Chapter Fifteen: Interludes & Reflections
"So take the phonographs
And still frames in your mind.
Hang it on a shelf
In good health and good time."
-"I Hope You Had the Time of Your Life" by Greenday
The headmaster's voice rang heavy in Edana's ears. It seemed to her that time and the outside world faded as he spoke, as though they knew the significance of Dumbledore's words.
"Your year is rather unbalanced, is it not? "The Binding is part responsible for that. Two who might have worn the green and silver of Slytherin are dead. Any unnatural end is a tragedy, but when the victim is an infant the sorrow is magnified. An infant is without defense, they cannot object to what is done to them. That is the responsibility of the parents, but the parents of those unfortunate children sacrificed them to their ambition and blindness. It was your father who objected, and that was why he was murdered."
Dumbledore paused, and for a moment, to the young eyes of his student he suddenly appeared as old as Professor Wormwood . Edana found it strange that he should seem so, but the veil of power that lent him strength slipped and she saw him for how he was: an aged and exhausted warrior longing for the true end of his war. It frightened her, but the moment passed and he picked up the thread of his tale.
"Voldemort commanded his earlier followers to present him with their infant children, as a test of their loyalty and devotion to him and his cause. Upon these children, he placed a powerful series of spells designed to encourage the child's aptitude for the Dark Arts and prevent any curse of theirs from affecting him unless he chose. The exact series of spells is unknown, but his early efforts resulted in the deaths of two boys who had the misfortune to be the first to be subjected to the ritual. You were the third. Voldemort learned from his past attempts and you survived, though the results were not what had been planned. Your ability to perform curses was reduced while your abilities to perform charms was heightened. This is often the case when one sense or skill is damaged, another is heightened in an effort to compensate."
Edana heard herself speak. "I don't understand how my father's death ties into this, even if he objected. He was killed by an Auror."
"Indeed, but did you ever wonder how that came to be? Your father did not want you involved with anything having to do with Voldemort, he did not approve of or trust him, though he held back from going to the Ministry because your mother had involved herself and he did not wish to loose her. I believe he felt that he could reason with her and draw her away from the Death Eaters, but your mother went around him and brought you to Voldemort for the binding. After your father found out, he was livid and your parents scarcely spoke. The neighbors noticed their sudden distance and wondered before arriving at their own conclusions."
Dumbledore refused to look at her as he concluded his explanation. "Your mother did begin to pull away from Voldemort, and after the passage of several years, she and your father began to reconcile. Voldemort did not approve of this, he wanted to retain your mother as there are few with the ability to create amulets on the level of hers. He fabricated evidence that your father was involved in the murder of an Auror's uncle and arranged for it to fall into the possession of that Auror. Your mother believed the Aurors responsible for your father's murder and reestablished her ties with the Death Eaters - though they were never as strong as before the binding was performed on you."
"Why kill my mother too?"
"That is not as easily answered, largely because time has yet to loosen tongues. I believe your mother was killed because she chose the wrong faction. In their master's absence the Death Eaters are not united, they war against each other. All sides hope to be the one to either replace or restore their master."
"And how does Lucius Malfoy fit into this? He wants the amulet my mother created."
"The amulet was tied to Voldemort. Lucius believes it can be used to locate him. He is wrong, the very magic that your mother used to tie the amulet to Voldemort obliterated any chance of his using it to find his master."
"So," Edana said slowly, "it doesn't really matter if he gets the amulet."
"It does matter," Dumbledore said sharply. "If Voldemort returns - and I believe he will - the amulet would permit him to pluck spies from his ranks without effort. Very few can craft a Mirror of Truth, and with your mother removed from their numbers it is very unlikely a replacement will be made."
Edana considered this for a moment and nodded. "The amulet is no use to me. What do you think I ought to do with it?"
Dumbledore shrugged. "I do not know, but there is not a shortage of time to consider options. The amulet can not be touched until you come of age. For now, I believe it is time for you to return to Malfoy Manor."
* * *
Edana stepped out of the fireplace and checked her clothing for soot. The Malfoys kept their fireplaces in good order, but the habit was not one Edana wished to break.
Mrs. Malfoy had been seated in a tapestry backed chair in front of the fireplace and rose as soon as Edana appeared. Her entire demeanor was a mask of concern.
"Edana dear. You look tired," Mrs. Malfoy noted after a minute of waiting for Edana to speak without any result. "Dumbledore did not say anything too...distressing, did he?"
"No," Edana responded, allowing her head to droop forward as though she were more exhausted than she felt. "He asked about how I was. I think he only bothered to inquire because my mother was the last of my immediate family."
It was a reasonable explanation and quite in character for Dumbledore, Edana was rather proud of it and even prouder when Mrs. Malfoy excepted it without a hard look or whisper of suspicion.
"He also told me that I've been made a prefect," Edana said in her most matter-of-fact tone. She opened her hand to show the older woman the silver badge.
