CHAPTER THREE:

His Grip on the Land

1

The weeks leading after the debacle at the Slytherin vs Griffyndor quidditch match left many students uneasy about the dark forces at play just outside the safety of their protective wards. Dumbledore addressed the students, entailing them of the man responsible being sentenced accordingly; with the man apprehended most of the students felt better about going about their semester, but Heather and her friends knew there was a greater threat at play; one the school faculty omitted from the students. Heather was brought into Dumbledore's office (not for the first time) and evaded his questions with ease; if they didn't listen to her before about the gut feeling she had about the Dark Lord still lurking, then she didn't owe them anything now.

Besides, she thinks, the adults at this school are useless, no wonder my parents had to do everything on their own. But then again…look how that all turned out.

Heather doesn't want any of her friends getting hurt on her quest for answers.

Or Duke.

"Hey Heather!" Mac greets her as Heather joins them at the dining table for breakfast. Mac slides her books off to the side to give Heather room as she sits on her left, Duke sits across from them like the troll she is giving Heather the stink eye.

Heather snaps, "what's your damage troll?"

Duke mumbles "I don't know…just got a feeling you've been bad mouthing me." Heather has to double check and make sure her mental guards are up; sometimes Duke likes to surprise them all with her natural affinity for the mental arts.

Duke waves the feeling off, slipping on a sly grin as she gets ready for gossip. "Heard Dumptruck asked Ram to the Yule Ball and got rejected. It happened in front of their entire potions class, it was so bad I heard the professors gossiping about it."

Mac frowns, "that's terrible…"

Heather stuffs her face as elegantly as she can while Duke finishes the story. "She should've known she didn't stand a chance with him. Besides, after his breakup with that senior who graduated he hasn't been the same."

"What about you?" Mac asks Duke, "which guy are you going with this year? It's a little different now that it's actually your dance and not one you're being invited to."

Duke shrugs. "I haven't decided yet, I have two guys on back order but I'm waiting it out to see who wants it more. And let me guess…you're taking that guy, Alex, who always flirts with you at—"

"What about you Hess?" Mac interrupts with a blush staining her face. "I've never seen you interested in anyone before."

Duke mutters with a smirk, "I wouldn't say that."

Heather dutifully ignores the troll and answers once she swallows a spoonful of eggs. "I'm not interested in ball's, I want answers."

"Even the greatest minds need a break, Heather." Mac pouts when she doesn't get an immediate response. Mac tries to think of another angle to use that'll motivate Heather into getting in the Yule Ball spirit but is interrupted by—

"Students and faculty," Dumbledore's voice causes the chatter to die down. Heather looks up from her plate, surprised to see so many students suddenly leaking into the Great Hall. She can't say when it got so packed, probably when she was stuffing her face and half-heartedly listening to the latest gossip of the week but, low and behold, there a underclassmen sticking their necks through the narrowing doors just to catch a glimpse at whatever spectacle the old man has up his sleeve.

Heather nudges Mac and whispers, "what's going on?"

Mac's eyes almost fall out of her head. She squeaks, "did you seriously forget about the Triwizard Tournaments?"

Heather blinks once, and then twice.

"How are you a Prefect?" Duke says with a shake of her head. She snaps her fingers to get Heather's attention but it only causes her to get hostile. "After the whole debacle at the quidditch match Dumbledore announced he was pushing up the Triwizard Tournament, it's obviously an attempt to distract us all from the fact that a random guy almost killed you and Veronica but…who isn't a fan of violent competitions, right?"

Heather couldn't argue with that.

"We now have our three champions," Heather tunes back to Dumbledore as he announces "but, in the end only one will go down in history. Only one will hoist this chalice of champions. This vessel of victory." He turns abruptly and points at the object of every champion's affections, "the Triwizard Cup!"

Heather rolls her eyes at the dramatics but can't help but smile a bit when she sees how excited Mac is, hell, even Duke is looking at the Triwizard Cup with fascination. It makes sense, she supposes, now that they're in their sixth-year they can finally have an actual connection with the tournament. They might even see some familiar faces this time.

Heather grips her spoon in a vice grip. She's heard of the horrors that go down during the tournament, how the people who step out on the field never come back the same; she wouldn't nominate even her worst enemy.

