Harry Potter and the Slytherin Necromancer
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Disclaimer:
I don't own the Potter-verse, JKR does. I'm just borrowing her world and characters and I promise to put all of them back in their place. OotP Spoilers in later chapters. This disclaimer will not be repeated in future chapters.
Prologue: Transfer File of Hope
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Educational School Transferal Profile
From: Phoenix Private School of Witchcraft (girls only)
To: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (co-ed) Date: July 18, 1996
Name: Hope Esprit Reynolds
Age: 16
Height: 5' 6"
Weight: 138 lbs.
Hair Color: Pale blonde
Eye Color: Blue
Blood Type: O
Education (thus far):
Age 11 to 15: Phoenix Private School of Witchcraft (Girls Only)
OWLs Score: 12/12
Father: Ian Orion Reynolds the Sixth, fourteenth generation of Reynolds Wizarding Family
Mother: Bethany Jillian Sanders Reynolds, ninth generation of Sanders Wizarding Family
Personality Traits: Hard working, respectful, clever, resourceful, diligent, attentive, and eager to learn
Subjects Suggested for Student's Sixth Year: Advanced Sixth Year Transfiguration, Advanced Sixth Year Potions, Seventh Year Medical Alchemy, Advanced Sixth Year Arithmancy, Advanced Sixth Year Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Advanced Sixth Year Fundamental Charms.
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Albus Dumbledore put down the single parchment that was the profile of Hogwarts' newest older student, Hope Reynolds. He sighed, wishing that she did not have to transfer. But she had no choice since her parents are both members of the Order and had to move back into Britain. It was rare for transfer students to even come to Hogwarts because so few would be accepted as an older student. How embarrassing for her to have to be sorted along with first years. But her parents were important members of the Order and now that it was public knowledge that Voldemort is back the Order needed all of its members present.
"Albus, what does her profile look like?" Minerva McGonagall asked nervously, having watched the Headmaster of Hogwarts read over the parchment from Phoenix Private.
"Clean. Very clean. She is suggested to take all advanced classes and a seventh year potions class, the only sixth year in a Seventh Year Medical Alchemy class. And it is so detailed for they even put down her blood type." 'Though this is a little too perfect. Then again, Beth and Ian probably pushed Hope to extremes.' There was amusement in his voice. The professor of Transfiguration relaxed.
"Does she seem nice?" She looked flustered at the way Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.
"The principal, Mrs. Hedonic, put down personality traits as part of the profile. Like I said, this is so detailed. Let's see now, a hard worker. A respectful girl and clever. Resourceful and diligent. Attentive and eager to learn. She sounds interesting to say the least. Of course, these personality traits are from an educator's viewpoint so we really don't know what she is like in person. Think she'll be a Gryffindor, Minerva?" There was a challenge in his eyes.
"Of course. Her parents were Gryffindors when they went to Hogwarts."
"Hmm, we'll see. I say she'll be a Ravenclaw after seeing her 'personality traits' Mrs. Hedonic put down. And considering that she received twelve OWLs."
"I still think she'll be a Gryffindor. Um, by the way, Albus?"
"Yes my dear." He took a sip of his coffee.
"Doesn't hedonic mean lewd or something like that?" And he promptly choked on his coffee, barely swallowing the mouthful.
"Good heavens, Minerva, what are you thinking? Mrs. Hedonic is a respectable person... Merlin's bones, her last name does mean lewd!" Dumbledore started laughing. "Ah Minerva, leave it to you to point out something like that." The sable haired witch flushed.
"Oh really Albus."
End of Prologue
Chapter One: Moving Away
"WHAT?" Hope Reynolds slumped down onto the couch, staring incredulously at her parents. "We're moving to Britain? ARE YOU CRAZY?" The American teen was indignant about the idea. She happened to like the United States. Not to mention it was safer over seas in the US than in Britain. "That dark wizard, what's his face, is over there!"
"Voldemort, honey. His name is Voldemort." Her father, Ian Reynolds, had cringed every time he said the Dark Lord's name. "Now listen, Hope. I know this is going to be hard for you."
"HARD? Ha, this is incredibly stupid to be moving right now in the summer before my sixth year at Phoenix Private. This is terrible. Couldn't you have at least waited until I graduated?"
"No, we couldn't. I know that this may seem stupid to you but as members of the Order of the Phoenix, your father and I have to be there." Bethany, Hope's mother, said with a note of finality. "The Order has already lost the godfather of the Boy-Who-Lived."
"Golden Boy Potter had a godfather?" Hope said with doubt in her eyes. Her mother frowned at her daughter's nickname for Harry Potter, the Boy-Who- Lived.
"Yes, he was Sirius Black."
