Dumbledore made a tour of the way to his office, pointing out various interesting facts about the castle to the very interested Addams'. Once they arrived he offered them tea and treats – they seemed more like liquorice snaps people, and they all finally broached the reason they were here.
"It's nice to have parents so interested in their child's education." He started in an attempt to set a friendly tone. Morticia sat quietly sipping her tea, into which she seemed to have melted her snaps he noticed with half disgust, half intrigue. It was Gomez therefore who answered the aged wizard, though he didn't face him as he did. Instead he stood against loaded shelves, staring with a maniacal grin at the oddly silent Fawkes.
"Why ever should we not?" He asked cheerfully. "If we're to send out children away to school, we should at least ensure they are receiving only the best."
"And we are in agreement that this Binns falls short of that standard." Morticia finished, dunking a drowning Snap into her tea.
"Professor Binns is really a fine teacher with a wealth of experience." Dumbledore was trying to defend the man, but Gomez turned to face him with an expectant smile and raised eyebrow and he felt very uncomfortable. Gomez was obviously still waiting for him to make a point and he felt that to these people, no point he could think of would stand up against their argument that they simply didn't like the ghost. He tried anyway. "And I know his lessons aren't as engaging as some, but history is an academic subject that many students fail to appreciate."
"But our children are simply enchanted with history." Morticia seemed to think he was putting Herido at fault for the teacher's failure Dumbledore noticed whist he also kept one eye on Gomez, who was currently studying a dagger he'd found in the clutter. "There are many ways to make history engaging: first-hand accounts from the dead; trips to important sites; re-enactments." She gave the head teacher a fond smile, one that gave him a chill. "Why, I remember once catching the children as they tried to sneak a teenage runaway into the house to perform a reconstruction of the trial and execution of Marie Antoinette." Dumbledore was righteously horrified at the implication.
"But, you did catch them, you say? And the girl was saved?" Surely no children could be so carefree about murder!
"Of course, old man." The Addams patriarch said to his relief. The man took the cigar from his mouth and cocked his hand to side, as if to say Dumbledore should obviously know better. "Marie Antoinette wasn't a teen when she died!" Right. His relief was short lived.
"Well," He started, wanting suddenly to move this conversation along. "all the same, that sort of approach isn't always practical in a school environment." Not to mention illegal. The parents shared a look. Gomez had yet to stop smiling, but had a sudden feeling of seriousness about him as he stepped up to his wife. He took and kissed her hand and the old man thought they seemed to share some secret communication. After just a moment, Gomez returned to his perusal of the office.
He didn't understand what that was about, but he could tell they weren't finished.
"I will talk with the Professor about his style of teaching." He pre-empted. Morticia strummed her long nails once on his desk, drawing his attention back from the wary eye he was keeping on the other. "And his lesson plans." He added, hoping to come to some sort of compromise. "Cuthbert has been here a long time, he's a good man and he has earned the chance to retain his position."
"Surely by now he's earned his retirement." Gomez countered.
"Gomez, that's a brilliant idea. Perhaps we could introduce him to some of our dearly departed friends, and they could show him all the fun things he's missing out on. Darling you remember that nice Lady Drake, the one with the gorillas. Well, I remember her saying she's been longing for another intellectual to play with." She meant it as a genuine offer, but Dumbledore took it as a silent threat to the ghost.
"I'm sure that won't be necessary." He started with a smile, but went stony faced and let some of his mighty power flare around him as Gomez stepped out of his periphery. The reaction to having his back to the man was instinctual.
"Mr Dumbledore." He looked up to Morticia, but didn't drop his guard. Surely they wouldn't try anything against Dumbledore himself, and in his own territory? It would be a fool's errand… Wouldn't it?
The woman looked concerned.
"I know it can be difficult to criticize a friend, but you mustn't fret so." Did she really believe that was what was making him uncomfortable?!
It took every ounce of self-control he had not to flinch as a heavy hand fell on his shoulder and Mr Addams leaned down to him. He hadn't felt the man approaching and for all his experience and knowledge, he could think of no better way of articulating his feeling about this as being thoroughly 'creeped out'.
