Riddled
By Killing Curse Eyes
Chapter 10: Into the Forest
-o-
Harry indeed got permission from Professor McGonagall to bring Hank to Hogwarts with her. Pansy spent the entire train ride back to Hogwarts fawning over her in between regaling Hermione and Harry with tales of her holiday. Apparently she had been to the Malfoys' winter ball and Draco had danced a single dance with her. The girl was over the moon at this fact but lamented the lack of Yule present from him. Harry wisely kept the fact that Draco had sent her a gift to herself. Hermione seemed somewhat subdued when asked about her holidays after the sleep over, but refused to elaborate. Harry had a feeling she had something to do with it.
At one point in the journey Daphne Greengrass invaded their compartment. Once she saw Hank she broke into a wide grin. She taunted Harry about getting in trouble for bringing a dog until Hermione had enough and quit ignoring her.
"Oh, honestly." Hermione rolled her eyes. "Do you really think Harry daft enough to bring her without getting permission?"
Harry held up the letter from McGonagall and waved it in Daphne's face. She wisely shut up and left with a sniff. The rest of the train ride was fairly peaceful, though Hank nearly peed on Pansy, to her horror.
They hopped off the train at Hogsmeade station and climbed into the horseless carriages. They spent the ride discussing their holiday homework and the answers they got for McGonagall's worksheet. They arrived at the castle shortly and parted ways to their respective tables in the Great Hall. Harry discussed her holiday with her quidditch teammates over their Sunday roast and thanked them for their gift. Flint, Bletchly, Pucey and Ares Merritt, one of the beaters, all attended the Malfoy's ball. They were quite interested in hearing about Tom and were shocked when they heard of his heritage.
"You're seriously friends with the Dark Lord's grandson?" Gemma Farley asked. She was sitting near her brother, Jason Farley who was one of the chasers on the quidditch team and couldn't help but overhear.
"Yup!" Harry popped the "p."
"The Dark Lord would be horrified to hear that not only is his grandson a half-blood, but friends with the Girl-Who-Lived!" Flint snorted.
"Actually," Harry began slowly. "Voldemort—" everyone in earshot flinched "—is a half-blood himself. His name was Tom Marvolo Riddle."
"What?! You lie!" Malfoy exclaimed. He had been eavesdropping on their conversation.
"No lie. If you rearrange the letters in his name you get "I am Lord Voldemort."" Harry explained.
"No shit?" said Pucey.
"No shit." She confirmed.
"Bloody hell," Flint whispered. "That's certainly something to write home about."
"Your parents were Death Eaters, right?" Harry asked.
"Er... Well..." Flint tried to find a diplomatic way to answer. You couldn't just tell the Girl-Who-Lived your parents supported the man who tried to kill her.
"I don't care if they were." Well, apparently you could.
"... They were." Flint eventually confirmed.
"I thought so. Do they know you're... familiar with me?" Harry asked.
"No. They just know you're on the team. I told them I have little to do with you. They wouldn't understand."
"I think I get it."
"Do you really?"
"Yeah. I do."
-x-
"Snape will be refereeing the next game." Flint announced at the beginning of their next quidditch practice.
"So we have no reason to lose, right captain?" The Ares, the beater who was a fifth year, asked rhetorically.
"Right. That doesn't mean we slack off though." Flint lectured. "We may have beaten the Gryffindorks, but we still have Ravenclaw to worry about. Their new seeker, a second year called Cho Chang beat Hufflepuff to the snitch like it was nothing."
"Yeah, but that's Hufflepuff." Bletchley Guffawed.
"Yes, the team we nearly lost to last year because of you." Flint sneered. Bletchley blushed.
"Sorry, captain."
The rest of the practice was spent flying drills and playing a mock game. Harry caught the practice snitch thrice during the hour they spent playing mock games, to the delight of her teammate. Harry was a far superior seeker than any Slytherin had, had in recent memory.
Harry was sweating from exertion, but freezing from the cold January weather by the time they were done practising. Practice was nearly four times a week before the game with Ravenclaw and Harry was starting to burnout.
"Seriously, Flint." Harry pleaded one February day after practice. "Cut it down to twice a week. We'll all burn out at this rate. Do you want to lose to Ravenclaw because we're too tired to play?"
Flint grudgingly agreed with her point and cut back practice. Harry was lauded as a hero by the rest of the team.
