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Chapter 24: A Queen Dethroned
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Adrienne sat alone in her empty dormitory. She had told everyone that she had a headache, and then made her way up the spiral staircase, away from the last silent night that would grace the Gryffindor common room for a long time. The last week of the holidays had flown past in a whirlwind of motion that had left her feeling as if she had no firm ground on which to place her feet, no firm ground on which to steady herself. Adrienne stood up from her bed, pulled her school robes tightly around her, and turned her attention to the dark sky lingering outside her window.
Professors Glenn and Hartel at left earlier that day, left to return to Salem, to help prepare for the upcoming reopening of the school, which Adrienne knew would be quite an emotional event. A lone tear began to make its way down her cheek and she quickly brushed it away. She reached up and felt the small pearl earrings that now adorned her ears, the Christmas present she had received from Hermione.
Several days ago Professors Glenn and Hartel had retrieved her possessions from Salem, and she Joe, Mia, Ron, Hermione, and Harry had a makeshift Christmas in the Gryffindor common room. Adrienne chuckled as she remembered how she had entertained them doing impersonations of Christmas trees, which in and of itself would never have been funny had she not been borrowing Harry's wand and had she not somehow lost all the concentration she had gained during those few weeks before the holiday. It was her turning into a blue Christmas tree star that had forced Professor Glenn to put a stop to her nonsense.
Adrienne walked swiftly to her trunk, now lying at its usual place at the foot of her four-poster. She knelt down and opened it, slowly rummaging through the piles of holiday homework and the other possessions she had brought with her back to America. After several moments she found what she was rummaging for: a thin and long rectangular box, which she had placed inside one of her sweaters, not trusting herself to put it in her bedside cabinet and then somehow lose it.
Adrienne slowly stood up and shut her trunk with a quick swing of her foot. Her fingers cautiously caressed the outside of the box before undoing the hastily retied ribbon and opening it. Inside was a beautiful 12-inch Mahogany wand, resting imperiously atop the cotton padding. Adrienne lifted it out and tossed the box atop her bed.
"Veela hair?" she muttered before raising the wand. Mr. Ollivander had brought his traveling wand shop to Hogwarts two days ago, mostly because neither Professor Dumbledore nor Madam Pomfrey wanted Adrienne travelling to Diagon Alley, although the two had very different reasons for their hesitancy. Mr. Ollivander, under the strictest of confidences of course, had been informed of Adrienne's magical condition, and from the very back of his store he had selected the very oldest of wand boxes. They were thousands of years old, the boxes barely preserved by their charms, and were the last remaining wands that had been made for Perfects training themselves under the newer magic. The wands' ingredients were no longer used anymore, and were, in most cases, highly dangerous combinations.
The day she was finally released from the hospital ward she had been ushered into a small classroom.
"Ah, Miss Potter," came the soft voice of Mr. Ollivander, stepping out of the shadows cast by the drawn curtains and the sunlight that had managed to penetrate the thick drapes. Adrienne jumped and didn't respond.
"He means you, Adri," Mia whispered to her, nudging her forward.
"Oh, right," Adrienne muttered, smiling awkwardly at the odd looking man and stepping forward into the center of the room.
"I had been expecting you for quite some time, pity you didn't come until now," he said breathlessly, walking around her and pulling out a measuring tape.
"Pity," Adrienne muttered, while inwardly thinking that she was lucky to never have seen this creepy man until now, because as an eleven-year-old she might have fainted in fright.
"What type of wand did you have before, child?"
Adrienne raised an eyebrow in thought. "10-inch oak with unicorn tail hair," she responded, looking distractedly as the measuring tape began to measure the width of her knuckles.
"That is quite a weak wand, and you managed to duel with it?" he asked, stopping in his tracks, several boxes balanced on his outstretched pale arms.
"It dueled fine but transfigured worth crap," she replied shortly. Joe laughed quietly, earning a severe glance from his wife.
"I don't want her talking like that; she learned that from you; happy now? You've corrupted her," Mia hissed. Joe rolled his eyes.
"Surely you have me mistaken for someone else. Me, corrupt her? Dear, it must have been the other way around."
"We must have silence, please," said Mr. Ollivander in a cool, echoing voice.
"Look what you did now! Now we're being chastised for talking!" Mia exclaimed.
"Professor Hartel, you're embarrassing me," Adrienne said, although she was more embarrassed at the tape now measuring her chest.
"Hear that, Mia, you're embarrassing the poor girl."
"You too, Professor Glenn."
Joe shot an innocent glance at Adrienne, who just rolled her eyes. Mr. Ollivander set several wand boxes atop a nearby desk and then snatched the measuring tape from the air.
"I see you'll be a tough customer," he said quietly, so only Adrienne would hear him. Adrienne smiled sarcastically.
"Your little measuring tape can tell you that?" she responded. Mr. Ollivander stood up from where he was bent over the desk. He slowly walked toward her, positioning himself so that no one behind him could see what he was doing.
"My little measuring tape has other uses," he said, gently grabbing her right hand and turning it so her palm faced up. Adrienne tried to close her fingers and make a fist; she tried desperately to hide the triangle, but Mr. Ollivander proved to be much stronger than he looked.
"This, Miss Potter, tells me you'll be a tough customer," he whispered and then hastily turned back to his pile. Adrienne slowly lowered her hand and noticed Mia and Joe looking at her with questioning faces.
