Harry Potter
The Fight for Survival
By xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all related concepts do not belong to me! I am merely borrowing them for my own personal enjoyment. All OC's and anything you dont recognize is copyrighted by me: xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx
Rating: K
Pairing: Marcus/OC - Fred/OC - Harry/Ginny
Genre: Adventure/Friendship/Romance
Warnings: Please do not flame me for anything.
Summary: In order to deal with the future, one must understand the past. As the final battle approches the safety of Hogwarts is called into question. But as danger looms, the fight for magic...may come with a price.
Author's Note: Chapter dedicated too: DJScales, Razmend, Purple Sunshine56, Aileen Autarkeia, Matt-hardy-lover-101 and BamaRose. Starts off with another lesson with Dumbledore, because I needed something to fill the chapter out; enjoy.
Private Lessons: Part II
"Its eight," Riley yawned, as she tiredly rubbed her eyes. She was sitting cross-legged in the Slytherin common room helping Pansy with her Ancient Runes essay "Don't you have a lesson with Professor Dumbledore?" she questioned Charlie, who sat across from her
Charlie nodded "Yup," she answered
"Then why arent you leaving?"
The Muggleborn Slytherin shrugged "Im waiting on Professor Snape," she answered "He doesnt want me walking the castle after curfew, and since most of my lessons are at 8:00pm and after curfew, he doesnt want to risk anyone waiting for me in the hallways..." she glanced up "If you know what I mean"
Riley chanced a glance around the common room, and noticed that Alex Malcolm was missing "Ah, I see what you mean,"
"See what?" Millicent asked "What do you see?"
"Look around," Riley mumured, "Who's the one person who is not here?"
Daphne looked around "Malcolm!" she breathed
"Bingo," Charlie nodded in confirmation, pointing over her shoulder "It would seem my dear old Godfather, is trying to make up for the fact that he cannot protect me much this year!"
Pansy frowned "But isnt he protecting you by escourting you up to Dumbledore's office?" she asked
The Muggleborn shrugged "I don't know how it works," she admitted, before looking up as the door leading from the common room to Professors Snape's study opened and the Potions master himself walked out. Immediately Charlie got to her feet and wandered to her godfather's side. "I'll catch you later," she winked at her friends, before was escourted out of the common room.
xXxHarryPotterxXx
Charlie glanced sideways at Snape as they walked side-by-side through the hallways of Hogwarts "Why did you do it?" she asked
"Do what?" Snape asked, without looking at her
"Make the Unbreakable Vow," Charlie answered "Why did you promise to protect Alex, while he returned to school?"
Snape was silent "So it was you on the otherside of the door," he mused "I should have guessed. You do realize that you have given away your position at Spinners End now?"
Charlie glanced down "Yes."
"You can never return there..."
"Yes," she nodded, swallowing hard. She hadnt realized that she could never return to Spinners End after the previous summer; now what was she going to do?
Snape sighed and placed his hand on her shoulder "The Order are putting plans into effect to make sure you are safe while in the Muggle world, there is a chance that a Fidelius Charm will be placed upon your home"
Charlie frowned "A what?" she asked
"A Fidelius Charm, is a powerful charm that conceals a secret," Snape explained "The secret is known only to the Secret-Keeper and cannot be found out by anyone else unless told to by the Secret-Keeper"
"Kind of like Headquarters?" Charlie asked
Snape nodded "Exactly like that," he confirmed "Or it is very well known that you and your mother will possibly be moved from Spinners End for protection purposes"
"We can't just leave!" Charlie argued "What about my friends? Won't Vol -"
"Do not say his name!" Snape snarled
Charlie glared "-demort, try and use my friends to find out where I have gone? Jack, Nick and all them don't deserve to be tortured by magic! They won't understand what is going on, and there is a good chance they will be killed!"
"Its their safety," Snape retorted "Or yours...your choice?"
The Muggleborn shook her head and looked away from her godfather, she couldnt make that choice "Its not fair!" she mumured, her voice quiet "I didnt ask for this! I didnt ask to be apart of this war!" she choked "Why is this happening...why now?"
Snape sighed and squeezed her shoulder, silently wishing that he could answer her questions. But alas...he couldnt. "Acid Pop," he told the gargoyle and watched as it leapt aside "Dumbledore will send word when your lesson is over, do not attempt to come back down without an escourt, understand?"
Charlie nodded and headed the spiral staircase for her lesson.
xXxHarryPotterxXx
When Charlie entered Dumbledore's office she found Harry already there waiting for her along with the Headmaster. "Sorry im late, Professor" the Slytherin nodded
"Im sure, you and Professor Snape's conversation was important," Dumbledore nodded.
