Chapter Eight:
The Boy Who Lived
Sunday, October 31st, 1993,
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,
Kali Kalakaua Lupin Morrigan Black,
Kali drew a certain amount of pride from the fact that no matter which school Remus was teaching at, it never took him long to become one of the students' favourite teachers within the first couple of weeks. The students would rave about his lessons and look forward to them and they would learn things, not like they learned things for History of Magic or Astronomy or anything like that, what he taught they remembered without having to force it, because he made his every class memorable.
Only Draco and his friends had anything bad to say about Remus, none of it relating to the way Remus taught, but all to do with his dishevelled appearance. It had earned them a few discreet and well-placed hexes from Kali .
However, not everyone was Remus's biggest fan. The story of the boggart assuming Snape's shape, and the way that Neville had dressed it in his grandmother's clothes, had travelled through the school like wildfire, and although most everyone was highly amused by it, Snape didn't seem to find it funny. His eyes flashed menacingly at the very mention of Remus, and he was bullying Neville worse than ever. The nasty looks directed at her godfather, those Kali could handle; but the mindless and vindictive bullying, that she would not tolerate.
She found that it was very easy to get under Snape's skin and had taken to antagonizing him whenever he was cruel toward his students. It wasn't a perfect system, she had to admit: Snape had many classes with many students to torment, and Kali could only attend a select few; plus, Snape was a teacher, therefore an authority figure, therefore he had the power to give out detentions, which he did regularly. He never took points from her because that would penalize Slytherin, but it was a rare week when she didn't have to serve at least one detention with him. It was a small price to pay for the game she was playing, though.
She was trying out her own version of Pavlovian conditioning, wherein Snape would eventually learn to associate being an arse with getting his pride torn to shreds. He was a very proud man, but only regarding certain aspects of himself. For instance, criticizing his looks or his personality may sting and bruise his ego slightly, but that would be it, because those were not the things he valued about himself. But to destroy a man you must go after that which he holds dear. In Snape's case that was Potions: he was an excellent Potions Master and he was very proud of that accomplishment. Kali couldn't take away his knowledge and skill – not without doing things and using magic that was very illegal – but she could become better than him and start showing him up at every turn when he was a git. Potions had never been Kali's favourite subject – it required a patience she didn't have – but spite was an excellent motivator, and by October she'd read half of the Potions books in the school library and had taken the time to practice every new recipe she learned until her skill was beyond reproach. Every potion she brewed for Snape's class was flawless and she made a point of never doing it the way he told her to which irritated him to no end, but it was the fact that her way of doing it was often easier and more efficient that he truly loathed. She had become a particularly nasty thorn in his side, and there was nothing he could do about it until he stopped being a bullying arse.
In other news, the first Hogsmeade trip of the year was planned for this weekend and all the Third Years were very excited about it. Kali, however, would not be going. If it were any other weekend she would have been able to swing it, but not today. Not only was the full moon tonight – and she did not like leaving Remus during the days leading up to the full – but it was also this time of year when Remus was most likely to become depressed and distant: because this time twelve years ago was when his life came crumbling down around him. So she would pass on Hogsmeade this time, because Remus was more important, which was something she would tell him over and over until she managed to hammer it into that thick skull of his.
"You should go," he said for the tenth time that morning.
They were in his office, Remus was looking for something, riffling through his half unpacked suitcases and trunks, while Kali graded his Sixth Years' essays. Remus never unpacked, never completely, in fact he only unpacked things when he needed them which made for a very disorganized living space and some very jumbled suitcase and trunk interiors. It was a wonder he ever found anything in the mess he created. It was a sharp contrast to how he used to be. Grandpa Lyall had once told her that when Remus was little his room was always spotless, his clothes were always neatly folded, and he would alphabetize his books, which was difficult to believe when you had to witness this orderless chaos. Kali guessed that the change in organization techniques had to do with Remus's unwillingness to settle down and call a place home – however temporarily – because he knew that it would be just that: temporary.
"It'll get you out of the castle, off the school grounds for a bit. It'll be fun, and I'll be fine."
"There will be other trips," she said absently, scribbling a note in the margin of the essay in front of her and wondering what kind of a dolt couldn't properly describe a dementor when there were about a hundred of them circling the school at all times.
She only ever helped Remus out with his corrections – against his wishes – around the full moon when he was either too tired or too restless but always too stubborn to do anything about whichever. She did the first draft of the corrections, going over each paper and making note of what was right, what was wrong, what was clever, and what was incredibly stupid, and Remus always read through the paper to double check and to decide on the final mark he'd give. It saved him some time and some energy better spent elsewhere.
