Kingsley was standing beside Dumbledore's desk, however nobody accompanied him this time. Kingsley had come to talk to Harrison all by himself.

"Hi Auror Shacklebolt," Harrison greeted.

"You look better already. Did Madam Pomfrey help you out?"

Harrison nodded.

"Good — good, that's good to hear," Kingsley muttered.

"What are we going to talk about today?" asked Harrison as he made his way over to the seat in front of Dumbledore's desk, but Kingsley had stopped him.

"The Minister and Head of Auror department has suggested that you leave Hogwarts for the next few days to be properly integrated and so you can see your father again-"

It was as if Harrison had been struck by a knife. He choked and stared at Kingsley like he was a crazed man. "No!" Harrison shouted, backing away from the Auror. He and Dumbledore looked taken aback.

Harrison wasn't leaving Hogwarts to go right in his father's hands like a lamb to the slaughter.

"I am not leaving Hogwarts!"

"Calm down, Harrison. I understand your worries, but we can track down your kidnappers faster if you were to come home. You can stay with your father for the rest of the week and come to the Ministry during the day to get properly questioned."

"No."

Kingsley glanced at Dumbledore for any help, but he was just as clueless about Harrison's outburst.

"Mr. Riddle… why not?" Dumbledore asked, frowning.

Harrison was hesitant because he should've been overjoyed to hear he could see his father — that was if everything that he had claimed to happen had been fully true.

"I-I'll die if I leave Hogwarts." It was a vague enough answer that wouldn't slip the actual truth.

"You'll be under Ministry care and protection the entire week," Kingsley assured him.

"I'm not leaving Hogwarts."

Kingsley sighed and nodded, his face full of pity. Harrison could imagine he looked like some sort of traumatized puppy, afraid to leave and go to the place that pained him the most.

"I'll alert the Minister and my Head Auror. Have a goodnight Harrison — Goodnight Albus."

Kingsley left with the fireplace which left Harrison and Dumbledore alone.

"Will you tell me now what actually happened, or is everything a big lie for an elaborate plan?"

"Why do you keep asking me, old man?" Harrison asked through gritted teeth. "I'm not telling you anything! When will it get through your thick mind I'll never be on your side? I'll never ever work with you even if I'm facing death itself."

Dumbledore nodded, looking very disappointed and solemn. He shook his head, and the door to his office opened.

"Goodbye, Mr. Riddle." he said quietly.

Harrison didn't wait to leave and did not even bother closing the door behind him. He was blinded by too much of his emotions to walk down the corridors in a straight line.

By the time he got to the Slytherin common room, he felt like passing out. Most people were in bed, but some still remained, struggling to stay up as they rushed to finish homework due the next morning.

Harrison continued you to his room and Blaise was already asleep and Draco was gone, still in the Hospital Wing most likely.

"You're back late," Ollyth said, startling Harrison who had forgotten his snake was still awake.

"I had a meeting with Auror Shacklebolt… he tried to get me to leave and go home with Voldemort."

"And what did you say?"

"I told him no. I'm not leaving Hogwarts to go to Riddle Manor… of course he was confused on why, but I think he just thought I was scared of the Death Eaters still."

"Voldemort is obviously trying to get you to come home… Mimi has been here five times today," Ollyth informed him. She moved from her spot on the bed and there were about six letters under her.

"These are from Voldemort?" Harrison asked, grabbing them all.

"Yes. She was saying it was urgent, I'm surprised Voldemort hasn't sent a Howler yet."

Harrison let the letters burn into a pile ash in his hands, like Voldemort had done to Dumbledore's letter during the summer.

"I don't care what he has to say. Probably threatening me with my life," Harrison switched to a horrible intimation of Voldemort, "Harrison Riddle, I swear on Salazar's name once I get my hands on you, you'll never breathe again!"

"I-it wouldn't hurt to read just one-"

"I'm not, Ollyth," he repeated firmly. "By Christmas everything about Voldemort will be my past. I will watch this world crumble from the sidelines, I want no part anymore — with Dumbledore nor him."

"I understand… Did you eat at dinner?"

Harrison told Ollyth about his day and was glad he was distracted from his summer. He had remembered how he promised to his friends that they would talk more, but he never got the time. Maybe when they went to visit Draco in the Hospital Wing in the morning he could mention it.


In the morning Blaise, Harrison and Delphi left to go to the Hospital extra early — mostly because they didn't want Pansy around while they talked to Draco.

