Chapter 10, Year 1 – Part 1.
"Word" – Speech.
'Word' – Thought.
" Word" – Slender Speech.
#Word# - Texts, messages, phone calls and on-screen words. Will have speech marks if words are being spoken at the same time as they appear on-screen.
~Word~ - Written words.
$Word$ - Parseltongue.
Disclaimer, Harry Potter is the creative property of J.K Rowling and the studio that produced the films.
Any CreepyPastas mentioned in this fic will have their creators stated in the endnotes. I also have no ownership of any brands, games or shows mentioned in this fic.
Author's note.
Well, here we go.
Hogwarts time.
So, the format for this chapter might be a little weird. How I'm planning on doing this is that unless it's a specific moment, a flashback or similar, it'll be in letter format. So there'll be a few moments that'll be changed and a few that'll be small for the most part.
This chapter will most likely go from week 1 to just after the Christmas holiday, and a little heads up, one of the biggest changes will be happening around that time.
And as usual, let's get to the reviews;
Kitsunerocker;
Glad you like the chapter. I did hope to get a few laughs from that little bit.
DarkRavie;
Glad you like the chapter and to hear that you still look forward for the next one, or this one as it's the next chapter after the last one.
TheGavenExpress;
Thanks for understanding on why I'm holding off on the ships till later.
If I do ever get to having a ship as the centre for a chapter then I'll have a small build up to it in prior chapters like I did with the only ship I've got in this one right now.
Glad you like the chapter, hope you enjoy this one and any more to come.
Tister60;
Glad you like the chapter. I hoped that I would get a few laughs out of the Supernatural stuff. Glad to hear that you like how I'm doing the story,
Kumo-No-Kuro;
Thanks, glad you like it.
Really? Could you tell me what area it falls under, I went through them all and didn't find it? That would be really helpful, thank you.
Alright, my usual ramble is wearing thin, any final things from 'DP'?
I don't really have much to say, other than welcome back readers. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.
One last thing though.
If you go to my profile you should see that I've added a bit that has the upload status of any story I'm working on, so if you want to check whether a chapter will be late or not that's a good place to do so.
Till the next one, SteamGeek01.
Additional Note; 24/01/2018;
Fixed error in character names when Reviewer brought them to my attention.
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Hogwarts.
It was the end of the first week of Hogwarts and all was quiet.
Well, as quiet as a large, drafty, castle filled with hundreds of young minds and teenagers being educated in magic could be; though as it was later in the evening, it was a lot quieter.
In the scarlet and gold decorated tower, a few students were lounging around doing the final bits of their homework, a couple were lazily reading and practising incantations in front of the large fireplace, and one student was idly stroking a snowy owl as he wrote out a letter home.
Isaac Rogers was sitting at a small corner table in the room as his quill scratched over the parchment as Hedwig stood next to him, looking around the room and at the crackling fire with large amber eyes.
Isaac rubbed his own as he replaced the stopper in the jar of ink and read over the letter.
Smiling to himself he folded it inside another envelope and gave the now sealed away letter to Hedwig who shook her wings free and took off out a high window in the room.
He watched her fly out over the grounds again and walked up to the first-year dormitory, ready to sleep.
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The Ark.
Toby Rogers was sitting in the living room, a sharpening stone in hand as he did a little maintenance on his axes.
Masky was standing outside, probably having a smoke, and Ben was in the kitchen, probably getting a drink, and he didn't know where the most of everyone else was.
"Heads up Toby!" Masky called from outside.
Setting the stone down, he tightened his grip on the handle, wondering what was coming.
His grip relaxed when he saw a flash of white zoom past the window. A few seconds later Hedwig had flown into the room, Masky probably held the door open for her, and came to a perch on the armrest next to him.
"Hey girl," Toby cooed as he petted her head gently.
Hedwig hooted as he messed up a couple of her feathers and dropped the letter in his lap before heading back out to where Toby had set up a resting post, which was just outside of Isaac's room for her. He made sure that there was a small bowl of water and a few treats ready to eat there each morning.
Toby allowed a small smile to grace his lips as he unfolded the letter.
~Hey Toby, and anyone reading this over his shoulder.~
A tsk behind him revealed Ben had finished what he was doing and had probably come through from the kitchen at hearing the sound of Hedwig flying in.
~First off, thanks for the packages.~
~I've been opening one a day since I got here and I've gotten through Helen and Jonathan's; L.J and Sally's; E.J's, Tim and Brian's.~
~I'm opening yours tonight.~
~The first week here's been alright. Since the sorting ceremony used my birth name people kinda know who I am. There's been a few who know that I prefer Isaac, The Weasley Twins, Fred and George, apparently turned someone's hair streaks of neon pink and gold when they were being an ass about it.~
Toby allowed himself a few moments to laugh at the idea of somebody having to go about with that color combination on their head.
~I asked Professor McGonagall to change my name on the register after my first
Transfiguration class and the register should be changed by tomorrow.~
~Classes have been ok. The main problem is finding my way around, I mentioned in the letter I sent you when we got settled in that the school's a castle and the number of stairs I have to go up and down to get to each class, and the Great Hall for food, is ridiculous.~
~It took me and Ron until Friday to get there without getting lost.~
~The classes themselves are alright, though it turns out there's a lot more to magic than just waving a wand and saying a few funny words. It's all the usual focus and intent thing that people go on about, but I'm getting there.~
~The Potions teacher is a bit of a hardass, I don't think he likes me that much for some reason.~
(Earlier that week, Hogwarts, Friday,)
Potions lessons took place down in the dungeons. It was colder here than up in the main castle and would have been quite creepy enough without the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls.
Professor Snape strode into the class in a billow of his deep, dark cloak.
"There will be no foolish wand waving or silly incantations in my class," he said in his oily baritone, sneering at the Gryffindor side of the class.