She finally finished with the papers, stacking them neatly on his desk, all the while Remus was still searching through his stuff. She was about to ask what for when he popped his head out through the open office door.
"Harry?" said Remus, and Kali glanced over her shoulder to see Harry backtracking toward the office. "What are you doing? Where are Ron and Hermione?"
"Hogsmeade," said Harry, in a would-be casual voice.
"Ah," said Remus. He considered Harry for a moment. "Why don't you come in? I've just taken delivery of a grindylow for our next lesson."
"A what?" said Harry.
He followed Remus into his office and spotted Kali lounging in her chair. She smiled at him. "Hello, Harry."
"Oh – hello, Kali." Harry glanced between Kali and Remus. "I'm not interrupting, am I?"
Kali shook her head. "Nope," she said, with a disarming grin.
Harry turned a deep crimson. "Right – Kali – hi," he sputtered.
"Have you seen our next assignment?" She gestured at a corner of the room.
In said corner stood a very large tank of water. A sickly green creature with sharp little horns had its face pressed against the glass, pulling faces and flexing its long, spindly fingers.
"It's a water demon," Remus explained, surveying the grindylow thoughtfully. "We shouldn't have much difficulty with him, not after the kappas. The trick is to break his grip. You notice the abnormally long fingers? Strong, but very brittle."
The grindylow bared its green teeth and then buried itself in a tangle of weeds in a corner.
"Cup of tea?" Remus said, looking around for his kettle. "I was just thinking of making one."
"All right," said Harry awkwardly.
"Kali?" Remus asked, finally finding his kettle in the mess he called an office.
"Sure."
She'd spoken to Harry only once since starting at Hogwarts, but he seemed nice in a dorky and awkward kind of way.
Remus tapped the kettle with his wand and a blast of steam issued suddenly from the spout.
Pan startled Harry by brushing against his leg as a large yellow cat. "He's kind of scrawny, isn't he?"
"He's a teenage boy, that's how most of them look," she said as Pan jumped onto her lap.
"Sit down, Harry," said Remus, taking the lid off a dusty tin. "I've only got teabags, I'm afraid – but I daresay you've had enough of tea leaves?"
Kali smirked and Remus's eyes twinkled.
"How did you know about that?" Harry asked.
"Professor McGonagall told me," said Remus, passing Harry a chipped mug of tea. "You're not worried, are you?"
"No," said Harry. But there was something on his mind, that much was obvious, and Remus noticed as well.
"Anything worrying you, Harry?" he asked.
"No," said Harry a little too quickly. He drank a bit of tea and watched the grindylow brandishing a fist at him. "Yes," he said suddenly, putting his tea down on Lupin's desk. "You know that day we fought the boggart?"
"Yes," said Remus slowly.
"Why didn't you let me fight it?" said Harry abruptly.
Remus raised his eyebrows.
"I would have thought that was obvious, Harry," he said, sounding surprised.
"Why?" he said again.
Remus frowned slightly.
"He figured that if the boggart faced you, it would assume the shape of Lord Voldemort," Kali said, sipping at her tea.
Harry stared at her, she wasn't sure if the shock came from the fact that he hadn't expected that answer or that Kali had said Voldemort's name. She knew that many people weren't comfortable hearing his name out loud, but it was only a name and a made-up one at that.
"Clearly, I was wrong," said Remus, still frowning at Harry. "But I didn't think it a good idea for Lord Voldemort to materialize in the staffroom. I imagined that people would panic."
"I didn't think of Voldemort," said Harry. It was Kali's turn to be surprised by him speaking the dark wizards name. "I – I remembered those dementors."
"I see," said Remus thoughtfully. "Well, well… I'm impressed." He smiled slightly at the look of surprise on Harry's face. "That suggests that what you fear most of all is – fear. Very wise, Harry."
A faint blush stained Harry's cheeks at the compliment and he drank some more tea to give himself something to do.
"So you've been thinking that I didn't believe you capable of fighting the boggart?" said Remus shrewdly.
"Well… yeah," said Harry. Suddenly looking a lot happier. "Professor Lupin, you know the dementors -"
He was interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Come in," called Remus.
The door opened, and in came Snape. He was carrying a goblet, which was smoking faintly, and stopped at the sight of Kali and Harry, his black eyes narrowing.