"Hey, idiot," greeted Delphi, once they made it to Draco's bed. His arm was in a white sling, his bandages on his arm just slightly pink.

"Goodmorning," Draco yawned, squinting up at Delphi.

"Are you alright?" Harrison asked, finding a seat next to Draco's bed.

"Of course I am… just tired. They contacted my father yesterday and he's outraged. He's trying to get that man fired."

"I told you!" Delphi blurted. "Since you got attacked by that bird, Hagrid is sure to get fired! If you milk it enough, surely the school will have no choice but-"

"That was your plan all along," Draco asked, "to get me attacked by that bloody chicken?"

"And it was worth it."

"I hate it when you're smart."

"I think cunning is more appropriate."

They talked aimlessly for a bit, Harrison purposely avoiding what he wanted to speak about. His friends looked happy and he didn't want to soil their mood — he would mention it later.

They left the Hospital Wing when Madam Pomfrey woke up and kicked them out so they could go to breakfast.

As they were walking down to the Great Hall, they ran into a specific Gryffindor and Ravenclaw.

Harrison had only realized someone was behind him from the loud sob they let out. A bit startled, he simultaneously turned with Delphi and Blaise and saw Ginny with her hand covering her mouth, and Luna who looked distracted.

"H-harrison!" she sobbed, tears overflowing in her eyes.

Harrison recoiled slightly, taken aback by Ginny's sudden outburst. His first instinct was to shush her, but it was no use when she started to weep loudly.

"H-hey Ginny!" Harrison exclaimed in a quiet voice, hoping Ginny would follow along.

"I'm so sorry!" she sobbed, wiping her eyes. At first Harrison thought she was apologizing for crying so loud, but he was mistaken.

"It's all my fault! I-if I hadn't g-got possessed y-you wouldn't h-have gotten kidnapped by Y-You-Know-Who! Y-you wouldn't have got tortured- it's all my fault!"

Delphi and Blaise were just as shocked as Harrison and hadn't been able to put on their usual sneers whenever a Weasley came by.

"N-no! It's not your fault Ginny — please stop crying — I'm alright, I promise."

It certainly took Ginny a long time to calm down and Harrison had to walk her down to the Great Hall in order for her to fully relax.

"A-are you mad at me?" Ginny asked and Harrison forced himself to shake his head.

He had no right to be mad at her, but he was. Why was she the one crying? He had been the one tortured, treated like a stranger by his own father.

"O-of course not… w-why would I be mad?" said Harrison, he struggled to keep his voice steady.

"N-nevermind… I'll go now," Ginny muttered, turning red. She turned to Luna, "See you in class," she said before sulking over to the Gryffindor table.

"Ginny is just a bit shocked that's all," Luna said, but not to anyone in particular. She was staring dreamily at the Gryffindor table before he moved her gaze upon the three Slytherins staring down at her.

Her eyes landed on Delphi then fell back on Harirson. "Did you tell her yet?" she asked.

Harrison went wide eyed and glanced at Delphi, she was staring at him with eyes that were supposed to be a glare, but the confusion softened it's blow.

"N-no!" Harrison blurted, he had wished Luna hadn't mentioned it. On the train Luna had told him about how she thought about the happy times with her mother so her death didn't hurt as much, he had agreed to tell Delphi to do the same for her father, but he did not want to bring it up yet.

"Have a good day, Luna." Harrison bowed his head awkwardly before scurrying off to the Slytherin table, Delphi and Blaise quickly followed behind him.

"Tell me what, exactly?" Delphi asked as soon as they sat.

"N-nothing in particular — Daphne could you pass me that, please?" Harrison asked, pointing at the jug of orange juice at Daphne's elbow.

She smiled and passed the jug over to Harrison so he could pour himself some.

"Nothing in particular?" Delphi repeated.

"Yup."

"Don't be a liar."

"I'm not."

"Yes you are!" Delphi snapped, but she paused for one seconds as she finally noticed the glances she was earning for being loud. "What are you looking at?" she hissed to nobody in particular, but everyone diverted their eyes.

Delphi turned back to Harrison who had been stuffing his face with as much food as possible, but that did not stop Delphi from asking him more questions. "Why are you confiding secrets with Loony anyways?"

"And how come she didn't freak when she saw you like Weaselette did?" Blaise added and Delogi nodded in agreement with his question.

"Well erm- me and Luna sat together… on the train-"

"You what?" Blaise asked, nearly choking on his food.

