Chapter 13.
The lessons with Professor Caligo was teaching Darien were a little strange to Darien but he liked them anyway. No one ever found out about that Darien was sneaking out of the Gryffindor Tower at night just to go to his Divination lessons. What the Professor was showing Darien, was how to enter a whole new world.
His own mind. When they first began, the professor tried to explain it.
"What we will be working on is a different level and form of Occlumency. It is the amazing skill of entering one's mind. Using this technique, you will be able to walk around in the world you create in your own mind or walk around in the world of another." The Professor explained during the first lesson. Darien only nodded as he listened. "It's a very difficult form of magic, Mr. Lupin. So be warned now. This will take a lot of patience, concentration, and time. It's also a very rare gift to recieve. Only the wizards and witchs with the true inner eye can achieve this. Later on, using this technique, it will help you understand your dreams." Darien nodded as he took in the information. And then the lessons began.
His other lessons were going very well too. He was passing them, even though Professor Snape was still being an ass to the Gryffindors. Darien hadn't told Rex and Lionel about what was going just yet. They had been too busy too talk about it. Of course, Darien had other problems to worry about. And that was some of the Slytherins.
Ever since Ian Whitman had gotten detention, there had been a rumor that he was going to try and get revenge on Darien. Not that it scared him at all. He wasn't afraid of Whitman at all. He just knew that if he tried anything, he would only get into trouble. However, it didn't seem to bother Whitman at all. In fact, he had other Slytherins do it for him.
It started out in the beginning of December on a frosty morning. The clouds were dark gray and the snow was starting to fall. Darien was in the library with Lionel and Rex, playing wizard chess. Even though the other two Gryffindors couldn't see him, Salazar Slytherin was there too. He was pacing back and forth. Darien only glanced at him a few times before making his move.
"Darien, I think we need to talk." Lionel said making his friend look up at him.
"Huh? What's wrong?" Darien asked.
Rex shook his head. "You still haven't told us what's going on, D. What was that thing that attacked Paul?" He asked. Darien was quiet for a long time before looked at Slytherin, who had stopped pacing. The ghost was just staring right back at him. The two of them just stared into one another's eyes before looking back at the other two curious Gryffindors. "Guys, I don't think I should. It would be better if you didn't know."
Lionel gave him a look of annoyance and impatience. "Don't pull that, Darien. Sooner or later, we'll find out. We're your friends. You can trust us."
Darien lowered his head, not daring to look in their eyes. "It's not that I don't trust you, Lionel. I'm just afraid of what you might say."
There was a long silence between the friends before Lionel and Rex looked at one another then back at Darien. "Darien, no matter what it is, we won't laugh and we won't hate you. We just want to know. We don't want to find out the hard way." The short Gryffindor said. Darien sighed as he looked around then nodded. "All right. But not here. I can't let anyone else hear this." He said. Lionel nodded as he stood up. "All right. Let's go to the owlery then. There shouldn't be anyone there." Darien nodded as he and Rex stood. The three friends hurried out of the library with the ghost of Slytherin following them.
They reached the owlery, luckily no one was there. It was only the three students and the ghost, who had taken up pacing again. Lionel went to the wall and leaned against it with his arms folded while Rex went over and sat down on the window sill. "Okay, Dari. Spill the beans. What've you been keeping from us all year?" The blonde asked.
Darien just stood there for the longest time before lowering his head and turning away. "Before I tell you, you both have to swear you will never tell anyone. Not a soul. Even if you hate me after what I tell you. You swear?"
Lionel and Rex both forced smiles and raised their eyebrows. "Dare, there is no way in hell, no matter what it is, that we're going to hate you. Now spill already. We're not going to tell anyone." The blond told him. Darien could have smiled at that but he didn't. Instead he turned away and held his breath. He knew that he had to tell them. After all, they were his best friends. They had the right to know.
"Guys...I...I'm...um..." He paused as he began to breath a little faster and harder. He could feel his heart pounding against his chest. He turned to glance at them, which they both were staring at him with curiousity. He looked away again and hurried over to another window to stare out towards the lake. He was having a very hard time in telling Lionel and Rex about what he was. He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to think. "Uh...I..."
"Come on, Darien! How hard can it be to tell us?" Rex asked impatiently.
