Quickly reaching under his seat to where his bag was, he pulled out his Invisibility cloak and draped it over himself, wishing that Fudge hadn't seen him.
"Harrison what happened?" Daphne asked in a hushed voice.
"The. Minister. Is. Here," he whispered as quietly as possible. Daphne turned around in her seat, finally noticing the Professors and Minister.
They sat down at a table not too far from Harrison and Daphne, which was really inconvenient. Of all the things he expected to run into in Hogsmeade, one of them was not the Minister of Magic.
A couple of moments later Madam Rosmerta came with four drinks.
"A small gillywater —"
"Mine," said Professor McGonagall, taking her drink.
"Four pints of mulled mead —"
"Ta, Rosmerta," said Hagrid.
"A cherry syrup and soda with ice and umbrella —"
"Mmm!" said Professor Flitwick, smacking his lips.
"So you'll be the red currant rum, Minister?"
"Thank you, Rosmerta, m'dear. Lovely to see you again, I must say. Have one yourself, won't you? Come and join us," Fudge said, gesturing to an open seat.
"Well, thank you very much, Minister."
Madam Rosmerta walked back to the bar to fetch herself a drink. Harrison looked away from the group of adults and outside the windows of the Three Broomsticks to see two Aurors standing guard at the door.
"Damn it," he muttered to himself. They weren't allowing anyone in with the Minister inside and if the door opened mysteriously they would be suspicious of something. He had to wait.
"I suppose we just wait until they leave." Daphne murmured to him.
"So, what brings you to this neck of the woods, Minister?" Madam Rosmerta asked once she appeared again with a drink of her own. "Don't you have a war to be taking care of?"
Fudge shifted in his seat awkwardly and looked around for any eavesdroppers and Daphne quickly diverted her eyes to the bottom of her half-full tankard. The nearby Gryffindor Trio also diverted their eyes, though to Harrison it was clear they were listening.
Once Fudge thought it was clear he said in a quiet voice, "I do. You see, I'm only here for Sirius Black. The Aurors and Dementors aren't doing their job, so I was advised to go and look for myself. I daresay you heard what happened up at the school at Halloween?"
"It was all over the Prophet. The poor girl. Horrible what Black did to her," sighed Madam Rosmerta. Daphne shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
"The Greengrass family has demanded many Galleons from me and an apology. I wonder why they need so much when they're Pure and rich."
"You know their type," Hagrid huffed, taking a large swig of his drink. "Want to force the Ministry on their knees for You-Know-Who I bet."
Daphne was becoming visibly more angry as she fiddled around with her blonde hair, pretending as if the words coming from the Professor didn't affect her.
"H-hagrid I don't think it's best to-" Professor Flitwick attempted to say, but was simply ignored by the Minister.
"No way Hagrid," Fudge quickly disagreed, "the Greengrasses can't possibly work for You-Know-Who. They might pretend to be like the Malfoys, blonde and upstuck, but they're only doing it to remain safe-"
Daphne abruptly stood from the table, her tankard clattering until it fell over and spilled on the table. She drew eyes from all around the pub, but they didn't see much of her because she rushed towards the back, heading towards the bathroom.
"T-that wasn't Greengrass, wasn't it?" Hagrid asked nervously, turning red in the face.
"It was you buffoon!" McGonagall scolded. "This is why we don't talk about student's families when Hogsmeade is riddled with students!" Both Fudge and Hagrid were red in the face, obviously embarrassed. It served them right.
Daphne hated when people mentioned her family's false Pureblood ideology or how they were a bunch of posers who only wanted to save their asses from You-Know-Who. She tried to make up for it by actually believing and trying to sway her parents into believing too, but she proved unsuccessful.
"No matter," Fudge gruffed, placing his drink on the table down, "she'll get over it." McGonagall eyed Fudge with a look of discomfort and wariness, obviously thrown off by his comment.
"Do you think Black's still in the area, Minister?" Madam Rosmerta whispered, breaking the tense silence.
"I'm sure of it," said Fudge shortly.
