A/N: first of all, I'd like to thank you all for those lots of, lots of reviews – it seems I annoyed you into reviewing, didn't I? ;) I must tell I enjoyed reading your cursing reviews a lot, they were highly entertaining… especially your weird theories about Tatyana's involvement.
I think I need to get this straight, since some of you didn't understand: Voldie didn't possess a nice Norbert's body, he had possessed the body of a newborn child and that child grew up being Voldemort. So, Norbert has been Voldemort from the second he was born. Sorry, no exorcism possible, since the boy has only one spirit: that of Voldemort.
The three Star Wars references in chapter 27 were the following:
1.
"You really care for him, don't you? Well, listen, I understand. I won't stand in your way."
"No, it's not like that at all – Neville is my brother-in-law".
(This one originates from Return of the Jedi – Han/Leia scene)
2.
"I told you that the boy was dangerous."
(This one resembles the line told by Obi-Van to Qui-Gon on Coruscant, in The Phantom Menace, but I think this wasn't as obvious as the other two)
3.
"I think you like me because I'm a scoundrel."
"I 'appen to like nice men."
(This one originates from The Empire Strikes Back, Han/Leia scene)
And to add a bit more to the already Star Wars-ish atmosphere, the title of this chapter originates from Timothy Zahn's Specter of the past, a really cool Star Wars book.
This chapter is dedicated to Toby Haine for being such a great friend, and to Inigma for her undying enthusiasm.
Chapter 28
Spectre of the past
Harry, Ginny and Daniel gasped.
"That can't be!" Harry shouted. "You can't… can't be Voldemort!"
"Oh, trust me I am. Even my dear pet raven Ivo's name means yew. You have bad memories in connection with yew, don't you?" Norbert replied with a triumphant grin, holding up his head as though he owned the universe. He no more resembled the helpful, sympathetic little boy he used to be. His stance was proud, and suddenly so unmistakably voldemortish… a shiver ran down Harry's spine, terrible memories of all of his previous encounters with the Dark Lord resurfacing…
"I'm reborn," the boy said in a low voice. "You could cause my death, Potter, but I've returned. And now I'm going to kill you and your dear wife who has been just as guilty of my death as you've been. Or even more," he glanced at Ginny, who was trembling. "You are going to pay for everything, both of you."
Harry tried to reach out for Ginny's hand, but his shackle only let him touch his fingertips to hers. The rings on their fingers were glowing in a mad way. Harry gulped. "You knew. You knew about the rings, didn't you?"
"Of course I did," Norbert shrugged. "Daniel once mentioned them to me… but I had seen them before he told me… oh, you have no idea, Harry, what I have been going through in hell… a bloody hot place, that is. I spent my days in fire and brimstone, watching you from there and cursing you a million times a day… oh, yes, Potter. The dead can see you from the netherworld… they can see all your actions. I saw you buying those gems and I saw doing everything," he uttered the last word with some blissful malice, his grey eyes widening with pleasure at seeing Harry's facial reactions. "And then I found a way to come back and decided to pay back everything to you!"
"How…?" Harry's eyes narrowed. "You have killed hundreds of innocent people… you weren't allowed to be reborn!"
"I'll tell you that in due time, Potter," the boy waved nonchalantly. "You will get to know everything before you die. You might call me cruel, but even I believe that you deserve to know the truth before you die. So let me tell you how I have developed my elaborate little plan until today."
"As if I were interested, Voldemort!" Harry spat.
"Oh, you will be interested, I can assure you of that," Norbert replied with a smirk. "It's a highly enjoyable and gripping tale… a tale of naivety versus cunning… So, let's start the story with 1st September, when I started it all by sending Lucius to Dumbledore. On his way to the castle, Lucius was to curse the boats so they'd sink when Aberforth was guiding the first-years across the lake. Then he fed Albus some idiotic story about being worried about his innocent little son - me. Meanwhile, the boats started to sink. Albus had to hurry and save the students, and Lucius was left alone in Dumbledore's office. Alone, with the Sorting Hat. He put an undetectable charm on it to make it send your son into Slytherin."
"What?" Daniel gasped. "You don't mean that I got into that house because… because of your damn father's damn magic?"
"Oh, that's exactly what I mean, Dan," Norbert answered. "You very likely would have got into Gryffindor with your pathetic little cousins if Lucius hadn't helped you a bit… but I needed you in Slytherin. I needed you to be close to me so that I could get close to the Potter family. I had quite an easy job with you – you had no firm will, Dannie. You were insecure, so I could direct you the way I wanted. I wanted you to get hostile with your previous friends, so I used the opportunity of the unicorn-adventure."
Dan frowned. "So… that's why you wanted us to tell Snape, because you knew that he'd take a lot of points away from Gryffindor! You were the one telling Snape about my cousins and telling them that I only wanted to help, and when they didn't listen to you, you deliberately turned me against them! You were telling me not to forgive them because they had been so nasty to me… and I thought that you were doing it out of pure good will!" he was practically shouting. "I thought that you were a true friend!"
"Oh, I did look like a true friend, didn't I?" Norbert laughed. "Yes, I was playing the excellent friend, and trust me, I was feeling sick of myself consoling you all along, listening to all your silly little problems, all your whining over your clumsiness… I had enough of you. After I made your mother miscarry and set fire to your house, I decided to…"
"WHAT???" Harry and Ginny bellowed, not letting him finish his sentence.
