Cult Potter
Wanda: Well, this was fun to write. Merry Easter everyone, I hope the Bunny was good to you! (especially if he had an accent. Rise of the Guardians is a fun movie, let me tell you) He was good to me, so I had enough of a sugar high to complete this chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. (duh)
Chapter 9: Summer's Light
Once back in the 'protective' embrace of Little Whining, Edith wanted to start experimenting.
She came home with more books than she had left – many coming from her various orders from both Knockturn and Diagon Alley. Once a deeply scowling Vernon had driven her home, she immediately went first to her room (tossing out Dudley artifacts that he had attempted to move in there) to begin to plan.
She barricaded her room, leaving only Tristan's dog door for food to be delivered and the window for owls to bring her letters from her friends open. Then she pulled the heavy dark blue blinds over the windows and dropped off the two other trunks she had purchased before returning to Number 4 Privet Drive.
(nothing was more amusing than forcing Dudley and Vernon to help her carry them. Her uncle's expression alone was worth the price of admission, and Petunia had either forgotten about the underage magic restriction or thought that the rules might have changed)
The first one was a potions kit, complete with a cauldron, a set up fire pit so she wouldn't burn the house down, various ingredients and several books on theoretical creations that were yet to be tested. Edith set up a couple music stands left over from the mercifully short time Petunia had tried to get Dudley interested in the fine arts and placed the books open to their relative pages.
The second trunk contained various tree bark, such as willow, oak, holly, cherry and the like. Along with that were a couple 'redacted' cores rejected from places like Ollivaders, but still had some latent magic that she could mess around with and attempt to combine.
The third trunk contained metals, pots, flowers, beans and other miscellaneous objects that would make for good testing.
Once everything was unpacked, Edith pulled out Advanced Transfiguration and Preventative Measures: the History of the Statue of Secrecy.
Tristan sniffed one of the flower pots and looked over at his master quizzically.
"I know it all probably smells funny, Tristan," Edith said, her eyes on the books, "But I'm going to need them all for this testing."
Tristan padded over and sat by her leg. Edith flipped through Preventative Measures until she reached 'The Underage Magic restriction.' "See this, Tristan?" She asked her canine companion. "The wizard government has ways of tracking the spells cast by everyone under the age of seventeen. The reason given is that its meant to prevent stupid kids from exposing the wizarding world, but what it really does is further the divide between us and our wizard born counterparts. See, Dancia can practice and learn magic at home without any issue, but I'm not allowed to do anything – even though my aunt and uncle are well aware of magic and I could easily practice in the attic or the basement to avoid detection."
Tristan whined, his fur bristling slightly. Edith smirked. "I know. It's complete bull. That's where these experiments comes in."
Placing this book aside, she pulled open one of her drawers and retrieved a box of matches. "The trace is a spell cast on my wand. I can't just remove it because that would set off an alarm at the Ministry and get me in trouble with the law. I might even get expelled from Hogwarts. We can't have that."
Walking over to the carton of woods, Edith began to paw through the various pieces of bark and sticks. "Of course, theoretically, that isn't my only option. Instead of removing the spell, I may be able to suppress it if I line up the right variables. Then I can use however much magic outside of the wizard borders – as much as I want – without anyone knowing."
Tristan tilted his head to the right.
Edith smiled and said, "Grant Richter and Lilith Moon talked to me about potions. It gave me a new appreciation for the art."
Tristan kept staring.
"...and Hermione convinced me to read Frankenstein." Edith added, frowning at her familiar. "What? It's good."
"Anyhow, I'm planning to achieve this end before summer is out. Not just for myself, but for Hermione, Sally and the rest of my friends as well."
Kneeling by the cauldron, Edith struck the match – an earlier present from Matt – and started a flame. Pouring some water and potions mix in, the redhead crossed the room and examined Advanced Transfiguration and Preventative Measures, alongside various other texts referring to tracking magic.
"...hm...now, let's see..." grabbing the defective phoenix feather core, Edith ground it up and sprinkled it into the cauldron. When the bubbling steadied, the redhead pulled out a strand of her hair and picked up the oak core.
"Now, in the likely event that this explodes on me-" Edith cast protective charms over her bed, trunk, dog and herself before dropping the hair and the oak in the cauldron.
