Title: Mysterious Moon and Astonishing Complexities
Version 2( of a rewrite)
Act 2 title: Rebirth
Chapter 8: The Tainted House of Malfoy
Note: a rewrite of Magical Moon and Inexplicable Intricacies
Year, time and date: see the chapter for details… 1994… august. day and date are unknown.
Locations: Hogwarts, Earth.
World: 0
2 months passed. It was August.
An eleven-year-old Serenity Malfoy was seated on a couch in the Malfoy Mansion, feeling frustrated and bored. The glowing crescent moon was no longer on her forehead. She was blonde, blue-eyed and she had twin buns on the top of her head with two ponytails that reached her shoulders, with curls that sat elegantly near her neck. She wore green robes with silver elegant snake-like patterns made of lace on them and had a green witches hat on her head. She wore black boots and looked pensive.
She was told that she had been the outcome of an illegal magical rite which was performed by her grandfather's son. Since the ritual recognised her as a daughter of the Malfoy family, she was placed with them. So, the Magical Government of Britain was keeping many watchful eyes on her. She was told that she had aged fast, from a wailing baby to a child. She was also told that her ageing process was now going at the normal rate and she did not have to fear becoming old too fast. She was also told that the Ministry of magic had no hold on her, due to the fact that the parents of the culprit had adopted her.
Serenity thought it odd. She also was informed that there would be a check on her blood to see if her bloodline was pure, to see if any prophecies were connected with her and to see if she was the heir to any family. She also learned that she was going to be enrolled in a school named Hogwarts, to learn witchcraft. They had treated her sternly, punished her harshly but spoiled her. Serenity felt bewildered. They also told her not to do anything dangerous. She had seen their fearful looks. What had she done to be feared so much? What on earth could make them fear her so much?
She could remember only the last ten years of her past life. She did recall being Serenity. Was she a monster? Why did they fear her? Was it hatred? She sighed and stared at the ceiling. She could only wonder. There were no answers that currently existed to her questions, she knew that much. She touched her chin with a delicate finger. She knew that her rebirth was anomalous. It was not normal. Was she a human, a witch or a freak? She bit her lower lip in contemplation and breathed out in a way that made her face look swollen and awful. Lucius glared at her. Narcissa noticed.
Narcissa spoke primly." Serenity, listen to me and stop. Stop doing that. It is uncivilised. Watch your behaviour. You are a Malfoy and you will be going to Hogwarts in a month's time. Listen to your grandfather well as your behaviour is must not fail the graceful, know proper etiquette, be polite and do not shame us."
Serenity stopped biting her lips and glared at the couple. Then, Serenity let out a small sigh and schooled her face to be impassive. Lucius then spoke to Serenity, "I hope that you are paying attention to my words. I trust that you know that you must join either Slytherin or Ravenclaw. You must also disdain the mudbloods. Make allies, become strong or... else. Be the noble and powerful Malfoy you are. You will behave otherwise, we will rescind our adoption of your being and you will be under the care of the ministry. You have immense magical power and they will use you. Oh and your aunt Tisiphone will be staying here. She is related by my blood and by my magic. So, do not attempt to interfere with what she does. I will know."
"Yes, grandmother. Yes, grandfather. I will do that. I understand and I will do as you wish. The Malfoy family will be honoured. I will never taint the family name." Serenity spoke and bowed with calmness radiating from every pore of her body. She then stood up and asked for permission to leave their presence. Lucius and Narcissa nodded at her imperiously. Serenity then walked up the stairs and walked towards her bedroom. She entered it and closed the door firmly.
Then, Serenity inhaled deeply and looked sadly at the opulence that surrounded her. The room was green and silver themed. she had a wonderfully large walk-in wardrobe, a wonderful box of magical cute plush toys to ensure that she was not bored, a Decorative ceiling, many bookshelves, there was even a crystal chandelier, the headboard was designed with intricate carvings of snakes, crescent moons and stars. Her bed was queen-sized. The sheets were silk. The bed was soft. She sat on the bed and looked resigned. She then walked towards her en suite bathroom, with a beautiful shower, a wonderfully large bathtub and all the amenities that anyone could want. She sighed. She was not happy. She knew the truth. All of this; it was all a lie… a gilded prison of money, power and honour. It was a jail. It was a beautiful yet horrid cage fashioned from reputation and schemes. It was a cruelty wrapped in riches... to hide the truth.
