Chapter 8 ~ Advice and a Long Talk
"These words, what do they mean?" Maverick was looking at the parchment Muriel had brought to show him. She'd sneaked into the forest at dawn without Severus, since he hadn't seemed too keen to visit Maverick.
"I looked it up. Roughly translated, it means to make hurt late. What the curse does is to cause the person who speaks it a great deal of pain at midnight." She spoke quietly, her eyes on his. The fireplace crackled merrily behind her, but she didn't feel merry at all. She sipped her tea. "Madam Pomfrey said that it would have happened every night for the rest of my life until Professor Dumbledore found the right counter curse." She shuddered. It wasn't exactly the Cruciatus Curse, but it hadn't been pleasant either.
The young man had trimmed his red-streaked brown hair until it was above his ears and eyes, and Muriel decided she liked it better, even if it did remind her a little of Remus. She had thought that at least HE had some common decency. But each of the boys had sent a letter, so she knew he'd been involved.
"You're something of an empath, aren't you?" Maverick asked suddenly, setting down the paper. He had suddenly felt a wave of anger that he was pretty sure wasn't his own.
Muriel sighed. "I'm a natural Legilimens. I can usually tell what people are thinking and feeling if I'm in the room with them." She felt his mind close slightly and smirked a bit before continuing. "And if I'm feeling a strong emotion, just about anyone near me can feel it too. It's really amazing that more people haven't caught on by now." She smiled at him properly.
"The really neat part is that I can cast the Legilimens curse from a distance. I could read Severus' mind right now, even though he's all the way back at the castle." Maverick was looking at her in surprise. So far as he knew, no one could do that.
"On the record, it hasn't ever been done before," she added. She could catch the gist of his thoughts even as he tried to keep her out. He obviously hadn't practiced Occlumency.
"But that's not what I came to talk about. I've spent the last few months trying to decide how I'm going to get back at them. I'm looking for something that will make sure they never DARE to do that again."
Maverick smiled, wondering what she could possibly hope he would provide her with. He didn't have long to wait before she explained.
"I want to know how you did that illusion with the werewolves. I know at least one of them is deathly afraid of them, and they all will be, when they think they've forgotten which day is the full moon."
If Maverick caught the implication, he didn't let on. "So you want to scare them?" he said quietly. He thought it strange that the girl had been through a curse as powerful as the one on the parchment and all she wanted to do was scare the people responsible.
Her face took on a rather grim look. "I borrowed one of the Arithmancy books from the restricted section and came up with the perfect spell to get back at them. It's a combination of a tongue swallowing spell, and a transfiguration spell that turns a tongue into flesh eating maggots." She noticed the look of horror on his face and changed her tone when she continued. "But I really don't want to end up in Azkaban for killing them, so I'll settle for scaring them instead," she finished lightly.
As she'd sat in the library each evening since February, she had come to the conclusion that the marauders had really felt bad about what happened. She was angry, but nothing like she'd been that night. Mostly, she just wanted things to go back to the way they had been, and she was sure that they were just waiting for another prank from her before everything went back to normal.
But it had to be something good. Something that would set the new upward boundary high enough to keep things interesting, but low enough that no one would get hurt anymore.
Maverick was still smiling. One minute the little girl in front of him was furious, and the next minute she thought something was funny. She obviously couldn't make up her mind how she felt about the situation. He felt obliged to try and guide her, even though he wasn't very good with kids. She was, after all, the only company he'd had for quite some time, and he'd never had a little sister.
"I don't think you should use werewolves," he said knowingly. She looked disappointed, but nodded.
"You're right, that would be too close to home for them. I'm crossing a different kind of line there." She didn't want to cause them, in this case specifically Remus and Sirius, enough emotional trauma that everything would stay tense.
Maverick talked her out of bothering the marauders again this year. He was certain that everything would go back to normal after the summer. Or at least he was sure that she would be level headed enough by then to come up with pranks that were truly harmless. He had a feeling that maybe she didn't hate those boys as much as she pretended. Much like his pretty unicorn, who'd spurned him and saved his life in the same day, only to spurn him again. He was starting to think that girls and unicorns weren't that very different.
