Night of the Broken Glass, Revisited
C3: Pieces of Will
[Disclaimer: J.K. Rowing owns the original work. I own whatever I write/create. Don't steal and don't sue.]
"Good morning," a timid voice said. Kendra and Rima looked up from their breakfast to see the boy, Virgil Riddle, standing on the other side of the table. He gave them a nervous smile, sitting down opposite Kendra. Rima gave him a sharp glare, but said nothing. Kendra, however, waved at him with a piece of toast in her mouth.
"The professor with gray hair already came by and passed out schedules," he murmured nervously. "She asked me to make sure you two got yours when you came down for breakfast. Here." He handed them their respective schedules. Kendra mumbled a barely coherent "thank you" around her toast, reading over the schedule. Rima grimaced at one of the subjects.
"Why on earth do we have Potions with the Slytherins?" she questioned no one in particular. "It'd be obvious to someone with no eyes that Snape would do anything to help Slytherin and demean Gryffindor." Kendra finished her toast and looked up to the High Table. Working only off her minor memory of Ron Weasley's unflattering description, she looked at the teachers around the table for a "greasy git."
She recognized the man sitting next to Dante from the previous night. He still wore the unpleasant expression from last night, and he did indeed seem a tad greasy. His dark hair was beginning to lighten with age, but his eyes were clear and sharp. He frowned around the room; first at Seal, who had fallen asleep on Dante's right; then at Dante, who was smiling and playing with Seal's hair and not paying much attention to the irritated man on his left. His gaze traveled across the students, lightening only briefly on the Slytherin table.
"Charms first," Rima murmured, tapping Kendra on the shoulder. "Come on. Fifth floor." Kendra nodded and stood with her friend. Virgil hurried after them, still a bit nervous, but smiling at the silent acceptance Kendra gave him. None of them gave the teachers a second glance.
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Classes were a mixture of everything possible in a class; they ran the whole gamut of emotions. The female Weasley of the school taught Charms. She smiled at Kendra when she called the roll, but did not overly show her partiality for the girl.
Professors Longbottom, Binns, and Gehrn taught Herbology, History of Magic, and Astronomy respectively. Professor Binns, of course, took no notice when he called Kendra's name. He took no notice when he died, so why would he notice a supposedly dead girl attending his class? Professor Gehrn only paused a moment before continuing on the roll. He seemed far more interested in the stars above than the world under his feet.
Professor Longbottom, a round-faced man with a bright smile, froze from head to toe when he saw Kendra's name. He looked up at her, blinking in shock.
"Dad!" a girl with the same brown hair and round face hissed, jabbing the man in the side. The professor jumped in surprise, but ceased his staring and got on with his lesson. Later on, the girl sidled over to where Kendra, Rima, and Virgil stood.
"Sorry," she muttered. "My dad—" She pointed at the professor. "—knew your dad, Kendra. He talks a lot about how your parents saved the day. Listen, I'm sorry about how my dad just acted." Kendra gave her a fairly blank look, blinking a few times in confusion.
"Oh, that!" she said suddenly. "Everyone's been giving me those kind of looks and telling me about how great my parents were. I'm getting a little used to it, really. Don't worry so much." The girl gave her a faintly sad look, but Kendra did not pick up on it as the bell toned.
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Later that day, just before lunch, Rima, Kendra, and Virgil walked into the Potions dungeon for class. The three sat at two tables, Kendra and Rima to one and Virgil alone at the other. Kendra grumbled and put her head onto the table.
"I'm hungry," she moaned. "Remind me never to eat just toast at breakfast again." Rima chuckled and patted the other girl on the head. The door creaked opened and the three sat at attention. It was not Snape that entered, however. The white-blond girl with the name of Malfoy walked in, followed by a boy with lank black hair and ice chips for eyes.