Inwardly, she groaned. She wanted to do as she wished, but she could not. She knew that she was brought here, reborn and ready to fight for her future, for the souls of her old era who had all been reborn, she hoped. However, she had to bide her time. She had to be patient and wait... for the right moment. She repressed the urge to sigh again. She sat at her desk and took her wand out. She looked at it closely. She had attained it at Ollivanders Wand Shop, at the cost of many( ten to be exact) other wands, which did not work, self-destructed by breaking or destroyed a lot of things in his shop. She recalled how some windows shattered, the door broke and a wand turned to dust in her fingers. It nearly made her frustrated, she recalled with a pout. Apparently, her body held a lot of potential and power. It took many hours, but she was finally given an appropriate wand. She smiled softly as she examined it.
It was eleven inches long. It was shaped like a thin, elegant pink stick with a green, red, orange and blue ribbon-like crystal formation spiralling around it. At the top, the spiral was thick. As it got to the bottom, the spiral became thinner . A small silver stone with strange runic patterns sat on the top it was surrounded by four stones, black, navy blue, turquoise and purple.
Serenity stared at it. All of the materials which made the wand that she held were rumoured to have originated from the planets. According to Ollivander, it was made with a shard of the legendary silver crystal (instead of a woody material) and a hair from Pegasus, said to be the legendary alicorn of Elysion, along with a solidified moonbeam. Also, it had one other thing no other wand had, not even the Elder wand had it... it had the potential to evolve. There was a large possibility that it was stronger than the Elder wand...
Ollivander had told her this. She rubbed her chin, deep in thought. She wondered if he had ever seen it change. was this something from her past? Was this wand really hers? She had so much thoughts. One main thought was: Had it always been this way? She pondered. Pegasus sounded familiar. Elysion also sounded familiar. Why were those names familiar? Serenity looked up two books: one was: Magical Creatures Basics and the other was: Foundation of Magical Histories. She wanted some answers. Later, many, many hours had passed.
Batty( a house elf) had delivered Serenity lunch and dinner.
Serenity continued to read, intrigued by the knowledge she could find in the books. Serenity was lonely though. Narcissa was out, shopping for clothes. Narcissa was always avoiding the darkness. Lucius was out, doing something… illegal. Serenity knew. She had found out by accidentally seeing the dark mark on Lucius's left arm. It caused him pain. It caused him to be angry. She knew because she had been crucioed once. She had also been slapped once and she sighed. That was ... It was a horribly painful experience. She swore that she felt the blood in her veins boil with pain. The mark also caused him… much agony. But sometimes, she wished that she did not know. She was told that Lucius was in service to the dark lord. People were killed by his followers, which included Lucius, who was her new "grandfather"…
Then, she heard screams in her head. They were horribly loud and they sounded like cries of people in agony. She heard horrible squelching noises. It was the sound of horror, murder and despair. Serenity winced and blinked. What were these screams? Why was she hearing them? Then, she heard familiar laughter. Serenity stood up. Tears were in her now widened eyes. She felt pain, anxiety, despair and agony. As an empath, she felt everyone's emotions.
She felt the memories of three people… victims. A man had sons and wives… dirk Cresswell? Then… parents, a husband, daughters and a son. Mary Cattermole? A wife… a daughter… Ted Tonks… Was that all of them? Were those their names? Serenity focused. They were lights in her mind. Serenity felt their pain fill her mind. She closed her eyes but…, she started to feel their deaths. Their emotions were vanishing. Two flickered out. One waned drastically.
Serenity couldn't bear it anymore. "Pain, blood… murder… Tisiphone! No!" She whispered loudly and went out of her bedroom.
Then, she ran to the dungeons in the manor and saw the last moments of two people. Tisiphone stood before the two people. Tisiphone was a twelve-year-old child. She was a disturbed child. She had long curly dark blonde hair that reached her waist. She wore a frilly purple headpiece which looked like it came from several decades ago. Her dress was Victorian in style. It was purple and red. She wore red shoes that were adorned with equally red ribbons. There was a gold choker around her neck. In her left hand, she held her wand and grinned sadistically. In her right hand, she had a bloodied teddy bear toy.
There was a man's body, his head was covered with blood. A woman with lay on the ground with bloodied hair, torn clothes and she was dead.
Another man lay next to the woman, speaking in a shuddering way, "You… you will…pa… pay… for…"
Then, Tisiphone laughed. Her dark, cold blue eyes seemed to glimmer with some kind of insanity. "I will pay?" She spoke derisively. "No. I will not. It's more like you will pay for having filthy blood and being a piece of trash. You are scum . Avada Kedavra."
Then, Serenity watched as Tisiphone's wand ( which was a long, thin and black-gray stick) unleashed an awful green light, which did not seem to be similar to Sailor Jupiter's aura and power, except for the colour. It hit the weakened man, who immediately stopped moving and talking. His eyes and mouth were left open but Serenity knew that he was dead.
