A Different Life
Summary: They all thought Lily was Light. She wasn't. She was in love with the Dark Lord, and gave birth to his son. Now Erus Riddle is growing up, showing just how evil the son of Lord Voldemort can be. Of course, the Light doesn't know that fact.
Spoilers: Not so many. You need to know about Chamber of Secrets and Horocruxes. It's good if you've read all seven books though.
During the chapters, I can come up with some new names. Don't get surprised then.
Pairing/s: Temporary slash-pairings with Erus later. SiriusSeverus
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. They belong rightfully to Mrs Rowling; I just borrow them for the time being.
Other notes: Hermione is not Hermione. She is Cynthia, a girl who loves reading and hates Dumbledore. Harry's real, and full name is Erus Sicarius Salazar Riddle.
"Talking"
'Thinking'
"Parseltongue"
Visions
-o-
Enjoy chapter thirty!
Warnings: A bit of kissing.
-o-
Chapter Thirty: First Task
When Belladonna and Maria entered the carriage later that night, everyone was waiting for them. The two looked surprised when loud clapping occurred before the students and two teachers came forward.
Erus moved to bed a bit later, yawning. He noticed Vates was already asleep and shrugged. He changed from his robes to a pair of pyjama pants before fishing up a shirt he knew previously belonged to his father. He tugged it one, got his hair out from underneath it and sat down on the bed. He was not sure of the time but collapsed on the bed and fell asleep immediately.
Invisus combined the Dark and Black magic lessons as they only focused making spells on both of them. Erus had made a simple spell that was a sort of shield but could also be shot away to attack. It did not make so much damage but Invisus found it interesting he had created an offensive and a defensive spell in one single spell.
But he still had no idea what kind of spell he really wanted to make. He used the lessons to research. Right now he was seated in the library's forbidden section, having been given permission by his headmistress. But he could only be in there when he had Dark and Black magic class. He did not object as he knew he could get whatever book he wanted from either his teachers, any of his adult allies at Hogwarts, Lucius, his father or Noir.
He looked away from the book for a little while and checked his notes. He had written up several spells he could draw inspiration from but nothing had come up so far.
In his mind a green light flared. Erus blinked. He looked down at the list, checking each spell.
He had not written Avada Kedavra up, so why was he thinking of that spell?
Invisus found him an hour later in the forbidden section. The man blinked as he saw the mountain of books surrounding the teen. Erus himself was sitting there along with someone else who stood a bit away from the teen. Invisus sank into the shadows and frowned. Could it be Lamia? No, the person may have white hair but was far from Lamia.
"Why not?" Erus asked the person. "Look, I've made everything right!"
"Yes, Erus, you probably have but to make a version of a forbidden curse? No," the person said and shook his head.
"Noir, the only thing coming up in my freaking skull at this point is that bloody green light," Erus snapped.
Noir? That was the name of the vampire leader…
"But why do you want to make a copy?" Noir asked. "Avada Kedavra is the ultimate killing curse; making a copy of it isn't going to make yours any more special!"
"I'm not going to copy it," Erus said. "It's not going to be another killing curse; one is enough. Read the damn parchment before you jump to conclusions."
The vampire growled and moved to take the paper. Invisus watched them. The vampire's grew wider as he read and he whipped his head to stare at Erus.
"Are you serious?"
"No, I believe he's at home, plotting ways to molest my poor godfather," Erus said.
"No more Sirius-jokes, please. Why he told you so many goes beyond me. That man gets on my nerves, though I'm sure I've never spoken to him before. No matter; why am I even speaking of that man? Is this for real, Erus?"
"Yes, it is," the teen said defiantly.
Noir rubbed his temple and said:
"This is dangerous."
"I know. But I'm still going to make it."
"Why?"
"Because every time I think of that spell," the teen said and nodded towards the parchment in Noir's hand, "I feel relaxed although it hasn't been created yet. It's complicated, yes, it might be taking water over my head but I want it. It would make so many things much easier. You can see it, right?"
"Yes, but I will still say you're crazy," Noir groaned as he walked towards the teen who was seated on the table that held all the books.