"I'm certain that you will do Slytherin house proud," Mrs. Malfoy told her. She appeared serious.
"Thank you. Would you mind if I went to bed now? I'm really very tired."
"Of course, dear."
* * *
In the long hours of the night, Edana had nothing to distract her from her own thoughts. She found herself trapped in the memory of her conversation with Dumbledore. Not even in her dreams could she find respite, the words replayed themselves like a magical wireless with its off button removed. It was a maze without an exit.
A desire for vengeance now burned inside Edana. She skipped past the Malfoy's in her mental ranking of those to blame to the source. The binding might bar her from hexing Voldemort out of existence, but their were other ways to hinder or inflict harm. Achilles was felled by an arrow to his ankle, all she had to find was one small vulnerability or pave the way for someone else to.
Edana searched through her trunk, not an easy task in the dark but she dared not turn on a light, before her hand found the framed picture of her father holding her as a baby. Though she carried such family pictures with her to school, she felt uncomfortable at displaying them. It was hard to be confronted by her dead when she was not ready, she preferred to seek out their images on her own time. Now was one of those times, she smiled at her own baby face before she traced the outline of her father's features with her finger. She finally understood the sorrow in his expression.
Vendetta was something known to all Slytherins, but Edana had never really given it much thought before. It was an archaic magic little practiced by those not placed in Slytherin, it did not even require a wand to set it. Edana put the picture of her father face up on the bed and knelt in front of it. The next requirement was more difficult.
To cast a vendetta a person needed two things: a picture or personal possession of the one harmed, and an image or belonging of the enemy they wished to cast the spell against. No known photographs existed of Voldemort, but Edana heard of a successful vendetta being performed using a picture of a teapot transfigured by the person when no photograph of the individual could be found. The trick was to know who cast the spell, but Edana would have take her chances.
Opposite her father's picture, she added an old Daily Prophet clipping that she had kept because it mentioned her brother joining the Ministry. That article was on the reverse side contained a picture of the Dark Mark fluttering over a small house. The attack on the Bones was reputed to be the work of Voldemort himself and not one of his Death Eaters. It would have to suffice.
With her cat shadow watching from under a table through half closed eyes, Edana tapped her wand first against her father's picture, then the clipping. The wand tap was merely ceremonial. She removed the back of the frame and closing her eyes cut her finger on a clipped corner of the picture frame glass. The blood she smeared across the dark mark, as she whispered the ancient Latin words, vowing that if an opportunity arose to oppose, harm or thwart Voldemort, she would take it.
With that done, she was able to burn the clipping and set the magic. As she watched paper turn to ash she hoped something horrible was happening to Voldemort at that very moment.
* * *
Later, Edana doubted whether she would be given a chance to act on her vendetta, but it was easier to cope after having gone through with the spell. It also made her feel more mature.
The summer began to trickle away. Even with Mrs. Pembergast adding more readings to her plate, Edana increased her private studies. It kept her from thinking about certain things and missing Charlie too much. The OWLS were coming up this year and she wanted good marks. She also was determined to get back into training or she would lose her position on the Slytherin Quidditch team to someone else. Fortunately, she happened to be staying at one of the few private homes to boast its own regulation Quidditch pitch.
The only problem with the private field was that Draco caught wind of her practices and insisted upon joining her.
"Father says it will be a disgrace if I don't play for Slytherin," Draco told her for the umpteenth time as they approached the field together. The child was lucky that he did not know how close he was coming to being thrown through one of the goal hoops. When he played rather than talked, he was a fair companion, and it was good to have someone to play against even if that person was six. Edana thought he might stand a chance of attaining his goal in a couple of years, though she thought him unsuited for the position he craved.
"I want to be a Seeker," Draco repeated each time Edana told him that he would make a good keeper or beater. He had good balance, the ability to look ahead to where the balls might be, and was surprisingly strong for his slight build. Seekers, Edana had noted, needed to distance themselves emotionally from the game and Draco involved himself too much to really shine there. Edana realized that he only wanted to be a seeker because of the glory attached to the position. Perhaps he would change his mind or Slytherin would have a star seeker by then. It would be years before he would be at Hogwarts, much less a second year and eligible to play for his house team. Everyone knew first years never made house teams.
* * *
September 1st finally arrived. Edana almost wept as she boarded the Hogwart's Express, she had never found any conveyance to be so magnificent. She almost ran straight into Illiana, who again hugged her tightly. This time it was her Head Girl badge that caused Edana discomfort.
"Why didn't you tell me you were made a prefect?" The Ravenclaw girl scolded her, though her face told Edana that she did not mean it.
Edana shrugged. "It hasn't sunk in that I'm really a prefect."
"It will when you begin your duties," Illiana assured her.
"I'm a bit nervous."
"So am I," The blond said as she tapped her own shiny new badge. "I can't ask an older student for advice this year!"