"You know that the Dementors have searched the whole village twice?" said Madam Rosmerta, a slight edge to her voice. "Scared all my customers away… It's very bad for business, Minister."
"This war is bad for business," said Fudge tiredly. "I'm only trying to fix what others created. The Dementors are only helping. If only I could tell Dumbledore that — he won't let them inside the castle, only at the entrances during the night."
"And I should think not," Professor McGonagall said sharply. "How are we supposed to teach with those horrors floating around? Can't the Aurors be enough?"
"Hear, hear!" squeaked tiny Professor Flitwick, whose feet were dangling a foot from the ground.
"All the same," demurred Fudge, "the Dementors are here to protect you all from something much worse… and the Aurors are here for extra precautions. Just in case Black decides to have another Death Eater aid him in recapturing Harrison."
"Harrison? The Riddle boy?" asked Madam Rosmerta.
"Yeah. He's traumatized out of his mind by what the Aurors told me," Fudge said, suddenly taking on a face of solemnity, as if he actually began to care about what he was saying. "Doesn't want to leave Hogwarts. Seems he is less scared by Black being so close, compared to going home and You-Know-Who being able to get him."
"Surely you've offered the Riddles protection," Flitwick said, looking quite saddened talking about Harrison too.
"We have, but nothing can convince the boy. I guess this is the karma we get for calling Hogwarts 'the safest place on earth.' The boy has taken it and is flying miles with it."
"Too bad. Harrison is a great lad, help meh out last year with Weasley. I saw him enter the hall with Ginevra, looked like a true Hero then." Hagrid commented, smiling softly. McGonagall was the only one who didn't look saddened talking about Harrison, she looked slightly upset.
"I can't begin to imagine what he's been through," Madam Rosmerta said. "Went into the Chamber of Secrets, slayed some beast and saved a girl from death then gets tortured by You-Know-Who himself. Now he has to worry about Black trying to finish him off."
There was a long pause between the adults before Madam Rosmerta spoke again. "Do you know, I still have trouble believing it, of all the people to go over to the Dark Side, Sirius Black was the last I'd have thought… I mean, remember him when he was a boy at Hogwarts. If you'd told me then what he was going to become, I'd have said you'd had too much mead."
"You don't know the half of it, Rosmerta," said Fudge gruffly. "The worst he did isn't widely known."
"The worst?" said Madam Rosmerta, her voice alive with curiosity. "Worse than murdering all those poor people, you mean?"
"I certainly do," said Fudge.
"I can't believe that. What could possibly be worse?"
"You say you remember him at Hogwarts, Rosmerta," murmured Professor McGonagall. "Do you remember who his best friend was?"
"Naturally," said Madam Rosmerta, with a small laugh. "Never saw one without the other, did you? The number of times I had them in here — ooh, they used to make me laugh. Quite the double act, Sirius Black and James Potter!"
James Potter… Harrison knew the name. He was the owner of the Invisibility Cloak Dumbledore had given to Snape to give to him. And as he thought of it, he remembered Snape had called James' group the Marauders. He hadn't known why he hadn't remembered sooner! James and Black must've been the Marauders! But there were four names on the map, Harrison had no clue who were the other two.
"Precisely," said Professor McGonagall. "Black and Potter. Ringleaders of their little gang. Both very bright, of course — exceptionally bright, in fact — but I don't think we've ever had such a pair of troublemakers —"
"I dunno," chuckled Hagrid. "Fred and George Weasley could give 'em a run fer their money."
"You'd have thought Black and Potter were brothers!" chimed in Professor Flitwick.
"Inseparable!"
"Of course they were," said Fudge. "Potter trusted Black beyond all his other friends. Nothing changed when they left school. Black was best man when James married Lily. Then they named him godfather to their son, Harry Potter."
"They had a son?"
"Yes. He was barely over one when You-Know-Who killed him and his parents. Not even his body was found in the ashes of the nursery. And Lily… her body was burned horrendously." Fudge shuddered, as if recalling a horrid memory. "Not many people are aware that the Potters knew You-Know-Who was after them. Dumbledore has and had a number of useful spies. One of them tipped him off, and he alerted James and Lily at once. He advised them to go into hiding. Well, of course, You-Know-Who isn't an easy person to hide from. Dumbledore told them that their best chance was the Fidelius Charm."
