Chapter 10: Fourth Year
Calli suppressed her irritation upon learning the news about the idiotic tournament. Another year, more people, more strain. Honestly could this school be more of a disappointment?
Durmstrang and Beauxbaton students arrived on cue a few weeks later. The hubbub didn't excite Calli. She just wanted to have quiet to read, classes that focused on the subject, and maybe a visit to Hogsmeade that didn't make her want to scream.
Instead, she watched as a spell was created around the Goblet of Fire to force the age restriction and far too many underage witches and wizards believe that they could fool one of the greatest wizards alive. Shaking her head, she couldn't understand the fascination. A tournament didn't prove anyone's worth. Skill and knowledge did.
When the time came for the Goblet to spew out the competitors' names, she brought a book. Who cared who was picked? From the hushed crowd and fervent looks, everyone but her. Her book was abandoned when the Goblet did the unthinkable and released a fourth name. Harry Potter. Honestly could the boy catch a break for once? The uproar was deafening.
She scoffed at the students who screamed he had cheated. How, she wondered, when every other attempt by more advanced students failed? Harry was impressive in some ways, but he just couldn't have accomplished it.
She glanced around the room and her eyes landed on Professor Moody. She'd hardly paid attention to him in class, not after that horrific display of the Unforgiveable Curses. People had been leaving her alone, ignoring her and the horrors of her parents. Until that demonstration, that is. When Longbottom had offered the Cruciatus Curse and Moody demonstrated it, the class finally understood what her parents had done. Seeing Longbottom pale and look as tortured as the spider that was feeling the effects, she knew that everyone would equate both to her.
Since then, she hadn't really paid attention to Mad-Eye. Not that she'd focused on his person before, but now, focusing on him she saw his visage shift. One moment he was the craggy old man with the eye that roved, but the next he was a younger shifty looking man. Clearly Polyjuice, like when Harry and Ron had interrogated Draco. Why? Did Dumbledore know? Was this some kind of planted phony that the staff was aware of?
None of her ideas made much sense. And she could share them with no one anyway. Or could she?
Severus found himself agreeing with Mad-Eye Moody of all people. There was no way that Harry Potter had fooled the Goblet. He ran afoul of Minerva by suggesting that the approach the problem with a wait and see mentality. Using poor Potter as bait, she was appalled by the thought. How else would they find out who was pulling the strings?
His mood followed him to his office. It was late, so he was surprised to see Calligenia Lestrange waiting for him. She never asked to speak to him alone. In fact, she rarely spoke at all outside of class as far as he'd noticed. Why would she? No one hid their aversion to her and her cousin tried even his patience.
"Miss Lestrange, it's rather late to be out of your dormitory, isn't it?" He sounded softer than normal, but she was so different from the other students.
Standing with better posture than most adults, he could still see her mother, but something else was there as well. A vulnerability that she never showed in class.
"I'm sorry, Professor." She said, making eye contact for the first time since her sorting. "I need to speak to you. I saw something tonight and I need to tell someone."
He was intrigued. Had she seen the culprit? He opened his door and invited her to sit. He took his own seat and nodded for her to continue.
"During the ceremony earlier, after Harry Potter's name was announced," she stopped, collecting her thoughts. "It may be nothing, but Professor Moody-" She wasn't sure if she should continue.
"Miss Lestrange, please continue." Severus offered a comforting smile, while inside he was tied in knots. Mad-Eye the culprit? Dumbledore would never believe it.
She swallowed and continued. "His face, the way he looked changed, it shifted." She was still staring him in the eye and he knew she was holding something back, but she was clearly finished sharing.
He contemplated her words and knew he had to phrase his question properly to get the answer he needed. "Shifted how?"
She considered how best to explain. She settled for the simplest that she could come up with. "One moment I saw an older man with a magical eye, the next I saw a younger man who seemed shifty."
Severus was confused. Did she see something real, a glamour of sorts? Mad-Eye was notoriously paranoid, could this be a way he kept enemies at bay? Or had she had a vision, a premonition of something coming?
