Chapter 18
Sirius and Narcissa
London, England
Put away the letter. Return to mess on the ground. Granger is reading Mum's diary. Wonder what she thinks so far.
Hmm?
A new book, buried under the pile. Thick. Pick it up. Open it up.
No concealments. No spells. Just a basic handwritten Muggle journal.
Sirius Black's. Starting on his tenth birthday.
Aha. I see. He was half-Muggle, so he had written in it Muggle-style, but the book itself magically expanded. Flip to the last page, written yesterday. This journal had seen a lot. And it had never meant to be seen by anyone else, too, that much was obvious.
Why did he leave it with me? Start to read it.
Don't get passed one paragraph when Granger gasps.
"What?"
She looks at me. "She was there, Malfoy!"
Ye gods. "Where?"
"At the- when they- You-know-who."
"She never served him."
"No, but she. Look!"
She handed me the book. It was open to a page in mid-January.
Well. There you had it.
"Mum."
"She was there!"
"Yes. But why was-" I read it again. It was short because Mum hadn't felt it was too important.
Mum was there when Voldemort called his Death Eaters. She hid, and she watched, and she only trusted Snape since, because Snape had refused to go in the first place.
They were all called in the middle of the night. Voldemort had said this was one of the finest years of Slytherins he had ever seen, and he called them to him on the promise of power and prestige.
So they had left. Almost all of them willingly, but they took a screaming and yelling Snape with them so he wouldn't tell Dumbledore.
They came back a week later.
And Mum had watched. Her. And Sirius Black.
Pull out his journal. Flip to that day. Read it.
"January 19th, 1971
"I don't know why Narcissa called me at first. She rarely talks to me. I think she wanted Remus, really, but he's not here tonight. He goes away a lot, actually.
"I think she likes him. Bitch. Remus Lupin is mine.
"Anyway, she came for Remus, and when he wasn't here she asked me to come with her. Said it was urgent and we needed to be as stealthy as possible.
"James Potter's magic cloak kinda helped us there.
"We ran over to the Great Hall. I was surprised.
"All the Slytherins were there, at least from our year. Hovering in a circle. I recognized it when I saw it.
"Old magick so old it isn't even magick anymore. A spell, a group occult spell. They were in a circle, twelve of them. All but Snape, who was tied up in the middle to a post. The floor was covered in symbols, and the post was a double-sided cross. Both sides had someone tied as if to be crucified on it, but I could only see Snape from my angle. What most people don't know in this age of Christianity is the cross was a symbol of war long before Constantine used it for his Christian Crusade Banner.
"The symbols glowed as the hovering group chanted. No wands, just hands clasped in an odd prayer motion. The lights went out, but the symbols still burned brightly, bright enough to see perfectly. The moon would be full tonight, and I saw the roof slide open to welcome the moonlight, which would be necessary for the spell. I recognized it, of course, but I didn't want to believe it.
"The symbols were divided into five groups, and each of these five groups had four parts. Five groups. Water, Wood, Metal, Fire, Earth. Four Parts. Air, Water, Earth, Fire. And in the middle of each of the four parts shone up a fifth as they chanted. Ashaka. The Spirit. Old Magick. This was it, a powerful spell possible for very few. A spell that required a heavy, powerful sacrifice, and a blood one. But one of the two would have to kill the other, almost impossible from the position they were tied in. But still.
"Why were they doing this? What would come of it? And most importantly, why did they need so strong a summon? Because they were summoning.
"They were calling a dragon.
"Not the animal. The Spirit Dragons. The Dragon Guardians. At least one, I wouldn't be surprised by the layout if they used more than one. Why, though, was the question.
"Power? Prestige? They were flirting with danger, far more danger than even I wanted.
"This was how my mother died. She was part of a group that tried to kill Voldemort at one of the battles. I remember, because I was there, Mum wanted to protect me and we, my father and I, blindly, stupidly, followed her.
"It was bloody, terrible. Almost everyone was killed. My mother managed to survive long enough to run a little ways. Everyone else she was with had fallen, dead, bloodless, lifeless in front of me, and I was scared, because this was when I was only seven.
"After they all fell, she cast a final spell to try to stop him. I watched it. She stood there, chanting with her hands like that, hovering slightly. She raised a jeweled knife above her head, yelling the final words of the chant- More like a mantra, she kept yelling over and over.
"And he came. The Dragon, Fire. He sucked up the bloodied bodies and became strong. But Voldemort was quicker. He too called forth a dragon, three of them, Metal, Earth and Wood, and he called on Water for a wall. I had never seen elemental magick before this, and until now I never had besides my personal studies and textbooks.
"Voldemort called his beasts, and Mum's was fierce. They fought, but in the end Mum lost. She became the sacrifice for Voldemort's summons, and her magic drifted into them, and then into Voldemort.
"I have always hated him since. And I studied elemental magick since. I have gotten quite good at it.
"The lead of the circle held up the blade, and the moon began to rise. He cut the wires off the second sacrifice first-
"Remus fell to the floor, naked and twitching. The hovering boy didn't care as he cut Snape.
"The moon shone. And then Remus began to change.