"Goodbye, filth. Stupid wretched Tonks, Cattermole and foolish Cresswell… " Tisiphone spoke coldly.
Serenity's eyes widened. Her mouth was opened and she gasped. She felt and looked aghast. Her legs trembled. She had turned pallid and was feeling sick. She placed a shaking hand over her mouth and spoke loudly.
"Why? I… why did you kill three innocent people?"
"Why? Why, you ask? They were… well, my dear niece…Serenity, they were all filth. They were tainting the line of purebloods all over the world. They needed to die, even if one of them was related to us." Tisiphone replied coldly. She was referring to Ted Tonks by her last line.
In Serenity's mind, many thoughts ran through it. The thoughts were: How could this be happening again? Why was she helpless to stop people from dying such meaningless deaths? Why did she have to watch people die all over again? Why would fate allow tragedy to happen all over again? How could people be so cruel to innocent strangers and to their relatives?
Tisiphone's eyes looked at her coldly. Serenity leaned against a cold wall.
" You could have spared them!" Serenity trembled with fear and rage. She spoke with a determined voice.
Tisiphone giggled maniacally and clutched her bloodied teddy bear toy tightly. Curly blonde wisps of hair whirled around her face as she glowed with a strong dark energy. Serenity trembled and backed away. Serenity couldn't stand seeing all that blood. she couldn't stand being next to Tisiphone's dark powers. She walked out into a corridor and took deep breaths, trying to will away the image of the corpses. Serenity impassively watched as Tisiphone Malfoy walked in the corridor, all covered in blood.
"That was murder." Serenity stated to Tisiphone, who approached her.
Tisiphone coldly spoke and pointed her wand at her." Shut up. You are a fool. I will tell Lucius about this, my niece. You are too kind for your own good. Make your heart into a stone or die." she stated, her dark blue eyes which were almost black like a bottomless pit, gleamed dangerously, completely contrasting against her child-like comportment and youthful expression. She had the eyes of a murderer.
Serenity frowned and gritted her teeth. She wasn't a fool. This wasn't foolishness. Compassion wasn't foolishness! That was her resolution. So, Serenity moved her hand from her mouth to her side . She clenched her hands tightly and spoke tersely, "I am not a fool."
Tisiphone frowned at her and looked at her coldly." Oh please. Your idealism shocks me. You think the silly worthless mudbloods can be saved. It is silly of you to even assume that you can save them all. Your silly words make you a timid thing. How can you think of exterminating such deeds like murder? Murders always happen. But then, humans are puppeteers and puppets. Just like you…."
"Pup…puppeteers and puppets? What do you mean?"
"Puppeteers rule the world. Puppets are tools; dolls that are to be used until they fail. Then they will be destroyed or thrown away."
"People… people are not tools. I don't manipulate people! We shouldn't think of them as objects! They are living beings! They are like us! " Serenity spoke and controlled the urge to stomp her foot like a brat.
" You are such an idealist. You are a fool; an innocent fool. You would think that way, princess… you would, right? Nobody is like us. Purity is needed. Have you ever thought about the true darkness? Do you think that everyone can be saved? do you…"
Serenity felt frightened. So, she fled. Perhaps it was cowardice. perhaps it was self-preservation. Serenity didn't know but she ran upstairs, as fast as her long dress would allow her feet to move. Tisiphone grinned as Serenity quickly retreated up the stairs to go to her room. As Serenity fled, the cold look in Tisiphone's eyes intensified. Serenity fell a few times and Tisiphone grinned at that. The foolish naïve clumsy child… was Tisiphone's thought.
Serenity sat on her bed, taking several deep-calming breaths. Many thoughts entered her head and she was frustrated. She had so many questions but no answers. How could this world be so cruel? How could it allow so many meaningless deaths to occur? What kind of world was this, which she was reborn into? Where were her friends, protectors, advisors, siblings and prince? Was she the only one reborn here? Why did she have a portion of her memories? What was she not remembering?
"No." She whispered and clenched her fist. She refused to believe that she was reborn alone. She refused to believe it was hopeless. She believed that she would remember everything one day.
Then, she whispered darkly, "I will change this world. Even if it means that… I need to fight and… kill." Serenity spoke and she sighed. She did not want to kill. But… if she had no choice, then… she would do what she had to do. She then went to the window and stared at the Moon.
"Mother… please… please…" She whispered and a tear fell onto the windowsill. She hastily wiped her eyes and heard faint murmurs.