"He told me I have a long life line, seems I won't be dying anytime soon. You two can sleep soundly now," she said, turning and smiling at them.
"Here, this one might work, odd combination: Rosewood and frog spawn," he said, thrusting a red wand into her hand.
"Frog spawn!" Adrienne exclaimed, holding the wand out ahead of her in disgust.
"It isn't going to hatch on you, child," Mr. Ollivander said, annoyed. Adrienne wrinkled her nose and raised her wand above her head.
"No good," he grabbed the wand from her hand and handed her a new one, "Driftwood and the hair of a hinkypunk."
"Oh great, a hinkypunk," Adrienne mumbled.
"Not satisfactory, not at all."
Adrienne handed him the driftwood wand and took another one. As soon as she grasped it, it started to glow slightly, and as she lifted into the air, it burst into a bright light, filling the room with a blinding void of whiteness.
"Perfect," Mr. Ollivander replied, taking it from her. Immediately the room returned to a normal lighting scheme.
"What do you mean perfect?" Adrienne drawled dangerously. Mr. Ollivander didn't even blink.
"This wand will be perfect, for now. You'll have to be careful, don't let that mark touch it, or it's going to illuminate again," he whispered. Adrienne sneered and watched him as he wrapped up the wand.
"Great, I got a wand that wants to become a flashlight," she muttered. All of a sudden the feeling of warm breath on the side of her head caused her to jump.
"Remember, Miss Potter, only one of you has a need for a wand; there will come a time when even your wand won't help you, do not become dependant on it." * * * * *
"Oh, Adrienne!" Adrienne looked up from her oatmeal. Several girls from her Double Charms class with the Ravenclaws were rushing over to her.
"We heard what happened at that school!" a short and slightly round brunette exclaimed.
"Oh, how ever did you manage to escape?" squealed a well-groomed black haired girl.
"If that were to be me in such a situation I might faint from fright. Never in my life could I imagine myself having to escape my home like that," said the last girl, a pretty girl with well-defined Asian features. Adrienne raised an eyebrow in amazement.
"Yes . . well . . . um . . .exactly," she stuttered, somewhat confused at the sudden onslaught of attention.
"She doesn't want to talk about it," Harry said abruptly, putting down his glass of orange juice.
"No, not at all," added Ron. The Asian girl looked from Adrienne to the two boys and smiled sweetly.
"Oh, pardon me, I understand and apologize for imposing," she said, and then turned, the other two Ravenclaws following behind her. Adrienne raised her eyebrows and turned to look at Hermione.
"Who were they?" she asked slowly. Hermione snorted into her oatmeal.
"I'm not sure, but they sure speak as if they're royalty. I wonder how many hours they spend on grooming themselves and their speech, I'm sure it's much more than they spend on school," Hermione said distastefully. Adrienne made a passive face and shrugged before taking notice of a new ring Hermione was wearing.
"My dear, Hermi," she said in a high voice, sticking her nose into the air, "What a fantastic adornment you have there. You must tell me where you acquired such a fine ring."
Hermione laughed. "The Hermi addition ruined the effect, Adrienne," she said, reaching into her bag and pulling out her Transfiguration book.
"Fine then. If you prefer to live your life thinking you are above me, far be it for me to interrupt you," Adrienne added haughtily.
"You seem to have acquired a taste for sarcasm during your holiday," Hermione said, turning to the chapter they would be beginning to study. Adrienne's smile wavered.
"Yes, well," she started and then turned back to her oatmeal, hastily shoveling spoonfuls into her mouth. Harry leaned closer to Hermione so he could whisper in her ear.
"I still think something's bothering her," he said quietly. Hermione nodded.
"You think you can find out?" Harry asked. Hermione turned and looked at him.
"Definitely."
* * * * *
Professor McGonagall looked up from her attendance sheet and quickly scanned her classroom, searching to see if there were any students missing: There weren't. She quickly set down the paper and picked up her wand, turning her attention back to her restless class. It seemed many had not recovered from the holiday. Draco Malfoy was barely keeping his eyes open, his head occasionally lulling forward. Parvati and Lavender were, as usual, consulting Tarot cards, no doubt trying to guess what the customary beginning of term quiz would be on. McGonagall rolled her eyes and then let them wander through the rest of the Gryffindors. Hermione Granger was sitting rapt with attention, her hands folded on the table in front of her. Next to her, Harry and Ron were nudging each other and snickering about something while casting mischievous looks at Draco. Adrienne sat next to Ron, and was currently staring at her wand, an eyebrow raised, her face contorted in a skeptical expression.
"Good morning," Professor McGonagall said, reaching down behind her desk and picking up a large box. Several replies of "good morning" drifted lazily back to her.
"Today will be no different than any other beginning of the term. I know that you have just returned from your holiday, so the best way to jog your memories will be to make them work." McGonagall flicked her wand in front of her and in an instant, a glass of water stood before every student. Harry stared at his.
"Well, this is new," he muttered, wondering exactly what they were supposed to do with it; his memory of the previous term quickly locking itself into a far and inaccessible corner of his mind.
"Specific Transfiguration Spells," McGonagall said, "I want you to transfigure the water into pumpkin juice. Do nothing to the glass. When you are done, bring your glass up to me. You may begin."
