Hello my darlings. Btw, at this time in my story Harry is suffering in detentions with Umbridge, Ron has tried out for and made the Quiddich team and Hermione has already suggested the concept of Dumbledore's army, just like in the book. I didn't think I should go into details in the chapter because Lets be honest, you've all read it before. This is my version of the fifth book, only with Raven in it. Because of her presence, Voldemort is less about looking for the prophecy and more about freeing his new partner in crime. Any events Raven would not impact take place the same as in the Order of the Phoenix, which of course belongs to J.K. Rowling.
Sebastian couldn't believe it. All his life, he'd been training, studying, preying to meet Trigon. Tonight, in this gaudy manor over-run with dark, self-important and sadistic witches and Wizards, it had happened. He'd finally seen his master. His reason for living.
He leant against the house, looking out over the garden Voldemort had warned him was filled with snap-dragons and nocturnal cacti and fairies. Wizarding monstrosities. Voldemort could have dominion over the whole thing, in Sebastian's opinion, if not for one thing: He had demanded it. No one demanded a thing from Scathe. He was a righteous Lord, who would give you what you deserved. Not what you demanded. He knew his master thought the same way and, when the time came, would leave leave Voldemort with nothing for his stupidity.
It had been remarkably easy to convince the "Dark Lord" that demons were unable to renege on their word, and thus Trigon was a trustworthy ally. Sebastian had blamed Voldemort's failure at using legilimancy to enter his mind on his telekinesis and after refusing to admit otherwise under Bellatix's torture that was that. Once Voldemort had finally summoned the hatred and rage needed to force open the chink in Raven's spellwork and contact Trigon, he was convinced they could form a partnership and had offered Trigon a deal - freedom as long as he was granted dominion over the Wizarding world. The Demon, being an entity made from darkness and dripping with cunning, had either sensed Brother Blood had already convinced Voldemort demons were trustworthy or believed him too stupid to consider the risk, and agreed.
Sebastian dug deep into his pockets, fishing for a celebratory cigarette. His hands were shaking. It was hard to believe there'd been such leaps and bounds over the course of a night. It had seemed to Sebastian for a while there that Voldemort would never overpower the mirror and reach out to his master. He'd thought he would be considered useless and be disposed of, leaving the Church to flounder in his absence and eventually dissolve. Centuries worth of Satanist's work reduced to rubble, along with Trigon's chances of conquering the cosmos.
By some holy miracle, that hadn't happened. Voldemort's anger of Raven being in Dumbledore's care fuelled his magic to new heights. It was amusing for Brother Blood to think that someone powerful enough to tear a hole in the dimensional barrier between earth and wherever Raven had imprisoned her father would be undone by one of his lies. He blew smoke from his mouth and closed his eyes. When this was all over, he would be rewarding. While slavery and death were the only options for Voldemort once Raven was spirited away and convinced to summon her father one way or another, Sebastian would be given to her and would rule over everything alongside the demons. It hadn't even been hard.
He wondered what kind of idiots the rest of the Wizarding World was composed of, if the man that had dominated them and called himself Lord of Darkness was such a fool.
Raven returned to her dormitory but found that, now her nightmare's fever had worn off and cold had slunk into her bed, she was unable to sleep. Never having been one to need much of the stuff anyway, she gave over to her brain's need to stay awake and think.
Seeing Remus Lupin tonight had been a useful surprise. It had reminded her of the reason she had come to Hogwarts in the first place. Not to learn wand magic and discover Voldemort's plans (Though those things were obviously now very important) but to find a possible link from herself to another person. Proof that she was made of more than a demon and a flighty woman too weak to be her mother. Now she chastised herself for not thinking quick enough. If she'd had her wits about her, perhaps been less disturbed by her premonition, she would have tried to get one of Moony's hairs to send back to Jump for DNA testing. She doubted she would get the chance again any time soon. In her minds eye she pictured reaching over and plucking a fallen hair from his worn and patched travelling cloak and wondered why they were going grey so early on in life.
Spending every waking hour pouring over text books on Bubble-head charms and the History of Evil in the Wizarding World was all very well and good, but she couldn't neglect her need to discover her father's identity much faster than Albus Dumbledore wanted her too. Spending a litte time with Harry Potter had got her thinking about a few other things as well. Namely, the Headmaster's insistence that she and his trio would make a good team. She couldn't say much about Weasley, but she could certainly see the advantages of Granger's intellect and Harry's experience with Voldemort. There was something else about the Boy who lived she'd picked up from reading the books that detailed her parents violent deaths and his life following. A... connection she felt to him despite their initial dislike for each other. Something about destinies that had been picked for them.
