TITILLANDA DARKSTAR
DISCLAIMER:Why are you people so anxious to name me as JK Rowling? WHY?!
SUMMARY: Abandoned at birth, a young witch was found by travellers. Her Hogwarts letter? Received and ignored. At the age of sixteen, what happens when the war starts spilling over the edges? And what if Harry Potter wasn't the Prophesied Child… but Titillanda?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yes, yes, I'm alive … but I feel terrible. I've just got over a case of the flu. I can still barely talk, and my nose is as red as anything. I also had to do my GCSE coursework while I was ill (with the FLU!) and I'm just starting to feel a little better now, so I decided I'd type this chapter. It is my longest yet! 2,343 words. Enjoy.
CHAPTER THREE
Landa woke up with a feeling of anticipation and trepidation – her sixteenth birthday! This meant two things.
One: she was sixteen (obviously), and two: she would find out who she was engaged to today. She didn't really care; she just hoped it wasn't Saunders.
She jumped out of her bed and pulled on her clothes. She grabbed her cloak and rushed outside. She remembered what Tanya had told her about her birthday …We don't really know the day yer birfday is, Landa; so instead, yer birfday is the day you were deliver'd to us.
It was with a strange feeling in her chest that she fingered her pendant as she ran over to Jo's caravan.
"Jo, Jo, Jo, Jo, Jo, Jo, Jo!" she sang as she reached Jo's bunk.
"Five more minutes…" Jo called sleepily, and turned over in bed.
Landa rolled her eyes and smiled: she knew Jo's morning routine by heart by now – Jo would keep on asking for 'five more minutes', until she was either dragged out of her bunk or doused in water. Landa preferred the 'doused in water' option the best.
She turned on the tap and filled up a nearby cup to the brim. Grinning evilly to herself, she tipped a tiny bit of water onto Jo's hair. Then, with a jolt of her hand, the rest of the cup's contents went cascading down on Jo's face.
"AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!" shouted Jo, leaping out of her bunk, whilst shaking her body like a dog. "What was that for?"
"Why, to get you up of course!" Landa said happily.
Jo growled.
It was clear that Jo did not like mornings.
Voldemort frowned at Alecto Carrow and her brother Amycus. He had been shaken awake by a house-elf with a squeaky voice. (Actually, all of his house-elves had squeaky voices, but this one's had an extra squeak quality. It was probably why that particular house-elf was called Squeak).
"And what about this magical disturbance?" he asked, tone a little grumpy.
"My lord," said Alecto, "the magical signature matches the one that you showed us."
"Yes, my lord," her brother agreed, "and apparently there has been more than one commotion around that area."
"You have found the Chosen Child?" Voldemort asked, looking grudgingly interested.
"Yes, my lord," Alecto said proudly – her brother nudged her indignantly; she shoved him off with a frown. Voldemort looked curiously at the two of them, and a quick probe into Amycus's mind showed him that Alecto had done none of the work – but had simply listened to what Amycus had to say, and then tried to take all the credit. He frowned: he would have to punish Alecto later. But for now… he had more important things to worry about…
"We attack tonight."
The wolf growled, his grey muzzle twitching with anticipation. His prey was there; simply lying there… he could get it if he jumped – right now! He leapt onto the body of a human – a human that had black hair and a green crest to the left of his robes – and dragged it past a couple of trees before stopping.
Grey Muzzle had just noticed.
The human was breathing.
And it was angry.
"…we are here to celebrate the birthday, and therefore engagement of Titillanda Darkstar…"
Cassie wasn't really paying attention to the ceremony.
"…sixteen today…"
She had had a strange feeling all day.
"…and she will be marrying –"
Griselda never finished that sentence. For at that very moment, twenty figures cloaked in black appeared out of thin air.
The human that Grey Muzzle had thought was dead woke up to a feeling of great pain. There was something stuck in his side.
That was the moment that he realised – it was one of the great wolves of the Forbidden Forest. These legendary creatures had not been sighted since the seventeenth century. And it was trying to eat him. With a hiss of pain he stood up and shouted…
"AVADA KEDAVRA!"