From the outside of the house, it seemed like the a fan had temporarily been put on high. From the inside, the ceiling downstairs rattled and caused a light to fall onto the table, shattering on the kitchen table and causing Petunia to jump out of her skin.
Edith waved the smoke away and examined the mess. "...Well, at least I don't need a new cauldron." She said. "So oak obviously isn't going to cut it. Let's try a different combination..."
**~Two Days Later~**
"What the devil is that little freak up to?" Vernon sputtered when the ceiling thudded for the thirtieth time over the last forty eight hours.
Edith hadn't emerged at all over that time, only taking minutes out of the day to stick her head out of the window to speak with Duncan, Piers or Matt or yelling for someone to bring her some breakfast/lunch/dinner. The Dursleys heard banging, bursts of fire from under the doorway, multi coloured smoke seeping through the cracks of the doorway, and the disconcerting sound of a soon to be twelve year old swearing like a seasoned marine.
"I don't know." Petunia said, thoroughly pale in the face. She was frightened by, once again, having magic as a constant presence in her life.
"I bet she's brewing poison." Vernon growled. "Planning to kill us all in our beds. I'd stake my life on it! She wants to inherit the money and the property with us out of the way."
"I don't think a poison would make noises like that." Petunia said nervously.
"Mummy, won't you make her stop?" Dudley whimpered. Edith's experiments were keeping him up for long hours at night. Since he was trying to make a name for himself with a couple other brain dead kids on the street, he had gotten a black eye due to his lack of co ordination.
Piers and Duncan ran their own gang in Edith's absence; and she had made an impression on them. Their 'gang' had grown to include a dozen other boys and girls from similarly troubled backgrounds who came to rely on them and work as a team. Piers liked to brag to Edith about it, much to her mixed amusement and pleasure given her reactions when during the 'window chats'.
"I can't, Diddy darling." Petunia said tumultuously, looking nervously at her son.
"You're scared of her, aren't you?" Dudley demanded. "You're both scared of her!"
"Don't be ridiculous, son!" Vernon thundered at him, furious at the implication. "The little freak is nothing to be afraid of."
Dudley shrank back in his chair, sulking and furious. His confidence had returned in spades during the time when Edith was at Hogwarts, so it got under his skin when she returned and uprooted his life with her presence again. He felt threatened by her and wanted her to turn into the punching bag he remembered from years before.
Without Edith around, Vernon's ire at work often spilled over to his wife and son. Naturally, both quietly blamed the witch for this, even though she was many miles away. While he hadn't hit either of them, it had put a significantly dent in their 'perfect' lifestyle.
Another huge boom shook the ceiling. A window cracked and Petunia flinched.
"I DID IT! I FUCKING DID IT! CHEW ON THAT, MINISTER FUDGE!" Edith's gleeful shrieking floated down from above.
"She did what?" Vernon hissed, staring at his wife.
"I don't know." Petunia insisted, eyeing the ceiling fearfully. "I really don't know, love..."
"YOU CAN'T TRACK ME NOW, MINISTRY! EDITH POTTER IS OFFICIALLY OFF THE F**KING GRID!"
"That means she's done now, right?" Dudley asked, scared.
"TIME TO OUTFIT THE WHOLE GANG!" Edith cheered.
**~Several More Days Later~**
Dear Sally;
This ring is one of the suppressors I managed to create so far. I checked it out with my wand, and I haven't gotten any notices from the Ministry. It's brilliant, and I've already thanked Daphne profusely for giving me the books and stuff for my experimentation. I've also scared the shit out of the Dursleys, but hell, they'll get used to it.
I have a few other ideas I want to attempt, but I don't think I can handle it by myself (Duncan and Piers aren't really much help in this place; I can't justify revealing magic to them) but maybe I can with some help. Do you think you can talk your parents into having you stay over at my place for a few days?
-Edith
-Line-
Dear Edith,
You subverted the Ministry and bragged about it in your letters. You are brilliant and need to be more careful. I managed to keep my dad from seeing the letter because our house elf Dobby deals with the menial work around our mansion.