She turned and glared quickly at two portraits in her room. Her glare was a silent message. The silent message was: Tell my legal guardians or that Tisiphone wretch anything personal and I will destroy you!
Serenity then went back to staring at the moon. "Give me strength and hope, mother…please. Please… give me… something." She whispered, in a lower tone than before.
Then, a slightly disturbed-sounding whisper escaped from her mouth as she sank down to the floor and clutched her head. She was realising that no help would , she threw a magical tantrum.
" Sorry. Sorry… I… It… It's Temporary… but… but, my Innocence, my naiveté, my compassion… they think that those are weaknesses inside of me. You think that of me, don't you mother? Don't you? Answer me. Answer! Don't you? Don't you, mother? Why? Why am I so helpless? Was I put here to see people die? Why is this place so… horrible? Why must it be like this? Why‽" She then screamed the last word and waved her wand randomly. Two books flew from a bookshelf and were blasted into an adjacent wall. A mirror also shattered.
"I did not want this! I didn't want to feel this… I don't want it! Why must I be in this… family? Why?" she screamed again. She shook with frustration as she tried to understand her situation.
Then, a curtain was ripped into half. Another mirror shattering followed suit. The two portraits in her room cringed. Tears fell from her face, freely. She hastily wiped the tears away, not wanting Lucius or Narcissa to see her "weakness", as they put it.
She blinked several times. She inhaled air deeply. She counted to ten slowly. Then, She stood up and calmly called, "Batty!"
A short, quivering house elf wearing a frayed and horribly stained tea towel appeared in front of her.
"Ye…yes, miss… mistress? What does young miss want of Batty?" It stuttered.
"Fix the mess. Ensure perfection, or else." She spoke curtly. She hated being unkind to the elves, but she learnt early on, that to be nice… was impossible.
Batty fixed the mess within a few seconds. The books were in their right places. The curtain wasn't ripped. It looked brand new. The mirrors were whole again. There was not even a crack to signify they had been broken.
Batty stood in a corner, trembling, hoping that she had done everything to perfection.
"Milady, all… is done, Miss… mistress. Is… is all… to… to your… liking… miss…mistress? Batty... did... I did good?" It asked Serenity.
Serenity nodded wearily. Was this some painful coil of destiny?
Batty then vanished.
Serenity then smiled softly, sadly and reluctantly. She would be brave. Despite being restrained by things like reputation, power, money and so on, Serenity was defiant. She still felt innocent, naïve and compassionate, but only to a certain extent. The torment that she had experienced had changed her. She felt a deep rage, a seething hate and an empty hollowness in her that threatened to make her saccharine soul into a bitter sea of ruin. It threatened to drown her with darkness.
"I hate this. I hate them, I do…" She whispered. She went to her bed and sat on it. She sighed. What was she supposed to do?
What was she to say? She felt hopeless..
Then she took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.
"But, I can't hate. I can't hate anything, especially them…" She restrained her hatred. For, if she did not, the silver Crystal would respond to her hatred and destroy everything. That fact was one that she knew to be true. She bit back an urge to cry helplessly. She would not be weak. She would not show her emotions. She clenched her right hand tightly, making a resolution she would not break.
She would tolerate this. She would endure. There had to be hope. She looked at the Moon again. There was only moonlight on the windowsill. There was nothing she could use. Serenity sighed and went to bed. She knew that for interfering with auntie Tisiphone, she would be punished.
Here, the omake will start.
Title: The Moon Princess has a Weakness for Cute Things
Year, date, time: 30th July 1994 ( Saturday), part of the day… mostly in the afternoon, after 2.45 pm.
Location: earth, a shop in Diagon Alley named: Infinite Childish Wonders
World: 0
"If cruelty and fear doesn't work, maybe a bit of bribery will." Lucius sighed. Then, he muttered and dragged serenity down the alley and forced her into a store called Infinite Childish Wonders. Serenity sighed and grumbled as she forcefully was pushed in.
She blinked as she viewed the huge collection of soft, cute and plush toys. Some of them were moving on their own. Some had training focus tools… but she frowned. She didn't want them. But…
Serenity frowned and grumbled loudly, "Don't think that you can tempt me with these!"
Despite her outburst of petulance, She continued to stare at a particularly large and cute plush toy bunny. She muttered reluctantly, "Well, that… bunny is a rather cute thing…" Serenity spoke wistfully and trailed off.
A nameless salesperson saw the opportunity to sell the goods in the store. He happily and enthusiastically uttered, "Well, the young miss seems to have been charmed by the cuteness of those plush toys. Would you like one, miss?"