"Oh, you didn't suspect, did you?" Norbert stepped to the woman and looked directly into her eyes. "You know, dear, Professor Snape gave me a wonderful idea at our very first Potions class… he talked about a potion that witches had used to get rid of their unwanted pregnancies. When Dan told me that you were pregnant with your seventh child, I decided to kill it to make you suffer," he said this in such an insensitive tone that it made Ginny shiver. She couldn't believe that this… this monster had caused the death of her baby.
"So, you poisoned me?" she whispered.
"Yes, yes I did," Norbert nodded mirthfully. "You know, you Potters are simply way too trusting – letting me spend the Christmas holidays at your place where I had access to your food and drinks… and you, Virginia, made an even greater mistake when asking me to kindly take the drinks into the living room on Christmas Eve. Oh, yes, I see in your eyes that you remember now. Norbert, would you please bring the drinks? Pour a bit of pumpkin juice into the kids' glasses and some champagne into the adults', will you? And I thought: 'of course I will, Mrs. Potter'," he grinned, leaning closer.
"You bastard!" she spat at his face.
"Hm. I understand that you're upset," he wiped his face with a nonchalant swish of his hand. "I would also be upset if I were in your place."
"What about my house?" Harry demanded, his eyes sparkling with fury, his hands clenched into fists above the shackles.
"I set fire to it, haven't I said so already?" Norbert replied, a nasty sneer playing around his lips. "Well, in fact I didn't do it personally. I used an innocent tool to do it for me instead. Vicar Diggle."
"The vicar?" Harry breathed.
"Yes. Remember him? He was there at the New Year's Eve party in the Three Broomsticks. He was drunk. Once he went outside to puke, I followed him and cast Imperius on him. He did the dirty work instead of me and didn't remember a thing afterwards. Certainly I made him use an old goblin weapon to make it appear as though Draco's house had been the target. Witty, eh? But in fact, the main target wasn't even your house, Potter. It was your cute little daughter sleeping in there… but, alas, she was saved," a miffed expression appeared on Norbert's face. "To my great disappointment only that dratted owl died in the fire!"
Harry exploded with rage and would have thrown himself at Voldemort if he hadn't been shackled. "That dratted owl was my friend!" he howled.
"Oh, yes, I thought so. Seeing you go all weepy and bury it as though you were burying some royalty, I thought that it must have meant a lot to you, so I wasn't as disappointed anymore. Anyway… where was I before you interrupted?" he mused. "Oh, yes. Daniel..." he turned to the other boy. "I was fed up with your whining, Dan, so, after making your parents miserable enough with the miscarriage and the burnt house, I decided to dispose of you."
Daniel felt as though he had been stabbed in the heart. "You… you wanted to… kill me?"
"Bingo, Potty. I did. That's why I convinced you to go to the wishing-well."
Daniel gasped. "You… you made me fall into it?"
"Of course I did. You were pretty much bending over that well, I just had to help you slip a bit… a mere flick with my wand and you were speeding into the bowels of Earth. I wanted your parents to suffer more, losing you, too."
Now something did explode in Harry and he jerked forward, trying to break his shackles, but all he managed to do was crush his wrists so badly that they started to bleed. If there was no other way, then he'd… with a pop he turned into his animagus form. The reindeer's legs were considerably thinner than his human legs and wrists, so he managed to pull out of the handcuffs. However, before he could charge at this demonic creature, he was forced back into his human form and tossed back at the walls and into the shackles even more roughly than for the first time.
"Sorry, dad…" Dan groaned. "I can't do anything against his will… I must do what he imagines!"
"I know, son," Harry swallowed hard.
Norbert was grinning. "Perhaps you should have chosen to turn into a rat or something smaller, then you might have stood a chance to ran away… but no, not really. No one can escape from our wonderful Imaginer," he gave Daniel an amused look. "Indeed I wanted to get rid of you, Dan. You were whiny and weak… you forgave your cousins at Christmas!" he said this with utter disdain. "Forgiveness is the sign of weakness, Daniel. I didn't need a weakling for a friend. I wanted to kill you, but later I was happy that I hadn't succeeded. After your miraculous survival in the well, I overheard a discussion between you and your mother. You told her something like you had cushioned your fall. Then I knew what I had been only suspecting before: you were an Imaginer. I thought that I could use an Imaginer – and I was right, wasn't I?"
"So you knew," Harry said. "And you ripped that page out of that book."
"Yes, I admit it was also me," Norbert nodded. "I wanted Dan's powers to use them on Snape, then on you. Wouldn't it be wonderful if you and your wife died at your own son's hands?" he added with a shrill laugh. "I'm dying to see it."
"You were the one trying to kill Snape all along?" Ginny hissed.
"Of course it was I. Snape had betrayed me by giving me a false recipe and contributing to my downfall at Stonehenge. He deserves to die, and you can be sure that he will die. After you."
"Then… you did that trick with the spiders?" Dan gulped. Those five huge beasts still vividly lived in his memories.
"Exactly. I made a little trip into the dark forest and put a basilisk-illusion on a gnarly trunk. But before that, I cast Imperius on Gilda to push that little message into Snape's hand."
"It was you again?" Dan shouted. "You were using Gilda?!?"
"Oh, calm down and hold back your raging hormones, Dan," Norbert waved. "I know you have a crush on her, but it's no reason for such an outburst. Honestly. I did nothing bad to that girl. I just made her forward a message and poison Harry and Lupin a bit."
"So you did that, too," Harry gritted his teeth. "Why?"
