Chapter 7: Alio Latere Parietem
No one in Tom's group spoke as they ate dinner. Despite eating just an hour before the second challenge, they were all starved. The groups that went before them were sitting huddled around each other in different corners of the Great Hall as Tom's group sat near the middle and ate. Tom's mind raced even faster than he could shovel in scoop after scoop of lamb stew into his mouth. How long had he really been inside the tent? It can't have been as long as it felt, but Tom's mind kept returning to Minerva McGonagall's warning about how time functioned on the inside of the tent. He had never seen time manipulated using magic. Would he have known if it had affected him or his group? Did time work differently for all of them? Was that why Blink was lying on the ground as Isobel tried talking to him? McGonagall said Isobel was the first to solve it but how far ahead was she when he finally figured it out himself? And if Tom's magic only worked on Oswald's side of the tent, why did he have… Tom immediately remembered the spell he tried to cast before the visions came. Why did he even try it? What would have happened in Oswald's tent if he hadn't… What would have happened to Oswald?
Tom forced his mind away from his angered attempt at casting the Killing Curse and back to the magic of the tent. Too many questions and far too few answers flooded Tom's mind as he continued to eat in silence. He knew he would have to ask Albus before the next challenge but what unnerved him most, and what he had deduced for himself about others, was whatever magic redirected his own magic. That kind of manipulation was what excited him most. Tom was glad the challenge wasn't just to find what was blocking his magic, though that would also have been interesting. But to completely redirect it into another place, unknown to him, was devious. It was deceptive magic. It was powerful.
Isobel was the first to break their mutual silence as Tom's brain continued to whir like a plane's propeller, "That… I hated that… That was just… foul. And to impose on students. Who just began to trust… Blink, how long…"
Blink, who buried his head in his arms after he two bites of a sandwich he asked for, didn't look up as he mumbled something no one heard. Isobel got up from sitting across from him, stepped over the wooden table they sat at, and gently set a hand on Blink's shoulder as she sat down next to him. When he still wouldn't look up, she scooted closer to him and was now holding him close to her with one arm as she whispered just loud enough for Tom to hear, "You made it out, my little Bee. I swear. We all did. You were in there a long time, but now it's time to come back. Come back to me, my little Bee."
Tom, and Oswald as well he noticed, pretended not to pay attention as Blink lifted his head, previously buried in his arms, and Isobel pulled him even closer and he silently sobbed into her chest. As Isobel continued to whisper softly to him, tears crawling down her face as she held him closer, Tom and Oswald exchanged a knowing glance and nodded as they Scoured their dishes and got up to leave. They stopped as Minerva McGonagall and Albus Dumbledore walked in behind the last group. This group looked downtrodden as well. Unlike the other groups however, two of their member's clothes looked burnt and soot covered their faces. While Albus and Minerva took their seats at the elevated professor's table, Tom saw that the Slytherin girl Myrra looked especially spooked as she continuously levitated a pebble in her hand. Even as they sat down and asked the Hall for food, she cast the simple Levitation Charm again. And again. And again.
With a silent fury, Tom watched as Myrra kept going, making her spells more difficult until her group finished eating and Albus stood to address them all with a notable look of guilt Tom hadn't seen before, "Sometimes in life, our best intentions cross the ever thin line between preparation and cruelty. Today was such a day. On behalf of myself and Madame McGonagall, who's design I wrongfully felt needed amplification, I apologize. What we subjected you to, regardless of but especially ignorant of your age, was… It was horrid. I knew this challenge would best all of you. This is not to demean your remarkable, even exemplary, skills at both deduction and magical prowess, but I did not expect it to have such a defined reaction. You see, it is actually quite easy to manipulate time with magic. But to manipulate the perception of time, even within one mind let alone 4 at once, is a feat I thought impossible. But when I had succeeded, I knew it to be both a powerful resource and yet more powerful weapon.
"I, of course, did not discover this spellwork alone. It was with the help of another man like myself that I accomplished this. And this man has used it solely as a weapon in his war to ensure what he believes to be a just order of humanity under the rightful rule of wizards. It is with this fact in mind that I chose it for the second challenge. Minerva then decided that the foundation of this challenge must be trust. To establish it, when your own actions could detrimentally affect another you cannot see, hear, or feel, would be an ultimate test in empathy. One which I am most proud to say you have all passed. Upon learning of the trick to this challenge, each of you did everything you could to reduce the suffering to those your spells affected and were quick to forgive those who had affected you. It is a truly profound event, one which I myself did not predict.
