Halle Potter and the first year of madness.
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The next morning came and Halle arose out of an unusual sleep. She had been having strange a dream. She could remember walking through a forest and finding a unicorn with a turban around its head and fangs in its mouth that it bared at her before waking up.
Movement beside her caught her eye and she looked to her left to see Ronnie still in her Pyjamas, feeding Scabbers.
It occurred to Halle it was a Saturday. Her first weekend at Hogwarts.
She smiled to herself. She had made it a week so far at Hogwarts.
She wasn't the only witch who didn't know about magic and she wasn't the worst student in their classes perhaps except Potions but she had made it nevertheless and had done alright for a beginner.
All her worries that she had felt on the train had now fully dissipated. Yes she was still annoyed that she hadn't found a star lesson yet and wasn't as brainy as Hermione or skilled as Ronnie but as Percy Weasley had said, she still had a long way to go.
Ronnie came round to her bed and noticed that Halle was awake.
"Morning." Said Ronnie in a large yawn.
"Morning. Sleep alright?" Asked Halle croakily whilst stretching her arms above her head.
"Yeah but my sleeping pattern is officially dead. It's a Saturday morning and I'm up." Said Ronnie annoyed.
Halle chuckled.
"Also it's the first week and I already feel drained. A good drained but drained all the same. I don't know how I'm gonna survive the rest of the year if I'm this tired already." Said Ronnie fighting the urge to tuck back into bed.
Halle nodded her head. This first week had been extremely draining but had also passed much more quickly than she would've expected.
"So what's the criteria for today?" Asked Halle still snuggled under her sheet.
"Good question. I was thinking maybe you, me and Nev could explore the castle for a little bit. I swear these stairs are gonna be the death of me If I don't get the hang of them soon. I would've definitely fallen into that trick step yesterday if you didn't stop me." Said Ronnie shaking her head.
Halle sniggered. They could get to the great hall without trouble but Ronnie and Neville were still struggling with the castle's interior. Halle had gotten a grasp of it quite quickly. Perhaps because she liked it a whole lot more than she did Privet Drive.
"Sure. Sounds fun. Anything else?" She asked sitting up.
The idea of exploring the castle peaked her interest.
"Well we could grab some breakfast, do some exploring, get lunch and play some games later? I'm not doing any homework at least until tomorrow." Said Ronnie adamantly.
Halle nodded. At the mention of breakfast she heard her stomach rumble fiercely.
"Sounds like a plan. Let's get ready. I'm so hungry I could eat a horse right now." Said Halle jumping up.
"A girl after my own heart." Said Ronnie smirking and jumping up too.
Half an hour a later the two girls were washed and dressed and heading down to breakfast with Neville.
They entered the great hall. A lot of students were already seated. At the Gryffindor table sat Hermione who seemed to be engrossed in a book whilst munching on some toast, the remaining Gryffindor students in their year were sat together talking, a few seats away from her.
The only other Gryffindor that was not apart of their gathering was Dewei Zabini who was sat right at the end of the table eating his breakfast.
This was no surprise to Halle. It had been like this all week.
Dewei only spoke to anyone in Gryffindor when it came to lessons. Otherwise he didn't associate himself with them. At breakfast, lunch and dinner he would distance himself away from everyone and usually would leave the table early. In classes he always spoke as though he was proposing a business deal to you and once the lesson ended he left without a word to anyone.
Neville had told Halle and Ronnie that on the first night the Gryffindor boys had all got on so well that they had spoken for almost three hours before going to sleep all except Dewei who gave them a meagre goodnight and closed the curtains around his four poster bed.
The comparison of her first night was vastly different except for Dewei in a sense. Hermione had also been the first in bed and definitely had not made a good impression on the dorm.
She didn't know much about Dewei other than his god siblings were the Malfoy's and his brother and sister was Blaise and Lu.
Where as Hermione liked to get her opinion known and recite textbooks word for word, Dewei was a mystery. She had not had another conversation with him since Diagon Alley. She had barely heard him even speak.
