A/N: Hello to everyone. My humblest apologies for the late update of this chapter; real life just got in the way.

Thank you very much for taking time and reading this fic. Also, thanks to everyone who have added the fic to their following/favourite story. It means a lot. Here is the next chapter for you awesome guys. I hope you all enjoy it! Happy reading.

I don't own Harry Potter, it solely belongs to J.K. Rowling!


CHAPTER - 10

"Come in," Professor Slughorn spoke as he looked up from his paperwork when he heard the slight knock on his office door. He smiled when he saw Harriet standing in the doorway though, his smile didn't reach his eyes as it usually did. It seemed he was pretty pissed about the whole ordeal too.

"Miss Christopher, what can I do for you?" Harriet moved further into the office as he kept sorting and rifling through his documents.

"Professor I...I wanted to talk about what happened with Mr Snape today," she said politely yet firmly. It felt that Professor Slughorn's entire demeanour changed, and the smile vanished completely from his face.

"If I remember correctly, Miss Christopher, you were present there too. I don't think I can give you any more clarification or insight over the issue," Slughorn spoke while looking everywhere in a very poor attempt to avoid eye contact. It was clear that he was ashamed of not piping in and helping Severus.

"But Professor, you do know that the punishment given to him in the name of fair judgement was unreasonable. In fact, Mr Potter and Mr Black were given many lenient punishments in his comparison, when he didn't even start with all this mess..." she stopped when his Slughorn stopped her rambling by cutting her off.

"Mr Snape should not have physically attacked the Gryffindors, Miss Christopher." Harriet gaped at him; they were all Dumbledore's words coming out of his mouth.

"But Professor, he wouldn't have if they had been civil in their behaviour towards him," Harriet reasoned.

"Miss Christopher, I cannot do anything in this regard. The Headmaster, himself, had spoken in this matter. He passed the judgement as he saw fit, and to go against him would be very inappropriate on my behalf. It would seem as if I do not respect his decision," Slughorn spoke in a dismissing tone, but Harriet was having none of it.

"But do you, Professor?" Harriet asked, internally fuming that her Head of House was so scared of the Headmaster that he wasn't his own students.

"I beg your pardon?" Slughorn looked wide-eyed at the daring student.

"Forgive me, Professor, but I don't think that you agree with the Headmaster's decision as well. I think you're just scared of him and what action he might take against you, for standing up for the Slytherins. I think you're just scared that you might lose your prestigious position of Potion's teacher at Hogwarts," Harriet spoke defiantly.

"Miss Christopher, you're forgetting your boundaries. Dare I remind you that you're a student here, and in no way whatsoever, will such behaviour be tolerated," Slughorn's voice rose, as did his temper.

"No, Professor. I'm perfectly aware of my position as a new student here but you're our teacher. When being a new student I can see the prejudice our house is facing, then why are you turning your back to these problems?" Harriet questioned, and Slughorn was left speechless.

"I think this is the reason no one from our house comes to you with their issues, and try to solve it amongst themselves," Harriet sighed.

"What do you mean the students don't come to me deliberately?" Slughorn was baffled that his snakes were hiding such things from him.

"They believe that you won't listen to them or take a stand for them against the others, and seeing your dismissal towards this situation today, I honestly can't blame them," Harriet spoke with a casual shrug knowing well how much would it affect the Potions professor.

"Detention to you, Miss Christopher, for talking so rudely to your Professor. You'll be joining Mr Snape tonight and assisting Mr Filch in whatever task he gives you," Slughorn's booming voice filled the office making Harriet look at him unaffected. She was expecting as much but she wisely kept quiet. Harriet turned around and was about to leave when Slughorn's voice made her stop in her tracks, "And remember Miss Christopher that you're a new student here so you might not be aware of the rules and regulation we follow here, but such atrocious behaviour would not be tolerated at Hogwarts."

Harriet ignored his words and left the office quickly, fuming and angered by Slughorn's casual approach. On her way out though, she saw Regulus hiding in the doorway- by the look on his face, it was clear that he had heard everything.

She approached him feeling disheartened at her failed attempt, "I'm really sorry, Mr Black. I tried my best but he didn't..."