"These words, what do they mean?" Maverick was looking at the parchment Muriel had brought to show him. She'd sneaked into the forest at dawn without Severus, since he hadn't seemed too keen to visit Maverick.
"I looked it up. Roughly translated, it means to make hurt late. What the curse does is to cause the person who speaks it a great deal of pain at midnight." She spoke quietly, her eyes on his. The fireplace crackled merrily behind her, but she didn't feel merry at all. She sipped her tea. "Madam Pomfrey said that it would have happened every night for the rest of my life until Professor Dumbledore found the right counter curse." She shuddered. It wasn't exactly the Cruciatus Curse, but it hadn't been pleasant either.
The young man had trimmed his red-streaked brown hair until it was above his ears and eyes, and Muriel decided she liked it better, even if it did remind her a little of Remus. She had thought that at least HE had some common decency. But each of the boys had sent a letter, so she knew he'd been involved.
"You're something of an empath, aren't you?" Maverick asked suddenly, setting down the paper. He had suddenly felt a wave of anger that he was pretty sure wasn't his own.
Muriel sighed. "I'm a natural Legilimens. I can usually tell what people are thinking and feeling if I'm in the room with them." She felt his mind close slightly and smirked a bit before continuing. "And if I'm feeling a strong emotion, just about anyone near me can feel it too. It's really amazing that more people haven't caught on by now." She smiled at him properly.
"The really neat part is that I can cast the Legilimens curse from a distance. I could read Severus' mind right now, even though he's all the way back at the castle." Maverick was looking at her in surprise. So far as he knew, no one could do that.
"On the record, it hasn't ever been done before," she added. She could catch the gist of his thoughts even as he tried to keep her out. He obviously hadn't practiced Occlumency.
"But that's not what I came to talk about. I've spent the last few months trying to decide how I'm going to get back at them. I'm looking for something that will make sure they never DARE to do that again."
Maverick smiled, wondering what she could possibly hope he would provide her with. He didn't have long to wait before she explained.
"I want to know how you did that illusion with the werewolves. I know at least one of them is deathly afraid of them, and they all will be, when they think they've forgotten which day is the full moon."
If Maverick caught the implication, he didn't let on. "So you want to scare them?" he said quietly. He thought it strange that the girl had been through a curse as powerful as the one on the parchment and all she wanted to do was scare the people responsible.
Her face took on a rather grim look. "I borrowed one of the Arithmancy books from the restricted section and came up with the perfect spell to get back at them. It's a combination of a tongue swallowing spell, and a transfiguration spell that turns a tongue into flesh eating maggots." She noticed the look of horror on his face and changed her tone when she continued. "But I really don't want to end up in Azkaban for killing them, so I'll settle for scaring them instead," she finished lightly.
As she'd sat in the library each evening since February, she had come to the conclusion that the marauders had really felt bad about what happened. She was angry, but nothing like she'd been that night. Mostly, she just wanted things to go back to the way they had been, and she was sure that they were just waiting for another prank from her before everything went back to normal.
But it had to be something good. Something that would set the new upward boundary high enough to keep things interesting, but low enough that no one would get hurt anymore.
Maverick was still smiling. One minute the little girl in front of him was furious, and the next minute she thought something was funny. She obviously couldn't make up her mind how she felt about the situation. He felt obliged to try and guide her, even though he wasn't very good with kids. She was, after all, the only company he'd had for quite some time, and he'd never had a little sister.
"I don't think you should use werewolves," he said knowingly. She looked disappointed, but nodded.
"You're right, that would be too close to home for them. I'm crossing a different kind of line there." She didn't want to cause them, in this case specifically Remus and Sirius, enough emotional trauma that everything would stay tense.
Maverick talked her out of bothering the marauders again this year. He was certain that everything would go back to normal after the summer. Or at least he was sure that she would be level headed enough by then to come up with pranks that were truly harmless. He had a feeling that maybe she didn't hate those boys as much as she pretended. Much like his pretty unicorn, who'd spurned him and saved his life in the same day, only to spurn him again. He was starting to think that girls and unicorns weren't that very different.