As the cheering dies down Dumbledore turns to the Goblet of Fire and approaches it as if it's calling to him, whispering at a level that only his ear can tune into. He slowly staggers towards the call of the siren, stumbling, and then shielding his eyes as the vibrant blue flames sparkle and transform into a vivid scarlet red.

Everyone looks away, blinded, but Heather is transfixed; the specks of flame reflect in her eye.

A blast of fire shoots up and a burnt piece of paper falls into his hand. The first nomination.

Dumbledore whispers the results to himself.

Heather shoves another spoonful of eggs down her throat while the rest of her classmates eagerly wait for Dumbledore to—

"Heather Chandler!"

Heather nearly chokes on her food. " What ?"

Duke's jaw drops. " What? "

Dumbledore shouts again, "Heather Chandler!"

Heather sinks into her seat, the call from Dumbledore having the exact opposite effect. She can cut the tension in the room with a knife, she can feel the jealous, skeptical, stares burning into her skin. Being the daughter of the most powerful witch and wizard in school history no—wizarding history even—has made her accustomed to looks but this…this is something else entirely.

Dumbledore shouts her name again, the shock on his face is gone and is replaced with disdain. They couldn't actually think she would do something so reckless? Sure, her past track history proves otherwise but she isn't an idiot.

"Heather, you have to get up." Mac whispers gently, shoving her friend out of her daze. "Come on. Move. " She says, pushing her with more force than before. The aggression from the gesture is what gets Heather to snap out of it completely. Despite what she feels, Heather puts on her mask—it's nothing but muscle memory by now.

Heather stands on shaky legs, avoiding the whispers.

"Did he just say Heather Chandler? That Heather Chandler?"

"Her parents are legends. They defeated the Dark Lord and won the war."

"I heard her father holds the highest record of goals made when he played quidditch."

Heather takes the slip of paper from Dumbledore, ignoring his cold stare. She walks in the opposite direction of where she came and makes a beeline to the exit. The whispers get louder, their intent turning cruel.

"She's not even seventeen yet."

"Cheater."

"Hope she gets what's handed to her out there."

She wishes JD was here, he knows her better than anyone else…he would…

"Hey, you okay Hess? You look a little green." JD pops up right when she needs him, he's holding onto her shoulders with his warm hands and looking down at her expectantly. He shakes her a bit. "Hello? Earth to Heather. What's going—umf!"

Heather traps him in a hug. It helps her body from shaking, the smell of slushie syrup calms her jittery nerves as they remind her of home.

"What's wrong?" He whispers, debating on whether he needs to leave and kick someones ass (only to fail) or stay here and hold her.

Heather counts to three then pulls away. She goes for the truth but can't seem to stumble across it when a couple students who trickled out of the Great Hall walk by, whispering as they glance in her direction. Heather shakes her head and tries to smile, "just caught a little whiff of a potion that makes the target super emotional. It'll wear off soon."

JD shakes his head. "Weird and super irresponsible but I have news. Great news actually, well not really great or new but it's important."

"Jason. Spit it out."

"Guess the potion is wearing off already."

" Jason ."

"I'm asking Veronica to the Yule Ball!" JD literally squeals.

Heather shoves her hands into the pockets of her blazer, she hides the paper with her name on it in the process. She feels like the flames are still alive, licking at her fingers in the cocoon of her fist.

Heather pushes away the memory of soft skin and heated stares.

She promised herself she wouldn't, no, couldn't do anything like that to her brother.

"About time, yeah." Heather says, fooling even herself with her smile. She catches a glimpse of the last person she wants to see, Veronica freaking Sawyer in the flesh with her eyebrows knitted together in worry. Veronica looks around frantically and when she sees Heather the look on her face intensifies and Heather is hit with the realization that Veronica is worried about her .

She can't do this.

"What are you waiting for then? Get the girl." Heather barely waits for JD to notice Veronica in the vicinity before she books it and heads as far away from the main campus as she can.

2

Heather walks around the woods aimlessly, this time she's mindful to not accidentally edge the boundary into the Forbidden Forest (she learned her lesson from her first year). She finds herself checking up on Mr. Dean when the sun starts to set, for some reason she's stuck thinking about Nali, the dragon she and Duke helped free during their fourth year when it was sentenced to death. The memory burns hot enough to distract her from her horrid day.