Perhaps it was time she ditched Parviti and Lavender.
A new friendship with Harry could offer her the opportunity to strike one possible father from her list. She knew that if she hung around him long enough, he was bound to loose one of those untidy black hairs sooner or later, and she would find an opportunity to get it to Robin.
She kept thinking until the first rays of dawn broke through the frosted windows and Parviti and Lavender rose to start their beauty routine. Hermione, smart girl that she was, slept on as the two girls gossiped and applied potions to their hair and painted their nails hot pink. The nattering only made Raven that much more determined to befriend Harry and company.
"Have you heard that Potter's thinking about starting a Defence Against the Dark Art's group?"
"He's not!"
"He is. Heard it from Dean. They're having a meeting about it and everything next Hogsmeade visit."
"Who does he think he is?" Parvati harrumphed. "It's one thing to go around lying about you-know-who and another thing completely to pretend you can teach students how you did it."
"Umbridge is a right cow though, isn't she? Wouldn't be surprised if Potter did make a better teacher, even if he's crazy. She's shite."
"I think it's just horrible. Especially when you consider the way he looks at Cho Chang. You'd think if he fancies her he'd stop lying about how her boyfriend died."
"Will you two keep your bloody mouths shut!" Hermione bellowed. Raven heard the sound of curtains ripping open, and could imagine the Prefect's furious face.
"Or what?" Lavander taunted.
"I'll give you both detention!"
"For what, insulting your boyfriend?" Parvati giggled.
"Harry is not my boyfriend and no. For insulting a teacher!"
"But you hate Umbridge!" Parvati said, in a scandalised tone.
"Yes but I'm not stupid enough to go on about it in front of prefects." Came the smug reply. That shut them up. Raven would have rathered her mornings be filled with meditation to adequately prepare her for what would no doubt be a day full of failure and humiliation thanks to her useless wand, but hearing that little snippet of hostility gave Raven a wonderful idea that she put to good use at Dinner.
It was clear that the two best friends and Hermione would be at each others throat no matter what happened, but that the main source of animosity at the moment was down to their dismissal of Harry's claims. They certainly weren't unique in doing so - Raven estimated nine tenths of the school thought Harry Potter a lunatic or a delusional attention seeker. It seemed the best way to erase all the friction between herself and Hermione was to do something to get on her good side.
Sandwiched between Neville Longbottom and Dean Thomas at the Gryffindor table that night, with Parvati and Lavender opposite was hell on earth. Still, she knew that sooner or later, the conversation would lower in pitch and turn to The boy who lied as soon as they ran out of fresh gossip. Especially since Harry was currently in another detention with Umbridge and Weasley was nowhere to be found. Luck was on her side for once as Hermione took a seat next to Neville and, without her friends to distract her, started to eat in relative silence.
Halfway through her plate of Cottage Pie (She would probably return to Jump a few kilograms heavier) the subject turned to Harry just as she thought it would and instead of ignoring it and grunting in the right parts she fixed Lavender with a hard look and told her to stop being such an idiot. Which was a reward in itself, even if Hermione hadn't been listening. Which she definitely was.
"Do you really think Potter and Dumbledore would make up such ridiculous lies together? Do you think they get together over summer to check their stories match? What would be the point in it? If Potter wanted more attention all he'd have to do is get a tattoo or dye his hair and the Daily Prophet would find some way to make it breaking news."
What she'd got short-term for her outburst was shocked expressions all round, an attempted retort along the lines of "Well, that's not..." and later, a mystified look from Hermione. She must have overheard, and was wondering when Raven switched from quietly knowing Harry's story was fact while letting others ridicule it, to openly defending it.
And even though Raven had much shadier and self-serving reasons for causing controversy, Hermione must have thought it had been out of the good of her heart, because their interactions were suddenly more civil that night in the Dormitory. They even said goodnight to each other.
Raven didn't correct Hermione. She knew from her experiences as a superhero that no one was ever happy with actions of pure light anyway. If you caught the insane magician, they'd still be banging down your door with bills for the street repair the next day. What did it matter that she had more than one motive for confronting Lavender? Misleading Granger was hardly the most heinous act of the century.