Charlie frowned, how did he know?
"Shall we commence with the lesson?" Dumbledore asked, motioning to the pensieve. He handed a vial to Harry, who emptied the contents into the bowl.
"Where are we going tonight?" Charlie asked, looking expectant.
"Tonight you will be taking a trip down Bob Ogden's memory lane," Dumbledore explained "He was employed by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. He died sometime ago, but not before I tracked him down and persuaded him to confide these recollections to me." he turned to his students "You are about to accompany him on a visit he made in the course of his duties...if you will..." he motioned to the pensieve
Charlie patted Harry's shoulder "This time," she smirked "You can go first!"
"Why me?" Harry asked
"So you can catch me, when I come down" Charlie retorted "My landings usually hurt,"
Harry smirked, shook his head and took a deep breath before he plunged head first into the swirling depths. Once Harry had disappeared, Charlie followed him.
xXxHarryPotterxXx
"Help!" Charlie squeaked as she stumbled into Harry as the Gryffindor steadied her on her own two feet "Thanks" she nodded, pulling away and looking around.
They were standing in a country lane bordered by high, tangled hedgerows, beneath a summer sky. Ahead of them stood a short, plump man wearing enermously thick glasses that reduced his eyes to molelike specks.
"That must be him," Harry pointed
Charlie glanced sideways "What gave you that impression?" she asked "Could it be the fact that we're the only living, breathing people here? Or the fact that we're kids compared to him?"
Harry glowered in her direction.
"Come on!" Charlie grinned, pulling on Harry's arm and darted off in the direction Ogden was walking.
They walked a short way with nothing to see but the hedgerows and the wide blue sky. The lane on which they walked curved to the left and fell away, sloping steeply down a hillside, so that they had a sudden, unexpected view of a village.
Charlie gasped as she walked beside Harry, overlooking the village "Look!" she pointed "Its the Manor!"
"What manor?" Harry asked
"Riddle Manor!" the Slytherin stated "Remember? From fourth year, the vision...the graveyard?" she glanced down at the village beneath her "Its Little Hangleton!"
Harry stared at her wide-eyed, was it possible they were in the same place they had been two years ago? But this time before Voldemort was born?
Soon the lane curved to the right; leading away from Little Hangleton and onwards towards a rundown house in the middle of nowhere. As the dark shadows of the trees slid away, Ogden stopped outside the garden gate of the house and stared at the door, to which somebody had nailed a dead snake. There was a rustle and from a near-by tree a ragged looking man dropped from down landng on his feet right in front of Ogden.
"You're not welcome"
The man standing before them had thick hair so matted with dirt it could have been any colour. Several of his teeth were missing. His eyes were small and dark and stared in opposite directions.
"Er - good morning. I'm from the Ministry of Magic -"
"You're not welcome"
"Er - I'm sorry - I don't understand you," said Ogden
Harry frowned "How can he not understand him?" he asked Charlie
"Snake..." Charlie mumured, her eyes trained on the dead snake on the door; her mind reeling. The only other time someone had said they couldnt understand her was when she was speaking "Parseltongue!" she muttered
"He's speaking Parseltongue?" Harry questioned
"It would explain why we can understand him," Charlie explained "and Ogden can't"
Harry nodded
The man in rags was now advancing on Ogden, a knife in one hand and a wand in the other.
"Morfin!" boomed a loud voice, and a second man appeared in the doorway of the rundown cottage. He was smaller than the first, and oddly proportioned; his shoulders were very broad and his arms overlong, which, with his bright brown eyes, short scrubby hair and wrinkled face, gave him the look of a powerful -
Charlie cracked a grin "MONKEY!" she screeched, pointing at the man before cackling with laughter "He looks like a Monkey!" she giggled, clapping her hands like an over-grown child.
Harry shook his head at her "Sometimes, its hard to believe you're sixteen at all"
Charlie shrugged
"Ministry, is it?" said the older man
"Correct," Ogden replied "And you, I take it, are Mr Gaunt?"
"'S right," said Gaunt "This is private property." he turned to his son "Get in the house. Don't argue."
Morfin seemed to be on the point of disagreeing, but when his father cast him a threatening glance he changed his mind, lumbering away to the cottage with an odd rolling gait and slamming the front door behind him.
"It's your son I'm here to see, Mr Gaunt," said Ogden "That was Morfin, wasn't it?"
"Ar, that was Morfin," Gaunt nodded "Are you pureblood?"