"I thought he was a convict and escapee of Azkaban, a general lunatic, and he was trying to kill Potter!" The blond haired witch blurted out. Both of her light brown eyebrows were raised at her parents.
"He was innocent. Listen, we can't explain everything now, ok? But after we go to Britain in a Muggle plane, we're going to the Headquarters for the Order. Now go pack and no more arguing from you. Mrs. Hedonic has already mailed your transfer file to Hogwarts."
"Alright." Hope sighed out as she got up and trudged up the stairs to her room.
"Is this really such a good idea to move back after we left Britain the first time Voldemort came into existence? The only reason we had to leave the Order was because I was pregnant with Hope. And now we're putting her in grave danger by taking her to Britain. Ian, she's a...."
"I know, Beth. I know what she is. And if Voldemort ever found out, she'll be lost to us." Bethany Reynolds started to rub her hands together, trying to warm them up from her sudden chill.
"Oh Merlin, Ian. Oh dear Merlin."
"The Order needs us now. Hope can take care of herself. Remember that she won the Junior National Dueling Contest. And bear in mind that competition for Best Junior Flyer of the US? Hope won that too. And don't omit the fact that she's taken a lot of advanced courses for the past two years. Also those 'extra' lessons with Mr. Harold Young. She may seem perfect but she isn't though. She has a bad temper like the both of us, God love her. Just don't forget, my love, she's the best of the best for a young witch in training. And she wants to be the first female Potion Master in nearly two centuries. She's an ambitious one."
"Exactly, she's too ambitious. That means only one thing."
"I know that too."
Hope entered her room and looked over at her trophy shelf. She frowned at all of the rewards and whatnot that her aspiration, self-dedication, drive, tenacity, and self-sufficiency had gotten her. Too bad those traits also had pushed away anyone who had tried to befriend her. She had been too competitive even in this aggressive, self-possessed country she had lived in for all of her life. Now she was leaving this country until this thing with Voldemort was over, hopefully. She sighed and closed her door.
In a way, it was her parents that had made her this way. With their zeal for their only daughter to be the best of the best, they had pushed her to her limit until she forced herself to be as ambitious as they wanted her to be. Now her brain was like a sponge and her body a well-toned instrument of athletics. She was in a sense perfect in the academic and athletic worlds. But Hope wanted more. She wanted imperfection, damn it. But in a way, she was indeed imperfect. First off, she was too cold, too dark in the way of emotions. She was cynical about nearly everything. She had a temper that rivaled the Devil himself. And she always was alone. No companionship with her peers or parents what so ever.
Hope, despite her name of love and happiness, was a sad, lonely child whose parents, though loving, were always distant in both a physical sense and emotional identification. They were constantly off on a business trip, especially during the holidays. And Hope was always at school after she entered her first year, save the summer. Even during the summer, both Ian and Bethany Reynolds were on business in another part of the country. And now this Order of the Phoenix was going to keep Hope's parents from her even more.
"This isn't right." She whispered to her owl, Roger. The barn owl hooted gently at her, blinking. Hope rolled her eyes at his typical response and took out her trunk. She quickly discarded all of her clean school uniforms, both the winter ones and spring/early summer ones, into a donation box, knowing that she would never go back to her old school. Taking out last year's books, she put them in another box with the rest of her books from the previous years at Phoenix that way they could be donated to the second hand bookstore in Paragon Alley in New York City. Leave it to her parents to donate anything that can be donated. They were models of virtue, Ian and Bethany Reynolds. Now her trunk was empty as can be.
"Now for the fun part." Hope grumbled as she flung open her wardrobe. Slowly she folded each summer robe and placed them in the trunk. Next came her two dress robes, one blue and one pink. She hated pink though her mother insisted on the pink one for the Valentine Dance her fifth year. Hope shook her head at the memory and closed the now full trunk. She took out another trunk, a bigger one, and opened it. She placed the newspaper that filled the trunk out of it and grabbed a trophy.
"Oh boy, my Junior National Dueling Contest First Place trophy." She carefully wrapped it up in newspaper and placed it in the overly large trunk. She grabbed the next one and examined it. "My Best Junior Flyer of the US First Place trophy." Again it was wrapped up and placed in the trunk. "And oh look see, my National Academic Honors Society Inter-School Charms Competition First Place trophy for third year. Don't forget my so wonderful National Academic Honors Society Inter-School Transfiguration Competition First Place trophy for fourth year. And then there's my National Academic Honors Society Inter-School Potions Competition First Place trophy from last month." Each sentence was said with such sarcasm that even her owl seemed to pick up the animosity that the girl felt for her achievements. Roger hooted nervously as he watched his mistress carefully wrap each trophy and framed certificate. "And last, but not least, my framed perfect OWL results." SLAM! She very angrily closed the lid.