"How does that work?" said Madam Rosmerta, breathless with interest. Professor Flitwick cleared his throat.
"An immensely complex spell," he said squeakily, "involving the magical concealment of a secret inside a single, living soul. The information is hidden inside the chosen person, or Secret-Keeper, and is henceforth impossible to find — unless, of course, the Secret-Keeper
chooses to divulge it. As long as the Secret-Keeper refused to speak, You-Know-Who could search the village where Lily and James were staying for years and never find them, not even if he had his nose pressed against their sitting room window!"
"So Black was the Potters' Secret-Keeper?" whispered Madam Rosmerta.
"Naturally," said Professor McGonagall. "James Potter told Dumbledore that Black would die rather than tell where they were, that Black was planning to go into hiding himself… and yet, Dumbledore remained worried. I remember him offering to be the Potters' Secret-Keeper himself."
"He suspected Black?" gasped Madam Rosmerta.
"He was sure that somebody close to the Potters had been keeping You-Know-Who informed of their movements," said Professor McGonagall darkly. "Indeed, he had suspected for some time that someone on our side had turned traitor and was passing a lot of information to You-Know-Who."
"But James Potter insisted on using Black?"
"He did," said Fudge heavily. "And then, barely a week after the Fidelius Charm had been performed —"
"Black betrayed them?" breathed Madam Rosmerta.
"He did indeed. Black was tired of his double-agent role, he was ready to declare his support openly for You-Know-Who, and he seems to have planned this for the moment of the Potters' death. And he was successful, however Peter Pettigrew tried to get him before he could declare his loyalty."
"Filthy, stinkin' turncoat!" Hagrid said, so loudly that half the bar went quiet.
"Shh!" said Professor McGonagall.
"I met him!" growled Hagrid. "I musta bin the last ter see him before he killed all them people! It was me that rushed into the house, rescuin' James' and Lily's bodies from the last of the flames! Sirius Black tried to get in, to find poor Harry, but Dumbledore had already gottin there and told Sirius ter leave. Hah! He wanted ter check ter see if Harry was alive fer his master! Not because he cared! DAMN IT, I COMFORTED THE MURDERIN' TRAITOR!" Hagrid roared.
"Hagrid, please!" said Professor McGonagall. "Keep your voice down!"
"How was I ter know he wasn' upset abou' Lily an' James? It was You-Know-Who he cared abou'! And yer would've thought he wasn' gonna change sides, made it clear in his school years, but no! He's a two-faced coward!"
A long silence followed Hagrid's story. Then Madam Rosmerta said with some satisfaction, "But he didn't manage to disappear, did he? The Ministry of Magic caught up with him the next day!"
"Alas, if only we had," said Fudge bitterly. "It was not we who found him. It was little Peter
Pettigrew — another of the Potters' friends. Maddened by grief, no doubt, and knowing that Black had been the Potters' Secret-Keeper, he went after Black himself."
"Pettigrew… that fat little boy who was always tagging around after them at Hogwarts?" said Madam Rosmerta.
"Hero — worshipped Black and Potter," said Professor McGonagall. "Never quite in their league, talent-wise. I was often rather sharp with him. You can imagine how I — how I regret that now…" She sounded as though she had a sudden head cold.
"There, now, Minerva," said Fudge kindly, "Pettigrew died a hero's death. Eyewitnesses — Muggles, of course, we wiped their memories later — told us how Pettigrew cornered Black. They say he was sobbing, 'Lily, James and Harry, Sirius! How could you?' And then he went for his wand. Well, of course, Black was quicker. Blew Pettigrew to smithereens…"
Black had killed Peter Pettigrew. But Pettigrew was friends with James and Sirius in their school years, so he had to be the third Marauder. Harrison wondered if they would mention the fourth.