Darien forced a laugh as he placed his hands on the window sill. "It's a lot harder than you guys think." He paused for a long minute. "Okay. I think I'm ready. Guys...I'm...I'm...I'm a werewolf." He closed his eyes tightly just waiting for everything to explode.
But it never did.
There was a long silence before..."That's it? That's all you've got to say? Darien, we asked about the black cloud thing not what you were." Lionel said in a skeptical way.
Darien opened his eyes and looked at the two with surprise. They didn't look shocked at all. It was like they already knew that secret. "Wait. You guys, didn't you just hear me? I'm a werewolf. Every full moon I turn into a savage beast." He said, wincing a little about how he made that sound.
Rex rolled his eyes as he curled one leg close to his small body. "Darien, we already knew that you were a werewolf. And you are not a savage beast so don't talk like that. I would prefer a overgrown wolf with a very bad attitude."
Darien stared at them in surprise, his mouth fell wide. "You knew?! You knew what I was and you still were my friends?" He asked in shock.
Lionel gave him a dull look. "For god's sake, Darien. Your dad is a werewolf. It's not hard to put two and two together, you know. I mean, how could you not be a werewolf."
Darien continued to stare with shock. "And you guys don't care?"
He heard Slytherin groan as he stopped pacing. Lionel and Rex shared the same dull look before looking back at him. "You know, for someone so smart, you really are dumb, Darien. No, we don't care. We don't care that you are a vicious man eating, overgrown dog! Now get to the real question!" The blonde said waving his hands above his head.
Darien couldn't help but smile. His friends were accepting him for what he was. "Guys, you don't know how much that means to me. I thought you guys wouldn't accept me for what I was. You know, I thought you'd hate me."
Lionel and Rex looked at each other again before they both smiled and shrugged. "Darien, we've known you since the year started now. You're cool, all right? We don't care what you are and what you do. Just as long as you'll be our friend and don't bite us." The short Gryffindor said. Darien laughed and shook his head.
"Now can you please explain the black cloud thing now?" Lionel asked very impatiently.
Darien smiled before taking a deep breath and began to explain everything. He told them everything because he just couldn't hide anything. He told them about his strange power, about Slytherins wand, and he even told them about Umbra. They only listened without interrupting, both had a troubled look on his face.
"So your saying that the black cloud thing was a demon called Umbra and he wants to control you because you're a werewolf." Rex said.
Darien nodded as he looked at both of them. Lionel was just staring off with a distant look on his face. He was thinking hard about what Darien had just told them. "Yeah, pretty much." Darien said. Rex looked away, swallowing hard. "Question is why? There are plenty of werewolves in the world. And, you're only half a werewolf. Why would the Umbra want you when it could have..." He paused to think of an example.
Lionel looked over with a shrug. "Fenrir Greyback. Or Silver Stetson, the leader of the largest werewolf clan." He suggested.
Darien shook his head. "I don't know. It's got to be what I can do. I can see ghosts that no one else can see or hear lost souls in Dementors. What's so interesting about that?"
Lionel smirked. "Heh, maybe he wants to borrow your body for a minute to talk to Elvis."
Darien and Rex both laughed while Slytherin rolled his eyes. Darien shook his head. "I doubt that's it, Lionel but..." He was saying.
"Shhhhh!" Slytherin hissed.
Darien stopped and looked at the ghost with confusion. "What? What is it, Slytherin?" He asked. Lionel and Rex looked at each other surprise but didn't say anything. The ghost was looking towards the door of the owlery. Darien followed his eyes just as a few Slytherins entered. It was Whitman and his goons. They were laughing and pushing each other around. That is until they spotted the three Gryffindors. They halted in their tracks.
"Well, well. Look what we have here. The goody goody Gryffindors." Whitman sneered as he walked forward. Darien backed away till he was standing between Lionel and Rex, who were now glaring.
"What do you guys want?" The blonde growled.
Whitman gave him a cool smile. "We're here to send a letter, what do you think, Nazi?" He asked coldly.
Lionel started forward but Darien caught his arm and held him back. "Lionel, don't!"
The Slytherins all laughed harshly as they pointed at Lionel. "That's right, Lionel. Listen to your boyfriend." Parkinson sneered. Lionel let out a yell of rage as he ripped out of Darien's grip and lunged at the Slytherin.