"You could sit with that freak, but not your own friends?" Delphi asked outraged. Harrison expected her to be puffing smoke out of her ears and nose any second now.

"Ollyth said it was dangerous."

"You're just going to listen to a bloody snake?"

"Ollyth is probably smarter than that old hag, Dumbledore."

"Yeah, because a snake that has been alive for a couple of years is smarter than the man who's been living for over a century!" Delphi agreed sarcastically, rolling her eyes at Harrison.

A bit offended by Delphi's statement about his snake, he felt the need to defend her. "Ollyth has been living for-"

"Goodmorning Delphi," Theo called to her, as he passed by to sit down across the table.

"Good morning Theo," Delphi greeted back, giving a small incline of her head. She smirked ever so slightly before she turned her gaze back on Harrison.

"What were you saying about your snake?" she asked.

Harrison glanced between Theo and Delphi, then at Blaise who seemed to be glowering over his plate.

"Forget it."


On Thursday that week, Draco finally got out of the Hospital Wing, but decided to skip classes because his arm was hurting him bad — as he claimed. The only reason Harrison could think of Draco arriving at Potions, was to terrorize the Gryffindors.

He walked in during the middle of class and was immediately asked questions by Pansy.

"How is it, Draco?" simpered Pansy. "Does it hurt much?"

"Yeah," said Draco. He put on a brave grimace, but he had winked at Harrison and Blaise when Pansy looked away. He was only doing it to get Pansy's attention — it had become quite clear in the past week that the two were fond of each other.

Harrison and Blaise smirked and Delphi scowled at the boys.

"Settle down, settle down," said Professor Snape idly.

Instead of Draco coming to join Delphi, Harrison and Blaise like he always did, he set his cauldron right next to Granger and Longbottom who had been preparing their ingredients right across from Harrison's table.

"Sir," Darco called soon after sitting down. "Sir, I'll need help cutting up these daisy roots, because of my arm —"

"Longbotttom, cut up Malfoy's roots for him," said Snape without looking up.

Neville went brick red.

"B-but there's nothing wrong with your arm!" Harrison heard Neville hiss to Draco.

"Go on Draco, tell Professor Snape that Longbottom isn't listening," Delphi whispered excitedly, leaning closer to their table. Neville spun in his seat, watching Delphi closely. "He'll definitely get detention-"

"Don't listen to Lestrange, Neville," Hermione chided. "She's trying to scare you."

"How dare you interrupt me, mudblood."

"If I offended you, then I've done what I intended to do," Hermione responded, refusing to take her eyes off of her knife.

"Perhaps you'll feel the same after class, mudblood," Delphi whispered slowly, "be prepared to carry your friend's filthy corpse to the Hospital Wing after class, lardarse — or should I say what will be left of it."

Delphi let out a quiet cackle. Longbottom turned a pale white and his hands shook violently as he cut Draco's roots worse than his own.

"Professor," drawled Malfoy, "Longbottom's mutilating my roots, sir."

Snape approached their table, stared down his hooked nose at the roots, then gave Neville an unpleasant smile from beneath his long, greasy black hair.

"Change roots with Malfoy, Longbottom."

Without hesitation, Longbottom gave his poorly chopped roots to Draco and kept the even worse chopped roots for himself. It seemed he almost pissed himself when Snape came by.

"And, sir, I'll need this shrivelfig skinned," said Draco, his voice full of malicious laughter.

"Granger, you can skin Malfoy's shrivelfig," said Snape, passing her a glare he reserved just for her.

"Yes Professor," Hermione sighed, sounding quite annoyed. She took Draco's shrivelfig and began to skin it carefully, knowing there was a chance Draco would have them switched.

"Not going to be long until all mudbloods are going to serve their superiors," Blaise whispered so only Harrison and Delphi could hear.

"Or better," Delphi added, "dead."

Harrison had only waited until his brew turned orange to talk to Blaise and Delphi about the topic he had been avoiding for awhile.

"I want to talk about something," Harrison said, Blaise was the only one to look up while Delphi had been focused on her cauldron, but she seemed to be listening.

"What is it?" asked Blaise.

"Draco, come here!" Harrison called to him, earning the attention of the smug blonde. He stopped smirking and got up from his seat and sat down across the table from Harrison and Blaise.

"What happened?"

"I wanted to talk about the Dementors on the train," Harrison said.

