"I can't make the muggles reenact it out forever," said Tom along the walk to East Lothian. "They will die eventually so we need to convert them into inferi to allow them to carry it out forever. You shouldn't have to go through with the ritual, that's all my doing, but you shall help to kill the bodies for the inferi process."
"That's illegal," said Draco.
"And punishable only if they find out. Surely you know that from your father's run-ins with the law. It's only punishable if they find out," said Tom.
Draco gulped nervously, there was no arguing with that.
"I don't think the ministry will find out," said Daphne, "they're not here and the muggles that live here seem secluded. Like all the people that know about this place just live in the one area. I don't think there will be a lot of muggles rushing to find out what's happening."
"I've seen my father kill spiders, rats and things with the killing curse," said Theo, "the ministry doesn't recommend it for pests. They prefer you to use poison or rat traps, but a lot of old wizarding families that can't be bothered with those methods use it. S'a bit under the belt but people do it anyway."
He shrugged.
"Yes, it's more convenient," said Tom, "I believe there have been attempts to make exceptions for the killing of pests but the ministry has currently refused it. Some still do it though."
"My father does it too," said Draco, and then quickly went on a long speal of all the biggest and most advanced animals his father had ridded the manor of using this method.
Draco's face was pale and his voice was in faster tones as he rushed all over it. It didn't appear as if he'd enjoyed watching his father do so and he did not give the impression of someone eager to use the killing curse, but yet it seemed he did not want to appear unfamiliar with it.
"I've never seen my parents use it," said Daphne, "and neither has Pansy's but we've heard of the 3 unforgiveables before. It's not new to us."
"Your manor's smaller. You probably don't attract as many pests," Theo argued.
"Not true. We once had an annoying fairy infestation," said Daphne, "they were pretty at first but when all they did was giggle and block the sun from reaching our plants with their population, mother tried to talk them out of leaving our lawn at first but you know fairies, dim-witted and a bit simple, it became a real problem and we had to call in someone to relocate them..."
The three traded stories of mishaps with pets at their houses for the remainder of the journey, leading to conversations about some of the balls, hunting parties, tea parties or day outs the pureblood families still had with each other. They shared similar lifestyles, values and sometimes ran into each other a lot for daily business so it was natural to have some shared events together, and there was always a smidgeon of true happiness despite all the tension and unease that always surrounded the pureblood families there that they had happy memories to recall upon in this conversation. It also allowed Tom to see that most of the pureblood families were still intact and socially connected, the troublesome blood traitor branches of the past were still a little troublesome now, but it seemed things more or less stayed the same, just dialed back a lot after the collapse of Lord Voldemort, and that he didn't need to worry about any drastic changes in alignment or political beliefs with the pureblood families. An aching bit of nostalgia and sorrow fell upon him. They were Tom's second family after Hogwarts and the people he felt the most aligned with.
He got as close to caring about anyone other than himself with them, than any other group of people.
They arrived at the village but had headed upstream to the river so they didn't enter from the same direction Hermione had; allowing them to reach the parts where there were still living people quicker than crossing through the dead bodies though it was likely the next group would have to pass some deceased bodies to get to the next living people.
"I'll take you separately to teach you how to kill," said Tom, "you might need some guidance with the killing curse on people afterall. I know some of you have had practice with the summoned animals we've been eating."
Most of them had taken turns helping build up the stockpile.
Draco Malfoy had not been one of them that had used the killing curse to prepare their meals though, and he looked even more pale than usual as Tom lead him away the first underneath the overbearing noon sunlight.
"At a worm," said Tom, pointing towards one that happened to be on the ground.
Draco felt sick and like it was a stroke of bad luck or fate there happened to be a worm lying there so readily. As if waiting for Tom to instruct him on how to kill it. Theo and Daphne were out of sight so Draco knew they weren't likely to see this embarrassment, but he just felt sweaty and sick to his stomach, and like he didn't want to quite kill.
"Avada kedavra," he said. The intent was there. He understood what it meant for the worm to die. He wanted to please his master and knew it was vital to listen to his superiors on missions and tasks such as this. He believed in the reason for it and was able to find the justification within himself for the curse to work. The worm fell lifeless against the ground.
