his own mistake.
"Uh, we were trying to find out if Malfoy was the heir of Slytherin" Weasley answered her.
"Or if he knew anything about… whomever it was" Granger finished.
Daphne sighed and settled back into her seat. Yes, she needed the full story at some point. Potter was the one who could speak to snakes, and he was the one looking at anyone but himself? Everybody in her house knew Potter was the heir of… Slytherin.
Daphne almost cursed out loud, and she was sure she was visibly upset, but in her mind, she was not at fault. So many of the things she had just learnt were the direct opposite of what she knew, and then some of the things she was certain of didn't really make sense when put together with the new information.
"Oh Daph" She mused to herself "What have you gotten yourself into?"
Ooo
He watched her thinking. There was something about her that piqued his curiosity to no end. He didn't know why, or since when, but it was there.
Originally, Harry had planned to deal with the issue as fast as he could. He had gone straight to McGonagall and told her… well, what he could tell her. He should have expected that to somewhat backfire if he was honest. Giving that little details to the stern Witch would go down smoothly.
But he had a tournament to prepare for! That was dangerous enough as it was; he really didn't need to go around playing detective!
And now he had dragged Daphne into it. He scoffed as he realized that merely sharing a few words with her through the year was enough to put her in danger.
And now she was asking questions. He had to admit, that if the situation was any different, he'd be glad to have a chat with her. Maybe not tell her everything but maybe…
Harry sighed to himself in his mind. Now there were things she needed to know to even understand his and his friend's conversations. And while he did pat himself on the back at how he had managed to actually reveal very little, he really couldn't think about a scenario in which she didn't end up finding out way more about him than he'd like.
"So what are we going to do?" he heard Hermione ask, and that brought Harry back to the present.
"We cat stalk a teacher until he slips up, chances are that we'll be found out sooner rather than later" Daphne contributed while she seemed to still be stuck in her own thoughts.
"He might be dangerous y' know?" Ron said, "I mean, if he can pull off this stuff right under Dumbledore's nose, then he probably can do a lot more couldn't he?"
"So maybe the answer is not to 'do' anything to him, all we have to do is oust him" Harry began talking. It was something that he had been thinking about during the night.
"I know someone" His eyes shifted towards Hermione and Ron, conspiracy wrote all over his gaze, "That might know how the real Alastor Moody is like"
Hermione's eyes widened as it dawned on her who he was actually talking about.
"And we can maybe ask around the castle! Maybe someone has noticed something… unusually odd about that man." She said.
There was a moment of silence between the group, as everyone considered what such a plan would entail.
"I don't think that is the best of Ideas," Daphne said in a quiet tone. "If we begin going out of the way to find out something, or act different than usual, there is a good chance that the impostor might notice something is off"
Harry thought it over for a second before he began speaking. "I don't think that we have anything to do as it is," he said, his tone sombre. "We don't have anything to show to McGonagall or even Dumbledore, and you guys are right, he could be dangerous."
"So are we supposed to let that man wander around the castle doing who knows what?!" Hermione raised her tone, and Harry saw disbelief written all over her face when he glanced at her.
"Obviously not" he intervened, stopping Hermione from launching herself into lecture mode. He and Ron knew that if you didn't clarify things with Hermione, as soon as you'd miss-spoken, then you would be subjected to several hour courses on why you are doing something wrong.
Besides, he doubted Daphne would appreciate being subjected to that when less than an hour had passed since Daphne and Hermione had, effectively, talked for the first time.
"We have to keep an eye on him," Harry said in a slightly louder voice, intent on leaving his strategy clear. "But we can't risk going out and actively searching for something; worst case scenario, he is dangerous, or knows dangerous people."
"Not to mention you still have a tournament to compete in, Potter" Daphne added once he was done speaking. Harry suspected, that she would rather not do anything to make her stand out in any way, otherwise people might find her actions too out of character.
"So what do we do then?" Hermione sighed as she slumped slightly into her chair.
Harry shrugged "As I said, we start paying attention to the fake moody, and see if he does anything out of the ordinary at any moment; In a week's time we meet back here, just after breakfast and 'report' anything that stood out."
"Sounds like a solid plan to me mate!" Ron said, happy to finally have a direction as to what to do.
Hermione nodded her consent somewhat hesitantly, but vigorously.
Harry turned to look at Daphne. She, while sitting straight in the chair, was fiddling with her fingers above the desk. Her eyes turned towards him, and with an almost inperceptible nod, she agreed.
*1-This is fanfiction, and I really don't do the whole Hate The Weasleys/Dumbledore etc. I think it is pretty excusable that Ronald, after what happened at the beginning of the year with the whole cup fiasco would be more than willing to shut his trap, if only to make it up to Harry.
*2-Albion is another way of calling the island of Great Britan. Fable players will know this . I think it's a dated term, and that it follows the narrative that I have planned for this "Witch" quite nicely.
Shorter chapter, I know. Worry not, the next chapter is already in the works.
I chose to leave this one as it is so that I could progress the plot, without having to re-work a longer chapter in the future. As you can see, this onis mostly exposition dumpy, and while I'm glad it went in the direction I wanted, I still think I can do it again but much better.
So don't feel upset if this chapter was sub-par, as I just wanted to give you more to read in a quicker fashion, with full knowledge that I have to get back to this one sometime soon.
