Chapter 5
Pierrot was glad she put a silencing charm around her the previous night. She hoped no one heard her scream that night. Slowly she woke up and wiped her face with her hand.
The girl's mind whirled around, and she wondered. Who was that boy? What was she doing in that orphanage? Why did she have the same pitiful life even there? Why were there two of her? Why the hell was she even in that dream?
The exact same face, white blonde hair, hell the girl even had her heterochromia, that too in the same colours. Pierrot wondered, whether the girl in that dream is her doppelganger.
Realisation slowly dawns upon her face. The girl in her dream called herself Pierrot, without a surname, just like her. Pierrot looked out the window with a frown.
Without wasting any more time, she walked out of the Gryffindor Common room but not before she put a disillusionment charm and a cushioning charm on herself. She didn't want to get caught by that kitty cat and Mr Half-Baldy aka Mr Filch.
Screw her insomnia, she needed to know about this girl and why on earth she had the same name as her. This was not simple coincidence. As she passed the library, she stopped in her tracks. She just wouldn't be able to focus when there are books to be read. She might be a good fighter, but that wasn't where her heart truly resided. All she wanted was to have a book in her hands. Pierrot entered the library. After all, she thought, there might be something related to her dream inside the wizarding world's largest library.
Pierrot sighed. There was literally nothing about dream-doppelgangers in the library. She kept getting distracted by everything else, after all, where would she find books about doppelgangers in the library? Focus Pierrot, she told herself. Doppelganger first. Human transfiguration, advanced potions, ancient runes can come later.
"Damn! If I keep getting distracted, I won't be able to find this other Pierrot girl." Pierrot leaned into the chair that she occupied. She suddenly remembered the next class she had. Reading for the next class won't hurt, she thought.
With a flick of her wand, the books that she took out to search for her dream doppelganger were returned back to their original shelves. About a dozen books related to her class floated down from a nearby shelf and plopped on the table in front of her. She looked closely at her wand, she still remembered the day she chose- the wand, 13 ¾ thesteral tail hair core and black ash wand, chose her. It was very unique; the only one that Mr Ollivander made using thestral tail hair and black ash wood.
She took a deep breath and lifted the cover of the first book in front of her. She knew that any peace she had was short lived, so she had to make use of such moments to get a better grip on her studies.
Meanwhile, in the staff, Professor McGonagall was in deep thought about the white- blond haired girl in her house.
She was eerily similar to other girls Professor McGonagall faced in her past. Strangely, even those girls had the exact same name and face, just like the Gryffindor first year. The only difference was their hair and eyes.
If those girls didn't have different hair and eyes, they would be exact clones of the current girl, Minerva thought. The Pierrot in her had the exact same attitude as the other 'Pierrots' she had met.
The first Pierrot she met was when she was still young and a student at Hogwarts. The first Pierrot, was also a platinum blonde. She had scars that littered her entire skin; one on her face, which ran from her forehead, across her eyes and right down her cheek. But what stood out most were the first Pierrot's eyes. One jade green, and the other an icy blue.
She was also highly intelligent, Minerva remembered getting jealous; Pierrot didn't even have to work that hard to come in first place. What was more surprising was that she rejected the offer to be Prefect and Head girl.
The 'first' Pierrot was a Slytherin but this Pierrot and those previous Pierrots had the same attitude.
Professor McGonagall took a deep breath and looked over at the Forbidden Forrest with sorrow and heartache. Even though the two of them were never on good terms, Pierrot always had calmed her nerves with her singing.
Pierrot had even given her some pointers for better grades, even though Minerva always replied with disdain. However, she never forgot her advice. Her Pierrot might have been blunt and always blatantly blurted out whatever she thought; never caring about others, but she always cared for those she loved in her own way.
Another thing Professor McGonagall remembered was all the Pierrots wore the male uniform. They were never scared to show their scars and stitches, but what made Professor McGonagall smile was when she told her that she knew she would look ridiculous in the girls' uniform without even trying on a skirt.
Again Professor McGonagall looked over the Forbidden Forest with sadness. She still remembered Tom Riddle asking for their headmaster to search for his sister of heart, since she hasn't returned to Hogwarts for almost a week.