"Good Draco, a bird," instructed Tom. He used his wand to zoom a bird out of the trees at him. It was an unusually pretty salmon pink one, the type his mother liked and would've pointed out to him when they went on observatory sightseeing outings.
"Avada kedavra," he said, his stomach flipping.
"Good, a cat," Tom summoned a cat out of a house towards them. They were at the end of a street. Draco had previously had a low opinion of the muggles in East Lothian, he didn't think they were very sophisticated nor lived an interesting life, but apparently they had adored their lifestyle enough to keep household pets here, and this cat was even a little pudgey at that, looking wellfed and adored. It currently eyed the two wearily but did not seem fully cognisant of what was going on in it's cat-like manner. A muggle cat, not a magical one most likely, and Draco saw it try to comfort itself through licking it's paws and grooming it's fur in a ritualistic manner.
"Avada kedavra," he was able to do it within seconds. The justification and reasoning was still there.
"Good, now a child," said Tom. He summoned a toddler through wordless magic out of a house somewhere. It was an ordinary looking boy with light brown hair and confusion at what was happening.
"Avada kedavra," said Draco. The green light shot out and killed the child, who lay face-down on the floor.
"A boy," said Tom. An older boy who only looked a few years younger than Draco was summoned from the back of his shirt.
"Wow, there's a strong wind today!" he cried, his feet skirting against the cobblestone pathways.
Draco killed him before he had time to turn around.
"Hey, watch out for the cart-" came a girl's voice. The middle sister of the family.
Her eyes widened when she saw them and Draco ended her misery abruptly.
He then retched and threw up his breakfast all over the shiny cobblestone floors.
"I'm sorry," he was trembling and sweaty as he magick'ed it away.
"It is not your fault," Tom sounded politely considerate, "different types of magic are suited for different people and it won't be wise to waste my best talents on magic that doesn't suit them. You my recover by the edge of the forest. Summon some fruits or animals if you want to eat something to regain your strength. You look a little taken out."
He had been nothing but polite and cordial but Draco felt the face of failure as he left.
Do it for the master.
When in missions follow the leader.
Follow your orders.
Listen to the leader.
That's how it works.
You must put aside some things to honour the leader. It's how things work. How jobs work. How life works.
You can do a lot of things, some you will like, some you won't, under some leaders. That is just life.
It is for the greater good. There are problems with the wizarding world and you're solving them.
Those justifications for the murders made him feel bitter, but he still felt awful by the time he reached the edge of the forests and busied himself following Tom's instructions to have something to do to take this mind of things for a little while. He had of course, magically cleaned his mouth, as his mother had taught him the magical incantation for whenever a witch or wizard was ill, but there was a bitterness that did not wash away as he worked at making his lunch in a procedural and following the steps emotionless sort of manner.
Draco hadn't passed by Theo or Daphne on his way to the thicket so they were chatting happily when Tom found them. He'd given Draco a bit of a headstart as he thought the boy would like his privacy before setting out for something like this. It simply wasn't convenient to make Draco do what Tom wanted him to do right now but he thought it was a good thing he hadn't gotten in the full swing of things with this quest yet, for he could feel the anger bubbling up. Tom liked his followers to be useful and convenient. Convenience and efficiency were two very important things to him.
"How many," said Theo once Tom bought him to the same street Draco had failed. Theo seemed not to notice or care about the bodies Draco had killed, staring intently on Tom to receive his instructions.
"As many as you can," said Tom with a raise of his eyebrow.
That was all the prompt he needed. Theo then turned and made a fast show out of killing as many as he could. He did what Hermione couldn't do and was truly able to fire them of one after another with a rapid-fire efficiency. Tom admired his skill. Theo was indeed a good mage and could do a magnificent job when he wanted to.
Theo spent the next hour and a half walking up and down streets and annihilating this part of the town. Just when Tom thought he would stop he continued some more, truly outperforming his expectations.
When he stopped Tom could see there was sweat that stuck the back of his shirt to his, and sweat dripping down his sallow face and sticky brown hair.
"I'm hungry," said Theo, "my stomach started grumbling ages ago. I think I'll like to stop for some lunch."
"Do, there should be enough in the thicket's edge we came out of," said Tom before leaving to find Daphne. He had not been exactly following Theo the whole time, but was always a few paces behind. Theo was indeed a skilled and capable wizard when he wanted to.
"Start when you're ready," Tom told Daphne, waiting to see what she would do.