He didn't answer questions in lessons unless he was called on, which wasn't often. He kept to himself but Freja and Matt who had been partnered with him in charms and Herbology had insisted that he wasn't rude just not sociable.
Friendship groups had already been established with the 11 out the 13 first years. Lavender, Parvati and Padma all week had not been separated. Their little party liked to gossip a lot. Matt and Freja appeared to have known each other before school. The two had been together all week too other than being partnered with others in classes however they didn't isolate themselves from the rest of their house. The other girls got on with Freja and the boys got on with Matt and vice versa.
The two would alternate between sitting with each group or herself, Ronnie and Neville. Something that Lavender was particularly fond of. Halle noticed how she would get puppy dog eyes around Matt. She assumed it was because of his burgundy curls and his glossy hazel eyes.
Finally there was Dean, Ryan and Seamus. The three had connected instantly and we're definitely what Halle would describe as the boys.
They all had their own cliques but the 11 of them were starting to establish a house bond.
Yesterday after dinner had seen them all getting to know each other better in a corner of the common room whilst playing a large fun game of exploding snap courteous of Seamus. When Dewei had walked into the common room they had offered him an invite to join the game but he had refused and walked off to boys dormitory.
"Honestly what is his problem?" Scoffed Lavender.
"He obviously hates being in Gryffindor." Remarked Ryan.
"He obviously thinks he's better than the rest of us." Stated Seamus.
"We don't know that guys. Maybe he's just shy." Informed Padma.
"Shy? Does he look shy to you?" Chimed in Ronnie.
Dewei definitely did not look shy. His expressions always said 'So much as look at me and I'll kill you.'
Halle had also heard how Dewei had spoken to Serphina Malfoy in Diagon Alley so he was far from shy. Well at least when it came to conversation. Was there a reason for him to be shy around them? Maybe the older years but his housemates?
"Looks can be deceiving." Said Dean.
"That's true and I had charms with him the other day he wasn't rude, he just got on with the work." Professed Freja.
"Being in class is one thing, but he just point blank ignores us. That's just plain rude." Said Parvati heatedly.
"Maybe he's home sick or has a bad past or something?" Questioned Neville.
"He does." Said Matt knowingly.
The group turned to look at him.
"Like what Matt?" Asked Halle. She didn't want to necessarily snoop in Dewei Zabini's business but her curiosity was peaking.
"Matty maybe you shouldn't. You shouldn't really be revealing other people's business." Said Freja looking around the common room.
"Yeah well at this rate the only way we're going to get know our housemate is through snooping in his business which clearly you two already did, so now you gotta spill." Said Ronnie challengingly.
Freja and Matt gave each other a look.
"Oh come on. If everyone promises not to speak word of this outside this circle will you tell us?" Asked Halle pleadingly.
"Guys." Said Freja.
"Pretty Please. I promise I won't say a word." Said Neville.
Halle and Ronnie nodded their heads in agreement.
The other six who looked very interested also nodded their heads like puppies awaiting to be fed treats.
Freja sighed in defeat and nodded at Matt.
Matt looked toward the dormitory and around the common room. Other students were busy doing their own thing and Dewei was nowhere in sight.
"Well for a start. At least the last 3 generations of his family have been in Slytherin if not more. You saw how he looked at the sorting when he was placed in Gryffindor. Gryffindors and Slytherins have been rivals for centuries. No doubt he grew up with a Slytherin mind set so it's only to be expected. His brother and big sister are in Slytherin. To be the only Gryffindor in a Slytherin household is probably a lot worse than a Slytherin in a full house of Gryffindors. Then there's the whole thing with his mum." Said Matt uncomfortable.
"What about his mum?" Asked Lavender intrigued.
"Well his mother is known for some stuff." Said Matt lowering his tone.
"Like?" Pushed Halle.