"Ah, Severus," said Lupin, smiling. "Thanks very much. Could you leave it here on the desk for me?"
Snape set down the smoking goblet of Wolfsbane Potion, his eyes wandering between Kali, Harry, and Remus.
"I was just showing Kali and Harry my grindylow," said Remus pleasantly, pointing at the tank.
"Fascinating," said Snape, without looking at it. "You should drink that directly, Lupin."
"Yes, Yes, I will," said Remus.
"I made an entire cauldronful," Snape continued. "If you need more."
"I should probably take some again tomorrow. Thanks very much, Severus."
"Not at all," said Snape, with a malignant look in his eye. He backed out of the room, unsmiling and watchful.
Harry was looking curiously at the goblet. Remus smiled.
"Professor Snape has very kindly concocted a potion for me," he said. "I have never been much of a potion-brewer and this one is particularly complex." He picked up the goblet and sniffed it. "Pity sugar makes it useless," he added, taking a sip and shuddering.
"Why -?" Harry began. Remus looked at him and answered the unfinished question.
"I've been feeling a bit off-colour," he said. "This potion is the only thing that helps. I am very lucky to be working alongside Professor Snape; there aren't many wizards who are up to making it."
It wasn't technically a lie: the full moon was tonight so Remus certainly wasn't feeling his best; and Snape, despite being a slimy, grease covered git, was very good at brewing Potions, still Kali would have preferred to make it herself, but Remus insisted it was too time-consuming for her to worry about while at school.
"Professor Snape's very interested in the Dark Arts," Harry blurted out.
"Really?" said Remus, looking only mildly interested as he took another gulp of potion.
"Some people reckon -" Harry hesitated, then plunged recklessly on, "some people reckon he'd do anything to get the Defence Against the Dark Arts job."
Kali smiled at the implication, but Remus – being the mature, respectful adult that he was – hid his reaction by draining the goblet and pulling a face at the awful taste.
"Disgusting," he said. "Well, Harry, I'd better get back to work. See you at the feast later."
"Right," said Harry, putting down his empty teacup and eyeing the now empty goblet that was still smoking.
He left the office and Kali finished her tea while watching Remus over the rim of her cup. "So you're not going to tell him then?"
Remus sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. "No. It wouldn't make any difference to him."
"I think it would. Plenty of people knew Lily and James, but none like you did. He might like to hear those stories."
Remus shook his head, chewing his lip with the faraway look he got when he was seeing ghosts. Remus did not like reliving the past, with everything he'd lost it was far too painful, and retelling old stories was a special kind of hell for him.
She kicked him beneath his desk and smiled, easing the mood. "Get some rest before tonight, okay?"
"I'll finish grading these essays, then I'm off to bed, promise."
With that reassurance in mind she left the office as well, and spotted Harry walking down the hallway.
"You could go talk to him," said Pan, sitting at her heels and transforming into an oncilla.
"I could," she agreed, but she didn't move.
"It might be nice for you to get to know him."
Harry was about to turn a corner when she decided to banish her doubts and hailed him. He stopped and she jogged to catch up.
"Do you really believe Snape is capable of poisoning someone for a job?" she asked, a smile playing on her lips.
"Uh – well – I mean – he's not the best person around, is he?" said Harry.
"True, but to poison a fellow colleague… that would be pretty extreme." Her smile broke out and Harry smiled with her. "So why aren't you at Hogsmeade with your friends?"
"Oh, I had a bit of an argument with my Aunt and Uncle before leaving and they wouldn't sign my permission slip. You?"
"It's a Halloween thing. Remus – Professor Lupin – and I always spend the day together. But the potion Snape gives him makes him sleepy, so I need someone else to keep me amused." She smiled at him suggestively.
Harry blushed. "Oh – uh – I'm not busy at the moment."
"Cool." She grinned, grabbed his hand and led him down the corridor.
They spent the rest of the day exploring the castle, Harry showed her shortcuts and secret passages he knew about, and they discovered some new ones together. They talked about school stuff mostly, classes, teachers, homework… that sort of thing, before Harry asked her about her Led Zeppelin t-shirt and they moved on to music, and from there the conversation flowed easily from one thing to another.
"Do you want to see something cool?" he asked her after lunch.
"Always," she grinned.
Harry led her up to the first floor girls' lavatory.
"Moaning Myrtle's bathroom?" Kali asked. "What's so interesting in there?"
"You know about Myrtle?"