Adrienne looked down at her glass skeptically.
"Right," she muttered. Adrienne fingered her wand, which still felt quite foreign to her, before raising it in front of her and shutting her eyes.
'Just picture it,' she told herself as an image of a water-filled glass began to form before her closed eyes. Adrienne gripped her wand tighter with her fingers, remembering to not let it touch the palm of her hand.
'Do you think they can tell?' The voice was back. Adrienne tried to focus on the image of the glass, which was now beginning to fade into oblivion.
'You know they can. What would happen if people found out what you were? What would they think if they knew that the fiasco on Christmas was because of you? What would Harry, Ron, and Hermione think?'
Adrienne took a deep breath and tightened her grip on her wand even more.
'How would everyone react if they found out you're a murderer? You'll find out once they know what you are. Your magic will give you away.'
"Miss . . . Miss. . . Adrienne," Professor McGonagall's voice drifted into her mind and Adrienne snapped her eyes open. Professor McGonagall was looking at her from behind a large pile of pumpkin-juice filled glasses.
"Adrienne." McGonagall chose to ignore the odd glances she received for calling one of her students by her first name. The fact remained that she had never asked Adrienne what she wanted to be called, and McGonagall didn't feel comfortable calling her Potter if she hadn't told any of her classmates who she really was. And McGonagall didn't feel comfortable calling her Miles, because she didn't know if that was what Adrienne would want to be called either.
"Everyone has finished, so, please move along," McGonagall said.
Adrienne smiled weakly and slowly looked around the classroom. Every single student was looking at her. Adrienne's eyes widened and she turned her attention back to her glass.
'You can do it,' she told herself.
'They're all watching, waiting, to learn the truth.' "Adrienne!" Professor McGonagall screamed as a huge jet of water burst from the glass.
Adrienne snapped her eyes open. Sitting on the table was indeed her glass; however, she had not managed to transfigure her water into pumpkin juice, but instead it seemed, she had transfigured her glass into a jet of water, which didn't show any sign of stopping.
* * * * *
"Well, you have to admit, that was an interesting first class of the term," Hermione said quietly as the four made their way to the Potions dungeon.
"Oh shut up," Adrienne said, glaring at Hermione and quickening her pace.
"Adrienne, that could have happened to anyone," Hermione called after her. Adrienne turned around.
"Right! Would you flood an entire classroom? Would Ron flood an entire classroom? Would Harry flood an entire classroom?" Adrienne asked dangerously. Ron raised an eyebrow.
"I would if the circumstances were right," he said, smiling hopefully. Adrienne glared even more.
"No, I'm the only idiot who could possibly flood an entire classroom."
"You didn't technically flood the entire classroom; there was still enough room for us to breathe while Professor McGonagall tried to fix it," Harry added. This didn't cheer Adrienne up in the least.
"I wonder why McGonagall couldn't fix it right away?" Hermione mused as she pushed her way into the empty dungeon.
"Perhaps she's getting slow in her old age," Adrienne mumbled.
"If you don't mind me asking," Hermione began.
"I do," interrupted Adrienne, but Hermione wasn't one to be discouraged, so she continued.
"You were doing so good before the holiday, what happened?" she asked. Adrienne yanked out her chair and angrily sat down.
"It must be my new wand, that's all. Nothing happened," she said, pulling out her Potions' text.
"You went from acing your exams to flooding a classroom!" Hermione said exasperatedly.
"That's what you get when you don't have any talent," came a drawling voice behind them. Draco and the rest of the Slytherins had entered.
"I really didn't need another washing today, Miles," he said with a sneer, "However, you could do with giving that Mudblood another wash, perhaps a couple thousand. No, she still wouldn't be clean enough to deserve to attend this school."
"Watch it, Malfoy," Harry said, reaching for his wand. Hermione put a hand on his shoulder.
"I prefer to keep my teeth the way they are, Harry, let him be," she whispered.
"Hear that, Potter, your girlfriend's afraid you can't take me," Draco said, his gray eyes gleaming malevolently in the dimness of the dungeon.
"No, she's just worried about you; she doesn't like to see anyone get hurt. See, that's the difference between you and her: She has character," Harry said slowly and then turned to take his seat at their normal table. Draco opened his mouth to say something, but at that moment the rest of the Gryffindors and Professor Snape entered. Snape strode through the class, a scroll in his hand, and stopped at the front.
"Attendance," he said softly, flicking open the scroll. He began to call role, bellowing the Slytherins' surnames and whispering the Gryffindors'.
"Longbottom," her hissed softy. Neville didn't look up. He was immersed in his text, trying desperately to get ahead in the potion they would be making that day.
"LONGBOTTOM! Are you deaf!" Snape roared. Neville jumped and looked up.
"No, no," Neville stammered, paling as Professor Snape walked towards him.
"Ten points from Gryffindor. No wonder you're such a failure, you don't even pay attention!" Neville gulped and sank lower in his chair. Professor Snape laughed inwardly at Neville's terrified face. He turned his attention back to the list.
"MALFOY!" he bellowed.
"Here, Professor," Draco replied smugly.
"That's how you answer a roll call, Longbottom. Twenty points to Slytherin for paying attention." Snape turned back to the scroll and read the next name: Miles, Adrienne. He looked up and found the girl, sitting in the back row, glaring at him.