"But that does not excuse the choice I made to use my… to use a weapon of torture and interrogation against you all. I am eternally thankful none of you have suffered permanent, irreparable damage. I have already asked Madame Hogbin to provide all of you small sleeping drafts to help you sleep tonight and heal your minds from any lingering pieces from the challenge.
"Because all of you were able to complete this challenge within the 30 minute time limit, I am pleased to say you will all receive full marks. I feel it would be wrong to use this event in the tally for the total competition so, while the group led by Isobel Kelly is still in the lead by 5 points from her win in the first challenge, all others are equal at 10 points apiece. Which brings me to the final challenge.
"The third and final challenge is a boat race across the Black Lake. Any and all magic that is not directly intended to harm or maim another student is allowed. Madame Picard has offered her services in teaching those of us in need how to balance whilst inside their boats and will monitor practice laps during the afternoon hours in which she is teaching, should you wish to practice further. You will have two months to prepare.
"I must now unfortunately leave you but should you need me, please inform either Madams Picard or Fortescue. If you have any questions for Madame McGonagall, she will be residing here for the night and will be leaving in the morning. Sleep well." Before anyone, including Tom, could catch him to talk, Albus left the Great Hall and the room resumed its previous silence.
When Tom turned back to his group, Isobel was now tearing up small pieces of bread for Blink, who had stopped crying midway during Albus's monologue and was slouching on the bench with his head resting backward on the table. As Isobel coaxed Blink to eat, whispering words Tom couldn't hear, Tom felt like his heart was hanging from quickly fraying cords over a bottomless pit. His hands began to sweat as he got up and without saying a word to his team, left the Great Hall for the Room of Requirement.
Tom didn't eat or sleep that night, silently laying on his side on the bare floor of the room. Though he didn't ask for it, a small fire contained within an invisible sphere appeared around midnight, according to the abnormally quiet grandfather clock in the corner of the room. His mind didn't race, but it didn't stop either. Every path it took always led back to those images. The man in ragged clothes. The city on fire, The newspaper showing a town Tom could swear he had seen before. The black haired man waiting at the tip of a cliff. Waiting for him.
When the Sun finally showed into the Room of Requirement the day after the second challenge, Tom felt his stomach grumble and mustered what he had left to go back down the grand staircase and return to where everyone was sleeping in the Great Hall. A single table was already sitting in between the male and female sides. Only one person was sitting at it, fiddling with his porridge with a spoon. Blink was wearing a pair of matching orange and black Chudley Cannons pajamas and after letting go of his spoon, he stood up and slowly walked towards Tom. When he got there, he didn't stop his momentum as he thrust his surprisingly strong arms around Tom and embraced him. Tom didn't lift his arms and Blink said just above a whisper, "Nex' time, don' leave, ma'e."
Blink's voice shook a little as he mumbled and squeezed Tom a little harder, "I's awe-righ' ma'e. No need tut hol' i' awe in. Trus' me".
But Tom didn't. How could he tell Blink he nearly cast the Killing Curse out of anger? One that could have killed Oswald. How could he tell the boy, or anyone else, what he would become? What he kept seeing in his visions and nightmares?
Just as Tom was beginning to lift his arms a little, to give Blink what he thought he wanted, Blink let go of him. His eyes a little wet, he looked at Tom with a mixture of confusion and disappointment. Tom put a hand on the boy's shoulder and said, "It didn't affect me the way it did you, Blink. Come one, let's eat. I'm starving."
Blink wiped his eyes and Tom knew something was off as he walked away and sat at the lone table. Tom hesitated before joining him and after quietly requesting it from the house elves in the room below, they shared a meal of marmalade coated crumpets, thickly sliced bacon, beans, and eggs.
After a few minutes, all the other students in the Great Hall began waking up and joined them at the table. When Isobel and Oswald woke, Isobel kissed Blink on the cheek as she sat on his other side and Oswald patted Tom on the back a couple times before sitting to Tom's right. Everyone in the room silently ate until Madame McGonagall entered the hall and announced with her hands gently clasped in front of her, "I would like the following people to please join me for a brief talk. You are not in trouble. Mr. Riddle, Mr. Crockett, Ms. Hamilton, Mr. Saunders, Mr. Wright, Mr. Hill. Mr. Payne and Ms. Wattson. When you are finished eating, please come to the lawn outside the front entrance to the castle. To the rest of you, I bid you adieu. It was a pleasure to meet you all."