Landa stared in shock at the black covered group of people. But, almost instinctively, she stood up and grabbed her sword (she always carried it around with her nowadays); the others followed. And she started to fight.
…fighting for her life…
…fighting for her freedom…
…fighting for her friends.
McGonagall entered Dumbledore's office to find him staring at a piece of silver machinery in shock.
"Minerva… it's – it's – it's her."
She gasped. After all these years of desperation, despair, had they found the Chosen One? Had they found the one who could defeat You-Know-Who once and for all?
"Are – are – are you sure?" When Dumbledore nodded a yes, she jumped up from where she had sat down and shouted: "Then let's go! What are you waiting for? Come on, come on, and let's go!"
She made to race out of the room, but Dumbledore's next words made her stop.
"But Voldemort has found her first."
Slash! Parry! Duck!
Tasha and Jo were working as a team; but what they didn't get was why the opposition had no swords… they had sticks – wands, if Tanya's scrutiny was worth a penny.
But now, the resistance was wearing thin – they were losing.
The black cloaked people were shooting jets of light out of their wands – and, as the travellers soon found out, if the green hit you, you were dead.
But then Landa was there, and she was shooting fireballs at the killers.
And the slayers were being consumed by the flames.
But one… one was still fighting… and he was shooting spurts of water at the fireballs…
…laughter…
…there was laughter…
…cruel, horrifying laughter…
…And Landa was pulled towards the man by invisible forces, eyes wide, shrieking with terror; the man grabbed her and disappeared.
And the people who were left, still alive, their ears were ringing with all that lingered of Landa – her screams – sobbed.
Albus Dumbledore listened to Severus's explanation of what had happened in the forest.
"…and it was dragging me, so I – I – I killed it… but, you see, I had to, otherwise it would have kill—"
"But," Dumbledore interrupted his story, "what you haven't told me is this – what were you doing there in the first place?"
Severus Snape, for once, was silent.
Voldemort dragged Landa from where they had appeared from into his meeting room. Most of his Death Eaters were there already. The only ones who were not were the ones who had died during the fight which he had got the girl from.
"Today," Voldemort started importantly, "is a very big day for us –" The Death Eaters cheered – "for, today, we have found the long-lost 'Prophesied Girl'. She is here!" And Voldemort pulled her out from behind his back.
Blood-covered and filthy, Landa looked little more than her worst.
"You are Titillanda Darkstar, am I correct?" Voldemort hissed at her, almost in Parseltongue.
"So what if I am?" she replied, defiantly.
"You were destined to be my downfall, or I yours – but you do not know magic; am I correct?"
"Magic? Per-lease. You're worse than Cassie on a bad day." Landa folded her arms defiantly.
Voldemort blinked. He had not expected something like this… something so … insolent. He had expected sobs, and pleas for mercy, not backlash from her tongue.
But he recovered quickly; most of his Death Eaters hadn't even noticed his hesitation – only Bellatrix and Lucius (but they hid it well). With a quickly whispered "Crucio" Landa was on the floor, writhing and thrashing and screaming. When Voldemort lifted the curse, he laughed down at her; she glared up at him with all the hate she could muster.
"That's right, attack a defenceless child who has absolutely no chance of retaliating and then laugh at her," Landa said, hatefully. "You're so stupid that it's hard to believe. You complete and utter –" But by that time she was under the Cruciatus Curse again.
After lifting the curse once more, Voldemort whispered to her, "Did you know, you have a quarter Vampire blood in you, which gives you a quarter of protection against that curse. Other people will feel the pain four times worse than you. Look –" He pointed his wand at a nearby Death Eater (Macnair) and cast the curse at him – "see how much louder his screams are than yours?"
Landa stared at him in disgust, and then at the Death Eaters. "You just let him torture you? And you don't rise up, get rid of him?" she asked, disbelievingly.
Voldemort lifted the spell from Macnair, who lay shivering and whimpering on the floor, until another Death Eater next to him kicked him, at which he got up.
"I think," Voldemort said to Landa, "that it is time for you to 'sleep'." The Death Eaters cheered, because they knew the hidden meaning behind the words and Landa looked at them uneasily.