"Well, what exactly should I call you?" he asked slowly. Adrienne raised an eyebrow.
"I don't have a telephone, thus you can't call me. Plus, a teacher calling a student, I don't think that is very professional," she said hotly. Snape scowled.
"I did not ask you when should I call you. I asked you what should I call you," he said in a soft and dangerous tone.
"Adrienne," Harry whispered, "don't push it." Adrienne raised her other eyebrow.
"I suppose you can call me Adrienne," she replied nonchalantly.
"How about, Miles? Or would you prefer something else?" he asked, a smirk playing on the corners of his lips.
"Miles is fine," Adrienne said smoothly, without emotion.
"I would have thought you wouldn't use that name anymore," Snape began, but Adrienne interrupted him.
"There you go again, thinking. That really isn't your forte, Professor . . ."
"Twenty points from Gryffindor for disrespect, Miles," Snape shot.
"Moron," Adrienne whispered.
Snape continued to take roll call; however, now that the rest of the Gryffindors knew he was trying to get them for not paying attention, they all sat rapt, listening with all their might to hear him whisper their name.
"Today we will begin aging potions," Snape said, once he had written the potions ingredients onto the board.
"Who can tell me the main ingredient?" he asked. Hermione's hand flew into the air like a rocket. Everyone else just sat there.
"Anyone?" he asked again, ignoring Hermione as usual.
"How about you, Potter?" he asked. Harry sighed.
"The main ingredient is crushed antelope skulls," he said.
"Ugh," moaned Adrienne in disgust.
"Now, first bring your liquid ingredients to a boil. Forget that and you'll end up stuck as an aged version of yourself," Snape said blandly, "Begin."
* * * * *
"The next tournament is this Friday, against Ravenclaw," Professor McGonagall began. The Gryffindor Dueling Team looked at her in shock.
"That's a week away," Samantha said quietly.
"Indeed, less than a week," McGonagall replied.
"Quite soon," Rodney said.
"It's against Ravenclaw, who, you remember beat Hufflepuff in a landslide, 6 to 1 right before the end of last term?" McGonagall continued.
"Don't worry, Professor, we got 'em covered," Adrienne said from where she was sitting, slouched in a chair behind Harry. McGonagall raised an eyebrow.
"Well, you all still need to practice, whether you feel you have them covered or not."
Adrienne sat with a bored expression as she watched her teammates practice in the dueling ring. She nodded her head, impressed, as Hermione defeated Ron with an amazing sequence of attacks, which Adrienne knew that even she would have trouble warding off.
"Adrienne and Samantha," McGonagall called. Adrienne stood up, turned her neck to the side and stretched before entering the ring.
"This is really getting boring," she grumbled as she faced Samantha. Poor Samantha didn't even get to open her mouth before Adrienne had disarmed her. Samantha stood there for several seconds, a shocked look on her face, before reaching for Adrienne's hand.
"It seems that you're new wand has not inhibited you in the least," Professor McGonagall said, while making some notes on a clipboard. Adrienne shrugged and walked back to her seat behind Harry and Hermione.
"If only I could be as quick as you," Hermione said wistfully, turning to look at her. Adrienne smiled.
"I must just have a quick mouth," she said. Harry turned around at this, an odd expression on his face.
"A very quick mouth. It almost looked as if your spell issued before you had finished saying it," he said calmly, not at all implying something, just making an observation. Adrienne, however, didn't know that. Her face froze in a look of half horror before she regained her composure. She smiled forcedly.
"Right, Potter, like that is even possible. Look, McGonagall is waiting for you to go duel," Adrienne said. Harry turned and stood up.
'They can tell by your magic. You'll have to be more careful,' said the little voice. Adrienne took a deep breath.
"Oh sod off," she whispered.
* * * * *
"Welcome," the cold voice echoed through the chamber, the echoes strangely timed with the flickers of the torchlight. Severus Snape rolled his eyes behind his mask, telling himself that there were plenty of more enjoyable things he could be doing right now, such as trying to catch Potter wandering the school. Voldemort paced before his Death Eaters, glaring at every one of them.
"Another plan failed, thwarted once again by that boy!" he exclaimed. No one said anything and Voldemort didn't expect them too. He stopped before his chair and clenched his fists.
"But, I must admit, our plan was not foolproof, we did not account for the girl's abilities," he said grimly, "That mistake will not be made again." Snape couldn't resist himself.
"So, exactly how are we going to account for her abilities the next time?" he asked somewhat coldly. Voldemort's eyes flashed, but if Snape's comment angered him, he didn't say anything.
"She's quite weak," Voldemort said, sitting down upon his chair and glaring out over the large crowd of wizards lined up before him. "She is weak mentally. She can be manipulated. Everyone has a weakness, and I think I've found hers," Voldemort said with a dangerously calm voice. Snape didn't say anything, he just swallowed nervously: He hated it when Voldemort talked in a code, not really saying what he meant. Snape had learned this was never a good sign.
"But that is not the reason I've called you here," Voldemort said, standing up, "Wormtail."
From a dark corner of the chamber, Peter Pettigrew slowly walked out, carrying a large silver box. A murmur filled the room.
"Silence!" Voldemort spat, reaching out his hands to take the box from Peter.
"Here, master," Peter whispered, and then turned and walked to an empty space in the line of Death Eaters.