"Tell you what, to save any unpleasantness, you give me his picture and I'll send it to my friend Dubois in Haiti. Once he's finished…"
"Gomez, darling, you having spoken to Dubois for years; he might no longer be taking mail orders." He stepped away to finally sit beside his wife and took her hand.
"Always so smart, Tish." He said reverently. Dumbledore certainly felt better at the distance, but was still wary. He was of course confident in his own ability. But from everything he'd seen and heard over the years, the only thing he could say for certain about these people was that they were an unstable variable. If they turned on him for some reason, he wouldn't know whether to expect a physical attack, or for them to leave amicably and then find himself out of a job and stripped of all his titles in a month's time with seemingly no reason.
"I can see you are uncomfortable with this whole thing." Morticia said, trying to be helpful. "So why don't you give us the names and addresses of the Board of Governors and I'll speak to them personally: if his dismissal comes from them, you won't need to feel as though you're betraying a friend." Gomez had that expectant look again as she spoke.
He did some quick calculations. Binns was a good enough fellow, but he was NOT comfortable with being responsible for opening such a direct dialogue between the Addams' and some of the darker members of the Board. The last thing he needed was for them to get involved in Britain's affairs. The consequences would be dire. No, he'd have to sacrifice the ghost and get them back to America and far, far from the upcoming war.
"You know," he sighed out, "I'm starting to see your point…"
A few days later, Herido finally remembered to ask Hermione about Nicolas Flamel. She'd never even heard of him. That was disappointing and Hermione wasn't completely comfortable with Heri being disappointed with her. She wasn't afraid of him like so many others were, she just hated the thought that she'd let down her first and best true friend. So her current feelings of annoyance were directed at herself and had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Draco had produced the answer straight away.
"Flamel? You've never heard of Flamel? He created the Philosopher's Stone!"
"I've heard of him, I just didn't know he was famous." Heri responded. "What's this stone? Is it dangerous?" It might be worth a look, he thought.
"If you've heard of hi… never mind. The Philosopher's Stone can grant you immortality!" Ok, definitely not something Heri would be interested in then. "Why do you ask?" The blonde was puffed up that he'd bested Hermione.
"Oh, it's nothing really." He responded, feeling cheated out of some great prize. Draco had been ignoring Hermione's glare, but took note when she learned into Heri and the two took to whispering. When they were done, she sat back straight and sent a bright triumphant smirk his way.
"It can also turn any metal into gold." He informed, hoping to tease out something more.
"Ugh, why would you want that? I can't get rid of the gold I have." Daphne opened her mouth to respond to that, but quickly realised it would be pointless. There were just some things she would never understand about the dark boy. She was actually starting to enjoy spending time with their little group. She was already good friends with Draco and Blaise of course, Herido was ok once she'd gotten over the fear that he'd skin her whole family for the smallest slight and Hermione had proven herself to be a competent witch and now that her luscious locks had been tamed she was presentable enough to be seen in public with.
She knew Blaise was the type to just go with the flow and treated the girl fairly, but if the deep scowl was anything to go by, Draco was having more trouble accepting her. She supposed the Malfoys were the epitome of Pure-Blood aristocracy, so she shouldn't have been surprised.
"Do you think he went mad?" Meeting to talk with Professor Quirrell had become something of a habit for Heri."
"What?! Of course not!" The teacher responded immediately. He wasn't suicidal, nor was he a masochist. "W-why e-ever would y-you ask th-that?" Heri just hmmed.
"It's just" He looked off to the side, "with Halloween coming up, I was wondering about where it all went wrong. He had everything going for him before that night. He was on the rise, had a loyal following that were monetarily, politically and magically powerful and had pretty much cowed most of the country into submission… and then what? He suddenly decides he needs to set off to personally murder a baby? And then there is the whole muggleborn thing…" Quirrell could tell his Master wasn't pleased with the current topic of conversation. His downfall really wasn't his favourite subject.
"Well, he is a great wizard, I'm sure he had his reasons." He relied hoping to move along swiftly.
"I don't know. I think maybe things would have turned out differently if he'd had guidance." Voldemort was temporarily stunned. The boy surely couldn't know of his origins. He reassured himself that Heri was just making assumptions.
"Guidance like you've had, you mean?" Quirrell asked, hoping he might divulge something of his dark training. Heri just smiled.