"Yeah, I went in there and talked to her once. She doesn't like me much, though," she said with a shrug.
"Why not?"
"Apparently I remind her of some girl who bullied her at school," she said. "She isn't what you wanted to show me, right?"
"No, it's something else," Harry assured her.
He pushed open the door and found Myrtle floating around, wailing. She stopped when she noticed she had visitors.
"Oh, Harry!" she cried. "You're back! It's been so long since you've come to visit me!"
"Hi, Myrtle," said Harry.
"Hello, Myrtle," Kali said, trying to sound as cheery and nice as she could. But apparently it wasn't enough.
Myrtle glared daggers at her. "Why did you bring her here?"
"I came to show her something," said Harry.
"Oh, so you didn't come to visit me after all," Myrtle said, her face dropping.
"Uh – No," he said and Kali elbowed him discreetly. "But I could come back, maybe."
"Oh yes that would be lovely! Just don't bring her next time," Myrtle dived into one of the toilets and down the drain.
"Thanks for that," said Harry, rubbing his side where Kali had hit him.
"I've never seen her that happy and you were going to take that away from her?" Kali said.
"Well she doesn't make for the most pleasant company you may have noticed," he said.
"She's certainly earned her name," she said, looking around. "So where is this thing you want to show me?"
"Over here," Harry said, leading the way. He walked to the sinks in front of the toilets, and pointed out the tiny snake scratched on the side of one of the copper taps.
"An engraving?" Kali said, running a finger over it, her ring clinking against the metal faucet. The ring was a family heirloom, it was shaped like a small silver serpent wrapped several times around her finger. It was beautiful, expertly crafted, and old, with emeralds for eyes that twinkled and seemed to follow you around the room. The story was that Salazar Slytherin had given this ring to his youngest daughter to protect her against the evils of the world, and rumour had it that the blessings he'd cast on it and yet to fade to this day, meaning that the foulest of magic could not touch whoever wore this ring. Kali wasn't sure if that rumour was true, but she wasn't particularly willing to have someone cast an Unforgivable on her to test it, so the mystery remained.
"It's a secret door," said Harry, and then he did something so completely unexpected that Kali was left gaping at him: he spoke in Parseltongue. "Open up."
At once the tap glowed with a brilliant white light and began to spin. Next second, the sink began to move; the sink, in fact, sank, right out of sight, leaving a large pipe exposed, a pipe wide enough for a man to slide into. Kali gasped.
"It's the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets," he said, watching her expression light up. "Salazar Slytherin built it before he left Hogwarts."
"I thought this place was just a legend," she said, peering down the dark pipe.
"It's real, and so was Slytherin's monster."
"Was? Why the past tense?" Kali asked frowning.
"It's dead." Kali looked at him raising an eyebrow and Harry blushed. "I killed it."
Kali smiled. "What was it?"
"A basilisk," he said. Of course it had been something serpentine. Kali had never met anyone more obsessed with something than Salazar Slytherin was with snakes.
"You fought a basilisk and won?" she asked, successfully resisting the urge to glance down at his thin body that was drowning in overly large muggle clothes. Harry nodded. "Huh, you're more impressive than you look, Harry Potter." He blushed harder than ever. "Can we go down?"
"Yeah, it's a bit dirty, though," he said.
Kali grinned. "Half the fun of an adventure is that it's messy."
She lowered herself into the pipe and let go. It was like rushing down an endless, slimy, dark slide. She could see more pipes branching off in all directions, but none as large as this one, which twisted and turned, sloping steeply downward, and she knew that she was falling deeper below the school than even the dungeons.
And then, the pipe levelled out, and she shot out of the end with a wet thud, landing on the damp floor of a dark stone tunnel large enough to stand in. She rolled to her feet, brushing off some of the muck, and helping Harry to his feet when he landed at hers.
"Lumos!" Harry muttered to his wand and it lit up.
Pan changed into a canary and flew down the passageway. "This place is filthy," he said. "Try not to touch anything, you might catch something."
Kali shook her head and ignored him as she and Harry started after Pan, their footsteps slapping loudly on the wet floor. "I didn't know you were a Parselmouth."
"I was surprised when I found out too," said Harry. "Didn't even realise I was doing it at first."
"Huh," she said. That wasn't surprising. Parseltongue was instinctive to those with the ability, like a mother tongue except it didn't need to be learned. It came pre-installed in every Parselmouth's brain, and differentiating it from your actual mother tongue was nearly impossible: all you could do was train yourself to watch out for the telltale hissing.