"Who?" Roger said questioningly. Hope wiped her nose with the back of her fist.
"Oh, knock it off Roger. Stop being so worried about me. I'm not crying." She was lying to both herself and her owl. Tears ran down her face. "Yes I am. Every reward, every trophy is worth nothing. My parents just brush them off with a smile and a pat on my head for a good job. Damn it." The curse was whispered as she walked into her bathroom to wash her face.
Hope stood in a corner as her parents came into her room to shrink and pack her furniture. In the bird cage in Hope's hands was Roger. Not a single trace of her tears existed for her parents to see. They just simply smiled at her and packed the rest of her things magically. Hope's wand, which she had gotten at Ollivander's Wands in Diagon Alley since her parents swore by him, was tucked in her black, well loved jeans. She also had on a black T- shirt with the saying: 'There are no stupid questions, just stupid people' on the front. On her feet was a pair of black dragon hide boots that could be mistaken as hiking, ankle boots. These were the Muggle clothes that Hope decided to wear to the airport. Her others were in a suitcase to take with her to not raise suspicions of any kind.
Her parents had frowned at her choice of clothing but knew that to Muggles, Hope looked like a normal Muggle teen. Or a blond haired, blue eyed Goth teen in the Muggles' eyes. But then again, her parents were just as strange. Her mother Bethany was dressed in a black and white checkered, knee length skirt with an orange-yellow, sleeveless, mock turtleneck blouse that clashed with Bethany's golden locks. Her father Ian was dressed in a golf shirt that was decorated in white golf balls with a green background and a pair of faded blue jeans that were ripped slightly at the knees. Both were wearing pure white tennis shoes as well. Hope rolled her eyes at her parents' backs.
'Could their outfits get any stupider?' The young witch thought as she walked down the stairs. She gave Roger's cage, with Roger still in it, to a Wizard Mover worker. The Magical Moving Service with a Knight Bus like vehicle was in her backyard. Thankfully the backyard was warded against any Muggles that would peer or try to get into the backyard. Her parents were going to take down the wards after the Magical Moving Service left to take their things to their new place that was in a Wizarding community, Hogsmeade. Actually it was the barely known about manor that was just beyond Hogsmeade Village. The manor's name was Conjuror Manor. A stupid name if you asked Hope about it. And it was close to Hogwarts too, happy day for her.
'Not that it matters since they'll practically live at the Order's Headquarters. A waste of money.' She stepped out onto the front porch, no longer being able to take the afternoon moving activity. She stood there, looking at the Muggle neighborhood with narrowed eyes. Down two houses were a group of Muggle teens that were bunched on the sidewalk, chattering loudly enough for Hope to hear. Then all of the sudden a Muggle boy from that group actually jogged up to her porch then stopped at the bottom to the steps. Already tall, Hope now towered over the fifteen to sixteen-year- old boy. He had shaggy black hair and light brown-green eyes. He seemed laid back in slightly baggy jeans and a Metallica shirt.
"Hey, I'm Rick. Cool shirt."
"Thanks. I'm Hope. You're shirt's cool too."
"Thanks. You're, like, moving aren't you? I saw that small trailer yesterday. Now it's, like, so totally gone. You're last day here?"
"Yeah, it's extraordinarily boring."
"Must be. How come you were never, like, at the middle school and high school? I've only, like, seen you at elementary school then only sometimes during the summer with, like, a nanny or something and then all, like, by yourself. You were the quiet, like, loner girl that talked to no one at, like, the elementary."
"I went to a private school after I turned eleven. Plus, my parents were always at work. That's why I had a nanny during my elementary years."
"Oh, like bummer. Did you have to wear, like, uniforms?"
"Yes, it really sucked too."
"I bet. Talk about, like, suppressing one's, like, individuality." Hope was amused at the boy's constant usage of the word 'like' every five to six words. So this was the problem with America's Muggle youth, improper English. She desperately wanted to mimic him to poke fun but she didn't. Instead she smiled. "So, you wanna hang with me and the peeps over yonder?" Hope glanced at the expectant group of friendly looking teens and was about to answer when her mother called.
"HOPE! Where are you? You need to take your suitcase to the car!"
"Sorry, Rick. I can't."
"S'alright, Hope. Maybe someday, you'll, like, come visit here or something." Hope's eyes softened.
"Sure thing. Maybe I might even move back here to Wikensville."
"Sounds cool. Later." Rick walked away toward his group of friends probably to explain why Hope couldn't come to their group to hang out. Hope sighed and went back into the house. It figured she would only meet a potential friend, even if a Muggle one, on her last day in the small New York State town of Wikensville that wasn't even on the map yet.
"There you are. Where were you?"