"Quite. Without my family only Infernus knows where I might have ended up." Both adults were thrown by that. Surely the same could be said of any child without their family. Heri realised his mistake and quickly starting talking again to try and cover it up. "What I mean is… I'm a little different from the rest of my family. And that's fine because we celebrate difference. Father says I have a bit of a superiority complex." He laughed. "And is quite proud that I might just turn out to be the first megalomaniac in the family in over a century." Quirrell found that hard to believe, never mind disturbing. "But if it weren't for my family I'd probably be dead or in jail by now. I don't want them always having to clean up after me so I know I'll have to wait until I'm powerful enough to defeat anyone who gets in my way, before I can truly be myself." He left out that the main reason he was different from his family was that his first five years were spent with the Dursleys. His family thought they were all perfectly normal, but he knew they weren't. He could read the fear or disgust on people's faces when they looked at him. Though they were hard working, none of his family had had to work for anything, never been involuntarily cold or hungry or lost. And most importantly they had never been vulnerable like he had been, never had to put up with being beaten and bullied and treated like they were less than dirt. And he didn't think that any Addams in history had ever felt unloved, or unlovable.
Quirrell was shocked that boy was being so open.
"Are you saying you want to be a Dark Lord?" Heri laughed again, genuinely amused at the suggestion.
"No, not at all! I'm not even sure what that means." He mused. "I'm going to be powerful, and what could be labelled 'dark' I'm sure, but I have no intention of having followers or leading an army or revolution or something. That all seems like a lot of work!" Voldemort thought he sounded sincere, but then again he was only a child: did he even know what he wanted from life?
Wait! Did his host just equate being a megalomaniac with being a Dark Lord? Hmmm, they were going to have to have a little chat about respect.
Leaving Quirrell's office, Heri ran into Snape as he seemed to float majestically down the hall.
"Addams!" He called, "Another detention with Quirrell?" Heri stopped to regard him, trying once more to interpret that look on Snape's face.
"Not at all, Professor. In fact, you're the only one who's given me one so far…" He cut himself off as he thought about that. Had he really only had one detention? Incredible.
Snape narrowed his eyes. The defence Professor had informed the rest of the faculty that he'd had several detentions with the Addams boy. If that was a cover, then what on Earth were they up to? As he contemplated, Heri caught him off guard.
"Tell me, Professor, why do you look at me like that? With such poorly concealed distain? I'm not aware of ever harming you?" Snape threw his Occlumency shields up a second too late and wanted to kick himself. He had never expected such a strong compulsion to come from a child – even this one.
"You remind me of someone I once knew!" He spat, before turning to stalk away. Later, he would hate the boy for what had just happened, but for now, he was too stunned in realising that he'd spoken the truth: deep in his subconscious, he'd been equating Addams with Potter. It was something he needed to overcome. Sure the boy was arrogant (and was that really why?), but if he started to transfer old enmities to the boy it would end badly… for him.
On Halloween, Heri was quieter than usual. Hermione guessed he was observing some kind of memorial for his late parents, but nobody else knew what was wrong with him and it made them all more than a little uncomfortable. Heri in a bad mood was scary; they hoped that whatever this was wouldn't be worse.
He'd excused himself from lunch and refused to say where he was going. Draco noted, with growing resentment, Hermione share a brief conversation and hug with him before he left. Why should Hermione be trusted with things when Draco was kept in the dark? It was infuriating.
"Oh, 'Mione, you have to tell us!" Daphne pressed for the tenth time. The swot just shook her head.
"Heri's entitled to his privacy as much as anyone else!"
"But we're all friends, aren't we?" The blonde pressed, knowing how much it meant to Hermione to have a proper girl friend for the first time in her life.
"And Herido shares a room with a bunch of other guys," Blaise added, also dying to know what was going on with their peculiar friend. "believe me, there is no such thing as privacy!"
"Nevertheless," Hermione continued, trying to keep the wolves at bay. Really, why Herido had left her to deal with this she would never understand. She was this close to telling them her parents' bank details just to get them to back off. "There is nothing wrong with Heri and even if there was, if he wanted you to know, you'd already know!" Draco's scowl deepened.
"Oh, yes, and you just love being the only one he's told, don't you?" She was completely taken aback by the hostile tone.
