Chapter 10

Horribly Spiteful

Subash and Roger exchanged baffled glances. As Perce left with Dumbledore, they too were forced out by the horde of students making way for the door.

"Ridiculous," remarked Subash, watching the Deputy Headmaster and Perce walking afar, still held in their sight.

"Ridiculous?" Roger asked, looking at him.

"Ridiculous," he repeated.

Roger made a face of bored irritation, and pushed him to explain.

"It's a letter, for Merlin's sake, one bloody letter. I was imagining…" and he sighed in hope of letting out his frustration.

"What's wrong with a letter? If he's lucky to have found a letter that reveals Drake's involvement —"

"No, all that's fine — why couldn't he show us if it was just a letter? I thought it was something serious —" he then gestured Roger to remain quiet as someone else approached them. "Hey there, Susane. How have you been doing?" He smiled at her.

Roger too was grinning, but his grin faltered as he saw Susane's face. Her round, olive green eyes had an absent stare embedded, as they rested under the strain of her furrowed brows. Her blond hair had wisps escaping from the knot she tied at the back of her head, and Roger noticed that she was still clutching a spoon in her hand. Her face, normally the colour of subtlest brown, was astonishingly pale. Probably Subash had noticed this too, for he said:

"Um… Susane?"

Susane jumped, and turned her head from the floor as though noticing people for the first time in her life. Then as recognition washed over her, she attempted at a small smile.

"Oh — oh hey, Subash, Roger." She said, looking at both of them. Roger widened his smile again, yet thoughtful.

"What's up?" Asked Subash, stopping to look at her more closely.

Susane shook her head, trying to look casual, an effort which was effortlessly seen through by the other two. "Nothing, why, Subash?"

"You're just —"

"It's nothing, I just brought a spoon from the table by mistake. I'm going to keep it back," she said, and gave a shaky laugh that was quite unlike her own. She had a loud, sharp laughter that was notorious for reverberating all around the room. Subash and Roger were frowning now.

"If you say so… anyway, have you seen Jake lately?" He asked, glancing at Roger, who shook his head. It then struck Roger that Jake hadn't joined them for breakfast.

"Jake? No, I haven't seen Jake. Why do you ask? He hasn't come for breakfast?" She asked, frowning again, her eyes flicking between the two.

"No, he hasn't, actually. Don't worry, he'll probably be in the common room," assured Subash, then pulled Roger away, leaving Susane with her frown.

"Where is he, anyway?" Roger asked, half-glancing at Subash. The latter shook his head.

"I was telling the truth, mate. I really don't know."

Roger nodded as they made their way to their common room, muttering "Pure-blood," as the password.

"What's up, kids?" Said a voice. The malice in the voice is what made the both of them jump. They looked around, confused, until one chair slowly turned, revealing it's burly occupant.

He had a threatening, long face, stretched as though to fit his pointed chin, and a single shining scar traced his left cheek, in a neat straight line. He had eyes of the darkest blue, and hair cut so short that it gave an impression of his head precisely painted black. He had a straight nose, and something stirred deep within Subash's memory at its sight — though it was too deep to grasp. His thin lips curved into a crooked smile seeing the flicker of foreboding in their eyes.

"Um — n-nothing, we were just —" Subash mumbled, tugging Roger by the sleeve. Roger had just tightened his fingers around his wand in his pocket.

Crossing his legs, still seated on the chair, he let out a harsh laugh, revealing his crooked teeth. Roger shivered at the unexpected sound, and made the mistake of drawing his wand.

There was a flash of red light, and Roger was thrown back to hit the stone wall, his wand flying out of his hand, while Subash stood rooted to his spot. It was so sudden that neither of the two first years expected it. The other occupant of their room had his wand drawn, his head tilted to one side, and a malicious smile on his face. Subash saw that he had caught Roger's wand.