Professor McGonagall remembered whenever Pierrot returned back for new terms, there was always a new cut, or stitches and bruises. There was not a single day where Pierrot didn't have new scars, stitches and bruises on.
On the 5th of March,1945, Tom Riddle burst into the Great Hall with an urgency which alarmed Minerva.
"Pierrot hasn't returned back, it has been a week now!" Riddle shouted; the arrogant boy she knew was replaced with a heartbroken, sad version of himself. Even Fenrir Greyback who sat near Lupin became rigid.
"We will search for her, don't you worry Mr. Riddle." Dumbledore tried to calm the boy but he was livid.
"That's what you have been saying since the past week! She's my sister!" They might not have been siblings by blood, but anyone with power to see could tell that the boy thought of her as family. Both of them were orphans, but the difference was while she was reckless and crass, Riddle was charming and manipulative. While Tom at least had a last name, she didn't.
It was not long before the Gryffindor and Slytherins had a combined class in the Forbidden Forest. It was as uneventful as it could be, when a girl rips out a blood-curling scream.
Most of the students rush to see what happened, only to see the girl's horrified face. Slowly, they turned their necks in the direction the Slytherin was pointing at, and what they saw made everyone clasp their hand to their mouth. A Gryffindor boy fainted. They would never be able to get that gruesome image of that poor girl out of their head.
There, on the tree, was the mutilated body of Pierrot with her chest ripped with a stick embedded inside. Her eyes were half open, head lolled to the side.
Riddle screams in despair for the girl he thought the world of. The courteous, charming, refined Tom Riddle was reduced to a wailing mess of a man, as he rocked the lifeless body of Pierrot back and forth, wishing for her to respond.
Just a look at the Forbidden Forest was enough to open that tragic memory. Seeing the limp body of her rival and friend on that tree, was enough to make her shatter her heart in a million pieces. On the fifth day of every March, she returned to that tree to lay yellow roses.
That girl had no bloody idea about flowers or feminine matters, sometimes Professor McGonagall wondered about how she dealt with her monthlies. However, she fancied black roses, and lavenders the most.
"I wish you could see this girl Pierrot, she has the same name as you and I must say it is quite eerie how both of you are similar, right from your face to your attitude. I have missed you, my good friend"
After shutting the cover of the last book, she sends all the other books back to their shelves with a swish of her wand. It is only when she looks at her watch does she realize how much time she spent in the library; it was 4:30. She realized she had only half an hour before the professors woke up. Without wasting a single moment, she put a charm on herself and raced back to the Gryffindor common room. She even finished the book she borrowed from the library yesterday.
Pierrot found a cold shower very relaxing; while some of her roommates preferred hot water. The plump girl and the walking-radio kept on arguing for the hot water, but Pierrot was extremely grateful that those arguments happened when she was not in the room. From what she heard from the others, if she was present then she would've locked the idiots in the bathroom.
She gently tilts her neck towards in front of the mirror to check her stitches. She sighed. They still needed more time.
"Ms Pierrot!" Madam Pince looks at Pierrot in shock, it was her first time seeing a student, nevertheless a first year up and in the library at the crack of dawn.
Madam Pince always winced when she saw the poor girl's scarred skin. What she found even odder was that the girl herself didn't even care what other people have thought of her. You could be telling her what a horrid girl she was to her face and she wouldn't flinch.
Madam Pince almost had a heart attack when she heard the way Pierrot explained what happened with Rowle. She didn't even flinch, not even a little, when she told them about it. Such a graphic description about the 'incident' coming from only a first year was indeed very shocking to all of them.
"Good morning to you too, Madam. I just came to return the book that I borrowed yesterday, while I had to wait for Rowle to finish." Pierrot set neatly in front of Madam Pince. Madam Pince looked at the small girl skeptically.
The book was so thick, even Pierrot joked that if she threw the book at a hippogriff, it would drop down dead. How was this girl able to finish such a large book in only a single day? Even that Granger girl who borrowed a different thick book, had not returned the book yet.
Dear Merlin, what kind of brain did this first-year girl have? "You finished reading it?"
"Well, I had a lot of free time on hand, so I used it to read the book."
"I see."