"Oh, it's the new Potter and the usual entourage," the girl murmured. "My name is Delilah Malfoy. This is Lex Talionis. Good to meet you, Potter." She gave Kendra a sharp look as Talionis extended his hand to her. Kendra did not reciprocate. Talionis lowered his hand, his eyes as cold as they looked.
"Would you like to know why your parents were killed?" Malfoy said in slow, mocking voice. "They mixed with the wrong kind of people. Mudbloods, werewolves, vampires, giants, and the lowliest of magical creatures. You might want to keep yourself clean from things like shapeshifters." She gave Rima a sneer, her dark blue eyes gazing disparagingly at the large scar and the barely visible patch over her eye. Rima nearly stood up, her lip twitching in a growing scowl. Kendra turned in her chair, watching Malfoy and Talionis with a placid expression.
"I'm not sure what you mean by mudblood," Kendra murmured, "but I'm sure it's a bad thing. Now, when you say werewolves and vampires and giants, do you happen to mean professors Seal, Ascarte, and Hagrid? I'm hoping you don't mean them, because they just happen to be my friends and family. And if you're trying to make me like you, maybe you shouldn't insult my best friend by calling her a thing." Rima smiled at Kendra's words, but Talionis and Malfoy scowled.
"Just as bad as your parents, I see," Malfoy snapped. Before any of them could make a move, the door opened and other students began to flood in. A few minutes later, when the bell chimed, the door burst open again. Professor Snape swept in, his black eyes passing over the class.
"Settle down," he murmured unnecessarily. "You are here to learn the exquisite art of potion-making. You will not be learning how to make loud noises and foul smoke, so some of you may not be very interested. Now, for roll and to see which of you decided it was worth your hides to skip my class." He made his way down the list and paused for a very long time at Kendra's name. He looked up at her, malice in his eyes.
"What is the purpose of a bezoar, Potter?" Snape asked sharply. "And where would I find it?" Kendra blinked, but mentally searched through what she had read before term had started.
"It's a stone from a goat's stomach," she said softly, carefully as she checked and rechecked the facts in her mind. "It saves you from certain poisons, if I recall correctly, sir." Snape raised a brow at her, as if surprised at her knowledge and the lack of overconfidence in her voice.
"Correct," he murmured in return. "And can you tell me the main ingredients for a powerful sleeping potion known as the Draught of Living Death?" Kendra nodded slowly, thinking about what he had asked.
"Powdered root of asphodel…add it to an infusion of wormwood," she answered. "I think that's what it is, sir." Snape paused, but did not have any reason to demean the girl—on her knowledge in any case.
"Correct," he said again. "I see that you decided to open a book before you came to my class—unlike your father. It's a rare pleasure to see a Potter that knows what they're doing." Kendra made no move in return to his words. In fact, she didn't even try to dispute him. She blinked at him calmly, unfazed by his sharp tongue. So, the class continued on with little strife.
"I'm impressed," Rima chuckled when the three got to the Great Hall for lunch. "I didn't think you'd stay calm when he insulted your father." Kendra did not respond until she pulled a plate of sandwiches towards her.
"Why?" she questioned. "I know that my parents were good people, but I never knew them. I can't really get mad at Professor Snape for his opinion of my parents." Rima let it drop as Kendra dove into the sandwiches, watching her friend with a faint smile.
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The Gryffindor first years scurried to the third floor when the bell toned. They had heard—through siblings' stories or hurried whispers in the halls—that the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was the first person to teach the subject for more than one year in twenty years. In fact, he had been teaching for a good ten years and running. Some students joked that Professor Ascarte's personal curse overshadowed the "curse" that was on the position.
"As many of you already know," he said to begin the class, "I happen to be a vampire. Before you ask, I'm going to be three hundred and twenty-three this coming April." A few hands went down whilst laughter filled the classroom. "What I'm going to try and teach you in your years here is that many people have misconceptions about what is called good or evil. For instance, many people think that werewolves and vampires are evil creatures and should be destroyed. However, because Professor Dumbledore has not received word that Professor Seal or myself have bitten students, I have to disagree."