"Well for a start she's been married four times. Three out of four of her husband's have all ended up dead under mysterious circumstances but the ministry of magic could never prove that she had anything to do with it even though she always gets a massive payout from each husband. Some say that she's cursed, whilst others think that she's a Veela or a Siren. Mrs Zabini is apparently extremely beautiful." Said Matt to the huddled group.
Halle thought about her first reaction of seeing Dewei. He was very handsome for an 11 year old, unfortunately she had admit that his fraternal twin was too. Not that she'd ever tell Blaise Zabini that but even Lu was stunningly gorgeous so she had no doubt in her mind that their mother would be too.
"Was?" Questioned Ronnie.
"Well Mrs Zabini believe it or not isn't famous for her many marriages. She was an alchemist, specifically in the department of weapons and magical artefacts. She was quite the popular crafter too. Loads of wizards went to her for business. A lot went for her looks but many wizards went for stuff that she sold. So did her fourth husband. Odium Kadam." Said Matt with a notable shiver.
"Who's that?" Asked Ryan confused.
"As in that wizard who founded the Emerald Eclipse?" Asked Ronnie. Her tone was unpleasant.
"Yeah." Said Matt Grimly.
"What's the Emerald Eclipse?" Asked Dean quickly.
"It's a club." Answered Padma.
"A pretty famous one too. Loads of popular wizards go there." Said Parvati.
"Yeah but during the first war it became more than that." Said Freja.
"War? What war?" Asked Dean looking around the group.
"Dean was you never told about the wizarding war?" Asked Freja shocked.
"No, why were all of you?" Asked Dean curious.
Everyone except Ryan nodded their head.
"I wasn't." Said Ryan just as confused as Dean looked.
"Well I suppose most Muggleborns aren't told about the war because it's upsetting to say the least." Said Ronnie.
"What happened?" Asked Dean.
"Well there was this really dark wizard, who went as bad as can be. We call him You know who. He was really evil and did a lot of bad stuff to a lot of good wizards.
His goals were terrible. See he didn't accept Muggleborns. He believed that wizards should be pure and so he built up an army of wizards who agreed with him and they tried to take over the wizarding world so that they could I guess make sure it stayed pure for future generations. He was…..…..stopped and is gone now." Said Ronnie with a quick glance at Halle.
The others did too. Halle looked down and Neville gave her hand a comforting squeeze. Ryan looked like he was about to ask another question but Matt cut in.
"Yeah and the Kadam family were big supporters of his ideas." Said Matt quickly.
"Yeah but most wizards don't know that because what they did after the war." Said Freja.
"Hold on a minute. Since when were they supporters? I've never heard anything about them being linked to you know who." Asked Seamus confused.
"Odium Kadam's oldest brother Pravis, was a follower of you know who. Got convicted after the war and had a quiet trial." Answered Freja.
"Exactly. Most wizards don't even know about that cause their father's apart of the wizengamot which trust me is a powerful connection to have. Not to mention they have a few other relatives in powerful positions in the ministry of magic but the trial was made public, the problem was there was a lot more public trials that were even worse than Pravis Kadam's, so his trial was quickly forgotten.." Said Matt and Halle was sure for a split second that his eyes had flittered to Neville but he continued.
"Any who Kadam during the war turned the Emerald Eclipse into a sanctuary for wizards. He gained a lot of support after everything that happened even though he doesn't hide the fact that he prefers Pureblood's. His part in the war gave him massive favour with the ministry of magic and wizarding Britain. During the war when people were running for their lives, they would turn to the Eclipse for sanctuary. Odium would let them in but it was all a cover." Said Matt.
He went silent for a moment when a group of students walked past.
He was clearly uncomfortable talking about this subject but after a moment he continued.
