A/N: Back with Chapter 17 yeah! Oh yeah! Go read the first three of my new story, "Family Issues". Quite interesting and the kind of fic I had always been searching for! Check it out!
Chapter 17: The Trouble with False Personages
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Well, if Harry thought he was going to have a quiet time back at the Manor, he surely thought wrong.
When they Flooed in via the Leaky Cauldron, there were houselves running everywhere, dusting, polishing, and generally cleaning everything in sight. Narcissa pulled one the elves off their path and demanded to know what was going on.
"Oh, Tinder is being so sorry, Mistress Malfoy!" chirped the little elf, "While you is gone with Master Draco and Mister Harry, we is receiving notice of unexpected guests! We is cleaning the house immediately and preparing food, Mistress!"
"That will be all, Tinder. Make sure to notify me immediately when the guests get here," said Narcissa offhandedly, and the little elf nodded fervently. Here, it turned its large eyes on the boys and asked,"Is Master Draco or Mister Harry needing anything?"
"No, thank you, Tinder," said Draco. "We're going upstairs to change into something nicer. Also notify us when the guests get here."
---------------------------------------
Each changed seperately in their own rooms, though when Harry walked into Draco's rooms, the blonde boy just stared at him in shock.
"Don't you know anything about the theory of matching, Harry?" choked out Draco. When Draco was done 20 minutes later, wearing a grey silk shirt, black silk pants, and an elegant black robe, he pulled Harry into his guest room and pulled out an outfit worthy of a high fashion wizarding store.
"Really, Draco, why so fancy?" called Harry from the bathroom where he was changing again.
Draco sighed and said,"We don't know who's coming, Harry. It could be Fudge or a Deatheater for all we know. Still, its good to look your best for a guest when they're unknown."
"Whatever you say," said Harry, walking out of the bathroom.
He was gorgeous. He was wearing one of his new spider silk shirts in black along with matching black spider silk slacks. Over his shoulders hung a magnificent dark crimson robe with onyx fastenings and a stream of the little stones running down the sides of it, standing out against the red of the robe very nicely.
"Damn, Harry, you just have to show me up, now don't you?" mock-pouted Draco, crossing his arms and grinning at Harry.
"You can thank Remus for this change in wardrobe," grinned Harry, but their conversation was cut short by Tinder running in at that moment, shivering all over.
"T-Tinder is-is here to t-tell you that the gu-guests is here," said the little thing, and it positively fled the room.
"Well," said Draco, putting on his haughty look which he had worn at school for 5 years,"I guess we better go down and greet them, Harry."
Harry nodded and fell into step beside Draco while they made the long descent down to the main floor.
When Harry and Draco entered the room, he was sure he was dreaming. First, Mrs. Malfoy was speaking quite cordially with Professor Snape, who gave a minute smirk in Harry's direction. That was the first problem with this situation. However, the next blew his mind.
Professor Cal sat whispering fervently to a certain Tom Riddle. Upon the boys entering the room, all members of this party looked up, Tom looking directly at Harry with his burning red eyes.
"Hello, Harry."
--------------------------------------------
"No need to explain yourself, child," said Tom, looking at the astounded boy in front of him. Draco had gone to sit next to his mother and was shifting his eyes between Riddle and the boy-who-hopefully-lives-after-this-encounter.
"What are you talking about?" choked Harry. "You have a need to be explaining yourself, Tom!"
Voldemort laughed his spinechilling laugh at this, the only sign of the man inside of the boy's body. "Well, I was going to spent the holidays with the Malfoy's because of Dumbledore's spies reporting back information of my hideaways and such. I figured it would be much harder for them to track me, however, if I arrived here mostly Muggle-style and in Muggle dress."
At this, he gestured at what he was wearing. The boy was wearing a simple black turtleneck which added greatly to his thin face and features and short black hair, falling in soft, loose waves around his face. A semi loose pair of khakis clung to his thin hips and accented his long legs. This was the Tom Riddle of 50 years ago, still a lithe and goodlooking young man.