They walked further down the tunnel, until they got to a part that was littered with small animal bones. Kali could just see the outline of something huge and curved, lying right across the tunnel. The light slid over a gigantic snake skin, of a vivid, poisonous green, lying curled and empty across the tunnel floor. The creature that had shed it had been twenty feet long at least.
"Wow," whispered Kali.
"It's even more impressive when it has teeth," Harry said.
Kali chuckled softly, and stepped closer to the skin. She ran a hand along it gently, almost reverently.
"I've never seen one this big," she whispered in awe.
"You've seen a basilisk before?" asked Harry, surprised.
She nodded, her eyes still roaming over the shed skin. "Two of them, but they were only babies compared to this wonder."
"What happened?".
"They'd been bred illegally by a Potions master. He wanted their venom and as soon as he'd filled his shelves with it, he abandoned them in the woods. I stumbled across them."
"How did you get away?"
Kali cocked her head and looked over at him. "I didn't."
"But looking a basilisk directly in the eye is lethal," Harry said, clearly not seeing how Kali could still be alive after having come face to face with not one but two basilisks.
"Only when they're fully grown," she explained. "When they're younger the worst they can do is knock you unconscious for a few hours."
"Is that what happened then?" he asked.
"No, they didn't perceive me as a threat," she said. "Why would they attack?"
Harry scoffed. "Because it's what they do. This one spent all of last year roaming the castle parallelizing Muggle-borns. It's what killed Myrtle."
"Because that's what it was taught to do," she said, catching his eye. "No creature is innately evil, not even people."
Unable to hold her gaze Harry looked away. "What happened to the two basilisks then?"
"They were placed in a magical creatures reserve in Arizona. They're quite happy there. The last time I saw them, they'd grown nearly eight feet."
"Oh," he said. Kali could understand why he wasn't terribly willing to see the good in the species, when one of them had nearly killed him. But apparently he wasn't about to tell her that, not when she was smiling at him like that.
"You're staring," she said with a sly look, her tone somewhere between teasing and mocking.
He quickly looked away, his face going scarlet. "Sorry."
Kali shrugged nonchalantly. "It's not like I'm not used to it."
"Right – yeah – because you're – well that's to say – I mean -" He bit his tongue against the nervous stammer. "There's more." He gestured toward the other side of the tunnel.
Kali brushed past him and stepped up to a large pile of rubble that blocked the path. They climbed over the fallen stones and kept going. And then, at last, as they crept around yet another bend, they saw a solid wall ahead on which two entwined serpents were carved, their eyes set with great, glinting emeralds.
Harry cleared his throat, and the emerald eyes seemed to flicker. But Kali beat him to it.
"Open," she said, in a low, faint hiss. The serpents parted as the wall cracked open, the halves sliding smoothly out of sight.
"How did you do that?" Harry asked, astonished.
"There are still a few things you don't know about me." She smiled devilishly and sauntered through the opening. Harry followed her through.
They were standing at the end of a very long, dimly lit chamber. Towering stone pillars entwined with more carved serpents rose to support a ceiling lost in darkness, casting long, black shadows through the odd, greenish gloom that filled the place.
They continued down the path until they drew level with the last pair of pillars. A statue high as the Chamber itself loomed into view, standing against the back wall.
Kali craned her neck to look up into the giant face above: it was ancient and monkeyish, with a long, thin beard that fell almost to the bottom of the wizard's sweeping stone robes, where two enormous grey feet stood on the smooth Chamber floor. Between the feet, was what remained of the basilisk Harry had killed, which was now little more than the skeleton.
"Well this place is morbidly fascinating," she said, running her hand along the basilisk's skull. She stepped around the skeleton and up to the statue. "Have you ever been rock climbing?" Harry shook his head. "Don't worry, it's easy. Come on."
She started to climb, casting a Cushioning Charm beneath them, just in case. Harry had trouble keeping up with her at first as she shimmied her way ever higher, but she quickly slowed down for him. When they reached the statue's shoulder, she stopped and sat down. Harry collapsed next to her, breathing heavily.
Pan flew over their heads and came to rest on Kali's shoulder. "Are you trying to kill the boy?" he asked.
"He's fine," she said, stroking his head absent-mindedly. "He got up here, didn't he?"
"He looks like he's about to pass out, he's hyperventilating." He flapped his wings nervously. "Do you know how far away we are from help if we need it? We could all die down here and no one would ever find us."
"What's with the gloom and doom soundtrack?"
