"Why are you doing this?" said Harry. Tatum let out a howl of laughter.
"Silly boy, it is my destiny…as it is yours to die." Her eyes reflected an evil Harry had never thought imaginable in those kind eyes. "Oh, stop worrying, I'm not Tatum" she said as if disgusted of being confused with her.
"What do you mean?" asked Harry moving a step or two backwards.
"She's boring! I was so, so, so tired of keeping up appearances. Well, she did. Me…I don't care that much." Harry's head was turning. If this wasn't Tatum, who was she? What was going on?
"Oh, you really are stupid. Let me explain…I'll start by introducing myself" she said starting to pace up and down. Harry moved his eyes along with her. He wanted to say don't move, but the words seemed to have abandoned him completely. "I am Rhea" she did a little mocking bow. "I'm a banshee, who has been living inside that air head goodie goodie, and who's now going to kill you." She laughed again, as if this was the most amusing thing ever. "Can't get any simpler than that. But come now, I'll give you a free shot… where's the fun in just killing you!"
"Stupefy"Harry yelled. Rhea received full blast and smiled viciously. "Is that all you've got?"
"NO" yelled a voice from behind them. It was Snape. He had awoken and was trying to stand without any success. Harry walked to him while Snape, supported by his knees, stared at Rhea. "That's what she wants. She cannot be harmed like this. You'll only hurt Tatum." Harry stared at him.
"Bet you're wandering where she is?" she said to Harry regaining his attention. "I think I left her in the Hospital Wing, lying dead next to that stupid nurse of yours" she added.
"Who is she?" asked Harry looking down at Snape, who looked at him for the first time with his loathing stare gone.
"She is a weapon" Snape said. "She was created even before you were born. Voldemort's servants created her for his purposes. When his magic failed to kill you, you became her single target."
"Don't forget to tell who did it, is the funniest part" said Rhea, who seemed to be enjoying this conversation. Harry kept throwing glances at the castle's doors. Maybe someone would be able to help them. "If you're waiting for a teacher, there aren't any. I sent them all away. They're all in London appealing for that stupid girl. She was going to jail after what she did to that giant bloke Hagrid, added to her previous record…or rather mine. She never wanted to do any harm. See what I mean by boring? That stupid redheaded boy told me about the trial and I got the best from it!" Harry remembered Percy. He must have threatened Tatum when he left the Transfiguration classroom.
"Wait, I'll tell him you're taking too long…it was hissister, who created me with a curse. Bellatrix Lestrange and her husband Johnathan showed their loyalty offering their unwanted child for that purpose. She turned out to be quite helpful now wasn't she?" Harry felt the air coming in less and less at the sound of these words. Bellatrix was Tatum's mother, and he had thought having Snape for uncle was traumatizing.
Harry returned to his senses a couple seconds later. Snape was still bleeding by his feet. Harry had to get help, but where. He leaned to him. He immediately wished he hadn't. He felt a sharp pain; something was crushing his every bone, trying to tear him apart. He didn't care how, but he pleaded for it to stop.
"Stop you say! Oh, have a sense of humor" said Rhea walking his way. Snape fell on his side; he was again, on his own. He couldn't move. His body still ached and fell on his knees. He felt something slip through his fingers and realized he was disarmed. "Now, we can have a nice little chat" she pocketed Harry's wand and fixed her own directly at his face. Harry felt numbed from head to toe. He couldn't do nothing, but watch her approach. She kicked Harry down. His head painfully hit the ground. The banshee, still pointing the wand, pressed her foot against his face. The ground seemed to be becoming harder and harder as the pressure on his head made him dizzy.
"How come you didn't kill me before?" said Harry trying to ignore the pain. The Banshee stopped stepping on him and walked away.
"Do you want to hear it? Very well. As he told you before, I am a weapon. The most powerful weapon, because nobody really knows about me…you know what is to be ignored for so many years?" she paused staring at Harry, moving her head from side to side as if he was something fascinating to look at. "I was created as an emergency resource. The Lestranges, faithful servants, and Tatum's parents, offered her as the shell. She grew up as a normal girl, not knowing any better. I was learning along with her. Everything she touched I tasted." Harry was listening frightened. He was slowly standing back up. The banshee didn't seem to care.
"She was being well trained, hence, so was I. But they all thought, I would fail…the Dark Lord contacted me a couple times through you." Harry was thinking how to get his wand back while he listened. "Mostly when you were dreaming" she sighed. Harry's attention flew to the memory of those nightmares. He hadn't known, but those unexplainable dreams must have been the connection. "Well, I'll show them. But anyway, when Voldemort set to kill your parents, the Lestranges were near along with little Tatum. They wanted her to witness the murders, she was becoming too soft and I could become useless. They told her about who she was that same night. She cried and followed them like a good dog."
