The Hell of Fourth Year.
Cedric nodded warily at the wand clutched in Charlotte's hand. "What are you going to do with that?" he asked, knowing what she was capable with that wand.
Charlotte shrugged, but she pointedly put her wand away. "That's up to you," she remarked. "I just took it out of my holster out of reflex when I heard someone up here; I live alone, Cedric, and as a result, I tend to get jumpy even though I knew it was you."
She was lying. She had planned on cursing Cedric if he had found too much, erasing his memory of the event as well so then she could live with the guilt and he wouldn't remember it. But fortunately for Cedric, he hadn't gone anywhere near the red coloured scrapbooks. Those were the ones where she had used violence against her enemies whenever she'd burgled or robbed them. The Dursley articles were in one of those scrapbooks.
Fortunately, Cedric took the explanation. "Why?" he asked instead.
Charlotte crinkled her forehead. "You're going to need to be specific."
"Why become a thief?"
"Oh," Charlotte walked over to the window and gazed out at the view. She was silent for a moment and Cedric could see her reflection in the window she was looking thoughtful. Finally, she broke the silence. "I was trying to survive on the streets, but I had been a thief before that point. I told you earlier, the Dursleys abused me mentally as well as physically. They starved me as well, sometimes I would go days without a proper meal which was denied me because the Dursleys were punishing me either because my accidental magic had lashed out or because they were trying to bring me down. More than once, I was desperate for food. So I stole it. I stole food from my schoolmates, although they weren't my friends. They were a diluted version of the Dursleys; they hated me because they thought of me as nothing more than a freak, and they judged me because of my height, my clothes which were nothing more than recycled rags. They had been lied to about me, told I was a freak, and my parents were layabouts, shit like that.
"I stole small amounts of food, but later on I discovered a way of harnessing my magic. Nothing major at the time; just a few unlocking charms, and a notice-me-not charm which meant I could leave the Dursleys, and steal from the neighbours. I didn't feel any guilt then and I feel nothing now. I would still do it," Charlotte turned to Cedric solemnly as she remembered those days when she had once wrestled with her conscience before she realised she was doing it all to survive, "if I had no choice. I didn't just steal food. I stole money as well, just to be on the safe side. I didn't know at the time what the Dursleys had in mind for me in my future, but I knew it would be nothing good."
Charlotte sighed and looked away, her mind full of memories of those horrible years on Privet Drive where she was frightened if she was even going to be alive by the end of the week.
"What really happened to make you leave the Dursleys, Charlotte?" Cedric asked.
"They killed a kitten I had found outside. I had foolishly taken it into my cupboard; I was planning on sending it away so then it would live. Unfortunately, the Dursleys found it."
Cedric went very still when he overheard the rage starting to build in Charlotte's voice.
"The kitten let out a meow one night, and when they heard it the Dursleys went berserk. They didn't like animals, and cats even more so. As soon as they saw the kitten in my cupboard, my uncle grabbed it. I begged them not to kill it, but they wouldn't listen. I had to listen to the sound of the kitten meowing in fear as my filthy muggle uncle broke its neck. The animals threw the kitten's corpse into my cupboard, and I cradled it in my arms and cried myself to sleep that night, unable to take my eyes off of its body. I could swear I saw the accusation in the kittens' eyes when I looked into her eyes."
Cedric was already still, but he remembered hearing of what had happened on the night Charlotte's name was picked out of the Goblet of Fire. "And when you saw Nightstar about to go through the same thing…."
"History repeating itself. I had sworn never to allow any other cat in my care to go through the same thing." Charlotte scoffed, but Cedric could see her expression and realised her anger was very close to the surface. Just one wrong move and it would be set off. "Weasley has no idea how lucky he was, Cedric. I was so tempted to kill him that night, but there were too many Gryffindors and I was outnumbered. In any case, I was more interested in making sure Nightstar was okay."
"I can understand that," Cedric replied, hiding his unease with how easily Charlotte spoke about killing others as though it was not too different from walking through a door. But then he suddenly had a good idea what had happened with these Dursleys, it had been there from the moment Charlotte let her anger out, anger stoked by the stupid Gryffindors. "What happened with the Dursleys, Charlotte?" he asked, deciding to keep on pressing the issue although he wasn't going to intrude too much into Charlotte's privacy.
Charlotte sighed. "I spent a long time thinking about what they had done, and I realised that sooner or later they were going to do the same thing to me. I had been beaten by them so many times, and I was always surprised with my rapid recovery; I have never worked out what caused that, although there are one or two suspicions in my head. But anyway, the Dursleys had nearly killed me a few times; one time, I was kicked so hard in the chest, I was afraid I had a punctured lung. The death of the kitten only frightened me that one day the Dursleys would go too far, and I would die. I could see it, Cedric, I saw my own death. I saw myself being punched and kicked so hard that one of the blows would eventually snap one of my ribs, and a lung would be punctured. I had no intention of dying. One day I was in the library of the muggle primary school, and I read a novel about a murder mystery. I was so enthralled by what I read, I decided to murder the Dursleys.
"I didn't do anything elaborate, although I had already planned on using a basic method of killing them. But one night I killed them in an act of magically induced rage. They were tormenting me again, mouthing off about my parents. At the same time, I used my shaky control over my magic to guide a number of knives, sharp ones, and they killed the Dursleys either by stabbing them or slashing them. When I realised what I had done….I felt like I had just woken up from a long nightmare, only to discover it wasn't a nightmare but reality. I took what I thought I could use, and then I set fire to the house before I left for London."
Cedric licked his lips. He didn't know what to think, but he could see from that haunted expression on Charlotte's face she genuinely felt some degree of remorse for what she had done, even if she didn't regret it completely. "And then you found yourself on the streets?" he picked out the part of the story he knew already, thanks to the time Charlotte had first come into Hogwarts and opened up about some of the things she had been through over the years, and what she had told him earlier when he had seen the scars on her naked body.
"Essentially, yes," Charlotte confirmed, blinking her remaining eye underneath her sunglasses. "I went right into London that very night, and then I quietly merged into the background of the streets while being alert for any word the muggle police were actively searching for me. I spent months learning how to pickpocket, and I used the money I took to buy myself the bare essentials. For a time I went down to the coast. I just wanted to see the sea, listen to the sound of the waves as they crashed onto the beaches. I just wanted to see something different," she finished with a shake of her head.