Pierrot nods her head and walked to a faraway corner of the library, one which was almost never touched. She sat down and promptly summoned books from the bookshelves which she thought might be interesting to read.
Pierrot read everything she could lay her hands on; including subjects for first-years till subjects for seventh-years and everything in between. Human transfiguration, however, was Pierrot's favourite subject. She even found reading about the dark arts quite interesting. She couldn't wait to try it out. For her, the world wasn't in black and white. She believed in knowing something about everything.
She had a wide smile on her face when all the books she called far dropped down on her table. For her, heaven would be a library. She did not have to hide any book from anyone here; she was free to read to her heart's contentment.
Previously, she was unable to even touch a book let alone read one. If her so- called parents found her reading, they would have abused her and ripped those books before burning it to ashes. You can see why Pierrot scanned through books like a malnourished child ate food.
Pierrot might not have any happy memories, but she could always create them.
"Or wait," she whispered to herself. "Occlomency!"
She did not know much about the art of blocking mind readers, but from what she did know, it would be very useful for her to hide her tragic past from other prying eyes- or in this case, minds.
"Ms. Pierrot!" Madam Pince called for Pierrot, but she didn't even look up. Madam Pince was astounded. Never in her entire career as librarian had she seen a person so engrossed in reading not only one, but multiple books at the same time.
"Ms. Pierrot!" She tried again, but was only met with silence.
"Ms Pierrot!" She tried one last time, gently placing her hand on Pierrot's shoulder. Pierrot was startled, and without even thinking she pointed her wand to the person who touched her.
Madam Pince's face slightly pales, but when Pierrot realizes her mistake, she apologizes profusely.
"It is alright my dear, you were too engrossed in reading those books. However, it's almost time for breakfast, you should go to the Great Hall." Madam Pince looked over at the books that Pierrot been reading. "Do you want me to put these books away?" she gestures at the pile of books on Pierrot's table.
"Yes, I think I should go to the Great Hall. Thank you, Madam Pince for informing me. I would like to finish reading those books, though."
"I could keep them aside for you. When you are free again, just let me know. But if you insist-" Madam Pince said. "You can take these five with you." She added with a smile
Pierrot beamed. "Once again, I'm really very sorry for almost attacking you Madam Pince, but thank you. Thank you so very much!" Pierrot sincerely apologizes. She never wished to harm Madam Pince.
Madam Pince simply waves her wand and dismisses Pierrot.
Hermione woke up with a jolt. She looked over at Pierrot's bed, only to find it empty. When does this girl wake up? she wondered. For the past two days she woke up early, trying to beat Pierrot but failed. Hermione noticed something very strange though. Pierrot's bed looked barely slept in. In fact, it was just as it had been when they first visited the dorms. She couldn't worry about her friend though she had much more pressing matters at hand.
Without wasting any time, she ran to the bathroom. She didn't want to stay in the same room with Lavender and Parvati without Pierrot. The girls would immediately stop gossiping when Pierrot was in the same room. One glare from Pierrot was enough to shut them up.
Pierrot excels in verbal communication just as well as her non-verbal skills. Hermione still remembers what Pierrot said when the gossip girls talked about the hottest guy in Hogwarts.
"Are you bunnies in heat or what? We've only just begun our first year and you're only concerned about which boys are hot. Why should we care about which boys have the best muscles and who is the most 'delicious'? I don't even want to know what you mean by that.
"If both of you can't keep it in your pants, at least don't involve me and Her-my-oh-nee in your gossip. Both me and Her-my-oh-nee have better things to do than talk about which boy was cuter," Pierrot said the last part in a bad impression of Parvati's voice. "-or had the best smile." She finishes in Lavender's voice.
Hermione chuckled upon seeing the red faces of her dorm-mates. The two girls spoke about literally nothing other than pointless gossip, but if Pierrot did so much as glance in their direction, they would turn as silent as stone.
Hermione looked at Pierrot's bed one more time, and wondered where she might be. Eventually, she decided to go check the Great Hall.
Pierrot was at the Great Hall, just as Hermione predicted. Hermione approached Pierrot with a smile, but she suddenly stopped in her tracks. She saw that Pierrot was surrounded by books. Not the ones she borrowed yesterday, but actual, new books from the library.