"Why, why, oh come on, Potter, don't be that slow on the uptake! I wanted to crush you mentally! I wanted to make you suffer as much as possible before doing away with you… psychological warfare, you know. I wanted to kill some of your family members and thought that ridding you of a close friend would also hurt you a lot. It did… didn't it?"
Harry's face turned red with fury, and his eyes became slits.
"If glances could kill, I'd be long dead!" Voldemort cackled, his laughter reverberating through the chamber.
* * * * *
The Potter children and the house-elves were confused. Ginny had Disapparated from the Three Broomsticks without telling them anything. They hurried home, hoping to find their father and Daniel there, but there was also no one to be found. The whole house was empty and there was nothing out of the ordinary, except for the slice of cake that Harry had brought for Daniel lying on the living room table, untouched.
"I don't like this," Lily said, frowning.
"Lil, Lil, look at this!" little Lea came running towards her sister, flourishing some parchment in her tiny hand.
"What's this?" the eldest Potter child took it and started to read.
"What does it say?" Robert asked, seeing that Lily's complexion had gone ashen.
"Dan's been kidnapped," the girl whispered. "He's in Gryffindor's chamber."
"Where?" Rose blinked.
"I don't know," Lily shook her head. "Never heard of a Gryffindor's chamber before."
"Shouldn't we… ask someone?" Richard cut in.
"Ask Albus Dumbledore, young sirs and ladies!" Dobby suggested. "He will know, Dobby is sure that he will! Albus Dumbledore knows everything!"
"But he isn't at Hogwarts, he left!"
"Then ask Professor McGonagall!" Dobby said.
"All right," Lily nodded. "Come on, everyone. We are going up to Hogwarts."
"Hogwarts!" Lea squealed with delight. She had long wanted to enter the castle but up till now she had only had an opportunity to see the Quidditch pitch. She was over-excited to have a chance to get a glimpse of the inners of the castle, too – had she been a bit older she would have realised that she was supposed to be worried about her brother and parents. But at five, most children can't make a difference between 'dangerous' and 'exciting'.
Lily took her little sister by the hand and told the house-elves to stay at home in case one of their parents returned, then hurried outside with her siblings.
At their gate they ran into Draco Malfoy, who gave them a suspicious stare. "What are you all up to?"
"We are going to Hogwarts!" Lea yelped enthusiastically.
"And may I ask why?" the banker crossed his arms.
"None of your business," Lily snapped. She was beside herself with worry, and this stupid blond bloke was questioning them, delaying them.
"Oh, you know, girl, you are so much like your father," Malfoy said with a disapproving glare.
"Like my father?" Lily hissed. "I'm not like him at all!" she sounded as though she had been deeply hurt by the comparison. "And I don't care for him at all!"
"Lil," Rose interjected, "you might not be caring for dad, but I think he's in lethal danger, so we'd better be going if we want to save him and Daniel."
"Lethal danger?" Draco raised an eyebrow. "What are you going on about?"
Lily sighed, realising that the only way to get free from their annoying neighbour was to show him the letter.
"Hm… sounds like some threat, really," the banker nodded after having read it, then his eyes widened and he read it again. He recognised the hand. "I'm coming with you, children," he said suddenly.
"If you want to," Lily shrugged and motioned her siblings to get moving.
* * * * *
Albus had finished teaching Severus the charm with which an Imaginer could be freed from another person's control, and he, Cho and Snape left his office, heading downstairs. Aberforth and McGonagall joined them on the corridor. Cho was about to pay the Ravenclaws a visit and say hello to Liu when a haggard-looking figure staggered through the oak door, into the Entrance Hall.
Albus dashed to the newcomer and caught her before she could fall.
"Narcissa Malfoy!" he breathed.
"What is she doing here? Isn't she abroad with her husband?" Snape raised an eyebrow.
"Well, she doesn't seem to be in any condition to tell us," Albus replied, holding the woman who was just about to collapse with exhaustion. Her clothes were in rags and her face and hands were dirty.
"I… need to… need to tell…" she muttered. "Dumbledore… I must talk…"
"Shhh!" the headmaster hushed her. "Don't speak, you must rest in the infirmary. Madame Pomfrey will take care of you."
"No!" she grasped Albus' arm with a force that wasn't to be expected from a woman so weak. "I have to tell… the truth!" she wheezed, but her eyes were showing resolution – some mad resolution. "I… I have escaped from… Malfoy Manor… Lucius… has been keeping me under… Imperius… for twelve years… but… I finally had… enough strength to… to break free!"
"Come, Mrs. Malfoy, let us find an empty classroom nearby," Albus suggested. They couldn't listen to her in the Entrance Hall, could they?
"Potter's study is right here around the corner," Snape said.
The headmaster steered Narcissa into the room and made her sit down at the desk. "So… this is… Harry Potter's room?" she asked warily. "Harry Potter…" her confused stare seemed to have cleared all of a sudden. "Harry Potter is in… lethal danger!" she jumped up from her seat, only to get pushed back into it by the headmaster. "You must know… the truth… about Norbert!" she yelled.
"Your son?" Albus blinked, surprised.
"Don't call him my son!" she breathed, her pretty face contorting into a mask of pure horror and suffering. "He is… he is… the Dark Lord!"
The others gasped. Minerva clutched at her heart and Cho let out a small squeal.
"No! Impossible!" the headmaster said. "He can't be! He couldn't have been reborn! It is out of question!"