The desired effects proved themselves the next day, when Raven awoke to a silent dormitory filled only with a studious Hermione pouring over her History of Magic textbook. No inane chatter but that of the birds outside. Later in Potions Hermione silently lit her cauldron for her, much to Snape's obvious displeasure. In the hall, Harry offered her a small smile and nod of acknowledgement as she passed him. Not that she returned it, but she was pleased all the same. Her defence of Harry Potter had effectively ended her room-mates' desires to dress her up like a paper doll and make her a partner in friendship. Now when they went to breakfast they didn't ask her along, and they didn't tote her to classes like a teacup poodle straining at the leash. The School apparently took her truce with Hermione as firm friendship, and left her alone without thinking she was creepy and friendless.
Well, most of them left her alone. Any class with the Slytherins wasn't exactly pleasant. At the start of term a few had tried to engage her in conversation and ignored them more often than not. There was something about the auras of most in that house that made her skin crawl. They wern't as bad as the malignant evil that sometimes made her shudder in the presence of criminals, but she wasn't making friends with anyone with a pleasant aura either. Now that she'd proven to be a such a muggle, they'd decided they were glad of the fact and began a campaign of school-yard bullying against her.
It was pathetic really. Bewitching her text books so they were suddenly written in Spanish. Hexing her book-bag so it split whenever she entered a crowded hall. Calling her a squib any chance they got. If she didn't speak fluent Spanish, count non-magical people among her only friends and have a thick-skin tempered by years of meditation, it might have gotten to her. She might even have broken down in the middle of Charms after yet another unsuccessful spell and resolved to live in the Bathrooms with Moaning Myrtle.
But the Slytherins (allied briefly with Lavender and Parvati) didn't achieve their goal of stripping away the wall that separated Raven from other people. Their constant stalking only made her angry, though she hid that emotion like she did every other. That was made easier by the fact that every time Pansy Parkinson called her a name or Blaise Zambini wondered aloud if a muggle Doctor had given her breast enhancement surgery, Granger was watching, biting her lip. Raven knew that a girl like Hermione, with her copious amounts of bushy hair, intelligence and love for rules, could not have had an easy school life. She soothed her fury with the knowledge that every remark was endearing her to Granger, and thus her friends.
If she was honest with herself, their Squib comments did sting. Not because they were terribly witty or because she truly thought being non-magical meant you were less a person but because not only was she meant to be able to perform magic, she was meant to be wonderful at it. It hurt because with wand-magic she was a squib, and without magic in general she was nothing. So as childish as it was, she wanted to hurl noxious black energy at Malfoy every time he sneered at her. She comforted that urge with the thought that one day, she would be free from Dumbledore's supervision. One day, she would be able to use her real magic openly where ever she wished.
On that day, she felt like she might pay the Slytherin common room a visit. Though for now she would have visit in her dreams.
So she added another item to her to-do list, which so far compiled of:
1. Alienate Parvati and Lavender
2. Make Friends with Harry Potter and Company
3. Figure out why wand magic is so difficult
4. Obtain hairs from either/both Remus Lupin or Harry Potter
5. Write to Robin and ask for a DNA comparison between said hairs and my own
6. Uncover the Dark Lord's plans
7. Stop them
8. Seek revenge (Within reason) on School-yard bullies
9. Have Paternos Charm performed.
With number one on the list crossed off and number two well on it's way, Raven felt almost happy. If you did not include the wand component, she immensely enjoyed her first education since the harsh system of Azarath and enjoyed the Castle's magical energy. It had a golden aura pulsating with the supernatural and was as much a character in her new life as the students and teachers. She'd been down to see Hagrid once or twice, and to her surprise, had been pleased when the giant had been as accommodating and warm as when she first met him. It was a comfort to see him around the grounds as the frosts began, tending to his creatures. Like a reminder of the friends she did have. Every day she considered writing home, but decided against it until she had at least one hair.
School might have even been enjoyable, if only she could master cheering charms. Even casting Lumos would have been nice.