"Thank you for telling me this, Miss Lestrange." He stood and walked her from the office. "I'll accompany you back to the common room. You don't want to be caught out of bed after curfew."
They walked in silence. Severus wanted to assure her that he had listened to her, but he needed to weigh her information before acting if action was required. Instead he stopped outside the entrance to his House's rooms, he offered her a rare smile and bid her goodnight.
"Goodnight, Professor." She answered, entering the common room with a brief smile.
The tournament was the only topic of conversation. Animosity toward Harry was high. Even his own best friend sided with the dissenters. Calli felt for him, but knew he'd rise above. She had learned early not to bet against Harry.
Refusing one of the terrible buttons that Draco was passing out, she spent time reading and doing her classwork. She was dreading one of the traditional tournament activities. The Yule Ball. Could they concoct a worse torture than raging adolescent witches and wizards bumping against one another in a vague idea of how to dance? Pansy was beside herself with glee that Draco had asked her. Calli held in the knowledge that he'd been turned down by the three Beauxbaton beauties he'd asked first. She had warned her cousin to not even consider thrusting one of his minions on her as a partner. She'd dress in the robes her aunt had helped her choose and attend. That would be the extent of her participation.
The dance, once upon her, was as boring as she'd feared. She finally decided a walk in the cool moonlight would be far better than the heat of so many enthusiastic party goers. The brisk air proved welcoming. She noticed her Head of House making the rounds to rouse necking students and removing points at an alarming rate. Giving a slight tilt of her head as they passed, she continued on, unmolested because she was alone and had no one following her for a tryst.
As she grew chilly, she turned back. Taking note that Durmstrang's headmaster had joined Professor Snape. She caught the foreign man touching his arm where she knew Deatheaters wore their mark. Calli watched as her professor shook his head angrily and brushed the other man off. She entered the school and made her way to bed.
Getting ready for bed, as she put on her pajamas and climbed into her soft bed and drew the curtains. She welcomed the darkness because she had to think about the restless nights she'd been enduring due to the heightened burning in her veins. She'd grown used the the steady burn and had been able to ignore it for the most part, but she wondered if the force of it changing had anything to do with the Deatheaters marching and the fear she saw in the face of Durmstrang's headmaster.
Once Severus had shrugged Karkaroff off, he continued on his route around the gardens. He'd noticed the mark darkening. He did shower after all rumors be damned. It hadn't burned, he wasn't back, yet.
He'd informed Dumbledore as soon as he'd noticed the change. That was the deal. A traitor to his former cause, he'd promised anything for Lily.
He'd seen Calli, alone in the cool air. Such a solitary life for such an interesting girl. She was dressed in a blood red set of robes and her long dark hair was piled high on her head. Honestly, he thought, she deserves as much attention as Granger received for cleaning up and attending with Krum. The fascinations of teenage wizards would never make sense to him.
Shaking his head he returned to the warmth of the castle. Another teacher would take his place. Stalking to his quarters near his young charges, his mind returned to Calligenia Lestrange. Such a different teenager from his experience teaching. Unlike her cousin Draco, never stirring the pot of discontent, never making waves or bragging about her inheritance, and yet, still more feared. She had shown none of the outward signs of cruelty that other students had. Strange that she'd be so harshly judged by her peers solely on her parents' actions when this school was chocked full of his cohorts offspring.
He sighed as he sat before the fireplace in his quarters. School wasn't fair, nor was real life, but he couldn't help but feel that Calli had been handed the worst possible card. And yet, he considered, she didn't allow it to phase her. Not where anyone could see. He wondered how alone she must feel.
He knew Lucius and Narcissa from before and as their son and niece's Head of House he still dealt with them. Lucius' interest as far as he could see was on whether Draco rose above his fellow students. Not through talent, but through wealth and familial name. As for Calli, both of her guardians asked for updates on her obvious talent. They didn't care if she were popular, or if she had any friends. Draco could serve as the bright, shining face of their family. Calli, it was clear through the letters and rare visits, would be the power. Sad, that she didn't have any allies, even among her own family.