"I know, I heard everything. You don't have to apologise for anything, Miss. It's truly sad that our Head of House cares for his position more than he does for his students," Regulus sighed defiantly. "Thank you for your help, though. You did a favour by sending Lucius to the Hospital wing on time." He smiled genuinely at her, making her feel that she hadn't totally failed.

"I only did what was right. How is Mr Snape? I hope that he's fairing well," Harriet asked.

"Severus is doing better now. The curse that they used on him didn't mess too much, but there was some internal bleeding so he's resting now. Lucius and Barty are with him at the moment," Regulus informed her. He knew that she was on their side and to keep anything hidden from her seemed ridiculous. Regulus had himself witnessed how she'd put Slughorn in his place, and honestly, he was starting to respect the new girl.

Harriet nodded, "If there is any way that I could help you guys, please let me know about it."

"I will," Regulus answered, and saw her move towards the library. He didn't waste any more of his time and started walking towards the dungeons; he should inform Lucius and Narcissa about what happened between Slughorn and Miss Christopher.


Professor Nicholas was wandering through the corridors of Hogwarts in order to find the Christopher girl when he suddenly remembered their odd 'mind link'. Concentrating, he lowered his Occlumency shields and opened his mind link. Professor Nicholas jerked as waves of absolute fury, desolation and hate hit him. Moreover, Harriet wasn't able to control her magic as the waves of her magic kept fluctuating.

His feet got nearer to the seventh-floor corridor on their accord, and he cursed under his breath for not noticing such extraordinary power before. It was like her magic was bathing the whole castle in pools of golden, silver, crimson, emerald, purple, blue and white. Her magic was intoxicating and felt like 'death'.

He finally reached the seventh-floor corridor, and what he saw, stunned him. There were four seventh-year Gryffindors, and they were all pinned to the wall - their faces pale and fear apparent in their eyes. Harriet had her wand dug deep into one of the boy's necks, and in the corner, there were two first-year Slytherin girls - crying and shaking.

"If you ever...ever, try to touch or bully or abuse any other person in this castle, I swear by Merlin and Morgana, that you four would not be able to have any future heirs. Do I make myself clear?" Harriet whispered, making a shiver run down Voldemort's spine in both fear and delight. Her aura pulsated throughout the corridor in thick waves; it was truly dark and delicious - Salazar, she was beautiful!

Harriet turned away from them, and the four imbeciles took the opportunity to scurry off. Her attention shifted completely to the little ones, and she tried to act as calm as possible.

"You don't have to be afraid anymore, they'll never harm you," she said kneeling in front of them. "Let me see."

One of the little ones was injured, Voldemort observed.

"We should take you to the hospital wing, love. Come on." That was when he decided to interrupt.

"What is happening here?" Professor Nicholas asked as he moved forward from his hiding place in the shadows. Harriet looked him right in his eyes. The other girl whose friend was injured spoke up, "Me and Cory were going back to the common room, from the library, when the elder Gryffindors attacked us, sir. They said that we were slimy snakes that needed to learn their place in Hogwarts or die, and then they pushed Cory violently into the wall. Just then Miss Christopher came, and she told them to stop attacking us, and not bother us again." The girl whispered quietly, frightened that she and her friend would get punished for not defending themselves.

"Those sorry excuses of wizards were bullying them," Harriet spat angrily. "I just taught them some lesson."

The voice in which she spoke made Voldemort wonder for a moment of what exactly had she done to make them all whimper like babies.

"I'll talk to Professor Slughorn about it," he said, but that made Harriet chuckle darkly making Voldemort look at her weirdly.

"And he will do nothing about it. He'll simply ignore anything related to the Slytherins," Harriet sneered.

He regarded her opinion knowing that she was right, then simply turned to the first-years, "Miss Yaxley, please escort Miss Harrington to the hospital wing. I'll come and explain everything to the matron, later. I'll also talk to Professor McGonagall regarding the Gryffindors' behaviour."

"Yes, sir." With that both girls left, leaving behind Professor Grey and Harriet alone.

"Bullying is not to be tolerated," Harriet spoke with so much conviction and hatred lacing her words that it oddly reminded Voldemort of himself. What was this girl?

"Miss Christopher, I would like to talk to you privately." Harriet looked at him pensively, knowing that a conversation with him was long overdue, and that her little stunt had obviously caught his eye.

"My office." Harriet simply nodded, following Voldemort into his snake-pit.