By Wednesday Harry's hand was throbbing and his cuts would bleed at the mere threat of being knocked. He'd had two straight weeks of detentions with Umbridge thanks to outbursts in the classroom, and was suffering under Angelina's furious gaze every time he had to miss a Quiddich Practise for it. Harry couldn't think of enough curse words to describe his D.A.D.A teacher, or enough adjectives to explain how much he really hated her. Thankfully, Hermione had taken up helping him with his homework while he soaked his hands in Murtlap essence, since his evenings were mostly spent in Umbridge's sickening office carving his hand open.
"You really ought to talk to Mcgonagall mate." Ron said for the dozenth time, frowning at him across their game of Wizard's chess. The common room was slowly emptying of people, but Harry wanted to wait till a few more left to be safe before telling them about the premonition he'd had a few days ago.
"I'm not letting her know she's got to me." Harry replied dully, watching as his Queen was attacked by Ron's Knight. He really should have seen that coming, but had been too distracted. Hermione sighed.
"I think you're being silly Harry." She said, then went back to fixing his essay, on the correct way to grip a wand to ensure maximum safety, for Umbridge.
"Yeah... listen." He said, as Lee Jordan and the twins headed up to bed. He lowered his voice in case anyone was listening in. "I forgot to tell you, I had another dream a few nights ago."
"The one with the corridor again?" Ron asked, leaning in.
"Nah, this one had Voldemort-" Ron flinched. "-in it. Lucuis Malfoy brought him a letter from Draco, about her." He inclined his head over to the corner by the window overlooking the lake, where Raven was studying a book with narrowed eyes, wand in hand and quill placed in front of her. Hermione put down her parchment.
"And you're only just telling us this now?" She demanded, hair seeming to crackle with electricity.
Harry mumbled something about Quiddich and planning lessons for the Defence Against the Dark Arts group she'd suggested, knowing it would mollify her. In reality he had wanted to mull over the dream before he got their opinions on what it all meant.
"Anyway, as soon as he read about a new American Exchange student with violet hair he was furious and pulled out his wand."
Hermione clapped her hand over her mouth.
"Did he kill anyone?" She asked softly. Ron stared at her.
"Who cares if he killed them Hermione? They're Death Eaters!"
Harry shook his head forcefully and the two stopped bickering to listen.
"He started shooting spells, not at anyone, but at this mirror he had. He'd kind of screamed in rage and all the windows had shattered but this mirror wouldn't break. Finally the glass kind of fell in on itself, and I woke up."
"That's it?" Ron asked, disappointed. "I thought you were going to say you knew what his plan was or something."
"That's not even the weirdest part mate." Harry said. "Obviously I thought I'd have to go to Dumbledore so I got out the cloak and headed downstairs-"
"Could have woken me up." Ron said, but Hermione shut him up with a look reminiscent of Mrs. Weasley.
"and I smacked into her." he inclined his head towards the corner again, where Raven was now tracing wands movements in the air. Something that looked suspiciously like a swish and flick. "Turns out she had the same exact dream."
"Blimey." Ron muttered, staring at Raven unsubtly. She didn't take any notice, as absorbed in her book as she was.
"So we headed to Dumbledore's office together and I realised I didn't know the password so she just teleported us inside."
"How is she able to do that?" Hermione frowned. She looked desperately unhappy that there was magic she couldn't perform. "Hogwarts: A History says there's no way to get into the Headmaster's Office unless something really dreadful has happened or you've got the password."
"Well, I doubt the author considered demons while she was writing it." Ron said, smirking. For once, Hogwarts: A History had failed her. Harry told them all about the discussion in Dumbledore's office in a low voice, periodically checking to see if Raven had realised they were talking about her. If she had, she was very good at hiding it.
"Bloody hell, imagine having to deal with her dad as well as you-know-who." Ron said, paling.
"I've never heard of the Church of Blood before, but that figures if it's a Satanist Cult." Hermione said. She looked troubled.
"Dumbledore didn't say if he understood the connection. But Raven looked pretty determined to figure it out. She said she'd die before she let Trigon free."
"I wonder if... if we've misjudged her." Hermione said cautiously, biting her lip. Ron stared at her incredulously.
"If we've misjudged her? What happened to," He put on a high-pitched imitation of Hermione. "I'm going to find out what she's hiding if it's the last thing I do?"
"That was before I knew she imprisoned her father herself. Think what kind of life she must have had. I mean..." Hermione looked cautiously at Harry, as if he were about to explode. "Think of why she came to Grimmauld Place in the first place. If she's only now looking for her human father, her mother can't have been around much either. Or at least, she can't have been very nice."