Next thing everyone knew, Parkinson was the floor, cursing as he held his bloody nose. Lionel was yelling in German at him. Though no one could understand what he was saying they were very sure it was very vulgar. The other Slytherins looked stunned as they watched the outraged 1st year Gryffindor throw his fist at Parkinson again.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Someone exclaimed.
Everyone turned around to see Snape, Harry, and Professor Moody hurry into the owlery. It had been Snape who yelled. Lionel quickly backed away looking very embarrassed. He had just been caught red handed punching Parkinson in the face. "Oh, crud." Rex muttered as he stepped back.
That was the que for Ewart to do something stupid. He pulled out his wand and aimed at Lionel. "Stupify!" He yelled. Darien reacted quickly by shoving Lionel out of the way and intercepted the spell. He heard everyone cry out before everything went black.
His head was throbbing, yet as he heard the blood pounding in his head there was explosions all around him. Darien was standing outside, confused of what was going on. He could hear someone yelling. The sky was black and hidden behind black thunderous clouds. The only source of light that Darien could see was the blood red moon peering from behind the clouds. He looked around, hearing more explosions and screams echoing in the air. His multicolored eyes landed on two dueling wizards. One was wearing emerald green robes with silver lining while the other was wearing scarlet robes with gold lining.
It was a Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor.
Darien jumped a little when a spell came flying at him. He quickly ducked but reliezed that none of the curses could hit him. He straightened and watched Slythering and Gryffindor battle a deadly game of their knowledge of magic. He wondered what had started the fight in the first place. He was very confused of the happenings. He decided to just listen in to whatever was being said.
"I do not know what you speak of, Salazar! I would never betray my friends!" Gryffindor called as he ducked under a nasty hex that Slytherin threw at him.
Slytherin hissed like an angry snake. "Do not lie, Gryffindor! I know what lies you are spreading! Call me evil, will you?! A heartless dark wizard, am I?! I shall rip your tongue from thy lying head! Then your eyes!" He yelled at him.
Gryffindor deflected the curse that had been thrown at him, yet it knocked him back a little.
"Salazar! Please, stop!" Someone cried out.
Darien turned his head to see a very beautiful woman. Her hair was black and very sleek, falling down to her waist. She had the face of an angel. She was wearing a dark blue gown and a grey silk scar was tied around her waist. She was extremely beautiful. The woman was being held by another, an older one who was wearing yellow. For quite an old woman in her late fifties, she was extremely pretty. She had dark gray hair that was pulled up into a bun. She was wearing a yellow and black gown. The young first year Gryffindor knew that this had to be Helga Hufflepuff and Rowena Ravenclaw. He could hardly take his eyes off of Ravenclaw though. He couldn't believe she was so beautiful and so young.
He finally tore his eyes away from her and looked back at the dueling wizards, who had stopped. His eyes grew wide at the look on Slytherin's face though. He actually had tears in his eyes and a very hateful look on his face. He looked hurt to see Rowena Ravenclaw there.
"Salazar, please! Don't hurt Godric! He is our friend!" Ravenclaw cried as she struggled to get a way from Hufflepuff.
Slytherin bared his teeth at her and pointed his wand in her direction. "He is no friend of mine! And if you side with him, Rowena, you are my enemy!" He rose the wand and started to whip it into the air. "Avada..." He was going to yell but he was slammed to the ground by Gryffindor, who stood above him, glaring down at him. "Slytherin! What has gotten into you?! Why such madness as this?!" The powerful wizard yelled at him.
Slytherin hissed again like a snake and just like that, Gryffindor was knocked off his feet by something. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff screamed in horror.
Slytherin had just summoned a fifty foot, five inch wide black cobra. It didn't look like any cobra they had ever seen. In fact, they never knew snakes could sneer or have red eyes like this one did. It only surrounded Slytherin with it's scaley body, letting him use it to climb to his feet. He was glaring at Gryffindor with hate. "Madness, you say?! Godric, you wouldn't even know the meaning of madness! What you see in me is anger! You have betrayed my trust! You have decieved me! Lied to me! You have touched the one thing that I loved and that was forbidden to you when she was mine!" He yelled shooting Rowena a deep loathing look. "And you let him!"
There was shocked looks on his three friends's faces. Rowena looked both shocked and hurt at the same time.