I'm curious about your new 'mad scientist' streak. Perhaps I should be reading this 'Frankenstein' book as well. What else are you planning to do-? Wait, don't answer that straight out – be coy about it, write it in riddles. Trust me to be smart enough to figure it out.
Father works in the Ministry. I don't want you to get in trouble, but you've made me incredibly curious.
Your friend, Dancia
-Line-
Dear Daphne,
Have you read that muggle history book I got you? Edith's been ranting about transfiguring ions in magic in order to make electrical creations work better at Hogwarts, which sounds like a lot of fun to me! We'd be the only people in Hogwarts with cellphones and laptops. Think of the possibilities!
Of course, its technically illegal for her to be experimenting at home like this, but that underage magic law is bull anyway; everyone knows it restricts muggleborn learning. Besides, I haven't had anyone to binge watch Star Trek with since my eight years my senior sister went off to university. We can bring a mini TV and watch it together!
Write back soon,
Sally
-Line-
Dear Edith,
Aunt Ana says it's fine for us to hang out with you for a week; she's loaded down with work at the Dragon Safari and doesn't like leaving us home alone. I want to see this lab of yours for myself. Potions doesn't seem so boring now, huh?
-Flora
-Line-
My dear friend Flora,
It is not potions. Its SCIENCE MAGIC! There is a margin of difference.
But yes, I'm glad you can come over. When can I expect you and Hestia?
-Edith
-Line-
Dear Tracey
Have you heard of this show called "Star Trek?". You mentioned having "Cable" for your TV at your home, but I'm not sure if it runs on that channel. Sally introduced me to it when I visited her yesterday afternoon with Hermione.
For all the phenomenally silly costumes the aliens are given (except for the Klingons, in my humble opinion), it's such a remarkably intelligent series! All the episodes I saw had deep, complex thoughts brought forward – my favourite was "The Conscience of the King", from the original series. I dare not give it away if you haven't seen it. I haven't been so invested in any kind of play since I went to "The Lion and the Serpent!"
If you have the series, please tell me. I would like to view it with you at some time.
Oh, and Happy Birthday my friend.
Daphne
-Line-
Dear Neville,
The Philosopher Stone turned my scrap metal into gold! Hahahaha! It really works!
I've done some more reading on the familiar bond – you know, that gift that Daphne gave Tristan and I? Apparently, I'm not old enough to unlock the full potential yet, but when I turn fourteen I can look forward to calling Tristan to my side under any circumstances. Among other things! I may even be able to communicate with him directly. It's all very exciting!
How are you holding up? Is your grandmother throwing you out any more windows, or was that a one time thing?
-Edith
-Line-
Dear Blaise
I've gotten Daphne hooked on Star Trek! You have to come and join us sometime, we had popcorn and chocolate frogs and watched all the best episodes. We had a wonderful time! You've got to give it a try, for us? Please?
From Tracey
-Line-
Dear Edith
Is it alright for us to show up at the start of August? That's when Auntie Ana's work is at its worst, so that's the best opportunity for us. So a five day sleepover would be cool? I'd love to spoil Tristan as much as possible!
-Hestia
**~The First of August~**
Vernon opened the door early that morning to find a pair of grinning twins with wizard looking trunks standing on his doorstep.
"Hello Mr Dursley!" One girl said. She and her companion were virtually identical. Vernon felt his eye twitching.
"We're here to visit Edith. We'll be here for about five days, but we'll try to be as unobtrusive as possible!" The second girl said with an insincere smile.
Vernon's face turned a curious shade of purple. The girls both made their way around him, walked into the house uninvited (well, they were invited by The Freak, but Vernon certainly hadn't invited them) and made their way straight up the stairs without saying 'hello' to Petunia.
"Edith!" Flora called as the twins walked across the hall. Given that the door was covered with smoke, dirt and stood out hilariously against the overly pristine style of the rest of the house, she had a pretty good idea which room was her friend's.
With a couple of thuds, the door was unlocked and swung open. Edith had dark shadows under her eyes and soot in her hair, but she was incredibly cheerful. "Flora! Hestia! Come on in. But, uh, watch your step – it's kind of a mess in here..."
The Carrow twins walked inside, stepping over a black hole in the wooden floor. Sure enough, except for the side with the bed which was still protected by a shield, the room was a complete mess. One picture frame was hanging off a single nail, the walls were dented and fracture and everything was covered in soot.