Sirius and Narcissa
London, England
Put away the letter. Return to mess on the ground. Granger is reading Mum's diary. Wonder what she thinks so far.
Hmm?
A new book, buried under the pile. Thick. Pick it up. Open it up.
No concealments. No spells. Just a basic handwritten Muggle journal.
Sirius Black's. Starting on his tenth birthday.
Aha. I see. He was half-Muggle, so he had written in it Muggle-style, but the book itself magically expanded. Flip to the last page, written yesterday. This journal had seen a lot. And it had never meant to be seen by anyone else, too, that much was obvious.
Why did he leave it with me? Start to read it.
Don't get passed one paragraph when Granger gasps.
"What?"
She looks at me. "She was there, Malfoy!"
Ye gods. "Where?"
"At the- when they- You-know-who."
"She never served him."
"No, but she. Look!"
She handed me the book. It was open to a page in mid-January.
Well. There you had it.
"Mum."
"She was there!"
"Yes. But why was-" I read it again. It was short because Mum hadn't felt it was too important.
Mum was there when Voldemort called his Death Eaters. She hid, and she watched, and she only trusted Snape since, because Snape had refused to go in the first place.
They were all called in the middle of the night. Voldemort had said this was one of the finest years of Slytherins he had ever seen, and he called them to him on the promise of power and prestige.
So they had left. Almost all of them willingly, but they took a screaming and yelling Snape with them so he wouldn't tell Dumbledore.
They came back a week later.
And Mum had watched. Her. And Sirius Black.
Pull out his journal. Flip to that day. Read it.
"January 19th, 1971
"I don't know why Narcissa called me at first. She rarely talks to me. I think she wanted Remus, really, but he's not here tonight. He goes away a lot, actually.
"I think she likes him. Bitch. Remus Lupin is mine.
"Anyway, she came for Remus, and when he wasn't here she asked me to come with her. Said it was urgent and we needed to be as stealthy as possible.
"James Potter's magic cloak kinda helped us there.
"We ran over to the Great Hall. I was surprised.
"All the Slytherins were there, at least from our year. Hovering in a circle. I recognized it when I saw it.
"Old magick so old it isn't even magick anymore. A spell, a group occult spell. They were in a circle, twelve of them. All but Snape, who was tied up in the middle to a post. The floor was covered in symbols, and the post was a double-sided cross. Both sides had someone tied as if to be crucified on it, but I could only see Snape from my angle. What most people don't know in this age of Christianity is the cross was a symbol of war long before Constantine used it for his Christian Crusade Banner.
"The symbols glowed as the hovering group chanted. No wands, just hands clasped in an odd prayer motion. The lights went out, but the symbols still burned brightly, bright enough to see perfectly. The moon would be full tonight, and I saw the roof slide open to welcome the moonlight, which would be necessary for the spell. I recognized it, of course, but I didn't want to believe it.
"The symbols were divided into five groups, and each of these five groups had four parts. Five groups. Water, Wood, Metal, Fire, Earth. Four Parts. Air, Water, Earth, Fire. And in the middle of each of the four parts shone up a fifth as they chanted. Ashaka. The Spirit. Old Magick. This was it, a powerful spell possible for very few. A spell that required a heavy, powerful sacrifice, and a blood one. But one of the two would have to kill the other, almost impossible from the position they were tied in. But still.
"Why were they doing this? What would come of it? And most importantly, why did they need so strong a summon? Because they were summoning.
"They were calling a dragon.
"Not the animal. The Spirit Dragons. The Dragon Guardians. At least one, I wouldn't be surprised by the layout if they used more than one. Why, though, was the question.
"Power? Prestige? They were flirting with danger, far more danger than even I wanted.
"This was how my mother died. She was part of a group that tried to kill Voldemort at one of the battles. I remember, because I was there, Mum wanted to protect me and we, my father and I, blindly, stupidly, followed her.
"It was bloody, terrible. Almost everyone was killed. My mother managed to survive long enough to run a little ways. Everyone else she was with had fallen, dead, bloodless, lifeless in front of me, and I was scared, because this was when I was only seven.
"After they all fell, she cast a final spell to try to stop him. I watched it. She stood there, chanting with her hands like that, hovering slightly. She raised a jeweled knife above her head, yelling the final words of the chant- More like a mantra, she kept yelling over and over.
"And he came. The Dragon, Fire. He sucked up the bloodied bodies and became strong. But Voldemort was quicker. He too called forth a dragon, three of them, Metal, Earth and Wood, and he called on Water for a wall. I had never seen elemental magick before this, and until now I never had besides my personal studies and textbooks.
"Voldemort called his beasts, and Mum's was fierce. They fought, but in the end Mum lost. She became the sacrifice for Voldemort's summons, and her magic drifted into them, and then into Voldemort.
"I have always hated him since. And I studied elemental magick since. I have gotten quite good at it.
"The lead of the circle held up the blade, and the moon began to rise. He cut the wires off the second sacrifice first-
"Remus fell to the floor, naked and twitching. The hovering boy didn't care as he cut Snape.
"The moon shone. And then Remus began to change.