I was really excited to write this chapter. I've been imagining one of the scenes since the last story (I'm sure you'll figure out which scene).
Really long note at the end, please read.
It was a new day of school, with new classes and more homework. Since it was OWLs year, the professors seemed to be assigning more homework than usual. Ron and Harry spent their lunch in the library attempting to finish their Potions assignment.
Harry's temper hadn't improved since the day before. During Care of Magical Creatures, Malfoy and his lackeys were making fun of Hagrid again, setting off Harry's temper…again.
That evening, Harry walked to Umbridge's office and knocked on her door. "Come in" Her sugary-sweet voice said through the door.
He entered the office and looked around. He had been in this office several times. Each Professor decorated it differently. Lockhart had several painting of himself on the walls, Professor Lupin's was sparse save for the Grindylow tank and books, and Professor Moody's was filled with looking glasses. Professor Umbridge's office, however, was unlike any he had ever seen. The walls were pink and every surface was draped in lacey covers and cloths. There were several vases of dried flowers, each residing on its own doily, and on one of the walls was a collection of ornamental plates, each decorated with a large technicolor kitten wearing a different bow around its neck.
"Good evening Mr. Potter"
Harry started and looked around. He had not noticed her at first because she was wearing a luridly flowered set of robes that blended only too well with the tablecloth on the desk behind her. "Evening," Harry said stiffly.
"Well, sit down," she said, pointing toward a small table draped in lace beside which she had drawn up a straight-backed chair. A piece of blank parchment lay on the table, apparently waiting for him.
"You're going to be doing some lines for me this evening Mr. Potter." She said.
Harry nodded and moved to grab his quill from his bag.
"No, you will not be using your quill." She said. "You're going to be using a rather special one of mine." She smiled at him and placed a long black feather quill on the desk in front of him.
"Now, I want you to write 'I must not tell lies'"
Harry held in a sigh and clenched the quill in his hand. "How many times?"
"Oh, as long as it takes for the message to sink in," said Umbridge sweetly and began walking around her office.
"Professor, you haven't given me any ink." Harry said.
"Oh, you won't be needing any ink." She replied.
And so, Harry began his lines. When the quill touched the parchment, a sharp pain went through his hand. The ink was a shining red, a very familiar color but Harry couldn't place where he had seen it. The pain in his hand grew. He looked over and gasped as the words he had just written etched themselves into the back of his hand — yet even as he stared at the shining cut, the skin healed over again, leaving the place where it had been slightly redder than before but quite smooth.
Harry looked around at Umbridge. She was watching him, her wide, toad-like mouth stretched in a smile. "Yes?"
"Nothing," said Harry quietly.
He looked back at the parchment, placed the quill upon it once more, wrote 'I must not tell lies', and felt the searing pain on the back of his hand for a second time; once again the words had been cut into his skin, once again they healed over seconds later. And on it went. Again and again Harry wrote the words on the parchment in what he soon came to realize was not ink, but his own blood. And again and again the words were cut into the back of his hand, healed, and then reappeared the next time he set quill to parchment.
Darkness fell outside Umbridge's window. Harry did not ask when he would be allowed to stop. He did not even check his watch. He knew she was watching him for signs of weakness and he was not going to show any, not even if he had to sit here all night, cutting open his own hand with this quill.
"Come here," she said, after what seemed hours. He stood up. His hand was stinging painfully. When he looked down at it he saw that the cut had healed, but that the skin there was red raw.
"Hand," she said. He extended it. She took it in her own. Harry repressed a shudder as she touched him with her thick, stubby fingers. "Tut, tut, I don't seem to have made much of an impression yet," she said, smiling. "Well, we'll just have to try again tomorrow evening, won't we? You may go." Harry left her office without a word. The school was quite deserted; it was surely past midnight. He walked slowly up the corridor then, when he had turned the corner and was sure that she would not hear him, broke into a run.
When he returned to the dormitory, he wrapped his hand before falling into his bed, exhausted.
/
The next morning Harry considered telling his parents about Umbrdige's detention but thought better of it. Their last call was short, something about SHIELD being infested with Nazi spies or something. Hermione and Ron found out by chance and urged him to speak with Professor Dumbledore. Harry wasn't about to do that either. The Headmaster has been avoiding him the entire year, he probably doesn't care anymore.
"What about your sister?" Hermione asked. "She can help you"
Harry's eyes hardened and he shook his head. "I'm fine. I don't care about a few scratches."
"They aren't a few scratches Harry" Hermione hissed. "She's using a Blood Quill. Those things are illegal!"