Perhaps he needed to show her more attention. He'd always scoffed at the other teachers for coddling their students, but Calligenia was a special case. She needed to know that she wasn't alone. Not in this school, nor in the world. After all, he had personal knowledge of how that isolation felt, especially in the home you were raised in.
The final task was complete. Calli was as shocked as her fellow students. Shocked and terrified. During the maze task, she'd felt something. Her blood, always burning, flared with a fire that made her struggle to stay seated and quiet. She fought against the pain and searched for something to take her mind off of it.
Her eyes had found Professor Moody. He was making rounds outside the maze along with other teachers, but what caught her attention was that he kept stopping outside the maze, as though he could see through it. She recalled that he probably could, his magical eye could see students misbehaving behind him after all. Watching him, she noticed that the way he held his wand changed at certain points. Clearly he was casting some type of spell. She couldn't tell what, but after a few minutes of watching a distress signal lights up the sky. Moody clearly was sending curses into the maze, but for what purpose? Having Hogwarts win this damn tournament couldn't be that important.
Twice the distress flares shot up, both Fleur and Krum were eliminated, so perhaps she was right. Moody was clearing the field for Hogwarts. But why? That trophy wasn't so amazing to cheat this way. As she was attempting to fight through the blossoming pain shooting through her veins all the way to her marrow, she almost missed the hush that had fallen around her.
Below, at the entrance of the maze was Harry Potter, the trophy, and the body of Cedric Diggory. Her pain was bearable now, back to the normal burn. Seeing Harry below, screaming and fighting against anyone who tried to take Diggory's body away, she knew whatever had happened in the maze was going to change everything. She glanced at the assembled teachers and realized that between her pain and the commotion of Harry's return, she'd lost sight of Moody. He was gone. Nowhere among the other teachers or even in the stands.
Letting the burn still coursing through her veins recede from her mind, she wondered where the teacher had disappeared to and what it had to do with her.
Severus was stunned. When his mark burned, he had nearly fallen to his knees. So many years without the call and he'd grown complacent. Finding out that Mad-Eye had been imprisoned and impersonated by Barty Crouch Jr had taken his place made him remember Calli's warning. He'd flickered before her. How had she managed to see through Polyjuice Potion?
Hours after showing his newly burning mark to a useless Minister of Magic, he was returning to the Dark Lord's side. Dumbledore asked and he knew he was uniquely qualified for the task. Karkaroff had disappeared, clearly terrified of the burning mark. Barty had been subjected to the Dementor's Kiss. The Minister was putting on blinders, refusing to see what was right in front of his face. As the spy he chose to be, back into the fold he went.
His mark was the only ticket he needed to find his former Master. And in a flash he was kneeling before him.
"Severus," the voice above him hissed. "Welcome Home."
Calli sat in the great hall listening as her fears, from the gossip flowing around her since the final task, were confirmed. Voldemort was back. Her parents' release from Azkaban would follow. Of that she was certain. She had no answers for why her blood boiled within her body. No answers about what any of this meant for her future. She knew nothing. And for a girl who thrived on knowledge, this hurt more than even her blood rebelling against her veins.
She was surprised when Professor Snape summoned her to his office. He sat behind his desk as she took the seat she had occupied before. When she'd offered information no one had acted on.
"Miss Lestrange," he greeted her. "I wanted to thank you for coming to me this year with what you noticed about Professor Moody. I'm sure you're wondering why I didn't act on the information. I assure you, I did. I informed the Headmaster, but he felt that we were mistaken."
Calli was shocked. Dumbledore always seemed so powerful and fair. Did his friendship with the former Auror cloud his judgement, or was it the fact that the warning came from her? Surely at his age with the wisdom it allowed, he would know that anyone could be corrupted.