For homework, he told them to find three creatures or people that could honestly be called evil and dangerous at all times, name them, and describe why they were evil. He sent them off to Transfiguration when the bell toned. Eager to ask Seal about why Dante had mentioned her, the first years hurried into the classroom. The room, however, was empty when they arrived.
"But we just passed a bunch of Ravenclaw students on our way in," Marshall Williams murmured ruefully. Kendra looked around the room, a smile growing on her face. After a moment, she walked to the front of the room and looked in front of the desks. When she burst out laughing, the other Gryffindors quickly went up and looked down. Seal was curled on the floor, fast asleep. She sprang awake at the students' collective laughter.
The class itself was quite interesting. For a show, Seal explained the complexity of Transfiguration and turned an empty chair into a Chihuahua. A moment later, a large gray wolf was chasing the terrified yipping dog around the room. After a time, Seal turned back to a human and changed the still running dog back to a chair. It skidded with its momentum, but stopped shortly. Many notes later, Seal set them with the most common and simple task in Transfiguration—a match into a needle.
Four people managed to light their matches amidst gales of laughter. Just before the class ended, Seal walked about to check on their progress. She flicked her wand at the burnt matches and scorch marks, clearing them as she went. As she reached the table where Kendra and Rima sat, she paused.
"Still a tad thick for a needle, but all metal with a point," she said, picking up Kendra's match-needle. "And a needle worthy of a robe shop. Nicely done you two. Five points to Gryffindor." Kendra grinned at Rima, who returned it with an encouraging smile.
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"Nicely done?" Virgil questioned, his tone jealous. "How did you two turn your matches into needles? I set mine on fire!" Kendra couldn't help it—she let out a sharp snort of laughter. Virgil blushed in embarrassment as they made their way to the east tower. The last class was a recently added one. After Voldemort's return and Anton's rising, the Ministry of Magic realized that without some training, the magic students learned would be ineffective in the real world. Thusly, the Dueling class was formed, for lack of a better name. A man with short, dirty blond hair and peculiar red eyes greeted them. There were no desks in the classroom.
"I'm Professor Arcanorum," he said in a stern voice. "For today's lesson, I will teach you the most simple spell in a wizard's duel: the Disarming Spell. Potter! Come here." Kendra paused, but walked to stand opposite the teacher. "Potter will show us what happens when you're hit with this spell. Expelliarmus!" The result was quite surprising to Kendra. She not only lost her wand, she was lifted off her feet and thrown a good six feet through the air.
By the time that Rima had gotten to her and pulled her to her feet, Arcanorum had directed the class to separate into pairs and practice the spell. He did not bother to see if Kendra was uninjured. Rima glared at his back as he walked around the room.
"I don't like him," she said quite plainly when they left the classroom and headed back towards the Great Hall for dinner. "Why did he single you out like that?" Kendra shrugged, still rubbing at the middle of her chest, wincing slightly.
"Remind me not to get on his bad side," she grumbled. The three sat down, Kendra and Rima next to each other and Virgil opposite from them.
"I think you're permanently on his bad side," Virgil murmured in a shocked tone. "Are you hurt?" Kendra shook her head, but still winced and rubbed her chest.
"No, but I think I'm going to be really sore in the morning," she said, trying to chuckle a bit. Virgil gave her a small smile, but Rima frowned, her gaze fixed up at the enchanted, starry ceiling. She did not eat anything, merely staring up at the ceiling with a hard, contemplative look. In fact, she only said a short parting for the night and vanished up into dormitory. However, when Kendra followed after finishing Dante's assignment, Rima was not in her bed.
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On the next Monday morning, the students' spirits were lifted, especially Kendra's. Not only did she not have Dueling that day, the common room's bulletin board made all the first years cheer. Flying lesson would start that very day after lunch. Rima, on the other hand, blanched, a tic developing near her remaining eye. Her pallor and twitch continued through Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, all the way through lunch, and even as they made their way onto the sloping field.
