And thus ends year 3.
There will be a few outtakes for the summer, which I might place in the 'Fragments and Shards' story, or I might spin them off into their own story.
Edit: I've split the omakes for the story into a new story named "Written In Fire". Find it on my profile. I cloned all of the relevant drabbles in Fragments over to it, and from now on, relevant drabbles will be posted there instead.
Apparently, things have gone bad to worse.
We've got bad stuff coming up on the horizon, but I'll get to that later.
They've discovered that Moody was an impostor, who disappeared some time during the maze.
Which is actually pretty smart, since no one would ever expect someone as crazy as him to be a mole. Good on him, but I'm still hoping he ups and dies.
They found the real Moody in a crate in 'his' room, badly damaged, as in missing a prosthetic limb and looking like he was bludgeoned half to death. So in other words, about only a little bit more damaged than he had appeared earlier. Gold star for realism.
Anyway, he's suitably pissed.
And by "pissed", I mean he sucker-punched the poor bastard who finally found him, and then held the kid hostage with his own wand until Dumbledore was finally able to convince him to lower the weapon. This of course happened over the course of two hours, and the kid's apparently still in the hospital wing, because of the generic Wizard panic-attack triggering his asthma.
Anyway, with one scarred, angry time bomb defused (It's a relief that Dumbledore was around, if he wasn't, then it was entirely likely Moody would start harvesting limbs…), Moody's attention instead turned towards the situation around him. From what I last heard, he was last seen doing his level best to murder everyone using nothing but his words, threats, and over-elaborate gestures. I shudder to imagine about what will happen when he stumbles across one those Skrewt things we saw in the maze.
Seriously, even I know those things are an abomination against life.
With the way his paranoia is acting up (he occasionally jumps students in the hallways, and then grills them about personal information), I'm honestly not sure whether I should give him my account of the tournament.
On one hand, it might be amusing.
On the other hand, he'll probably go on a murderous rampage.
Either way, he's definitely not going to be here next year: the restraining orders are already coming in, and he's apparently not allowed in about a third of the school.
These areas will only keep getting bigger, as he keeps breaking into them.
Anyways, onto the other situation. I mean, he's technically more important, and a lot more dangerous, but it's not like he's come after me yet.
Potter finally told us what had happened, about two days after the end of the tournament.
His arch-enemy, Voldemoron is back.
Because OF COURSE HE IS.
He apparently used some sort of dark ritual to make himself a new body.
I don't know the specifics of what he did, but from the sound of it, I'd probably need to dig deep to even find a hint at what he did, and even worse, I'm not sure I even want to know.
To be honest though, what I'm really curious about just how stable the new body is, if it's held together by nothing but (what I assume to be) blood magic, hatred, and Potter's eternal curse of unluck.
Curse.
I swear to god, one of these days, we're dragging Potter to an exorcist. There is no possible way that this is not supernatural in nature. I've seen people without luck, but even they occasionally have lucky breaks.
Potter's luck right now resembles a guy who buys a lottery ticket, then is hit by a fish dropped by a bird, before falling into the only open sewer grate within a hundred yards.
Bribing Ginny to drag him there by herself might be hard, though.
What with me being able to be in the same general area of any exorcism ritual worth its salt, not mention residual energy…
But it might be worth it, in the long run.
I think I'll talk to Ginny about it. It's definitely a priority.
However, I don't know if we'll be able to get it done this year…
I normally would've suggested taking him there during the summer, but with the fact that we've got an unbound reanimated undead evil wizard back from the dead running around causing damage, and we've also got his little army of cultists...
This sorta makes taking Potter anywhere extremely dangerous.
Oh, and speaking of taking Potter anywhere, he pretty much flat-out-told us that it was his fault that Voldemort was back.
So glad that Ginny slapped him. So, so glad. The last thing we needed to hear was whinging.
With the pity party averted, he's decided to spend the next two years training as hard as he possibly can, so that he'd be able to defend himself next time.
Ginny, I, Other Weasley, and Granger all stepped up as volunteers to help him train. I know why Ginny did so, and Granger and Other Weasley are probably doing it out of loyalty.
I, on the other hand…
I guess I just like hanging around Ginny. Still not entirely certain on Granger or Ginny's brother, but as long as he keeps his mouth shut, it should be fine.
I don't have even the slightest illusion of us being ready to fight on even terms within two years, but learning how to defend ourselves is something I support wholeheartedly.
Now, the only thing we need to make sure, is that we don't get big heads about this.
I said goodbye to the Veela today: with the tourney over, they're headed back to France.
Fleur gave us a hug, and a promise that, should we ever come to France, the doors of her home would be open for us. Her sister is pretty much fully recovered now, and while Fleur didn't win, she's glad that nothing particularly terrible happened during the third task, besides the whole 'Potter and Diggory disappear' thing.