"He found… found a way to be reborn," Mrs. Malfoy whispered. She strongly resembled Bartemius Crouch senior when he had entered the Hogwarts grounds before the third task so many years ago: her clothes tattered, her skin dirty and bruised, and some madness showing in her eyes. Madness, but an extremely strong will to tell what she wanted.
"But… how?" Snape knitted his eyebrows. He was deadly pale. Now he at least understood why his Dark Mark had been hurting ever since September – ever since Norbert Devilsmoor-Malfoy had entered Hogwarts. "You have given birth to that… monster?"
"Noooo…" Narcissa sobbed. "I didn't."
"You didn't? But… the Hogwarts parchment book… it registered him as your son," McGonagall reasoned. She had seen it the very night her wedding to Aberforth had taken place. Norbert had been born that night.
Narcissa raised her head, her eyes full of tears, radiating the long-time torment she had been subjected to. "He isn't my son. Lucius… … bewitched the parchment book."
"That's it!" Aberforth slapped his forehead.
"What?" Albus, Snape and Cho asked in unison.
"Minnie, remember our wedding night?" Aberforth said. "We saw Lucius Malfoy coming out of the purple room. That is when he … must have bewitched the book."
"I see," the headmaster nodded. "But if Norbert, or… Voldemort, isn't Narcissa's son, then whose?"
However, Mrs. Malfoy could no more reply. She had collapsed onto the desk.
"Aberforth, please, take this lady up to Madame Pomfrey," Albus said. "She needs Poppy's care, she's been through a lot. Severus, Miss Chang, Minerva, please, come with me. We shall have a look at the book, then find young Devilsmoor-Malfoy. I believe we need to ask him some questions."
* * * * *
Just as Aberforth departed with the unconscious Narcissa, a group of people ran through the oak front door.
The Potter children and Draco Malfoy.
"Professor Dumbledore!" Lily Potter was panting. "Professor, look at this!" she pushed a parchment into the old wizard's hand.
Albus read the letter. "So it has begun," he whispered.
"What?" Severus asked.
"Daniel Potter's been kidnapped. I think we all know who's behind this, right?"
"My brother!" Draco interjected.
"Indeed, Mr. Malfoy, your so-called brother," nodded the headmaster. "Lord Voldemort."
"WHAT??????" Draco gasped and staggered some steps backwards as though he had been slapped hard in the face.
While the triplets exchanged confused, or rather terrified looks, whispering 'I don't believe this', 'it must be a joke', Lily Potter turned a nasty shade of green and seemed to be close to fainting. Cho jumped to her to support her weight.
She had befriended Voldemort? – Lily thought. She had let Voldemort hold her… kiss her? She had never felt such terrible nausea wash over her before.
"Minerva, please, take the children with you," the headmaster instructed. "Lily, you stay with us. We'll be needing your help."
"My… help, sir?" she breathed, fighting down the urge to throw up. "How… how could I help you…?"
"You will help us open a door, young lady. But first, we must see that book, ladies and gentlemen."
"What book?" Malfoy frowned. "My brother… er, the Dark Lord…? Gosh, I can't believe it! He's kidnapped Potter's son and you are going on about reading a book?"
"We must read it, Draco. Now. It might help us save the Potters," Albus said sternly, beckoning to the others to follow him to the purple room. "We need to see the Hogwarts parchment book, because your mother has just informed us that your father has bewitched it."
"My mother?" Draco paled even more. "She's here?"
"Yes, she's just arrived, in a rather bad condition, if I might add. She claimed to have been under Imperius for twelve years. Don't worry, young man, she is being take care of now. So, she informed us that Lucius had put some curse on the parchment book to register the newborn Voldemort with wrong parentage."
"Of course, wrong parentage, my mother is not his mother!" Malfoy huffed, shaking with rage, still unable to comprehend what he had just got to know. That little boy whom he had known as his half-brother was the reincarnated Dark Lord himself? Now at least he understood why he had never been able to love that boy. "He is father's illegitimate child from another woman," he continued. "Father's been threatening both mother and me not to tell anyone… but up till now I haven't understood why… now I understand. Damn, I knew that father was a lunatic, but never thought that he was this raving mad! Raising… a son that he knew had the spirit of the Dark Lord?"
"Well, Lucius has always been a bit eccentric, hasn't he?" Albus said, opening the door to the purple room. Lucius' deeds, though, surpassed Draco's idea of eccentricity.
The headmaster, Draco, Snape, Lily and Cho all hurried into the room, to the small dais bearing the book.
"So…" the headmaster raised his wand over the book. "There must have been a Confundus charm, if I'm not mistaken. It's quite silly of us to not have checked the book of curses, but it never occurred to us that someone would bewitch it… Finite Incantatem," he touched the tip of his wand to the book that shuddered, as if shrugging off some unwanted magic.
With trembling hands, Albus started turning the pages back, back, back, to the 10th December, 2000. There were two entries for that day. One for Lancelot Percival Galahad Weasley, the other…
Norbert Devilsmoor-Malfoy, born 10th December, 2000, parents…
Everyone seeing that single line – including Draco Malfoy – gasped.
"Holy shit," Dumbledore muttered, and this time the others didn't even look surprised by hearing the old wizard curse.
* * * * *
"You're pathetic," Harry spat. "Only a mentally ill person would do such a thing. Why not kill us right away?"
"Had I killed you right away, where would have been the fun?" Norbert grinned, twirling his wand between two fingers. "I wanted you to suffer as much as possible before doing away with you. I wanted both you and dear little Virginia to suffer. I wanted to drive you mad, Potter, mad with confusion and heartache. Why do you think that sweet little Lily turned on you?"