Charlotte went silent again, and Cedric watched her for a moment, wondering what was going on inside that mind of hers. He could tell already that Charlotte didn't like speaking about her past, especially like this. He cursed himself for breaking into her private life without thinking of the consequences, but when he had started he hadn't been able to stop.
Finally, Charlotte broke the silence, much to his relief. The silence had been getting uncomfortable.
"As the years passed, I became better at theft, and then I became a burglar. I joined a gang of burglars, at first. They were in their mid to late teens, maybe in their early twenties, or something like that. They found me inside one of the houses they were burgling from, and they took me in with them for a time, showed me the ropes. But I got myself put into foster care," she looked down as she remembered the day she had made that decision, and she shook her head.
"I was so tired of constantly being on the move, and always wondering where my next meal was going to come from, and what I was going to do about the heat, so I gave myself up. I wandered into a police station years after I'd killed the Dursleys, and I gave them a false second name so they wouldn't join the dots," Charlotte went on, remembering the day well; she had nearly chickened out since the police would guess the Dursleys were murdered from what they'd found in the wreckage of the burnt-out shell of a house.
"But you still committed thefts," Cedric pointed out while she remembered those difficult days in the foster home since she had been programmed by her time on the mean streets of London, and when she had been with the Dursleys to always pretend she didn't exist before she suddenly found herself in place watched over by adults and kids younger or slightly older than herself and finding herself immersed up to her scalp in all kinds of dramas which made her question if her decision was a wise one or not.
Charlotte snorted and turned to face him. "You make it sound like a bad thing," she pointed out with a hint of defensiveness in her voice. "Yes. I was still a thief, but I always kept what I did as lowkey as possible. Well, except for that time when I stole an old Rembrandt and netted a nice profit for myself. You need to bear in mind I didn't have access to the Potter family vaults. Hell, back then I didn't even know they existed."
Cedric sighed, seeing that he wasn't going to convince her that in truth he didn't particularly care about what she had needed to do to survive since he guessed, if he was in her shoes, he would have done the same. He got that, but still at the same time, he had to accept he had no hope of understanding truly what she had gone through during her life of horrors. "I'm not having a go at you," Cedric said looking at Charlotte sadly that she thought he was. "I just wanted to make sure I was right.'
"About what?"
"You've gone through so much, and you deserve so much better," he said.
"Do I?" Charlotte replied, looking bitterly at him. "Say that to Albus Dumbledore; he has spent my whole life manipulating it, and even now he is trying to get someone whom I can't even stand to be my boyfriend. In any case, I already had a plan to escape him."
"You did?" Cedric asked although he wondered why he was so surprised since she had spent her entire life surviving, and now in hindsight her talk from earlier about how she had tricked Hagrid and Weasley into thinking their talk about Slytherin had a major effect on her. At the same time, he reflected on her sneakiness and the fact she had managed to keep her double life a secret from everyone as well as some of her abilities, like her vicious fighting technique since she no longer seemed bothered about hiding herself anymore.
Charlotte nodded, inwardly wondering to herself just how much she could tell him. Okay, so she had a different plan in mind now, but some aspects of her original still needed to remain secret. "I had planned on skipping the country after I'd done my OWLs," she went on, wondering if she should just stop this fucking conversation now and wipe Cedric's memory up to a certain point.
The longer this conversation went on, the more likely it would be that it would happen although she felt that it made little difference to her longterm plans if Cedric did know about her being a thief. She had a good impression of him and his character already. She doubted very much he would blab about her past, not that she was truly worried since the magical world genuinely did not care if witches or wizards became thieves and stole from muggles. They only kicked up a major fuss if said witches and wizards actually used magic in front of muggles.
Yeah, he may not tell anyone about what she'd done because of his honesty, but she was just concerned that if she told him too much then Dumbledore would see it in his mind. Cedric had passable occlumency barriers, yes, but they weren't strong enough to strong a master like Dumbledore from poking and prodding. When she had been learning and practicing occlumency when she had first arrived in the magical world, Charlotte had needed time to work out the best means of protecting her mind without the slimy bastards from going through her longterm plans. Ironically enough, it had been Dumbledore himself who had provided the answer with the Potter Invisibility Cloak. She had received it after recording up to over 478 separate attempts to look into her mind; usually, it was Snape who was responsible given she had been exposed to the greasy potions teacher more times than she would have wished, but she had felt Dumbledore try nonetheless.
In the old days, she had felt the best way to hide her true thoughts was to move them inconspicuously around while Snape and Dumbledore weren't aware of what she was doing. But it wasn't until her first Christmas at the school she had found something better. She practically draped her thoughts behind invisibility barriers while she pretended to showoff other thoughts that presented her as a vapid girl.
It hadn't been difficult since both Snape and Dumbledore had their own ideas of what she was really like. Unfortunately, that mess in second year where everyone had turned on her, and then Nightstar became petrified had sent up red flags. Suddenly she found it harder to prove to everyone she was vapid but was in fact very dangerous.
At the same time, she had pictured a library to hide and organise her thoughts, although she had needed to formulate defensive plans to entrap anyone who got through her invisibility barriers.
But Cedric didn't have her desire to truly hide her thoughts and her memories, and he had decided not to improve his mental defences although he knew whenever somebody did penetrate.
"You were planning on skipping the country?" Cedric repeated although he wasn't surprised if he looked at it from her perspective.
"Yeah, does it surprise you?" Charlotte nodded.
"No, especially not after hearing your story."
Charlotte bit her lip before she glanced at the clock. "Listen, do you think its a good idea to take this downstairs; you can have your shower and I can cook us something to eat. We can talk downstairs."
Cedric was surprised by the change of subject, but he nodded when he caught a whiff of his body odour. "Okay," he said, walking out of the room while Charlotte watched him go. She fingered her wand….
XXX
Cedric smiled as he smelt the rich smell of bacon and sausages and black pudding coming from the kitchen. After he had dried himself down and got himself dressed in his rumpled shirt and trousers which had been part of his dress robes from the night before, he went downstairs and smiled as he took in the sight of Charlotte cooking at the cooker.
"That smells amazing, Charlotte," he complimented after he had walked down and wrapped his arms around her stomach.
Charlotte giggled. "I aim to please," she smiled happily at him inwardly pleased they had reached an understanding about what he had found in the scrapbook.