"How did you turn back your looks?" asked Harry, touching Tom's cheek as though to test if it were real. The other guests except Cal all seemed shocked that Harry had actually touched the Dark Lord without his permission and was still alive right now!
"It's quite a simple little Glamour charm, Harry, but also a little known one. It allows the user to change his or her looks back to whatever time period they wish in their lives," chortled Tom. "Well, Harry, I must say right now that you have produced a wave of anger and anxiousness around the Hogwarts grounds. Cal tells me that they took away all your means of escape except your concealed bag of Floo powder from young Malfoy here. This incident only proves that Dumbledore is losing his touch if he can't even remember to shut off the Floo network to your fireplace!"
"But wait!" exclaimed Harry, who was now pointing at the strangely emotionless Cal,"Why is Professor Cal even here?! Is he a Deatheater? Is he?" He turned fiery eyes on Cal,"Are you?"
At this the large grandfather clock struck the time, and as Cal spoke, his features were changing. "Yes, Harry, the original Chaos Achilles Lantica was a Deatheater 18 years ago. His ancestor, however, has been one for the last 35 years."
"Harry," said Tom, proud and haughty,"may I introduce to you Cicila Sachol."
-----------------------------------------------
Harry took in the lady sitting now where Professor Cal had been sitting just moments ago. She had very smooth, white skin as though carved from snow and ice, and her deep red hair had endless highlights which caught the light in an unnervingly beautiful way. The robes she had worn as a professor now hung looser on her slight frame. What caught Harry's attention, though, were her eyes which were a deep cobalt colour that were filled with a fierce and ancient sheen.
"Wait a minute," said Draco, interrupting the silence which had permeated the room with this revelation. "Isn't Cicila Sachol the one who turned Harry's mother?"
Harry turned surprised eyes on Draco and looked back at the young woman sitting in front of his standing frame. This was the one that indirectly made him this. This figure that wasn't quite human and not quite vampire.
"I must tell you, Harry," began Cicila in her rich voice, standing to meet Harry in the eyes,"no one expected you to be conceived. After all, vampires cannot procreate. It only happened because you were conceived that night while your mother was still transforming, allowing your genes to be infused with most of her vampiric ones." She stroked his cheek with an icy hand. "A child like you has never been born, a child of the light and the dark."
Harry stumbled into a chair next to Draco and looked between two figures that had changed his life before he could even remember being alive. He looked up at Cicila and asked," Who are you, really?"
She took on an air of power and stated," I am Cicila Sachol, daughter of Salazar Slytherin, the founder of Slytherin house, and Phoenix Sachol, daughter of Godric Gryffindor and Rowena Ravenclaw, founders of the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw houses, respectably. I have watched the eras of the world pass for just under 1000 years."
"What about Professor Cal?"
"The true Chaos Achilles Lantica did go to school with your parents and did become a Deatheater in the end. However, what many people don't know was that he was an illegitimate child of Lord Voldemort's."
Everyone's eyes turned in shock to the still figure of Tom Riddle, who turned to look at them. "It's true, what my ancestor says. However, he died in one of the last battles at the hands of James Potter which almost knows about. I informed Cicila of the news, as she had already revealed herself and her coven to me, and she came up with the plan. James would face the most heartbreaking betrayal in the form of his wife. Unfortunately, it didn't work.
Then came the prophesy. The rest you already know. You still remember last year, Harry. My desperation in listening to the prophesy."
Harry said in a bitter voice,"Yes, I do remember, and the prophesy didn't say anything more than what we already knew and know will evenutally happen. 'Neither can live while the other survives.'"
"Truly think on that saying and the prophesy, Harry. You will eventually reach a solution in your troubled mind," said Cicila, motioning to Severus who joined her at her side. She took a flask from her side and drank from the potion, her features once again becoming Voldemort's long lost son. She put back on the mask of Cal and said in his perky voice,"Well, we need to be going back to school. Severus needs to work on papers, and I need to get back to that Runespoor of mine. I'll be back for Yules. Don't open presents without me! Bye!"
And with that, they Disapparated for Hogsmeade, leaving Harry with Draco, Narcissa, and Tom.