Delphi seemed to pause in fear, accidentally dropping her knife into her cauldron, it turned a silver color.

"What about it?" Delphi asked as she summoned the knife out of her cauldron with her wand. It was melted and was dripping liquid metal everywhere.

"Well the Dementors came to my compartment and attacked me… I've been thinking it was my father who sent them, but I'm not sure because I've been so careful to make sure he hadn't known I was going to Hogwarts."

"Don't be silly, Harrison," Draco said, "the Dementors were on the train because of Black."

"Our mothers' filthy cousin," Delphi added on, her lip curling. Somehow in the past minute that Harrison had been talking, Delphi managed to save her brew and turned it green like it was supposed to be.

"So they were searching the train for Black? As in, Sirius Black?"

"Yeah."

"Well that makes more sense… but why on the Hogwarts Express?"

"Because he's been spotted around here. That's why they have Dementors guarding the school." Draco said casually and Harrison just stared at him bewildered.

"There are Dementors guarding the school? And no one told me?"

"Professor McGonagall told us at the feast. Sorry, I forgot you weren't there."

"It's fine… it's just that it explains a lot. Why do you think he's hanging around Hogwarts?"

"Nobody knows why," Blaise murmured, sounding hesitant.

"Don't lie to him, Blaise," Delphi snapped. "You haven't read the Daily Prophet?"

"I don't want to see my face," Harrison answered vaguely, but they understood what he meant.

"Everyone thinks Black is the one who kidnapped you and is trying to kill you — finish you off for his Lord," Draco said, lowering his voice. He glanced at Granger and Longbottom who were muttering to each other, glancing at Harrison every couple of seconds.

"He couldn't have broken out at a better time," Delphi began, remembering what she had wanted to say on the train to Draco and Blaise, but she couldn't because of Professor Lupin. "Now your father can blame him instead of any of his actual Death Eaters."

"When I was talking with the Aurors, they showed me Black and asked if I saw him anytime during my disappearance."

"What did you say?" asked Draco.

"I said he looked familiar, but it might've been because he's your family."

"That Blood Traitor is no family of mine," Delphi announced and Draco nodded in agreement with her.

"Orange, Longbottom," Snape's voice drawled loudly, making the whole class quiet down. They all turned to Neville who looked near tears.

"Orange. Tell me, boy, does anything penetrate that thick skull of yours? Didn't you hear me say, quite clearly, that only one cat spleen was needed? Didn't I state plainly that a dash of leech juice would suffice? What do I have to do to make you understand, Longbottom?"

Longbottom was pink and trembling.

"Please, sir," said Granger, "please, I could help Neville put it right —"

"I don't remember asking you to show off, Miss Granger," said Snape coldly, and Hermione went as pink as Neville.

"Longbottom, at the end of this lesson we will feed a few drops of this potion to your toad and see what happens. Perhaps that will encourage you to do it properly."

Snape moved away, leaving Neville breathless with fear.

"Help me!" he moaned to Hermione.

"Aren't you going to tell Professor Snape Granger is helping him?" Delphi asked Draco. He scoffed and peered over at the Gryffindor's cauldron.

"It's not if anything that mudblood does will save the catastrophe Longbottom has managed to brew," Draco said loudly enough, for almost everyone to hear. The Slytherins laughed, and Snape pretended he hadn't heard as he sat at his desk, his eyes were focused on a book.

At the end of class, Snape had everyone gather around to watch as he fed Longbottom's newly green potion to his toad which Harrison had known as Trevor.

"If he has managed to produce a Shrinking Solution, it will shrink to a tadpole. If, as I don't doubt, he has done it wrong, his toad is likely to be poisoned."

The Gryffindors watched fearfully. The Slytherins looked excited. Snape picked up Trevor the toad in his left hand and dipped a small spoon into Neville's potion. He trickled a few drops down Trevor's throat.

There was a moment of hushed silence, in which Trevor gulped; then there was a small pop, and Trevor the tadpole was wriggling in Snape's palm.

The Gryffindors burst into applause and Delphi let out a loud groan. Snape, looking sour, pulled a small bottle from the pocket of his robe, poured a few drops on top of Trevor, and he reappeared suddenly, fully grown.

"Five points from Gryffindor," said Snape, which wiped the smiles from every Gryffindor's face. "I told you not to help him, Miss Granger. Class dismissed."

Delphi had already taken out her wand and was pushing forcefully through the leaving crowd of students to get to Granger who had just left class before them. But once they were out, Weasley and Longbottom were walking alone, Granger nowhere in sight.