Daphne nodded at him, before turning and casting the curse. Then, like Theo, she succeeded in killing quite a fair amount, though nowhere as much as him. She had the rapid-fire succession going on, but was a little slower than Theo. Somewhere in between Hermione and Theo. Her face was kept perfectly blank as she did so.
In another world Tom might've found her beautiful. She certainly looked the part, tall, glossy blonde hair, fair, blue-grey eyes and pretty face with gorgeous body, a mix of slim and budding hourglass figure, but yet he'd always had a thing for brunettes. Perhaps it was because his mother was one and he'd always found that colour more familiar or inviting on a woman somehow, but he admired her as someone else's trophy, but not quite the type that spoke to his heart. He would never let anyone know though, that he'd fancied brunettes and not blondes, for the latter was more prestigious to like. It was just something he kept within himself and others may only guess at if they observed him like a hawk but he would never make a particular show of telling others about.
"I'm tired, it's like a sport and I think I prefer gossip to this," said Daphne once she was done. She'd killed somewhere between Draco and Theo - closer to Draco.
"It is, you have to be in good physical shape to do this," said Tom.
"No wonder why being a solider is hard," yawned Daphne as they walked back, "in ancient wizarding wars when they drafted wizards for armies, they weren't lying about the conditions and requirements."
"All is fair in war," mused Tom, "they drastically dropped restrictions on unforgiveable curses then. As well as many other things."
"Oh yeah, torture devices and stuff," Daphne sounded matter of fact as they neared the thicket where Theo and Draco would be, "some of it makes my stomach hurt a little. So disgusting to think about. I'd always prefer to die in a pretty way," she said, "I feel sorry for those that don't get to."
"I feel sorry for those that die at all," was all Tom said.
"You alright?" Theo found Draco finishing of his lunch with some slow nibbling.
"Oh yes, want some?" asked Draco. He had cooked enough fish from the river with gooseberries and strawberries slightly toasted with fire from his wand so the juices bubbled out gorgeously for three people - Theo, Tom and Daphne.
"Don't mind if I do, I'm getting a bit sick of this camping food though," mused Theo, "I wish I thought to bring some non-perishable food of my own before we left. But I was just eager to practice camping magic again I didn't think of it. I think this is the longest I've camped actually."
"Definitely I've never camped for weeks and weeks on end," said Draco.
"What do you think of him?" asked Theo, "remember. He has power and influence over some of us, because we know we share the same views on some things and we all agree to give it to him. But not everything. If enough of us change our minds we are free to leave at any time. We never signed up to anything we truly didn't want to."
"He's skilled, powerful and determined with a clear goal in mind," said Draco, "he's a good leader. But...I'm not sure I like being his follower as much. He's a bit..."
"He's a bit brutish isn't he?" said Theo, "misses how he makes us feel at times. Doesn't understand the discomfort we feel over this or that. It's nothing to him but he doesn't see it's not the same for us. I suppose he'll get better with it over time though, and he'll work with us better."
"He's already done a good job with Astoria," Draco seemed a little comforted by Theo's words somehow and sounded happier as he bought the conversation away from the possibility of betraying them and running of, which was always an open possibility for loyalties weren't that high towards him yet and there was nothing truly on the line for them if they wanted to balk on it, and towards the topic of how things generally worked with the group.
"Oh, yes. Very true, but she's an easy age to be sympathetic to and want to ease into this a bit better," said Theo, "so would we if we hadn't started Hogwarts yet."
The four of them arrived back at camp just as darkness fell on the Saturday. Hermione had meant to kill on the Friday but passed out and didn't wake up until Saturday morning, meaning the four of them had taken up roughly most of Saturday at East Lothian.
After Tom joined them for dinner he picked out Luna and Astoria. Pansy and Blaise would be last.
They walked through the thicket in the darkness of the night but the silvery decor of moonlight to East Lothian.
"Isn't it pretty at night?" murmured Luna happily as they continued walking through the thicket, "we're so lucky we're going on this adventure in the summer!"
"It'll be pretty during the winter as well," said Tom, "you just need a big fire to keep warm, which is no problem for us. There's beauty in every season. England's weather is not so harsh there's any season that we will truly hate."
"The winters aren't as cold as the poles of the Earth, I hear it's really those winters that are most unbearable," said Luna.