As the salesperson spoke, Serenity frowned. Her lips were compressed in indecision. "I will not be… tempted. But… then again…" she paused and tried to resist the urge but she couldn't help it. In that instant, she lost her petulant, reluctant, rebellious, sullen face. She started to gush over the toys. "Aww, they are so cute! can I keep them all? Please?" she babbled and her blue, innocent eyes were wide and sparkled with excitement and desire.
"Well…" Lucius muttered hesitantly. He stared at the blonde. Why did her behaviour suddenly change? this tactic… it unexpectedly seemed too easy.
"Could I have a dozen of them?" She asked. She pointed to the bunny, a golden tiger, a polar bear, a panda bear, a penguin, Two cute crows( one had a purple ribbon around its neck and the other one had a red ribbon around its neck) a white cat, a black cat, a unicorn, an alicorn and a strange green-coloured hippo creature plush.
Lucius continued to stare. Serenity felt slight unnerved for a moment.
Lucius finally sighed. "Will you behave?"
Serenity nodded and spoke determinedly and fervently, "I'll behave! I will!"
"Well… it looks like we found her weakness. She has a definite weakness for cute things..." Narcissa said, sighing softly.
So Lucius nodded. He paid for the twelve plushies.
"How can someone so cute be so terrifying to others? Are they wrong about her? In any case, I trust that she will behave after this…" Lucius muttered.
They told a house elf to take eleven of the plushies to the manor. Soon, the blonde girl carried a large plush fluffy bunny out of the store, giggling happily.
Narcissa didn't say a word but wondered the same thing…
Notes for the above omake:
note: this shop is my own creation
The salesperson is nameless as he is unimportant.
Author notes:
Books : Magical Creatures Basics and Foundation of Magical Histories are created by me
empath=Psionic ability to sense and control emotions of others( in this case, it's magical, not a mutation)
the silver crystal, I have noticed, in the manga/anime and even the live-action, it depends on Usagi's will and emotions, so here, that is what her powers are based upon…
Serenity is not perfect. She is like Usagi, but slightly damaged…Well, how can I describe her? Ah, I know! Think of a mirror with one or two or a few more cracks in it. But she is still compassionate. She is like that, so she may be slightly OOC from the canon sailor moon character… However, her cracks can be fixed. You can see hints of an Usagi-like personality in the omake above.
More explanation: Serenity is being broody and serious here, because she did try and be childish (which will be shown in later chapters, if readers are interested) but was threatened by the ministry( in that, the ministry wanted her to be a tool, a soldier) and the Malfoys, who want her to go to Hogwarts to show that the Malfoy family still has a heir .
Also, if she does not go to two houses that were specifically chosen to be symbols of her intellect or shrewdness, she would be sent to the ministry, meaning that she can't be a lazy, happy and optimistic Usagi Tsukino. I mean she will be, occasionally but the current situation does not allow her personality to be that way.
House elf OC profile:
Name: Batty
Height: an inch shorter than Dobby
Personality: timid, stutters, is hesitant to speak at times, speaks in broken sentences( sometimes) and is obedient.
Additional: Batty is female and likes to say the word mistress / master/ ally after every sentence(depending on who she is talking to)
Muggy wasn't called as Muggy has occasional moments where she loses her hot temper…
Also, based on headcanons:
Magic being used in the Malfoy manor will not be penalised, as the ministry knows it is not being done in a muggle-populated area.
Note: someone asked what is the difference between an alicorn, unicorn and Pegasus.
A Unicorn is a 'horse' with a horn coming from his forehead, and Pegasus is a winged 'horse'. An alicorn is a winged horse with a horn.
( source: my little pony: Friendship is magic)
Tisiphone is the name of an ancient Greek fury. Good name for a deranged member of the Malfoy family?
Note: in my fanfic, Lucius had a brother who travelled to America and settled there. Tisiphone is the daughter of that brother( who is unnamed for now.)
Tisiphone= Draco's cousin.
Since Draco was the one to do the ritual, a magic recognises Serenity to be Draco's ward/ daughter( in magical terms), hence Tisiphone is Serenity's deranged young aunt.
Ted Tonks, Mary Cattermole and dirk Cresswell= Canon characters. There. Here, they die earlier. So some things will be going quite differently now…
From this chapter on, be warned. More characters will and can die permanently. Ok? But if you hate tragedy, go and read happy things.
Note: Thanks to those who originally read and followed this fanfic. I forgot to take down your names but at least you can all read my note of thanks, despite the obviously bad writing. It has plotholes... and I want to change parts of the plot and some characters around... because I realised some crazy things which I will state in the rewrite( if I ever start doing it) that would have led to huge disasters... of endless questions, bizarre time...anachronisms and stuff)