Cedric had been halfway down the stairs to the shower when he had turned around - Charlotte had no idea what he had planned to do or say - but he had realised what she had been about to do, and he had become angry. Charlotte had quickly shut him up and said that for a long time she had been keeping everyone at arm's length, that she didn't want anyone interfering with her affairs. As she had reminded him of the things people like Dumbledore and Voldemort had either destroyed or manipulated her life as if it were their natural right to do so without any thought about her long-term damage, she hadn't had much difficulty making Cedric see things from her point of view, but he had still been angry with her because he had a good idea of what she would have done if he hadn't turned around when he had.
It had been a remark he had dropped that had made Charlotte see just how far she had nearly fallen.
"Do you want to become like Dumbledore, because from what you've just told me wiping someone's memory is the sort of thing he would think of."
The remark had shaken her, so much so she had dropped her wand and she had begun to sob her heart out. Charlotte had spent years trying so hard to avoid the old man.
The sight of her crying had shaken Cedric, and it was a testament to his time with Chang he knew the difference between crocodile tears and genuine tears. Still, she had explained why she had been so prepared to wipe his memory when he had wrapped her in his arms although she knew he had been cautious; even without her wand, Cedric knew she was not someone to play games with. She had told him that Snape and Dumbledore could look past his mental barriers, and if they discovered some of her plans then they would interfere even if their current situation made it harder for them to do so, but they could find ways of setting up stumbling blocks Charlotte would have had trouble bypassing.
Cedric wasn't surprised by the admission Snape and Dumbledore could read minds. He already knew it. He knew most professionals of the mind-arts had a master trick to make people look into their eyes, but despite his own knowledge in occlumency it hadn't stopped Snape looking into his mind. It was one of the slimy potion master's tricks; look into a students mind so then he could find the best way to undermine and hurt the student. But once she had told him the why, Cedric understood her reasoning although he was still put out with her. In the end, he had made a magical vow to never reveal her secrets, and a promise to develop his occlumency training. Charlotte knew from experience that wouldn't be difficult; since Cedric knew what Snape and Dumbledore were capable of, it would be simplicity in itself to mentally organise the memories of the conversation and find a way to hide them inside his mind.
She only hoped Cedric became proficient enough to hide his memories, but she knew he would do so. Still, she didn't like the way this man had come into her life and had made her face parts of her personality she hadn't even realised she had until they were thrown in her face; the very thought she had nearly tried to do something Dumbledore would have done without question filled her with self-loathing especially since she knew he was right.
She knew she would need to amend her ways, but that was the hardest task of all; she had spent years on the streets thinking and caring about nothing but number one, after all. At the same time when she had arrived at Hogwarts and discovered the scale of Dumbledore's manipulations in the form of Weasley and Granger and the resurgent threat of Voldemort, she had needed to protect herself. Granted, she knew she had adopted Dumbledore's "the ends justify the means" approach, but she had never wiped the memories of anyone before now, but she had been prepared for it nonetheless.
So now Charlotte was left with a big question, one she didn't like the implications of.
Was she like Dumbledore already after she had spent so long trying to avoid being like the old wizard?
XXX
As Professor Flitwick observed from his specially made chair in the staffroom a few days after the Yule Ball the body language of the teachers, he had a few moments to reflect on the last few days. With the Yule Ball on and the usual Christmas holidays ending, the students would be returning to the school shortly. In preparation for the resuming of the school year, it was customary for the Hogwarts staff to have a meeting anyway, but with the Tri-wizard tournament in place, the staff meeting was more important since they needed to make sure any last-minute plans were addressed.
Flitwick was prepared for any new bombshells Dumbledore had to drop on them for this, and judging from her expression so was Minerva since they knew Dumbledore's fixation over Charlotte Potter would mean the old wizard would be focused on her.
Flitwick had no idea what the second task of this iteration of the Tournament would involve, but he knew enough of the competition to know the champions would be forced to rescue someone precious to them. He had no idea if that was the case now, but it wouldn't surprise him.
When the final few teachers came through the door, Dumbledore lifted his wand and silently locked it before he looked around the room with a benign smile.
"Now then, with the students returning from the Christmas holidays the day after tomorrow, I want to know of any concerns over our classes before we get to the matter of the Tournament….," Dumbledore began.
The meeting concerning the school and the classes and the students themselves lasted for three hours. Much of it was mundane, especially since many of the teachers had brought their concerns and their opinions forward before they got down to the matter of the problematic students. Dumbledore spared each one a few moments, discussing their problems and the issues they caused everyone else - some of them were bullies, but because Dumbledore never truly punished the students, instead believing the best way to deal with them was to essentially turn a blind eye especially if they were bullying other students, the staff were limited about what they could do.
Flitwick had sighed irritably when the matter came up. He had been Head of Ravenclaw and had been teaching with Albus Dumbledore long enough to realise the fool would do nothing, but what annoyed the Charms Master the most and what offended him the most was this man, who primarily thought of himself as a teacher even if he hadn't actually properly taught a class for years since his many positions made it impossible, was the man seemed to have forgotten what being a teacher entailed. Dumbledore would just say they were missing home or something insane like how their bullying was harmless banter or something like that. And then he would say the students needed to be given space to allow them to know their transgressions would be forgiven.
It was times like that Flitwick asked himself who had the bright idea of giving Albus Dumbledore so many positions while at the same time allowing him to be Headmaster of Hogwarts. It made no sense because Dumbledore never actually did any of the work, and on top of that, every time the matter of bullying came up, and it did come up, Dumbledore dismissed it.
This year was no different. Hadn't the simpleton learnt from his mistakes this year? Not only was he indirectly responsible for the physical assault on a girl whose only crime was getting her name called out as a champion of the Tournament, but he had come up with the insane plan to ban every teacher from helping her. And here he was, telling the teachers not to put a stop to the bullying which still ran rampant in the school.
It was with some relief Dumbledore brought the matter to the topic of the tournament. "Now that is over," he said, although the tone of his voice indicated they would be meeting again soon when the students who'd left the school for the holidays came back, "we can turn our attention to the matter of the Tournament."
"What is happening in the second task?" Flitwick masked his smile thanks to his years of control, but he had to admire Snape's bluntness.
While he didn't like Snape's manner especially since he seemed to refuse to grow up, Flitwick wished Dumbledore was short, sharp, and to the point.
"It has been decided the champions will be made to work together as a team to rescue those whom they hold most dear," Dumbledore replied, unaware Flitwick had noticed how unhesitant and clear he had replied to Snape; no-one truly understood Dumbledore's trust in the Death Eater who was already seen as a pet by many, but they had all noticed Dumbledore spent more time in Snape's company than any other teacher. Even Minerva barely spent as much time as Snape did with the old wizard, which made some wonder what was going on.