Blink and Tom exchanged raised eyebrows and Tom saw Myrra, who had sat across from Oswald when she joined them for breakfast, shrugged to Oswald when she heard her name called as well. When Myrra finished her bowl of lamb stew, she whispered into Oswald's ear before leading the called group out of the Great Hall and out onto the lawn where Minerva McGonagall was waiting in one of 9 white, wooden lawn chairs and reading from a small book.
As the group approached, she beckoned them to their seats, set her book on a small cloth on the grass next to her chair, and straightened her spectacles before saying while they sat, "Thank you, all of you, for coming. This was not planned by Professor Dumbledore or I but we agreed it was necessary after yesterday's events. I have invited each of you here because during the course of the challenge, each of you had the worst experiences resulting from the magic within the tents. With your permission, and the guarantee of confidentiality between your fellows, I would like to help you all discuss what you experienced. You do not have to stay, but if you do, that is the condition. I encourage you all to take this opportunity. Trauma should never be left unresolved."
Though he didn't see it as he looked out at the Dark Forest over Myrra's left shoulder, Tom felt the flash of momentary attention from Madame McGonagall's eyes as she concluded, "Nor experienced in solitude. Would anyone like to begin?"
The wind slowly rolling over the field was the only sound for a few minutes before a young Gryffindor boy Tom didn't remember raised his hand slightly and Tom became instantly confused when McGonagall addressed them, "Yes, Ms. Wattson. What you like to say?" Tom looked around at the group, which consisted of 3 Slytherins, 3 Gryffindors, and one each from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Out of everyone in the group, only the two Gryffindors, Wright and Saunders, weren't fazed by McGonagall's use of a female pronoun instead male. Tom tried his best to inconspicuously take a closer look at the almond skinned Gryffindor, searching for any female qualities. Tom wondered if he was like Piper but then he remembered that they didn't use either pronoun. This was new. Tom didn't know anyone that used the opposite pronoun of their birth.
Wattson, with a voice slightly higher pitched than Tom's, began, "That tent was probably the worst experience of my life. Worse… Worse than…"
She had to stop as tears began to well up and McGonagall reached a consoling hand over and said, "It's alright, Noelle. Take your time. We're here."
Noelle sniffled back her strength as she resumed, "It was worse than when I told my parents I didn't want to be a boy. I never wanted to be a boy. Even when I was little, this body always felt wrong. But being in that tent, unable to see the magic I was just becoming comfortable with after 3 years. Unable to know anything but the inside. I felt like I didn't exist anymore. That nothing outside the tent existed. That I had always been inside the tent. That the letter inviting a muggle girl trapped on a farm to a world of magic was a lie my brain told itself. It was horrible. I don't even know how we completed the challenge. If it wasn't for Myrra… I don't know."
Both Myrra and the Gryffindor boy, Wright, squeezed her knees as McGonagall said, "You are here, Noelle. Your letter was true and you are at Hogwarts. And your friends are here for you. Thank you for sharing. Who would like to go next?"
Wright, whose first name was Lance, went next and told his story of trying to dig his way out of the tent. Tom saw him fidget and scratch underneath his nails as he described digging for what felt like days. With his bare hands, he dug a tunnel through the soil to the point he couldn't see the light of the tent anymore. No matter how far he went, no matter how much his hands bled, he never left his own tent. And that destroyed him.
Myrra Hamilton told her story of nearly burning one of her teammates alive when she lost control of a fire curse. She cried when she saw the scars on a Ravenclaw boy named Hector Graham's legs from where the fire had gotten him. Thankfully, they weren't serious and Madame Hogbin was able to mend the leg completely, no scars to be found.
Both Hill and Saunders were in the same group and shared their story of difficulty finding out the order of whose spells affected whom because Saunders had accidentally transformed the next person in line's stone into a flea right at the beginning of the challenge. When it came to Blink's turn, his hands were deep inside the pockets of his black trousers, tapping his leg to a rhythm Tom couldn't find, and his lips shifted around as he puzzled out how to begin.
Blink finally sat up and said, "I still don' know how long I was in vere. Madame, wha' was vuh ratio for me? How much time passed in my head rela'ive tuh Isobel's and Tommy-boy's?"
Minerva McGonagall, who had not spoken since Myrra Hamilton asked her about how the fabric of the tents functioned, answered without hesitation, "1500 to 1, Mr. Crockett. It was unfortunate that you were placed in that variation of the challenge. You were the only one higher than 700. Which happened to be yours, Mr. Riddle."
Blink scratched at his quads for a half a minute before he continued, "So, for every minute we was in vere, I had two and a half hours. An' our end time was?" He turned his head and glared at Minerva.