"Where is she?" Delphi asked, grabbing onto Longbottom's collar.

He whimpered, glancing around for someone.

"S-she w-was just w-with us a c-couple of s-seconds ago!" he exclaimed fearfully, still a bit shaken up about Potions.

"Hands off of him, Lestrange," Weasley growled lowly, but he did not reach for his wand cause he saw the eyes of the boys watching his hand.

"I guess I'll finish what she started after Defense Against the Dark Arts, that's if your mudblood friend doesn't run away again," Delphi sighed. She forcefully let go of Longbottom, sending him stumbling back and eventually tripping over his shoelace.

"Don't be such a wimp, Longbottom." Draco jeered, purposely hitting his knee against Longbottom's shoulder as he walked past.

After their break was Defense Against the Arts and they walked into the classroom and it was empty. Not even the bags of the Gryffindors were in there.

The Slytherins settled down in their seats, watching the clock as they waited for their Professor to arrive.

"Ah! Sorry class," Professor Lupin announced as he stepped through the door. Everyone reached for their bags to pull out their books, but Professor Lupin had stopped them.

"You won't need your books today. We'll be doing a practical lesson." he announced and an excited, but hushed whisper traveled through the class. The only time they used their wands in class was to defend themselves after Lockhart released the pixies amongst them.

"Right then," said Professor Lupin, when everyone was ready. "If you'd follow me."

Puzzled but interested, the class got to its feet and followed Professor Lupin out of the classroom. He led them along the deserted corridor and around a corner, which to Harrison was oddly familiar. He had only realized why when they approached the staffroom door.

He had overheard the news of Ginny Weasley getting taken into the Chamber of Secrets last school year there. He felt nauseous thinking about it, and decided to focus on how tall he was compared to Delphi. It was not very much, maybe just an inch or so, but it was the first time Harrison ever naturally surpassed her height.

They walked into the staffroom and the tables were already pushed back, putting a wardrobe in an nonexistent spotlight. All the Slytherins were naturally interested in the wardrobe.

It was rattling like crazy and Harrison only thought why it hadn't fallen over already.

"Do not be alarmed class," Professor Lupin said, studying the faces of his students. Some looked terrified. Harrison, like everyone else, had a bit of PTSD from their last Professor releasing a creature out on them in their first class — Harrison had just hoped Professor Lupin was more capable than Lockhart.

"In this wardrobe is a Boggart. Does anyone know what a Boggart is?"

Delphi's hand raised, singling her out from the crowd of thirteen year olds.

"Lestrange?" he asked.

"A Boggart is a creature that takes the shape of your worst fear."

"And Riddle," Lupin called, removing Harrison from his trance at staring at the floor. "What does a Boggart look like?"

"That's a trick question, Professor," Harrison sighed. "Nobody knows what a Boggart really looks like because no one has been able to approach one without it becoming their worst fear."

"I see you two are well informed," Lupin said brightly, passing a smile to them both. "Good job. Five points to Slytherin — Greengrass," Daphne stared hesitantly at the Professor, "would you mind joining me near the wardrobe?"

"I-I would," Daphne muttered. There was a slight chuckle throughout the class. "The Boggart can't hurt you. It can only scare you, but not if you let it. If you please, I can teach you how to defeat the Boggart."

"Go on, Daphne," Delphi urged on, pushing Daphne forward with her shoulder. The blonde sent a glare over her shoulder before sulking over to the Professor, her wand in her hand.

"Now Daphne what do you fear the very most?"

"Uh- my sister… dead."

"Well I think I can say for everyone we don't want to see a family member dead. You can think of something else if you don't want to see that."

"No it's fine, Professor."

"Okay. Now the only spell that can defeat a Boggart is: Riddikulus. Everyone say Riddikulus," Professor Lupin instructed and the class obeyed.

"Riddikulus," they all said, off tune to each other.

"This class is Riddikulus," Draco muttered.

"Shut up, Draco," Delphi scowled, stomping on his foot. He hissed out in pain and stomped on her foot in return. And the two started discreetly stepping on each other's foot, both trying to pay attention to Professor Lupin and Daphne.

"Great. Now Daphne, what do you think is funny?"

Daphne pondered her answer for a couple of seconds before she said, "Muggle clowns. With their facepaint, they look really stupid."