"It's a reasonable concern!" he squawked.
"You and Pandoran," said Harry, who'd been eyeing the daemon curiously. "How does that work?"
"Pan. He prefers Pan," she said, sending soothing thoughts to the ruffled little daemon. "And how do you mean?"
"How does it happen? How does a daemon become linked with a witch or wizard?" he asked.
"It's simple really," she said. "We just liked each other. We met when we were very young and 'round about the same age and we clicked. The connection only took a couple of days to form, and it helped that the first thing I did when we met was save his ass."
Pan cawed indignantly and pecked Kali's ear and she laughed.
"He got separated from his family and got caught in a hunter's trap," she said. "I got him out, except he'd never seen a human before and he panicked. He ran straight into a tree and knocked himself right out. I stayed with him until he came to to make sure he didn't get eaten, and he realized I wasn't so bad."
"You've been together ever since," he said.
"Yep, and we will be for the rest of our lives," she said. " Pan will age as I do, grow as I grow. We are linked; two halves of one whole."
"What happens if one half…." He let the sentence hang there, unsure how to finish it.
"Dies?" Harry nodded. "Theoretically it's survivable. In practice, though… it would be like ripping your soul in half, physically you'd be fine, but you'd be damaged beyond repair. There'd be no recovering from that. My mum's boyfriend used to say that it would be twice as painful as losing your soulmate, and given how devastated he was when my mum died I really don't want to test his theory."
Harry looked over at her in surprise, he hadn't expected her to talk about her mother so casually. "I'm sorry about your mum."
"You've got your sad backstory, I've got mine." Kali shrugged. "We're not the only ones."
"How did it happen?" Harry asked, wondering if he'd earned the right to ask that question yet, but Kali answered without pause.
"A couple of Muggles were on the run from the law, they'd shot up a bank and killed some hostages. They came across my mum, Remus, and me while we were out in the forest getting ingredients for potions. They shot my mum the second they saw her, didn't even hesitate. When they pointed the gun at Remus, I had a power surge, turned them both to stone."
"You blame yourself for your mum's death?" he asked, no doubt remembering her boggart.
"It should have been within my power to stop it," she said.
"How old were you?" he asked.
"Nine," she answered.
"You were just a kid, Kali," he said. "It wasn't your fault."
"Then why have I always felt so guilty?" she asked.
Harry's mouth opened but no words came out. He was the first person she'd met who could understand, at least partly, what she'd gone through. His own parents had died when he was very young, too young to have gotten to know them. Kali couldn't decide which was worse, but she didn't envy his situation.
Kali rubbed at the goosebumps that littered her uncovered arms, and for the hundredth time since September, she cursed the Scottish weather.
"You're cold," Harry said, pointing out the obvious.
"Yeah, if I'd known we'd be exploring this far below the castle I would have worn a jacket," she said with a smile.
"Here take my jumper." He slid off his hoodie and handed it to her.
"You sure?" she asked uncertainly.
"Yeah, I've still got this, see?" he said, plucking at his sweater.
"Clearly one of us knows what to expect of Scottish weather more than the other," Kali said, dragging the hoodie over her head.
"So you've been with Professor Lupin ever since your mum died?" he asked.
"Yeah. He's my godfather, I've known him my entire life. For a while he and my mum's boyfriend raised me, but Nahele passed away last year after a Quidditch accident."
"What kind of an accident?" Harry asked, looking horrified, and Kali realized that he must play.
"A Bludger," she said. "He'd been playing professionally for years and it was his first injury… and last."
"I'm sorry," he said.
"He was actually thinking of retiring in a couple of years," she said absently. "Maybe going to teach at Ilvermorny or San Francisco with Remus."
"Those are the American schools of witchcraft and wizardry?"
"Two of them. America is a big bloody continent, and the U.S. alone has at least one school per State – Texas has three. Ilvermorny and Castelobruxo in Brazil are the only ones to be recognized internationally, though, because they were the first ones built by European settlers."
Harry nodded. "I didn't know there were any other magic schools out there."
Kali frowned. "You though wizards only existed in the U.K.?"
"No," he said quickly. "I mean, I knew other countries had witches and wizards too, I guess I just never really thought about it."
"Hogwarts' courses on international wizardry are definitely lacking," she said thoughtfully.
"Did you have those at San Francisco?" he asked.
"Yeah, there was more diversity in classes than there is here," she said.
"It must be interesting," he said, "getting to see how things are done in different schools."