I bid her goodbye with a forced smile on my face. If only she knew.
Monique on the other hand, was one of the last few to board the ship back.
Luna was there with me too, and handed Monique her the copy of the article on Veela, as promised. I got my copy too, which I've got sitting on my bed right now. I'll probably read it later, before I go to sleep.
I did give it a quick once-over before I stowed it; it was interesting, but nothing world-shattering.
However, if Luna's little gesture of pointing at her eyes, then at the paper means what I think it means, the alternate article might be a lot more interesting.
Of course, before Monique left, she had leaned close, before asking about what really had happened during the last task.
I didn't have a lie prepared, so I told her the truth.
Monique stared at us blankly for a moment.
About three seconds later, she thanked me for telling her the truth, but practically unleashed a flurry of panicked questions immediately after. The center point was why, in god's name, I hadn't told anyone, and how on Earth I was acting calm.
I don't know Potter's opinion, but if the tournament's any indication, I doubt the people in the tourney would piss on Potter if he was in on fire.
That's what he's at right now, without outside interference. If he had decided to drop that particular bomb right there, I really don't really want to imagine what they'd do to him. These Wizards already hate change, and a big change like this, well…
I don't think it'd end well. They were already turning on Dumbledore for daring to speak up, and he's Dumbledore. For crying out loud, if he wasn't an archmage, I get an unshakable feeling they'd be pulling out the torches and pitchforks already.
On that sour note, Monique gave the two of us a rather stiff hug, before turning away to board the vessel back to France.
'Course, as soon as the boat was entirely out of sight, Luna all-but interrogated me to figure out the whole story.
One more explanation later, and I've found one more volunteer for Potter's little training squad.
We'll definitely need all the help we can get.
Today, we (Granger, Ginny, her brother, and I) decided that Potter had done enough moping around, and it was time to do something about it.
I get it, we've got something horrifying happening. Unfortunately, there's jack shit we can do about it right now, and if we stop living, then he's already won.
I know having Voldemort running around is probably one of the worst things that could possibly happen, but at least he's not warping or tearing the fabric of reality or summoning creatures beyond human comprehension, like some other Wizards from history. He's dangerous and a psychopath, yes, but from what I've read about him, he tends to kill his targets in direct combat, and avoids collateral damage.
Basically, although I know that there's a problem, it's not going to cause a problem right away. I've pushed it aside for now, since I don't know how to deal with it.
We solved the problem the easiest way we could. Weasley grabbed Potter, and dragged him down to the common room, where the four of us escorted him to the Pick-Up Quidditch games.
I of course was carrying my own broom, as I was curious about what playing the game was like.
Still, taking him down wasn't enough, and after about three minutes of trying to convince him to play, I gave up. Still, I was down there, and it was amateur hour, so there was no reason to not give it a shot. Granger decided to pass, as did Ginny, who was looking more concerned with cheering up Potter than playing (which was a pretty solid sign to leave the two alone for a bit).
Her brother did sign up though, for 'Keeper'. Unfortunately, he was on the other team. Still, he looked a little bit nervous, but to be honest, I have little-to-no idea what I'm doing either. After all, it's not like anyone expects the kids who sign up to be good, right?
Yeah, I don't think I'm very good at Quidditch.
I was playing 'Beater'. Which is an awesome name.
I mean, I wasn't entirely terrible, in that I managed to keep a few of the hand-boulders away from our team for about half of the game, before I overbalanced when swinging and flipped myself off of my broom.
Yes, I did get some shocked calls while I fell a couple dozen feet to hit the grass, but honestly, I've fallen a lot further. One of the kids waiting for the next game even managed get airborne fast enough to save my broom before it hit anything solid. All in all, I was back up in about a minute and a half. For the rest of the game, I ended up focusing more upon staying stable, over aiming where exactly I knocked the balls back.
Hardest part of the fall, in my opinion, was stopping myself from trying to balance with my wings. It's a pretty hard instinct to turn off.
Anyway, after that rather quick fifteen-minute game (we lost because of a fluke apparently), Ginny and Potter had apparently finally had enough of watching terrible players butcher their favorite sport, and signed up for the next one almost immediately.
I think Potter managed to keep his grim expressions for about three minutes, before he finally managed to calm down and start doing his thing.
Their game ended even faster than ours, ten minutes at most.
To be honest though, that was just because Potter and Ginny absolutely destroyed them.
Ginny must've gotten some serious practice with her Christmas present in over the winter break, because she was dodging pretty much everything thrown at her.
The score was something 240:30, mostly because it was pretty damn hard to score on Potter's team when Ginny was always holding the ball.
Either way, the game served well to knock Potter out of his funk. Ginny was practically jumping for joy after she landed, although this time (probably because we're in public) she spared me the victory dance.
Because no one deserves that.
Dumbledore called all five of us into his office today.