"She was there?" asked Harry. He couldn't have imagined her being so close and never met her before. This was what Snape had told her. He hadn't meant a hollow he was talking of Godric's Hollow where Harry's parents died fifteen years ago.
"Yes, she didn't want to accept who she was…and, after that dreadful night when the Dark Lord fell, she escaped. She hid between the wrecks of the house. Bellatrix and her husband fled, confused on what had just happened, afraid of what was coming next. They were caught of course and thrown into Azkaban." She paused in every sentence as if she was trying to clarify every point. "That giant bloke found her." Harry knew she was trying to refer to Hagrid. "She told her to stay there at the Hollow. We waited, until he returned accompanied by Dumbledore himself, and Professor McGonagall. They decided she was just disturbed and sent her to the orphanage. Not too long afterwards, they went to collect her and changed her last name once they found out who she was. And it was about time too, because those hideous children bothered me terribly. She was being bullied around and I was too disgusted by them. We had to return but only in seasons. She was admitted at Hogwarts. She spent some of the holidays in the castle, helping Hagrid around, and then when she turned eleven she officially started her education." Harry was feeling colder and colder as the talk went on.
"Everything was going well, but I got tired to wait. But in her fifth year, I used her gifts to kill someone who bothered me: Percy Weasley. He knew I was up to something, and started following me. Tatum was his brother's girlfriend, so he was blinded as only love can blind you. I started suppressing her. I took control every now and again. She was angry at Percy, but never meant any harm. I did it all…and she got blamed for it" she started laughing again. Harry felt angry.
"Although, Charlie thought it was a simple discussion, when I harmed his brother, he left her. He wanted to be friends anyway, which she accepted. But I knew she was detached from him. I could use her more freely. I was bored, and I decided to attack that first year so she would get expelled. I did it in the Great Hall, so not even Dumbledore could miss it. She didn't kill her, so she didn't go to prison. However, they didn't want her back at the orphanage. Once she was expelled, she turned to her family residence. She didn't have anybody. Her parents were in Azkaban and her uncle despised her. He always did, but that grew along with the shame of being related to evil once he cleared his name. Stupid fool, you can't hide what you are!" she yelled at Snape, lying on the floor face down.
"McGonagall helped her with her education. She showed up at the manor for tutoring. Eventually, Tatum made it to Arthur Weasley's department; she became his assistant, as she wasn't qualified for anything else. But the Ministry saw her achievements. She gave ideas for improvement and when she turned eighteen they gave her the custody job. She asked for it, and Arthur Weasley helped her get it, putting in a good word for her. She became good friend of the Weasleys. I didn't object. I thought I might use it for my plans later on. In the meantime, I knew about what happened around the wizarding world. I was well informed." She lifted her stare from the ground to see Harry directly in the eye. He felt a sharp pain in his scar. He fell in alert. It couldn't be Voldemort was near, it just couldn't.
"I found you through her work!" she said exasperated.
"Why didn't you kill me then?" said Harry defiantly.
"I would have! But that girl bound me! I couldn't use her powers and I could not use mine." She took a deep steadying breath. "I kept trying to fight her off, but she kept trying to save you at all times. It was really annoying, not to mention it made it harder for me to take over. She even asked for the Shielding job, when she was begging Dumbledore to let her come back to Hogwarts, where I could attack you. I worked hard to cover my tracks. When I first arrived that stupid girl…your friend with the tree of hair." Harry knew she was talking about Hermione. "She almost caught me…when she entered the Tower I was there, not Tatum. It was the first time I managed to liberate myself for the first time in years. I stunned her and made her forget. Can you believe her luck? She only wanted her book!" she laughed, highly amused of Hermione's fate. Harry felt his anger rising more and more, but what could he do, but wait till something came up.
"The twins saw Tatum, but they were alright. I was preparing to leave. Headed for my first class. Tatum apologized to the teacher, and then returned to Gryffindor Tower. She felt very worried about Hermione so she went to see if she was okay. But she ran onto another student, the Longbottom kid. I didn't want to deal with him so I modified his memories as well. Tatum wanted to stop this so she went to Snape. He didn't want to help her, but agreed to brew a potion for her. A potion which would bind me and my powers. Snape told Dumbledore he was binding the premonitions, when really he was binding the astral projection, which I was using to work around. It worked for a while, but slowly I regained control and she stopped taking it. Snape knew and tried to scare her off the school, before it was too late. Tatum couldn't leave again. She felt too lonely…and now I'm finally free! She's such a fool. She has always been a useless mind. Thinking about stupid things, wasting my time! She made friends here and there, most of them useless as well, but that brought me in contact with Malfoy's son, Draco. When I ran away from Tatum, I used to talk to him, passing information to the Dark Lord through him now it became too dangerous for me to use you, since you're never alone." The banshee spoke of Tatum as if she found her disgusting to even talk about. Harry had been confused and even angry at Tatum, but now he feared for her. If someone didn't help her, the banshee would surely get rid of her. "Of course, after Hagrid's incident and Snape's talks, she became lonelier. She was afraid her uncle was right about her, and she could hurt someone. She was trying to isolate herself to stop me!"