Snape, like Flitwick, started the class by taking the register. Though unlike Flitwick, the tiniest person that he had ever seen, who gave an excited squeak and toppled out of sight behind his desk; Snape paused and sneered a little more.
"Ah, yes," he said softly, "Harry Potter. Our new – celebrity,"
Draco Malfoy and his friends Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their hands.
Snape finished calling the register and looked at the class. His eyes were black like coals, but they had none of Hagrid's warmth. They were cold and empty, somehow emptier than the substance that flowed out of E.J's sockets.
"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught each word – like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping groups of people silent with little to no effort.
"I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes..." Snape gave the class a small speech on the graceful art of potion-making, a few of Isaac's classmates were intoxicated at his mentions of what the skilled could achieve in his class.
"Potter!" Snape said suddenly, "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
'... what...' Isaac thought as he gave Ron a quick glance, from the look on his face he didn't know either but the fact that Hermione Granger's hand was in the air wasn't exactly encouraging.
He gave a small sigh and looked up at his teacher.
"I don't know sir, and it's Rogers,"
Snape's lips curled into a sneer.
"Tut, tut – fame clearly isn't everything," he said, ignoring Hermione's hand.
Isaac felt his cheeks heat slightly and began slowing his breathing. He had read his books when he had got them, E.J had given him the wise advice to do so but it sounded like Snape expected them all to have memorised the set texts.
"Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"
"The stomach of a goat sir," Isaac said, sending a silent prayer to E.J.
Malfoy and his friends fit of silent laughter ended abruptly. Snape's sneer dropped a little.
"Indeed, though can you tell me, Potter, what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"
Hermione's hand had dropped when he had answered the bezoar question; though now it was back in the air, as straight as an arrow, it had flown back up when Isaac had frowned at the question.
"I don't know Professor. And, again, it's Rogers, not Potter," Isaac said.
"Lower your hand," he snapped at Hermione, "For your information, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the draught of living death. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes as aconite. And yes, a bezoar is the stone taken from the stomach. Though anybody who would care to read their texts could tell you as much.
Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?"
There was a sudden rummaging for quills and parchment. Over the noise, Snape said, "And a point will be taken from Gryffindor house for your cheek, Potter,"
Things didn't improve for the Gryffindors as the Potions lesson continued. Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mix up a simple potion for curing boils. He swept around the room, criticising all of them save for Malfoy who he seemed to like, as they weighed out ingredients.
A while into the lesson, Neville had somehow destroyed the cauldron he and Seamus were using and Snape berated the boy as furious red boils that erupted over his skin where the potion had drenched him.
After furiously dismissing him to the hospital wing he had docked another point from Isaac, claiming that he should have warned Neville about the incorrect procedure he had used.
Isaac had opened his mouth to argue, but a warning from Ron had him keep his mouth shut.
"Don't push it," he muttered, "I've heard Snape can turn very nasty,"
Isaac was a little downtrodden as they climbed out of the dungeons, though he cheered up when Ron reminded him that Hagrid had invited him round for a cup of tea and asked if he could come with.
(XXX)
~Hagrid invited me for tea of Friday. He's a pretty nice guy. I went down to his with Ron. He's got a boarhound called Fang, though he's pretty much a big softy and I had to go change my trousers afterwards because he had drooled through the robes.~
~Also, you remember the time that L.J sent about 1/4 of his pranking stuff to a customer in the UK? That was the Fred and George who ordered it!~
~I don't know the whole story, but I do know it managed to get Laughing Jester supplies banned from Hogwarts and there's still a few who shudder from thinking about it.~
"L.J'll be glad to hear that someone is putting his junk to good use," Ben said over Toby's shoulder.
~The Twins are pretty fun to be around, if you know when to not look away from your food.~
(Hogwarts, Wednesday, lunch,)
Isaac walked down into the Great Hall amidst the lunchtime mail, Ron a step or two behind.
"How'd Quirrell get the job?" Ron asked.
Both of them had been feeling a little blue since the class they had both been expecting to be exciting, had turned out to be barely more than reading from a book, sometimes a small talk from the stuttering Professor had them stop for a moment, but there was barely anything interesting happening so far.
Isaac hoped that things got a little more interesting as the year went on.
Fred and George shuffled over a bit to make room for the two on either side of the table as they sat down.
Isaac had started to put a few sandwiches on his plate when Hedwig flew in, no letter but it was nice to see her. He put his goblet down to stroke her and feed her a piece of chicken from the sandwich he had put on his plate.
As he watched her fly back out away he turned back to his plate.
He picked up his goblet for a moment before setting it back down.
He looked between the Twins, working out who was who.
"George," he turned to the one sitting next to him, "What did you put in my goblet?"
George looked a little surprised that he had gotten his name right, "Nothing," he said, going back to his baked potato.
"Alright, what did Fred put in it?"
"Potion that has the same effect as helium for a couple of minutes,", "Nothing. OI!" George and Fred said at the same time.
Isaac snorted at their exchange and went back to eating his sandwich.
When a third-year Ravenclaw tapped Fred on the shoulder to talk Isaac reached over and nudged Fred's goblet an inch or two from where he had set it down.
The Ravenclaw left and Fred turned back round.
"Oh nice try Isaac," Fred said, swapping his and Isaac's goblets round and taking a drink, "Close, but you're gonna have to do a bit better to... wait what the hell," he broke off as his voice rose in pitch.
Isaac smirked to himself and toasted him with the unspiked goblet.
(XXX)
~Also, it was in the wizard papers, someone broke into Gringotts the day we were there.
The report said that it was the vault that Hagrid had emptied earlier. I tried to ask him about it but he didn't say anything.~
Toby and Ben shared a glance.