"It is," she agreed. "Mum liked to move around a lot to spend time with various family members, I got to see a lot of different places and how they taught things."
"How many schools have you been to?" he asked.
"Six magical ones," she answered. "Three primary schools, three secondary schools."
"Were they all in the U.S.?"
She shook her head. "I was mainly educated in Hawaii. We'd spend half the year there, and the second half somewhere else. My grandfather and his mother live in Israel, and his sister lives in Argentina, magical education in both those countries starts at age six. So when we visited them I could go to a proper school, and when we were in a country where magic was only taught institutionally to older kids, I was home schooled."
"Whoa," he breathed. "No wonder you're so good at magic and it must be nice to travel so much."
"Do you not travel much with your family?" she asked.
He shrugged. "My Aunt and Uncle take my cousin Dudley to the beach sometimes."
Kali frowned. "You don't go with them?"
"I'm not ever invited. So what are some big differences between how things were done at your other schools and how things are done here?" he asked eagerly; either because he was really interested in the topic or because he wanted to steer the conversation away from his life at home, she wasn't sure.
She hesitated, but she didn't want to push the matter if he was trying to politely brush her off. Maybe he wasn't comfortable talking about his family to someone he barely knew, she had to accept that. So she told him about the different classes each school offered, the ups and downs of each curriculum, but it was her last comment that made Harry bristle: "Every other school I've attended also has a better reputation than Hogwarts."
"Hogwarts is a great school," he said, obviously offended on his school's behalf.
"It's an alright school, and it could definitely do with some improvements. In Hawaii the magical community is so small it's like a second family; Argentina has the highest magical educational success rate in the world; San Francisco has the best curriculum imaginable; in Israel the school is completely government founded; and Ilvermorny has a reputation for being one of the most democratic, least elitist of all the great wizarding schools. Probably because it was co-founded by a Muggle."
"It was founded by a Muggle?" he asked with a raise of his eyebrows.
"It was founded in the early seventeenth century by Isolt Sayre, an Irish immigrant, who was a witch, and her husband James Steward, who was a Muggle," she explained. "Isolt Sayre also happened to be a descendant of Salazar Slytherin." She paused before adding softly, "Not all things related to Slytherin are bad, you know?"
"I never said -" said Harry, eyes widening.
"I've seen the way you look at everyone who's in Slytherin's House," she said.
"I don't look at you like that," he said quickly.
"No you don't, but you do look at my housemates like that. Even those who've done nothing to you are met with distrust. It's not just you either, it's the entire Gryffindor House," she said. "And it's awful. No wonder it's turned out so many dark witches and wizards: if you get treated like a monster long enough, that's what you become."
"I – I never thought -" he stammered.
"I know, that's why I'm telling you. There's a reason Slytherin House produced an absurd amount of Death Eaters; there are other factors of course, but these are very formative years for us. How other people see us and treat us has a huge impact on who we will become."
Kali fell silent and Harry watched her thoughtfully. "What other Houses did the Sorting Hat think of putting you in?"
She shook her head. "Does it matter?"
"I think so, yes," he said slowly.
She sighed. "I think you already know."
"All of them."
She smiled and nodded. "I value loyalty and fairness; intelligence and creativity; bravery and chivalry; cunning and ambition, equally. The Hat had a really hard time figuring out where to put me. It finally narrowed it down to Gryffindor and Slytherin, and then it let me choose."
"Why choose Slytherin?"
"I have a point to prove."
"What point's that?"
"That not all Slytherins are bad," she said. "That even being related to Salazar himself doesn't make me evil."
"You're related to Salazar Slytherin?" he asked, his eyes widening and realization dawning. "That's why you can speak Parseltongue."
"I'm a direct descendant of Isolt Sayre, therefore also a direct descendant of Slytherin."
Harry nodded slowly and her muscles tensed despite herself, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
"You don't have to ever talk to me again if you don't want to," she said finally when the silence became too much.
"Why wouldn't I want to talk to you?" he asked surprised.
"I'm an heir of Salazar Slytherin's, a man famous for hating Muggles and Muggle-borns alike; I'm distantly related to old Voldemort who's already tried to kill you; and my father is Sirius Black who apparently wants to kill you."
"You're not them," he said simply.
Kali stared at him, then smiled slowly. "Good answer, Potter."
"You're not what I expected," he admitted.
She snorted. "For the daughter of a suspected mass murderer? Thanks."
"No, really. You're nice," he said.
