Seven Years: Chapter 32
Merula followed alongside the three older students, chasing an annoyingly energetic Lockhart and the Gryffindor runner who had brought news to Lockhart. Her wand was out, pointed at the professor's back in case he decided to try something funny.
But even as Merula cast a quick glance at the other three, a cold, hard grip found its way around her heart.
Only Cedric, and surprisingly, Marietta had their wands out. Cho was unprepared, especially if Lockhart decided to suddenly turn on them. Joseph Trent and his friends, superior duellists to Merula's present company, had outnumbered Lockhart six to one, and even they admitted to having suffered memory loss in the aftermath.
It was a bad situation, but Merula didn't see any way out of it that did not involve turning her back to Lockhart, so she continued onward.
"Cedric?" Cho might have been attempting a whisper, but the distance, or rather, the lack of distance between the four of them meant that Merula could hear every word from the older girl. "Why do you have your wand out? Why- why do you all have your wands out?"
"Cho," Marietta chided, even before Merula could respond with a retort of her own. "There's been another attack. The question should be why do you not have your wand out."
"There is no need to fear," Lockhart called from ahead, his hands having held the Gryffindor boy in place as he spun around, a smile full of lies and deceit on his face. "Gilderoy Lockhart is here, and no harm shall come to you."
"Tell that to Potter," Merula muttered under her breath, glancing behind them, almost expecting some sort of monster to be lurking in the shadows, but all she saw in the dark was Marietta, which was close enough.
"Professor," Cedric spoke up before Lockhart could prattle on any further. "If the Heir of Slytherin is still among us, then is it not wise for us to keep our wands out at all times? Even if you are our professor, surely having four wands to cast defensive charms is better than having one."
Merula turned to Lockhart, and watched him with suspicion. If he had any inclination that they were onto him and the fact that he was the Heir, he didn't show it.
"You may certainly keep your wands out," Lockhart said, almost looking and sounding hurt as he spoke, the liar. "But truly, there is no need to do so."
"We'll make that call ourselves," Marietta snapped, though Merula noticed just the tiniest quiver in her voice and remembered that she would have made a fine Slytherin, given she had enough common sense to avoid running toward the previous crime scene.
Merula turned back to face Lockhart, and slowly, surely, and with at least two wands pointed at him when his back had turned, he continued to proddle the Gryffindor boy forward and up the next set of stairs.
It was two more floors before Merula heard the screaming, coming from a voice that she knew all too well.
"Is that-" Cedric had stopped next to Merula, and he had heard it too.
"A.J." Merula confirmed, wondering just why her roommate was doing her best banshee impression. "I think I should try and calm her down."
"I don't think-" Lockhart got off before Cedric raised a hand, stopping him.
"Merula is roommates with the person shouting above. If there's anyone who can get her to calm down, it's her."
Merula didn't wait for Lockhart to respond, not that he would have said anything intelligent or of substance, and she dodged past him and pushed her way to the top of the staircase.
Merula saw Dumbledore standing over A.J. first, with her roommate on her hands and knees, body shaking in some emotion that Merula wasn't sure of. Sorrow? Rage? Insanity? The possibilities were endless, but not a single one boded well for Merula. Or anyone else, for that matter.
There were other students in the hallway, though they, with the exception of two first years that Merula shoved aside, had largely stood behind Dumbledore, away from the scene of the crime.
"A.J.?" Merula called out, trying to meet Dumbedore's eyes. "What happened?"
A.J. stirred, and Merula dropped down next to her, finally managing a glimpse of her face. There was grief there, certainly. Anger was another given, especially with how liberal her roommate was in using violence.
But the most horrible emotion Merula saw was guilt, written in her friend's eyes, as if she had been the one to strike the victim down.
"Tiff," A.J. choked out at long last.
"Tiff?" Merula didn't understand, not until she looked down at the victim of the Heir. Then she screamed too.
Tiffany lay on her back, sprawled on the floor, big brown eyes staring sightlessly up above, her face contorted into a scream of fear, with one hand held out like a claw, clutching at something that had fallen from her fingers.
"What-" Merula sputtered, dropping to her knees. "What happened?"
"The Heir of Slytherin has attacked one of their own." Dumbledore said, his voice low and gravelly as he took a step forward, looming over Merula and her two roommates. "Miss Snyde, Miss Mason, I must ask you to stand aside. We must transport Miss Cox to Madam Pomfrey's care."
"Right," Merula muttered, gently shaking A.J. "We need to go."
"Headmaster Dumbledore's right," Cedric's voice cut in from above, and Merula looked up in time to see him place a comforting hand on A.J.'s other shoulder, lowering his head to A.J.'s ear, whispering something that Merula barely caught. "And remember the potion Chiara is brewing."
"The Man-" A.J. whispered.
"Yes," Cedric responded, his voice louder now, an announcement to the rest of the hall, including the Heir of Slytherin, Lockhart. "Come, let us get you away from this place."
Merula helped A.J. up, keeping a watchful eye over the hallway, especially Lockhart. He stood to the back, strangely quiet as the criminal responsible for the scene before him, but Merula had no doubt he was laughing and revelling in his success inside.
But making him pay would have to come later, after the secret antidote was made and administered. Merula had no doubt that her roommate would make the humiliation inflicted upon Draco and Potter look pale in comparison to what Lockhart was facing.
It was then that A.J. spotted Lockhart, and Merula clung to her arm, in fear that A.J. would slip up and attack Lockhart right there and then.
