Chapter 5
Thanks to Angela and Severus, the Quidditch match was a quiet affair without any incident. It had taken a bit of persuasion on Angela's part to convince Harry to let the potion professor ward his broom against jinx and curses. Draco called her a traitor when she cheered for Harry as well as she did for the Slytherin team, to which she shrugged. She wasn't the type to care about people's opinion anymore. At least until she was put under the spotlight. Teachers learnt quickly not to call for her to answer in class as she would go as stiff as a board and blank completely.
Between her and the Golden Trio things went smoothly, Hermione a welcome addition to their little group. Angela and Harry were the closest two after Angela had confided in him about her own previous home life. The similarities between the two had helped them bond. The trio were the only people besides the professors to know about her alters. Hermione had owled her parents, demanding them to send her any book they could find on DID or as it was still mostly called Multiple Personality Disorder.
To Angela's surprise both Harry and Ron borrowed Hermione's notes from the books to try and understand her a bit better. She had been touched to tears and had hugged the three of them when she found out.
The four preteens would meet daily in the room of requirement after Angela showed it to them, using it to chat, do their homework or even try to learn new spells. Hermione and Angela often shared about this or that charm they found in a book that seemed interesting or useful to learn. Hermione would even lament that they only had Charms and Potion in common with the Slytherin as she would have loved to have a fellow studious spirit with her in other classes as well. Angela had snorted and pointed out that it would only apply outside of the History of Magic classroom.
After the quidditch match they had visited Hagrid and learnt about Fluffy guarding something for Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel. Harry immediately noticed that she knew something.
"You know what Fluffy is guarding don't you?"
Angela chuckled "Maybe I do ~"
"Tell us!" he demanded, excitement visible in his green eyes.
The slytherin girl shook her head. "Nop ~. How about this, if you guys can't figure it out before the end of the winter holidays then I'll tell you!"
They tried to convince her but finally relented, determined to figure out who Flamel was.
oOoOo
Only one day was left before the holidays and Hogwarts' grounds were covered with snow. Angela had managed to talk Severus out of punishing the twins for enchanting snowballs to attack the back of Quirrel's head. In fact after she had told him it was where the dark lord's head was, the man had given five points each to the twin, not that he would ever admit it.
"I pity those who will have to stay at Hogwarts because no one wants them at home." said Draco Malfoy loudly during a potion lesson, looking at Harry in particular. Angela or rather Mist at that moment took upon herself to teach him a lesson and threw an ingredient in his cauldron, making it bubble like crazy. It was an harmless prank but he wouldn't be able to brew his potion properly without starting over. They knew Draco was a sore loser, annoyed by Slytherin's defeat in Quidditch but that had made him insufferable ever since the match.
When they left the potion classroom, there was a huge fir tree moving on its own, breathlessly. Only the feet at the bottom of the tree revealed it was Hagrid moving it.
"Do you need any help?" asked Ron.
"No, no, thank you." replied the giant, out of breath.
"Could you move along?" Said Draco's dry voice from behind them. "What's up Weasley? Trying to earn some pocket money?"
"Silencio!" snapped Angela, her wand pointed on the blond who looked at her like a kicked puppy, his mouth opening uselessly.
"ANGELA ELIZABETH SCHIFFER!" toned the potion master's voice before he cast a silent finite toward Draco, freeing him. Angela flinched and had the decency to look sheepish.
"Don't punish her professor, she was only defending a classmate!" said Hagrid from behind his tree.
"Maybe it is so but it is forbidden to aim your wand at another student inside the castle." sneered the professor. "Five points from Slytherin, I better not catch you hexing someone else again young lady. Next time you will be scrubbing my cauldron!"
Out of nervousness she couldn't help but burst into laughter, making Severus frown. Between two giggles she was able to get out "please scrub my cauldron, professor" in a lecherous voice, losing it again right after.
"Angela! Get your mind out of the gutter! I was talking about a real cauldron so calm down this instant unless you wish to figure out exactly how serious I am."
After that the potion professor left, followed by Draco, Crabbe and Goyle.