~All Hagrid said was that it was Hogwarts business and I didn't need to worry about it.~
~How's things with you? Has anyone had anything interesting happen at work?~
~I'll send another letter next week,~
~Isaac.~
~P.S, remember that pale kid in Madam Malkins that I told you about? He's here a well. He was a bit of an ass on the train and I got to quote Death at him. He looked like his brain had frozen.~
Toby and Ben's laughter at Isaac's achievement of finally getting to quote Death in a conversation attracted through Masky and E.J, who had been a room away in one of the makeshift gyms, a towel around his neck.
Masky read out the letter for E.J, who joined in with the small chuckles from Toby and Ben.
Masky rolled his eyes at the three of them, though the small smile playing his lips showed his amusement.
"Don't forget to send a reply Toby, it's getting late," he said, going back outside to check whether the cigarette he had left in the tray had been blown off.
E.J wiped away the small beads of sweat with the towel and turned to Toby, "So, what ya gonna tell him? Teer recreating John Hurt's famous scene in 'Alien', L.J bursting someone's gut open with a literal tonne of candy, Jeff shoving a guy's head inside a lawnmower?" he listed a couple as he went for a drink.
"Eh, probably both. Just gotta word it so it doesn't sound like a kill," Toby said, scratching his head.
"Speaking of L.J, where'd he go?" Ben said.
As if by the will of the plot L.J descended from the stairs, a large box under his arm.
"Hey guys," he said, setting the box aside and sitting down, "That Isaac's letter?" he asked, pointing to the parchment on the table.
"Yep, what's with the box?" Ben asked in return as Toby worked on how to mention that he had knocked a guy's head clean off on his last job.
"Well, remember that pair from the UK that bought a good portion of my stock a couple of years ago? Well, apparently they're stepping up their game again. Something about a new kid at their school," L.J said, picking up the letter.
Ben sat there, watching and waiting for L.J to finish.
A victorious smirk rose on his face, his shark-like teeth glinted a little.
"Pass me a bit of paper and a pen Ben," he said, slitting open the tape he had sealed the box with a claw-like finger.
He scribbled a quick note and folded it on top of the packages.
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Hogwarts.
Isaac had finished adding syrup to his morning waffles when Hedwig flew in, a letter clamped in her beak and a small blue bag in her talons.
Isaac tore apart some toast for her and took the letter and bag.
~Hey buddy.~
~Sounds like you're having fun across the pond, kinda wish I could say the same over here.~
~Most exciting things that happened was Jonathan messing up in a butchers and accidentally spilt that mush that gets turned into sausages all over the place, looked like something from Alien, L.J asked me to send some candy over, the first bag he was putting them in burst and they went all over the place-|/~
~ Good on ya with the twins kiddo!~
Isaac smiled at the quick sentence written by L.J, from the lines on the page he had taken the note from Toby as he was writing.
~He says that some of them might have been diluted, so they'll probably not taste too good.~
Isaac looked in the bag as Hedwig took off. Inside was a small bundle of individually wrapped Kalakuta Gumdrops. From the letter, he guessed that about five or six of them would be 'fun' ones.
He still had a few from the package L.J had packed for him so he put the bag on the table for now. He had eaten the cookies that Sally had added in the package, it had taken him about five minutes to get the bits of marshmallow out from his teeth.
~Anyway, other than that not much else's happened. Apart from Jeff dropping a lawnmower on a gnome, and me getting a one-shot split streak with the axe on wood for the fire, not much else really. Just the normal, boring, day to day routine.~
Isaac smiled at the phrasing Toby had used. The slight change in writing could be written off as part of his tic if anyone asked.
~Yeah, apart from that not much else has been going on. Thalmann dropped in for a bit, though he hasn't had any exciting stuff happen either.~
Isaac looked through the bag, carefully taking out a sweet he knew to be safe and popped it in his mouth. He had memorised those ones ever since the first batch.
~Anyway, hope that school there doesn't suck too much. I can't imagine a magic school would be dull.~
Isaac snorted a little, thinking back on the History of Magic lesson he had sat through and the way Quirrell had to delegate the reading of parts of the passages to other students so he didn't have to.
~Anyway, hope you're doing well. I'm talking with Thalmann about travel stuff for
Christmas and other Hols' so I'll get back to you on that.~
~Take care buddy.~
~Toby.~
~ Be sure to share some of the sweets.~
L.J had taken the note again.
~ See if you can find stuff about Dragons! Also, how often have you had waffles for breakfast? Just proving a point. ~
Ben had taken the note that time.
Isaac smiled at the letter and went back to eating his waffles.
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The Ark.
"Oh fuck you, Ben, "
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The Ark.
It had been awhile since Isaac's letters had held anything more than some of the day to day things that'd been going on and other small things.
His next, however, came with a letter from the school.
Toby looked at the two letters. He figured that he'd read Isaac's first, then the official-looking one.
Slendy had solved the problem of having owls continually die in the forest by having them deliver the letters to the local post office and getting Ben to tell them if any arrived.
He shook open the letter from Isaac.
~Hey Toby.~
~Ok, first things first. There were flying lessons today and we were doing them with the Slytherins. Earlier Neville, he's in my year and dorm, got this thing to help you remember when you've forgotten something, and Malfoy tried to start a thing but Prof. McGonagall shut it down before anything happened.~
Toby smirked a little. He had no doubt that Isaac could have broken Malfoy's arm in a few places if he pissed him off enough.
~Anyway, at the lessons Neville hurt himself and had to be taken to the hospital wing. The thing that he'd gotten to help remember stuff had fallen out his pocket and Malfoy took it and tried to stash it up a tree.~
~I went after him and he threw the thing, I can't remember what it was called, and I caught it before it hit the ground.~
~The thing is that we were on brooms at the time and we weren't supposed to be flying unless Madam Hooch, the instructor was there. Prof. McGonagall saw me and took me inside.~
Toby thought that he had a good idea on what the letter from the school was about.