According to Potter before we went in, Potter was already interviewed by Dumbledore about a day after the tourney, so this was probably an update, rather than anything really dangerous.
Dumbledore's less than pleased about taking the fall for the whole 'cry Voldemort' thing, but does in fact see the value of keeping our cards close to our vests. He said that, with luck, there won't be total war, and the situation can be resolved without civilian damage.
Either way, he went over some things with us.
'Course, before he started, I asked to get Luna too, much to the surprise of the others. What, did they not expect me to bring in anyone? I trust her, which is good enough for me.
Anyway, two minutes later, and plus one Ravenclaw, he went over some cold, hard facts.
Number one, the most obvious one, Voldemort's back, and he's looking into why exactly this could even happen. He 'promised' to tell us what he could find about it. I doubt that he'll tell us the details about whatever evil magic is keeping that bastard together, but I don't need to know that. Only how to kill him.
Regardless, he basically stated that, since Voldemoron's back, things are going to get a lot more dangerous, and he'll need to spend a lot more resources protecting the school.
Basically, his pockets are approaching empty, because he needs to do his actual job, rather than cover for us. Potter looked a bit grim regarding the lack of cavalry, but let's be honest here, if we get jumped, we don't have time to get reinforcements anyway.
Number two, and the reason for said empty pockets: some of the more high-profile cultists have made moves against his credibility, which means that he is likely to be monitored next year. He doesn't know who they're sending to monitor him, but either way, he'll be pretty heavily shackled, and he'll probably be unlikely to interfere in any significant way, not without alienating a lot of his supporters.
As someone who understands the power of belief and magic, I couldn't help but wince at that. That'd take a huge chunk out of his magic, if it were to happen.
Either way, he's being accused of fearmongering, and basically just stated that if we are to train, we need to do it low-profile, lest he be accused of jumping at threats that aren't there. Considering that there have been moves against him in the past (I was petrified during that time, so I wasn't aware he had been removed two years ago), and the last time the government had gained a major say in the school's safety, they had planted demons, he can't risk being discovered/framed.
Number three was actually a compliment. Apparently, he was told about the little discs we had made, and fully supports the creation of said objects, along with our ambitions to allow multiple signalling types. He also more or less told us to not tell anyone about them, as items like that are extremely vulnerable to being stolen, and then used to bait a trap.
Yeah, that's definitely a comforting thought.
Number four was that since Voldemort is kicking around now, and spits in the face of Potter's 'blood protection', Potter's going to be transferred to Black's house this summer, rather than a place called 'Dursley's'.
I mean, it probably could've been an actual family name, but well…
Part of me still believes that he lives in an alley somewhere.
The Weasleys, Granger, and I were all invited to the house as well, an offer I might take them up on some point during the summer.
His parting word were that, despite the situation, he's certain everything will turn out alright.
If only I could be so optimistic.
Another year, another batch of exams. Yay.
It was only Ginny's notes that spared me from a failing grade at History this year, and the rest of my grades were actually pretty decent. Got an Acceptable.
Although it was definitely amusing to see Babbling's scribbled 'Continue doing what you're doing, but be careful!' in the margins. Apparently, I'm a prodigy (Not really, considering that I'm scribing half the time in my mother tongue...), and got one of the highest marks in my year for Runes.
Ancient Magic was mediocre, with an EE. This was because my casting was good, but my theory was bad.
Transfiguration was about the same, another EE. Again, good casting, low theory. I might've also taken a ding for not wanting to transfigure living things into inanimate objects.
Charms, same deal.
Astronomy was an Acceptable, which I'm entirely fine with.
Defense was an Outstanding, although that was just because how how Moody did the end of year exams.
Notably, he called us in, one by one, and then granted one letter grade per five seconds we lasted against him. He was holding back, of course.
I held up for the full 30 seconds, and from what I can tell, Potter and Ginny also managed to pull it off.
Still, it was probably the most enjoyable exam this year, for sure.
Potions was definitely unlike the others.
During the exam potion, I handed in my sample, and was treated to a good thirty seconds of him examining it, before grumbling something, and scribbling my grade out on a paper.
According to what he said, I was given a Dreadful, but he handed me my grade with a thumb halfway over the left of the paper, much to the snickering of the Slytherins around me, and to the gobsmacked expression of Ginny.
However, from where I was standing, it was pretty obvious he was covering something. In fact, it was covering an O, to make it look like a D.
Apparently, according to what he wrote on it, if I brag, or spread rumours that he willingly gave a Gryffindor an O, I will be suffering severe repercussions.
Also, that he has no patience for fools, and that I should not try his patience.
I'm entirely fine with that.
Ginny of course heard the truth later, after a promise that she'd not spread it around. Last thing we need is to damage the image Snape's spent so long cultivating.
I think that's it for this year. The train's arriving in an hour, and it's time to go.
V2