"Hey old man."

Mr. Dean grunts, giving her an aloof once over, it doesn't seem like much but she knows it's his own awkward way of showing he cares. He gestures for her to sit but she decides to stand; she learned to always be on her toes whenever visiting Mr. Dean.

"Sorry to hear the news, Hess."

Heather shrugs. "Yeah well, what can I do? And I didn't cheat."

"I know. You're not that crazy."

Heather huffs, but she's glad someone believes her.

He hesitates, saying "look, kid…those games get—"

"I know."

"I just want you to be—"

"I'll be careful. I promise." Heather says, "you don't have to tell me Mr. Dean."

He walks over and wraps her into her comforting hug. His chin rests on the top of her head, and despite how safe she feels, Heather can't find it in herself to hug him back. It feels like a betrayal. Although Jason and his father took her in, Mr. Dean has become somewhat of a…no.

She can't hug him because the last parental hugs have to be left with her mother and father.

"I told you to call me Bud."

"Whatever…old man."

Bud runs a hand through her hair and messes it up like she's some five year old kid.

She allows it but not without a begrudged grunt.

"I'm closing up and heading home soon," Bud scratches at his fuzzy beard. "You mind taking Tesa out for a quick bathroom break?"

Heather perks up. "She's still here? I thought you sent her to Europe when the Ministry came to do an inspection on you."

"The thing is—"

Speaking of the dragon, Tesa chirps gleefully to make herself known. Heather gasps at the dragon head that's trying to push its way through the front door to Bud's cabin.

"She keeps coming back." Bud huffs, pushing on Tesa's snout rough enough to get her moving but not enough to do serious damage. "Back. You know you're not allowed inside."

Nali left behind three eggs when she was sent to Europe but by the time Bud found the eggs it was too late to send them away. The eggs hatched quickly and the trio formed an attachment with Bud, and because Heather and Jason were around all the time the bond extended to them.

"Look at you," Heather says in awe.

Tesa chirps at Heather and nuzzles into her side. When Heather looks at Tesa's rounded iris she can almost tell what Tesa's…

"I missed you too." Heather says suddenly.

Tesa lets out an excited chirp.

Bud leans on the frame of the door. "I wish I could communicate with her and just explain everything. But, this gives me an excuse to visit Europe and check on the rest of the pack. Can you take her further out into the woods? Can't have the other professors questioning the piles of dragon shit around the cabin."

Heather looks at Tesa; she doesn't think Tesa has to use the bathroom, but she seems like she would like some alone time with Heather.

"Sure, we'll be back soon."

They take a walk into the deeper part of the forest. Heather doesn't know if she's a dragon whisperer or something but as she talks about the Goblet of Fire and the mess with her non-existent love life, Tesa actually looks like she's listening. But maybe it's just Heather's way of coping with everything that's going on.

Heather sits on a nearby tree stump. She drops her face in her palms, huffing "and now I'm talking to a dragon who probably doesn't understand a word I'm saying."

Heather drops her face into her knees, voice muffled as she says "I have such a damn hero complex. Why do I feel like it's my job to be the center of all this magical mystery bullshit? I probably did put my own name in there and just blocked it out so I could have a natural reaction when my name was called.

"And Veronica…of all people, I had to get her involved in all this."

Tesa chirps. Something is off about the sound of it, maybe—no. This is just what Heather was talking about, she's making things up when nothing interesting at all is happening around her. Her parents died during the war, a war to protect the future, and for Heather to go around claiming there is unfinished work left makes their deaths in vain.

My parents got rid of the threat.

Tesa's chirp is close to a squawk this time.

The Dark Lord is—

Whoosh.

Heather barely dunks as a ball of fire shoots over her head. She rolls to the ground, landing on all fours as she watches Tesa freak out.

"What's your damage?" Heather snaps, but Tesa hisses at her and shoots another fireball her way.

Heather is too frazzled to make the quick adjustment, when she finally does react it's far too slow and in her haste her foot slips on mud gathered from the previous storm. She flails her arms out to catch herself but a fleck of flame, small but powerful, hits her in the shoulder sending her tumbling backwards.

The water charm gets lost in her throat as a piercing pain shoots through her entire right side.

Heather hears Tesa's squawk one last time before she slips out of control.

Heather is a ghost.