"Why are you acting so weird?" Kendra questioned.
"I hate flying," Rima grumbled. "I always have. I'm not good at it unless I've turned into something that's able to fly—I hate broomsticks. The last thing I want to do today is screw up in front of Malfoy and Talionis. No one seemed to notice, but we're doing this with the Slytherins." As she spoke, the Slytherin first years made their way to match pace with the Gryffindors. Mutinous muttering rose up from both houses as they continued on. Delilah Malfoy and Lex Talionis gave Kendra, Rima, and Virgil nasty smiles. Professor Ron Weasley was waiting for them, standing amidst rows of brooms.
"Right!" he called. "Slytherins on this side, Gryffindors on the other! No horsing around, is that understood?" The student grumbled their assent, fixing their rival housemates with glares. "Good! Now put your wand hand over your broom and say 'up'!" He winked at Kendra, who smiled back. Rima had turned her back on the brooms, steadfastly staring towards the castle. As Ron walked up and down the row, correcting grips and giving advice, the sound of wood striking a skull rang out. Garrett Ansolo had struck Alison Longbottom on the head with his broom. Alison slumped over, much to the Slytherins' amusement.
"Thirty points from Slytherin and a week of detention!" Ron snapped, rushing over and wrenching the broom from the boy's hands. "Come with me!" He conjured a stretcher and lifted Alicia onto his, pulling the boy along by the wrist as he left. As he went, he shouted, "Touch those brooms and you'll never see a Quidditch match!" The Slytherins shrieked with laughter again.
"You have to wonder about that girl," Delilah Malfoy said with a smirk. "With her wretch of a father, you think she'd have a bit harder of a head. You never know—she might get a scar and we'll have a new blood traitor to worship, eh, Potter?" Kendra made no response, not moving from watching a few owls fly over the Forbidden Forest. Malfoy sneered and shared a glance with Talionis.
"Fine," she murmured. "Expelliarmus!" Kendra whirled, tensing in expectation of the spell. However, it did not hit her. Talionis and Malfoy had cried out in unison, but had aimed at Rima. Rima turned only in time to see the red spells flying at her. She was blasted off her feet and flew ten feet, landing hard and rolling over and over for three more feet. Talionis ran full pelt at her, even though she was on her feet and drawing her wand by the time he reached her.
Talionis slammed his shoulder into Rima's chest, reaching up and grabbing the patch over her eye. As Rima was knocked backwards, the patch snapped and came away in Talionis' hand. Despite all of this, Rima lifted her wand and began to shout the Disarming spell, but Malfoy beat her to it. Rima was thrown off her feet again, her wand flying from her hand. She hit the ground again, but Kendra had finally caught up and knelt down to her friend.
"What do you need this for, shapeshifter?" Talionis questioned, sneering and swinging the patch from its broken strap. "I thought shapeshifters could heal themselves without even trying. Maybe you're not really a shapeshifter—just a fool who got on the wrong side of a spell. Or maybe you got on someone's bad side—someone like You-Know-Who. Pathetic, really." Kendra bit back the urge to glare at Talionis. Rima's hand was trembling. She steeled herself and stood up, a smirk suddenly appearing on her face.
In a blur, she had flipped back onto her feet, grabbing her wand as she went. Malfoy again shouted the Disarming spell, but Rima dodged easily and shouted her own spell. As her patch flew up into the air, Malfoy and Kendra both ran towards it to catch it before the other. A gray streak cut through the air and between the girls' hands. It landed on the ground with almost no sound, turning about and looking up at the gathered students. The wolf blinked once at them and turned into Seal. She gave Malfoy and Talionis a hard look before tossing Rima her patch.
"Twenty points from Slytherin," she murmured in a cold voice. "The next time you feel like harassing someone, don't. Kendra, could you come with me? The rest of you are dismissed." Kendra paused for only a moment before walking away with the teacher. Rima watched her go before looking at the patch in her hand. She threw it away in disgust.