"I've just finished up my experimenting for the time being, so I haven't had a chance to clean up yet." Edith explained, shutting the door behind her friends. "It took a while to create those rings, and I was making a few other potions as well."
Hestia cooed at Tristan and started petting him; she was the only other person the hound was extremely affectionate towards. Flora, meanwhile, looked around the room and grinned slightly. "I'm guessing you'd like a little help with that?"
Edith smiled sheepishly. "Please?"
Without magic, it would have taken hours – if not a day or two – to bring the room back to a 'livable' state. However, the girls cleaned up the place in under twenty minutes. It wasn't perfect – it was still obvious that someone used this room as a testing lab – but now it was almost as shiny as the rest of the house.
-Line-
The girls spent the day in the park, hanging out, chatting, even making small talk with Piers and the gang when they crossed paths. (Duncan would look at Hestia like she was something he'd never seen before. Hestia didn't notice it at all, but Edith and Flora did.)
When the evening rolled around, the girls showered and changed into nightgowns. Edith's had no sleeves, exposing one of her scars.
Hestia and Flora had set up beds on the floor, and they were chatting quietly. When Edith walked in, absently petting Tristan when he nudged her, Flora looked up to ask her something only to come to an abrupt stop when she saw the scar.
Edith gestured for her to hold the question for a moment as she closed the door and walked over to the closet. Opening the door revealed a stack of gleaming gold bars. Edith placed a new bar on the pile and walked over to her bed.
"How'd that happen?" Flora asked.
Edith was silent for a moment. Then she said, "Have you ever had a real reason to distrust...or fear, your family?"
"No." Hestia said uneasily.
Edith shook her head. "Not your aunt, the woman who took you in...I meant your birth parents. Amycus Carrow."
The twins exchanged a look, wondering how to frame this, before Flora said, "Of course we did. You've probably heard all the terrible shit people say about him and Alecto?" When Edith nodded, she snorted and said, "Yeah, well, ninety percent of it is true. We lived with them until we were about four, when they got busted for...you know..." She knocked her hands together. "They managed to get away with serving You Know Who by claiming they were under his control, but when Aunt Ana made that little detail obvious there was no escape."
"Auntie Ana was always the 'black sheep' of the family." Hestia said wistfully. "She's really wonderful, and she takes great care of us." She shivered. "But I've never been so glad then I was the day we got away from them."
"So, how'd that happen?" Flora repeated, gesturing to Edith's arm.
"Uncle Vernon happened." Edith said simply. "Until I was about...oh, until I was eight, this place was hell. I don't know if you saw that boot cupboard on your way up the stairs, but that used to be where I slept. They would lock me in there for days...without food...Dudley used to like to use me as a punching bag. One day, Vernon comes home in a rage and gets into the alcohol. I think he got passed up for a promotion at Grunnings, the place where he works...Aunt Petunia took Dudley out at once, to go shopping she said, but she left me behind. Vernon Dursley broke a wine bottle over my back. I had to go to the hospital and get seventy stitches."
Flora snarled wordlessly, while Hestia's eyes grew wide as dinner plates. "Why are you still with them?" She asked in shock.
"Because Uncle Vernon blamed it on me falling on the stairs. Somehow. And I don't have any other living relatives...or so I've been told." Edith swung her feet onto the bed and crossed her legs. "Believe me, the only reason I stay is because not long afterwards, I had my first big burst of magic and managed to cow them into submission. The only reason I stay is because I can't really leave...not without getting fancy."
"Getting fancy, like a normal court case? ...Or getting fancy, like paying them back for that abuse ten times over?" Flora suggested; with the grin on her face was a pretty clear indication of which option she would be advocating.
"The latter." Edith said, returning Flora's smirk while tossing the Philosopher's Stone in the air. "The first thing I want to ask is, are there any family trees for the Potters? Anything in official records that I might be able to discreetly get my hands on?"
"Oh, absolutely." Hestia said. "Genealogies are easy to come by in the Records level of the Ministry; if you file a request they'll usually send the related documents within a few days."
"Great." Edith said. "I'm guessing that I probably have a few distant second cousin or something, a name I might be able to use." Leaning back slightly, she asked, "Have you heard of Emancipation?"
