Herido stood outside the quidditch ground amid almost two hundred students. This match had been heralded as some great victory, and even the media was here to report on the students' defiance and resilience. Tragedy brought out the best in people, they said, Slytherin and Gryffindor having come together in the face of adversity demonstrated the heart of Hogwarts. Heri wanted to gag, and had had to threaten the twins into taking credit for the whole thing, as he most certainly didn't want his name tied to it.

"This is a wonderful thing you've done, Mr Addams." He cringed as McGonagall stopped beside him.

"The twins did it!" He spoke too quickly, like he was accusing them of something bad, blaming them. The woman just smiled at him, and he knew it was a lost cause: everyone knew he was really behind this, no matter how much he denied it. It was a good thing wizards didn't have cable television or his efforts here would end up as a sappy Lifetime feature!

Thankfully McGonagall didn't hang around and moved along on her sweep around the grounds, greeting and thanking various students as she went. The game commentary was being transmitted outside, and after only ten minutes of them standing to attention with wands drawn and fearful faces, most of those around Heri relaxed as they listened and chatted excitedly amongst themselves. There were aurors dotted about too: the ministry had wanted to share in this heroic event, and many off duty aurors had even volunteered. It was all very embarrassing. If only Tom had sent the basilisk for Heri to play with, he thought with a huff – he was now holding the Dark Lord personally responsible for his boredom.

His attention was drawn by something shifting in the calm of the forest that loomed just a short distance away. It wasn't anything visible, nothing the other students would notice, but Heri could tell something had disturbed the dark habitat. He wanted to investigate, but knew it would have to wait for later. Perhaps he could see about getting a body double of some sort for these situations – someone who could ensure he wasn't missed.

He looked around again. This was agonizingly dull! And it was made all the worse by the fact his friends had abandoned him to either play or watch the game. He was doing all this to placate them, but still, one of them could have joined him! Not Crabbe or Goyle though, because they weren't great conversationalists, and he would therefore have to think up another way for them to entertain him. And not Hermione either, because she'd been even more snappy than usual lately, and he wasn't in the mood to endure it.

He felt Luna approaching, and lacking any other stimulating company he turned to greet her.

"Are you fond of the cold?" It was an unusual greeting, but given the lingering chill her lack of footwear was highly noticeable.

"Not at all," She smiled dreamily. "But apparently people have been hiding my possessions." Heri just couldn't understand the girl: She was strong for her age, and yet put up with petty bullying when she could easily put any offending children in their place.

"Why don't you join us at dinner sometimes?" It wasn't really an offer, just a perplexed enquiry: if the student population knew of Luna's association with Heri's gang they'd back off considerably.

"No, it's ok. It's all in good fun, and things have a way of coming back to us eventually." She didn't seem at all concerned that people were disrespecting her. Heri didn't get it.

"What's your childhood trauma, Luna?" He had to ask, but hadn't expected her to respond as freely as she did.

"I saw my mum die during an experiment when I was nine. It was my fault. But it's not what you're thinking; it's just that I've always seen the world differently." Heri wanted to press further, but just as he was about to speak frightened cries erupted all around, and when he looked to find the cause his eyes blazed brightly and a wide manic grin broke across his face.

Scurrying out of the forest were hundreds and hundreds of acromantula, and they were all heading straight for the lines of students lying before them like a giant buffet. Whatever had driven them from their home must have been something they feared greatly, and Heri had to wonder whether this was Tom's doing, for a basilisk could definitely be used to force the giant man-eating spiders out into the open daylight.

As they grew nearer, Heri didn't pause to take in the raising panic all around him; instead he jumped right in, jumping through the air and landing in roll right beside the little pests. As he came out of the roll he swung his katana hard, taking out all spiders in its path, and following up immediately with handfuls of knives that impaled their targets easily. A part of his mind recognised that Kounna had made her way over, not doubt planning to have a little fun of her own and maybe even dinner, but he was currently too busy to search for her. Shooting out a burst of raw energy to push back the spiders to his left, he spun away from the pincers that clacked a little too close for his liking to his right, and narrowly missed a stray shot from the barrage now being fired behind him.