--------------------------------------------------
The three days before Yules were spent for Harry in the constant company of his friend, and they did not rest from sun up to sun down, spending most of their time out on the snow-covered grounds of the manor. The last day before Yules, Harry and Draco built snow fortresses and ended up having a magnificent snow battle. Eventually, Tom came outside and sent conjured snowballs at each of them, and Harry and Draco joined forces against him. All three ended up walking in together, wet and cold, but laughing all the same. Tom really was nice when his Deatheaters weren't around and it was only the boys and Narcissa, and Harry and Draco were dreading going back to school when they'd lose their new friend.
The next day, Draco and Tom were to be found standing outside under a window to Harry's rooms. Snickering, Tom pulled out his wand, and as Draco egged him on, he opened up the window, and levitated a sleeping Harry in only a pair of boxers out of his third story room. Tom brought the sleeping boy through the air to a large pile of snow, and let him fall. Draco and Tom both fell over laughing as Harry appeared moments later, jumping out of the snow and chasing after them, teeth bared as he spit after them," I'm gonna kill you two for that!"
Draco shouted over his shoulder and said,"Sorry, but I want to open presents!" and Tom added as they ended up in the main living room,"Happy Yules, Harry!"
After Harry went back upstairs to change and came back down again, he sat next to Draco as Narcissa, Cicila, and Tom talked goodnaturedly.
Draco got presents from Harry, Hermione, his various friends through Slytherin, his mother, and Tom. Harry got a his normal package from Mrs.Weasley with a note that voiced wanting to see him soon, a rare Dark Arts tome containing many powerful curses from Draco, and a box of chocolate dragon eggs from Hermione. Lupin's present contained a note which Harry read first.
Dear Harry,
Happy Yules! While I had hoped to see you at school during the break, I know you're spending time with friends. The whole school is in anarchy about your secret and disappearance. It's rather funny seeing McGonagall as disheveled and out of order as the time our friends Snape and Cal filled her entire room with snakes. Quite amusing prank it was. Sad we didn't think it up.
Anyway, here's your present. See if you can spot the fact from the fiction. These books only seem fitting and I remember how much I loved reading them. Hope to see you soon!
Lupin
Harry laughed as he saw the most recent set of Anne Rice's books setting in his lap.
"Well, Harry," said Tom, standing up and motioning Harry to follow him as he headed outside," It's time for me to give you my present." He gave Harry a small whistle made of ebony. Harry held it up to his lips and blew into the tiny instrument, making an enchanting and unearthly sound come out of it. Then, out of the morning mist, something came up to him and nuzzled his hand.
At first Harry thought he was seeing a thestral. The creature had a skeleton body with long legs and neck, and the bones were covered in a warm, short black hair that felt as though it was made of down feathers. Its ice blue mane felt as though made of water as did its long tail of the same colour.
However, this creature was not a thestral in the sense Harry knew one. While the dragonish face still had its wide, unblinking eyes, they were not the customary white but the same ice blue as the mane and tail. The creature had no wings at all, instead having a slightly upward curving horn on its head, a deep sea blue and rather like a unicorn's.
"Do you like it?" asked Tom, peering happily at Harry as he ran his hand down the creature's lovely horn.
"What is it?"
Tom laughed. "Cicila and I had been working on this creature as a project even before my downfall, and we finally managed it during your fifth year. She is the first successful hybrid cross between a thestral and a unicorn. She still carries the thestral's ability to navigate and fly, even if it has no wings. The unciorn's natural magic allows it to be so, and it allows the owner to be able to ride or harness the animal like you would a normal horse. We wanted you to have the first."
Harry stuttered his thanks to both Tom and Cicila, and he and Draco spent all day admiring this awe inspiring creature.
"What are you going to call her?" asked Draco, as the creature ran along in the pastures with the horses.
"I believe I'll call her Morgan."
------------------------------------------
A/N: So what did you think? Cicila has revealed herself and so has Tom's fun side. Don't you love Morgan? She came to me in a dream, just a quick flash. In case you're wondering about the name, Morgan is the Celtic Goddess of Water and Magick. Get it? Morgan's mane and tail feel as though made of water?