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"Am I in trouble?" Kendra inquired as they walked into the castle. Seal shook her head with a faint smile.
"No," she chuckled. "I wanted to tell you that Professor Dumbledore has decided to let you on the Gryffindor team, despite a few of his worries."
"Worries?" the girl asked. "Professor Weasley said that Quidditch is dangerous, but no one ever really gets that hurt. Why would Professor Dumbledore be worried?" Seal frowned, her gold eyes glazing over.
"Things are very difficult now," she murmured. "Professor Dumbledore is very, very old. He doesn't have a lot of time in the world left. He worries for the future of Hogwarts and the magic world because of Anton. He especially worries about you." Kendra nodded, remembering the first time she had met Dumbledore. She had been wandering about, utterly lost in one of the lower dungeons.
Dumbledore had found her and led her back up to the entrance hall. He spoke with her as they walked, reminiscing about his occasional losing himself in the massive, ever-changing castle. They had parted in the entrance hall with traded smiles, a soft pat on the head for Kendra, and a reminder to be careful when searching the school.
"He remembers how much trouble your father got in with his Quidditch playing and he doesn't want you to get hurt," Seal continued. "Granted though, we won't ever employ a dolt like Lockhart or a nutter like Umbridge. Still, he wants you to be careful. Oh, and Ron told me to remind you that you're supposed to head down to the Quidditch pitch after dinner tonight. Something about meeting the team or something like that." The bell toned, and Seal smiled brightly at her.
"Don't forget to go down there right after dinner," she said. "Be careful around those Bludgers, eh? I don't want to have to drag you up to the hospital ward." Kendra nodded and Seal smiled again, patting the girl on the head. "Good girl. If I can stay awake, I'll come down and watch you." Kendra nodded again with her own smile, and the two parted ways.
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"I thought you didn't like flying," Virgil said teasingly. Rima gave him a hard glare and he stepped away from her, lifting his hands in submission. Kendra stood on Rima's other side, her broom on her shoulder, and a growing smile on her face. Erika and Lisa Weasley stood at the portrait hole, waiting for Kendra to follow them down to the Quidditch pitch.
"I don't," Rima snarled. "That doesn't mean I'm not going to support Kendra when she flies. Now shut up." Virgil, however, had already fallen silent. He was staying in the common room to finish his homework, but Rima was going to accompany Kendra to the pitch. The two first years followed Erika and Lisa out to the pitch, and Rima remained at the edge of the pitch while Kendra went on ahead with Erika and Lisa.
"Kendra, this is the Gryffindor team," Lisa said with a smirk. "First there's our captain, Kadin Ward. Her and us two are the three Chasers. Then it's Catherine Gray and Jason Tyron—those two—for our Beaters. Finally, Ward chose our Keeper a few nights ago. His name is Stephen Renard. And then there's you, Kendra. You're our Seeker. Lucky enough, our dad said he taught you all about the game, so Ward doesn't have to waste her mental prowess explaining everything."
"Too right," the Beater, Catherine, chuckled. "Kadin's the best strategist Hogwarts has seen in a long time, even if she's too modest to admit it. The only reason we haven't been sweeping the Quidditch Cup every year since she joined is because we keep getting lousy Keepers and Seekers. That's going to change, right?" She glared sharply at Stephen and Kendra. Stephen paled under her gaze, but nodded firmly along with Kendra.
Ward, a tall girl with rather haphazard and faded black hair, had not seemed to notice the team or their introductions. She had kept her brown eyes in the sky, her hands vaguely tracing patterns, lines, and movements as her eyes darted about. Noticing her trance, Catherine slapped her shoulder and the girl jumped.