McGonagall ran to the chaos on the east side of the stadium, though she couldn't join the battle straight away – as acting headmistress her immediate duty was to ensure the welfare of her students, and she could already see many who'd been injured. As far as she knew, and with the exception of Addams, all those guarding the stadium were of age, but it appeared many had already forgotten their education here for they were firing all manner of offensive spells, but not the one most suited to dealing with acromantula. Thankfully though, the aurors were competent and appeared to be dealing with the situation easily enough. Statistics suggested that many of those fighting would have crushing arachnophobia, and given the sheer amount of spiders she worried the students at least might be overrun, but the lines were holding and she couldn't quell the pride she felt bubble up for the children. That was, until she caught sight of Herido Addams, who looked like he was having a whale of a time out in the middle of the invading creatures. A shiver of trepidation forced the woman to look away, for although the dark child was having to fight, the spiders around him were falling quickly. He wasn't driving them back like the aurors; he was killing any that came close. Addams was splattered with blood, but wore a feral smile as he ducked and weaved his way out of danger. It looked exhausting, and from what she could see he was only using psychical weaponry – she hated to imagine what he'd be capable of if he ever decided to utilize some of that infamous Addams magic! When she saw the rest of his gang fighting their way to him, she decided that watching any longer was bad for her mental health: Ronald Weasley seemed to be tearing the creatures apart with his bare hands…

As Heri swung his sword once more he wondered whether he should spare one of these unfortunate creatures to gift to Wednesday – she was so fond of spiders, and though she usually preferred to breed her own pedigree pets, an acromantula might provide an appreciated distraction. And Grandmamma could always use fresh acromantula venom for Sunday lunch.

The battle wouldn't last very long, and he'd have preferred the chaos of a basilisk on the loose, but all the same he'd have to remember to send a thank you note to Tom for the kind thought.

"Who won?" He asked as George appeared in his periphery.

"Slytherin, but only because Draco got the snitch…" George spun away and was replaced by Fred – as though the twins were attached at the spine.

Those back at the stadium had finished their fight – the spiders were easily pushed back, but seemed to be determined to destroy the boy killing so many of their brothers and sisters and had converged on the eleven children. Most of the school and her visitors stood frozen as they watched Heri's gang with awe. They didn't see Slytherin or Gryffindor, academic success or pain in the arse; all the children were vicious and merciless. It was frightening, but what really got to the watching crowd were the joyous expressions they saw. The gang was capable and they knew it; they didn't doubt they could win and yet didn't hesitate to destroy the enemy before them… and they were having fun while they did.

"And we were playing several reserves." Fred continued after finishing off a group of acromantula with a bombarda maxima. Harry hoped Snape was watching: even in the middle of such fun, all of his friends remembered they had an audience and none had slipped by using dark magic. Heri and his friends were more than ready to duel other students!

"You need to accept that Slytherin are the better team!" Draco countered from somewhere behind Heri.

"Maybe they were today," Ron conceded, "but you still only won because of sheer luck – that's the only way anyone can get a quaffle past me!"

Heri rolled his eyes and back flipped over the quarrelling boys. The field was carpeted by arachnoid body parts and blood, but the ground around Ron was particularly saturated. He doubted any flora would grow here for a while. His head cocked to the side as Kounna approached. She was hissing about a dead unicorn on the far side of the castle.

That's when he took the time to glance back to the stadium and saw the students being hurriedly ushered into the castle, while a large group of aurors and teachers disappeared from view as they rounded the school. He imagined whatever they found more entertaining than an army of giant spiders had to be worth a look.

By the time they'd finished off the eight-legged pests and found the source of fascination, only a few adults were left at the scene. They were all white with worry – it looked promising. The rest were nearby, trying to force a crowd of curious students back.

"Children, you shouldn't be here. Please, return to your dormitories at once." McGonagall ordered, though she didn't sound as authoritative as she'd have liked. She was still a little unnerved after watching these kids fighting with such cruel abandon.

Heri ignored the foolish woman who thought she could order him to do anything, and stepped through the adults to see what the fuss was about. Kounna had been right about the dead unicorn – the majestic creature lay cold on its side with its throat torn out. Heri couldn't blame Tom for wanting to help rid the world of such purity. He was wondering whether the Horcrux was trying to finish the work of his master soul from last year, when he saw the writing: Formed with thick lashes of silvery blood were the words: Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber for ever.

Ah, shit, Heri thought. Now he was going to have to do something about Tom, or his friends would get themselves killed trying to save Ginny. At least Tom had stepped up the flamboyance: it was still animal blood, but it made a much better tableau that the bird blood on the wall.