"I think you won't be foolish enough to do that?" He said, as Subash's hand went unconsciously to his pocket. He immediately dropped his hand, as though it was roughly pulled away, and faced the floor, and clenched his fist in an attempt to stop his fingers from trembling. His eyes kept darting to the doors of the dormitory or the common room, hoping desperately that someone would intrude.

"My name is Garold Selwyn." He said, softly, with a smirk. Subash looked up at him, and immediately knew where he saw that straight nose. It was almost unbelievably identical to Robin's. He breathed in sharply as he realised this, and Garold's smirk widened. "You're fast. Yes, Robin is my brother. A disgraceful, disgusting and worthless one at that," he finished, his nose crinkling in disgust.

He then went back to sit down. "I hate half-bloods in Slytherin, which is supposed to be the House for the purest," he said, with a face wiped off of any expression, but a voice that carries great venom. Subash shuddered again. Some voice in his head told him to maintain his silence.

"Ruddy filth, besmirching the world of —"

The door opened just then, and Subash almost sighed in relief. He released his protesting fingers from the clench, and turned to see who it was.

"What's going on here?" Perce asked, glancing over from the sadistic grin on Garold's face, the helpless smile on Subash's, and to Roger's unconscious body, raising his eyebrows. Subash just noticed the corner of a paper disappearing into Perce's robes as he pushed it in.

"I was just lecturing them — well, him, considering one is knocked out — on how the Slytherin House should be purified. I think he almost agrees with me," said Garold, turning his gaze to Subash, with a smirk that conveyed what it needed to. "Don't you, Shastri?"

Subash muttered something inaudible.

"What's that?" Asked Garold, his smirk widening again.

"I —" Subash breathed in, glancing at Perce's confused face, before turning to look straight into Garold's cold eyes, "I don't!" He blurted, not dropping his gaze.

Garold's face twisted as his fury rose, along with his wand. A jet of light escaped out of its tip, just as Subash was beginning to raise his in defence. But just then there was another flash of light, and Garold's spell rebounded with force, crashing into a bookshelf. His eyes widened, as he turned to the caster of the shield, who had his wand raised and a frown creasing his forehead.

"Leave them alone," said Perce, his voice surprisingly calm.

Subash had his mouth open, his eyes bolting from Perce's amused face to Garold's enraged expression. The older of them raised his wand again, shooting a jet of white light, which was blocked again by Perce, bringing but another small frown on his face. Garold was about to cast another, when the door burst open a second time, admitting three other Slytherins into the common room.

"Garold?" Asked a deep voice, which belonged to the one in the middle.

Garold's sight moved from Perce to the students who entered, and he gave a grunt of annoyance. He then walked towards Perce with a threatening demeanor, baring his teeth. Perce held his ground, and didn't back off.

"I'm not forgetting this," he murmured, hardly audible, as he walked towards the others.

"What happened —" began one, but he was interrupted.

"Move!" Garold ordered, and none of the three spoke again as they trotted out with him.

As soon as they left, Subash let out a shaky sigh, in relief. Then he walked over to Roger, who was still slumped near the stone wall, and crouched beside him. Perce made his way there too.

"Disarmed, right?" Asked Perce.

"Ye — how'd you know?" Subash turned, staring at Perce.

Perce smiled, and produced Roger's wand. Subash gaped, staring from Perce to the wand, speechless. Perce allowed himself to explain.

"Took it from him when he came near me," he said. "Why else would Roger's wand be with him, while the owner lay unconscious?"

Subash nodded absently.

Right then, Roger stirred, his hands still resorting to jerky movements.

"W't happ'n'd?" He asked, looking at the two.

"Are — are you alright?" Asked Subash, while Perce handed his wand back to him. Roger nodded, rubbing his head.

"Ow —" he cried, as his hand touched the sore part on his head. "Don't worry, I'm alright. And thank you," he nodded at Perce, who grinned back.