"You still love me," Erus said with a smile.
"That goes beyond me as well," Noir muttered before sweeping down and claiming Erus' lips in a kiss. Invisus' eyes grew a bit wider; Erus was involved with a vampire? The vampire leader nonetheless…
"Have you begun feeling anything yet?" Noir asked when they separated.
"Any bloodlust?" he asked and the vampire nodded. "Not much."
"Erus, you have my blood now," Noir said and Invisus gaped. "You are a half-vampire and sometime during this year you will have a breakdown."
"I know," Erus said and closed his eyes. "When it comes, I will contact you."
"You can't be near anyone you care about because the bloodlust will be stronger than your will."
"You know my stubbornness."
"Then the thing you will do is bang your head into a wall and maybe crushing your own skull," Noir said. "I rather not have that as well."
"Then I'll be sure to run like a lunatic into Forbidden Forest," Erus said and nuzzled his lover's neck.
"Sounds fabulous," Noir said with a laugh as Invisus withdrew to leave them alone. He found out some more things about the mystery that was Erus Riddle, and found himself smiling at the thought. He would probably never be able to understand that teen, but he knew he would forever like the kid.
Friday came and Erus wondered what to do. He had done the assignment in DADA already and Lamia had told him to relax from Necromancy that day. So now he had nothing to do at all. He was bored, and the others were busy with their things. He suddenly perked up and grinned, causing Abel and Cain to retreat a bit.
"What's up with that smile of yours?" Abel asked.
"What's the time?" he asked back, still grinning.
"Almost eight," Joseph replied. "And stop smiling; it's too early in the morning for that."
"Well, I'll see you later!" he said and ran towards the door to the carriage.
"Where are you going?" Stella called after him.
"Draco mentioned their classes started at nine on Fridays!" Erus said. "I want to harass them! See you!"
He ran out. The students seated in the couches looked at each other.
"Did he just freely go to classes he didn't have to go to?" Nikolaj asked.
"I think so…" Belladonna said, her quill having frozen above the paper as she still looked at the door.
"He's nuts," Joseph complained.
Severus looked up as his fourth-year class of Gryffindors and Slytherins entered. His eyes widened momentarily at a sight he did not expect even though the headmistress from Santuario and Dumbledore had told him.
Erus sent him a wink and a grin before claiming the seat between Draco and Cynthia. Cynthia leaned over to him and continued to excitedly whisper in his ear. Draco leaned forward to catch what she said, his arm around Erus as a result. Blaise sat down next to Cynthia and shook his head in amusement when he saw them. Pansy and Millicent took the seats in front of them before turning around and beginning to talk to Blaise. Theodore took the seat next to Millicent and smiled as Erus winked at him as well.
Weasley and his two friends looked like they wanted to strange the emerald-eyed teen. Severus found the scene hilarious as Erus winked at them as well. The teen seemed to be ridiculously happy but the potions master was not about to interfere.
"Silence!" he shouted after a few minutes of chatting. "Page 98, do the potion there and no slacking off!"
"Professor?" Lavender Brown asked.
"What?" he snapped.
"I wonder why there is a student from another school here," she said and glared slightly at Erus. Some of the Gryffindors smiled at her statement; let's see how the professor would get out of this one!
"There are no rules to not allow students from other schools to be part of our classes," Severus answered with a slight smirk. "Besides, Mr Riddle asked if he could join his friends' classes this day and was given permission from his headmistress and from the headmaster."
Erus grinned at the Gryffindors and winked once more. They glared.
"Well, get on with it!" the potions master snapped and they hurried to start working.
Erus sat by the table as the others rushed forward for the ingredients they needed and looked at Longbottom. The teen felt himself being watched and turned around. Erus was surprised at seeing the snobbish look he had only seen on Damon Harrison and Ron Weasley. Neville looked at him as Erus was worth nothing.
Something had definitely happened with Longbottom. Erus was not going to let Neville do as he wished though; he had too much of an ego inherited from his father for that. He let the coldest glare he had adorn his face and eyes, and to his satisfaction Longbottom actually squeaked in fear.
Severus watched the two and shook his head.