Professor McGonagall blew her nose and said thickly, "Stupid boy… foolish boy… he was
always hopeless at dueling… should have left it to the Ministry…"
"I tell yeh, if I'd got ter Black before little Pettigrew did, I wouldn't've messed around with wands — I'd 've ripped him limb — from — limb," Hagrid growled.
"You don't know what you're talking about, Hagrid," said Fudge sharply. "Nobody but trained Hit Wizards from the Magical Law Enforcement Squad would have stood a chance against Black once he was cornered. I was Junior Minister in the Department of Magical Catastrophes at the time, and I was one of the first on the scene after Black murdered all those people. I — I will never forget it. One of the worst scenes I've seen during this War. A crater in the middle of the street, so deep it had cracked the sewer below. Bodies everywhere. Muggles screaming. And Black standing there laughing, with what was left of Pettigrew in front of him… a heap of bloodstained robes and a few — a few fragments —"
Fudge stopped abruptly so everyone could blow their noses.
How important were these Potter people? They couldn't have been a well known family because Harrison would've known about them. Why did his father go after them though? Maybe they were Aurors or a part of the Order of the Phoenix; the latter was most likely. Voldemort was strict about what Harrison knew and didn't know about the Order of the Phoenix so it made sense that Harrison didn't know them.
"Well, there you have it, Rosmerta," said Fudge thickly. "Black was taken away by twenty members of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad and Pettigrew received the Order of Merlin, First Class, which I think was some comfort to his poor mother. Black's been in Azkaban ever since."
Madam Rosmerta let out a long sigh. "Is it true he's mad, Minister?"
"At first I thought he wasn't, but after a while I started to realize how insane he is," Fudge said slowly.
"The murder of Pettigrew and all those Muggles was the action of a cornered and desperate man — cruel… pointless. Yet I met Black on my last inspection of Azkaban. You know, most of the prisoners in there sit muttering to themselves in the dark; there's no sense in them… but I was shocked at how normal Black seemed. But of course I wasn't tricked for long. He said the last person who inspected Azkaban was untrustworthy, that he was planning something. Now I bet he was trying to play with my head, of course if he was loyal to You-Know-Who he wouldn't tell on his own mate. Besides, Antonin Doholov was the last person who inspected Azkaban and he is one of the most trustworthy men I've met."
Fudge was dense. Antonin Dolohov was a master manipulator, almost as good as Harrison and Voldemort themselves. He was the least trusty person, but Harrison supposed it was good
"It's good you didn't listen to him," Professor McGonagall agreed. "He was probably trying to get into your head, distract you from when he broke out."
"I'm still clueless on how he's done it. Probably help from You-Know-Who."
"But why didn't he help the rest of the lot?" Madam Rosmerta asked.
"They weren't important most likely. Black had his skill, plus his family, it makes sense why You-Know-Who broke him out."
"So you think he's rejoined You-Know-Who?"
"Most likely. That's why he's been going after Riddle, orders from You-Know-Who," Fudge murmured. "But we are trying to catch him before he lays even his pinky on Harrison. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if he did."
And like that, the adult's conversation ended. They put down their drinks and exchanged a couple of words about a dinner with Dumbledore before the Professors and Minster left. Madam Rosmerta returned behind the bar.
Harrison was very confused. So much of the conversation had seemed familiar and foreign all at the same time.
The Marauders were James Potter, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew and possibly Lily; whom James had married. They made the Marauders Map and identified as Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs (Harrison had no idea which alias belonged to who).
James married Lily and they had a son. They were noticeable enough to get tracked by Harrison's father, so they went into hiding by using the Fidelius Charm and Sirius Black was the Secret Keeper. He betrayed the Potters and told Voldemort where they were hiding which led to their deaths. Sirius Black got tracked by Peter, but Peter died and Black was imprisoned.
But even after putting the puzzle pieces of the story together, it still made no sense.
Black was a Blood Traitor. He was banished off the family tree because he didn't support Pureblood ideology. If he were a Death Eater, Bellatrix nor Delphi nor Draco would speak nastily about him and Harrison would've known him prior to the Azkaban madness.