"I'm rather afraid of those," joked Professor Lupin. "Now, Daphne, when that Boggart steps out the wardrobe it will take the form of your greatest fear."

"My sister dead," Daphne butted in.

"Exactly. And if you focus hard on a muggle clown while you cast the spell, then we all will be able to enjoy a laugh."

Daphne looked a bit unsure, which was understandable because nobody wanted to see their sister dead. She didn't protest however, and held her anticipating wand up to the rattling wardrobe.

"If Daphne is successful, the Boggart is likely to shift his attention to each of us in turn," said Professor Lupin. "I would like all of you to take a moment now to think of the thing that scares you most, and imagine how you might force it to look comical…"

The room went quiet. Harrison was not scared of many things. His father, maybe, but he didn't want Voldemort appearing in a class. There was the giant spider in the Forbidden Forest from last year. He remembered it to be frightening, but now it seemed almost pathetic to Harrison. He was puzzled.

Delphi beside him was still stepping on Draco's foot, and he was still doing it in return. They weren't paying attention, but Blaise seemed to be thinking about something, probably his worst fear.

Harrison had remembered being scared of Nagini when he was younger. It was only because she threatened to eat him after he accidentally stepped on her tail. But then he remembered how he turned her a bright pink with accidental magic — he began to chuckle to himself.

"Everyone ready?" asked Professor Lupin.

Draco and Delphi stopped their footsies game and seemed to be a bit lost. Everyone else muttered, yes.

"What were we supposed to do?" Delphi asked quietly to Blaise.

"Think of your worst fear then something funny so you're prepared when you face the Boggart," Blaise answered tonelessly.

"Alright, everyone back up so Daphne can have a clear shot at the Boggart," said Lupin and the class took a few steps back, forming a half of circle around Daphne and the wardrobe.

"On the count of three, Daphne," said Professor Lupin, who was pointing his own wand at the handle of the wardrobe. "One — two — three —now!"

Daphne let out a squeal, taking one step back as the wardrobe swung open. A small figure stepped out. They had graying hair, and pale skin and eyes that were barely clinging onto life. It was Astoria, but she looked very sick.

"Daphne…" she coughed violently.

It was fascinating how the Boggart seemed just like Astoria. It even sounded like her too.

"R-riddikulus!" Daphne shouted and there was a loud sound of a whip. Astoria stumbled backwards, but her clothes had switched to a jumpsuit with bright colors and shapes and pink colored fluff around her neck. Her face was painted white with red outlining her lips and eyes. She looked like what Harrison assumed to be a mugge clown.

The Slytherins laughed as they watched. Astoria looked around wildly, looking quite ridiculous.

"Great, great! Delphini, you next!"

Delphi seemed ready even if she had only known what to do barely a minute ago. She traded places with Daphne in front of the Boggart.

"That was a bit scary," Daphne murmured to Harrison.

"You still did great," Harrison assured her, passing her a reassuring grin for the briefest of seconds. He didn't want to miss Delphi's turn.

Astoria was gone and now there was something that looked a bit familiar to Harrison. It was the family tree of the Blacks, the tapestry that had been Delphi's home as well as Draco's. There were a few black spots where people's names were blasted off, and right below Bellatrix was supposed to be Delphi, but her name had been blasted off.

Delphi was obviously not scared of a tapestry, but the thought of being labelled a Blood Traitor must've been her greatest fear.

"Riddikulus," she said, sounding unimpressed. The Boggart changed into a bright red balloon that bobbed up and down in the air.

The Slytherins applauded as Delphi fell back into the crowd.

"Nott, you're up!"

Theo walked forward, facing the red balloon. It spun around Theo and landed in front of him as a baby Thestral. Everyone murmured, wondering what the creature was.

"Riddikulus!"

The baby Thestral suddenly appeared with a pair of rollerskates and began stumbling around. The Slytherins laughed as they watched the Thestral struggle to stand up straight.

"Yes! Parkinson!"

The Boggart turned into a Vampire, towering tall over Pansy. He bared his fangs and hissed at her, its red eyes narrowing.

"Riddikulus!"

The Vampire shrunk down to ant size and the class was exploding with laughter.

"Yes, just a few more times! Riddle!"

Harrison stepped forward, preparing himself to see Nagini. As he stepped to the very small Vampire. It grew back to it's regular size, but a black fog covered it as it shifted once again.

Once the fog cleared away, a gravestone appeared in front of him. Carved into the gravestone was: Harrison Riddle, 1980-1993.