Voldemort sighed happily as he signed the last paper. Paperwork done! He nearly jumped in delight but refrained; Dark Lords did not jump in delight. Although it was tempting. Lucius shot him an amused look before it knocked on the door. Voldemort waved it open.
Noir stepped inside and looked at the two.
"Noir?" the Dark Lord said. "What brings you here?"
"A discussion about Erus," he replied. "It concerns… well, the blood I gave him."
Voldemort did not know if he was going to be angry or helpless.
"Nothing that dangerous," the vampire continued as he sat down. "At some point this year, he will have a breakdown and will need blood. I mean, blood the vampire way. He needs to take it from another living being."
"And?" Voldemort asked.
"If he by any chance have it when he's talking to you, don't go to where he is," Noir said. "Vampires are too strong for even people like you; he'll simply kill you. What I also wish to ask is if there is someone who would freely give Erus a large amount of blood."
"His godfather," Voldemort replied. "Severus Snape."
"And he is normal human?" Noir asked. The Dark Lord nodded. "I need to speak to him myself, so he knows, and then with Erus."
"When will it happen? This breakdown?"
"I don't know, that's why I'm saying sometime this year. It can happen as we speek, in a few days or next year during a class. I just need to make sure he has blood, and I need this Severus to be able to contact me so I can be there as well to stop Erus from killing the man."
"He wouldn't kill Severus or his own father," Lucius said.
"During the breakdown, vampires don't see reason," Noir explained. "Often is the case that they don't see the person in front of them as friend, enemy, lover, parent… they see them as meat, blood, food. Only another vampire can stop them."
Erus grinned at Minerva who was shocked into silence for a moment. Then she took a breath and continued to prepare for the lesson. The teen gave out a chuckle as Draco and Cynthia dragged him over to what was their usual spot.
The teacher had during the lesson a hard time to keep her stern expression as Erus seemed to use his time to try making her laugh. The students were busy with turning a glass into a mouse while Erus had done that on the first try and then let the mouse run around the classroom, mainly scaring the Gryffindor girls.
Another shriek from Lavender Brown and Minerva sighed. It was only a mouse for Merlin's sake…
Noir contacted Severus and Erus the following day and had a meeting with them in Severus' office thanks to Erus' two-way mirror. Severus immediately agreed to let Erus take his blood, as long as he was warned before hand and could have Blood replenishing potions with him.
Erus tried not to worry about this so called breakdown the following day, although his thoughts turned back to that all the time and made him very stressed. He went to bed with a huge headache. But when he woke up in the middle of the night with his heart shifting from beating frantically to almost abnormally slow, he got worried. Very worried. The teen got out from the bed, clutching at his chest and took easy, deep breaths. His heart was now pounding and in the next moment it slowed down. It continued to do so until black spots began to appear in front of him. Not good, not good; the steady shifting was going to make him faint. He had to contact Noir, maybe this had something to do with the breakdown… he had to contact… but the aspect of fainting felt rather nice; his head was pounding and he could feel his blood rush in his veins.
His eyes slowly closed, drowsily. His body swayed where it stood, sweat trickled down his face. The twins woke up to Vates' panicked hissing. They looked up only to see Erus standing up, head bent upwards and his chest heaving. His eyes had rolled back into his skull.
"Erus?!"
Cain and Abel's shouts were not enough to bring him back. Erus fell forward, unconscious.
When he woke up and opened his eyes, he met the concerned gaze of Madam Pomfrey still dressed in her night-gown. He blinked.
"You scared the living day out of your friends, young man," she scolded. "No, don't get up. I believe this gentleman and Severus has something to discuss with you."
Erus turned his head and looked at Severus and Noir. Madam Pomfrey warded the door and made sure the silencing spells she put up would be enough before entering her office and closing the door.
"Erus," Noir said as he stroke the hair out from the teen's face. "I didn't expect the breakdown this soon. I probably triggered it with the talk yesterday."
"Is it starting?" the teen asked.
"It started with your heart," the vampire said as Severus came over. "You know my heart beats very slow. Your own heart wanted that but your human side did not allow it. Therefore the shifting between the two rhythms. How did that feel?"