Harry gasped. "You don't mean… that it was your doing as well?"
"Of course it was! I never wanted anything from your daughter, Harry… It wasn't she using me, but me using her. I was never in love with her. I played that I was, in order to make her believe that I was giving her a real friend-to-friend Valentine's Day's gift."
"What gift?" Harry asked.
"A pretty necklace. A bewitched necklace. Or rather call it: a curse-necklace. You know, if you want to control one's emotions, you can best do it by creating some jewellery that symbolises the daily phenomenon on his or her birthday. I gave her a necklace with four little orbs that looked like mere beads. But they symbolised the planets visible at the moment of her birth. It's a damn old Dark Art, but you, oh great and noble Harry Potter, weren't supposed to have heard of it."
"You have been controlling my sister, too, just like me?" Daniel whispered, cowering in the corner.
"No, I've been controlling her in another way," Norbert answered. "I couldn't control her actions, only her emotions… towards her father," he sent Harry a really nasty grin. "She turned on you, didn't she, Harry? She told you on several occasions that she hated you, didn't she? And she still hates you… you are going to die knowing that your daughter hates you and will hate you as long as she lives. She will hate the very memory of you, Potter, and will dance on your grave."
"You are truly mad," Harry's eyes narrowed. He just couldn't believe that all those sorrows because of Lily's 'hatred' had been caused by this aberrant creature in front of him. How much grief it had given him to see his daughter's emerald eyes radiating despise, to hear her telling him 'you are not my father!'… to think that it had not been real should have been elating for Harry… the knowledge that Lily had never really hated him should have made him jump for joy… but not under these circumstances. He was going to die without hearing Lily tell 'I love you, dad'… What he would have given to hear her say it just once more! But he was going to die. He, Ginny, their unborn child and perhaps Daniel, too… if only a miracle would happen… anything… he'd gladly die if he had the opportunity to give his Lily one last hug and tell her how much he loved her.
His eyes met Norbert's cold grey ones, and he saw that there was no way out. Those eyes held nothing but hate and malice.
"I see I have touched a delicate point, Potter," Norbert smirked. "And soon I'll be touching even more delicate points… Poor, poor Potter, you can't do anything to stop me. And if you are expecting help from outside, say, someone finding that letter and accidentally finding their way here, rest assured that they'll be walking into a trap... for my super-weapon, Daniel, will be able to disarm them all with a single thought, and I won't even have much more to do than simply say the good old Avada Kedavra… I wish Snape would come, then I could settle my little business with him… a bit later than I wanted, but delays do not matter as long as the result is his death… you know I was terribly upset when I didn't manage to kill him back at Halloween and at the Quidditch match, so I sort of vented my anger on his lover, that caretaker. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to kill her," he added with a pitiful pout.
Under different circumstances Harry would have been surprised that the caretaker had been referred to as 'her', but now all he could concentrate on was Norbert and his acts. "You were the one who set the Bludgers on Snape, then?" he asked.
"Or course I was. Who else? Certainly not innocent little Daniel here… but I had to test him before I tried his powers on Snape."
"Test him?" Ginny scowled, understanding dawning on her. "The basilisk. You mean the basilisk."
"Of course I do," Norbert nodded. "I was watching Dan's little duel with Kevin Weasley. When Kevin conjured a baby-lion, I was sure that Dan would try and imagine a snake to prove that his house was as good if not better than Gryffindor… I sort of took over control and imagined a huge serpent looking like a basilisk… I channelled that image through Daniel who executed my will, and with a pop the serpent was there. Very useful to know what to do with Imaginers, really… certainly I would have been delighted if the snake had killed Dan's annoying cousin as well… but it doesn't matter anymore. The only thing that matters is that I have our Imaginer on a leash, thanks to that book."
"How… how did you get hold of Viviane Vablatsky's book?" Daniel asked. "When we came down into the chamber together, you couldn't have ripped out that page… Gilda or I would have noticed… or did you bewitch us not to notice it? Did you Imperio, then memory-charm us to forget what we had seen?"
"No, Dannie… why be so drastic when it could be done much easier? Wittier? With cunning instead of unnecessary wandwaving?"
"Cunning, eh?" Harry snorted. "That is what you Malfoys pride yourselves on, isn't it?"
"Malfoys? Oh come off it!" Norbert stamped his foot impatiently. "I have told you not to call me a Malfoy!"
"Why not? You are a Malfoy!" Professor Potter hissed.
"No, am not. Well, I'm Malfoy by name, but not by blood…"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that it wasn't Lucius Malfoy who fathered me… who fathered this body."
"Then who?" Harry furrowed his brow.
Norbert fixed him with a penetrating stare, some inexplicable fire blazing in his otherwise icy grey eyes and a tiny little smile appeared in the corner of his mouth.
"You."
A/N: give Bucky and njprincesssky a big hand, ladies and gentlemen! They are the only ones who ever guessed this, bravo!
Katrina: you know, I was amused to no end when reading you review, it was soooo entertaining, I was giggling all along! :) You're clever that you found out about the necklace, well done! I loved this: "leetle bruzzer my ass!" LOL. And yes, you were totally right about Norbert's parentage… at least on the mother side. Did you suspect the father's identity, too? Please, if you set a dragon on me, make it be Hungarian Horntail at least, I love my country dragons :D About the train station… hm, yes, it'll be mentioned in the next chapter. Cho sacrificing herself for Voldemort???? I think not!