"A team?" Pomona repeated, looking at the headmaster as if she didn't know what the word meant. "I thought all the champions were meant to work separately."
"When the Tournament was reinstated for this generation, this year, that was the goal," Dumbledore explained grimly, letting some of the mask he always wore of an old man who was still full of energy to fall, showing instead the face of a man who had spent many long hours coming up with something big. "However, after the last task where all of the champions and the ones who joined in the First Task to aid them were badly injured, myself, Mr Crouch, and the other organisers agreed it was not a good idea. The press statement will say we wanted the Second Task to show how each champion can work with each other."
"Have the champions been told?" Minerva asked, although by her tone she knew there was a likelihood Viktor Krum and Fleur Delacour had, but not Charlotte or Cedric.
"I don't know," Dumbledore said, and they could tell he meant it since he wasn't trying to throw them off with some ridiculous half-truth. "However I wouldn't be surprised."
"So the champions are going to rescue people important to them from something in the task, and they're going to work together? Is that normal for the Tournament?" Professor Sinistra asked.
"Not as such, however it has been occasionally put into effect to give the Tournament a new twist," Dumbledore answered, "to make it more exciting."
Flitwick raised an eyebrow. He doubted that had been the reason… "Or is it because none of the organisers, headmasters included as well as Ministry people, particularly wants Charlotte Potter to put more people into hospital beds, Headmaster?" he asked slowly, able to see through the lines.
Everyone stilled. The idea had occurred to all of them, but none had wanted to voice it.
Dumbledore nodded slowly, a haunted look creeping over his face as he remembered the mess caused in the First Task. "Charlotte's actions in the First Task resulted in a lot of anger, especially from the parents of those who were injured by her. Many of them wanted Charlotte to pay for what she'd done before they learnt she was doing it for family, and they could do nothing. The other organisers refused to allow more students to be injured, especially the skilled ones since there was no guarantee they would come out without severe injuries."
"So you came up with this?" Poppy commented thoughtfully, however, there was an uncertain glint in her eye. She clearly didn't know for sure if this was a good idea or not, but she wasn't going to say anything clearly in case she was either right or wrong.
"Yes. We didn't want another incident."
"That's as may be, Albus," Minerva interrupted, looking at her old friend suspiciously. "But I think I've seen a flaw with your plan."
Dumbledore looked at McGonagall as if he couldn't believe what he had heard. "A flaw?"
"Yes. You said you were planning on the champions saving people precious to them, right?"
Flitwick saw where Minerva was going with this, as did everyone else.
"That is correct, my dear," Dumbledore replied, although Flitwick knew what she was going to say even if his guileless reply said otherwise.
"Then who will Charlotte be saving, especially since her friends deserted her and she has made it clear she would rather turn around and walk away than lift a finger to help anybody?" Minerva asked, folding her arms while glaring softly at Dumbledore. "And don't you dare say Ronald Weasley. Not only did he behave atrociously at the Ball, not only embarrassing Hogwarts and his family, but he also assaulted Charlotte. He hasn't returned to Hogwarts yet, and there is already speculation Charlotte has drowned him in spider form already. Put him in the task, and Charlotte won't do anything for him."
Dumbledore sighed. "Minerva, I am aware of that. I am also aware of Mr Weasley's absence. However I have someone else in mind," he added with a reassuring smile.
Minerva was not fooled. "Who, Albus?"
Dumbledore sighed again. "Hermione Granger. And before you say anything, Minerva, bear something in mind. Charlotte has no-one. Her family is dead. Her godfather is a traitor, and Remus Lupin was only in her life one year and he hasn't gotten involved with her since. My choice in this matter is limited."
Minerva sighed, but she knew Dumbledore had a point there.
The door suddenly opened and Charlotte stepped into the room.
"How did you open that door?" Professor Babbling demanded.
Charlotte ignored the question. Instead, she pulled out the small mirrored box she had used to hold Ronald Weasley in, and she placed it gently on the floor before she withdrew one of her wands. She flicked it silently and then she stood back and waited as the box reformed itself into a water goblet, and the trapped wizard within was returned to human form.
Instantly Poppy was on her feet while the other teachers took in Weasley's condition. Flitwick could see he looked awful. His dress robes looked more wrinkled than they had been during the Ball, but the state of the boy….
Dumbledore turned angrily to Charlotte when he had taken in his almost comatose state and his wide, blank stare which showed he hadn't slept in a while his face looked pale with fright. "What did you do to him?"
Charlotte lifted an eyebrow even as she regarded the old Headmaster with a cool manner.
"Nothing."
"What do you mean, you did nothing? You must have done something-."
"I did nothing. All I did was transform him into a spider and place him in a mirrored box while ensuring it was kept in a lit place. Spiders detest brightness and prefer dark corners. I took advantage of that and his fear of them. In that mirrored cube Weasley was unable to sleep, and every time he saw a reflection of himself, his arachnophobia got the better of him. It is not my fault he was stupid enough to attack me in the Yule Ball; that was because of you, and your stupid remarks to him I was going to be his girlfriend. As if I would date him," she finished, glaring at Weasley with contempt.
"You did not have to do this!" Dumbledore conveniently ignored the jab Weasley's condition was his fault.
"Yes I did," Charlotte's cool manner faded a little as she glared at Dumbledore. "The pig assaulted me in public, he almost ruined my evening. What did you expect I was going to do, just forgive him and dance with him as if nothing had happened?"
Flitwick smiled while he took a backseat to the proceedings.
It was far from over.
"You could have simply cursed him and left it at that," Dumbledore answered, "or you could have soothed his hurt feelings and danced with him."
"Hurt? I hurt him?" Charlotte's voice became amused even as she maintained her cool stance. "How?"
"You didn't dance with him. You proceeded to dance with someone else. Therefore you hurt his feelings. I know Mr Weasley was looking forward to dancing with you."
"Yeah, only because you told him it was going to happen," Charlotte pointed out. "It's academic now, I've brought him back. And no, I don't care what I did to him. I would do it again and again until he got the fucking hint to leave me alone. I'll see you at the Second Task, Headmaster, Professors. Goodbye for now."
Charlotte turned around and walked in the direction of the door, but she paused and she turned to Weasley. "That was your last warning, Weasley. The next time you cause problems, I will make certain your fear of spiders become a fear for cats. Not that you will live long enough for it to matter much in the long run."