She grinned, and leaned in closer to him in a conspiratorial way. "I'm not actually that nice," she whispered, winking at him and watching him blush. It was fun making him turn scarlet. "We should probably get back upstairs, your friends will be back from Hogsmeade soon enough."
Despite what she'd said about Hogwarts' mediocrity, its Halloween Feast was something to behold. The Great Hall had been decorated with hundreds and hundreds of candle-filled pumpkins, a cloud of fluttering live bats, and many flaming orange streamers, which were swimming lazily across the stormy ceiling like brilliant water snakes. The food was delicious, and even people who were full to bursting with Honeydukes sweets, managed second helpings of everything. The feast finished with entertainment provided by the Hogwarts ghosts. They popped out of the walls and tables to do a bit of formation gliding; Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost, had a great success with a re-enactment of his own botched beheading.
"That was the best Halloween Feast yet," said Daphne as she, Kali, and Blaise collapsed on one of the silver lined couches in the Common Room.
The Slytherin Common Room was a large room, the largest in the castle, in fact. It was specifically designed for Slytherin use and Slytherin use only, and if a non-Slytherin walked through the hidden entrance down in the dungeons, the Common Room would cast an illusion over itself so that the unwanted visitors would get to witness none of the grandeur or the wealth that decorated the room, instead they would see a place which was damp, and cold, and bleak, and miserable. Whereas in reality, the Slytherin Common Room was none of those things. It was spacious, and luxurious, and comfortable, and perfectly suited to accommodate the needs and desires of all the little spoiled rich kids from prominent Pureblood families. The flames from the candles and the many fires flickered over the rivulets of solid silver which streaked the polished rock walls of the underground cavern, and a portion of the far wall, behind the giant snake statue, was made entirely of glass, giving a clear view into the dark depths of the lake. The room was dotted with so many aquariums, and statues, and bookshelves that it was impossible to get a clear view of the entire floor plan from anywhere in the room. It was structured like a twisting serpent with a winding path from the entrance to the main sitting area. Along that path, neatly tucked away in alcoves that ranged in size, were the Common Room's own personal library; a couple of secondary sitting rooms that were more peaceful that the main one; the trophy room filled with centuries worth of prizes earned by Slytherins; potions counters full of bizarre ingredients and rare collections that allowed for experiments at any given time; and a study room equipped with desks and practice dummies to invite students to master every aspect of their education. The main lounge had no less than four roaring fireplaces, and enough couches and armchairs to comfortably sit every Slytherin in the school and then some. The high ceiling was domed like that of a cathedral and two beautifully carved stone balconies overlooked the circular sitting room. Those balconies belonged to two more drawing rooms, one for each of the dormitories.
Salazar Slytherin had spared no expense when he'd built this room and it showed.
"I cannot move," said Kali, fingers trailing over the soft green blanket which had been thrown over the back of their couch . She'd eaten more than should have been physically possible, but she didn't regret it for a moment.
"I still do not understand how you can eat the way you eat and look the way you look," drawled Blaise, lounging on Kali's other side.
"It's called exercising," said Kali. "You should try it, it's fun."
Blaise scoffed. "I am not agreeing to any activity that makes me get out of bed at the ridiculous hours you do."
"I do not get out of bed at ridiculous hours."
"I woke up at seven yesterday and you were already gone," Daphne pointed out.
"Extenuating circumstances," said Kali, "I had to finish the Transfiguration essay Professor McGonagall gave me."
"You finished that essay days ago," said Daphne.
"Which is why she gave me another one." A lot of the teachers had started doing that: giving her extra work in class, extra homework for after class, recommending extra books to read… and Kali was glad of it. There were only so many things you could do around here to keep yourself amused between classes, and a little extra credit never hurt anyone, especially when the teachers weren't being strict about it. They gave her the outline of a topic and what she did with it was up to her.
Loud shouting sounded from the Common Room entrance and a few minutes later Percy Weasley, the Head Boy, elbowed his way into the main sitting room.
"You are all to make your way to the Great Hall immediately."
"Why?" asked Gemma Farley, a Seventh Year prefect.
"Headmaster's orders," he said importantly. "Now get to it."
Gemma was nice, but she did not appreciate being spoken to like that. Her eyes narrowed dangerously and everyone sat back to watch the fireworks, but they never came because a little boy in First or Second Year had run in after Percy, panting heavily, and shouted for all to hear: "The Fat Lady's missing! She was attacked. They're saying it was Sirius Black!"