"Like I was going to die," Erus said. "What are we going to do?"
"This condition will continue until you have you breakdown which would normally happen first within two weeks after this."
"Two weeks?!"
"Don't worry," his lover said. "I can trigger it, making it start now. I told Madam Pomfrey to not come out until I call for her, and there is no one else but us three here."
Erus looked at Noir and then at Severus. The potions master smiled reassuringly at him. Erus closed his eyes and nodded.
"Don't worry," Noir said and kissed his temple. "Soon it will be all over and you both will be fine."
The teen heard his lover begin to speak in a strange language and his godfather's deep sigh. With a pang he came to think about Sirius; he wondered if Severus had contacted his lover and told him about this. But before his thoughts could stay with the two any longer, a sudden rush in his body made him arch up. He felt his fangs grow and his heart stopped. His eyes opened wide and his hands clutched the bed sheets in panic.
Severus sat down gently on the bed as Erus tried to breathe, his fangs clearly visible now. His eyes slowly began to glaze over and his skin grew paler, sick-looking. The panic in his eyes was soon enough replaced with a hunger, and Erus arched up. He wanted food… in form of human blood.
"What should I do?" the potions master asked Noir.
"Place your wrist by his mouth," Noir said. "Then he'll take care of the rest."
Severus did so and it was with a small yelp of pain he felt the fangs sink into his wrist before the teen began to suck, his hands gripping his godfather's arm tightly. The nails grew a bit and dug into the pale skin. Severus felt the blood being pulled out of him and gasped at the feeling. It pulled in his skin on the wrist with each suck Erus took and he gently stroke the raven hair. Noir leaned forward, ready to help the potions master if Erus did not let go.
However, Erus did let go obediently and slumped back. Severus felt more than groggy as Noir healed the wound. The vampire swiftly helped him to another bed and sat him down. Severus got up a bottle of Blood replenishing.
"Cheers," he muttered and downed it. He put the bottle aside with a small grimace and continued, "I think I will rest some here."
"That would be a good suggestion," Noir said. "I'll look after Erus."
The vampire moved over to his lover's side and gently cleaned off Erus' mouth with a wet cloth. He looked at the fangs and was pleased to see they had become less noticeable but was still there, and smiled as emerald orbs opened sleepily.
"What happened?" Erus asked.
"It's done now."
"My heart… I can feel it beat… so slow."
"Yes. It should beat the same as my own," Noir said. Let me feel."
Noir's warm hand was on his chest and Erus' eyes slipped close.
"Go to sleep," Noir said soothingly. "It's alright now."
The teen had no problems following that.
"Erus, you okay?"
He looked up at his friends from Santuario and smiled.
"I'm fine. Did I make you guys worried?"
Abel and Cain growled before they pounced onto him. He yelped as he was hugged by them both. Stella came hurrying up, Nikolaj and Dimitriv following. Joseph and Belladonna followed with a more relaxed pace.
"You freaked us out!" Abel said angrily as he hugged the teen tightly. "Never do that again!"
"Sorry guys," Erus wheezed out.
"I got Vates," Belladonna said and held up a clearly annoyed Basilisk. "He does not seem to be in a happy mood."
Erus gulped. Vates glared at him before snapping:
"Next time, warn me before something like that happen!"
He nodded frantically, not wanting to become Vates' latest victim. The snake hissed and moved away from Belladonna's hands and slithered up to rest around Erus' neck. The twins let go of him and they all had a look at him.
"I'm fine guys. And girls," he added, looking at the two girls. They only smiled a bit.
"Erus!"
He turned around to see Cynthia and Draco coming running.
"Hi," he said. "And before you ask, yes, I'm fine."
"You better be," Draco growled as he stopped. "Severus scared the crap out of us when he told us about you!"
"Eh, sorry?"
"Sorry won't cut it!" they shouted and promptly dragged the poor teen off for some serious discussion. His friends waved at him, already having learned to never go between Draco and Cynthia when they wanted a talk with Erus.
"So Noir is your lover?" the blonde asked.