Ghost may be a bit of an exaggeration but it's the only word to describe what's going on. Or maybe, another way to think of this would be when someone has an out of body experience, because Heather can see everything perfectly clear...but, she isn't in control. And her body is nowhere to be found, but somehow she can see through the eyes of the beholder.

She's a ghost.

In the woods—yes, that's where she was—Heather can see someone, a hooded figure, hassling Kurt. Why was he even here?

"Stupid Magical Creatures class," a memory of Kurt, a few moments ago, wandering through the woods comes flashing to focus. "I should've got at least a better grade than that loser. Now I'm gonna have to sit out of the match this weekend."

Kurt stops ranting and turns at the sound of footsteps.

"Oh, it's you." Kurt doesn't seem too interested.

That quickly changes.

"What's wrong with you?" Kurt's face scrunches up, "look, I get that it sucks to have the burden of being in the tournament but you put your own name in the goblet so there's no reason for your face to be so pale, and your eyes—"

A branch snaps under someone's feet.

It's not Kurt.

"Actually, I think I'm gonna go—hey! Let go of me!"

The figure lifts Kurt by the collar of his shirt with a single hand.

"How are you this strong?" Kurt squeaks.

The free hand goes for Kurt's neck and wraps around it like a cobra. The grip tightens until knuckles turn white, until Kurt's feet go limp in the dirt, until Kurt's eyes go dim.

"Stop it!" Heather shouts in the void.

Heather tries to step in but when she jumps at the figure she falls right through it, onto the ground. Heather digs her hands in the dirt and forces herself to her feet. She lunges at the figure again...and again...and again, and doesn't stop until she feels something. Anything.

The next time she lunges at the figure she doesn't go through it, she collides with it's dark body and instead of feeling cold or nauseous, she feels whole. She and the figure become one until a bright light brings her out of this nightmare.

3

Heather wakes up with a shout. Jason, Duke and Mac are there when she wakes up, looking down at her with wide panicked eyes. Duke holds Heather down as she pulls at the blankets that might as well be suffocating her.

"Calm down," Mac says "you're in the Slytherin dormitory lounge. We carried you. Well, we used a floatation spell to carry you."

"What happened?" Heather asks.

Duke snorts, "we should be asking you that question. After your name was announced you went missing for hours, after classes we left to find you but you were passed out in front of the school yard covered in ash when we went looking."

Heather shakes her head and tries to get out of bed. Mac holds her down again. She's surprisingly strong.

"Sit tight," Jason says, lacking his usual fire when Heather gets herself into situations like this. "...we think you hit your head. Wouldn't be surprised if you did, we found you with a burn on your shoulder. Honestly Hessa, what the hell have you been up to?" He berates her, glaring at her with a seriousness that just doesn't suit him.

"I took care of your burn," the voice sends chills down Heather's spine and, low and behold, Veronica Sawyer steps into her field of view. Veronica keeps a fair distance away from the group, her hands are clasped together in front of her. "You shouldn't have any problems getting around but you should give your body time to rest. Physically and mentally."

Heather can't handle all of them in the room at the same time so she says, "I have to check on Mr. Dean—"

"The school's on lockdown." Veronica says.

Heather frowns. "What? Why?"

Jason huffs, "the star player is missing. Kurt didn't show up to one of his extracurricular activities so now the entire school is freaking out." JD looks at her, "are you okay?"

Heather grips the blanket—

She was a ghost…

"I'm fine."

JD takes her word for it and gathers his belongings. "Then I'll be heading out. You ladies have it from here. Hessa, I'll talk to you tomorrow." He doesn't wait for an answer before heads out.

When he's gone Heather whispers, "does he seem off?"

Mac looks nervous to say, "he has a lot going on right now—not that you don't! That lunatic got to you during the match and it's the school's fault for not taking this seriously, and maybe it's our fault for not being there for you. You were literally hit with fire the one time we didn't go after you."

"No one could've predicted this. It's my fault, I shouldn't have left on my own." Heather asks again, "Jason?"

Duke says without worry, "Sawyer rejected him."

Heather hates the joy that almost swims to the surface. Heather swallows and then mutters, "damn, that's cold."

"It's not…" Veronica frowns, "at least I didn't lead him on. I was honest. I just don't…" she trails off nervously at the eyes on her. She turns on her heel abruptly, "I'll get Heather some water."