"Yeah," agreed Astoria.
They talked a little about the weather on their way there.
Once they arrived Tom took Astoria away first.
"I'm sorry about the bodies," he said as he lead them through the village path that Draco, Theo and Daphne took.
"It's alright, I suppose there wasn't enough time to move them," said Astoria.
"No, there wasn't. But this will come in handy for the inferi making process. If I had to move them and then retrieve them again it would've only slowed that part of it down. The muggles have noticed some of their friends haven't come back from their day's work I think, but since we covered it in sections I don't think the section on the far side of the village has quite realised it yet. Because I think they only talk to the neighbouring sections. The muggles who live further out than that would have to talk to the middle section, so I guess the far side section has only realised that the middle section is missing, they have no idea about the people living closest to the edge," Tom mused.
There were roughly two paths it split into, Luna had waited at the juncture for one of the paths. She had bought along a constellation diary and was sketching happily in her book whilst she waited for Tom, taking the opportunity to glance at the night sky and put them down.
"They don't use...telephones? Or radios?" asked Astoria. She had known vaguely what the prominent muggle inventions were. Some pureblood families knew as well, though they didn't have them.
"They do but they don't think to because for so long the villagers have just lived talking to each other by word of mouth. It's a hard habit to stop if you're used to it all the time," said Tom.
"They're a bit old fashioned aren't they, these villagers?" mused Astoria, "it doesn't sound like they use all the muggle inventions that have been discovered since."
Tom snorted, "you can say that again."
"Luckily they're sleeping so it's a little easier. This is a window opening charm," Tom showed her the incantation.
"I've seen you try killing a bird before to add to our stockpile of food," he said, "it's like that but on people."
Astoria paused for a bit before aiming her wand at someone in the house.
We're on a mission to change the world.
There's been lots of tension brewing between factions of families in wizarding England and Europe for a long time.
The tensions aren't great and many of the old pureblood families in England can fall in the next generation.
Tom has some ideas which may change the world and help us.
We need to create this ... museum of sorts.
Because it's one of his plans for the ideas that will help us.
I don't know if there's anything better, but so far it's the only idea we've got, and we've already put so much work into it. We're all running on this idea or the energy of it now.
We're too far in. Too late to back out. We're fully on board.
I am just following orders and instructions on something I signed up for weeks ago.
Daphne and Pansy did give me the option not to. They said I was young and if I didn't want to join I could not follow them and they'd make up some excuse to Tom at the end.
I chose to because I thought I was old enough, mature enough. I wanted to do this. I wanted to learn. I wanted to go on these adventures. I thought I was just about old enough to be ready.
I will not fail.
Even if it disgusts me.
Because I am full of justifications and reasons for it.
Astoria managed to kill a toddler in a cot.
She felt sick afterwards. The blood drained from her face, she felt like she'd been socked in the head, a little dizzy, her skin tingled and she felt close to passing out, but she managed to hide it by taking in big, calm breaths, that weren't so noticeable in the darkness of the night and bevel that she stood to Tom.
She had succeeded in doing her part, no matter how small, of the mission, as she had the justifications for, for even the youngest member had some personal justification for being there.
"Go on," encouraged Tom, but he could sense she was fading fast and he didn't expect too much of her.
Astoria cast a few at the toddler's siblings and then the adults. It seemed this village was a small place that people grew up in for generations for they had passed some streets with what looked like school buildings in the distance. It seemed they were educated at schools here, though the schools seemed small and shabby, but quaint and cosy all at the same time.
Not anymore. There won't be any children attending the small schools in East Lothian after this.
"I feel sick," said Astoria.
She was pale, a bit shaky, and did look faint.
"This is the most advanced bit of magic you have done, it properly drained you. Go and take a break," encouraged Tom.
Astoria nodded and wandered over back to Luna. She had prepared for it all and had her personal justifications for it, but the actual act had left her a bit weaker than she'd imagined.
Luna smiled at her as she passed Astoria, which felt encouraging to Astoria, like there was someone else that might've understood some of her unease or discomfort in this situation tonight, and was something of a companion to her.
The others in the group felt like her companions, peers going through the same thing. Tom was on another level entirely.
"I've seen you kill animals before for our food," Tom told Luna as he lead her away in the opposite direction to Astoria.