The Slytherin laughed. "But I can come to you for advice, right?"
"As I told you once before, anytime."
* * *
Edana found Charlie asleep in a back car. She figured that his Gryffindor friends either had yet to locate him or were keeping their distance so he could get some rest. Edana took the seat across from him and watched as he mumbled something. He looked very cute asleep.
Then one eye opened and Charlie smiled at her. "Were you watching me?"
"Yes."
"See anything you like?"
"Perhaps."
"I see they made you a prefect."
"Yes."
"Have a nice summer."
"No."
"Decided to limit yourself to single word responses?"
"Yes," Edana said. Then she giggled, for some reason she always felt very warm and giggly around Charlie. "There is a closet at the back of this compartment. Very large."
"Missed me?" Charlie asked, moving closer until their noses touched.
"Yes, but I would rather snog you in the closet. Less chance of interruptions."
"As you will, my lady. I would never dare refuse the suggestion of a prefect."
After that, there was not much talking until the train neared Hogsmeade.
* * *
During dinner, Dru teased her about being made a prefect and her somewhat disheveled appearance, but Edana was too happy and relieved to be irritated or even annoyed. It was wonderful to be back at school and even better to be in the same room with Charlie, who kept shooting her grins from the Gryffindor table. Eventually Dru moved on to teasing the other new prefect Alex Amiti, whom everyone knew fancied her.
After dinner, Alex and Edana were given a camera by Snape and sent off to bother the first years. Edana arranged them so no one was hidden.
"Why?" Demanded a tiny witch.
Edana smirked, recalling Aileen's words of five years ago. "It's a tradition."
Any further protests were cut off when Alex snapped the picture.
The first years returned to the table as Alex and Edana brought the camera back to Snape. The professor, however, had a surprise for the two new prefects.
"Your turn." He said, forcing them to stand in front of the Slytherin banner. After the flash went off, blinding both fifth years, they staggered back to their seats until the time came for the first years to be shown to the common room. This task, like the picture, traditionally fell to the youngest prefects.
* * *
It had become the habit of Professor Wormwood, carried on by Snape, to meet individually with the fifth year students to help them determine and plan for their post-Hogwarts careers. Edana's turn came on a rainy Tuesday just after the first Quidditch practice of the school year.
Soaked to the skin from flying about in the rain, Edana was able to correct her appearance to some degree after drying off with a tricky little charm she had read about at Malfoy Manor's library.
She knocked on the door of Snape's office and waited for him to call her in.
"Miss Rosier, come in," Snape requested and Edana moved into the room and into the single chair positioned in front of his desk.
There were no notes, roles of parchment or anything else to assist the professor during these meetings other than his memory. It was rumored about the school that Snape was like an elephant, he never forgot, though Edana always puzzled at the comparison.
As usual, Snape went right to the point. "What are your future plans?"
"I don't know, sir."
"Surely you must have some idea."
Edana managed a weak smile. "I've been rather preoccupied."
Snape nodded. "I suppose you have. The best careers are those that suit a wizard or witches strengths. Tell me, what do you perceive to be your strengths?"
"Charms, history and Quidditch," Edana replied promptly.
"I suppose playing Quidditch professionally is not your intention."
"No, it is not."
"Which leaves you with charms and history." Snape paused a long moment while he shuffled through his mental files. "Have you thought of working with the Experimental Charms Committee?"
"I can't see myself at the Ministry, even if they would take me."
"Perhaps, if you appreciate history - as you few students here do - you might wish to join the Wizarding Archeological Society. They have a department here in Britain."
"They would not hire me," Edana said fatalistically.
"And why not? I recall reading that they are understaffed, and you have the skills they are looking for. With the appropriate OWL and NEWT scores, your overall academic record and faculty recommendations, they would welcome you." Here Snape cause again, this time to pierce her with a hard look. "Of course you would have to perform well on the Defense Against Art Arts portions of your exams."
Edana felt the spark of home that had been rising within her flicker out and die. "I'll never be able to 'perform well' on that part of exams. I only pass DADA with the marks I have now because of all the extra credit I hand in."
"Miss Rosier," Snape cut in sharply. "If you wish to wallow in self pity you may do so in your dormitory. If, however, you wish to succeed you may stay."
Edana did not move.
Snape continued. "I am rather skilled at Defense Against the Darks Arts and would not be adverse to tutoring you, but be warned, I am not an easy taskmaster. I expect promptness and hard work or I will not continue to help you. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir."
"Good. Read chapter nineteen of your textbook and come to see me on the eighteenth at nine."
* * *
Next Chapter: Edana's birthday, study sessions with Snape, and the OWLs.
* * *
Chapter Fourteen Reviewers:
googoo4you: I write this from an outline, but frequently make changes as additional ideas strike me. For instance the next chapter was broken in two due to so much going on. As for an Edana/Lucius confrontation, there is definitely one in the works.