And since Harrison knows that Black is trying to kill him, it means he knows who Harrison actually is which makes it clear he isn't loyal to Voldemort.
But if he was not loyal to Voldemort then why would he tell on his best friends and kill the other?
Then he must have been framed, but how could anyone frame him if he was the Secret Keeper? Unless one of the Potters told Voldemort themselves, it was simply impossible.
Had it been in spite of a moment? Was Black angry at the Potters and decided to tell Voldemort as revenge? He couldn't have been Imperioed because the Charm doesn't work like that. If he was tortured into telling, couldn't he have cleared his name like that? But Black said he would rather die than give into Voldemort, unless it was bluff.
"Hey, Harrison. Are you still there?"
Harrison realized he was still under the Invisibility Cloak and tore it off of himself once he saw Daphne standing across from him.
"S-sorry. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. It's just that I'm a little… pissed — I mean, pretending to be the Malfoys, blonde and upstuck?" Daphne repeated in a scoff. "Is that what people honestly think of my family?"
"I don't think about you or your family that way," Harrison insisted. "Why listen to scum like Fudge anyways? Who cares if he's the Minister? He's still another stupid Halfblood — let's hurry and get those presents. The trip is going to end soon."
Harrison and Daphne barely talked the rest of the trip, both tense from Hogshead, but were satisfied with their date once it all came to an end. They split ways, rejoining their own group of friends.
"So what did you do?" Draco asked excitedly, trying to get Harrison to spill whatever he thought happened on his and Daphne's date.
"We hung out around Hogsmeade and bought presents," Harrison insisted once again. It wasn't the full truth but Harrison was glad that Draco hadn't interrogated him about what he heard in the Three Broomsticks.
"You didn't kiss her?"
"W-why would I-I kiss her? I mean, I didn't! Why would you ask me t-that?" Harrison stuttered, feeling his face become all hot.
"Merlin, your face got so red," Blaise snorted.
"You just don't ask someone if they kissed someone!"
"Why not? People who didn't kiss anyone wouldn't be so defensive!" Draco countered.
"I didn't kiss her!"
"For Merlin's sake," Delphi groaned, tired of the boy's pointless bickering. "If you're going to keep talking, talk about how annoying you three are."
Blaise frowned then his eyes narrowed on Theo. "What about him?"
"Theo isn't yapping his mouth about who kissed who and unlike some of us, I'm trying to focus."
"On what exactly?" Draco asked, trying to reach for Delphi's letter. She slammed her fist down on his hand and Draco whimpered as he tried to get his hand from under Delphi's.
"Explaining to your mother why I'm not coming to Malfoy Manor for Christmas Break."
"Why not?"
"Why would you spend Christmas at Malfoy Manor?" Theo asked instead.
"Because my mother is in Azkaban. I'm supposed to be staying with Aunt Cissy," Delphi explained before turning back to Draco. "And because I don't want to spend Christmas at Malfoy Manor."
"Are you really going to make me spend Christmas alone?"Draco pouted playfully.
"You won't be alone," Delphi assured him, but by her tone Harrison could tell she was being sarcastic. "You'll be with your mum and dad, happily singing Christmas Carols together."
"What are you doing for Christmas break?" Harrison asked Blaise before Draco could give his snarky reply to Delphi.
"I want to stay here with you, but my mother wants me home for her," Blaise paused and began to count on his fingers. "Sixth marriage. By the end of the break stepfather number six will be dead and I'll be getting my allowance."
"How about you Theo?"
"Oh, I'm staying," Theo said, surprised that Harrison had spoken to him. "I can't bear staying with my Grandparents again. All they do is sit in the same seat all day and sleep."
"Well at least I won't be alone."
When tomorrow had come around, Blaise and Draco were gone which left Delphi, Harrison and Theo in the company of each other. Hogwarts was very, very empty. Of course a select few had stayed — like Hermione and Neville, Luna and Ginny.
Breakfast was awfully quiet because of the lack of students there. Especially since Harrison, Delphi and Theo had arrived there first — the staff table was barely full. Dumbledore and McGonagall were the only ones that sat there and they all watched the odd trio enter and sit down at the empty Slytherin table
"So what did you usually do during Christmas break?" Theo asked, breaking the odd silence as they ate.