"Lay off Hermione" Harry snapped. He was already in a foul mood because he had to miss Quidditch tryouts because of these stupid detentions.
"We're just trying to help Harry" Ron said.
"I don't need it" He replied and stormed out of the room.
/
Aileen appeared inside Umbridge's office. The Professor was currently patrolling the corridors, so she had a few minutes at least. She looked around and saw a white cat disappear from its plate and smirked.
Aileen opened a few desk drawers, looking for anything of interest. She doesn't find anything until the top drawer, where the Blood Quill sits on top of a stack of parchment. She grins and picks it up.
"This dreadful thing won't harm another soul." She whispered. She ran her finger along the rachis of the feather, turning the lower part of each barb a deep red before returning to its original color. She returned the quill to the drawer, just as Umbridge entered the room.
"And just who might you be?" She asked sweetly. "You don't look like a student."
"Congratulations, your eyes work." Aileen replied.
Umbridge frowned, "You are trespassing; I ask that you leave immediately."
"I am not leaving until I do what I came here for."
"And what is that?"
Aileen snapped her fingers and rings of white magic appeared around Umbridge, tying her in place.
"What are you doing!?" She shrieked.
"Ending you before you harm anyone else" Aileen hissed, unsheathing a blade the length of her forearm.
Umbridge's mouth opened in a silent scream as Aileen's blade rushed toward her.
However, right before Aileen's blade pierced flesh, Umbridge disappeared.
Confused, Aileen looked around at the empty room. She made to leave when a chain of light appeared and wound itself around Aileen's wrists, pulling her sideways and onto the floor.
Aileen gasped, looking up she saw a very familiar, very powerful woman. She was tall – around six foot, with soft curves and long, golden blonde hair that fell in soft waves. Her eyes were dark, taking in everything around her. She wore a white dress with a gold breastplate. On her head was a delicate crown of leaves.
Aileen quickly got to her knees and bowed her head, "Lady Verdandi"
The woman returned a shallow bow, "Lady Aileen. It has been some time since my sisters and I have seen you. You have been busy."
Aileen nodded. "Is that why you are here?"
Verdandi nodded, "You are tangling the threads. My sisters and I do not like it when someone tries to take fate into their own hands. It is a slight we cannot ignore."
Aileen blushed, "I meant no disrespect My Lady. I am only trying to help my brother."
Verdandi nodded, "An honorable quest, but you have changed things that were not meant to be changed."
Aileen looked away, "I have only destroyed one Horcrux."
"And you will not be destroying anymore. Nor will you be killing that woman."
Aileen's eyes widened, "But Lady Verdandi, she deserves this. For everything she has done!"
"She is still useful." Verdandi said. "Without her, who will come to find the pendant? You have not found it."
Aileen looked down.
"Let time run its course." Verdandi said. "When this woman is no longer useful, then you may do with her what you wish."
Aileen looked as if she wanted to protest, but one hard look from the Norn silenced her.
"You are young and foolhardy. Something celestials usually aren't. Your human father is to blame for that."
Aileen lips twitched upwards slightly.
"Tangle our threads again Celestial" Verdandi's dark eyes connected with Aileen's silver, "and your fate may take an unexpected turn."
"I will not stand by and watch as my brother's life spirals downward." Aileen protested, tugging at the chain around her writs.
Verdandi's eyes softened, "There are still things you can change without tangling the threads young one."
Aileen stopped struggling. "What do you mean by that?"
Verdandi chuckled softly, "My sisters and I are not completely heartless." The Norn tugged on the chain until Aileen was standing. "Now, for your slight, you will be confined to your world until we see fit for you to leave. You may have no contact with your family. My sisters and I hope that time with your kind will help you. It is unfit for a queen to be so reckless."
"But –" Aileen turned to look at the desk, where the Blood Quill was kept.
"Do not worry young queen. Anything you have changed up to this point will remain."
"And I will be able to help once you permit me to return?"
"Only what is necessary."
"Again, what do you mean by that?"
Verdandi smiled, "You should use your time to figure that out."
Aileen frowned, but nodded. She knew there was no going against a Norn.
Verdandi smiled softly and they both disappeared from the room.
/
That night Harry went in for his second day of detention. The wound on his hand had already healed, you could only read the words at a certain angle. He knocked on the door and heard the sweet voice of Professor Umbridge allowing him entry.
When he opened the door, the desk was already set up with the Blood Quill sitting innocently on the parchment.
"We shall continue where you left off yesterday evening Mr. Potter." She said and motioned for him to sit down.
He steeled himself with a deep breath before taking his place on the chair.
"The same words as before, if you please."