"That's too bad. You'd think one death a year would be enough!" George chuckled, causing Heri to turn a raised eyebrow at the ginger boy. Where was the outrage and panic? Maybe he'd gotten lucky and they'd stopped caring.

"You aren't worried about Ginny?" He asked tentatively, not wanting to trigger a delayed reaction.

"Herido," Astoria replied, "the weaslette is over there." She nodded to the children still being held back some way away. Ginny was indeed there, trying to get a good look past the aurors. But then who…

"Hey, guys." Blaise's voice was heavy with dread. What now? "Where's Hermione?"

Heri's head spun around so quickly that his friends were sure they heard his neck snap.

"I thought she was watching the game. Didn't she come out with you guys?" He spoke with a slow, even tone that made even the bravest among his friends hesitate to answer.

"N-No. I haven't seen her since breakfast." Daphne forced herself to answer when no one else did. She was going to say more, but the words died in her throat.

And the resulting silence was deafening.

Herido's exquisite control slipped as the words reached him, and his power broke free for the first time since he arrived at Hogwarts. Dr Lector called it his mask of mediocrity, but at that moment Heri had no desire to maintain his disguise. He had been determined not to do anything that would drag his family into clearing up his mess, but at that moment he didn't care – that's what family were for after all, for moments like this.

A cold powerful pressure rose around him, so heavy that those nearby, both adult and child, fell to the ground as they were caught off guard, or were simply unable to hold up against the feeling of retched death fell upon them. The air was deadly still, but seemed to crackle with a charge too intense to be borne. It closed in on those present with terrifying malice. The fear that clouded the mind was unspeakable, as though they were facing their worst fear, or maybe even death itself. The students started to think back about any time they had so much as looked at Addams the wrong way, and the teachers regretted even giving him homework – they all felt they'd committed some unforgivable sin that was about to be addressed. Many of the children watching further back fainted under the strain.

Snape was the only teacher who remained on his feet. He'd been present when both Lord Voldemort and Dumbledore had displayed their power and so wasn't as effected. He still felt the dread, though it was dread of a different kind – this was a power darker than any he'd known (he wouldn't feel foolish in calling it Black Magic), and if Herido Addams was this powerful at age twelve, what would he be like as an adult? Only a diseased mind could comprehend it.

Heri could hardly believe it: Tom had gone after one of his friends! It was incredibly rude if nothing else.

"Wait here." He told no one in particular, and walked away slowly.


Hagrid sat in his hut, sharing a rare steak with Fang. With Dumbledore gone he didn't want to get anywhere near Addams, and so had decided to sit out today's much praised event. He had just decided that today might be a good day to break out the single malt, when the door to his home was violently ripped from its frame and landed with a heavy thud out in the garden.

He scampered up, fuelled by adrenalin, to face whoever was responsible, but froze when met with a stone faced Herido Addams. The boy's eyes were dark as pitch, yet somehow burned into Hagrid's own and forced him to look away.

"Ay," He faltered, "Ay, you're noh' welcome 'ere."

Herido took a deep breath. He no longer harboured any resentment for this gentle giant, but nor did he have the patience to tease out what he wanted.

He threw out a hand and Hagrid was pulled through the air, before landing on his knees before the young boy – one of his friends was in trouble, and Heri didn't even have the grace to humour the difference in eye line.

"What'ya doing?" Heri silence the man with a hard gaze.

"The last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened, you were held responsible." He began in a cold emotionless tone. The man tried to defend himself, but before a word could be formed, he felt the pressure in the air close in on him threateningly. "I want you to tell me who died, and where they died." It wasn't great séance weather, and Hogwarts had enough ghosts to make such a thing awfully difficult, but Heri would just have to force Tom's original victim to take form. He needed to know where the Chamber was. He was hoping that Tom had used Hermione to leave the bloody message, and if that was the case there was a chance she wasstill alive.

"The, the girl…" Hagrid tried to respond right away, but was having trouble forcing his breath out. "The girl was called Myrtle, she died in the girls' bathroom on the second floor, and, and…"

"She never left." Heri finished. He looked down on Hagrid: the man was now leaning forward on his hands, sweating under the strain of Heri's power, and it was only as he looked upon this struggling mountain of fur and flesh that he realised his slip of control. He took another calming breath and reined it in.

"Shall we go talk to Myrtle, then?" He turned with a half-smile at Daphne, who stood with a fierce determination, as though expecting him to try and send her away.

"Sure."


xx