~I thought she was going to give me a detention when we went in, but she brought me to a fifth-year called Oliver Wood and said she had found him a Seeker for Quidditch.~
~Me! She's going to try and bend the rule on first-years not being allowed a broom to see if she can get me on the house team!~
Toby read over the line again before smiling to himself.
~She said that she'd send home a letter about it so I don't know if you'll get it before this one or not.~
~Apparently my Dad was a Seeker when he was at School here.~
~Malfoy was acting like an ass about the whole thing and he tried to challenge me to a wizard's' duel tonight. Ron told me what that means and I don't think that Malfoy's gonna know what hit him.~
Toby was stuck with a sort of half smile, half frown, as he read about Isaac getting into a fight.
If it was melee, or weapons, then he knew that Isaac could hold his own fairly well. But this was a wizard's duel, that meant magic and he didn't know much about fighting with magic.
~He's set the duel time for midnight so I'll let you know how well it goes. Part of me thinks that Malfoy's not gonna show up, but I'm heading there any way in case I'm wrong.~
The rest of the letter was just what had been going on at the school and some stuff in his classes.
He put that letter down and picked up the one from the school.
~To Isaac Roger's guardian(s).~
~My name is Professor McGonagall. Deputy head of Hogwarts and Head of Gryffindor house.~
~Isaac has shown impressive skill on a broom and I am looking into having him placed on the house team for Quidditch.~
~To play on the team Isaac shall require a broom of his own.~
~As I am unsure of your knowledge based around Quidditch I have sent along a pamphlet of brooms currently in shop that the school can get on short notice.~
~Costs of the brooms are included and if you are willing, or able to, aid in the purchase would be greatly appreciated.~
~Hope this letter finds you in health.~
~Professor M. McGonagall.~
Toby fished the pamphlet out of the envelope.
He would admit to anyone who asked that he had no idea what he was doing.
Not paying attention to the prices, he looked at the speeds given. He remembered something Hagrid had said about Seekers being fast so he circled the fastest one there with a pen he fished out from under a pile of clothes in his room.
After that he wrote out a letter saying that they'd be able to help pay for the broom, thinking back to the day in Diagon Alley where the small handfuls that they had taken had lasted them the day with more to spare. He'd send the letter back after getting Isaac's go ahead to do so.
He sat down on the bed, moving Isaac's letter over.
As he moved it he saw there was something written on the back and he remembered that that was probably the result of the duel Isaac had been challenged to.
~MALFOY'S A FUCKING COWARD AND THERE'S A FUCKING MASSIVE DOG
WITH THREE FUCKING HEADS BEING HELD HERE ON THE THIRD FLOOR!~
Toby looked over the large, sprawled out, letters that took up the back of the letter and stood back up.
He had to go ask Slendy a couple of things.
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The Ark.
Sally skipped around the Mansion, excitement radiating off her.
"You're gonna tire yourself out before you get to go out if you keep that up," L.J said, sorting out various piles of candy of all shapes, sizes, and colors, into multiple bags.
It was very early on Halloween day and Sally would always get excited around those few special holidays. Especially the ones where she got to eat lots and lots of candy and sweets.
Easter was her favourite there, Halloween a close second.
Sally didn't say anything to the monochrome clown, opting to flicker away, giggling as she did so, to somewhere else. Probably a 'playmate' that had found one of the abandoned houses she liked to hang around at sometimes.
L.J gave a gravelly chuckle as he turned back to sorting out things for his own 'playmates'.
He didn't kill all of them, only the ones that he wouldn't be able to deter from snapping.
He didn't know how to properly explain his ability to sense which children would snap and which wouldn't, but the times he ignored the instinct and let them grow up, forgetting about him in the process, all of them had snapped. And none were salvageable.
Toby came down at that point, yawning and trying to get rid of a kink in his neck from sleeping.
"Mornin'," he grumbled through a yawn as he zombie walked past L.J into the kitchen.
"Morno' Tobo'," L.J said, irritatingly cheerful, "You taking Sals' guising later?"
A grunt of confirmation came from the kitchen.
L.J sat forward and stretched out his back as Toby came back through, a steaming plate of waffles in hand.
"So, whatcha think Isaac's doing about now?" L.J said, trying to get some semblance of life from Toby as he sat down.
"Well," Toby stood back up and threw the whoopee cushion under his seat across the room,
"Well, it's about... I dunno, eightish over there. Probably dinner,"
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Hogwarts.
"Do something!" Isaac yelled, dangling from the mountain troll's hand as he tried to hit him with the club.
"What?" Ron said, looking around at the debris on the floor.
Isaac found himself wishing that he had the throwing knife set Jeff had snuck him so he could at least get a few hits in.
"Anything!" Isaac cried, lifting himself up to dodge another swing.
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The Ark.
"Yeah, probably getting bored at this point," L.J said, packing the bags into the bucket.
(Later)
Masky walked after Toby as he stalked towards his room.
"Listen, I don't like it either, but you know what Slenderman said!" Masky said, the note of finality in his voice could have stopped an army in its tracks.
"I know, I know," Toby gritted out as he shoved the door forcefully open, "But you read the letter, you were there when I opened the sodding thing,"
Isaac's latest letter had worked Toby up quite a bit.
It was the day after Halloween in the UK and they had just gotten Isaac's letter about the troll that somehow got through the school's defences.
"I was Toby. And the fact that nothing came from the school, and Isaac said himself that he was fine, means that nothing too bad happened," Masky said as Toby picked up his axes and a few other things.
In all honesty, he agreed with Toby and wanted to pay the school a visit himself.
"Move," Toby said as he made to leave.