Harrison was not scared of the gravestone nor that he saw his name on it. He was taken aback because he had expected to see Nagini, but was greeted by his own tombstone.

"Ri… Riddikulus?" Harrison said, sounding a bit confused. There was a loud crack and the gravestone had changed into a bright pink crab.

The class laughed, but Harrison didn't. Did he really fear death that much? He hadn't known it was his worst fear, but death was scary. He would rather be tortured again than die, there was no telling what death had in store.

He looked away from the pink crab that was waddling around on the floor and met eyes with Professor Lupin. He was frowning at Harrison.

"Zabini, how about you put the Boggart back into the wardrobe," Lupin suggested. Blaise shrugged, swaggering over to the Boggart as if he was approaching the least terrifying opponent ever.

The pink crab made a loud clicking sound before it launched from the ground in the form of a bat. It screeched at Blaise, and he seemed a bit frightened, but managed to force the Boggart back into the closest with the Riddikulus spell.

"Good job. Five points to everyone who faced the Boggart. Ten to, Lestrange and Riddle for answering the questions and ten to Zabini for putting the Boggart back."

"But I didn't have a go, Professor," Crabbe said.

"I'm afraid we've run out of time. I'm sorry," Professor Lupin genuinely, securing the last lock on the wardrobe. He turned to the class and clapped his hands together. "Very well, everyone, an excellent lesson," he said. "Homework, kindly read the chapter on

Boggarts and summarize it for me… to be handed in on Monday. That will be all."

They all left, murmuring excitedly to one another about the Boggarts.

"You're scared of bats, Blaise?" Delphi asked teasingly.

"Shut it. At least I'm not afraid of a tapestry," he snapped back.

"That wasn't just any tapestry, that was the Black family tapestry. My mother has one in her study," Draco told him matter-of-factly. He then turned to Delphi to ask, "You're scared of getting blasted off the tapestry?"

"Obviously so if it turned into my Boggart," Delphi quipped, however her sneer did not stay on her face for long, it faded to a frown. Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked hesitantly at Draco. "Don't you think that getting blasted off is scary?"

"I wouldn't want it to happen to me, but it's not scary. I mean, you're only going to get seen as a Blood Traitor-"

"And then all your family will disown you," Delphi cutted in harshly. "And if you piss off the wrong person in your family, they might even end up killing you off… to cleanse the family line — that's scary, isn't it? I mean, fearing that someone you grew up with killing you off."

"Aunt Bella would probably want to kill someone like Sirius Black off," Harrison mused, joining in on the conversation. "I mean, imagine her reaction when she read that the Ministry thought he was a Death Eater."

"I don't need to do much imagining," Delphi muttered. "I was there when she read it. She looked just about ready to murder someone."

Harrison frowned and imagined Bellatrix with the same look as her eyes when duelling Delphi when she read the Prophet about Sirius — she looked murderous.


Harrison hadn't been requested to Dumbledore's office for the rest of the month, but while that stopped, his father's letters rained on him like a thunderstorm. He received letter after letter, however they all met the fiery end of Harrison's wand and all that remained was their ashes on the floor of his dorm room.

The letters soon turned into Howlers and Harrison could say he had lots of practice with the vanishing charm.

The Slytherin team had tryouts and were only looking for Beaters because one had quit and the other graduated. Harrison hadn't gone to observe, remembering last year how he had the unfortunate time of meeting Colin Creevey. He didn't want to meet another.

The second day of October was the Slytherin team's first practice and Harrison had been very relieved that it was finally taking place. He wanted to try out his Firebolt and get into the air after what seemed like years, and meet his new teammates because he hadn't got the chance to ask Marcus who they were.

"Riddle," Flint called to him quietly as they were changing.

"Whats up?" Harrison asked, slipping into his Quidditch robes.

"Stay behind after practice… I wanna talk."

Harrison had an idea about what Marcus wanted to talk about. It probably was what everyone wanted to talk about. His kidnapping.

Outside on the pitch were the two Beaters, here before the rest of the team.

One was tall, muscular and blonde, and the other was thick and had hair as black as Harrison's.

The Slytherin team approached the Beaters who had both had themselves a pair of Nimbus 2000s.

"As some of you know already, this is Cassius Warrington," Marcus said, pointing to the blonde. "And this is Lucian Bole."

Cassius had been smiling at Delphi and she glared at him in response, seeming to be holding back the urge to get her wand hex the git.