"My uncle was in the same year of school with him. He was Slytherin and was expelled at 16 for unknown circumstances but my uncle told me he attacked and almost killed a Muggleborn. It wasn't made a big deal because well that was when the rise of you know who was becoming a massive threat. His family are Pureblood's and were really rich and powerful so when he was expelled I guess he just decided to create a club for Pureblood's and to an extent Half blood's but no Muggleborns were allowed. They were denied entry and no one could do anything about it. He owned the club and believe it or not it was still successful too. A lot of old Pureblood families have wizarding etiquette imbedded into them, so a lot of wizards still went to his club even with the blatant Discrimination against Muggleborns." Said Matt in a distasteful tone.
"Yeah didn't help that he got big wizarding names to perform and go there too. During the war he had the perfect cover and protection. His brother would do all the bad stuff whilst he would gain favour and information that he would relay to his him which kept them rich and protected. It couldn't ever be proven though. Any who point is when you know who was stopped and Kadam's brother was caught, that's when he did something that would ensure he wasn't tied to him. He created a wizard orphanage." Explained Freja.
"Are they not common?" Asked Halle curiously.
She was an orphan and in all curiosity wondered why she hadn't been given too one. She would've thought it would've been the smartest option considering magic had to be kept a secret and her aunt and uncle hated her for being magical.
"They're not unheard of in the wizarding world but there are very few that I personally know of.
That's because wizards are the lower population on the planet than Muggles. Granted there's millions of our kind but there's billions of theirs. In saying that though wizards are more prone to produce larger numbers. Granted plenty of wizards give birth to one or two kids but statistics show that naturally wizards are more liable to have bigger families than Muggles. There's a at least 9 families in wizard Britain alone that I'm aware of that have over 20 children. Point is that essentially a lot of wizards have available family to take care of them in most scenarios. So an orphaned wizard's first option isn't an orphanage. Then there's also the fact that to keep the statute of secrecy in place its dangerous to have so many young wizards all together as such in an muggle environment. There are many wizarding areas all over the world but there also many Muggles inhabited in them. Young wizards with growing magic, It's a natural case for disaster. There are wizard orphanages just not many and they're in quite isolated areas." Answered Padma.
Halle nodded her head at her. She felt some disappointment in that answer. She assumed it was her dreaming of life where she could've known she was a witch and could've grownup with other magical children.
"A wizard orphanage doesn't sound bad." Said Dean getting back to topic but his voice was unsure as though the topic had a foreboding essence about it.
It certainly did give off a vibe that was unmissable. Halle felt like looking around the way Matt kept on doing.
"It might not seem that bad sure but let me put it to you like this. Odium Kadam is an elitist with discriminatory views and is only raising Children to keep favour with the ministry and nothing more." Said Matt once again looking around.
"Well when you put it like that…" Said Dean trailing off uncomfortably.
Halle understood the feeling. She let Matts words run around her head. An Elitist with discriminatory views raising children.
A shiver ran down her body. She for some odd reason imagined her uncle taking in all the children of her old primary school and teaching them to hate her. Something he had easily taught Dudley to do which she guessed did extend to her classmates at primary school.
Suddenly the unknown image of Odium Kadam became silhouetted with dark shadows wrapped around him.
"So why did he take in the kids?" Asked Ryan curiously.
The others all looked between Matt and Freja. The conversation was an extremely interesting one but also felt ominous.
"He gave an interview about how the children of the war had suffered the most and that we're the future and how he wanted to do right by those who were wronged but my mum believes he just wants to teach his views on those kids so that they hate Muggleborns." Said Freja her tone hard.
Her voice was normally quite soft and sweet like, so it was strange to hear the edge in her voice but like Halle herself she was a half blood and they both had muggle blood run in their veins and it was angering to know that there was such prejudice against those with such blood half or full so undoubtedly she had right to feel anger at the topic.
"Yeah and he's been raising children ever since as well as keeping the club going, probably to finance the orphanage." Added Matt.
"Ok ok but what does that have to do with Zabini?" Asked Ronnie looking between them.
Halle had almost forgotten that their conversation had started with their fellow Gryffindor.
"Oh right of course. Well like I said Mrs Zabini and Odium Kadam got married." Informed Matt.