"We have a new recruit," was all Voldemort had to say and the multitudes of Death Eaters began murmuring again, turning in their spots, trying to discern in the darkness, through the masks of their colleagues, who indeed was new.
"This one will be quite the addition," Voldemort continued as he set the box onto the table by his chair, slightly moving the small container which held the Golden Serpent. He looked at the silver box, at how the light reflected off it ominously, how it almost illuminated in the reflection.
"W, it is time," he whispered into the now deadly silent room. Snape took a deep breath, remembering his own initiation ceremony.
From the shadows existing next to the chamber's entrance stepped a tall figure, who much to Snape's surprise moved gracefully across the floor, much different than the usual choppy and arrogant movements expressed by the majority in the room. The figure stopped several feet from Voldemort's throne-like chair and stood waiting. Voldemort rested his elbows onto the chair's arms and brought his fingertips together in front of him, staring at the figure before him.
"This is quite the commitment, my young recruit," he said softly. Snape waited with bated breath to hear the reply, but when the figure spoke, he almost choked.
"I'm aware of that, my lord," said a very distinctly feminine voice. Murmurs again broke through the line: Very few women were ever allowed to join the ranks and this new recruit definitely was a surprise.
"You have passed all of the trials with exemplary marks, W, but that is not the end to your trial," Voldemort said.
"Of course not, my lord. I understand you must feel that I have completely pledged my allegiance. I am prepared to complete any other task you ask of me," W continued.
Snape smirked: If it was one thing Voldemort hated, it was suck-ups, and from the looks of it, W was just that. However, Voldemort didn't respond in his usual fashion of yelling "Crucio." Instead he looked at the cloaked figure and smirked, his red eyes glinting more than ever.
"Your final task, W, consists of pledging your loyalty to me, and me alone. Do you understand that part?" he asked. W nodded.
"You understand what I mean by that. True loyalty to me; let your loyalty wander to another, and the consequence is death."
"Loyalty to you and you alone," W whispered into the silent room.
"As a loyal servant of mine, you'll be marked, to show the world to whom you truly pledge allegiance." Voldemort reached for the silver box and slowly opened it. From within its depths he withdrew a bronze sheet, on which was etched a symbol: The Dark Mark.
"Step forward, my servant." W took several steps forward until she was only a foot away from him.
"Roll up the sleeve of your left arm," he hissed, looking at her in what Snape deemed to be a contemplating sneer.
All the Death Eaters waited for the applique to be applied to the woman's arm, but instead of the earth shattering scream that would have been accompanied by his placing the sheet onto her forearm, a frantic yelp released from under her mask. Voldemort had with immaculate precision, tossed the plate back into its box, and grabbed her by the throat.
With one quick motion he twisted her around and from within his cloak drew a dagger. With one arm across her chest, gripping the upper part of her right arm, he pressed the dagger to her throat. W's hands reached up to grab his arm, trying to pull the dagger away, and in the flickering torchlight, Snape's horrified eyes could see her long bright orange nails digging into his pale arm.
"Do not lie to me, W," Voldemort hissed, tightening his grip and pushing the dagger through the material covering her neck. W whimpered.
"I expect complete loyalty. You don't have any harbored loyalty to that man, do you?" Voldemort yelled into her ear.
W pushed her body back into him, trying to put as much distance between herself and the blade, feeling the trickle of blood starting to saturate her robes as the dagger pressed deeper into her neck.
"No, no my lord, only to you. I have no justification to follow him, I want only you as my master," she said, trying to sound as sure as possible. Voldemort pressed the dagger to her neck harder.
"Only you, I swear on my life," she whispered.
As quickly as he had grabbed her, he let go of her, pushing her away from him, away into the darkness where the other Death Eaters were watching.
"Your final test and you still professed loyalty; come here, W, and finish your pledge," he said coolly.
W straightened and then turned. Voldemort reached for the copper plate and again withdrew it from its box. W quickly rolled up her left sleeve and extended her forearm.
"Complete loyalty, or you'll be dead," Voldemort said, staring into W's masked face.
"I swear, on my life," W repeated. Snape shook his head, 'you fool.'
* * * * *
Unfortunately for Adrienne, the rest of the first week of term did not get any better. Not only did she charm Professor Flitwick to sing opera for an hour, but she managed to lock herself in the trophy room while trying to hide from Snape, whom she had accidentally lit on fire while stoking her potion's flame. Not to mention that Quidditch practice had been a royal mess.
Adrienne and Harry made their way to the pitch early on Thursday afternoon, carrying their brooms over their right shoulders and talking.
"You know what, Adrienne?" Harry asked as they stepped onto the pitch. Adrienne turned and looked at him.
"What?" she said, reaching back and pulling her hair into a pony tail, so when she was flying the wind wouldn't blind her with her loose hair.
"When you duel, something odd happens, it's like your wand anticipates you," Harry said. Adrienne dropped her arms midway through tying the ponytail into place. She stared at her brother for several seconds, at a loss for words.
"Like I said, Harry, it just must be my new wand. It's got a veela hair, perhaps that is something wands with veela hair do," she said hastily.
'They're going to catch on. Him first. He'll be the first one to know. Then where will you be?' said the little voice that had taken up a permanent residence in her mind. Adrienne shook her head.