"Nagini!" Voldemort hissed. "Come!"
A great green snake slithered out of a corner, whispering to itself. As it got nearer, Landa could hear it speaking.
"…ssso sssweet ssso beautiful, will tassste ssso… good…"
"The snake!" said Landa in horror, "It speaks!"
"Stop!" Voldemort told Nagini. Turning to Landa he asked, "You can understand her?"
"It spoke."
"She," Voldemort hissed.
"Fine, she spoke then."
"And you heard what she said?" Voldemort persisted.
"Yeah…" Landa said, suspiciously.
"What did she say?"
"'So sweet, so beautiful, will taste so good'," Landa whispered.
Cassie screamed as Landa disappeared. She ran over to where the man had disappeared with her friend and ran a hand along the ground.
Jo rushed over to her, and, with tears falling down her cheeks she said, "That was magic; they used magic – magic to take Landa away."
But Cassie wasn't listening. "Can't you feel it?" she whispered, "The vibrations?"
Jo looked at her, as though for the first time. "No," she said quietly.
Cassie ignored her, and spoke in a strange voice; hoarse – grim.
"The never ending flame that consumes all … The one who shall make the Dark Lord fall … She was taken away so she could win … Against the one terrible sin … People have died, now it ends … She will succeed with the help of her friends … He will fall; all will be glad … She will have triumphed against bad … But one must die for this to occur … More will expire – more and more … She will be feared by all of evil … Because You-Know-Who shall be killed … In her no wrong is found … She'll always stand her ground … Even when faced by Death … She'll be true to herself …" Cassie took a long, shuddering breath, and her eyes rolled to the back of her head.
Jo stared.
"What?" Cassie asked worriedly.
"You just made a prophecy! A proper one; real – it rhymed, and everything!" Jo said.
"What did I say?"
Jo repeated it to her, word for word.
Cassie looked into the distance. "We have to tell Tasha."
"Agreed."
Nagini slithered to Landa curiously. "You can ssspeak the tongue of the sssnake, human?"
Landa looked at the pale, pasty man who stood beside her. He nodded curtly.
"I suppose, if that is what I'm speaking now."
"… Massster … thisss Sssnake-Human; how isss it that ssshe did not know that ssshe had the gift of the Ssspeakersss?"
"She was unknowledgeable of Wizard-kind until today – it fits that she did not know her gift."
The Death Eaters watched this exchange with confused faces … well, most of them did – one person, one Death Eater understood the whole conversation. He had listened in shock when the name 'Titillanda Darkstar' had been called out, and one memory came flashing back…
"It's a girl," he said, disappointedly. He had been hoping for a male heir, one that could carry on the line and the name. And his could not have more children – the Healer had informed her of her internal problems. This was their first child.
Marriage meant loyalty until death. They had taken their vows as sixteen year old kids. They had thought it was love; but now he realised that it was a set up by the Dark Lord.
He could not find an heir to his line, there was only one thing he could do.
And when his newly born daughter was five years old, he would do it.
Tasha listened intently to Jo's explaination of Cassie's prediction.
"The never ending flame…" she mused. "Taken away … Hmm… well, it's obviously about Landa," Tasha looked at the other two curiously as they gasped. "What? Hadn't you realised?" When the other two shook their heads she said, "Landa can make flame, can't she? And she was taken away by that … person –" as she said the word 'person' a thin lipped expression appeared on her face – "to goodness-knows-where, goodness-knows-how."
"Mmm …" said Cassie.
"Well," said Jo, "let's go then."
"Where?"
"We're going to find Landa."
Grey Muzzle stared at the green light heading towards him, and died with a last howl alerting the pack to his position.
Ten minutes later, Three Paw (who always walked on three paws because she had had an accident when he was young – she'd never been able to use her front left hand foot again) could be seen dragging Grey Muzzle's dead body extremely carefully back to the den. Looking at Yellow Eyes meaningfully, Three Paw laid his father's carcass delicately on the floor.
Unseen by anyone, Yellow Eyes shook his great shaggy head and walked dejectedly into his sleeping nest.