"Porch." And Hope jogged up the stairs to fetch her small suitcase. Carrying it down the stairs, she went back out and to the driveway, opening the rented, black Sedan's trunk. Her parents' two suitcases, one for each of them, was already in there and so she added hers as well.
"Now get in sweetheart." Hope closed it and slipped into the back. Her father, the only one of her two parents who could drive any typical Muggle vehicle, went in at the driver's side as her mother went into the front, passenger's side. "Ready, Beth? Ready, Hope?'
"Yeah." Hope answered.
"Yes, dear. Let's go." Bethany Reynolds clapped excitedly. The car backed out and drove past the part of the sidewalk where the group of Muggle teens was standing. They waved good-bye to Hope and she waved back. "Friends of yours?"
"Maybe."
Hope pulled her rolling suitcase out of the trunk and watched as her dad gave back the keys to the guy who rented out the car to them. The small family of three walked into the airport, each clutching a ticket in their hand. Together they put their suitcases on the scanning belt and walked through the metal detectors without difficulty. (AN: Remember, this is the Nineties so no extra checking procedures during their time in the airport. Sorry to interrupt and on with the story.)
"What gate?" Hope asked as they passed terminal after terminal.
"Gate D 12. We're passing Gate A 14." Ian said as they hurried along. "Twenty minutes until we board the plane, we have plenty of time." It took them a good fifteen to get to their gate. The luggage probably made it to the plane faster than they did. "Five minutes. Give your ticket to the lady, Hope."
"I know." The sixteen-year-old snapped as she walked through the tunnel that was connected to the plane.
"Teenagers." The ticket lady said as she took Ian Reynolds ticket. She smiled flirtatiously at him.
"Uh huh, yeah." Bethany said as she pushed her husband through and quickly glared at the lady. She marched after Ian, grumbling darkly about the ticket woman. They found Hope already in her seat by the window, the seat by her occupied by her row partner, another blond girl who was twirling a piece of her hair around her finger. Bethany and Ian sat in the row behind their daughter. They could hear the other blond chattering incessantly to Hope while she, Hope, sat in seething silence.
"And like, oh my gawd, he was so hot! I mean, he was a ten on the hot meter. I mean, he was really hot."
'Merlin's bones, this girl is so damn ditzy.' Hope thought, eyes rolling toward the sky for guidance. The girl next to her didn't even see that Hope wasn't even listening to what she was saying. 'Somebody, anybody with mercy shut her up, please. Before I get sent to Azkaban for using the Killing Curse on this stupid, babbling Muggle simpleton.' She squeezed the bridge of her nose, feeling a headache coming along.
"Like oh jeez he's walking to me, and he asked me out and I said yes. And then we, like, went on a date and he, like, kissed me. And it wasn't just, like, a kiss. It was a kiss-kiss. Heheheh. Then he went into my house with me and we, like, so totally made out on my couch." Hope desperately wanted to strangle to other girl with her bare hands as the ditz went into every, exact, sordid detail about the make out session.
"But we, like, didn't 'do it', you know? Like, I'm saving myself for, like, Mr. Right, and stuff."
'For the love of God and any other deity out there, please shut her up!' She held her forehead with her right hand as her right elbow rested on the armrest by the window.
"So, do you, like, have a boyfriend?"
"No."
"Oh, that's too bad. I can tell you about the hot guys in London. This is my second time going there. There are a lot of hot guys in London. Heheheh. There's this one guy named Ronald Young and he has brown hair and the cutest brown eyes. And, like, oh my gawd, he is really hot. And..."
'No, not another one-sided discussion about a guy! PLEASE SAVE ME FROM THE INSANITY OF THIS DITZ! What did I do to deserve this? Why God, WHY?' Hope was very close to ripping out her hair in a fit of rage. She checked her watch to see that this girl had been talking for non-stop for the past four hours. 'Doesn't she need to sleep or eat or drink by now?' But no, the blond kept on chattering about guys. And so Hope sat in her seat for the remaining hour, praying for control of her temper.
Finally the plane landed and Hope zoomed out her seat before anyone else could even unbuckle his or her seatbelts. She stood right by the gate, hiding from the girl who sat next to her. The girl passed, torturing another poor person with her babbling, and Hope sighed in relief. Her parents came out a little afterwards and she went to their side.
"Have a nice flight?" The two exchanged looks, having heard the entire one- sided conversation.
"If nice being I didn't kill that girl, then yes. But other than that, it was torture."
"That's nice dear. Come on, we have to met Mad-Eye Moody at King's Crossing." Hope sighed, not liking the sound of the person they were going to meet at some strange and anonymous, to her at any rate, train station in London of merry old England. Of course it is known as the UK.
'My life is just getting worse and worse. I hope I don't have to listen to another idiot babble nonstop.'
End of Chapter One