Erus nodded and looked at the two of them. Cynthia was petting Curiosus' head and the Dementor had all but melted by her side. He seemed to enjoy the attention. Amber was purring loudly as Draco scratched her. Vates was happy enough to have curled up around the teen's shoulders, his weight comforting.
"You guys aren't angry?" he asked.
"Why should we be?" they both asked, genuinely surprised.
"Well… I didn't tell you, and he's a guy not to mention a lot older…"
"You told us just now," Draco pointed out. "Better late than never. And who the fuck cares he's a guy?"
"And the fact he is older means he knows a lot of things," Cynthia added with a grin. "And then I don't talk about book knowledge…" She made a suggestive motion.
"Oh Merlin, no!" Erus said and covered his face as he blushed heavily. He shook his head violently and shouted into his palms, "Bad images, bad images. Away with you! I'll get you for this, Cynthia!"
She started laughing and Draco grinned.
Belladonna tried to appear not to be nervous but Erus knew something was up. It was only a week left until the first task, and she had been more nervous ever since coming back from a late night walk two days earlier.
He sat down in front of the hearth, not looking at her at first. As they were both a bit of night-owls on the weekends, they were the only two who were awake two-thirty in the morning.
"What happened two days ago?" he asked after a little while.
She looked at him. Her eyes softened a bit and she closed the book she was reading.
"I saw what I was going to fight on the first task," she said quietly. "And now I am troubled."
"Why?" he continued and turned to her.
"I have no spell good enough to take out a fully grown dragon with."
His eyes widened and she looked into his eyes.
"A dragon?" he asked. She nodded. "Are they insane?"
"No," she said. "That is what it means to be in the tournament. Risking your life."
"But you don't know why you are fighting a dragon?" he asked as he sat down.
"No," she confirmed.
Erus thought for a while and then sneaked into his room. The girl looked after him, eyebrows raised. He returned with a book in his hands, already flipping through it. He handed her the book, pointed at a spell and said:
"That one might work. Check the book for others spells if you wish. I'm going to bed; goodnight."
"Goodnight," she said and watched him go into the room he shared with the Bellow twins. She turned back to the book and looked at it. A grin appeared on her face; it seemed like this book was far more interesting than the one lying in her lap. And far more useful.
"Where are we going?"
Lamia looked at his slightly apprehensive student and chuckled.
"A place where we can have our lesson."
"Why isn't anyone else here then?" Erus asked.
"You're too advanced for them," Lamia said. "No need to get them jealous."
The teen raised an eyebrow but followed the man nonetheless. They had Apparated, or rather Lamia had, away from Hogwarts to an empty field. From that, they had walked… for ten minutes. Erus was getting slightly irritated; it was midnight, he wished to sleep and he had promised to supervise the duelling the Santuario students had come up with since tomorrow was a Saturday. On the following Wednesday, it was time for the first task and he knew Belladonna was going to have questions she wanted answers on. So that meant Erus was not going to have an easy weekend.
"Here we are," the white-haired man announced cheerfully. Erus took a look around.
"We are in a graveyard," the teen supplied.
"Yes, I know," the teacher said. "Now we're going to see how much you have learned."
"Eh?"
"You're going to wake one of these fellows up."
"Erus!"
Abel caught the teen before Erus could fall flat on his face and looked up at the white-haired teacher. He felt the almost boneless body sag into his arms and asked:
"What happened?"
"We had practice," Lamia said. "It's nearly two in the morning Abel; shouldn't you have gone to bed?"
"Me and Cain wanted to wait on Erus," the teen said and hoisted the other one up. Erus groaned, clearly wanting to go to sleep."
"Alright," Lamia said, and only now did Abel see the man was slightly leaning onto the doorframe for support.
"Are you alright, professor?"
"Yes, a bit out of breath that's all," Lamia said. "I haven't done a real practice for ages, and now I realize I'm getting a bit rusty. I trust you can help Erus to bed?"
"Of course. Go to bed yourself."
"Oh, I plan to."