Halle recalled that Matt had said this earlier on but with the all the new information zipping around her head on Mr Kadam suddenly she wasn't sure how to feel about Dewei. She didn't hate him but she didn't know what his mother was like and if she could marry a man like Kadam then who was to say that she didn't share those same values and teach them to her son?
But Halle knew she shouldn't assume.
For one she had no idea what kind of relationship Dewei or Blaise and Lu for that matter had with their mother or their stepfather. There was no guarantee that Dewei even liked his stepfather. There was no guarantee that Dewei even liked anyone.
Then there was Lu. She definitely was not like that and as for Blaise well Halle wasn't sure. The Malfoy's yes but Blaise she couldn't quite tell. Blaise was similar to Dewei in the sense that he was quite. She hadn't heard him outright say anything ill mannered about Muggleborns but he remembered the look of disdain that he had shown to Ronnie on the train and she was pureblood. He also hadn't left his god siblings side since he start of Hogwarts.
"Oh right, ok so they got hitched. How come?" Asked Ronnie.
"Honestly I don't know why, but they got married a few years after the war. My dad seemed to think it was a big deal and well maybe it was." Said Matt his tone becoming in uneasy once again.
"Why?" Asked Halle leaning forward as though that would get the answer quicker.
"Mrs Zabini's been missing for five years now." Said Matt barely above a whisper.
"Missing?" Said Neville nervously.
Matt nodded.
"Yep and he took over her business and possessions until her children come of age." Said Matt looking around again.
It would make Halle uneasy every time he did. She wondered why he was so on guard? Dewei was in the boys dormitory and didn't speak to anyone. Who was Matt worried about hearing their conversation?
"So what people think he's the reason she went missing?" Asked Lavender wide eyed.
"Uh huh." Said Matt.
"And for good reason too. Odium Kadam was accused of murdering his first wife. Amulor Kadam Jumped in Freja uneasy.
Halle's eyes went wide. Some of the others dropped their jaws.
"What?" Asked Lavender incredulous.
"Are you being serious?" Asked Parvati.
Freja simply nodded her head.
"How?" Asked Neville in a strained voice.
"Well it was just after the war. After the trial of Pravis, the ministry did some further investigations into the Eclipse seeming as Pravis and several other members of the family helped run the club including Amulor. She had apparently called a private Auror to talk too about some undisclosed information on the war and made a date to meet but never showed up. A few days later she's found dead in a ditch. Things back then were hectic. So accusations were being flung everywhere including at Kadam. The ministry did their investigation but had no proof so the case had to be dropped but It didn't help that roughly six months or so after Amulor Kadam's death that he began dating Cerelia Zabini, who's previous husband which I believe is Dewei's father, had died from mysterious circumstances the year prior." Explained Freja.
"Yeah and that one couldn't be kept out of the daily prophet so the public opinion did drop amongst the wizarding community. When the case was dropped half of the wizarding community believed that it was someone else who killed her and everything that he did for the wizarding community during the war kept him on the favourable side especially after the announcement of the orphanage but the other half believed that he killed her to save his own skin and that he had no remorse because he quickly married a rich widow who half of the wizarding community thinks is a murder herself." Said Matt.
"Wait so what about Mrs Zabini in terms of being missing?" Asked Seamus.
"No one knows. One day her business is flourishing, next minute she disappears. Kadam filed a missing report with the ministry and a search went underway but they couldn't find her so she's legally presumed dead. He got all her possessions and assets and he fought for custody of her children but Mrs Zabini's will was adamant that they would be given into the care of their godmother, Narcissa Malfoy in the event that something happened to her and apparently she fought even harder to take them into her care too. He apparently is still active in their lives though but nevertheless The Zabini's have had to live with that for last five years. Witches and Wizards thinking that their mother is some man killing witch and them thinking that their step father is a follower of You know who as well as being behind the disappearance of their mother, so those reputations and tragedy have been put on them. I'm not surprised Dewei is the way he is. I'm surprised that he's not worse if I'm honest." Said Matt very grimly.