"Salazar! Are you that ill to think of such things?! I have never laid hand to Rowena in such a way to make you think so!" Gryffindor exclaimed.
"He's lying!" A hiss echoed all around them.
The four friends including Darien looked around in surprise. Then Slytherin then glared at the other founders of Hogwarts. "Umbra speaks the truth! Godric, you filth! You Mudblood lover! For that is what Rowena is!" He gave her a dark and hated look. "She's a Mudblood! I can't believe I gave my heart to you! You used me! You lying Delila! Curse you, Godric! Curse you, Rowena! Hell to you, Helga, you hag!" He yelled before turning away. His shoulders were shaking violently. He then turned his black eyes onto Godric. "Be warned, Gryffindor! Though I shall leave Hogwarts and never again return to this place as long as I live, but I leave you a fair warning." He said in an icy tone. "A monstrosity shall be released upon those who you love so much." He hissed before he turned and walked off into the darkness.
The darkness around Darien began to fade into a brilliant white light, blinding him as he began to return to reality. His eyes fluttered open, rather painfully at that. He could see someone sitting above him, staring down at him in concern.
"D, are...ight..." He could hear someone's voice blanking out now and then.
He blinked several times trying to clear his vision before he saw a few faces looking down at him. It was the faces of Sirius, Harry, and Remus. They were either bent down by his sides or standing above him. Darien's head was throbbing with pain and he could feel something warm on the side of his head.
"Darien, are you all right?" Remus asked again.
Darien winced as he tried to push himself up, but it only hurt more. Sirius and Remus both helped him to do so. "I've got a really bad headache." He groaned. Sirius cracked a smile while Remus looked concerned. "Well you fell and hit your head on the ground, Dari. So I don't think I can blame you." He said. Darien winced again as he looked around.
They were still in the owlery but Lionel and Rex were gone. So were the Slytherins. There were only Dumbledore, Snape, Moody, Harry, Sirius and his father, who was keeping his hand on his son's back to support him. "Where's Rex and Lionel?" He asked painfully.
Remus shook his head. "We sent them back to the Gryffindor Common room." He just told him.
Dumbledore nodded. "I'm afraid Mr. Boyd had recieved a detention for brawling as did Mr. Ewart for cursing you. Are you all right? You had quite the nasty fall so Harry has told us."
Darien reached up and touched the back of his head only to wince from the bump. "Ow!" He moaned.
Remus sighed and shook his head. "All right, Darien. You're going to the Hospital Wing." He said seriously. Darien groaned. "Dad." He groaned.
Remus gave him a very serious look. "Don't you dad me, Darien Fenrir Lupin. I won't be surprised that you have a concussion." He said helping him to his feet. Darien only groaned as he let his father lead him to the door.
He went back to the Gryffindor Commom room, still sore and very tired. He had just been lectured heavily by his father about fighting with the Slytherins. And all he had done was just sit there and take it.
"Are you all right, boy?" He heard Slytherin say.
Darien didn't look up as he walked up the moving stairs. "My head hurts but I'm fine." He said. Slytherin only nodded without saying anything else. Darien was thinking about the dream he had. He looked at Slytherin with confusion. The ghost had such a thoughtful look on his face. He looked almost nice. It was a shame that the ghost couldn't stay that way.
"What is it?" The ghost finally asked without looking at him.
Darien shook his head. "Nothing. I'm just thinking."
Slytherin looked at him with a strange look. He then stopped making Darien stop and look at him. "There's something you want to ask, so ask it." he said. Darien paused for the longest time before nodding. "I had another dream or vision of you again. But this time you were fighting with Gryffindor. It was before you left Hogwarts." He looked at the look on Slytherin's face. He could tell that the ghost knew what fight he was talking about. It was because there was a very ashamed look on Slytherin's face. "You said some horrible things to all of them, didn't you? You said horrible things to her." Darien said in a low voice.
There was a very long silence between them then the ghost turned towards Darien. "You know, I really did love her. No one could ever understand how I felt about her. Not one person would ever understand that I, Salazar Slytherin, had loved a muggleborn." He shook his head as he ran his fingers through his beard. "I may have been cold and distant to others, but it was always Rowena to know better. She wasn't just wise with the knowledge of magic. She knew how read the real me."