Harry read her horrified face with confusion and was contemplating pressing more on the issue, but decided he'd add that to the list of things Hermione was supposed to press out of her. Adrienne looked around, noticing their other teammates advancing on the pitch.
"Looks like practice is going to start," she said, awkwardly changing the subject.
"Looks like it," Harry said, nodding his head, not thinking of anything else to say, unhappily allowing the insueing awkward silence to press in upon them until Alicia broke it with her instructions.
For the first several minutes, they listened to Alicia discuss tactics on scoring more, which weren't taken very seriously, mainly because of Fred and George.
Adrienne flew absentmindedly, not at all trying to get the quaffle. Instead, her mind was again battling with the little voice.
'Harry notices, he does, and he'll find out the truth.' 'It doesn't matter,' Adrienne told herself, 'No one else will notice.'
'Right, you'll be dueling in front of the whole school. They're bound to notice something, murderer.'
'I'm not a murderer,' Adrienne thought.
"Adrienne, watch out!"
In a second Adrienne flew right into George, catching his right shoulder with her broomstick.
"Umpf." George doubled over in pain, holding his shoulder and mumbling about blind chasers.
"Oh, sorry," Adrienne called behind her, gripping her broom tightly and instantaneously returning to her mental debate, again blocking out the outside world.
'People are just starting to accept you. Well, not Lavender, or Parvati, or Malfoy . . .'
'You didn't have to mention that, did you?' she asked herself.
'But think of Harry. Think of him, to find out that his sister is a murderer, that people died because of her.' Adrienne glared.
'Now, wait a second, his parents, or I guess, our parents, died because of him. So what's your point,' she shot. Nothing answered her and she smiled.
"One point, Adrienne, zero points, insanity," she whispered. Adrienne turned and flew in the opposite direction, having yet to catch one quaffle; this didn't bother her though as she had completely forgotten she was even at quidditch practice.
'Think about this though.'
"Don't you ever go away!" Adrienne shouted. Fred and George stopped in midair as they flew past her. George turned to his brother and made a face.
"Now, what exactly did we do to make her so angry?" George asked, turning to watch her continue to fly in a straight line towards the faraway goal posts. Fred raised an eyebrow.
"Not sure. But I'll give you one guess," Fred said with a hint of academia. George grinned.
"What are you two doing?" Alicia had now joined the two.
"Discussing Adrienne's moodswings," Fred said innocently. Alicia glared at him and then let her gaze follow the girl who was now barely flying at all and was, it seemed, hovering in mind air and gesticulating with her hands.
"What is she doing?" Alicia asked rudely.
"Yelling at an invisible person?" Fred answered.
"Practicing her lines for an upcoming play?" George suggested.
"Perhaps deciding that she wants to break up with Ron and is trying to think of all the ways he disgusts her," Fred continued. George looked at him.
"No, ten galleons it's an invisible person," George lamented.
"You git! An invisible person?" exclaimed Alicia, the lack of practicing that had been going on finally getting to her.
"My dear 'licia, haven't you ever heard of flying invisible people? They tend to only show themselves to star American chasers," said Fred in the most serious tone he could muster.
"Back to practice, NOW!" Alicia screamed at them and watched in satisfaction as they both flew away, their bats raised to attack the bludgers again. Alicia didn't move for a second and just hovered there, watching Adrienne.
'Think of this though.'
"Leave me alone," Adrienne hissed, pursing her lips.
'If they find out you're a Perfect and they know that Voldemort came to Salem for you, then they'll figure out that he wants your powers. And why? To kill Harry. That'll make you an accomplice in your own brother's death!'
That was it. Before her mind could begin tormenting her again, Adrienne entered a steep dive, with intentions of landing and beating her broom into the ground until there was nothing left but splinters, hoping that would relieve her anger. Unfortunately, Adrienne still hadn't opened her eyes to what was going on around her and dove right towards Alicia and Katie.
Harry looked down from his search for the snitch just in time to see Adrienne careen into the other two players at top speed. With a sickening crack, all three fell the final ten feet to the ground.
"What happened!"
"Did you loose control of your broom?"
"Adrienne, you all right?"
Adrienne sat up slowly and shifted herself so she was no longer lying on Katie's back. Above her Harry's face swam into view. Adrienne looked at him and smiled a pleading smile.
"I didn't kill anyone," she whispered before falling over unconscious.
"That's women for you," Fred muttered.
* * * * *
"She seems to be having an interesting week."
Fred and George were sitting in the corner of the Gryffindor common room, watching Adrienne, Ron, Harry, and Hermione, who were sitting at their normal table, Adrienne holding an icepack to her head.
Madam Pomfrey had not been pleased to see her, Katie, and Alicia enter the Hospital Wing on stretchers, which Harry had conjured. And she spent the entire hour that the three were in there lecturing them on the dangerousness of flying sports.
"How exactly did you manage that, Adrienne?" Hermione asked, looking up from her Transfiguration homework, "I mean, this is the second time you've lost control of your broom."
"Excuse me! The first time Dragon boy pushed me!" Adrienne snapped, "It was an accident, come off it already!"
"Yup, I guess you could say her week bit socks," Fred agreed and then smiled mischievously, "You know, we could cheer her up tomorrow." George turned and looked at him, picking up the lunatic glint in his eye.
"Let me in on this plan of yours," he urged.
"There's a dueling competition tomorrow," Fred began and George broke into a huge grin.