"He's R-Robin's brother," said Subash. Perce didn't fail to notice the stutter. "Not a bit like him. He's another p-pure-blood maniac." Subash wiped his forehead, and let out another sigh.

"Yes, he told me once that he had a brother with an eggplant for a head, exept it was rotten," he said, impassively. Roger and Subash chuckled.

Roger was helped onto his feet, and taken to the dormitory. Perce was posed the question about the whereabouts of Jake, but he affirmed that he had no idea.

They began dragging out textbooks for their classes for the day, with Subash letting out a groan as he learnt they had double potions. He simply got baffled by all the spells, the right number of stirs, the correct flame, the order of the ingredients, the way to chop the ingredients — he tried as hard as he could, but he never got the results as others did, much less than Perce. Perce did not have even the slightest difficulty in Potions. He always got the right texture, the right colour, and the rather ridiculous smile from Slughorn, though nobody mentioned it.

"Oh I almost forgot! What happened to the letter, Perce?" Roger asked. Subash grinned widely, and turned to Perce expectantly.

Perce smiled brightly, and pulled out the paper from his pocket. His two friends noticed that the paper was covered in fold marks, as though it had been crumbled. Nevertheless, Perce could feel the excitement building in the other two as he unfolded the letter. They gave each other a high-five, and sat on the beds.

"Yes, it's exciting, isn't it?" He chuckled. "As I thought, Dumbledore thought he saw no harm in telling you lot." He grinned again, as the glowing looks on their faces. And then he began reading.

"Dear Drake,

"I will not beat about the bush. I want to tell you that I sympathise you deeply. I feel your pain. You shouldn't be suffering this way when you deserve every bit of friendship and happiness that he does. You know who I'm talking about — Percival Michael Jordan.

"You might ask me why I'm worrying about you. It is because I have been in such a situation. That's why I say 'I feel your pain'. It's really unfair, isn't it? People fawning around him because he learnt a few tricks with his wand, and learnt a few spells more than the others. And they start distancing themselves from you because you voice your opinion, about what a greedy fool he is.

"You want a small treat of revenge. So do I, through you. Everyone knows about the both of your strife. You can use it to your advantage. Light a fire to your own bed, and make it look like it was done by Perce. You know you can do it. I will help you out.

"Do not worry about who I am. I will reveal it with time."

While Perce was reading the letter, there were many indignant cries and protests, and their faces underwent many changes, from excited initially to utterly incredulous. Perce did not stop until the end. Subash and Roger gaped at him for a while after he finished. This amount of spite was overwhelming. It took a few minutes for them to take it in, then Subash turned to Perce again.

"That's — horrible…"

"Well, it's such things that give a bad name to this House. I really don't think a Gryffindor could have thought up something like this, do you?" Asked Perce.

Both of them shook their head. Perce sighed. "I got it on Christmas Eve," he said. "While I was strolling in the common room."

There was a silence for a while, except the rustle of a page, or the thump of a book, as they continued throwing books into their bags or on the bed based on their necessity for the day.

"But it's awful, isn't it?" Asked Roger after a while, looking at the other two. Both of them nodded, giving murmurs of assent. He sighed again.

After a while, they flung the bags onto their shoulders, and headed out of the common room, with Roger demonstrating in a rather gruesome manner what he would do to Drake for this.

Both of them were quite shocked when Perce violently shook his head.

"You're going the wrong way, Roger. Drake is not who we are after," he said, smiling grimly at them.

Roger paused, slowly realising the truth of the matter, along with Subash. 'How could they be so blind?' Thought Perce. Roger almost laughed. It was not Drake after all! It was Mr. Anonymous. And it was exactly this that made the problem complicated.

A/N Thank y'all for reading! There are a few links in my profile which I've updated, please do check them out! Moreover, a very happy birthday to the Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter, and the creator of this magical world, J.K. Rowling! For those who will be reading this later, this chapter was posted on July 31st, 2020. Do give your suggestions and feedback! I love you all!