Author's Notes:
Sorry to those who like consistent updates but this story isn't the easiest to write. Real life likes to interfere as well. I'll try to update a bit before spring semester starts in January. Thanks to those who reviewed, especially Elfwyn. She(I'm going by the name) brought up a good point but honestly, who would suspect Arcanus when Dumbledore introduced him to Sirius and Dumbledore is one of the good guys.(unless I change that later, I doubt I will though.) There are still some gaps in this that I need to fill in here and there so updates won't be consistent. I've laid out some pieces of the major plot though and this part sets a section of that plot in motion.
August 31, 1997
"Good morning!"
Arcanus and Harry both groan loudly and bury their heads underneath their pillows. Sirius had opened not only the curtains on their four-posters but also on every single window in the Gryffindor boys' dormitory.
"It's only seven in the morning, Siri!" Harry whines. "It's too early to get up!"
"Four eyes is right," Arcanus grumbles miserably, sleep clearly audible in his voice.
"Hey!"
"Arcanus, apologize to Harry for that."
"What I say?" the black eyed teen asks, his eyes only half open.
"You called me 'four eyes,' 'Canus," Harry snaps half-heartedly. Neither he nor Arcanus are morning people at all. Harry's only reason for being awake enough to not insult his friend is that said friend had started snoring at four in the morning.
"Sorry," Arcanus mumbles. "I couldn't sleep last night."
"Forgiven. Oi, where'd Siri disappear to?" Harry takes his glasses off his nightstand and looks around.
Arcanus shrugs and pulls the curtains around his bed closed again, fully intending on going back to sleep for a few more hours.
Harry shakes his head at the teen and makes his way to the bathroom to bathe only to double back when a bone-chilling scream echoes throughout Gryffindor Tower.
"What happened?" Harry asks, wand drawn and at the ready and now wearing only his pajama bottoms. "Arcanus? Siri?"
Sirius roars with laughter as his nephew tries to wring the water out of his long hair and his bed clothes. Sirius had changed into his Animagus form Padfoot and hidden underneath one of the beds until his godson left the room. The former Marauder had then used an Aguamenti charm on his nephew when the teen had tried to go back to sleep.
"Arcanus didn't want to get up," Sirius shrugs innocently. "Anyway, breakfast is in an hour, boys. There'll be a carriage waiting by the front doors for you two around five to take you to Hogsmeade Station."
Harry smiles and returns to the bathroom, leaving Arcanus and his uncle alone. Arcanus gives Sirius a questioning look, hoping he's not going to be forced into being civil towards Weasley, Granger, and the rest of Harry's friends.
"Harry asked if it would be alright to meet his friends as they leave the train," Sirius explains off-handedly. "The Headmaster agreed to the request. He also wants to talk to you. Something about wanting to know how you like the castle or something like that."
"Is it alright if I wait until after breakfast to speak with him, Uncle Siri?" Arcanus asks, hoping to avoid the task as long as possible. The memories that had plagued his dreams last night are bound to be a topic of conversation, especially now that he can't block out the memories no matter how hard he tries.
"He didn't say when so I guess that's alright," Sirius gives his nephew a reassuring smile and a one armed hug before heading back towards his own rooms, thinking that Arcanus is just nervous about starting at a new school tomorrow.
Hermione Granger was not a happy Witch as she boarded the Hogwarts Express as the new Head Girl. Not at all is she happy as she sits with Ron Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Ginny Weasley, and Luna Lovegood after having spent the first hour of the trip in the Heads' compartment.
"Well? Who's Head Boy?" Ron asks, completely oblivious to his friend's anger.
"What's wrong, Hermione?" Ginny asks as the brunette slams the compartment door shut with enough force to rattle the glass.
"We were right about the Head Boy, weren't we?" Luna questions as she peers over her upside-down issue of The Quibbler, turnip earrings glinting in the morning sunlight as she tilts her head to the side.
"Unfortunately, yes," Hermione sighs, not at all happy that she and Luna had been right. For once, the know it all wishes she was wrong and that Draco Malfoy is not Head Boy.
"Are you two going to tell us who the Head Boy is or not?" Ron whines impatiently and his little sister smacks him in the back of the head. "Ow! What was that for, Gin?"
"For whining," Ginny snaps at the red head across from her. "Girls, who's the Head Boy?" Ginny asks cautiously, curious as to who could piss Hermione off this bad until she thinks over it for a moment. "Oh Merlin. Not him."
"It's Malfoy, isn't it?" Neville asks, dreading the answer. Draco Malfoy had terrorized Neville ever since First Year but had always been favored because his father is a member of the Board of Governors.
"Yes, Neville, it is," Hermione snaps, not intending to sound so harsh. "Sorry," she apologizes quickly. "He just has me so mad. All he did the entire meeting was whine about how the Head dorms connect not only to our Common Room but also to our House dorms and about how a muggleborn shouldn't be allowed to be Head Girl."
"You can always hide out in Gryffindor Tower, you know that," Ginny says as a way of comforting her friend.
"I know that, Gin, and thank you," Hermione sighs and then looks over at Ron. The red head looks furious but hasn't said anything about the subject yet. "Have any of you heard from Harry lately?"