"If you're planning on trying to get into the school then..."
"I'm not going to the school! I'm going to the throwing range, then the lumber pile," Toby cut him off.
"I have a need to hit things and with a lack of jobs and not being able to go to the fucking school, logs will do!"
Masky followed Toby out of the Mansion, just to make sure that he didn't try to go anyway.
They didn't run out of chopped wood until the end of December.
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Hogwarts.
Isaac read over Toby's latest letter.
Slendy had said that he would have to stay at Hogwarts for the winter holidays to keep up with the cover that he was flying by plane to and from America, so he added his name to the list of those staying at Hogwarts over the break with a little bit of reluctance.
He was cheered up a bit when it turned out that all of the Weasley's were staying as well.
Their parents were going on a trip to Romania to visit the second eldest, Charlie, where he studied dragons.
Isaac was a little excited for the holidays, though he wondered why despite all the magic in the air the castle was still very drafty, and spirits were high.
He did feel a little guilty about not doing any shopping for anyone, but decided he could fix that by doing it when he got back and giving them their gifts late.
"I do feel so sorry," said Draco Malfoy, during the Potions class the day that the Professors had taken the list of those who would be staying over the holidays, "... for all those who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home,"
He was looking at Isaac as he spoke, who returned the look with one of boredom.
Ever since the Quidditch match, Malfoy had been more unpleasant than usual.
Isaac's first Quidditch match had been... interesting, to say the least.
For some reason, main suspect being Snape, Isaac's broom had started trying to throw him off mid-game. It had nearly succeeded too, he had been dangling off it by one hand when Hermione had set Snape on fire and created a distraction that allowed him to get back on.
That was the only other letter he had been a little worried about sending home.
Since then Malfoy had been trying to get people to laugh at him since when he caught the snitch he had nearly swallowed it.
When that hadn't worked he had gone back to trying to taunt him with the fact that he didn't have a proper family.
Isaac ignored him, as usual, in favour of weighing out ingredients for Potions.
After class they had bumped into Hagrid taking another tree into the hall and got invited to see the Great Hall as it was being decorated.
When they mentioned they were heading to the Library to research Nicolas Flamel Hagrid had nearly had a heart attack.
After he had accidentally let slip the fact that the dog, his own Cerebus called 'Fluffy' of all things, was guarding something for Professor Dumbledore and this Nicolas Flamel they had been insatiably interested in finding out who he is and what it is.
Hagrid had refused to tell them anything and Isaac figured that no one at the Mansion would know who he is so he hadn't asked them.
Once the holidays started, however, research pretty much dropped dead since Hermione went home to her parents.
They had become good friends with Hermione ever since the troll attack on Halloween.
The only reason that Isaac and Ron had come across the troll was because Hermione hadn't been at the feast when Quirrell had burst in shouting his warning because of a particularly nasty comment from Ron earlier that day.
They had burst into the toilet where she had been crying as the troll entered the room.
After a brief, semi-successful, distraction by Isaac; Ron had managed to knock out the troll by levitating its club and dropping it on its head.
Hermione had covered for them about why they were there in the first place and they had grown closer ever since.
Isaac didn't regret making friends with Hermione as she was the brightest of their year, and pretty good company when she was more relaxed and not focusing overly so on their education.
Homework got easier with her around and she did seem a whole lot happier from that point onwards.
Ron and Isaac's holiday started off with about half an hour of trying to find Flamel before they got involved in a snowball fight with the twins.
After an hour and a half of snow being thrown Isaac was declared the winner and a three V one match was started with Ron, Fred and George against Isaac since it soon became clear that Isaac was near impossible to hit and had very good aim.
Isaac held his own for about fifteen minutes as the three of them tried their best to hit him.
After all of them were sufficiently covered in snow they started to head back inside.
Isaac was following along behind them, having stopped for a moment to shake some snow from his hair before it slid down his back when a mild buzzing filled his ears.
Ron felt it too and shook his head like a wet dog to try and clear it.
Isaac, however, froze.
He excused himself under the pretence of re-tying his laces and hung back whilst looking around.
"Hello Isaac," Slenderman said as Isaac came around a corner that led down to the greenhouses.
"Hey Slendy," he said, greeting the tall figure with a wide smile.
"I can't be long, I had business in a part further north and decided to check in whilst I was here," Slendy said, "Also Toby was particularly worried after you mentioned the troll and the incident at your Quidditch game,"
Isaac wasn't sure if he should have mentioned those in his letters but he had figured that Toby would have preferred to hear it from him rather than someone else.
"Nothing else has happened since then," Isaac told him.
"That is good to hear. Another reason for my visit was to inform you of something that I should have done before you left for here,"
"What is it, sir?" Isaac asked.
"Whilst there is no danger in asking the others for advice, I have placed a restriction on what they are capable of doing in this world," Slenderman said, any snow that landed on any part of his suit seemed to disappear completely without trace, "Since this world could be seen as a great threat to us we have to be careful with our interactions,"
Isaac nodded to show he understood.
He had figured as much on his own and Slendy had pretty much confirmed that any problem he encountered here, he would have to deal with on his own.
"There are situations I will permit them to take action, though I do hope that they never occur," Slendy said, "And one last thing,"
A skeletal hand reached into a pocket.
"Ben asked me to send this in the event I was able to stop by and meet you,"
He gave Isaac what looked like a Gameboy if Doctor Frankenstein ever got a hold of it.
"I thought things like this wouldn't work at Hogwarts?" Isaac said, turning the device over in hand.
"For most things, yes," Slenderman agreed, "Though Ben is more stubborn than most when it comes to things like this," he said, giving Isaac an accompanying letter before disappearing completely.