When Merula looked up at A.J.'s eyes, she saw murderous rage, but only the tail end of it before the older girl regained a mask of cold indifference.
"Truly heinious," A.J.'s voice was as cold as ice, her tone emotionless yet dripping with contempt. "The witness doesn't remember anything of the attack. Tell me, Professor Lockhart, what sort of crime would it be to Obliviate a child?"
"I-what?" Lockhart stammered, for once disinterested in fame as almost every set of eyes turned on him. "I beg your pardon?"
"The witness," A.J. continued. "She remembers nothing of the attack apart from the fact that she came to next to Tiff. Tell me, Professor Lockhart, how many years in Azkban is a wizard looking at if they attempt to erase the memories of their victims?"
"I-I'm unsure of the specifics," Lockhart stammered. "But it would be significant."
"Good." A.J. said, tearing her arm free of Cedric, no small feat given that he towered over her and had the strength of a Quidditch player. "Merula, can I speak with you for a second? In private."
Merula jumped at being suddenly addessed, but she nodded, glancing around at the staring crowd that A.J. no longer cared to be subtle around. "Of course."
"Perhaps we should all-" Cedric started before A.J. turned and silenced him with a glare.
"The Circle will be yours to lead in a year's time." A.J. hissed, her voice barely audible, even to Merula. "But until then, stay out of my way. Come on Merula, we have work to do."
Merula hurried to follow A.J. through the corridor and down the stairs. It was a faster trip down than it was going up.
"A.J." Merula gasped when her roommate finally stopped at a set of stairs that had turned the wrong way, allowing them a moment of silence together. "What- what are you planning?"
"Merula," A.J. replied, turning her head from side to side before she answered. "Do you know who the witness was?"
Merula paused, frowned, then shook her head.
"Ginny Weasley," A.J. replied, turning on her heel as the staircase swung back the right way, allowing them to cross. "Weasley said that the last thing she remembered was Tiffany apologizing for the… stunt we pulled this morning. Do you know what that means?"
Merula paused, frowned, then shook her head.
"It means that she remembers nothing of the attack itself." A.J. stopped at the bottom of the staircase. "Her memories have been tampered with."
Merula suddenly understood. "Then she's useless as a witness. Like any Gryffindor ever."
"Lockhart had enough time to tamper with Weasley's memories." A.J. said. And what do you think that means for Tiff?"
"She won't remember anything either." That connection was obvious, even if it made Merula's blood boil in the process. "But how do we stop-"
"That's what I'll need your help with." A.J. said, waving a hand for Merula to stop. "There is a potion that even he can't lie through."
"What do you need me for?" Merula asked.
"I'll need a large amount of Galleons," A.J. said, shaking her head. "I've made the potion before, but it's something that will need to be brewed in two stages. I'll need a large sum of Galleons for the second stage roughly around spring break."
"How much?" Merula asked.
"Fifty to two hundred," A.J. replied, her lips in a tight grimace. "It would depend on the quality of the growing season."
Merula swallowed the large number. She could manage it, of course, but it would raise eyebrows from Lucius.
"Ok," Merula forced the answer out, unwilling to meet her roommate's burning eyes. "But…"
"What?" A.J. asked, her face twisting in concern.
"If…" Merula chose her words carefully. "If Lockhart comes for me, I want to be ready. I mean, it's been two years and already there's been two attacks. I don't want to know what third year has in store for me."
A.J. closed her eyes for a moment, then she nodded. "That I can do, but I'll have conditions too."
Merula paused at the word conditions, but she was in too deep to renegotiate something else. She wasn't sure what her roommate was thinking, but then again, who did? "What are they?"
"For every curse I teach you, I will teach you a counter-curse first." A.J. said. "Can we agree on that?"
Merula nodded. "Ok."
"Second," A.J.'s eyes were dark, like pitch or the midnight sky. "For every curse I teach you, I will perform a demonstration first. I need you to understand the full gravity of what you will unleash, if the circumstances call for it."
Merula swallowed. The weight of the words came like a slow, crushing weight, one stone at a time, but enough to squeeze a point of doubt out of her excitement. Was she... was she truly ready for that knowledge?
The image of Voldemort's face, attached to her mother's corpse floated to the surface of her mind, and Merula had to fight the image down, even if his dead eyes refused to fall back into darkness, and his inhuman voice turned her blood into ice. Ready or not, Merula knew that his promise had not been an empty one, and that he was still out there. Which in turn meant she had no choice but to learn while she still could, and so she nodded.
"There are curses I know that can and will end lives if cast irresponsibly. You are to cast them only when they are your proverbial last card left to play." A.J. barked, taking a step forward, invading Merula's personal space. "Do I make myself clear?"
Merula nodded again, the fear in her heart, of Voldemort, of the darkness and the dead outweighing any fear of A.J.'s warning. Truly, she had no choice and she grunted in confirmation.
"Knowledge is power," A.J.'s voice had lowered to a smoky, almost choked whisper. "But power in the wrong hands is disastrous. I have learned that the hard way, but I promise to be a kinder teacher than my own."
"I'll do it," Merula said, swallowing. "I mean, I've only been here two years and…"
"Well," A.J.'s lips were tight, but they now were pressed into a weak smile. "My seven years can hardly be called quie,t and yours are shaping up to be even worse."
Merula nodded at that, content with how the conversation was going. "So when do we start?"
"Weekend," A.J. said after a long minute. "You'll see when we get there."
AN: Chapter 32 is done. This story will end at Chapter 40, with book 2 starting off in third year.