"She was trying to ruin your plans!" said Harry. Tatum's return couldn't have been just a plan to kill him, it couldn't. He hadn't realized just how badly did some people wanted him dead. He knew he was in danger all the time since Voldemort returned, but somehow it seemed overwhelming. Rhea went on almost immediately after Harry had spoken. She acted as if his voice had been a fly minimally disturbing.
"But when the Dark Lord returned I managed to finally do it. She was so scared. She was careless and I took advantage of that! When I invited you to my house, I made sure the house was well protected!"
"Why would you do that?" asked Harry. "Why keeping me safe?"
"I was beginning to gain control. I hate her so much for imprisoning me I no longer wanted to kill you alone. She would die with you. As my hate for you grew greater, she grew fond of you. She felt guilty because she knew what I wanted to do and tried to fight it. She couldn't do it. She can't. She will realize about it sooner or later…I'll go with sooner!" she smiled viciously. Harry understood something. If the banshee had killed him before, Tatum would have disposed of her somehow; but the banshee would live on if she killed her first. He had to do something or her plan would succeed, which would mean trouble for everyone if she was on the loose. The Banshee kept talking as if Harry's only purpose was to listen.
"When you stayed in her house, you were having nightmares. I used that bound of yours with the Dark Lord. I figured I could creep into your dreams and talk to him. The first night, I even erased some of your memories. I didn't do it after that. I thought you were too stupid to figure it out. The connection worked like a charm. Tatum's premonitions would be very useful on his side. And her other not so known gift would set me free." Harry was thinking hard on how to get his wand back, while the banshee rambled on.
"She uses astral projection now and again. She didn't knowI was using it to try and free myself until it was too late. I used the astral road without permission a couple of times. I met with Voldemort's incognito servants, Lucius among them. He needed my powers more than any other. My memory modifications cannot be traced, unlike the simple memory charm. He was about to go to jail and I made the Ministry members forget a few things, now I could make use of my own power. Details slipped here and there in Malfoy's case and he got off in the end. He was still a suspect, so he left his home to work more freely." Harry knew Malfoy's proven innocence had been a set up, and now he knew how exactly.
"There was a catch for all of this. The Dark Lord kept me busy…trying to make use of me…I already have one, and that I will carry out!" she said raising her voice. "He sent a lot others after you: the harpies, Lamiria, the Nixies. He even sent a stupid house elf to try and dispose of me as well. Teeny arrived shortly before you did. I trusted her as well as Tatum did. She lurked you outside the barrier with an illusion. I figured it out when we were at the Burrow. I killed her, of course. Then you found the Snitch, and showed it to me the night after. I erased the memory from you so you couldn't know something was dodgy." Harry was in shock. The banshee had worked her magic on him more than once and he hadn't known till now. He felt a mixture of anger and shame.
"All useless! I stopped her as I stopped the others, with the protection in the houses and as an auror apprentice in the train. I convinced the Ministry to give me a chance. I knew I would use what I needed from them and then get rid of it." Harry did not find this as a surprise. So far, she had been talking about casting aside that which no longer had any use for her.
"I tried to explain it to the Dark Lord, but he refused to believe me! I had to do something to prove my worth. I tried to kill Hagrid, but before I could finish somebody shook Tatum awake and I vanished. I saw you and I shot in desperation. Glad, I didn't kill you. It wouldn't have been the same as to kill you front to front" she sighed again. She coughed and then shook her head. Harry wondered what was going on. "Then, I told the harpies where to find the carriages. That way, Voldemort would know I wasn't trying to rule myself, only I was just fulfilling my task. I'll show him how capable I am!" She stumbled for a bit, her voice louder and louder, her eyes fixed with wondering. Harry knew something was happening, but couldn't figure it out for the moment. He had to do something or she would kill him soon. "I even renounced to the Shielding job, asking Charlie to cover for me. He accepted to help Tatum. If she was no longer your guardian, she would give away the remnants of any will to protect you. I would be free at last!" she stared menacingly at Harry. Her hand trembled, the wand shaking from her grip. She was breathing very fast and shallow. Harry knew it was time. She was preparing to fire. He stared into her eyes, and rolled aside. A strike of light hit the ground.
"Fool!" the banshee said. "You can't get away!" Harry couldn't get up. His legs still hurt from the Cruciatus curse. He crawled backwards. The banshee came after him. He watched as she came. Her face reflected a wicked smile. This was it, he was about to die. He stared back at her gaze and saw her starting to mouth the spell. Suddenly, there was a flash of light, blinding him.