Isaac gave a small smile at the space where Slendy had been a few seconds ago before putting the modified Gameboy in his pocket and walking inside to where the twins and Ron had sat down to eat a hot lunch.
That night, when Isaac was alone in the dorm room, he examined the Gameboy more clearly.
He placed it on his pillow and turned back to the letter.
~ Heyo Specs.~
~So it's been awhile since we've had a chat. So I put together a few things together, added a little Slendy background radiation, and hey presto!~
~This thing should work over there. You can't play games on it, until I fix the cartridges for it, but in the meantime, it should work as a pretty good 'Ben TV' signal box.~
~The batteries I stuck in this thing should last for a month or two if used sparingly, bout once or twice a week.~
~See ya soon.~
~BEN.~
Isaac looked back at the device on his pillow.
Later that night, once Ron's snores had filled the dorm, he snuck it out from under the spare robe he had kept it under and searched for the on switch.
The screen flickered slightly as he lifted the duvet and climbed back into bed.
It took a little longer to fall asleep and when he did he found himself in any other dream.
"Bor...ing!" Ben cried as he flickered next to Isaac and the next thing Isaac knew he was standing just outside the arena of one of the fighter games Ben had.
"Sup Specs," Ben said as he hugged Isaac in greeting.
"Hey Ben," Isaac said through a wide smile.
If there was one thing that made Ben-influenced dreams weird was that if you were to touch him in one then you wouldn't feel the sort of static that clung to his frame in the real world.
It was like running your hand over one of those big, old, TV's when it was on.
"Oh, it's been boring without you," Ben said as he handed Isaac a box of popcorn and sat back, watching the fighters.
"Really? I doubt that," Isaac said.
Eating in a dream was weird. Everything tasted like it was diluted down and weak.
"Well, boring for us at any rate," Ben smirked as he tossed a bit of popcorn in the air and caught it in his mouth, "You, on the other hand, are currently at a school for mutha-fucking sorcerers! Come on, details, details,"
Isaac laughed a bit as he told him about lessons, what spells he had learned so far and other things he had done at Hogwarts.
Recreating what he had done in some classes in the dream to show Ben, he started asking about what had been happening at the Mansion.
"Eh, same old, same old really," Ben said, looking at the box of popcorn hovering above them, "Had another cultist group pop up last week though. Toby had already sent his letter so we would have had to tell you in this weeks,"
He stretched his arms out a bit.
"I won't give much away, but Masky and Hoodie are still off trying to find the last members and Toby'll tell you a bit more when you get his letter,"
Isaac spent the next hour or two talking with Ben, watching fighter after fighter enter the ring.
Ben had snorted when Isaac told him that Jeff had snuck the throwing knife set back into the trunk and he told Isaac that Masky thought that he had lost them somewhere at one of his jobs the week after Isaac had left.
"Well Specs, it's been good catching up but I gotta head out," Ben said, the arena flickering in and out as Isaac's dream returned back to what it originally was.
"Good talking to you," Isaac said, giving Ben a final hug, "I haven't had a chance to go shopping so everyone will be getting late gifts when I get back,"
"Eh, don't worry too much about it, we figured you wouldn't have a chance to anyway," Ben said, patting Isaac on the back, "I'll get the Gameboy for you,"
Isaac smiled and waved as Ben flickered back away.
The next morning Isaac felt better than he had done in a while as Ron challenged him to another game of wizards chess.
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Hogwarts.
Isaac sat down on his bed, the small mound of unwrapped gifts lying next to his bed shifted a bit as he lay down.
It was Christmas day and he had spent the most of the morning sitting in the Great Hall with the Weasleys before going back up to the Gryffindor common room to unwrap the remainder of his gifts.
He had gotten through the ones from Hagrid, Hermione, and Mrs Weasley.
Ron had told him, blushing quite a bit, that he had mentioned him in a letter home and his mother had obviously taken it upon herself to send the youngest Weasley's best friend a gift or two.
Isaac laughed as he unwrapped the thick, hand-knitted, emerald green jumper and box of home-made fudge.
He pulled the jumper on overhead and found it fit rather well, considering she had seen him maybe once he was impressed that she had managed to get a close to perfect fit.
He had just unwrapped an anonymous package containing a silver cloak that moved through his fingers like fluid that had Ron frozen in awe.
After explaining what it was, and testing it to see if it was true, Isaac looked down at his invisible body.
The note that came with the cloak didn't have the sender's name, just saying that Isaac's father had left it in his possession before he died and he thought that it was time to return it to him.
He hadn't had time to go through the rest of the presents on the bed, another mild pang of guilt had risen since he hadn't gotten anybody at home a gift for Christmas, when the twins came up to drag them down to breakfast.
Isaac sat on the bed as he pulled the gifts closer.
Jeff, unsurprisingly, was the only person that didn't send him something since Masky probably confiscated it like he had done the previous times with the throwing knife set.
Ben had sent him some of the working cartridges and a couple of spare batteries for the Gameboy;
Sally had sent over a book similar to one he had gotten a while ago that contained myths and legends in Scotland, he had flicked the book open at random and came across the story of 'Wulver', a werewolf that left food at the houses of struggling families;
Helen and The Puppeteer had sent another joint gift of a sketchpad and pencils, there were a few blank pages and some that Helen had etched in a few pre-prepared drawings for him to practice on;
Masky and Brian had sent him a couple of books on stories in the Wizarding World and a beginners book for defensive magic, they had gone back to Diagon Alley to check out a bit more on whether or not the mass public was aware of Isaac's true identity a few times and had stopped in a few of the shops on one of their trips;
E.J had sent a modelling clay sculpture kit and a couple of books on home projects about making things like pencil crossbows and kitchen chemistry, a note attached had subtly hinted at E.J teaching him a few things about dissection when he got back. Something he had been interested in ever since he had seen E.J expertly extract a body's kidneys in under a minute;
L.J sent over another bag of sweets, a box of his pranking supplies from the more 'experimental' line of things and a note that contained a string of hisses that apparently Kalakuta had said in wishing him 'Merry Hissmas'.