When the game with Ravenclaw finally came the team was in better shape than it had been in years. Bletchley finally managed to earn Flint's reluctant approval and the beaters, Ares and Gabriel Gonson, were better shots than even they dreamed they could be. Flint, Pucey and Farley moved perfectly in sync through the sky. They effortlessly passed the quaffle back and forth between themselves. Harry had beaten her own record and caught the snitch in just ten minutes at their last practice. They were more than ready for the game.
They viciously slaughtered Ravenclaw's team. They scored goal after goal while Bletchley blocked nearly all of Ravenclaw's shots. The beaters' aim was perfect and Harry didn't even have to run interference to distract the opposing team's chasers. She was able to focus on catching the snitch and distracting Cho Chang. Several times she pretended to chase the snitch. It got to the point where Cho stopped automatically following her, just as Harry planned. When she finally did see the snitch, she caught it before Cho even realized she wasn't bluffing. They won the game three-sixty to twenty. It was a humiliating defeat for Ravenclaw and they had not even needed Snape's biased refereeing to turn things in their favour.
After the game they held a victory party in the common room. Draco Malfoy congratulated her and spent the party in her and Pansy's company, to the blonde girl's delight. Harry however had a feeling of dread deep in the pit of her stomach at Draco's behaviour. She was fairly certain Draco was using Pansy to get close to her. It seemed that he had a little crush. When Pansy realized she was sure to be devastated. Harry resolved to assure Pansy that she had no interest in Draco, and that even if she did, she would never move in on Pansy's territory. Harry had to admit that Pansy was right though—she did fancy Tom, and it was a good thing too because she could see herself falling for Draco if Tom was not around. Draco had many desirable traits. He was smart, relatively good looking, rich, pureblooded, and easy enough to get along with if he liked you. She would just have to make sure he understood he was firmly in Harry's "friend zone," if that. She decided it best to ignore any more than friendly gestures. And if he came right out and confessed, she would honestly tell him she had feelings for someone else.
That night after the part she stared at herself in the bathroom mirror. What did Draco see in her? She was small for her age. She had yet to develop any sort of figure, unlike Pansy and (as much as she hated to admit it) Daphne. She was too skinny—her ribs poked out unattractively and her knees were knobbly. Her hair was constantly a mess and her jade eyes, while pretty, were hidden behind her round glasses. Whatever Draco saw, Harry didn't. But she hoped Tom did... though he probably wasn't interested in little girls like her.
-x-
Winter slowly melted away as spring settled into Hogwarts. The students were happy to be rid of the cold months, particularly the Slytherins who spent large amounts of time in the dungeons. For though the roaring fires in their dorms and common room warmed them, the dungeons were still frigid in comparison to the rest of the castle.
It was a sunny April day when Draco burst into the common room with little decorum.
"That oaf, Hagrid, is on probation!" he announced with glee. "He was harbouring a dragon!"
"Really, Malfoy?" An older Slytherin said. "You expect us to believe that? Come up with a better story next time."
"It's true!" Draco protested. "I saw it myself. Naturally, I immediately informed father—he's on the board of governors you know—and the board confirmed it."
"Wait, you're serious, Malfoy?"
"Yes!" He insisted.
"Wow. That oaf is a real idiot." Pansy remarked. "I believe you Draco."
"Thank you, Pansy." He said graciously, but looked at Harry to see how she reacted. He was disappointed to see that Harry was more interested in her muggle math textbook.
Malfoy spent the rest of the week trying (and failing) to get Harry's attention. It was only when he started a fight with Longbottom and Weasley outside the transfiguration classroom that Harry even acknowledged him.
Harry was walking to transfiguration from defence when she heard it.
"Do your worst, Malfoy!" Neville Longbottom sneered. His wand was in his hand and ready to be used. Weasley stood beside with his second hand wand also at the ready.
"Oh, believe me, I will." Draco smirked. He took out his wand a muttered an incantation. Neville started dancing uncontrollably.
"Petrificus totalus!" Neville shot off, but his dancing affected his aim and he missed.
"Hey! Stop it!" Harry called. She took out her wand and was about to cast a spell but was interrupted by McGonagall.
"What is going on here?" The aging professor demanded. "Really, Longbottom, I thought better of you. Detention for you, Mr. Malfoy and Miss Potter. I will not have magic being thrown about in the halls."