While her eyes didn't waver from his, Tom could tell she was holding back her own emotions as she answered, "12 minutes. While your group was first to finish, for you, it was 12 and a half days. Winky, I am so…"
Blink cut her off as he raised his voice, "So, remin' me again. I' was you and Dum-boo-dore who made vis… vis fing. You enchan'ed a tent tuh change how our min's saw time. And you… You fough' fifteen fucking hundred was acceptaboo? Wha' if Saundy over here and his lads had va', ey? Vey didn' finish wivv'in twen'y minutes. Near a munf, va' would have been. Dum-boo-dore said we was gonna ge' closer. An' closer we did become. Now we're all like Ci'y aftuh vere field go' burned while a game was goin' on. Trauma for all, va's how we bring'em togevuh, va's wha' you fough'?"
Blink's scratching was now beginning to cut into his pants as his body shook and tears slowly cascaded down his sable skinned face. Tom knew this was a moment to fix whatever he messed up with Blink before, so he copied what everyone did after Noelle's story and what Albus gave him on numerous occasions. He placed a gentle hand on Blink's knees, which he felt were thrashing against the boy's control. Blink didn't look down but Tom could feel some calm restoring as the boy continued, "If i' wasn' for Bellie singin' a song tuh me… Tuh bring me back from va' place… I nevuh would have made i'"
Minerva McGonagall's eyes were now watering as she came over with her chair to within inches of Blink's face as she consoled him, "There is not one thing Albus or I can do to reverse this, save for wiping it from your memories. But that damage will always be there. And I am so, so, sorry for not reducing the range of the spell's scope, Winky. It never should have been allowed to be that high. Our sole intention, if I may provide explanations that will no doubt fall as excuses in your ears, was to instill trust in one another. Trust is hardest to achieve when you cannot see who you affect, and who affects you. This is a truth seen every day in our world and it is a truth that has existed since our creation. Wizard or not, trust in others is never absolute."
Minerva finally let her tears fall down her face as she used a gentle hand to wipe away the ones on Blink's face and continued, "And we have broken your trust. As educators, this event has appalling. Not least of which because I helped design it. As wise as myself and Professor Dumbledore are, we did not foresee such trauma from this challenge. If there is anything… anything I can do to help you work through this, even if it involves wiping it out of your memories for good, I will do it."
Blink kept her gaze as they silently cried just inches away from each other, his face almost leaning into her gentle hand. After a few moments, he pulled back and said plainly, "I want vis spell gone for good. If it means destroyin' texts, killin' vee inventuh, wipin' brains, I wan' it done. No one should have'tuh feel va' evuh again."
Madame McGonagall sat upright, magically wiped away the tears on her face with a wave of her wand, and assented, "It shall be done. I will talk to the Ministry about striking the spell from interrogation manuals. I will speak with Professor Dumbledore and he will inform Madame Fortescue of this change. It will take time, and the co-inventor of the spell is still at large, but if I have to bring him down too to make this right, I will. You have my vow, Mr. Crockett."
Blink chuckled through a sob as he said, "Va's awe-righ' Miss, jus' call me Blink."
Minerva smiled as well and said before looking to Tom, "So it is, Blink. Now, Tom. You are the last to speak. Would you like to share?"
Tom felt everyone's eyes on him, most especially Blink's. As he sat up in his chair, Tom felt a comforting hand from Blink tap his shoulder a couple times before he said, "I… think Blink covered it. That spell… It was too powerful."
Minerva's expression changed instantly as she raised an eyebrow just long enough for Tom to notice and inquired, "Are you sure you don't want to share? Your experience was quite different from everyone else's but, you are safe here, Tom. There is no need to be…"
Tom cut in, "It's fine. Yes, it sucked not being able to have the magic I just now found out how to control. And yes, I had moments like everyone else here where I didn't know how long I was in there. But I think hearing everyone else's stories was enough, don't you?"
McGonagall sat with her arms crossed for half a minute but didn't press further and said, "Well, ok then. Thank you all for listening to me. And for telling your stories. It is only by hearing the stories of our victims that we truly understand the gravity of our decisions; remember that. If you would please, Madame Hogbin is expecting you all in the hospital wing for a pick-me-up. And I have a train to catch in an hour. It was excellent meeting you all. Good luck in the third challenge."
With that, everyone stood and Madame McGonagall shook each of their hands. When she came to shake Tom's last, she looked around and when everyone was gone, she said plainly, "Tom, It was a pleasure seeing your spellwork. I hope one day you find someone you can trust. It is incalculably better than choosing to be alone. Trust me," and she turned and left him there. Alone.