Chapter Three

The boy ran through the dark forest blinded by its thick brush. But he knew he couldn't slow down. His reason for that caused the ground right next to him to explode, sending him right into a spiky bush.

The boy struggled to stand as catching his breath became increasingly harder. He looked up to see hateful eyes glaring at him before a purple light slammed into him.

Klaus woke up with a gasp. His breathing was rugged as he gripped the small knife in his defence all his muscles tense and violet eyes glaring into the darkness. After slowing his heart down he sighed and fell back into the bed nest.

"Well I guess sleep won't be an option tonight," he said into the darkness. As he took a deep breath he noticed that the air smelt of… ozone.

Odd.

He sat up in his bed and reached for his trunk. It was a normal brown trunk. And he meant it when he said it was normal, those charmed trunks with infinite space were hard to come by without money. But he didn't mind, as long as it served its purpose. Inside laid all of his possessions.

The books his mother left him. Two spare robes, three changes of clothes and a bag of twenty galleons sent to him from this 'Cissy' person. And finally his wand. He stared at the piece of wood with hesitation. When he had first touched it, he had felt such a chilling feeling and it felt as if his very soul was touched by this cold feeling.

He had had nightmares about the chill. Him being surrounded by endless cold, as if it was an entity that surrounded him and wanted to consume him. When he tried to give the wand back to the one who made it for him the person had mysteriously disappeared. He had thought about throwing it away but then remembering all he went through to get it made him think twice about doing so.

The wand itself was a bone white wood from an albino Blackthorn tree. The core was of a Ukrainian Ironbelly. Its spinal fluid if he remembered correctly. The wand maker had said that he should tell no one what his core is. When he had asked why the man had just shrugged and grinned saying that it was a bad idea.

He reached into the trunk and his hand shook as it hovered above the wand. He could feel the cold attaching itself to him already. He closed his eyes and grabbed it. For a moment nothing happened and he breathed a sigh of relief. The feeling felt… docile. He reached back into the trunk and took the sheath for the wand. It was black dragon hide.

The wand maker was more attentive then he gave him credit for. He only noticed now that the sheath had tiny pockets for needle daggers, a dagger he was fond of using. He took out the daggers and slipped six into their places. Lastly he slipped his wand in and tested the trigger that sprung his wand into his hand. Having done this with his knife many times it was simpler with a wand that had no sharp edge to cut himself.

According to the timetable given to him at dinner, he didn't have classes until Monday. It was Saturday so that meant he had plenty of time of acquaint himself with the castle and especially its library. Because in the library there were books, and in those books there were spells. His mother had not left him any spell books, he thought it odd considering she left him a book about how to build knives and other tools of death.

He shook the thoughts from his head and put on the spare change of clothes. A black long-sleeved shirt and some dark blue jeans. He laced up the black boots before he tied up his shoulder length hair in a high ponytail and after making sure he did not leave anything behind he walked out into the dark hall.

He entered the common room and was surprised that there was someone present. The sun was not even up yet. He tried his best to walk stealthily to the entrance but it was not to be.

"Lestrange," said the girl.

"Damn it," he muttered and turned around to face the person. Upon closer inspection he saw that it was Luciana.

"Oh, morning Luciana," he greeted awkwardly. She was dressed in her uniform and was seated reading a book. The only indication that she even heard him was the eyebrow raise.

"Up to trouble so early in the morning are we?" she asked.

"Trouble seems a bit extreme, more like exploring," he replied. She chuckled.

"Exploring, huh. Just make sure your exploring doesn't get you into trouble. What impacts you, impacts the house," she explained.

"What do you mean?" he asked confused. She sighed and looked at him with those same grey eyes as Draco, except more catlike. He swore her pupils elongated but it could just be a trick of the light.

"We at Hogwarts have a system called the House Point. Points are given for good deeds and taken away for bad deeds. With me so far?" she asked sarcastically. He nodded regardless.

"The giving of these points are not contained, meaning that one student could gain a thousand points or lose a thousand points for his house," she finished.

"So I could, in theory, lose all the house points with one stupid move," he summarised.

"Exactly. These points at the end of the year are tallied and the House with the most points gets the House Cup," she continued. He lowered his head in disappointment.

"So does that mean I have to go back to bed," he asked. She smirked.

"No, it means don't get caught," she smirked as she saw him lift up his head in excitement before she stood up, dusted her robes and walked towards the fifth year hallway. Before she entered she paused.

"Information is a currency in Slytherin. So this works both ways. I've given you information which means I will be needing some in return," she explained. He furrowed his brows.

"What kind of information?" he asked. She chuckled slowly.

"You'll know when you hear it, so will I of course. But I can't be everywhere at once," she sighed.

"Okay," he agreed and was about to leave when a question popped into his mind.

"Um, Luciana before you go, do you know where the kitchens are?" he asked. She shrugged.

"Maybe," she said before leaving.

He shook his head at his own stupidity. Information for information. She wouldn't give him it for free. He walked towards the entrance and after a long walk made it out of the dungeons.

"He seems… eager," Icarus said as he took down his disillusionment. Luciana walked back into the room and raised a brow at the Seventh year.

"How'd you know he'd be awake at this time?" she asked. Icarus looked at her with dark eyes that seemed to absorb the light.

"Just a hunch," he said with a far off look in his eyes.

"I'm curious about your interest in him," Luciana said as she sat down on a green couch.

"Then curb your curiosity, your place in my machinations is as support to him," he said. She raised a brow at him in annoyance.

"Do I look like a babysitter?" she hissed.