Harry didn't like to think about it, especially not the part about her human father, but when he forced himself to he found himself wondering if she had her very own Dursleys back in the States. He'd tried to get something out of Parvati earlier, but she hadn't been helpful. Maybe he'd been too subtle, or she was still mad about the way he'd treated her at the Yule Ball. More likely, he thought, that Raven hadn't told her anything at all.
"And yesterday at Dinner, when Ron was at Quiddich and you were in Detention, Lavender said something about you and Raven told her to shut up."
"I thought that was just a rumour." Ron said, surprised.
"No. I heard the whole thing. She asked Parvati if she really thought Harry and Professor Dumbledore met up in the holidays to discuss what lies to tell the world."
"Who knew she could use sarcasm for good." Ron muttered, and simultaneously the three of them turned to watch Raven take a deep breath and point her wand at the quill.
He sighed. If Hermione could manage to make them feel bad about Raven, it was a mystery her House Elf campaign was so unsuccessful. In his opinion Dobby was a lot cuddlier, but he was heartened to hear that Raven had supported his story in public. He needed all the friends he could get nowadays.
"She's kind of sad really." Ron said, tilting his head. They watched as she murmured, just as Harry had suspected, Wingardium Leviosa, over and over to no avail. Harry thought her problem wasn't as sad as if was confounding. Using his wand was second nature. He knew Raven had awesome power, why couldn't she use it?
"I can't watch." Hermione said as Raven calmly continued to recite the spell. She stood up, leaving quill and essay on the table, and boldly walked over. Harry and Ron shared a look and craned their necks to listen.
"Sorry, I just... well." Hermione suddenly became nervous as Raven stopped what she was doing to stare at her with one eye brow quirked. Harry wondered how she was able to keep her expression so... frosty all the time. "It might be your accent but... It's Levi-oh-sa. Not Levio-Sah."
"I don't think she realises how annoying that is." Ron groaned.
"Oh, I'm sure that's it." Raven said sardonicly. She pointed her wand at the quill and imitated Hermione, accent and all. Still nothing.
"Thank you though." she added quietly, and then promptly re-opened her book and began reading. Hermione stood over her shoulder awkwardly.
"I know that didn't work." She said after a minute, fidgeting with her hands. "But since we're always in the Library at the same time and I'm on top of my homework, maybe I could try and help you figure out the problem?"
Harry and Ron stared at each other in alarm. Neither had thought Hermione would go that far. Raven looked up in equal surprise, apparently having thought the same thing.
"I guess you could try." She said slowly, then went back to her book. Hermione returned to her seat with a small smile playing on her lips.
"She's not that bad." she repeated quietly, and began finishing up Harry's essay. When the two girls had gone to bed an hour later, Harry and Ron sat up desperately trying to tack endings onto the Care of Magical Creatures essay they'd forgotten all about (Which Hermione claimed she'd reminded them about a week ago).
"I suppose we didn't like Hermione too much either, not at the start" Ron reasoned, scribbling as fast as he could. He swore and crossed out his previous sentence. Harry grunted. Ron looked up, a smudge of ink on his cheek. "It's just girls, isn't it? Bloody difficult. How are we meant to know what they're thinking?"
"I don't think anyone will ever figure out what Raven's thinking."He replied. That bothered him, but not because he didn't trust her for it. She was just so... mysterious. Harry would give up quite a few Galleons to know what went on in her head, just for an hour.
"Right. I mean, I haven't seen her smile once? It's like, she's got two emotions." Ron said, putting on a stony face. "Emotion one, haunty. Emotion two, mocking." He tried and failed to raise one eyebrow a couple of times, before giving up. Harry laughed, mostly at Ron's expression, but in reality he was thinking about the subtle flashes of emotion he'd seen flicker across her face a couple of times. A glint of hope in her eyes after saying the incantation for a spell. The loneliness he caught out of the corner of his eye.
Perhaps Hermione was right, and she deserved a chance after all.
As you can see there is neither huge amounts of bullying or Raven getting frustrated and blowing things up in this chapter but it is coming, I promise you. Does the way I'm bringing the trio and Raven together make the readers angry, or happy? This I would like to know in reviews. Also, does anyone have anything they'd love to happen in future chapters? I'm open to suggestions :)