Erus felt himself being half-dragged, half-carried into the room they shared. He heard Vates hiss something but was too tired to hear what. He was gently put down onto his bed and his robe was removed along with his boots. The covers were tugged away from underneath him and then tugged over him. He wearily opened his eyes to see Abel smile a bit at him.
"Thanks," the emerald-eyed teen muttered.
"Go to sleep," Abel replied. "You got a lot to do tomorrow."
Erus groaned.
The teen yawned as he looked at the parchment. Dumbledore had been pretty much forced to let them use a classroom for their duelling and many of the Hogwarts students had been surprised when they saw the Santuario students walk into the Defence classroom.
Erus looked over at Moody, his jaw clenching a bit. At least Invisus sat next to the man. Dumbledore wanted control over them. Erus' head was pounding; he had not gotten much sleep and that was the reason why Invisus had followed. In case the teen got too tired the man would take over supervising.
On the parchment he was holding was the pairings he had come up with a few days prior. He looked over it once more before studying the students. They were chatting with each other, letting him take his time. He glanced over at Moody again; the man would report everything back to Dumbledore. How he acted, how the students acted, how Invisus acted… Erus had the urge to throw him head-first out of the room but refrained.
Instead he put his wand against the parchment and got the writing up in the air. All of the students turned to him.
"These are the pairings," Erus said and looked at them. "You can't change them. Any charms wielded in jewellery you are wearing or protection-amulets are not allowed. You may put them in your pocket or let a friend hold them while you fight."
They all nodded; most of them had something with protection or a special charm on them and therefore began to remove them. Moody stared intently at them all. Since Erus was not going to fight, he did not remove his own charms and protection. Especially as he did not want to get Moody's attention when he removed the amulet; he had a tendency to let out some dark magic once he did.
Erus looked up to see the first pairing and said:
"First up is Stella against Ray. We'll do it light today. No black magic, no Unforgivables and no blood magic."
"Dark magic?" Ray asked. Erus tilted his head and then replied:
"Moderate use only. I'll stop you if I want to."
They both nodded. The other students backed off to where the two different teachers were. Moody stared at them; they were going to use dark magic? He looked over at Invisus only to discover the man was reading a book and not paying attention at all. Meanwhile, Erus stayed where he was and looked between the two. Stella had lost the dreamy look in her face; in its place was a look of determination. Ray stood rigid, as he always did. He was in Erus' DADA-class.
"Begin!" Erus shouted and the DADA-teacher from Hogwarts concentrated on the fighting.
Spells began fly immediately from the two. Moody's magical eye spun faster while his normal one widened. They used spells some Aurors in England had troubles with! And that girl was only fourteen yet she moved like an Auror in training. The seventeen-year old seemed to use Auror moves.
One of the curses flew against Erus who flicked it away with his hand. Such casual show of nonverbal and wandless magic! Moody's head was spinning as he watched the two fight.
Erus saw Stella getting frustrated, she was after all three years younger and not that good in duelling. But her movements had improved a great deal from last year; maybe her father had helped her.
Ray shot a nonverbal Incendio and Erus saw Stella would not be able to block, duck or move away in time. He quickly shot a jet of water and then said:
"Winner, Ray. You alright, Stella?"
She nodded, panting. They shook hands and Ray said:
"You really gave me a challenge! This I definitely have to do again!"
Stella smiled a bit at the hidden compliment the teen had given him and Erus called up the next pair.
Moody had been staring nonstop at the teen. He gave orders like a leader and the others listened to him like he was a leader. Even the older ones did. Invisus did not seem to be surprised by Erus' attitude; he was actually checking his nails now and did not really bother to follow with what they did. Some teacher…
The mock-tournament ended with Belladonna as a winner. She looked at Erus and said to Moody's surprise (and maybe horror):
"If you had fought though, I would not have stood a chance."
"Gimme a break," Erus said. "I'm not that good."
"Yes you are," Ray said and gave a laugh. "Wish I could be a bit like you sometimes."
The teen blushed slightly and slapped his cheeks to get control. The two snickered.
"Alright, I have done my part," Erus said tiredly. "And it's time for lunch."
"Great!" Abel said. "I'm hungry like hell!"