"I also wanted to offer you something I rarely give to my students." He felt uncomfortable when her eyes locked on his. He felt like she was looking straight through him. "Miss Lestrange, Calli, I want you to know that you can come to me with anything. Concerns, fears, anything you don't feel comfortable sharing with your peers or family. I am willing to listen." She said nothing so he went on. "I know how it feels to be isolated. And it isn't your fault, but no one seems to care."
Calli knew he was being sincere. Professor Snape, more known for sarcasm and briskness, was offering to be her confidant. Biting her lip she finally nodded.
"I do keep to myself, sir. It's just-" She stopped gathering her thoughts and feelings. "No one understands or would understand how it feels to be the daughter of people who the majority think are monsters, and the rest idolize." She smiled sadly, allowing her cool veneer to drop. "Not even my 'family' understands."
Severus nodded his understanding. And she continued. "Voldemort's back." She heard his sharp intake of breath at her casual use of the Dark Lord's given name, but went on. "He'll release them-my parents. And I don't know what that means for me." She was fearful, he realized, scared of her own parents.
"Calli," his voice was quiet, she was frightened and he wanted to reassure her. "You needn't fear your parents' return. You're their child. They'll be happy-" he realized the only time he'd ever known Bellatrix to show happiness was when she was inflicting pain on someone, so he changed tracks. "They'll be away from captivity. You won't be a target for them."
She raised an eyebrow. "Even you, Professor, know and fear them." She didn't wait for him to argue or agree. "Would you want to live with them?" His lips pinched at the thought. "My aunt remembers my birth, and vividly recalls my arrival at her home after their arrests." She knew because she'd seen it through Narcissa's eyes. She saw her parents' disdain at her birth. Saw that even as a mere babe she'd learned to provide for herself. Letting her Professor the access he so wanted on the first meeting of their eyes as a first year, she watched as he saw it too.
"Do you still think I shouldn't fear my parents?" She asked as he forcefully pulled out of her mind. "They don't want me, Professor. Do you think years locked away with their thoughts Hellbent on revenge will suddenly change their indifference to love?"
Severus hadn't known how deeply the neglect and isolation had burrowed. Her own mother-even he felt sick at the realization that Bellatrix was worse than everyone knew. This poor girl before him felt more trauma in her first year of life than his abusive father had inflicted on him his whole childhood.
He stood from his chair and walked to the chair beside hers. Reseating himself awkwardly in the more uncomfortable chair, he offered her his hand. The most contact he could allow himself with a female student alone in his office. It took a few moments for her to decide to accept it. Feeling some sense of relief that he could offer her this much comfort, he gave her small hand a slight squeeze.
"It won't be easy, Calli, but I'm always available for you to confide in. Even during breaks-feel free to send me letters." He sighed. This poor broken teenager needed so much more to break free of the pain. "I'll try to give you what comfort I'm able, and as much advice as I can." Looking into her dark eyes, he told her the most important thing. "You aren't alone, Calli."
Calli felt her heart thud happily in her chest. Who would have guessed that her much wished for source of comfort would come in the form of Professor Snape? She felt a peace settle over her. Even the constant burning in her veins seemed to lessen.
Nodding her assent, she smiled Severus was taken back back how that simple gesture changed her entire face. No longer were the similarities between her mother prominent. Instead she looked beautiful, innocent, and breathtaking. If the teenagers she shared classes with could see her like this, he thought, they'd be enchanted. Dear Merlin, she'd have to beat admirers off with a broomstick.
"Thank you, Professor." Her voice was still quiet, barely above a whisper. "That means more to me than I can say." She stood and he released her hand. "I should finish packing. I'll try not to abuse the privilege you've offered me." She left the office feeling better than she'd ever felt. Not even having Malfoy Manor to herself could compare. Schooling her features into her normal cold expression, she returned to her rooms. Finishing her preparations for returning to the house she grew up in, she thought that perhaps the coming year wouldn't be so bad. A difference, a good difference would be welcome.