Harry caught her by the arm. "Are you crazy Eli, why would you say that to Snape?"
The girl flushed and looked at her feet "I was nervous, I couldn't help it. When I'm scared I tend to be stupid as a defense mechanism."
oOoOo
It was the first day of the holidays and Harry and Angela were both out, Ron having refused to follow them in the cold weather. They were sitting side by side on a tree branch that the girl had transfigured into a wooden bench.
"I bitterly regret Lily's death, it turned my life into a half-life… " she whispered, her breath making a little cloud in the cold hair in front of her mouth.
"Uh?" came the unintelligible reply from her companion.
"That's the meaning behind the first question Sevie asked you."
"You mean the question about the Draught of the Living Death?" he asked, confused.
She nodded and brought her knees close to her chest. "He cared for her, your mom I mean. He still does and will probably never stop. It's easier to hate you than to accept and be reminded of what he has lost that day." Angela put her chin on her knees with a sigh. "A flawed logic for such an intelligent man but yet… it"s the proof that he is just as human as you or me."
The boy hummed, not sure how to answer her words.
"There is more to it of course but as we told you it will have to come from him if you want to know more. I can only tell you that you are the walking embodiment of every single one of his failures so it's hard for him to allow himself to see just Harry."
"And you, do you see just Harry?" he asked in a quiet voice.
"Of course we see you. Ry' is Ry', no matter the time and space, we'll always stand by your side. In a way you are part of our family now, well at least we see you as such…" Angela was smiling gently, her gaze lost on the calm surface of the lake.
"You're family to me too" he told her with a smile, leaning gently against her side, warmth filling the both of them despite the cold weather.
"Maybe we should make it official."
"Official?"
"Yes, with a ritual of some kind, there must be one to adopt someone as kin."
"I'd like that. A lot."
After that moment they spent their holidays with Ron, either in the room of requirement or in the library, searching for clues on Nicolas Flamel for the boys while Angela was deep in old obscure and dusty tomes. When asked she would just answer that she was doing some personal research. At least she had been kind enough to tell them they wouldn't find anything about Flamel in books regarding famous wizards of the century.
Ron tried to teach them wizard chess but the slytherin was absolutely abysmal at it, not that she really minded. Harry was doing slightly better than her but he was mostly confused by the chess piece arguing with him whenever he told them to move.
It's in that cozy and calm ambiance that Christmas day came up. Angela had planned all her gifts by owl ordering, Harry getting surprised that morning by the huge pile of presents in front of his bed. He discovered with stupor a new trunk with wizard space with a note saying "Merry Christmas, oh brother of my heart, you will need the trunk to fit the rest of your gift. Love Angela". Puzzled by that he started opening the other packages and found himself with a full wardrobe of muggle and wizard clothes alike, all fitting him and fitting his tastes as well.
The long haired boy almost cried, it was his first time having clothes that fit and that were new and only his.
To Ron she had gifted some clothes as well even if less than Harry and only wizarding clothes this time, along with a huge package of various muggle sweets under preservation charms just in case. His own note said "For my favorite food loving friend, have a taste of what muggles have to offer. Merry Christmas, Angela."
To Hermione she had sent rare charms books as well as some on wizarding culture that she knew her friend would love going through. Hermione had a similar idea and sent her books as well which amused her deeply.
From Mrs Weasley she had gotten one of the famous Weasley jumpers in slytherin green with a silver A embroidered on it, matching Harry's emerald one with a gold H on the front. She had not expected to receive one but it warmed her heart all the same, touched to be seen as close enough of a friend to Ron for his mother to include her in her tradition.
But Angela didn't stop there, during the breakfast, owls swooped in to deposit gifts in front of the various professors and even Filch. To the caretaker she had sent a simple silver bracelet with a pretty black and silver collar. A note explained that if he wore the bracelet while Mrs Norris wore the collar, he could know where his cat was and the bracelet would heat up if she was in danger. He was unable to form a full familiar bond due to being a squib but at least she could give him something similar to the bond. The old caretaker had been oddly soft and emotional after receiving his gift that he immediately put on.