Read my other story! Just a little reminder!
Next chapter coming soon! Review review review!
Chapter 17: The Trouble with False Personages
--------------------------------------
Well, if Harry thought he was going to have a quiet time back at the Manor, he surely thought wrong.
When they Flooed in via the Leaky Cauldron, there were houselves running everywhere, dusting, polishing, and generally cleaning everything in sight. Narcissa pulled one the elves off their path and demanded to know what was going on.
"Oh, Tinder is being so sorry, Mistress Malfoy!" chirped the little elf, "While you is gone with Master Draco and Mister Harry, we is receiving notice of unexpected guests! We is cleaning the house immediately and preparing food, Mistress!"
"That will be all, Tinder. Make sure to notify me immediately when the guests get here," said Narcissa offhandedly, and the little elf nodded fervently. Here, it turned its large eyes on the boys and asked,"Is Master Draco or Mister Harry needing anything?"
"No, thank you, Tinder," said Draco. "We're going upstairs to change into something nicer. Also notify us when the guests get here."
---------------------------------------
Each changed seperately in their own rooms, though when Harry walked into Draco's rooms, the blonde boy just stared at him in shock.
"Don't you know anything about the theory of matching, Harry?" choked out Draco. When Draco was done 20 minutes later, wearing a grey silk shirt, black silk pants, and an elegant black robe, he pulled Harry into his guest room and pulled out an outfit worthy of a high fashion wizarding store.
"Really, Draco, why so fancy?" called Harry from the bathroom where he was changing again.
Draco sighed and said,"We don't know who's coming, Harry. It could be Fudge or a Deatheater for all we know. Still, its good to look your best for a guest when they're unknown."
"Whatever you say," said Harry, walking out of the bathroom.
He was gorgeous. He was wearing one of his new spider silk shirts in black along with matching black spider silk slacks. Over his shoulders hung a magnificent dark crimson robe with onyx fastenings and a stream of the little stones running down the sides of it, standing out against the red of the robe very nicely.
"Damn, Harry, you just have to show me up, now don't you?" mock-pouted Draco, crossing his arms and grinning at Harry.
"You can thank Remus for this change in wardrobe," grinned Harry, but their conversation was cut short by Tinder running in at that moment, shivering all over.
"T-Tinder is-is here to t-tell you that the gu-guests is here," said the little thing, and it positively fled the room.
"Well," said Draco, putting on his haughty look which he had worn at school for 5 years,"I guess we better go down and greet them, Harry."
Harry nodded and fell into step beside Draco while they made the long descent down to the main floor.
When Harry and Draco entered the room, he was sure he was dreaming. First, Mrs. Malfoy was speaking quite cordially with Professor Snape, who gave a minute smirk in Harry's direction. That was the first problem with this situation. However, the next blew his mind.
Professor Cal sat whispering fervently to a certain Tom Riddle. Upon the boys entering the room, all members of this party looked up, Tom looking directly at Harry with his burning red eyes.
"Hello, Harry."
--------------------------------------------
"No need to explain yourself, child," said Tom, looking at the astounded boy in front of him. Draco had gone to sit next to his mother and was shifting his eyes between Riddle and the boy-who-hopefully-lives-after-this-encounter.
"What are you talking about?" choked Harry. "You have a need to be explaining yourself, Tom!"
Voldemort laughed his spinechilling laugh at this, the only sign of the man inside of the boy's body. "Well, I was going to spent the holidays with the Malfoy's because of Dumbledore's spies reporting back information of my hideaways and such. I figured it would be much harder for them to track me, however, if I arrived here mostly Muggle-style and in Muggle dress."
At this, he gestured at what he was wearing. The boy was wearing a simple black turtleneck which added greatly to his thin face and features and short black hair, falling in soft, loose waves around his face. A semi loose pair of khakis clung to his thin hips and accented his long legs. This was the Tom Riddle of 50 years ago, still a lithe and goodlooking young man.
"How did you turn back your looks?" asked Harry, touching Tom's cheek as though to test if it were real. The other guests except Cal all seemed shocked that Harry had actually touched the Dark Lord without his permission and was still alive right now!