Weasley was too out of it to properly answer her although Charlotte did not seem in the least bit concerned one way or another, and she just walked out of the staffroom without a look back - Flitwick guessed it would be some time before he returned to his usual self, but he only hoped the young wizard got the hint.
He had to accept Charlotte had been merciful, not like Dumbledore thought but then the old wizard would believe that type of retaliation had a price on ones' soul without realising no harm had truly come since Weasley was still alive, but her very real if unsaid threat she would transform him into something a cat would go for without hesitation if he didn't stop pestering her made it clear to the Charms Master Charlotte would carry out her threats to him.
What none of them realised, and wouldn't for some time, although whether or not they cared was an open question, was that Weasley was now infertile. Charlotte didn't want his genes to pollute the gene pool even more.
XXX
Remus winced as his nose wrinkled with the stench of booze, but he didn't turn around and walk away since he knew if he did then Sirius would probably drown himself in alcohol. His old friend had been like this ever since Charlotte had destroyed the mirror he'd sent her to speak with her to explain what had happened, and there was no chance it would end anytime soon.
Sirius was depressed enough since they had moved into his family home, a place he hated for so many reasons since he had so many dark memories here which were as depressing as the aura of the house itself. But if the house depressed him, the pain whenever Charlotte's name crept up and it did because Remus went out to get the newspapers which seemed to have an edition about her nearly every day, especially the part where she had stripped a large portion of the Daily Prophet's funding from them in such a ruthless manner it left Remus stunned.
But the reminders of Charlotte, the pictures especially the ones of the Yule Ball, which showed her so beautiful and graceful when she hadn't been attacked by Ron Weasley, were a painful knife to Sirius' soul.
And to Remus.
But the werewolf wasn't like his friend. Yeah, Remus wanted nothing more than to get rat-arsed drunk and just pretend all of his problems would go away for a spell, he knew he couldn't; werewolves hated alcohol since it always pushed the wolf into a vicious rage.
And so he was forced to watch as his last true friend drunk himself to death, bitterly torturing himself by sticking photographs of Charlotte - he had even found baby photos of her somewhere, Merlin knew where he'd found them - on the walls and he had promised he would murder Kreacher the House elf if he so much as lifted one-off, and cursing himself for stupidly going along with Dumbledore's sick plan. Remus had always respected and admired the old wizard, loving him for giving him an education and for giving him a chance, responsibility….but at this point, Remus hated the old wizard for putting him and Sirius in this mess with his poorly thought out plan to essentially give Charlotte no hope and to forbid them from helping her for some reason Remus now, in hindsight, wondered what the point of it all was.
While he would always be grateful to Dumbledore for everything, Remus would also remember the pain the old man had caused them with his badly thought out plans, plans and schemes Remus and Sirius had mindlessly followed.
Remus didn't understand what had possessed Dumbledore to come up with that scheme in the first place, and how it could be for Charlotte's benefit. But what sickened the werewolf the most was how they had just gone along with it, allowing Dumbledore to isolate the child Lily and James had borne, and they hadn't thought anything off about it even as the messages from Charlotte mounted up and up.
Remus flinched when he heard the shattering sound of another glass bottle, and he idly wondered if Sirius had hurled it against a wall or just dropped it before he decided it didn't matter. He still couldn't believe what the Marauders had been reduced to. The once legendary gang of Gryffindors from Hogwarts - one was dead, one had betrayed them all and snatched away the only child of their little gang her childhood and made her lonely forever, one had been thrown into Azkaban prison and as much as Remus would love to think otherwise, had probably not come out of the prison with all of his marbles intact. As for Remus himself, well he had done what he had always done.
Just walk away without a backward glance, ignoring his responsibilities and just fall into his old pattern of using the werewolf as a crutch to stop himself from having a life.
The Marauders…
Charlotte…
Remus closed his eyes, and he had to stifle the sob as it rose in his chest, remembering all of those days where James had boasted about the kids all of the Marauders were going to have, and they would have the new generation of pranksters going to Hogwarts. Only for Wormtail to tear it away, selling out Lily and James to that bastard Voldemort, and what had Remus and Sirius done? Sirius had gone off after Pettigrew and gotten himself thrown into prison while Remus had just walked away, not even sparing Charlotte a thought. He had always obeyed Dumbledore who said he couldn't go near the girl.
How he wished he had defied the old man now, especially since he knew she had escaped from the Dursleys. If he had just been a fucking man, maybe half of this mess would never have happened.
Remus flinched when he heard the sound of sobbing from Sirius. He was out of his depth since Sirius seemed determined to drink himself to death, and Charlotte had made it clear she wasn't going to forgive them. But he needed to do something. The werewolf turned around and headed for the sitting room of the house, ignoring the depressing Black family decor - he had wondered what in the name of Merlin the Black family had brought into this house to make the place so oppressive, now he didn't care since it matched his mood - and he sat down on one of the moth-eaten couches and he opened the newspaper.
As he had expected the paper was full of news of the Second Task of the Tournament, but as Remus read through the paper very little emerged about the actual details of the Task itself. That made sense. The Ministry wouldn't want anybody to have foreknowledge of what was going to happen in the Tasks since the surprise would be ruined. Remus rubbed his bristly chin thoughtfully, unsure of what to feel about this type of reporting; it was exceptionally rare for the Prophet to report on things like this and build the hype up and up. The Second Task of the Tournament was pretty much dominating the front page all the time now as the Ministry wanted the entire country to enjoy the infamous competition. It had become even more notorious ever since Charlotte had shown what she was capable of, only the Ministry in a very rare show of intelligence had begun used Charlotte to bolster the Tournament, although Remus didn't doubt Fudge would have wanted to lock Charlotte away in Azkaban out of fear of her becoming powerful enough to overthrow the Ministry or some nonsense like that.
There was no doubt in Remus' mind the Minister would think something like that. Fudge was super paranoid about people smarter than himself, and Remus had heard rumours of Fudge even thinking of ways of getting rid of people like Amelia Bones and Dumbledore. He would have taken one look at Charlotte and instead of bothering to see the girl just wanted to be left alone would begin seeing her as an enemy. Remus wondered what had happened to dissuade him from that course of action before he guessed Dumbledore had something to do with it.
The Ministry was shamelessly using Charlotte as the poster girl for the Tournament although Remus asked himself how she felt about it all, there was no way of finding out since he had no idea where Charlotte lived.
"Be safe, Charlotte," he whispered to himself as he looked at the moving picture of Charlotte which was a stock photo taken from the First Task. He didn't know what was going to happen, but he only hoped she got out of this safely.