Colei: yes, he did seem a nice little chap… my mum told me the same about the fake Mad-Eye Moody. In fact her fave character in GoF was the fake Mad-Eye, and she was so upset when he turned out to be evil!
Altec: Norbert was Voldemort from the second he was born, he had no other soul, only that of Voldemort. Yes, you were right about the psychological warfare, clever! About Norbert not winning at the tournament – he'll explain in the next chapter.
No longer a Lone Wolf: sorry, but I'm not that much of a pervert to make Lily go out with Voldemort.
Cassandra Anthemyst: glad you liked the anagram. And no, Norbert doesn't only think that he's Voldemort – he IS Voldemort.
Phoenix_Kiss02: in the next chapter I'll explain how Voldie could come back when he had killed several people. Well, did I give you another heart attack at the end of this chapter?
Black Ice: you overanalysed things, the three references are on the top, you got two of them right. I deliberately didn't use a canon character to be the evil one, because I wanted to give Harry the greatest shock of his life by that single word of three letters that closed this chapter *wicked grin*
dipstick: yes, you got two of the three references right. You wrote: "I'm now a little confused as to why you told me I was on the right lines when I said the person who tore the page out of the book must have been family." Are you STILL confused about this one?
Alexander Phoenix: yes, insane, isn't it? ;)
Beauty in Disguise: well, sometimes your feelings are right but you don't listen to them… I think I have answered one of your questions (how Norb knew that Dan was an Imaginer), and I'll answer the other two in the next chapter.
Houou: yes, wizards do have funny weddings… I believe I have answered your questions in the chapter, haven't I?
kryptKnight: wow… you also have an extremely vivid imagination, but no… no time-machine, no Tatyana kidnapping the goat.
Desiree: do you play in a band?
maggie: yes, I'm evil (nevil;)
MauiGoddess3: yes, Tatyana's grave thing will be explained in the next chapter. No, Ginny didn't lose the baby this time.
figgiesblazin: clever, yes, it was the necklace controlling Lily!
Nefertiri: no, Norbert didn't get any sort of help from Narcissa, only from Lucius. He is really Voldemort, at least his sprit is that of Voldemort. Why can't you use your scanner? What sort of scanner do you have? I have a Canon one, in case yours is similar I could help. About Snape's love bringing Beryl back to life: I thought it was a cute thing that she heard him say he loved her, and that gave her strength to survive. Smutty, I know, but cute.
Inigma: no problem with cursing, Albus also said 'holy shit' in this chapter :) Yes, I love shocking my readers. Not many people suspected Norbert. Only two or three told me looooong ago (months ago) that they found Norb suspicious, but no one lately has found him suspicious. Yes, your guessing is right :) But I doubt that in other respect the fic is predictable… is it? For example… did you expect Norbert to answer with 'you' to Harry? Yes, I get the reviews into my mailbox (at least 90% of them, ffnet tends to 'forget about' 10%, dunno why). And no, your reviews didn't annoy me in the least :) I hope you didn't lose your fic because of your computer's malfunctioning. You know, when I'm writing a fic, I always save it on a floppy disk every time I add new chapters. You should save it more often to a floppy disk, and then you wouldn't have problems like that. Of course you can put my fics on your site. But I believe it'd be better if I sent them to you instead of you linking to them, because I've changed a lot in the first two fics since uploading them onto ffnet (I didn't change anything in the plot, but now they have better grammar and spelling).
Princess Ginny: yes, I deliberately put that 'weird look on the train station' into the fic, but it seems that not many people found it suspicious. A Hungarian friend of mine who has read the whole fic already, told me that at the beginning she found Norbert suspicious, but later on he was such a nice boy, that her suspicion subsided. I think this happened to many readers. The reason for me not sending you mails nowadays is that I don't get such funny ones nowadays. In case I'll get some, I'll send them to you, I promise.
Tap Dancing Widow: I'm glad your jaw dropped :D
ArgiCallista: thank you, that's a great compliment :D
BigDaddy753: great, this means I managed to surprise you! Give me your email-address, and I'll send you a fanfic-recommendation list.
jennaration: yes, I did it! :D Now you know why and how Dan got into Slytherin.
King Jasbon: Norbert sort of used Lily as a tool to hurt Harry.
The Millenium One: noooo, I'm not going to hit you! Don't worry, all loose ends will be tied up.
PhoenixFire: hehe, no, your theory of Voldie being reborn isn't correct (though it's really imaginative).
susieq05: no, in fact it didn't take a lot of thought to come up with that. At the end of the next chapter I'll explain HOW I got the idea for this whole fic, you'll see that it was pretty spontaneous.
VegaKeep: who's Lord Joke? Sorry, I have no idea. He must be in a book/movie I haven't read/seen. Who is your Patron Saint of idiots as President?
spaloosa: well, counting nine months from Voldemort's death couldn't give you any solution, since he died in July 1998, while Norbert was born in December 2000. I believe now you have the answer for how Norbert got into Gryffindor's chamber, right? And perhaps now you know how Tatyana fits into the picture, too. If not, then the next chapter will reveal that, too. Your theory of Voldie being reborn isn't correct, because he HAD killed some people directly, for example Lily and James Potter. Well, the kids were smart enough to get help, weren't they? Don't worry about being an exception, I didn't like boys till I was 16, too. All girls in my primary and high school were already head over heels in love with boys, and I just couldn't understand what they saw in them… :)
Indigo Ziona: well, now you have your answer for the Gryffindor blood, don't you? Haha, Ashley the bat, that's cute.