McGonagall was torn between embarrassment and laugh at the sight of her own gift, a cat bed in gryffindor red and catnip. She wouldn't admit it but she actually loved the lioness plushy that came with it, a red and gold scarf around its neck.
Harry and Angela had combined their effort for Dumbledore's gift : hot pink robes with bright yellow lemon slices pattern on it with matching woolen socks. The Headmaster was delighted and absented himself the time to change into it, loving the flashy colors.
For Severus, the girl had been very daring. Morte was the one to deliver two packages to the potion master, sitting on his shoulder once the job was done. The first gift was a box of rare potion ingredients that had very specific conditions to be harvested. The second box however had small holes in it and squeaked if you listened closely enough.
The potion professor opened it to find the cutest bat one could ever see, a grown magical cousin of the black flying fox that climbed on his robes, nuzzling him. Severus glared at her and she couldn't help but chuckle as she noticed he wasn't really mad at her, it was hard to hate the fruit-eating creature after all. The note in the box said "Merry Christmas cousin, may your new familiar go well with your dungeon bat persona. With love, Angela."
The various other present consisted of a high chair custom made for the charm professor so that he wouldn't sit on books during classes, muggle plants seeds for Sprout, a lamp charmed so that it would project the stars in their current position on the wall and ceiling of the room for Sinistra and a small dragon statue of a Hebridean black that moved for Hagrid.
Morte was flying all over the room, cawing loudly 'merry christmas' to everyone he saw but in Severus's voice, making the potion master scowl and Angela laugh while the students were stunned.
oOoOo
That morning and early afternoon was spent playing on the grounds with all the Weasleys, snowball fighting until they were all wet and cold but laughing heartily. It was Harry, Ron and Angela against Fred, George and Percy. Without any magic both sides ended up at the same score in the end before it turned into an everyman for himself snowbrawl.
"You haven't gotten your full gift Ry'." The slytherin said, dragging Harry to the room of requirement once they were back in the castle, a room that she opened into a beautiful ritual room.
"What do you mean Eli? You already got me so much…" he flushed awkwardly.
The girl paused and rubbed the back of her head. "Remember when we talked about being family?" A nod. "Well I researched a lot and by cross-referencing I was able to create a ritual to make it official. I had to slightly alter a blood adoption ritual since we don't want one of us to be the parent of the other but I managed to do it!" She looked at him with pale red hair, a hopeful look in her eyes. "That is, if you still want to do it of course!"
When Harry nodded she jumped at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and whispering thank yous in his ears, making him chuckle and gently rub her back.
"I'll be the witness for your ritual." volunteered Ron, understanding what they wanted to do.
Angela pointed to a spot on the chalk written circle of run and told Harry to go stand here while she went to take place in front of him inside the circle as well.
She took a ceremonial knife from her pocket and took a deep breath. She forced her focus on the blade and the prospect of having to cut her palm, begging Mist to take over. It took a moment for it to happen as forcing a switch even with triggers was not something easy. Once they were co-fronting, Angela nodded and made a cut in her palm. She used her finger to draw a rune in her bleeding hand, using the blood as ink. She dipped the dagger in a cleansing potion before doing the same with Harry's own hand.
"I, Angela Elizabeth Schiffer, recognize you, Harry James Potter, as my kin. I ask in front of Lady Magic for you to be recognized by all as my brother in blood and magic. So mote it be." she said loud and clear, her eyes fixed in Harry's, her bloody hand clasping his between them.
The boy took a deep breath before repeating "I, Harry James Potter, recognize you, Angela Elizabeth Schiffer, as my kin. I ask in front of Lady Magic for you to be recognized by all as my sister in blood and magic. So mote it be."
"So mote it be." Finished Ron on their side as the witness.
A blinding flash of white happened and the chalk rune circle burned up.A warmth spread in both of them, starting by their joined hands. They hugged once more, both sporting a bright smile. "Hello, brother."
"Hey sis'." shot back Harry playfully.
"Give me your hand." She took a step back before he gave her his hand. She pointed her wand at the wound. "Episkey" She then repeated the process with her own hand and used a remaining phial of cleansing potion to wash their hands and the knife.