XXX
In his office in the Ministry of Magic, Cornelius Fudge was pacing up and down thoughtfully - or rather what he believed was thoughtful - in actual fact, he paced up and down the room, fidgeting as he went.
The Second Task of the Tri-wizard Tournament was going to be taking place in a few days time, and Fudge wondered what was going to be happening with the youngest champion, Charlotte Potter. Fudge grimaced as he thought of the girl, thinking of all the trouble she had caused him. First during that business in her second year. He had believed he had placed the right culprit in Azkaban. How was he supposed to know Hagrid was in fact innocent?
And then, last year when Sirius Black had escaped, the girl had given him and his staff a lot of trouble since she had come out with a nonsense story that Black was innocent. Snape's story that she was confounded was clearly true.
And now this…
Charlotte Potter had somehow gotten herself put in the Tri-wizard Tournament, and by some stupid thought process from the niece of Amelia Bones, she had lost one of her eyes. Not that he cared that much, especially since he didn't want Potter to rise higher than she was already. He'd already had enough enjoyment of the situation as it was with the withdrawal of the Potter support of the Alliance. It was ironic Amelia Bones' stupid niece had done something for him that he had wanted.
And yet, Potter had shown how dangerous she was. Fudge had wanted to get the girl thrown into Azkaban without a trial and he could reassure the magical world the Ministry would take action. Only he had discovered, to his annoyance, he couldn't throw her into a cell since the rules of the Tournament actually permitted the barbaric methods of the Potter brat. In any case, the First Task had actually won a phenomenal audience worldwide, and now many were betting on Charlotte Potter being the winner of this round. Assuming she lived, of course. Yes, while Fudge was frustrated to get rid of the Girl Who Lived, his opportunistic mind had immediately seen the possibilities. So, for now, the girl would be the poster girl for the Tournament, and if she stepped out then he would see her thrown into Azkaban. So much for the Potter family.
XXX
Even though she knew what the Second Task of the Tournament was - again, thanks to kidnapping Ludo Bagman and using truth serum on him to get the gist of what was going on - Charlotte had to admit she was impressed with what the organisers had cooked up for the Second Task.
Granted, they had needed to solve a few issues - namely her actions in the last task, although Charlotte wasn't bothered about that in the least - the basics of the Task hadn't been changed at the last minute. The Tournament had been in the organisational stage for a long time, even longer than Charlotte had been in the Magical World, and the Tasks had been agreed about a long time ago. All the organisers had to do was shift them a little bit, that was it.
She walked with the other three Champions towards the Quidditch Pitch following the judges and organisers of the Tournament - Charlotte had to smile, remembering all of the matches she had taken part in; granted, her enjoyment of Quidditch was limited even if it provided her with a marvellous adrenaline rush, but there were a few matches were nasty for her - taking note even through her sunglasses the audience in the stands. At the same time, she noticed all of the mirrors which hovered around the stadium, transmitting the Tournament across the whole world.
If she and the Champions were dressed in different robes, carried broomsticks, she would feel this was a Quidditch Match.
The Champions came to a halt at a platform with the judges standing on it, waiting for their fellows to join them while the Champions waited for details about the Task.
Albus Dumbledore stepped forward in sweeping robes of deep lemon yellow, pressing his wand to his throat. "Welcome to the Second Task of the Tri-wizard Tournament," Dumbledore's voice, magnified by his wand echoed throughout the stadium and the whole world.
XXX
"It's started," the man looked over his shoulder and yelled for his wife.
She came running into the room, glaring at the image of Dumbledore as his aged, wrinkled face filled the mirror. "How much have I missed?"
"Nothing so far. It's just begun."
"Today's task is all about teamwork. Instead of all of you working against one another, all of you will be working with each other for the Second Task," Dumbledore's voice boomed over the mirror. "You will be rescuing people important to yourselves."
The woman hissed in outrage, realising what this whole thing was about while she listened to the cries of outrage from the Champions. "The bastard! Rescue from what? "
Her husband agreed with her. "People important to the Champions…this stupid game never changes, not once. I only hope there are no children involved in this one."
XXX
Charlotte winced as she listened to the cries of outrage from the other Champions, and she sighed internally as she watched the idiots running this messy shebang glaring at Dumbledore, who appeared oblivious to the anger and frustration that was levelled against him. She couldn't help but wonder if the old fool had deliberately said that because he wanted to motivate the Champions, or if he was so obtuse and out of it he didn't know or understand what the effects of his speeches had on people. She was willing to bet it was the former.
She wasn't surprised to hear about the details of the Task, especially thanks to dear old Ludo - only this time, she and Dobby had gleaned some insights into the next Task - but as before, she had no idea whom she was meant to be saving. She had nobody in the world. Her family were dead. If the Dursleys were still alive, she wouldn't even touch them with a barge pole. Luckily for Dumbledore and the judges, Nightstar was safe, although Charlotte had little doubt in her head if she and her beloved cat were still living in this school, the old bastard wouldn't hesitate to use her.
Dumbledore waited for the cries to die down before he bellowed. "SILENCE!"
Charlotte winced and stepped back at the bellow, but the bellowed command from Dumbledore had done its job, and the cries from Champions and audience alike died down. For a moment the old wizard gazed imperiously around the stands before looking down at the Champions.
"All of you will be taking a Portkey to an area that has been specially prepared for this task. When you arrive, you will be confronted by a true challenge for your magical mastery. But you must work together, and to ensure you do, you will be given…THESE!"
Dumbledore flicked his wand, and Charlotte winced again, only this time it was caused by a sudden weight on her wrist. She lifted her arm and she saw a simple platinum silver bracelet marked with runes on them. She knew enough about runes to know these were special. She looked around, and she saw all the others were staring at similar-looking bracelets on their own wrists with varying degrees of emotions. Cedric was confused, Krum was frowning, and Fleur was gazing down at hers with rage. Charlotte knew how she felt; she guessed these runes would force them all to work together, and she had no idea what would happen to them if they didn't.
"These bracelets have been charmed and fixed to ensure you work together," Dumbledore said after a pause to allow the group to become accustomed to their new jewellery. "I should warn all of you," he went on, looking imploringly at all of them even if he lingered a little longer when he stared at Charlotte, "if you try to act alone, or try to harm anyone of your competitors, then you will quickly regret it."
Charlotte sighed internally. She knew from long experience, and she shared a look with Cedric here, when Dumbledore was cryptic then they would be seeing what he meant by regretting it.