"Would you like some tea, Miss Christopher?" The Dark Lord asked the young witch, sitting across from him, in a seductive tone. Harriet looked at him oddly wondering as to what was going on his crazy mind. She simply nodded.

With that, he summoned two teacups and a kettle. Pouring some generous amount of the steaming peppermint tea for both of them, he leisurely leaned back in his chair.

"I got my hands on some really interesting news today. Very interesting indeed. Would you like to hear what that is?" He asked casually as Harriet looked at him from the rim of her teacup.

"The Ministry is in search of a time-traveller," he spoke, and Harriet stilled in her actions making Nicholas grin maniacally. So, he was right in his assumptions.

"That isn't the most interesting part of the news, however. What I found truly curious, was the fact that wherein the Aurors are in search of someone who manipulated through time and is hiding somewhere in Britain with no ties to anyone whatsoever, a girl mysteriously turns up and demands admission at Hogwarts," Voldemort spoke as he got up from his comfortable chair, and started walking around the desk. Harriet watched every step of his with caution.

"And?" She asked trying to sound as normal and unaffected as possible. He smirked at her audacity and guts, and stood right in front of her.

"Ah, but what if I tell them that the new girl, Harriet Katherine Christopher, who claims to have moved to Wizarding Britain from America, has been lying to everyone and living under a false identity right under their noses? I can even prove it by the lack of your official documents at MACUSA or the false ones you had made with the help of Goblins."

All colour drained from Harriet's face as she saw Voldemort mock pondering over the brilliancy of his plans.

"But you wouldn't!" Harriet said, her confidence wavering a bit now.

"And why is that? Why wouldn't I do it? Give me one good reason." He mused. Harriet's mind started thinking profusely, desperately searching for a reason to make him shut up or divert his mind elsewhere. She was furious at herself for not thinking about and taking care of all the documents and stuff. Of course she had taken the help of Goblins to create false ones, but she hadn't told them to send the copies to MACUSA. Damn those clever and cunning creatures; she should have paid them more!

She was all the more furious for not listening to Death when he'd said to be aware of the Dark Lord at every turn - of course, he'd gone to extreme lengths to get any and all information about her. An idea popped; it was extremely risky and dangerous, and Harriet knew it was not the best plan, but it what the only solution she had at the moment.

"You wouldn't dare, because I know who you are and your secret!" Harriet exclaimed, praying in her heart that the stupid idea would work. He narrowed his eyes dangerously at her.

"And who do you think I am?" He almost growled at her making her gulp slightly.

"Lord Voldemort." It was a whisper but he heard her nonetheless, and his eyes widened in surprise. Harriet wondered if calling Death now would be a good idea or not, but her thoughts were cut short when he leapt from his position, and caught Harriet harshly by her throat.

"You little bitch! Do you have any idea what you're dealing with? Do you have any idea of how dangerous I am, hmm?" He hissed angrily. Every plan Harriet had of calling Death and let him take care of the situation went flying through the window. He may be the Dark Lord but she was the Mistress of Death. She had faced him endless times in the future for Salazar's sake, and defeated him. No, Harriet wouldn't allow him to intimidate her or handle this situation; her pride and the Gryffindor blood running in her veins wouldn't allow that.

"Believe me, no one knows your dangerous or maniacal side better than me." Although he was choking her badly, Harriet's words never faltered.

"What do you know about me?" His eyes never left hers, searching and calculating; trying to find the meaning behind her cryptic words.

"Everything," her whisper was enough to make his hold on her this tighten.

"I'm willing to make a deal with you, however," she rasped out; the force of his large hand bruising and clenching her throat painfully. Voldemort thought over, his hand loosened when he heard the word 'deal'. His plan may not have been working out as he'd originally anticipated, but it didn't mean he couldn't turn this situation in his favour. Also, he'll need her alive for obvious reasons, so squeezing her gut out wouldn't be beneficial to him.

"What kind of deal?"

"I'm willing to keep your identity hidden from the Headmaster as long as you keep your mouth shut about mine," Harriet spoke.

"I don't need your help, you wench. You think you'll tell the old coot about me and he'll listen?" he hissed at her; the crimson seeping slowly into his irises. He removed his hand from her throat but didn't back away from her; their close proximity was making Harriet uncomfortable.