"Now it's official, if anyone did a test on us we would appear as each other's siblings." She smiled brightly before willing the room to go back to their usual room, where they hung out.
oOoOo
Later that evening she sneaked back to the potion professor's quarter where she stayed in her own room during the holidays.
"Young lady. Would you care to explain to me why you took my ceremonial knife without asking for permission?"
Angela stilled at the calm angry voice of her guardian. She chuckled awkwardly "Nothing gets past you cousin Severus. Don't worry I cleansed it with the potion properly before and after use so it's clean!" she added hastily.
"While it is good that you at least thought of the cleansing potion, I am more interested in the use you had for a ceremonial knife." He replied, arm crossed over his chest, looking at her from where he was, half sitting on his desk.
Caught like a child with their hand in the cookie jar she flushed. "We did a blood and magic adoption ritual, to become siblings. I researched a lot to make sure nothing would go wrong."
"Let me guess, with Potter?"
Angela nodded and Severus sighed, one of his hands coming to pinch the bridge of his nose.
"Seriously Angela what am I going to do with you? You cannot go around and perform blood rituals just because you feel like it. You will serve detention with me tomorrow morning, maybe it will teach you to ask for permission before attempting something foolish."
"Sorry cousin Severus but nothing you could have said would have stopped me from going through with it. Ry' is family and I needed it to be official… Before coming here I had already lost whatever family I used to have, the cursed child being disowned you know." She chuckled darkly and shook her head. "I know that now I get attached very quickly when I allow myself to do so like with you or Ry' but I still fear that it will be taken away from me so I need to solidify the fact that we are family."
Severus sighed and rose from his desk, opening his arms toward the girl who ran to hug him.
"I know I shouldn't have done anything like that without asking first but I just couldn't act rationally…"
The potion master shushed her and gently patted her head, his arms wrapped around her. "I understand Angela, just do not do such a thing again. You can talk to me, I will help you. And for Merlin's sake, if you decide to play with rituals, come to me. At least to make sure you did not mess up. Now go fetch your research and show me what you have done. "
She nodded and bee-lined for her room where she had all her research on parchments that she gave him to review.
oOoOo
The next day in the room of requirement Harry told them all about his nocturnal escapade. He told them about the book in the restricted section that had yelled so loudly that it had attracted Filch. Finally he told them about the mirror, how he'd seen his family, including Angela.
She suggested they went to see it now if Harry really wanted to show them instead of waiting after curfew. That's how the three teens ended up traipsing in the castle corridors, retracing Harry's journey from the library up until they found the room with the mirror.
"Look, you can see them here!" exclaimed Harry cheerfully, his eyes glued on the reflective surface.
"We can't Ry'... it's not how this mirror works. It shows us what we want the most, not the past, the dead or the future…" she whispered quietly.
"Oh, what do you two see then?" he asked, sounding a bit put down.
"I see myself as a Headboy! I'm also Quidditch captain, we just won the cup!" shouted Ron, delighted.
"I don't dare to look." Admitted the slytherin, not sure if she wanted to face her deepest desire. She took a deep breath and stepped in front of the mirror. Shock wrote on her face and tears swelled up in her eyes. "The whole system, we're all here, we all have our own bodies. There is even Severus and you and Ron, Hermione, even Morte!" She kept out that Harry didn't have his scar anymore.
"We shouldn't dwell here for too long… nothing good can happen from staring at this mirror Ry'. Nothing can bring back the dead." she whispered, turning to him.
Unfortunately her words went right through him and didn't register. He came back that night alone and the night after. On the third night Dumbledore showed up and told him he'd move the mirror and to not go looking for it.
Sadly, after his encounter with the mirror Harry had started having nightmares. He confided in them about it and Angela made it her mission to help him out. That's how, right before the end of the holidays Harry ended up with books on occlumency. Dreamless sleep potions were additive so it was the only way she figured would help. She had tried to ask Severus to teach him but the potion master had been firm in his denial. He did not trust himself enough to teach the boy a practice that required so much trust between teacher and student.