Shazzman: well, if you re-read the story up till now, you'll notice all those little hints that allude to Norbert being 'weird', they were all there, subtly. The Russian woman whose name you can't recall is Tatyana. So, was chapter 27 your fave? My fave is chapter 28 and 29, because these ones are even eviler than chapter 27 (IMHO).
Kit Cloudkicker: well, of course Voldie had something to do with Dan getting into Slytherin!
Inken: Harry went to the chamber willingly, but when he was just about to try and open its door, the door was opened by Dan's powers and he got sucked in and was forced into shackles.
AmandaPanda: not all Malfoys are nice… but again, Norbert isn't a Malfoy, not really.
Wood's secret lover: no, why would Pinky be albino? I just thought that after Winky and Dinky and Kinky, there could be a Pinky as well :)
LadySiri: sorry to disappoint you, but Norbert isn't a nice guy possessed by an evil spirit: he's been evil since the day he was born, since he was born with Voldemort's spirit. Why did you change your name? I liked SiriDragon a lot.
Toby Haine: no, I wasn't blushing when reading your review, on the contrary: I was grinning widely all along. Your reviews always make me feel so good, but this one made me feel better than any before. Thank you. I'm sorry that you couldn't find other decent mystery fics. I have to admit that I haven't even tried to find any, I'm not reading many fics on ffnet anymore. If you want to read some good mystery fic, then go to w w w. schnoogle . com, and read 'Harry Potter and the Fall of Childhood' by Shayla. I think it's quite mysterious. You wrote: "do you know, JKR actually read some fanfic during the 'idea stealing scandal'". Er… what is that 'idea stealing scandal'? Sorry, I didn't understand. Do you know JKR's address at all? I for one don't know, and I doubt that I'd ever write her… but I've heard some terrible news that I hope is just a hoax: JKR might not write a book six and seven! In case this is true, then I'm going to find out what her address is and send her a nasty Howler!
weirdo_without_a_clue: sorry, Beryl doesn't die. I can't be that evil to poor Snape, can I? Don't worry, someone will surely die.
Wizzabee: Norbert was never his own person, he has always been Voldemort. Make Draco turn good? Hm… I thought I have already done that in TGSaWCS… remember his behaviour towards Ginny… and he hasn't been that nasty in this fic at all.
C-chan: do you know L-chan personally? Is she a friend of yours? Your theory isn't right, because Voldie did kill Ginny in TGSiHH (although he wanted to kill Harry). Sorry, I'm not a Matrix fan at all. But we at least share our enthusiasm for Johnny English :) Bravo, yes, it was the necklace!
Sean Mulligan: of course Gabie will get together with Draco!
Laura: both Harry and Ginny thought that Dumbledore was abroad. Even Norbert thought that Albus was away. Of course Lucius knows that Norbert is Voldemort, but he isn't worried about that, on the contrary.
'mione we@sley: thanks :) But I can't make Norbert good again, because he has never been good :(
thecrazygirl: no, Norbert didn't take the page when Daniel wasn't looking – he went into the chamber alone. And perhaps now you can find out how he did it. Sorry, but there won't be a sequel to this one. This fic will be so very 'closed' that I couldn't continue it.
Lioness-07863: now you know why Norbert didn't want to be called a Malfoy. He's NOT a Malfoy, at least not by blood… you wrote 'please, update soon, both stories!'. Er… didn't you notice that I wrote 'FIN' at the end of chapter three of Gadding with Goats? It's a finished story, no more chapters.
CHLF: thank you very much!
Red Ridding Hood: I'm sorry to have caused you such a nasty shock… and I hope you still managed to sleep well :)
2Coolio: well, now you know that Norb isn't Nacrissa's child, and I'm sure you can guess who the mother is.
Danalas the Lady Chaos: er… what is CCGs? I have no idea. I think the third reference you couldn't find wasn't that obvious, so don't worry, you can still call yourself a diehard SW fan :)
Mistri: I hope you weren't hyperventilating for a long time!
rebkos: yes, indeed it was Norbert who sabotaged the baby. And yes, Lily sort of comes to the rescue.
Elfangor19: sorry, but I'm not going to revive Lily and James. No Green Flame Torch is accessible now, and I don't want them to reincarnate. They are happy in heaven :)
megamick50: now perhaps you can guess how Norbert managed to get that page unnoticed.
CloverWeave: many people said that they couldn't believe that they hadn't thought of that, so you're not the only one ;)
Lupin's Angel: no, I didn't use Tatyana as a red herring, I used her with a good reason. Perhaps you can guess now what it was. Tell Gwen (is she your friend?) that she's right about Snape. But no Malfoy incest, no way! The name Devilsmoor was made up by me, Rowling had absolutely nothing to do with it. I'm not afraid of your Orcs and Ringwraiths, send them if you want. I have an Imaginer on my leash to do away with them all!
sikokid: yes, I'm evil :)
K. C. Hunter: I hope I won't get chickenpox again, I looked terrible when I got it (my mum took a photo, it looks teeeeerrrrible!)
goldenstar555: yes, but they aren't going to make a cute couple anymore :(
Angela: Norbert still looks cute… takes after his father *evil grin*
Any last requests: I believe it was you who took this 'Norbert being evil' thingie the best way. You seemed to be happy about it! :)
Zenon Lee: who said that Norbert WASN'T the heir of Gryffindor? Well, of course Voldemort could threaten the wizarding world, especially because he can control an extremely powerful Imaginer.