"No, this is what will happen - you are going to help me with the details of the future and I'll keep your secret safe," he purred and Harriet gaped at him. She tried to push him away but Morgana, he was too strong to be budged from his place.

"Absolutely not! I'm not going to tell you anything related to the future or otherwise..."

"Tut, tut, tut, Miss Christopher, tread carefully. Do not think that I'm giving you a choice. You will do as I've said or else the lives of your friends would be in grave danger."

"I do not have any friends," Harriet eyed him suspiciously.

"Ah, but what about Miss Fawley, and that mudblood Miss Evans." Just the mere mention of her mother was enough to make Harriet stiffen in fright. That obviously didn't go unnoticed by the Dark Lord. She looked at him in disbelief.

"What? Did you seriously think that I wouldn't notice how would poor Miss Christopher get upset whenever the mudblood Gryffindor refused to talk to her, hmm?" He asked innocently. Harriet couldn't believe this; she felt that she was drowning into deep water with no way out.

"Now, do you agree to the deal?" He asked again, and Harriet wasn't left with any other option. She couldn't deal with the consequences of her young mother dying before her designated time. And she couldn't also let Sarah's life in danger because of her personal issues with the crazy dark wizard.

She merely nodded in acceptance; Voldemort couldn't know if he lied to him about the future a bit, could he?

"Excellent!" His grin was so wide that it actually frightened her a bit.

"Okay. Get off me now." Harriet tried to push him again but to no avail.

"Make a vow first. I want to make sure that you won't be able to betray me," he whispered, and Harriet actually rolled her eyes at this.

"Did you just roll your eyes at me?" he whisper yelled. Salazar, this woman was infuriating.

"Yes, I did! Now if you don't back off, I would neither make a vow nor would keep the deal, and would happily tell the old coot about your stupid plans!" Harriet exclaimed. She perhaps expected him to get pissed off at her but got a totally different reaction. He actually obeyed her without another word or sneer thrown her way; Voldemort liked her attitude.

She got up and immediately backed away, trying to create some distance between them. She took out her loyal Holly wand while Voldemort took out his disguised Yew wand. They, together, pointed their wands in the upwards direction. Voldemort frowned when his wand suddenly started vibrating in his hands; it was getting warm, and golden and silver sparks flew from it, just like Harriet's. He looked at Harriet with demanding eyes, who was herself gaping at the scene with unreadable expressions. Shit, she had totally forgotten about their wand connection!

"What was that?" he asked; hunger for new knowledge clear in his crimson eyes.

"Our wands are brother wands. They share the same core - Phoenix Feather - given by the same Phoenix, at the same time. The wands are rejoicing their reunion, for they in a way, are twins. For this sole reason, w can't kill each other through our wands but only cause little damage. The wands would not allow it," Harried explained patiently. His wand not being able to harm her was leverage and a huge advantage to her. Besides, she could always use the Elder Wand if she so desired, or he tried to betray her.

Taking up the new information, he nodded. This wasn't good for him but he'll find a solution nonetheless.

Harriet placed her wand on her chest and muttered, "I swear on my magic that I will help Tom Marvolo Riddle, also known as Lord Voldemort with some details of the future war, as long as he keeps my identity hidden and does not harm my loved ones. As I have said, so mote it be." The tip of her wand glowed brightly and Voldemort was concerned as to how she knew about his full name.

Placing his Yew wand on his chest, he muttered, "I swear on my magic that I would keep Miss Christopher's identity a secret as long as she helps in winning the war, and not harm any of her friends." The tip of his wand glowed brightly too.

"How do you know my name?" he asked as soon as she placed her wand back in her wand holster.

"As I previously said, I know many things Marvolo, and you'll get to know them in due time, that is if I see fit," Harriet spoke looking him straight in the eye.

"Marvolo?"

"I know you dislike the name Tom, and I don't want to be tortured. Also, Nicholas doesn't suit you at all," Harriet spoke with a slight shrug, making Voldemort chuckle lightly that caught her off guard. She had never seen him genuinely smile before.

"You really do know a lot, Miss Christopher. Pity, we're not on the same page," he spoke in that seductive tone again, making Harriet shiver a little. "But worry not! I assure you that this problem would be solved soon enough, and I'll learn everything about you. After all, we have so much time to spend together."

Harriet left his office in a hurry; picking up her pace to reach the safe confinements of her dorm as soon as possible.