Toby's gift had been a facemask, kinda like his own but with no stripes and only a solid bar of grey across where the mouth would be, a box of homemade caramel waffle wafers, a poster that held the standard exorcism for Supernatural and a couple of books. One had a bunch of stuff to do with fires and explosives and the other the next in a series of fantasy novels that he had started reading before going to Hogwarts.
The rest of the evening had passed in a merry dinner and jokes with the twins.
Isaac had planned on testing out one of L.J's more potent stink bombs but with Filch, the caretaker of the castle, lurking around nearby he had held off on it till later.
After a very filling dinner, Isaac found himself lying down on his bed and unable to sleep.
Throughout the day his thoughts had kept coming back to the invisibility cloak stuffed under his duvet.
As he lay there a new thought came to him.
With the cloak, he could go pretty much anywhere in the castle undetected.
Isaac debated whether he should wake Ron or not but something about the fact that this was his father's cloak had him feel like the first time should be just him.
He ignored the Fat Lady's squawks as he left the common room and walked quickly down the corridor.
As he thought about what he should do, he remembered his idea that information on Flamel might have been held in the Restricted Section of the library. So he decided that he would go there and try to find more about Flamel.
After all, what could happen from reading a book?
Isaac down the corridor, he carefully ducked under Filch's outstretched arm as the scream from the book he had picked up echoed inside his ears.
He was pretty much running in the dark, the only light coming from the pale moon.
He looked around the corridor he was in. Perhaps because it was dark, he didn't recognise where he was at all.
He was trying to figure out where he was when he heard voices that caused the blood to drain out of his face.
"You asked me to come directly to you, Professor, if anyone was wandering around at night, and somebody's been in the library – Restricted Section," Filch's wheezing voice huffed out.
"The Restricted Section? Well, they can't be far, we'll catch them," Snape's reply had Isaac's heart jump into his throat.
He backed away down the corridor, away from where the two staff members were walking down, trying to move as quietly as possible towards the ajar door that lay a little away.
He listened to their dying footsteps as they walked past him and he dared to breathe a little harder.
It was a few seconds before he noticed anything about the room he had hidden in.
It looked like a disused classroom. The dark shapes of desks and chairs were piled against the walls and there was an upturned waste-paper basket – but propped against the wall facing him was something that didn't look as if it belonged there, something that looked as if someone had just put it there to keep it out of the way.
It was a magnificent mirror, as high as the ceiling, with an ornate gold frame, standing on two clawed feet. There was an inscription carved around the top: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.
His panic fading now that there was no sound of Filch or Snape, Isaac moved nearer to the mirror, wanting to look at himself and see no reflection again.
He had to clap his hands to his mouth to stop himself screaming. He whirled around. His heart was pounding far more furiously than when the book had screamed – for he had not only seen himself in the mirror, but a whole crowd of people standing right behind him.
But the room was empty.
He tried to calm down as he turned back to the mirror.
A new sort of panic took over him as he saw Toby standing behind him with two people standing either side of him.
He looked back around the room, trying to figure out how he could see Toby and everyone else there when he was alone.
He looked in the mirror again. Standing next to Toby was a man and a woman. The reflections were so close that when he felt the air behind him, he expected to feel whoever she was.
He looked at the woman in the mirror more closely. She had dark red hair and her eyes – her eyes were just like his. Bright green and exactly the same shape.
The tall, thin, black-haired man standing on Toby's other side put an arm on her shoulder, his other was resting on Toby's. He wore glasses, and his hair was very untidy. It stuck up at the back, just like Isaac's did.
Isaac was very close to the mirror now, his breath fogging the surface slightly.
"Mum?" Isaac whispered, "Dad?"
They just looked at him, smiling.
Toby looked like he was laughing slightly, both of his hands were on Isaac's shoulders.
As Isaac looked around at the other people in the background of the mirror and realised that he was looking at, what was at one point, his family.
The Potter's smiled and waved at Isaac.
There was also a young woman with dirty blonde hair standing a little away. She didn't look like any of the other Potters there, though she did have the same sort of nose and face as Toby.
'Lyra?' he thought, wondering if that really was Toby's sister.
He had never seen what she looked like since Toby had no pictures but she looked as kind as Toby had described her.
A noise from somewhere outside the room brought Isaac back down to earth as he remembered why he was in the room in the first place.
After a whispered promise to come back he started making his way back to the Gryffindor common rooms.
When he told Ron about the mirror the next day he agreed to show Ron after everyone went to bed tonight.
After retracing his steps, which took a while, Isaac finally found the room that held the mirror.
To his surprise, Ron didn't see the same thing. Instead, Ron saw himself standing victorious with awards given to him by the school, Head Boy, Quidditch Captain. He was also holding the House and Quidditch Cups.
After Isaac tried to get another go with the mirror, a small argument between the two drew Mrs Norris, Filch's cat, to them and they had to leave.
Ron tried to deter Isaac from going to back to the mirror again, but Isaac couldn't think of anything else he'd rather see.
It was a sort of melancholy joy to see his old family. Even better to see that they had accepted Toby and his Sister as part of it as well.
Isaac sat on the cold floor, soaking in the image in front of him.
He could have sat there all night with his family. Nothing at all.
Except-
"So – back again?"
Isaac felt his insides freeze as he turned around and saw Dumbledore sitting on one of the desks.
He must have been in such a hurry to get to the mirror that he hadn't noticed him
"I-I didn't see you, sir," Isaac said.
"Strange how short-sighted being invisible can make you," Isaac was relieved to see that Dumbledore was smiling.