"I went home," Delphi replied dryly, uninterested in Theo's small talk.
"Stayed at Hogwarts because Voldemort instructed me to." Harrison replied after.
"Okay… I have a funny story actually — last year me, Crabbe and Goyle woke up unconscious in a corridor by ourselves. It was weird because before we were near the Great Hall." Theo chuckled awkwardly.
Harrison and Delphi exchanged looks as they remembered the last Christmas when the Gryffindor Trio had taken a Polyjuice Potion. They must've knocked out those three somehow, but they had never told Theo or his goons about it.
"How strange," Harrison murmured, sounding as innocent as he could. "Well hopefully that doesn't happen this year — do you want to go outside and play in the snow once we finish eating?"
"It's freezing outside," Delphi told him with a huff. "We can just play Exploding Snap inside."
"I-I don't care," Theo said, shrugging his shoulders.
Before Harrison and Delphi could start bickering, the doors to the Great Hall swung open and along came the incompleted trio of Ginny and Luna. It was quite disappointing to not see Astoria with them.
"Merlin, I hope they don't come over here." Delphi groaned, watching the two girls as they entered. Theo nodded in agreement, however he averted his eyes from the girls. Harrison didn't mind Luna sitting with them, but he knew if she sat over here, Ginny would sit too.
"Good morning Harrison." Ginny said, smiling brightly at him. When he returned it with his fake smile, she blushed a bright pink.
"Good morning Delphi," Luna said instead, catching the girl by surprise. Delphi stared at the Ravenclaw weirdly, but she did not say anything. "Good morning Theodore — Harrison."
"Good morning Luna." Harrison said back, returning her smile genuinely.
Luna and Ginny sat down across from the Slytherins. They filled their plates with food and a hushed silence fell over them. "How was everyone's mornings?" Luna asked.
"It was great Luna," Harrison said for everyone else. "Thanks for asking." Luna nodded happily and they all returned to eating in a painful silence.
Fluttering erupted in the Great Hall, however it wasn't very loud since there were a lot less owls flying in. One very familiar, eagle owl, had a Howler and it was coming towards the Slytherin table. Harrison watched as Aunt Cissy's owl stopped right above Delphi and dropped the Howler right into her lap.
Delphi rolled her eyes as she stared at the red Howler in her lap, threatening to explode. It was as if she was expecting it because she did not look phased at all. In fact, she opened the Howler casually as if it was another letter.
"DELPHINI BLACK LESTRANGE!" Aunt Cissy's voice rang throughout the hall. Harrison heard Ginny snort behind her hand.
"I FIND IT RIDICULOUSLY CHILDISH THAT YOU DECIDE THAT YOU'RE NOT COMING HOME BECAUSE YOU 'DON'T FEEL LIKE IT.' THEN YOU HAVE THE AUDACITY TO ASK ME TO LEAVE YOUR STUFF ALONE AT THE LESTRANGE HOUSE!" Delphi rolled her eyes, unphased by Aunt Cissy's scolding. Harrison never got yelled at by her before, but Merlin did she sound scary.
"YOU ARE LUCKY I DON'T MARCH DOWN THERE AND MOVE EVERYTHING TO MALFOY MANOR MYSELF! DRACO HAS CONVINCED ME NOT TOO SO I EXPECT FOR YOU TO THANK HIM! — I EXPECT YOU TO BE HOME FOR SPRING BREAK OR ELSE I'LL MOVE EVERYTHING MYSELF!"
And then it ended. The red Howler folded into itself, becoming nothing more than a pile of ashes. Delphi mumbled a line of curse words as she swiped the ash away.
"You wanted to move everything yourself?" Harrison asked after a tense pause.
"Yes. I don't want her messing up anything."
"Then why didn't you go home?" Theo asked.
"I didn't feel like it."
There was an awkward silence once more before Luna spoke. "Are you moving in with your Aunt?" she asked.