Dumbledore's face lit up with a smile, his previous solemn and intense mood fading. "Now you may begin! Good luck!"
Charlotte and the other Champions waited until Percy Weasley, ushered over by his master, Barty Crouch, went over and held out the Portkey. It was a large glass jug with more than one handle. Each Champion took one of the handles, and Charlotte closed her eyes instantly as she felt the familiar sensation of a hook through the bellybutton, and she was yanked into the magical vortex….
XXX
The journey seemed to last for an eternity before they were deposited on the ground. Charlotte winced as collapsed to the ground. She was surprised; she had been practicing with the Portkeys, learning of the best way to end up on her feet since it offended her dignity as a cat burglar and cat animagus that she could not land on her feet. And yet she had ended up with the scent of grass in her face, and she opened her eyes after pushing aside the dizziness and the disorientation, and she saw that the other Champions were in the same boat she was.
Charlotte ignored them and looked around herself, seeing that they were in the middle of a clearing surrounded by trees. She took a deep breath and braced herself, pulling herself up slowly so she got to her feet. She looked around herself, turning around in a circle, ignoring the mirrors circling overhead. Turning in a circle, Charlotte saw nothing but trees. There was no castle, no tower….Nothing.
She closed her eye and concentrated. She sniffed the air, taking in the fresh air, the scents from the trees as well as the residual scent of grass in her nostrils. But there was nothing anomalous when she smelt the air with the aid of her animagus form although she stayed in her human form.
Her ears caught the sound of everyone groaning, and she turned around and saw Krum groaning as he got to his feet. Fleur had already climbed to her feet, and she had her wand out. Cedric was also on his feet, and he was doing what Charlotte had been doing, looking out into the forest.
Charlotte walked over to Cedric, who glanced at her for a second before looking back. "Where are they?" he asked.
Charlotte glanced at him for second before shaking her head. "I don't know," she whispered. "I didn't see anything. No castle, no tower, no building…just trees."
She flicked her wands into her hands, but she stayed next to Cedric before the other two Champions joined them. Both Fleur and Krum weren't happy with the teamwork thing, but they decided to make the best of it and see what their competitors had in mind. Charlotte suddenly stiffened, and she held up her wands. Cedric went still.
"What is it?"
"I saw someone move, in those woods. There was a clear bit, between some trees. I saw someone moving."
"Someone?" Krum said.
Charlotte nodded, not taking her eye off of the space. "I know I'm not mistaken. I live near some woods, I jog through them and sometimes I don't use paths; you'd be surprised how many muggles you find checking out mushrooms and toadstools. In any case, I saw the silhouette. Trust me, there was someone moving in there."
"Trust you?" Charlotte turned and faced Fleur, who repeated her with a yelp. "Why should we trust you? You attacked us in the last Task-!"
"You would have done the same thing to me," Charlotte's voice was harsh. "Don't deny it, you would have done the same to me. I didn't put my name into this mess, but I had no intention of letting anyone get the better of me. In any case, that's in the past. We need to work together, and they've forced us to in this Task. So lets just give them what they want, otherwise the runes on these things will activate. Come on, its only for one Task. Is that so difficult to do?"
"It's not for me," Cedric replied.
Krum shook his head. "I never expected when I submitted my name I would work with any of you, but I want to get through this and rescue whoever was taken."
Charlotte glanced at Fleur. If she were honest with herself, she had no clear idea right now of what it was that had offended the French witch, but truthfully she didn't really care. "Seriously, what is your problem with me, anyway?" she asked the older witch. "Was it because I insulted you during the Wand Weighing, or something else?"
Later in her life, Charlotte would look back and she would wonder if Fleur would reply, but at the time she jumped slightly when a Portkey appeared, discharging a thin white box on the ground. "What's that?" Charlotte asked.
Krum, who was closer, lifted his wand and levelled the tip at it before he opened it. Charlotte leaned in closer, seeing that inside the box was a roll of paper. Krum picked it up cautiously, but with growing confidence when he realised he hadn't been cursed, he unrolled it and showed it to the others. Charlotte peered around the taller boys arm.
It was a map, basic but it showed the critical details of the local area, particularly the clearing they were in. Charlotte frowned. There was a second dot on the map, but there was something…And then she realised the problem. They were facing the wrong way.
"Wait, everyone turn around….yeah-oh, no," Charlotte finished with a sigh.
"What's wrong?" Cedric asked.
Viktor caught on quickly. "That's the direction you thought you saw someone, yes?"
"Got it in one," Charlotte said, craning her head around so she could see the map a little bit better. "We have to enter the forest from here, and we have to follow this route to wherever we need to get to, but since I know I did see someone move in there, we're gonna need to be careful. Come on, let's get on with it."
Slowly, with their wands drawn, the Champions moved into the forest.
XXX
The moment they entered the forest, it seemed to become night time, complete with a full moon which made the Champions wonder if they were looking at a very clever enchantment of some kind. Fleur jumped in surprise at the sudden, unexpected shift in light while Charlotte groaned. She let out a string of unladylike curses at the need of people to be so theatrical. The reaction to her cursing was mixed; Cedric was shocked by her word use, but she saw him nod his head in agreement, Krum looked like he was about to laugh, and Fleur was looking at her as if she were deranged before she shook her head before she walked on, hearing the sounds of the others following as they moved off through the woods.
The mirrors were following them still as they walked around with their wands lit.
"Are you sure you saw someone moving in here, Potter?" Krum asked, gazing at the youngest champion sceptically, although since they had walked into a forest where the lights went out
"I'm sure," Charlotte replied; she had no idea what the Tournament organisers had dreamt up for this Task, but whatever it was, she knew it would not be nice. "Oh, I hope this isn't like that mess in Edgware Road…."
"Edgware Road?" Fleur repeated, looking quizzically at Charlotte.
Charlotte bit her lip. She hadn't intended to reveal anything of her past, but the eerie feeling she was getting just by being in this forest…it brought back memories, and she hadn't been able to control her mouth.
"It's a place in London. To cut a long story short, when I found myself on the streets, I stayed there for a bit. But one night I found myself stalked by someone. I never found out who it was, but I knew they were there, and I set a number of traps to distract them so I could escape," Charlotte's voice became grim as she remembered that particularly unpleasant time, not noticing Cedric looking at her in concern at the story which was another blow in his mind as far as he was concerned about the system. And Dumbledore.