"What, that's not fair!" Pansy exclaimed. "Harry was just trying to stop them!"
"That's not what it looked like to me, Miss Parkinson." McGonagall retorted. "She had her wand out and was about to cast a spell."
"Yeah, the disarming charm!" Harry protested.
"Be that as it may, you still were participating in the duel, and as such have detention." McGonagall turned and entered the class, motioning for the Slytherin students to follow her.
"That is so not fair." Harry muttered. "I thought she liked me, too."
"Obviously not enough." Pansy mumbled back.
-x-
Draco, Harry and Neville met in the entrance hall at eleven at night for their detention. Harry had complained to Hermione that it was ridiculous to give first years detention after curfew, and Hermione had agreed, complaining that it was a whole night of revision for exams lost.
Filch arrived not long after Harry and the boys did. "Follow me." He said and led the children to Hagrid's hut, lecturing them the whole while. It was completely dark out. The moon was bright and high in the sky but clouds periodically rolled past it, creating an ominous atmosphere. Harry had a bad feeling about this night. The feeling worsened when they found out they were going into the Forbidden Forest.
"Isn't it, you know, forbidden?" Neville asked Filch.
"Only without permission and a chaperone." Filch grinned nastily.
"But there could be werewolves in there!" Malfoy protested.
"Should have thought of that before you got in a duel, eh?"
Harry, Neville and Draco just glared at the caretaker.
Eventually they reached Hagrid's hut and he greeted Neville warmly, ignoring the Slytherin duo.
"I'm not going into that forest." Draco told him.
"You are if you plan to stay at Hogwarts, Malfoy." Hagrid retorted. Draco scowled, listened as Hagrid lectured them on safety precautions.
Hagrid led them to the edge of the forest and pointed.
"Look there," he said. "You see that silvery stuff? That's unicorn blood. A unicorn has been hurt badly by something, and it's our job to find the poor thing. The second one this week, too."
"What if whatever hurt the unicorn finds us instead?" Harry asked as she exchanged a horrified glance with her fellow Slytherin.
"There's nothing that lives in the forest that'll hurt you if you're with me or Fang." Hagrid assured them. "And keep to the path. Right. Now we're going to split into two groups and follow the tail in different directions. There's blood all over the place..."
Harry and Draco looked at each other once again before nodding.
"We want Fang." They chimed in unison.
"You sure? Hagrid asked. "I warn you, he's a bit of a wimp."
"We're sure." They chorused once again.
"Alright then, Neville, you're with me." Hagrid patted the boy on the back and almost knocked him over. "If you get in trouble send up red sparks."
The followed Hagrid down the path in the Forbidden Forest until they reached a fork in the road. They split up, Neville and Hagrid going on way, Fang, Draco and Harry going the other. The two Slytherins and the dog walked down the path quietly. Eventually, Harry broke the silence.
"Why would they send first years to do this?" Harry wondered.
"Why would they send any students to do this?" Draco countered.
"Hell if I know. But this is dangerous. We could be seriously hurt." Harry shivered. "I just have a really bad feeling about this."
Draco nodded. "Really, sending us into the forbidden forest with the oaf who's on probation. Is Dumbledore mad?"
Harry shruged and they continued forward in silence. Eventually the amount of silvery blood strewn about seemed to increase. They were likely getting close to the unicorn. The wind howled and Draco jumped, nearly tripping over a tree root.
"It's just the wind, Malfoy." Harry sighed. What a coward. Draco sneered and moved to walk a few paces ahead of her before abruptly stopping. "What now, Malfoy?"
"Look!" He hissed. Harry peered over his shoulder and saw it. There on the ground about five metres away in a clearing was a beautiful white unicorn. Its beauty was tarnished only by the pool of blood it lay in. It was dead. Harry took a step forward but stopped when she heard a slithering sound. A bush at the edge of the clearing shook, and out of the shadows a hooded being crawled across the ground to the unicorn. Harry, Draco and Fang stood transfixed. It lowered its head to the unicorn and began to drink the thick, silvery blood.
Harry stared in horror and her scar felt like it had caught on fire. She thought she vaguely heard a scream and looked to where Draco had been standing to find him gone. She looked back at the figure to see it coming straight for her. She closed her eyes, curled up into a small ball and waited. She heard the sounds of galloping hooves and a whoosh as something jumped over her. After a few moments, she finally opened her eyes. Standing in front of her was a large horse-like creature. It was a centaur.