Amaranta: I'm glad you remembered the parchment book and Lucius leaving the room, not many people did, bravo! Don't worry, I'm not letting Ginny miscarry now. I hope you'll get OotP soon after 21st June.
maureen: I believe I have answered many of your questions, and the rest will be answered in the next chapter. As for Norbert knowing about the fake recipe… don't worry, he can't use the good recipe to turn immortal. At first I was playing with the thought of including that into the fic, but then I realised that it wasn't possible, because in order the use that potion you have to be "reborn" (like Voldie did in GoF) using the blood of your enemy. However, Norbert's body wasn't reborn with the 'blood, flesh, bone' method, so he can't use the Potion of Immortality. Oh, you're right, I made a mistake with the necklace! Norbert was supposed to say 20th June! Stupid me, I didn't notice. Thanks for pointing it out, I corrected it (in my computer, of course, I'm not going to replace chapter 18 just because of this). Angel isn't important, she's just there to provide some 'cuteness'.
sabby: glad you think that it matches :)
Rose: hm… let's hope that Dan Radcliffe, Emma Watson and the others will also play in the GoF movie! Anyway, as far as I know, Robbie Coltrane signed a contract for playing in five movies, so he also seems to be sure to play Hagrid.
Scarlet Dragon: yeah, if someone's too nice for a Malfoy, then he's suspicious! ;)
TaMaraR: hehe, I'm glad you're shocked :) I just love using Empire Strikes Back scenes, Han and Leia's bantering fit so well for Minerva/Aberforth and Draco/Gabie.
Punky Poet: yes, of course a lost child has a special place in your heart, but Harry and Ginny never got to know that child… so perhaps it wasn't THAT special. Draco yelled at Norbert in chapter 24 that Norbert had deliberately lost his duel and brought shame on the Malfoy name – that was what riled Gabie.
Mage: Tatyana is in no condition to show up anywhere…
Myr Halcyon: that chu-beard must be really funny, I'd like to see one :)
Amazing typo: not many people knew it, you can be proud :)
X-Tow-Naga: bring back Cedric? LOL. Don't worry, Cho will stop chasing Harry and even Cedric's name will be mentioned again (though he won't come back). Beryl's former husband won't even put in an appearance, he was only the reason for Beryl to flee to Hogwarts where she could meet Snape. This time dead people WILL stay dead. As I've said before, I don't tamper with time, so my fics never contain time-travel.
seashell: Draco hasn't been really nasty since TGSaWCS, so I believe that he doesn't need to 'turn good'. He's as good already as he can get, don't expect more from a Malfoy ;) Norbert/Voldemort does have the intention of taking over Hogwarts and the whole wizarding world, but before that he wanted to torture and kill Harry – you know, 'play' a bit. Well, if Norbert just killed Harry without giving his reasons and giving the whole tale, then my poor readers would never get to know how it all happened… so he can't play the 'overlord' in that respect. Anyway, Norbert is firm in the belief that as long as he has Daniel in his control, no one can stop him. Let him in his belief for a while.
Squalldaman: goosebumps are cool ;) LOL about the JKR thing, it made me grin. Thank you.
twinkle-toes: Lockhart – not so irritating? Wow, great! :D Lily isn't really mean… she's just controlled, the poor thing. She never wanted to be mean to her dad. As for the reincarnating stuff, I quote Anna Karenina's ghost in chapter 22 of TGSaWCS (she's talking about Tatyana): 'No, her body is just twenty-eight years old, I believe. But her soul is much older than mine. She – her soul – has been reincarnating for centuries… it's strange, you know. Only a possessed spirit, that wants something so terribly that it drives it crazy, can reincarnate for so many times… until it reaches its aim.' And since Voldemort couldn't reach his aim (immortality and rule of the whole world) in his former life, he just had to reincarnate.
Romina: my illustration will be linked into chapter ten of The Devil's Dilemma, but not on ffnet, since you can't link here, but on w w w. schnoogle. com. Don't worry, Ginny isn't going to lose her baby now :)
Kamatazi Yumi: no, sorry, no voyeur frogs (thought it'd be rather funny;) You still like Norbert? Hm… weird.
heavenly182angel: no, Voldemort cannot come out of Norbert, and no, Lucius didn't sacrifice his youngest son for Voldemort. Norbert's not his son, after all… Yes, Norbert/Voldemort is definitely linked to Lucius 'burying' Tatyana. If you're clever, you can now find out how it was.
aprenticeofdobby: I'm glad I managed to surprise you :)
reviewer: many people have told me that I should write an own story and get it published. I'd like to, but not now. Later. I have to mature a bit to become a published author, refine my style and everything… and most important of all: make up an own story! That's the hardest part :)
Lady Schezar: yes, this baby will live :D
Kristen Michelle: don't worry, Gilda will never turn out to be evil. And Dan will only partially save the day. There are 31 chapters put together, so not much left. Did you think that the last chapter was the evilest thing I've ever written… hm… somehow I think that the ending of this one was perhaps even eviler. What do you think?
Rab: I thought that baptising an elf could be cute. *shrugs*
apple-pie: how Voldie got reborn will be explained in the next chapter. How he could get into the chamber? I believe now you have this answer… as for Tatyana, perhaps now you can find out how she was involved. Glad you liked Snape saying 'I love you' :)