"New books? But what about the ones that you borrowed yesterday? And when did you go to the library today?" Hermione asked Pierrot, surprised.
Hermione sat next to Pierrot and start to fire so many questions at once, to which Pierrot replied without looking at Hermione.
"Good morning to you too, sweetheart. Yes, these are new books. I already finished reading the other ones. I woke up pretty early and went to the library. Now take a deep breath, it is quite a lovely day to learn new things and I don't want you to die choking on your saliva." Pierrot replied to everything that Hermione asked her.
Right after Pierrot finished talking, she set a plate of toast for Hermione and some tea. Pierrot on the other hand, chose some black coffee, tea with no sugar and some water which was enough to make Hermione look at her weirdly.
Hermione had seen her friend eat breakfast like that, but she dismissed it as she thought maybe she had eaten a lot, but again she kept eating very light. A heavy breakfast, and three beverages later, she opened her mouth to ask Pierrot a question, but then decided against it. She decided to wait until tomorrow. If Pierrot still eats her breakfast like that, then she will ask.
"Have you finished the potions and transfiguration homework?" Hermione asked. She was concerned whether her friend was completing her work or only reading books.
"Already done that." Hermione turned over Pierrot so fast that she almost got whiplash.
"Wait, you've already done it? As in, already finished it?" Pierrot didn't reply to what Hermione asked, as she nodded her head continuing to read the book.
"Can I look at it?" Hermione wanted confirmation. Pierrot fished out 2 rolls of parchment out of a small satchel and gave it to Hermione. Pierrot smirks when she sees Hermione's expression of bewilderment.
"How…how did you finish it in one day? And wait- your essay has everything, even about the spells. And…and there's an example from the first year textbook-" Hermione squints her eyes; she'd never seen this example in any of her textbooks. "What's this? This isn't from our text book!"
Pierrot peers into her scroll.
"Oh right, yeah, that's from the seventh year textbook."
"But why?" Hermione looks at Pierrot, her mouth agape.
"Why not?" Pierrot shrugged, and returned to her book.
Hermione begins to tell her that the professors only asked for a foot-long essay, but before she could say anything, Pierrot cut her off.
"Are you okay with flying?" Hermione's eyes snapped to meet Pierrot's.
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"Well, I hope you're not afraid of heights." Pierrot added with a smirk.
Bloody hell, Hermione mentally screamed when she saw her only friends fly around, without permission, just to take back Neville's Rememberall.
I will kill both of them if they don't come down this instant, Hermione muttered. She almost fainted when she saw Pierrot jump from her broom to catch Neville's rememberall but gave out a sigh of relief when the broom flew back to her and she mounted it. Yep, Pierrot's definitely dying after she comes down.
Hermione started marching angrily towards Harry and Pierrot when they dismounted their brooms but abruptly stopped. Professor McGonagall whisked away Harry, which made Hermione scared. What if he got expelled?
"Harry will not be expelled." Hermione jumped as Pierrot read her thoughts.
"How did you-"
"Your face gives away everything. Relax, they woun't expel someone for such a petty reason." Pierrot leaned onto her broom while looking over at Hermione in the corner of her eye. She smiles when she saw how cute Hermione looked when she frowned.
"Hey, can I sit next to you in next class? If I'm not mistaken it will be Charms." Pierrot asked her friend
"Of course, but may I ask why?"
Pierrot scratched her nose and started to rub her neck, and Hermione knew that Pierrot was nervous.
"Well, you know how bad my pronunciation is, right?" Hermione nodded her head, asking for her friend to continue.
"Well, I'm afraid I'll be having a problem. If I'm not mistaken the first class will be about lifting something."
Hermione looks over Pierrot with wide eyes and wondered how her friend knew about this.
Pierrot was true to her word, as Professor Flitwick attempted to teach his class the Levitation Charm.
She was again right when she began to say the incantation. Pierrot had an obvious difficulty in pronouncing the words.
"No, no, it's not levIosA, it's leviOsa. Try again". Hermione patiently taught Pierrot how to pronounce the words, even though what Ron said to her hurt her.
She wished to believe that Pierrot was her friend, but somehow her insecurity ate her from the inside.
What Hermione didn't know is that Pierrot's nose flared up and she saw red when she heard what Ron said.