Harrison stepped in front of Delphi, extending his hand in front of Warrington. His smile faded and he looked down at Harrison's hand.

"Nice to meet you Warrington."

"Yeah," Warrington agreed, not shaking Harrison's hand.

Lucian, however, took Harrison's open hand and shaked it very excitedly.

"As you know, this is my last year at Hogwarts," Marcus grinned, sounding very pleased about his own news. "So I'll be taking Quidditch more serious this year because I'll kill myself if Wood and his Gryffindors beats us this year."

"As if," Adrian Puecy scoffed, "Lestrange has a Firebolt, the world's fastest broom. She'll be moving faster than the Quaffles flying at her."

"And Harrison has a Firebolt," Emery added on, passing a withering glance to Adrian. "He'll catch the Snitch in no time."

Adrian's lip curled and he looked down upon Harrison, as if looking at dung at the bottom of his shoe. "I suppose so," Adrian sighed.

Harrison had hated Adrian since his first year. He was smug and arrogant and had a grudge on Harrison after he put those antlers on his head during his first year.

"Cut it out," Marcus quipped, slapping Adrian across the head. "Let's warm up before we get into the air."

Marcus focused on the Beaters getting situated and used to playing with the team. He made sure they were always hitting the Bludger away from Harrison, who was flying around the field aimlessly, as if he was chasing the Snitch. He bet he looked like a green blur — Delphi did whenever she flew to the next goaling post to block the Quaffle.

Harrison got to see why Marcus had chosen Lucian. He had good aim and a good hit, he managed to hit Harrison twice with the Bludger which had done a weird sort of spinning move that Harrison had never seen before.

Warrington was nothing above average, just as good as their Beaters last year.

Even though Harrison didn't do much during practice, he was still glad to try out his Firebolt. It was faster than he had expected. While riding, he felt as if he could travel faster than light itself.

He noticed from the pitch, three petite figures examining the practice. Harrison had guessed they were Ginny, Luna and Astoria, but he wasn't sure because he was too focused on pretending to follow the Snitch around the pitch.

Once practice was finished, everyone else went forward to go and change out of their uniforms, while Harrison and Marcus stayed back.

"What did you want to talk about?" Harrison asked Marcus.

"You know this is my last year at Hogwarts which means I have to pass on the captain label to someone else," Marcus said. "And I can't give it to any of the newbies, and I would've given it to Emery if she wasn't graduating too. Adrian… I know this whole team will go to shit, but you, Harrison, seem like a really good captain. I mean, you're the Dark Lord's son, I bet you're used to ordering people around."

The last thing Harrison suspected was that Marcus was going to offer the captain position to him. He was not going to return next year, he would not even be here after Christmas break. He would've agreed if his circumstances were normal, but they never seemed to work in his favor.

"I'm sorry Marcus…" Harrison said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I can't."

Marcus frowned and he seemed as if he was going press the issue more, but he stayed silent. "Adrian it is then… God, I hope he doesn't ruin Slytherin's win streak," Marcus sighed.

Marcus left Harrison alone on the pitch to go and change. Harrison had only stayed behind because he saw the three girls, Ginny, Luna and Astoria waiting to approach him.

They scurried over once Marcus was gone.

"Hello, Harrison," Luna greeted first.

"Hello Luna, Astoria and Ginny. Back to admiring me again?" he asked, grinning slightly.

"We were watching Puecy, actually," Astoria retorted, obviously not being serious.

"I assume your eyes couldn't keep up with how fast I was going on my Firebolt, so you watched the slower few of the team," Harrison quipped back.

"I was watching Delphi… she's a good Keeper," Luna added, though no one had asked. Harriosn did not mind though — and Luna was correct.

"I've seen better," Ginny grumbled.

Harrison frowned, remembering how Ginny was jealous of Delphi's relationship with him. He would've shouted at her that he and Delphi were friends, that they considered themselves cousins, but she would wonder how he knew about her jealousy. It was not as if she displayed it that often around him.

"I'll see you girls later, I have somewhere to be." That was a lie. Harrison had nowhere to be, he just didn't want to spend his time speaking with Ginny.

Harrison walked into the locker room, and he had assumed it was empty because of how long he took to get there after his teammates.

As soon as Harrison stepped through the door, he was roughly grabbed around his neck by an arm and his legs were lifted off the ground by two more pairs and secured in a tight grip. He tried to resist whoever had ambushed him, but he struggled to no avail.