"Are you alright?" the centaur asked her. He reached out, grabbed her hand and pulled her up.
"Y-yes." She stuttered. "What was that? Why was it drinking the unicorn blood?"
The centaur didn't answer her questions, and instead told her the forest was not safe at this time, especially for her. He then asked her to climb on his back so he could take her to safety.
They moved swiftly through the forest, only stopping when they reached the edge where Hagrid, Neville, Draco and Fang were already waiting for her.
Really, first eleven year olds were sent into the forbidden forest with a man who's not only on probation, but can't even use magic, then he suggests they split up. And once one of them comes screaming at him because he saw something drinking unicorn blood, he doesn't look for the other student, instead deciding to leave her in the forest by herself and wait without even sending for help.
The young Malfoy was right. The school was going downhill fast.
The centaur let Harry off his back and exchanged a few words with Hagrid before leaving.
Hagrid then led them up to the castle and dismissed them after telling them that whatever was in that forest was too dangerous for a bunch of first years to deal with. It took all of Harry's will power not to comment on that.
When she made it back to her dorm she took out her diary from Tom and began to write.
Why would someone drink unicorn blood? She asked.
Why do you ask? Tom responded.
I just had detention in the Forbidden Forest. She wrote. There was something in there killing unicorns, and I saw it drinking the unicorn's blood.
Unicorn can keep you alive even if you're a hair's breadth away from death. However killing a unicorn is considered to be a monstrous crime, and one who drinks from one shall have a cursed life. It was likely my other self that you saw, dearest. I wouldn't be surprised that he requires unicorn to live.
But he had a body, Harry protested. Voldemort shouldn't have one yet.
A golem, perhaps. Tom suggested.
Maybe. Any ways, how's work? The witch changed the subject.
Work is work. I've had some interesting political discussions with customers and have expressed my desire to run for a seat on the Wizengamot this summer. Several witches and wizards said it was refreshing to see a young, half-blood who respected magic and traditions like me interested in politics. I think I definitely have a few votes.
That's excellent! I'm sure you'll be elected when you run.
Yes, so am I.
-x-
The weeks passed by quickly. Exams were upon them and Hermione had forced even Pansy to stick to a strict study schedule.
"Oh, I just know I'm going to fail my history exam." Hermione wailed as they left the classroom. "I forgot who invented the self-stirring cauldron and had to guess! Then I think I mixed up Emeric the Evil with Uric the Oddball..."
"Hermione, breathe." Harry said. "You can't have done that bad. Who did you say invented the self-stirring cauldron?"
"Gaspard Shingleton." Hermione sniffled.
"And you were right. Relax Hermione. Stop second guessing yourself. I'm sure you did fine." Harry soothed.
"You think?" Hermione asked uncertainly.
"I know." The jade eyed girl answered.
Hermione gained confidence as she went through her exams, much to Harry and Pansy's relief.
Harry herself worried little, as most of the theory was stuff she'd memorized what seemed like eons ago, and she had always been good at the practical.
She transformed her mouse into a snuffbox for transfiguration flawlessly, the complexity of her snuff box being second to none. In charms she easily made the pineapple dance across her desk and in potions brewed the forgetfulness potion as if it were second nature. In herbology they merely had to identify several plants that they had studied throughout the year. Not only was the defence exam a joke, but it was all theory, too. Astronomy was spent identifying different stars and planets on a map.
Finally, exams were done, and it was a good thing, too. Because just as Harry was settling into the common room one evening, her proximity ward alerted her that Quirrell had finally made a move for the stone.
-o-
AN: Okay, a bit short... but next chapter is super important and has a "big reveal". I won't go shorter than 3K words, though. Also, Neville was OOC for a reason. You'll probably see why next chapter. We're almost done first year, yay! I meant to plot until the end of the fic, but I only got to halfway through fifth year... After that year though things stop following canon as much, so I'm excited to get there.
Thanks to all of you who have reviewed. I'm sorry I don't answer reviews unless questions are asked, but it's just really hard with my health. Thanks to all who follow and fav as well. Your support means the world to me. Every time I check my email and see your favs, follows and reviews I feel all warm and fuzzy.
Fun fact: I almost called Harry Harriana instead of Harriet, but decided I liked Harriet better.
Best,
Eliza
Edited October 22 2015