If they had had to escape, Moxxie and Blitzo would've gotten horribly lost in all the twists and turns of the castle. It seemed more like a maze than a castle.
Professor McGonagall's long, purple robes trailed after her, and though her hat was tall, the ceilings were so high up she wouldn't have reached them even if she had used a staircase - pointy hat included.
At that hour, the halls were deserted, or maybe the students and professors had been advised not to leave their quarters in case they ran into the hellish beings. Regardless of the reason, the silence that settled over the castle was eerie and oppressive.
Harry had many questions in his mind, questions that needed some serious answers - but first, he should probably start answering the many questions Blitzo and Millie probably had.
Loona likely wouldn't ask anything, just immediately bite his head off. After many twists and turns, they arrived at what had to be Professor McGonagall's office.
It was far smaller than Dumbledore's but better lit, with a cozy fire and a desk that took up a lot of space. Sitting on two ornate chairs before the desk was Millie and Loona, cupping hot mugs of coffee in their hands, looking severely traumatized.
When they entered, Millie leaped up, sloshing coffee all over herself. "Moxx!" She exclaimed, flinging herself onto him in a tight embrace. She kissed his cheeks and then unwound herself from him. "Why are you in your human form, sugar?" She asked, preoccupied.
"Yeah, Moxx, why is that?" Blitzo leaned on one of the walls after checking to see if Loona was alright. She had growled at him in confirmation. Millie looked from Blitzo to Moxxie, confused. "God, can we leave all the explanations for later?
I've got a killer headache and no reception," Loona said, clearly not caring about the tension in the room. "I'd love to leave, my Loony Tunes, but we don't have Stolas' book." Loona's fist came down on the table.
She flung her cellphone away. "What the fuck did you get us into, you little shit?" She snarled at Moxxie. He sighed. Taking Millie's hand, he set himself down on one of the empty chairs and filled up an empty goblet with some weird juice he found.
"I need to… tell you guys some things." He set his elbows down and chugged the juice.
It was sweet and slightly spiced. It tasted pumpkin-y. Millie sat down in the chair opposite. "What is it?" Steeling himself, Blitzo began to explain. "I was born as a human-" "What?!" Came the collective outrage from the three of them. "What do you mean, Moxx?" Millie's voice trembled.
She couldn't believe what she was hearing: she had still been harboring some hope that this was all part of some weird dream she was having, that she would wake up warm in bed, Moxxie in her arms as the little spoon, and then she'd tell him all the crazy shit that had happened in the dream.
But this was real - now that the coffee had chased the last of her drunkenness away, she felt all the tangibility of reality. She felt hazy, but only because she was so startled and out of her element. The wizards, the castle, Moxxie being called Harry, and then being bound to some weird, magic juju was too much for her to process properly.
It was too much to be real. "I was born as a human. An orphan," Harry continued, running a hand through his hair. Hair he wasn't used to having. Though this was his true form, it was still weird to be in it.
"My parents died in a car crash when I was a baby." Blitzo lost his defensive stance and took up a chair beside Loona. "I never saw any pictures of them or anything, and it was like they didn't even exist.
I was raised - well, kind of raised by my aunt and uncle on my mum's side, but they were awful. I can't remember them ever not hating me. They had this kid…" Harry searched his memory.
All of this had been so long ago he could barely remember it, partly because of how much time had passed, but also because he had wanted to forget.
He didn't consider he had any business reminiscing on the past, mainly because he had a family already and a family that cherished him, so why would he think of those other people he had never been close to?
But maybe it was time he admitted it was also because he wanted to forget that the people related to him by blood were so distant to him, so completely detached from him that they seemed almost disgusted by his very presence.
He continued, not even able to meet Millie's eyes as he told the story, ashamed of things that had been out of his control.
"Dudley," he finally said. "He was awful. He was the same age as me, but we were so different we might as well have been from different worlds. He was spoiled, arrogant, a bully-" "Well, no wonder, with that name," Blitzo huffed. Millie shushed him. "Anyway, he didn't care for me. None of them did.
My mum's sister always treated me like she was afraid of me or something, and not a day passed where they didn't like to remind me how lucky I was not to be left out on the street or an orphanage like the abandoned kid I was.
They said awful things about my parents, too - I don't even know if they were true.
I don't know if it even matters at this point. Petunia's - my aunt's - husband thought I was the worst kid he had ever met. They were all convinced I was evil, corrupting Dudley, or something like that.
The kid was obese, too, and like, a head taller than me. He beat me up daily. I was really scrawny, too-" "Was?" Remarked Blitzo.
"Blitzo, I swear to all the dark forces I will make you wear your ass as a hat if you don't shut up," Millie shot at him. Blitzo shot his hands up defensively and gestured for Moxxie to proceed. "Yeah, well, Dudley was terrifying, but his parents applauded him.
Since I can remember, they locked me in the broom closet, barely gave me any food, and were fond of having Dudley chase me. "It was boiling one summer, and Dudley and his posse of tormentors were chasing me around…" Harry rubbed the back of his neck as he proceeded to explain how he'd been dragged into Hell.