"So," Dumbledore said, standing up and walking over to sit on the floor next to him, "You, like hundreds before you, have discovered the delights of the Mirror of Erised,"
"I didn't know it was called that sir,"
"But I expect that you've realised by now what it does?"
"It – well – it shows me my family - "
"And it shows your friend Ron himself as Head Boy,"
"How did you know - ?"
"I don't need a cloak to become invisible," Dumbledore said gently.
Dumbledore kept giving Isaac little prompts at what the mirror did, until he corrected Isaac's very close guess of the mirror showing you what you wanted to see to the mirror showing nothing more or less than showing the deepest, most desperate, desires of the heart.
He explained how it showed Ron standing alone, no longer worried about being overshadowed by his elder brothers and the best of them all.
He also warned Isaac about not going to look for the mirror again as it was being moved to a new home.
As he kindly dismissed Isaac back to his bed, Isaac asked him one last thing.
"Sir – Professor Dumbledore? Can I ask you something?" Isaac asked, halfway to the door.
"Obviously, you have just done so," Dumbledore smiled, "But you may ask me one more thing, however,"
"What do you see when you look in the mirror?"
"I? I see myself holding a pair of thick, woollen socks,"
Isaac starred.
"One can never have enough socks," said Dumbledore, "Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn't get a single pair. People insist on giving me books,"
It was only when he was back in bed did it occur to Isaac that that answer might not have been entirely truthful, then again, it was a rather personal question.
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Hogwarts.
The end of the holiday was heralded with a light sprinkling of snow as the many students began filing back through the doors.
Hermione's return came with mild disapproval since the two of them hadn't found anything out about Flamel and the fact that Isaac had been out of bed three nights in a row.
However, something had caught Isaac's eye.
Malfoy had walked into the Great Hall, Crabbe and Goyle flanking him as usual.
One thing that Isaac had learnt to do overtime at the Mansion, was be able to tell whenever someone had a glamour on.
Over time, his exposure to them all using glamours on a semi-regular basis had helped him to recognise when a glamour was in use.
One of the things that helped him recognise a glamour was that, with a quick glance, there would be the same sort of shimmering around the glamoured area that a hot surface would have. Those ripples in the air.
And a few quick glances at Malfoy showed that tell of a glamour, shimmering palely around his face.
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Dumbledore sat on the cold floor as he watched the boy's retreating back.
A curse was going over his head as for some reason the tracer spell he had tried to silently cast on the boy had failed to take hold.
That was of little irritancy to him, however. He had effectively solidified the image of a trustable person in the boy's mind.
His question at the end had thrown him off a little, though he had expected to be asked something of the sort so he gave the humorous response he had prepared earlier.
Things were going slower, far slower, that he would have liked. But he would persevere and he would reclaim his pawn.
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"Fred!" George called out to his twin as a large owl carried a box over to the window of the third-year dormitories in Gryffindor tower, "Jester's supplies are here!"
"Wicked, what we got this time?" Fred said, exiting the bathroom, toothbrush still in his mouth.
George cast a cutting charm to open the tape and the first thing he saw was the letter lying on top of the contents.
He shared a quick glance with Fred since none of the other packages had come with notes.
He flicked the paper open and his jaw hung open.
~At Laughing Jester Pranking Service, we applaud those who aim for mischief and strife.~
~However, if you can manage to pull one over on Isaac fucking Rogers I'll gladly fly my ass over there and shake your hands myself!~
~It took me a day to get one over him and even then it wasn't the one I had originally intended on getting him with.~
~L.J~
~P.S~
~If any harm comes to him, I have quite a few things held back because they're 'too dangerous' for public use, and I don't think I need to go further.~
Fred shared a look with his twin as he read over the letter.
Later in the common room, as they were sitting by the fire, finishing their Transfiguration homework, Isaac walked past on his way to the Great Hall with Ron to get lunch.
"Hey Isaac," George called over.
"Yeah?" Isaac said, moving out of the way of the portrait.
"Settle a thing for us," Fred said, "You said that you..."
"Live with two guys..."
"Called Jack right, well..."
"Was one of them..."
"M.J, L.J, T.J or E.J?" they finished in unison.
Isaac looked between them for a moment, "We call them E.J and L.J, why?"
Fred and George shared a quick glance.
"Couldn't remember and it was annoying me," Fred said as he flicked over a few pages of his Transfiguration textbook.
"Ok then," Isaac said and turned back to the portrait where Ron was waiting.
When they were gone Fred and George exchanged silent glances of panic.
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Author notes.
And we're done.
Ok, it's pretty late and this need to go up soon so I'm wrapping this up quickly.
Yes, I skipped lots of stuff in this chapter. Yes, I've probably missed an important thing or two, however I can fix that in either flashbacks next chapter or another chapter.
And we're getting into a few of the changes I've been thinking of and you'll find them out next chapter.
In response to me taking the chapters down and fixing them, I'll most likely do that since the more I think of the errors the more it annoys me.
Big chance that I'll do that at Christmas, so I'll let you know closer to that if I will do it. The big decider is if the reviews will stay or not. If not then I'll wait until the story is completely finished and fix them, that way there'll be at least a permanent testament to them.
Anyway. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope you enjoy the next.
Till the next one, SteamGeek01.
CreepyPasta's mentioned and their owners, to my knowledge.
Ticci Toby – Kastoway.
Masky / Hoodie / The Operator – Marble Hornets.
Eyeless Jack – Kiki H.
Laughing Jack – Snuffbomb.
Jeff the Killer – BanningK.
Ben Drowned – Jadusable.
Sally – Kiki H.
Slenderman – Victor Surge.
Smile dog – some geezer with a computer.
The Puppeteer – BleedingHeartworks.
Bloody Painter – Delucat.