Pierrot shoves Ron to a wall, her forearm at his throat while Harry, Dean and Seamus try to break Pierrot away from Ron. The twins look at them with interest and wonder what their brother did to make Pierrot so mad.
"Listen here you filthy pig! If something happens to her, I will make sure you will regret every day you are alive. Who do you think you are to say that she's a nightmare? Listen to me you insolent little squid, you are your worst nightmare itself. Your disgusting mouth will be the cause of your death and I swear I will dance on your corpse in your funeral. One wrong move, and I will personally make you wish you were never born, you calamari."
Without waiting for his reply, Pierrot stepped back and walked away from the boys. The twins were finding it extremely difficult to keep in their grins.
What Pierrot didn't know was that the blond boy who sat next to her in Transfiguration, and the other blond boy that she found having a quite interesting 'exercise' were looking at her with interest.
Pierrot ignored all the calls from the boys and ran as fast as her legs could carry her to the girl's bathroom. A person like Hermione will never show their tears to anyone, but Pierrot is determined to find her. Deep inside of her, Pierrot felt that something bad would happen if she didn't find her as soon as possible.
True to her intuition, she heard a scream. Pierrot instantly pulled out her wand and ran where she heard the scream. There, stood in front of her a fucking damn troll, but not just any troll, it had to be a mountain troll.
Pierrot's mind runs ten times faster as she tried to comprehend how such a creature could enter Hogwarts. After all, it was warded against such creatures.
"Hey, jackass! Look over here!" Pierrot shouted. The source of the scream now turned to her and Pierrot got momentarily distracted. Hermione. She mouths for her to get out, but then the troll lets out a loud cry.
Pierrot instinctively reacts and casts a slicing hex which made the troll fall down.
Then she ran over to Hermione to check for injuries and thankfully, there are none. "How did you do that Pierrot? That is not in the first year syllabus." Hermione choked on a sob and hugged Pierrot with all her strength.
Pierrot slightly flinched but then slumped down while she slowly ran her hand through Hermione's hair.
"What is the meaning of this?" Hermione flinched upon hearing the booming voice of Professor McGonagall. She caught the eye of Harry and Ron but then turned back to Professor McGonagall
"Merlin's Beard, why are you here?"
The girls slowly stood up and looked at Professor McGonagall. Hermione started to panic and before she can open her mouth, Pierrot pointed her wand at Hermione with a lazy gesture of her and silenced her.
"Sorry professor, I was just looking for Her-my-oh-nee, right after Charms because someone teased her." Pierrot took a deep breath "But then I heard a scream and I ran to where the scream came from. I found poor Hermione here, sobbing in a corner of this bathroom while that idiot almost hit her. Without thinking, I casted a slicing hex, just in time to save her, but my apologies if my doing is making all of you worried" Pierrot explained.
Professor McGonagall sighs in worry but she still remembered the day her young self had been saved by her Pierrot, just not from a troll but a werewolf.
"Thank you, Ms. Pierrot, and perhaps you should lift the silencing charm on Ms. Granger. May I know as to why you silenced Ms. Granger in the first place?" She asked the first year
Pierrot didn't need to be told twice, she immediately lifted her spell. However, before Hermione opened her mouth Pierrot glared at her from the corner of her eyes, which immediately shut her up.
"Because, she will take the blame onto herself, even though it is not her fault that the troll was in the bathroom" Pierrot responds.
Professor McGonagall nods her head with approval. "Thirty points to each of you. Ms. Pierrot for your fast thinking and braveness, and for you too Ms. Granger for your willingness to protect your housemate, even though it is not your fault. However, I would advise both of you to be more careful after this."
Severus looked over to Pierrot and nodded in acknowledgement, this is what Pierrot will always do. She would help her friend no matter what house you are. The Pierrot of his time was a Ravenclaw, she was indeed the smartest and bravest person he had ever known. She would always help you, no matter what house you were.
She had even helped him, just like how this bloody Gryffindor Pierrot had helped to save Ms. Granger.
A/N: I would like to say my thanks to my beta Srish for willing to help me out, with the biggest and tallest patience of Mount Everest too. Please do reviews and hope all of you enjoy it too.