"Sorry, what?" she questioned. "I was—"
"Planning, we know," Jason said, rolling his eyes. "You missed our new teammate's intro. Ward, Kendra. Kendra, Ward." Ward walked over and leaned over, scrutinizing Kendra with her sharp eyes. She walked around the much smaller girl, taking in every detail that her eyes could spot.
"You've done some kind of sport before coming here," the fourth-year Chaser murmured. "Something that obviously gave you enough reflexes for Professor Weasley to beg Professor Dumbledore for you to play. You're a bloody pixie, though. We haven't had such a small Seeker for years. You've got a good broom though—most people are getting Nimbus 2000s and 2001s. OK, let's see how you fair with the Snitch." She turned and walked to the chest where the Quidditch balls were kept.
Kendra watched as a small gold blur shot from the chest. Automatically, she dropped the broom from her shoulder and kicked off from the ground. Despite the utterly confused shouts and looks she got as she laid chase to the Snitch, Kendra followed close behind the gold ball and snatched it within twenty seconds. Catherine let out a low, appreciative whistle while Lisa and Erika grabbed each other's hands and began to dance in a mad, cackling circle.
"Not bad for a first year, but not as great as you could be," Ward said faintly. "You've got ruddy potential." Catherine shot the captain a sly smirk.
"Did I hear you right, Kadin?" she questioned. "Did you just give someone a compliment? A first year, first-time-on-a-broom little pixie of a girl got a compliment from you?" Ward shrugged as she started to look up at the air again. Her eyes began to dart about, her lips moving with soundless words.
"Oh lord," Jason grumbled. "She's stuck on planning again. Listen, we should probably come back tomorrow when she's done with her ideas. I think we finally found a good Seeker, ladies and gentlemen." The team dispersed for the evening, patting Kendra on the shoulder as they left the pitch. Lisa lingered for a moment when Kendra made no move to follow them and head back to the castle.
"Aren't you coming?" she questioned. Kendra shook her head with a smile.
"I'm going to just fly for a while," she said. "I'll be in before curfew, don't worry." Lisa nodded and turned about, jogging to catch up with her sister. Kendra looked up towards the sky and dropped her broom to the ground again. She rose up and began to fly around the pitch at top speed, flying as fast as she could until her eyes began to burn from the wind.
Kendra took ridiculous risks as she flew, her speed unreasonable as she turned sharply. Her feet even slipped a bit on the broom with her actions. After many minutes, she flew down and landed, falling to her knees as she stepped from her broom. Rather, she would have fallen to her knees if Rima had not been standing near her when she landed. She fell onto Rima, sobbing with abandon.
"I can't do this!" Kendra said in her tears. "I can't do any of this! I can't be a witch! I can't play Quidditch! Nothing's right anymore! Nothing's right at all!" Rima remained quiet for a time, her arms gently wrapped around Kendra. Kendra clung to her until her knuckles turned white, her eyes crying until she could cry no more tears, and her pained sobs tearing from her throat until she could no longer scream.
"You miss the people you lived with, don't you?" she murmured. "Something happened to them."
"They're dead," Kendra managed to rasp out. "They're dead because of me. If they hadn't taken me in, they wouldn't have been killed. I miss them so much." Rima nodded slightly and patted the other girl on the back.
"I know that saying 'it's all right' wouldn't make it better," the blue-haired girl said quietly. "That was one of the first things my teacher taught me after my parents were killed—like the people who you lived with. He told me that trying to mask the pain makes it worse until you go mad. You deal with it, or you lose it."
"That doesn't make me feel better," Kendra choked out with a chuckle. Rima gave her own chuckle and hugged Kendra close.
"I know it doesn't," she muttered. "And I know it barely helps at all in the long run. Still, we should get back to the dormitory before Filch decides to start prowling for people out late." Kendra nodded, wiping her tears on her sleeve. The two returned to Gryffindor Tower and went to bed when they arrived. Though she still hurt terribly, Kendra had her first untroubled sleep since she learned of the Dursleys' deaths.
—to be continued—