"Race you!" Cain shouted before bolting out of the room.
Abel gave out a mock-cry and followed. The Russian twins smiled a bit and then followed. Stella went to Erus and said:
"You coming?"
"I'm gonna have a talk with Belladonna first," Erus said. "I'll join you in a bit. Tell Draco and Cynthia where I am, okay?"
"You got it."
The students left the classroom, one after another. Invisus rose up and stretched a bit.
"Well, I'll be going as well," he said to Moody. Then he looked over at Erus and Belladonna and continued, "Just be sure you get some food in you, okay?"
They nodded. Moody rose up and limping, he followed the teacher out. As the door closed, Erus threw a few privacy charms and locked the door while Belladonna set up a silencing spell and a spell that would alert them if someone tried to get in or someone tried to listen.
Erus turned to her and said:
"Well, ask on."
The day had come for the first task. Erus sat between Draco and Cynthia, the Russian twins on Cynthia's other side and the Bellow twins on Draco's other side. Joseph was sitting in front of Erus and leaned back to rest against Erus' legs. The younger teen did not complain. As two people sat down behind him he looked up to see who.
Fred and George grinned down at him and he raised an eyebrow.
"What are you so happy about?" he asked.
"Nothing much, life in general, the singing birds, the humiliation of Potter's brat," Fred said, counting off the reasons on his fingers. Erus snickered and the teen grinned. George took over and asked:
"Who do you think will do best?"
"I have no idea," Erus said. "I don't know anything about the other three; I only know Belladonna's strength."
"You think she will be the best one today?" they asked simultaneously.
"Considering she doesn't care whether she will be passed as Light or dark, maybe," Erus said.
"She doesn't care?" George asked.
"Nope, not a bit. As long as the spell helps her, she uses it."
They could have talked longer if not the task began. Erus turned his head to concentrate on it.
Belladonna was last entering the place. The other three had done a moderate job, but Erus hoped she would stand out. He knew she was better than Cedric and Fleur. He was not sure about Victor; the young man had hidden some of his powers, that much the teen could tell.
The young woman stood and looked at her opponent, an angry-looking Hungarian Horntail. Erus knew they were more vicious than normal dragons and wondered what spell she would use. Belladonna had prepared a whole number of them just in case, both dark and normal ones. He would not be surprised if she humilated everyone by using the normals spells.
The onlookers cheered at her but Belladonna did not even spare them a glance. She took a look around on the place she could use. She then seemed to check the dragon out and the eggs between the dragon's legs. Erus knew by now they had to get the golden egg from their dragons as the three others had done so.
The woman suddenly ran forward, charging head-on. The Horntail blew a jet of fire against her and Erus smiled as she used his spell of water to continue. She stopped and threw a series of nonverbal spells towards the eyes of the dragon. Some of them hit, and some did not. Belladonna did not seem overly concerned over that. Instead she ran around the dragon, firing off her spells at such speed that no one could really tell what she did. The dragon slowly froze, one part to another. Everyone seemed in awe and Erus heard someone ask his friend what kind of dark spell she was using. Erus had to hide his laughted behind his hand, amused by the talking around her. Were they blind or what? She was just using a strengthened Petrificus Totalus, blending it in with several others (which was useless against a dragon) from his book. He had told her about the spell that would strengthen more normal spells and that seemed to be the method she had decided. The humiliation method.
Soon she had finished and stopped right in front of the dragon in a relaxed posture. The Horntail could not move, its eyes staring wildly at the woman. She smirked and walked up to the eggs. The commenter, Ludo Bagman, shouted out:
"I can't believe it! Miss Amerson is the fastest of all champions! What kind of spells did she use?"
She picked the golden egg up and walked away. The first task had ended, and Erus smirked. She kept going like that, and the rest of the champions could throw in the towel already.
Tbc…
Chapter thirty done!
Chapter thirty-one: Up until Christmas. Erus won't be on the Yule ball, since he don't like balls, and goes home for a few days instead. Maybe he'll have a run-in with Weasley and maybe he has a vision… a vision that terrifies him.
Look forward to it!
Until later,
Ja,
Tiro