"And if one thing is for certain," George interrupted.
"Little Miss Dueling Champion'll win her match hands down, no competition, most likely breaking all school records," Fred finished. George turned his attention back to Adrienne, who now had her head on the table and was beginning to fall asleep.
"Sounds like a plan."
* * * * *
"And boy do we have a show for you tonight!" Neville Longbottom's voice resounded through the Great Hall, mixing with the excited chatter of the crowd, which again consisted of nearly the entire school.
"Tonight it's Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw, both which won their first matches, so this could be quite a show!"
Dumbledore looked down upon the crowd of students from his perch at the High Table. His light blue eyes roamed across the multitudes of faces, stopping at two faces on the Gryffindor Dueling Team. Adrienne and Harry were sitting side by side. Harry's face was set, his hands folded in his lap, and seemed to be patiently waiting his turn. Adrienne's demeanor, on the other hand, surprised Dumbledore.
"Look at Adrienne, Jasmine," he whispered to his granddaughter. Professor Lycé looked up from her clipboard, where she was playing tic-tac-toe with Professor Wallace.
"What about her?" Lycé asked, her purple eyes staring at Adrienne intently.
"Something's different," Dumbledore whispered. Lycé raised an eyebrow and studied her student. Adrienne shifted in her chair and lowered her head to look at her wand, blocking her face from view.
"She's probably just trying to either look intimidating or to make her opponent underestimate her," Lycé said, turning her attention back to her game, and warding off Professor Wallace's long nails, which had been tapping her shoulder to alert her that it was her turn. Dumbledore sighed and stared at Adrienne for several more seconds before redirecting his attention.
"The Captains of the Gryffindor Team are Harry Potter and Adrienne Miles. The Captains of the Ravenclaw team are Cho Chang and Padma Patil," Neville Longbottom's voice interrupted Adrienne's thoughts and Adrienne looked up from her wand.
"Something wrong, Adrienne?" Harry asked, leaning over so no one else would hear. Adrienne turned and smiled.
"Of course not, I'm just thinking," she replied.
"You think we'll win?" Harry asked her. Adrienne pursed her lips in thought.
"As long as we all duel like we have been in practice, I don't see why not," she replied. Adrienne again bowed her head.
'The entire school is here. They'll all be watching you. One sign of something weird, one sign and everything is over,' echoed the little voice. Adrienne shut her eyes and took a deep breath.
'Remember what Harry said, your spells shoot before you finish the incantation. That will not go unnoticed.'
Adrienne's eyes snapped open and she looked up. Professor McGonagall was making her way down the line, wishing all her students good luck before the tournament started. Just as at the first tournament, she paused in front of Adrienne.
"I'd like you to go last again, do you mind?" she asked, smiling at her. Adrienne smiled back; however, McGonagall could tell it was forced.
"That's fine, Professor," Adrienne replied.
"Are you still worried about your new wand? You've dueled fine in practice, it shouldn't inhibit you at all," McGonagall replied. Adrienne forced herself to smile again.
"No, I'm not worried about my wand, Professor," Adrienne replied and watched with a feeling of foreboding as her Professor turned and made her way down the line.
"Not my wand at all," Adrienne whispered.
"And dueling first are Harry Potter and Padma Patil."
Cheers echoed through the Great Hall and scarlet banners were raised into the air. Adrienne didn't wish Harry good luck this time. She just watched impassively as he entered the ring. Out of the corner of her eye, Adrienne could see Hermione lean forward and place her elbows on her knees in anticipation.
"Duelers, face your opponents," Dumbledore's voice resounded through the now quiet room. Harry and Padma faced each other, waited for Dumbledore's instructions, and finally the duel began.
"Expelliarmus!" Harry exclaimed. Adrienne smiled slightly: That was Harry's favorite attack, probably because he was able to put so much power behind it. But power or not, it didn't help him this time because Padma expertly blocked it.
"Petrificus Totallus!" she said in a subdued voice, her face completely calm, as if this tournament was no more than a day at the spa to her.
Harry jumped out of the way and yelled, "Impedimentia!" Adrienne smirked, 'that's the easiest curse to block, why'd he use that one?' But Adrienne's smirk quickly faded as Padma stood frozen to the ground. A small smile broke over Adrienne's face as Harry yelled, "Expelliarmus," and subsequently raised Padma's wand into the air.
"That's the way, Potter!" Adrienne yelled, standing up and cheering louder than the majority of the fans behind her.
"Adrienne, sit down," McGonagall hissed at her, leaning over in her chair at the end of the row, "You should know not to distract a dueler until they are out of the ring." Adrienne sat back down and cast a disgruntled glance at Hermione.
"I can't even cheer," she muttered.
Harry took Padma's hand and then quickly saluted himself out of the ring. He quickly made his way back to his seat.
"Harry, that was short," Hermione whispered, turning and smiling at him.
"Short and sweet, isn't that what you told me once, Adrienne?" he asked, turning to look at Adrienne, but she didn't look up at him. She was once again sitting, her head bowed and staring at her wand.
"And next up, Hermione Granger and Lisette Warburton," interrupted Neville's voice.
"Good luck, Herm," Harry whispered, squeezing her shoulder as she stood up. Adrienne didn't even look up.
'They're going to notice.'
'No, they won't,' Adrienne told herself, staring distractedly at her wand.