"Not since he sent a letter saying he'd meet us at Hogsmeade Station," Neville answers and the others nod in agreement.
"Ron, didn't he say something about Sirius' nephew attending Hogwarts this year?" Ginny asks, hoping to distract her brother from his anger at Malfoy being named Head Boy.
"Yeah, he mentioned it a few times I think," Ron begins rummaging through his backpack for the letter. "Here it is. Says the bloke's name is Arcanus. Wonder if he has Harry's condition too?"
"Ron!" Ginny and Hermione chorus. Luna had gone back to her magazine and Neville had learned to ignore Ron's comments.
"What? He doesn't say and I want to know if I need to threaten the guy to not touch my sister."
Ginny merely shakes her head and leaves the compartment to go change into her school robes, too annoyed by her brother to do anything else. Running into Malfoy along the way doesn't help her mood any.
"Weaselette," the blond Slytherin calls to the Gryffindor.
"What, Malfoy?"Ginny snaps, not up to dealing with the brat.
"Are you capable of delivering a message for me to my co-Head?" Draco takes Ginny's indignant snort as a yes and continues before she can comment or hex him. "Tell her to look at the fifth chapter of our Magical Artifact book. There's a section about Indian poison darts. Tell her to ask Professor Black about a joint potion/magical artifact class from in 1978."
"You do realize that Magical Artifacts hasn't been taught since '78 and that this is the first year it's being taught again, don't you?" Ginny asks, wondering what the Slytherin is talking about.
"Yes, but just tell her and make sure she tells Potter," Draco snarls before turning on his heel to go back to the Heads' compartment. No one needed to know his reasons, especially not Potter or any of his friends. They just needed to figure out what to do to help Draco help his mother's scheming.
"Stupid Slytherin," Ginny mutters as Malfoy walks away.
Luna blinks owlishly for a moment before handing her magazine to Hermione without a word. She taps the article with her quill and then hands the quill to her friend, curious as to her thoughts on it.
"RARE MAGICAL PLANT STOLE FROM REMOTE GREENHOUSE.
Sources indicate that a rare, ancient type of magical plant was recently stolen from a greenhouse in Northern Ireland. The plant, unnamed due to it only having been rediscovered this past month, is reported to slowly poison the body's magical core over time. Researchers studying the plant refuse to say what other effects the plant may have but they have commented on the amount of time it will take for the magical core to die after the plant has been injected.
"It isn't the plant itself that's poisonous, it's the sweet tasting nectar from the flowers," one researcher commented yesterday. "It doesn't matter how the nectar enters the body's system; it seeps into the bloodstream and is circulated through to the heart where the magical core resides at the very center whether it's ingested, injected, or touched. Once the nectar is there, it drains the core's magic, slowly killing the victim."
The researchers comment sparked our interest here at The Quibbler and we sought out some of the country's top Healers for their opinions. One Healer at St. Mungo's stated that the information about the plant helped clear up some confusion about cases of deaths due to magical exhaustion when witnesses testified that the deceased hadn't cast a spell in weeks.
"The time it takes for the nectar to drain and kill the victim depends on the amount of magic the victim possesses," another researcher said. "We ran our tests on magic-imbued lab mice. I know it's more of a non-magic method but we needed to see the results on a living being before we could create magical models to complete the testing on. We created models for all age groups and magic levels and determined the time spans using a Ministry developed Timeturner made specifically for researchers. The models, and mice, that had little to no magic died the quickest, no matter their age. The models of the youngest age group, ranging from newborns to eleven years old, which had average magic levels passed on in approximately ten years where as those with high levels of magic at that age lived for approximately twenty years. The next group of models, teenagers ages twelve through nineteen, seemed to have the most resistance to the nectar, probably because there are still growing and strengthening their magic. Those with average levels of magic lived a good twenty years while those with higher levels lived between thirty and forty years after being exposed to the nectar. The last group of mature models had the most varied results. Average levels of magic ranged from living twenty years or so to only living a single year in some whereas the higher level group lived from forty years or more to only about ten or twenty years. We can't seem to figure out why but we do know that the amount of the nectar has an effect on the time."
Our condolences to the researchers who were affected by the nectar in the initial stages of research and to the mice as well. We promise to pass along any new information as soon as we get it. Until then, rest assured that the researchers have the best Healers and Potion Masters in the world looking into a cure for this poisonous nectar.
What in Merlin's name were they doing researching something like that without taking proper security measures?" Hermione snaps once she finishes the article.
"They thought no one knew the greenhouse even existed," Luna answers serenely. "Do you think it could be Voldemort?"
"Luna! Shh!" Neville and Ron flinch at the name while the girls roll their eyes.
"Oh honestly you two, grow up," Hermione sighs before turning back to Luna. "As much as I would like to say it's nothing more than rubbish, I read something about a similar plant that was lost ages ago in a book somewhere. It's a pity someone else got to the plant first. We may have been able to use it against Voldemort ourselves."
Luna nods in agreement as Hermione starts to reread the article, leaving Luna to watch Neville and Ron play a game of Wizards' Chess.