"It's quite a simple little Glamour charm, Harry, but also a little known one. It allows the user to change his or her looks back to whatever time period they wish in their lives," chortled Tom. "Well, Harry, I must say right now that you have produced a wave of anger and anxiousness around the Hogwarts grounds. Cal tells me that they took away all your means of escape except your concealed bag of Floo powder from young Malfoy here. This incident only proves that Dumbledore is losing his touch if he can't even remember to shut off the Floo network to your fireplace!"
"But wait!" exclaimed Harry, who was now pointing at the strangely emotionless Cal,"Why is Professor Cal even here?! Is he a Deatheater? Is he?" He turned fiery eyes on Cal,"Are you?"
At this the large grandfather clock struck the time, and as Cal spoke, his features were changing. "Yes, Harry, the original Chaos Achilles Lantica was a Deatheater 18 years ago. His ancestor, however, has been one for the last 35 years."
"Harry," said Tom, proud and haughty,"may I introduce to you Cicila Sachol."
-----------------------------------------------
Harry took in the lady sitting now where Professor Cal had been sitting just moments ago. She had very smooth, white skin as though carved from snow and ice, and her deep red hair had endless highlights which caught the light in an unnervingly beautiful way. The robes she had worn as a professor now hung looser on her slight frame. What caught Harry's attention, though, were her eyes which were a deep cobalt colour that were filled with a fierce and ancient sheen.
"Wait a minute," said Draco, interrupting the silence which had permeated the room with this revelation. "Isn't Cicila Sachol the one who turned Harry's mother?"
Harry turned surprised eyes on Draco and looked back at the young woman sitting in front of his standing frame. This was the one that indirectly made him this. This figure that wasn't quite human and not quite vampire.
"I must tell you, Harry," began Cicila in her rich voice, standing to meet Harry in the eyes,"no one expected you to be conceived. After all, vampires cannot procreate. It only happened because you were conceived that night while your mother was still transforming, allowing your genes to be infused with most of her vampiric ones." She stroked his cheek with an icy hand. "A child like you has never been born, a child of the light and the dark."
Harry stumbled into a chair next to Draco and looked between two figures that had changed his life before he could even remember being alive. He looked up at Cicila and asked," Who are you, really?"
She took on an air of power and stated," I am Cicila Sachol, daughter of Salazar Slytherin, the founder of Slytherin house, and Phoenix Sachol, daughter of Godric Gryffindor and Rowena Ravenclaw, founders of the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw houses, respectably. I have watched the eras of the world pass for just under 1000 years."
"What about Professor Cal?"
"The true Chaos Achilles Lantica did go to school with your parents and did become a Deatheater in the end. However, what many people don't know was that he was an illegitimate child of Lord Voldemort's."
Everyone's eyes turned in shock to the still figure of Tom Riddle, who turned to look at them. "It's true, what my ancestor says. However, he died in one of the last battles at the hands of James Potter which almost knows about. I informed Cicila of the news, as she had already revealed herself and her coven to me, and she came up with the plan. James would face the most heartbreaking betrayal in the form of his wife. Unfortunately, it didn't work.
Then came the prophesy. The rest you already know. You still remember last year, Harry. My desperation in listening to the prophesy."
Harry said in a bitter voice,"Yes, I do remember, and the prophesy didn't say anything more than what we already knew and know will evenutally happen. 'Neither can live while the other survives.'"
"Truly think on that saying and the prophesy, Harry. You will eventually reach a solution in your troubled mind," said Cicila, motioning to Severus who joined her at her side. She took a flask from her side and drank from the potion, her features once again becoming Voldemort's long lost son. She put back on the mask of Cal and said in his perky voice,"Well, we need to be going back to school. Severus needs to work on papers, and I need to get back to that Runespoor of mine. I'll be back for Yules. Don't open presents without me! Bye!"
And with that, they Disapparated for Hogsmeade, leaving Harry with Draco, Narcissa, and Tom.