Darien smiled at him gently. He could see the emotions in Slytherins eyes. He knew he wasn't lying. He was being very sincere. He thought it was great that it was him, Darien Fenrir Lupin, to be the see that the once rumored most dark wizard ever was showing that he was human.
"Hey, Darien." Someone said.
The two looked over and spotted Paul making his way towards him. Darien's eyes lit up. "Paul! You're okay!" He said hurrying over.
Paul shrugged as he stopped in front of his room mate. "I guess so. But I don't feel okay."
Darien glanced at Slytherin, who nodded for him to go on. He knew that the Gryffindor student wanted to comfort his classmate. Darien shrugged looking back at Paul. "I'll bet. How are you feeling? What happened?"
A confused look appeared on Paul's face. "I don't know. I mean, I'm feeling much better now. It was like someone only knocked me out." He squinted his eyes a little. "To be honest, I saw everything happening, Darien. I don't know what happened. I remember being on my bed playing cards and then some strange feeling came over me. It was like...something was taking over me." Darien just listened to him. "I began to feel weak, like my body hadn't slept for days. I felt very hungry but not for food. I was craving for something else. I wanted to eat everything, everyone I saw. It was so weird, Darien. And I was so scared."
Darien nodded slowly. "Do you remember what happened between me and you?"
Paul slowly nodded. "Yeah. I saw what I almost did to you. And that dark voice that was coming from me, that wasn't me. I didn't actually understand what it was. It some kind weird latin language."
Darien stared at him with surprise. "Latin? Before, did you hear anyone talking to you? Like saying stuff in your head or anything?"
Paul thought for a moment then nodded. "Well, sort of. I heard someone chanting, almost singing something. It was really faint and in Latin too. I couldn't understand it though." He said. Darien only nodded as he took in the informatioin. He shrugged. "Okay. Well, you wanna go up to the common room with me?" He asked. Paul nodded. "Yeah."
The two Gryffindors walked up the Common room where everyone pounced on Paul and began asking him questions. Darien saw Lionel glaring out the window across the room so he went over to him instead. Lionel only gave him a sideways glance before going back to glaring out the window. There was a long silence between them.
"Hey, you okay?" Darien asked.
Lionel gave him a look as if he was joking. "I have a detention with that prat, Snape. Do you honestly think I'm okay?" He asked a little harsher than he meant to.
Darien was taken back a little. He hadn't expected Lionel to be mad at him. The blonde then sighed as he sat on the window sill and placed his head into his hands. "Sorry, Darien. I'm just..." He cut off with another sigh. Darien shook his head as he moved over to sit next to him. "Forget it, Lionel. The Slytherins were mean, like always."
Lione turned his head away from him. "Darien, they had a point though. I am a Nazi. At least I'm a Nazi's grandson. It was my great grandpa. He was in that whole Muggle war years and years ago. He was a soldier for one of those Concentration camps." He sound like he was losing it a little. He lowered his head and closed his eyes tightly. "I am so ashamed."
Darien shook his head as he put an arm around his friend's shoulders. "Lionel, look. I don't know what your family history was like back then but I know you. You're not a Nazi. You're German, yes. But torturing people just for you're own pleasure, hell no. What those Slytherins said were lies. It was nothing but dragon dung."
Lionel couldn't help but snort with laughter as he looked up at Darien. "Yeah, it is isn't it?"
Darien then looked up with surprise making his friend look to where he was looking. Not that he could see who was standing there because he couldn't.
Slytherin was standing next to him before he placed his hand on Lionel's shoulder or made it look like he had. What surprised Darien even more was Lionel's eyes. They had lit up very wide and he was looking at his shoulder in confusion. Darien watched him for a second trying to figure out what was wrong. "Lionel?"
Lionel looked at him with a faint grin. "Huh? Oh! I'm fine. Just...just feeling a little weird, that's all."
Darien smiled faintly. "You feel like someone's touching your shoulder, don't you?"
Lionel's eyes lit up. "You're feeling it too?" He asked in astonishment.
Darien laughed and shook his head. "No. But there is someone touching you." Lionel looked in Slytherin's direction as he remembered what Darien could do. He then shuddered and brushed at his shoulder as if trying to knock Slytherin's hand off. "Man, that's freaking me out." He said. Darien laughed while Slytherin chuckled before dematerializing.