"I… I don't…" She tried, but she wasn't used to this: arguing with friends? And it had come out of nowhere.
"Yes, I suppose you have to have something to make you feel superior." She just stared, mouth open in confusion.
"Draco, back off…" Blaise cautioned, but he was seeing red. He wasn't used to being the one out of loop, and most definitely didn't appreciate feeling inferior!
"No, Blaise. I know you're thinking it too. Why does she get all the special attention? Always to perfect and acting better than everyone else!" He turned to face her. "All to make up for the fact that she's nothing more than a worthless Mudblood!" The gasp and ensuing silence dominated a large section of the Slytherin table, but the small group of friends were the most stunned. Draco's mind went blank. He'd lashed out and thrown that word at her because he knew it would hurt, but he hadn't really thought of the aftermath.
Hermione said nothing as she stood, fighting to keep the tears from falling for long enough to make a dignified exit. She was heartbroken. She'd thought she had true friends, but they obviously just tolerated her for Heri's sake. She couldn't believe she'd fooled herself into thinking she could ever have friends. Why did her birth condemn her in the eyes of the people she wanted so much to like her.
Heri hadn't said anything about Hermione's absence from afternoon classes. Draco assumed he hadn't heard about the argument and hoped it would all blow over before he did. He'd seen first-hand how he reacted to that word being directed at Hermione and didn't think even being his friend would grant Draco much leniency. And on top of everything he had to think about what his father would say when he found out he'd angered the Addams. No. he was glad that no one at the table would have told on him… He hadn't noticed the twins approaching, or the wickedly amused grins they held after overhearing the argument…
During dinner, he overhead some seniors saying that Hermione had been seen crying the bathroom and grimaced. He may have imagined the dark look that crossed Herido's face, it had come and gone so quickly. He didn't miss how everyone else around turned to look at him, however and wanted to shout at them. Could they be any more obvious?
Thankfully he was saved from his growing unease when Professor Quirrell burst in, shouting gracelessly about a troll and filling the whole hall with hysterics.
The Slytherins were all ordered to stay put when someone realised that returning to their dorms as the Headmaster had suggested would send them into the path of the troll. They were very anti-fun at this school, Heri thought.
Daphne grabbed his arms and pulled him forward. It was the most direct, not to mention physical she'd ever been – this was progress, he thought with a smile.
"Heri!" Also the first time she'd called him Heri, but he wasn't sure how he felt about that one. "Hermione doesn't know about the troll!" Ah, yes.
"I'll find her." He declared with a sigh that somehow still conveyed serious conviction. Daphne was all for tagging along, but he told her to stay behind and volunteered Draco to go. Draco was too nervous to argue so they left – with nobody daring to question them – and set off to find the troll, following Herido's super human sense of smell. The blonde didn't even question it, too concerned with how bad for his health this little adventure would be.
They found the creature far too soon for his liking.
They stood in silence as it made its way inside a room. Draco watched as Heri leisurely made his way to the door, pulled it shut, and then locked it. He nodded at the door as a shriek rang out.
"This is the girl's bathroom." He informed a horrified looking Draco.
"What are you doing?" Draco asked as he grabbed the key and swung open the door without waiting for a response. He was panicking about Hermione, and only realised the danger he was placing himself in after he'd run into the bathroom and looked at the scene before him.
Hermione didn't notice the boys at first; too busy dodging the giant club that was trying to grind her into edible chunks! The blonde watched as she threw herself across the floor, taking momentary shelter beneath the sinks before she slid away, only just managing to avoid their fate as they were destroyed. Remotely, he felt Heri come in beside him.
"Addams, do something!" He yelled, losing his attitude in the face of a life and death situation.
"Why?" He sounded uncomfortably harsh.
"Heri!" Hermione called in outrage as she lunged away once more – the club following her motion. He sent her a wink and when Draco turned to look at him, with disgust, he subtly shifted his hand and the club fell far from her.
Draco took out his wand but looked lost. What did he do?
"Heri? What are you doing?!" He tried desperately. What was it with everyone using that name today?
"No, Draco." Heri replied sharply, taking his time when speaking. "What are you doing? Isn't this what you want? Hermione's just a mudblood isn't she? She shouldn't even be at the school, no? Who cares if she ends up a stain on the bathroom floor?" Draco just looked at him for a second as if not comprehending his words.