When she had found herself in Edgware Road, it had been a short time after she had fled the Dursleys after she had killed them. Back then, Charlotte was just desperate as she tried to find places to live, places to find food, water, and money. But when she had arrived in some backwater part of Edgware Road, she had settled down for the night….And then she had felt…
Charlotte had never imagined the expression blood turning to ice becoming so apt, but it was true. She remembered settling down, getting ready to sleep, and then she had felt her blood turn cold, and the hairs at the back of her head suddenly stand on end.
She had steered clear of Edgware Road ever since, but what she remembered the most was the fear she had felt. A terrible, deep-rooted fear as something in the night crept towards her. Charlotte had never felt anything like that before; her fear of Vernon Dursley's wrath was nothing compared to that sinister thing she had encountered. The closest Charlotte today would liken it with was a Dementor, but she remembered the event well; Dementors were not affected by physical traps, and she had heard grunts of pain so she knew someone or something was nearby.
She closed her remaining eye, trying to hold back her emotions at the disturbing memory. She hadn't been to Edgware Road since, and she had never gone anywhere near it in years. When she had gained contacts on streets from other homeless people, runaway kids, she had formed contacts and she had even asked a few people about the weird phenomena she had encountered. No-one had heard anything. No rumours. Nothing.
Thinking about it made Charlotte come to a decision. She would visit Edgware Road in the summer, and she would find out for herself. Only this time she would find and face whatever it was, head-on. She knew dozens of exorcism curses and a few nastier spells in her repertoire. She wasn't going to let whatever it was know it had spooked her.
Never.
"Why were you on the streets?" Fleur whispered.
Charlotte halted.
Cedric looked between the two witches, wondering what Charlotte was going to say next.
"Because I lived there after my muggle relatives kicked the bucket," she said in a voice hewn from the ice of Antarctica before she kept moving. Fleur watched her go open-mouthed, surprised that the girl described in the adventure books her sister and her younger cousins loved to read, had led such a different life than what most expected.
The quartet moved through the woods, hearing the sounds of the night animals as they went about their nighttime hunts. Charlotte's eyes darted all around, but she couldn't see any sign of anything odd or unusual. They were being stalked. She knew it. She knew what she had seen, but she had no idea what it was stalking her. All the time she was hit by two memories - that mess in Edgware Road, and when she had confronted Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest late at night, as part of that sick plan of Dumbledore's to use the Philosopher's Stone as bait while he had no visible contingency plan in case something went wrong.
Charlotte slammed down her occlumency on the two events; she needed all of her nerve for this, and she didn't want her jittery attitude to be broadcasted worldwide and as she and the others walked slowly through the forest, trying not to jump at every sound, she wished the fear of the dark wasn't present in the human psyche.
Viktor was checking the map, and he tripped on a root, but he managed to right himself before he focused on the map. "Whatever it is they want us to get to, it's not far. The map's marked us been halfway."
"Mmm."
"What is it?" Fleur asked the youngest Champion.
"What? Oh, its just…I was expecting something more. Here we are, in a forest in the middle of the day, and yet the organisers have placed an enchantment over the place to make it seem like we're wandering through in the middle of the night….I was expecting something a bit more exciting for the task," Charlotte commented.
The group walked through the woods slowly, shining their lit wands everywhere as they followed the trail. Charlotte suddenly stopped and held the wand in her left hand out.
"Look!" she pointed the tip of her wand out to let the others see what she had just noticed. The other Champions followed the light of Charlotte's wand, and they saw the trees and bramble ahead covered with layers of silvery-white strands.
"Acromantulas," Charlotte whispered.
"How do you know?" Cedric asked curiously, and with a lot of concern while Fleur and Viktor looked at each other in worry.
In the past Charlotte wouldn't have answered the question since it would have gotten her into trouble, but since she had left Hogwarts the rules no longer applied. "I went into the Forbidden forest a couple of years ago, and I found an acromantula nest in there."
"What? And no-one's done anything about them?" Krum yelped before he got control over himself.
"No, apparently not."
Charlotte knew what the problem was. Acromantulas were giant spiders with human-like intelligence and reasoning. Their bodies were strong and highly resilient, able to withstand many kinds of spells. People who met an acromantula should not be fooled by their large sizes; they were just like conventional and ordinary house spiders. They were fast and dangerous, and their fangs were capable of biting through a plate of armour. She had researched the species after her encounter with Aragog in case she ever had the misfortune of encountering them again. She had a number of vicious curses that were capable of splitting one in half.
Their size and their natural speed and strength and their venom were bad enough, but add in their human-like intelligence and you found yourself dealing with a creature that was capable of trapping and outthinking you.
"Viktor, how much further do we have to go?" Charlotte asked.
"We have to keep walking through," the Bulgarian wizard replied.
Charlotte sighed. "Do you ever ask yourselves if we're going to catch a break?" she asked before she shook her head. "Come on, let's get it over with."
"Isn't that dangerous?" Fleur asked, following on like the others.
"Yes. But if we want to get out of this, we've got no choice," Charlotte said grimly, mentally choosing the nastiest of the curses she had in her arsenal for when they encountered the acromantulas.
The Champions walked on, trying valiantly to keep their nerve while they looked through the webs, noticing how they became thicker and thicker. It was Viktor Krum who tripped on a strand of webbing. Suddenly they heard the sound of clinking in the air, and they stopped and held their wands out while they mentally sorted through their impressive collection of spells.
The clicking in the air seemed to go forever before it ceased. The only sound all of the Champions could hear was the sound of their harsh breathing as their nerves got the better of them.
A large mass slammed into Viktor, sending the Bulgarian wizard to the ground. Charlotte turned around and held her wand light upwards. What she saw made her one remaining eye widen. Viktor was lying on his back with an acromantula, a small one by the look of it, on top of him and trying to bite him. Viktor was wriggling valiantly underneath the giant spider, but his wand had been thrown clear away. Charlotte's wands shot up and she took careful aim, and silently she cast two of the most powerful blasting curses she knew. The Bulgarian suddenly found himself covered with the smoking entrails of the acromantula, but he was alive. He got to his feet carefully, looking around as if he could scarcely believe he had survived before he looked at the remains of the acromantula; the curses had split the spider in half, and the other half of it had been popped like a gory balloon. Then his gaze focused on Charlotte, and he bowed his head in thanks when he realised what she had done.
The Bulgarian wizard had barely picked up his wand before they heard the sound of clicking before out of the darkness what looked like dozens of acromantulas came out of the undergrowth.
The Champions lifted their wands, readying themselves….