Duke doesn't even wait until Veronica is out of the room to say "well, he asked her after the tournament reveal and she said yes but then she changed her mind like, a couple minutes ago."

Mac nods, seemingly deep in thought. She says, "Veronica told him she couldn't reciprocate his feelings during all the chaos that was happening here."

"Imagine finding out your sister almost got set on fire and then getting rejected by the love of your life. In the same hour. I'm surprised he hasn't burned the place down—"

Mac hisses, " Duke! "

"Shit. I'm sorry, Hessa." Duke mutters under her breath "I'm just saying it's a hell of a villain origin story."

"Let's give Heather some rest." Mac nods at Veronica as she joins them again with a glass of water as promised. "We're heading out to give her a break. Do you need help sneaking back out?"

Veronica says, "I'll be fine, I actually have to talk to Heather about something."

Duke raises an eyebrow at Heather but doesn't say anything. Heather is too tired to push Veronica away so she stands and leads her to her bedroom after saying goodnight to a curious Duke and Mac.

Heather barely takes a step towards her bed before Veronica hugs her from behind. Heather goes to snap at her, exhausted beyond belief, but then she feels Veronica shaking. Something cruel pulls at Heather's stomach; she casts a wordless silencing spell and the flood gates are opened.

The force of Veronica's hysterical crying causes Heather's knees to buckle out from under her and together they fall to the floor in a heap. Heather hangs her head down, digging her palms into the carpet to do what little she can to keep Veronica and herself from falling over.

"It's my fault."

Heather's breath hitches. "Vee, what are you—"

"I'm the only one who can see the shadow! I should've seen this coming...I should have been there to protect you."

Heather shakes her head, "it wasn't—"

"Don't lie to me." Veronica spits. "I know the shadow has something to do with why you're all burned up—"

Could Tesa see the shadow? Was she just trying to protect me?

"—and I know it's the reason why Kurt is missing, meanwhile you wind up unconscious in front of the school. And I know this is scary but it's even scarier when you try to do this on your own.

"I tried to respect your wishes, I tried staying away because I thought it was the right thing to do. JD is a great guy, and I know you love your brother, and I would never do anything to break the bond you two share, so I tried to forget about you. I even accepted JD's invitation to the Yule Ball—"

Heather tries not to flinch. She doesn't think it works.

"—but then I saw them carrying you in…the skin on your arm was blacker than coal, and I kept calling your name but you wouldn't open your eyes." Veronica drops her chin on Heather's shoulders, Veronica looks across the room to the mirror so she can meet Heather's eyes. "There they are…"

Heather's throat feels dry. "Veronica—"

"So I followed Mac and Duke and told them I could heal you just so I could get close to you, even though it hurt me to see you like that—"

"I'm sorry," maybe it's because of exhaustion, or maybe it's from Veronica's still trembling body, either way Heather feels all the fight leave her.

"I'm okay." Heather says.

Heather turns around and wraps her arms around Veronica and locks her in a solid hug. She whispers into her neck over and over "I'm okay" until Veronica's shoulders stop shaking.

They stay on the floor for a long time, Heather isn't sure how they end up in bed but eventually they fall asleep tucked into one another.

This time Heather knows she's dreaming.

"I'm not a ghost this time," Heather says, snarling at the hooded figure who has been a thorn in her side. "You can't touch me here."

The hooded figure raises a pale hand and tugs at the hood, and unlike every other dream that's ended here—Heather actually sticks around long enough to see the face of her tormentor.

Tom Riddle smiles at her, it's a disgusting little arrogant expression. Suddenly, Heather is hit with the realization that it's a bad sign that he's finally able to reveal his face to her.

Something about this feels too tangible.

"The golden girl."

Heather shakes her head.

"Full of so much potential."

Heather growls, "you're dead! My parents killed you and got rid of all your Horcruxes. There's nothing that could bring you back."

Riddle laughs, "but there is. Don't you remember?"

Heather shivers.

"You made sure of it."

Yes, the baby dragons found their mother eventually and now they all live happily in Europe. Yes, Heather did skip the entire school day because she was heartbroken and freaked out by a slip of paper that holds some big expectations.

Merry Christmas guys and Happy New Year.