Hermione had taken out her wand and was firing several of the spells, light and dark, she'd learnt so far, but nothing was doing much. The darker spells were cutting into the troll's flesh, but she was aiming for amputations! However, now Heri was here she allowed the panic and adrenalin to propel instead of cripple her. She was scared as hell, but kept telling herself that he wouldn't let her die here.
Draco was at a loss for words. He gave Heri one last look of disbelief before hearing Hermione scream once again and turning to help. Draco obviously knew more about being a friend than Addams. Sure they fell out now and then, but he thought they were adjusting to each other rather well. The truth was Draco liked Hermione, she was a great friend to have and he was furious that Heri, who she was so fond of, would leave her to die here! He used that anger to try to save his friend.
He picked up and threw debris to get the troll's attention… After that he came up blank.
Heri handed him a katana.
"What the bloody hell am I supposed to do with this?" He cried, trying not to wonder where the sword had come from and taking it regardless of the general absurdity. He'd really have taken anything.
"It'll penetrate the skin." Heri assured in a bored tone. Draco didn't have time to think on it further. The troll swung its club toward him and he managed to roll away just in time. He turned to where he'd heard Hermione call out to him. Her hair was as wild as it used to, her uniform was a lost cause and she was covered in debris and flecks of troll blood. If he wasn't currently preoccupied being frightened for their lives, he would have conceded that she looked fierce. He felt the creature getting closer and tried not to flinch as she threw a spell over his shoulder, hitting the troll dead centre. Draco spun quickly and closed his eyes as he lunged forward driving the sword home before letting out a yelp of fear and running back to Hermione in order to protect her from the retaliation that was no doubt coming. In his panic, he'd left the sword embedded in the troll's tummy.
Heri could have laughed. She was much more capable of defending herself than the other boy.
However fortune had smiled on Draco. In his blind lunge, he'd managed to drive the katana up through the troll and effectively gutting it from the inside. It swayed a little, looking confused as it gurgled on its own blood, before finally falling forward, rocking the whole room as it hit the floor like a ton weight.
Hermione let out a shuddering breath of relief and fell to the floor to ride out the shock. Draco took a moment to get his own breath back before straightening up and marching up to Heri, a look of fury lighting his face. Heri was about to speak when Draco hit him as hard as he could in anger.
Heri let him. It was the most 'real' thing he'd ever seen Draco do. His smile was wide and his eyes gleeful. Draco was holding a bruising fist, apparently not used to using them.
"How could you? You mad, vacuous…" He started to accuse, but stopped as Heri's face darkened. In less than a second his whole countenance had shifted and he looked like that frightening wizard from the train.
"That's enough, Draco." The tone brought him up short, and he felt his anger ebb in favour of a sense self-preservation. "You've made your point and I've made mine. Let's not get… mean." The Malfoy heir managed to cap his frustration. He diverted his attention to Hermione when he felt a delicate hand rest on his arm.
"Thank you, Draco." Hermione said, her voice deep and sincere. Draco's brain was finally clearing enough to realise what had happened here. He shook his head. He didn't know whether to laugh or scream. Was this a punishment or a lesson? What the hell was wrong with everyone?
"No problem." Came the eventual reply. Nothing else needed to be said. They were an odd bunch, but they were friends.
"Draco," Draco looked at Heri and stood still against the need to squirm as he was quietly regarded. He hadn't failed to notice the darkness that still lingered on the boy, nor the challenging tone in which he spoke, almost as if he was daring Draco to do something. He gulped subtly, wanting to kick himself for losing his temper and hitting the person that even the teachers handled with care. "My sword?"
Hermione rolled her eyes at what she thought was a rather silly power play. She knew Heri didn't care about Draco hitting him in the slightest. It was the attitude and accusation that he found unacceptable; Herido Addams did not like to feel he was being condescended to. She worried for the world. Draco merely sniffed, then slowly retrieved the blade. He bit down the gag at the slopping sound that seemed to echo in his skull as he pulled it free and handed it back to its owner just as the teachers came piling in.
I'm sorry about the delay. I'm not giving up on the story or anything like that.
Thank you so much for the reviews! Some have given me a lot to think about! xx