"Not that it's any of your business, Looney," Ginny eyes narrowed on Delphi, "but I am."
"Don't call her that!" Ginny snapped at her. Delphi turned her gaze upon the redhead, a sneer she usually saved for her brother appeared on her face. "Or what, Weaslette? Gonna go write your big bwothers and ask them to hex me?" Delphi asked as if she was speaking to a toddler. "Go ahead. This time you'll get to watch Ronald throw up slugs."
"It's fine. Everyone calls me that — I don't find it insulting. I thought it was fun that people created a nickname for me."
"I'm not hungry anymore," Harrison suddenly said before anyone else could talk. "I'm going to head back to the common room to get dressed," he looked at Delphi and Theo. "Are you coming?"
"Sure," Delphi said tightly. She passed one last withering glance at Luna and Ginny before stalking off with the boys.
They spent their time uselessly that day. Playing outside in the snow, avoiding the other students as they vandalized school paintings. It was fun and once Theo had gone to bed, Delphi snuck into Harrison's dorm.
"Let's go," Delphi's voice said. Harrison opened his eyes and immediately all the candles on the wall lit up, making Harrison groan. He quickly pulled the covers over his bare chest once he saw Delphi's distorted silhouette at his door.
"Merlin, Delphi!" he shouted. "Where exactly are we going?" Harrison asked her, squinting through the sudden light to look at his cousin.
"To go and practice of course. I thought you had stayed to help me."
"W-well yeah, but that isn't the only reason."
"Regardless, you still agreed to help me. C'mon, who else is going to teach me?"
"Alright, alright. Just wait outside while I change."
"Alright then."
Once Delphi exited the room Harrison was tempted to lock it with a charm and go back to sleep, but he decided against it. He got dressed in something much warmer and thicker than his pajamas and joined Delphi outside his dorm with his Invisibility Cloak.
"There is less Aurors here now. Dementors are still guarding all the entrances. I don't think we'll have to use it as much now."
"You're very observant," Harrison yawned. "Well let's go then. We'll put it on once we reach the exit." Delphi agreed and they set off.
As they were roaming the castle, they noticed all of the castle's decorations for Christmas were finished being put up. Now it looked like Christmas everywhere you looked. There was a Christmas Tree on every floor and cheeky mistletoes hanging from the ceiling.
Once they were close to exit they put on the cloak and advanced a lot slower to the exit they used. However, they paused when they heard humming come from where they were headed.
Even more carefully and quietly, they advanced forward and barely illuminated by the moonlight was an Auror. She was humming to herself as she leant against the walls.
The Auror was twirling her wand in her hand, but dropped it and when she went to pick it up she dropped it once more.
Talk about clumsy, Harrison thought to himself.
The two Slytherins quietly tiptoed past the oblivious Auror and now that her face and features were clearer, Harrison saw she had bright pink hair that didn't even go past her ears. She had a familiar face though, but it was not as if Harrison saw her before, it was as if she shared the same features of someone he knew.
Harrison didn't pay attention to the Auror any longer and they quickly ran past her and hurried down the hill towards the Forbidden Forest. Once they had reached their training spot, they pulled off the cloak.
"I've been practicing the wand movements like you asked."
"Okay — I think you might be able to try the spell again, but let's just think about it first."
"What do you mean?"
"Remember how I told you how you want to have a need to perform the Killing Curse?" Delphi nodded. "Well think about why you want to perform it. Why you want to commit a murder. Why do you want to perform this spell so badly — I don't have to do much of that, to me it's as easy as doing the light charm."
"You like rubbing it in, don't you?"
"Well… yes."
Delphi picked up a handful of snow and threw it at his head, and he ducked it just by inches. "Alright! Sorry!" he laughed, throwing his arms up in defeat.
"Well what am I supposed to think about?"
"Something that makes you feel murderous. Or perhaps someone you want to murder… more than you want to murder Black."
Delphi's eyebrows furrowed for less than a second, as if she already had someone on her mind — had she wanted to kill someone more than she wanted to kill Black?
"D-did you think of someone?" Harrison asked her hesitantly.