'A murderer at Hogwarts. It'll make the papers.'
'Go to hell,' Adrienne thought.
"Stupfiy," Hermione yelled, a bright white light issuing from her wand. Lisette, with a miniscule flick, brushed it aside.
"Stupify," she shot back, smiling slightly at Hermione, who blocked it as easily as Lisette had.
"Anoptico!" responded Hermione, but again Lisette just brushed the curse aside and attacked with the same curse.
"Adrienne, what kind of technique is that girl using?" Harry asked, tapping Adrienne on the shoulder.
"Huh?" she said, looking up quickly, shaking her head in confusion.
"That Ravenclaw, she's just copying Hermione," Harry replied. Adrienne's eyes lit up at once, and her face paled.
"She's going to confuse her. She's going to make Hermi start thinking about why she's copying her. She's going to force her to put her guard down," Adrienne said quickly, and then cast a quick glance at McGonagall, who by the look of her disappointed face was thinking the same thing.
"Hermi, don't think about it!" Adrienne yelled and then quickly ducked behind Harry as McGonagall stood up and slowly made her way down the row.
"Densaugeo!" Hermione called.
"Adrienne," Professor McGonagall shot, "You cannot interrupt their duel by yelling advice." Adrienne looked up at her, her eyes widening at McGonagall's stern face.
"Right, forgot," Adrienne muttered. Once McGonagall had left, Adrienne turned to look at Harry, "Hermione's a gonner."
"And after five rotations, it's 3-2, Ravenclaw," Neville announced into the groaning crowd. Hermione had indeed lost her match, as had Samantha and Rodney, leaving Lee and Harry as the only to duelers to have won thus far. Adrienne, however, hadn't noticed this. Upon declaring Hermione's eventual defeat to Harry, she had again returned to the silent battle with her mind. So furious was her battle that she missed Ron's startling defeat of Robert Grant, who started crying halfway through his rotation with Ron. This had sent the crowd into hysterics, but not Adrienne.
* * * * *
Unknown to the rest of the school, two students weren't sitting in their places in the stands. Fred and George Weasley were hiding behind the stands on the east side of the Great Hall, crouching over a small pile of Dr. Fillibuster's Fireworks, chanting different charms and reminding themselves of the plan.
"She's going last, right?" Fred asked, looking away from the Firework he had been charming.
"Miraculous observation there," George replied, "We won't be able to see her duel, so when will we do it?" Fred turned his attention back to charming, but continued to talk.
"She'll win, so once she yells Expelliarmus or Stupify, we do it, all right?" Fred muttered.
"All systems go," George replied.
* * * * *
"And entering the last rotation, the teams are tied, 3-3. Well, doesn't this seem like de'ja'vu?" Neville asked the crowd. The crowd replied with silence.
"Dueling last for Ravenclaw, Cho Chang!" Cheers erupted from the Ravenclaws and Slytherins.
"And dueling for the Gryffindors, the Underage International Dueling Champion, Miss Adrienne Lily Miles!"
Harry turned to Hermione and whispered, "Well isn't Neville just a little biased?" Hermione grinned and then her face fell. Harry turned to see what she was staring at: Adrienne had risen from her chair, her new wand gripped in her fingertips, and she was making her way to the edge of the dueling ring.
"This can't be good," Hermione whispered, raising a hand to her mouth in horror. A whisper was spreading through the rest of the team, and Hermione and Harry turned to look at McGonagall, who was trying to get Adrienne's attention before she bowed in, but it seemed she couldn't.
Adrienne slowly made her way to the edge of the ring, her head bowed slightly. She wasn't carrying herself in her usual sure manner. Harry noticed that she was almost reluctant to enter, and just before she saluted herself in, she cast a nervous glance around her, and Harry's eyes caught a vivid expression on her face: an expression of fear.
Adrienne stopped before Cho. She didn't close her eyes, she didn't take a deep breath, she didn't do anything that she usually did before matches. Instead, she was still battling with her mind.
'They're all watching you, all of them. Every single person in the entire school. They'll all know the truth soon.'
Adrienne winced and bowed to Cho, raising her wand with a shaking hand.
"On my mark!" Professor Dumbledore said from his perch at the High Table. Adrienne tried to steady her wand, and she narrowed her eyes. Cho stared back at her and took a deep breath, seriously doubting she'd last a second against Adrienne.
"Three, two, one, mark!"
It seemed to Harry to have happened in slow motion. Just as Professor Dumbledore had yelled, "mark" a deadly silence had befallen the room. Harry stared as Adrienne's jaw set and she opened her mouth to yell her attack. Across from her Cho screamed, "Expelliarmus."
"NOW!" George shouted to Fred. Fred jumped back from his pile of fireworks and flicked his wand at them. In an instant, streams of red and gold light were shooting from under the stands, up to the very top of the ceiling and pristine penmanship was etching itself into the cloudy sky:
"Long live Adrienne Miles: The Dueling Queen!"
Fred and George waited for a second for the applause and shrieks of victory to fill the room, but instead an awkward silence filled the air. The twins cast a quick glance at each other and then ran out from their hiding place, stopping in their tracks once the dueling ring came into view. Adrienne was standing rooted to her spot across from Cho, wearing a mixture of sheer horror and surprise: Cho held two wands and slowly, once the realization struck her, raised one into the air.