"Considering you babysit my little brother on occasion," he left the statement hanging in the air. She huffed irritably.

"He does not need a babysitter, he just needs someone to teach him how to survive in this world," he said.

"He seemed fine to me," she said.

"That's only on the surface. You and I were raised differently than him. You were taught how to use that cunning and tactical mind that runs in your parent's blood. I was taught how to harness my ruthlessness to cultivate my power. If I lack the ability to do something, I either try learn it or get someone else to do it," he explained looking at her, prompting her.

"From what I heard from my mom and dad he was in the Russian wilderness. How he got to there from Britain I have no clue, but my mom is responsible for guiding him back here," she said.

"Information gathering. Incredibly useful once mastered," he smirked, "As for how he got to Russia, probably ran into people who found out about him and weren't fans of his family,"

"But how would they find out?" she asked. Aunty Bella was quite secretive if she wanted to be, her mother only knew about Klaus because of the clues Bella left.

"A false sense of security is easy to fall into," he said simply, "Either that or his eyes gave him away. As far everyone knows, the Mistress of Pain has purple eyes and those who have survived her dream of those eyes."

"Sucks for him. But that still doesn't explain how he was raised differently. Bellatrix probably organised a pureblood lackey to watch over him," she said.

"The only one who gathered as much fear and hate as the Dark Lord, was Bellatrix Lestrange. She had many enemies, both inside the Death Eaters and outside of it. Her own sister didn't know about the child, who else could she trust with him?" he asked.

"No one," she realized as she connected the dots.

"So Klaus raised himself. With no mother. No family. No magic," he said.

"I kind of feel bad for him now," Luciana said as she thought about her family.

"Don't," the finality in his tone made her tense.

"There are benefits to growing up like that. Independence, survival skills and the mind set he developed. He's really taken in by jungle law," he said.

"Jungle law?" she asked.

"Have you ever heard of the Law of Might," he asked.

"Didn't Klaus mention something about might during orientation?"

"Yes. Simply, the Law of Might states that those who are powerful can do whatever they want because they can," he explained, "That is the only law out there in the wilderness. When all you face is predators and their behaviours you have to get used to that way of life quick or you die,"

"So you think those instincts might carry over?" she surmised.

"They already have," he said remembering the nest that the boy had created in his room. Luciana needed to tell the boy to secure his things better.

The Black Lake started to glow and Icarus sighed.

"The sun is rising, it was a nice chat Luciana. Keep me updated," he said about to leave.

"Hmm hmm," she said loudly. He sighed and tossed something from his robes to her. She caught it deftly and looked inside before nodding in satisfaction.

Icarus rolled his eyes and left. Though he did chuckle in amusement that Luciana had not noticed that Klaus was moving normally despite the concussion spell he hit him with. The spell was low level but is packed a punch and the boy slept with no healing spell whatsoever

Interesting.

After asking portrait after portrait he finally found the library. He really needed to learn where everything is because there was portraits that he did not have the patience to talk to.

As soon as he walked in his jaw dropped at the sheer volume of books. There were some books flapping towards different aisles, probably their sections. As he continued to marvel he saw an old lady waving her wand and sending huge towers of books down the aisles. He walked up to her and tapped her shoulder.

"Yes?" she responded without turning around.

"Mam, where are the books about duelling?" he asked.

"Firsties don't get books on duelling," she stated. He huffed.

"Okay, where are the books on self-protection using violent methods?" he asked again. She let out a little chuckle.

"Cheeky but you are still don't have the authorization," she shut him down coldly.

"Fine can I at least see the books about healing spells," he grumbled. "Right over there dear," she pointed to an aisle on her left.

"Thank you," he said and stomped off irritated in the direction she pointed to. Pince smiled.

"Just as smart-mouthed as his mother," she commented before moving to her booth.

Klaus perused through the books but none of them seemed to catch his eye. Suddenly a smell caught his nose.

The smell of charred pine.

It was his favourite scent, he didn't know why but it always made his heart warm. He followed the smell to a book that seemed to just sit there innocently. But the fact that it looked so out of place made him interested. With its black leather cover and it had an odd vibe to it. It was like when a predator sizes you up to decide whether to attack you or flee. He gulped but still grabbed the book. He read the embossed words on the front.

To Raze and To Maim: The Black Arts.

"Raze? Maim? What the hell type of healing book was this?" he mumbled as he took it off the shelf. The librarian probably misplaced this book. He grinned and chuckled at his luck. Of course he would bring it back, when he was done of course.

He grabbed a few other books to take out so as to not look suspicious. Though he made sure they would be useful. As he sat down at a table he contemplated how he would sneak out of here unsuspiciously.

He suddenly spotted the librarian lady going into an aisle and knew that now was his chance. He grabbed all the books and ran as quietly as he could to the door.

"Hold it right there," a voice said and suddenly Klaus was in the air. He floated upside and came face to face with the business end of the librarian lady's wand.

"Oh crap," he muttered. Busted.

"Where do you think you're going with these," she started. Oh he should've know that it wouldn't be this easy.

"Just like everyone else you have to follow the rules, you will need to check these books out," she said. He furrowed his brows in confusion. Did she not see the book? He looked around subtle-like. The healing books floated gracefully next to the lady but he couldn't spot the book.

Where'd it go?

"Um yes I would like to check these books out," he replied.

Klaus was still puzzled about where the book went as he walked down the hall in the direction he believed the Great Hall was. Maybe he couldn't take out books that the lady didn't check out for him. He knew it would be too good to be true.