--------------------------------------------------
The three days before Yules were spent for Harry in the constant company of his friend, and they did not rest from sun up to sun down, spending most of their time out on the snow-covered grounds of the manor. The last day before Yules, Harry and Draco built snow fortresses and ended up having a magnificent snow battle. Eventually, Tom came outside and sent conjured snowballs at each of them, and Harry and Draco joined forces against him. All three ended up walking in together, wet and cold, but laughing all the same. Tom really was nice when his Deatheaters weren't around and it was only the boys and Narcissa, and Harry and Draco were dreading going back to school when they'd lose their new friend.
The next day, Draco and Tom were to be found standing outside under a window to Harry's rooms. Snickering, Tom pulled out his wand, and as Draco egged him on, he opened up the window, and levitated a sleeping Harry in only a pair of boxers out of his third story room. Tom brought the sleeping boy through the air to a large pile of snow, and let him fall. Draco and Tom both fell over laughing as Harry appeared moments later, jumping out of the snow and chasing after them, teeth bared as he spit after them," I'm gonna kill you two for that!"
Draco shouted over his shoulder and said,"Sorry, but I want to open presents!" and Tom added as they ended up in the main living room,"Happy Yules, Harry!"
After Harry went back upstairs to change and came back down again, he sat next to Draco as Narcissa, Cicila, and Tom talked goodnaturedly.
Draco got presents from Harry, Hermione, his various friends through Slytherin, his mother, and Tom. Harry got a his normal package from Mrs.Weasley with a note that voiced wanting to see him soon, a rare Dark Arts tome containing many powerful curses from Draco, and a box of chocolate dragon eggs from Hermione. Lupin's present contained a note which Harry read first.
Dear Harry,
Happy Yules! While I had hoped to see you at school during the break, I know you're spending time with friends. The whole school is in anarchy about your secret and disappearance. It's rather funny seeing McGonagall as disheveled and out of order as the time our friends Snape and Cal filled her entire room with snakes. Quite amusing prank it was. Sad we didn't think it up.
Anyway, here's your present. See if you can spot the fact from the fiction. These books only seem fitting and I remember how much I loved reading them. Hope to see you soon!
Lupin
Harry laughed as he saw the most recent set of Anne Rice's books setting in his lap.
"Well, Harry," said Tom, standing up and motioning Harry to follow him as he headed outside," It's time for me to give you my present." He gave Harry a small whistle made of ebony. Harry held it up to his lips and blew into the tiny instrument, making an enchanting and unearthly sound come out of it. Then, out of the morning mist, something came up to him and nuzzled his hand.
At first Harry thought he was seeing a thestral. The creature had a skeleton body with long legs and neck, and the bones were covered in a warm, short black hair that felt as though it was made of down feathers. Its ice blue mane felt as though made of water as did its long tail of the same colour.
However, this creature was not a thestral in the sense Harry knew one. While the dragonish face still had its wide, unblinking eyes, they were not the customary white but the same ice blue as the mane and tail. The creature had no wings at all, instead having a slightly upward curving horn on its head, a deep sea blue and rather like a unicorn's.
"Do you like it?" asked Tom, peering happily at Harry as he ran his hand down the creature's lovely horn.
"What is it?"
Tom laughed. "Cicila and I had been working on this creature as a project even before my downfall, and we finally managed it during your fifth year. She is the first successful hybrid cross between a thestral and a unicorn. She still carries the thestral's ability to navigate and fly, even if it has no wings. The unciorn's natural magic allows it to be so, and it allows the owner to be able to ride or harness the animal like you would a normal horse. We wanted you to have the first."
Harry stuttered his thanks to both Tom and Cicila, and he and Draco spent all day admiring this awe inspiring creature.
"What are you going to call her?" asked Draco, as the creature ran along in the pastures with the horses.
"I believe I'll call her Morgan."
------------------------------------------
A/N: So what did you think? Cicila has revealed herself and so has Tom's fun side. Don't you love Morgan? She came to me in a dream, just a quick flash. In case you're wondering about the name, Morgan is the Celtic Goddess of Water and Magick. Get it? Morgan's mane and tail feel as though made of water?
Read my other story! Just a little reminder!
Next chapter coming soon! Review review review!