"Yes. That's when you cut your parents off from yourself despite being under eighteen, right?" Hestia guessed.
Edith nodded. "Exactly."
"You plan on filing for that against the worthless sacks of flesh?" Flora guessed.
Edith shook her head and chuckled. "If I went for it right now, I wouldn't get a whole lot. Just barely enough money to rent an apartment. No, I want everything – and I want to ruin this family."
She pointed at the closet. "That gold there? I plan on Vernon discovering it. He's a greedy, fat walrus, and I know he was renting my room out while I was at Hogwarts."
"You plan on that?" Hestia asked quizzically. "Why?"
"Oh, that's easy." Edith leaned forward onto her elbows. "Uncle Vernon is in big business. And when you're up that high, some of the worst crimes you can commit are embezzlement and tax evasion. Now, what will people think if Uncle Vernon starts throwing around huge amounts of money – and I know he will if he finds it – more than his salary could afford, what will people suspect?"
"That he's stealing." Flora guessed, her grin growing a bit wider.
"Correct." The red haired Slytherin tapped her thumbs against the back of her hand. "It would be trivially easy for me to alter the tax returns – uncle hates 'number crunching', so he usually hands it off to Petunia who hands it off to me whenever her bridge club comes over. Then all I have to do is file them, and wait. Then once they're arrested, I'll throw in my abuse stories and demand emancipation, and it will be Christmas."
"That's...brilliant. That's very Slytherin." Hestia said; it seemed like she was beginning to share Flora's enthusiasm for this crime.
"I'll even be able to demand things in settlement...especially if I have an angry relative waiting in the wings." Edith added. "That's what the genealogy is for. I'll take the house and most other stuff of value under the magical relative's name, then I'll have a hideout and a meeting place for my little gang of witches and muggles alike."
"Your a mad, evil genius." Flora declared. "I love it."
"I'm glad." Edith chuckled. "I've been laying the groundwork for this one since I was six."
"And it all happened because your aunt handed off the tax sheets to play socialite." Hestia smiled. "That's perfect."
"The only thing to keep in mind is that I don't want to leave the stone here over our second year." Edith gestured around the room. "Wouldn't want them stumbling on it. I also don't want to bring it back to school. So I was wondering – does your aunt go into your room much?"
"Only to clean it. And sometimes she defers that to Missy, our house elf." Flora said. "And Missy knows not to go into our drawers."
"Great. So it will stay with her while we're in school?" When the twins nodded, Edith smirked. "Good, so that's sorted. Now; let's make some gold."
**~Later~**
At the end of the week, Edith had a closet half full of stacks of gold bars. As much as she loathed giving Vernon even temporary satisfaction in the dream of being rich, she also knew that her plan was starting. To be absolutely sure at least one of the Durlseys would intrude upon the stash, she hung a "Keep Out" sign on the handles.
Hestia couldn't look her uncle straight in the eye without giggling, so the twins excused themselves on the fifth day, heading off with their aunt.
Anastasia Carrow was a fairly pretty, tall and warm person; it had always made her stick out like a sore thumb in her 'orthodox' family. She greeted Edith warmly and seemed familiar with muggle society to an extent that Vernon seemed stunned that she was a witch. And as soon as she was out of earshot, Ana called the man 'whalespawn', much to the amusement of her nieces. Flora already had the Philosopher Stone in her pocket, and planned to bury it beneath her notebooks and assorted papers in her desk drawer.
A day later, Edith herself went off to visit Susan. Her aunt, Amelia Bones, was a tough, no nonsense kind of person who secretly loved children, given how she treated her niece. Amelia was the head of the DMLE and a huge potential ally, so Edith made a note to be on her best behaviour the entire time she was staying with her friend. Amelia seemed to appreciate it, for she too was a busy woman given her profession.
"So, how long do you think this year at Hogwarts will go before something messed up happens?" Susan joked.
"Give it at least a month." Edith responded, tipping back her glass of milk and taking a good, long drink.
End Chapter
Something horrible befalling the Dursleys always puts a spark in a story, doesn't it?! That will be fun to bring to the fold...I'm guessing around third year, but I haven't got that nailed down yet.
Read and Review please!