The group was silent for a moment processing all the information.
Halle's brain was swimming with thoughts and questions but one question was asked before she could ask it herself.
"How do you guys know all this?" Asked Parvati in awe.
"Our parents have been working together for years and let's just say we overhear things that we're not exactly supposed too." Said Freja vaguely.
"What do your parents do?" Asked Neville curiously.
Matt was about to speak but Freja elbowed him and nodded her head over towards someone walking to their group.
Hermione Granger had entered the common room was walking over too them.
"Remember your promise, you can't tell anyone whatsoever." Said Freja to the rest the group.
They all nodded whilst Freja offered an invite to Hermione. Seamus picked up a card which was identical to the card in the centre. He tapped his wand but the card exploded causing it to smoke up in his face and left black smudges all across it.
This caused the group to laugh, something that Halle noted had taken away tense atmosphere of their conversation moments ago. She was glad. The entire topic sent chills down her spine but why she wasn't sure. It had nothing to do with her yet she felt strangely drawn to it as though she needed to know this information.
She wondered why?
"Hello! Earth to Halle." Said a voice loudly in her ear whilst a hand waved in front of her face.
Halle jumped and came out of her daze. She was sitting down in the great hall with a half eaten breakfast on her plate and Neville and Ronnie smirking at her.
When had they sat down? When had she started eating?
"Oh you back from your little trip in the clouds?" Asked Ronnie smirking at her.
Halle's cheeks went a little red.
"Actually it was the sun. Can't you see my vibrant glow?" Said Halle with dramatic hand gestures around face as she tilted her head royally.
The three of them burst out laughing.
"Yeah well stop tanning and open your ears will you? I assume you just missed that entire conversation?" Said Ronnie with a raised brow.
"What conversation?" Asked Halle.
"Bloody hell." Said Ronnie shaking her head.
"Percy was just here. After mail." Said Neville gesturing around the hall.
She now noticed several students opening mail and owls flocking out of the hall. She must've have been in deep thought for a long while.
"And what did Percy say?" She asked as she took a bite of the bacon on her fork.
"My dads been working all week and finally has some time off so our mum was waiting to write. They've just sent us a letter. Percy being Percy is on letter patrol so me and my brothers are gonna write back and then he's gonna send it off to the owlery. Neville's writing to his grandmother too so Percys gonna show us where the owlery is so in future we can go by ourselves. You coming?" Asked Ronnie.
Halle noticed their plates were finished and some of the others had already left the table. Halle decided she would go but told them she would finish her food first and meet them in the common room. Both nodded and left to go write their letters.
Halle continued to munch her breakfast, settling the hunger that was searing through her this morning. She looked around the table. Lavender and the girls were still there. The boys had left and Matt and Freja were just leaving. Hermione was gone too.
Her eyes flickered at the end of the table where Dewei strangely enough was still sat but someone else had joined him.
A chestnut haired girl with olive skin was sat opposite him. Halle who was on the left side of the table could only see the girl from the side but she saw her robes. The girl was from Slytherin.
She smiled at him. Her smile charming but crooked. Dewei was not smiling back. His face formed into a hard scowl as the girl began talking.
Halle wondered who the girl was. She wasn't in their year but she looked no older than herself. Maybe second or third year?
Halle watched as the girl kept talking. She seemed unfazed by the glare that Dewei was sending her. Halle kept watching them for several minutes. She wondered what they were saying. Halle wanted to shift herself along the bench but knew that Lavender and the twins were blocking her way.
She looked at back the Dewei and the girl. Dewei who still looked irritated turned his head to the left and for a second his eyes met hers. Halle quickly looked away but it was too late. He had seen her. She saw in the corner of her eye that the girl was now looking too.
What was with her today?
Seconds after the eye contact she saw Dewei exit rather hastily from the table.
Had he left because of her?
Halle resumed eating the now Luke warm breakfast.
What was that all about?
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