Harry nodded and began writing. Unlike last time, however, when the quill touched the paper, there was no pain in his hand. As he wrote his lines, the ink also looked slightly different. It was a deeper red and not as shiny as it had been the night before. Harry looked at his hand and was not surprised to see the lines etching themselves onto his skin; he was surprised, however, that there was still no pain. Not wanting to call attention to it, he continued to write until Umbridge stopped him. Like the night before, she asked to see his hand which had deep cuts in it.
"That looks much better Mr. Potter" She said as she examined the wound. "I think the message is finally starting to sink in don't you?"
Harry didn't say anything.
"I will see you tomorrow"
Harry quickly left the office and ran to the Gryffindor common room. When he got to his dormitory, he got out the bandages again and went to clean his hand. Surprisingly, the blood was gone. His hand looked exactly like it did before he went to the detention.
Harry frowned, but decided to ignore it and go to bed.
/
The next day was much like the last; Hermione and Ron were urging him to get help, classes were stressful, and Harry's temper seemed to be getting shorter.
In the hopes of clearing his head and calming down, Harry decided to go for a walk by Hagrid's hut.
As he made his way over, hoping the friendly giant was finally back from his trip, he heard a high pitched keening noise. When he looked up, he noticed the black skeleton-like horses from the carriages flying into the Forbidden Forest. Curious, he entered the forest, hoping to find out what exactly those creatures were.
He came to a clearing where several of them were walking about. Harry didn't get the chance to look at them at the carriages, but now that he could, they were surprisingly graceful creatures. He walked further into the herd and noticed someone else was here. He recognized her from the train, Luna Lovegood.
"Hello, Harry Potter" She said, continuing to pet the beast in front of her.
"Hello Luna Lovegood." He replied. He looked to the ground and noticed her feet were bare. "Aren't your feet cold?"
"A bit. Unfortunately, all of my shoes seemed to have mysteriously disappeared" She leaned closer to him, "I suspect Nargles are behind it."
Not knowing what a Nargle was, and not really wanting to find out, Harry nodded.
He looked back at the beasts, walking around the clearing. "What are they?"
"Thestrals" Luna replied. "They're quite gentle really, but people avoid them because they're a bit…" She trailed off as she noticed a baby threstral.
"Different" Harry finished as he followed the other girl to the baby.
"Why can't anyone else see them?" Harry asked.
"They can only be seen by people who have seen death." Luna replied.
"So…you've known someone who's died."
Luna nodded, "My mum. She was quite an extraordinary witch, but she liked to experiment, and one day one of her spells went badly wrong. I was nine."
"I'm sorry for your loss." Harry said.
"Yes, it was rather horrible. I do feel very sad about it sometimes, but I've got Dad."
They were close to the baby thestral, who was looking at them curiously. Luna looked inside her satchel and pulled out an apple.
"We both believe you by the way" Luna said.
"Believe me?"
"That You-Know-Who is back, and you fought him, and the Ministry and the Prophet are conspiring against you and Dumbledore."
"Oh, thank you. Seems like you're the only ones that do."
"I don't think that's true." She said as she rolled the apple to the baby thestral, who merely sniffs the fruit before looking back at them. "But I suppose that's how he wants you to feel."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, if I were You-Know-Who, I would want you to feel cut off from everyone else. Because, if it's just you alone, you're not as much of a threat." She smiled at him before retrieving a raw piece of meat from her bag and tossing it to the baby thestral who quickly ate it.
On the way out of the forest, Harry turned to Luna, "Thank you, for publishing my dad's picture in your magazine."
"It was quite beautiful, even the strange symbol at the bottom." Luna smiled.
"That's his company logo. Stark Industries. He's trying to come into the Wizarding World. After seeing the Ministry he and my Papa are considering taking over." He chuckled. "I told him the world already has one maniac trying to take it over, we don't need another one."
"Your dads sound nicer than You-Know-Who" Luna said.
Harry chuckled, "My Papa said the same thing."
Okay, I don't know if Verdandi is the Norn of the present but I'm using her anyway. Also, since I couldn't find a picture of reference I liked enough, imagine her as a mixture of Galadriel from LOTR and Frigga (Loki's mom). If you haven't noticed, elves are a big part of my OC's looks ;p
Also, several of you have mentioned how Loki and Tony would react. It's true, they would react very badly and rush in to save Harry. However, in the 5th book Harry was going through a lot of teen angst so I don't see him wanting to ask for help a lot (that will be a big thing in this story). He knows he should tell his parents, but is too angry at everything to actually do it (at least that's how I view it).
I know some of you won't like it.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed and review please!