"Oh, yes. I do like looking at animals but food is necessary for survival afterall and I think it's important to know how to kill them painlessly," murmured Luna.
"If you wanted to give people pain use crucio before death. I feel sorry for the muggles that can't know magic and have to carry about torture devices with them or something. How inconvenient," said Tom conversationally.
"That sounds like it makes sense. Yes I suppose knowing how to do spells instantaneously is a bit more efficient than what muggles can do in some ways," Luna said neutrally, making conversation back.
"It's like with the animals, but on people instead," Tom told her.
"That's how you prefer to think of it. I have my own way of thinking about it I'd prefer more. I'd think of my way as I cast it, but I'll get the job done," said Luna.
Tom fell silent. He was glad she would get the job done but he wasn't particularly liking her, she wasn't his favourite follower. He fell into a silence as she swept through the village and added her share to the destruction and death that had occurred. It was beautiful to him. None of the furniture, buildings or items in the street had been touched much, but the ring of dead bodies littering the grounds and homes spoke of something terrible that had happened here. The stench of death reeked all the way throughout. It was an unspoken stench, but it had not been there before. Tom like all of this. If he had to be honest with himself it wasn't really wanting to create a magical museum that bought him to this goal. He simply still liked death, destruction, killing, the dark arts, all of those things and choosing this path in life allowed him to do more of it. Although there was some reason behind this, he was also getting to do what he enjoyed the most again.
Bringing the others on this escapade during the summer also bought back memories of his own summers during the childhood and Hogwarts years. He resented not being able to cast magic at the orphanage. He couldn't practice many of the incantations he'd learned that needed a wand to be cast, but that didn't stop him reading up about it. On the converse he often figured out some way to steal books from the Hogwarts library and take them home during the summer, as well as find out what he needed from the few muggle books on loreish fields or speculations of magic that once existed. Although most muggles knew nothing about witches and wizards, there were some studies of lore, alchemy, mythology, and things like that that bordered on magical theory and could be used. It was like muggles theorised how magic could work or function, but just hadn't the skills to do it, but they still published books about it.
Tom was able to get by with a mixture of the books he'd figured out how to smuggle in and out of Hogwarts, as well as some muggle books, as well as his own experimentations whilst he was out. He sometimes left the orphanage for several days in a row, finding some reason to sell to the matrons that they just about believed, and spending that time experimenting, seeing things for his own satisfaction and eyes, and that was how he mastered much of the magic he ended up using later in life.
In fact, some may even say the summers were more fruitful and productive for Tom than the school terms. Where it seemed Tom busied himself with a new project almost every summer since he began at Hogwarts.
It was a good way to deal with the boredom he felt and disinterest in his fellow orphanage peers, and he had always done similar things during the summers when he was a child, before he began Hogwarts. He had always liked exploring and setting those personal goals for himself. It made life interesting amongst the sea of boredom that sometimes surrounded him.
He was quite familiar with wondering about, doing what one pleased, and having the new group of followers there bought back a familiar pang of nostalgia for him. He had totally done this before and he felt quite connected with his youth and reminded of it again, even though he was now around 60 years old chronologically and had much of the existential crisis' of an older person.
Want to dominate the world.
Seek the power and position I wanted from the first war.
Kill Harry Potter.
Restore my name and the former pureblood Slytherin families' glory.
Get done all that I didn't.
Before Harry Potter...vanished me.
And also break a heart while I'm add it.
Add to my legacy...
"I'm done," said Luna a while later.
"Let's go find Astoria then," said Tom and the three of them soon wondered back to the other side of the thicket where their camp was.
He took Blaise and Pansy next, they had to walk just as the sun was rising on the Sunday and neither of them appeared to like being roused from their sleep but they went along with it all at the same time.
Author's Note: I changed the barrier potion from some chapters ago into a different potion because I felt my first idea didn't fit the story and this one fits it better, so that poor writing has been cleared up. I also changed the title of the story to better reflect it, originally it was called 'The Froggy Princess' and I thought I'd finish writing the summer sooner and get to more Hermione x Tom stuff, but the story turned out to have more in the lines of action/adventure and more of the dark world / dark fic stuff, than romance stuff, than I thought, so I thought changing it to this title was slightly better.
Anyways, please review if you enjoyed this chapter and want to read more.