"My father's murderer."
The three words alone made the area seem colder than it was. They were a lot more impactful than Harrison expected. It made sense, he would also want to kill the man who murdered someone close to him. It was even sadder that they had no idea whose fault it was that Rodolphus died. Who had caused the blast that caused the wall to drop on him.
"I'm ready to try."
"Okay. Go ahead. Point at the flower."
Delphi's fingers flexed around her wand as she pointed it down at the barely alive flower. It was losing its color and covered in snow — Harrison was surprised that it hadn't died already.
"Avada Kedavra!" Delphi shouted and then it happened. A bright flash of green light followed by a bang echoed throughout the forest. Harrison shielded his eyes with his arms and after a few seconds, he lowered them.
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Delphi groaned, staring down at her hand. Harrison looked around to see the flower was still intact, however the tree nearby had a large, charred hole in it now.
"What happened?" Harrison asked her, quickly walking over to her.
"The tree's wood! It's in my hand," she told him, showing him her bleeding hand. She had a large piece of bark that penetrated the palm of her hand and it was causing a bloody mess.
"Take it out and I'll fix it."
Delphi slowly pulled out the wood shrapnel from her hand, wincing every couple of seconds.
Once she got it out, Delphi held out her hand for Harrison. The cut wasn't too big, nor that deep, but it was sure gushing out a lot of blood. Harrison muttered, "Episkey," as he waved his wand above Delphi's cut. Right before their eyes the wound shut close. There was not even a line in sight to show Delphi had been cut.
"Did I do it?" she asked once she looked up from her hand.
"Well a bit. You kinda missed though," Harrison said, pointing at the tree. "And you lost control of your wand. Perhaps we should practice a bit more, in case next time you try and lose control of your wand, it won't hit me instead."
Delphi reached for her wand that had dropped to the ground. She sighed and nodded her head, "O-okay. Let's just go back. I'm tired."
"You look exhausted," Theo commented the next morning. Delphi did look exhausted, as if she stayed up longer than she was supposed to. "Did you even go to sleep last night?"
"No. I was awake practicing."
Harrison went wide eyed and wanted to ask Delphi what she was thinking. Harrison assumed she was going to lie, saying she was practicing for Homework. There was no reason for her to tell Theo.
"Practicing what?" Theo asked like anyone else would.
"Delphi are you-" Harrison tried to whisper to her, but she cut him off.
"The Killing Curse."
"T-the Killing Curse?" Theo repeated.
Harrison was just as shocked as Theo. Why did she say that? Had she been too drowsy to notice what she was saying?
"Yeah. I told you I'm trying to become a Death Eater. I need to learn the Killing curse, obviously, so Harrison is teaching me how to do it." Delphi elaborated, passing a glance to Harrison. She did that on purpose, to make him panic.
"That's sick," Theo said, smirking. "Well can you do it?"
"Not yet. It's hard to get it down."
"I forget sometimes that you're the son of the Dark Lord," Theo said, turning to Harrison. "It's still a bit crazy how you can do all this stuff."
"It's one of the perks that comes with the title," Harrison said as a joke. Theo laughed, but Delphi barely even bothered to chuckle.
"Malfoy is a git," Longbottom's voice groaned. It was easy for echoes to be picked up in the corridors, especially from how empty they were. "I don't get why he's causing all of this trouble for Hagrid."
"We'll defend Buckbeak somehow," Hermione responded. "There's no way I'll allow Malfoy the satisfaction of getting Buckbeak executed." Her voice began to fade which meant they had walked away.
"So they're trying to defend their chicken..." Delphi mused, smirking devilishly. "There's no way they'll win against uncle."
"For the smartest Witch of our age, Granger can be really thick sometimes." Theo commented, not being mindful of what he said. Harrison internally groaned — he already knew what was going to happen.
"That filthy, disgusting, mudblood is not the brightest of our age!" she snapped at Theo. "If I duel her right on she'll lose in seconds! Last year doesn't count because she cheated, but trust me, if I didn't have to use Expelliarmus she would've lost!"
"I meant academically," Theo insisted.