"That's neither here nor there," Ogden replied coldly
Apparently Gaunt felt indifferent "Now I come to think about it, I've seen noses like yours down in the villiage"
"I don't doubt it, if your son's been let loose on them," said Ogden "Perhaps we could continue this discussion inside?"
"Inside?"
"Yes, Mr Gaunt. I've already told you. I'm here about Morfin. We sent an owl -"
"I have no use for owls," said Gaunt "I don't open letters"
"Then you can hardly complain that you get no warning of visitors. I am here following a serious breach of wizarding law which occurrred here in the early hours of this morning -"
"All right, all right, all right!" bellowed Gaunt "Come in the bleeding house, then, and much good it'll do you!"
Harry and Charlie exchanged looks as they followed the two men inside.
The house seemed to contain three tiny rooms. Two doors led off the main room, which served as kitchens and living room combined. Morfin was sitting in a filthy armchair beside the smoking fire, twisting a live adder between his thick fingers and crooning softly at it.
"Hissy hissy, little snakey
Slither on the floor.
You be good to Morfin
Or he'll nail you to the door"
There was a scuffling sound in the corner beside the open window, and a girl stood there wearing a ragged grey dress. She was standing beside a steaming pot on a black stove. Her hair was lank and dull and she had a plain, pale, rather heavy face. Her eyes, like her brother's, stared in opposite directions. She may have looked cleaner than the two men, but she looked slightly defeated and shrunk away when her father spoke, as he re-entered the room.
"M'daughter, Merope," Gaunt said grudgingly
"Good morning," Ogden nodded
Merope didnt respond
"Well, Mr Gaunt," Ogden began again "to get straight to the point, we have reason to believe that your son Morfin performed magic in front of a Muggle late last night"
There was a deafening clang, Merope had dropped one of the pots.
"PICK IT UP!" Gaunt bellowed "That's it, grub on the floor like some filthy Muggle, what's your wand for, you useless sack of muck?"
"Mr Gaunt, please!" Ogden said, clearly shocked. While Merope attempted to clean up after herself, Ogden returned to the reason he was there "as I've said; the reason for my visit -"
"I heard you the first time!" snapped Gaunt "and so what? Morfin gave a Muggle a bit of what was coming to him - what about it, then?"
"Morfin has broken wizarding law,"
Mr Gaunt mimicked Ogden's voice, making him sound pompous and singsong. "He taught a filthy Muggle a lesson, that's illegal now, is it?"
"Yes!" Ogden nodded "I'm afraid it is"
He pulled from inside his pocket a scroll and unrolled it
"What's that, then, his sentance?" Gaunt asked
"It is a summons to the Ministry for a hearing -"
"Summons?" Gaunt growled "Who do you think we are, summoning my son anywhere?"
"I'm Head of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad," said Ogden
"And you think we're scum, do you?" screamed Gaunt, "Scum who'll come running when the Ministry tells 'em too? Do you know who you're talking too, you filthy little Mudblood, do you?"
"I was under the impression that I was speaking to Mr Gaunt," replied Ogden, looking wary
"That's right! roared Gaunt, as he showed him his index finger where he was wearing an ugly, black-stoned ring. "See this? Know what it is? Know where it came from? Centuries it's been in our family, that's how far we go, and pureblood all the way! Know how much I've been offered for this, with the Peverell coat of arms engraved on the stone?"
"I've really no idea," Ogden replied "and it's quite beside the point. Your son has committed -"
With a howl of rage, Gaunt ran towards his daughter; he grabbed her by the throat and pulled her towards Ogden brandishing a golden locket at the Ministry official "See this?" he bellowed
"Mine!" Charlie shouted, pointing at the Locket "Its my locket!"
Harry glanced sideways "The one Voldemort took from you in the graveyard?"
Charlie nodded
"Are you sure?" Harry questioned
Again Charlie nodded "I don't understand..."
"Slytherin's!" yelled Gaunt "Salazar Slytherin's! We're his last living descendants, what do you say to that, eh?"
Charlie paused "No..." she breathed, shaking her head "...it can't be..." she paused "...can it?"
"What?" Harry asked in confusion
But Charlie wasnt paying attention; she was watching the scene before her. The arguing had gone on to the point where Gaunt looked about ready to kill Ogden, who was still going on about the hearing.
"This discussion is getting us nowhere," Ogden was saying "It is clear from your son's attitude that he feels no remorse for his actions." he glanced at the scroll "Morfin will attend a hearing on the fourteenth of September to answer the charges of using magic in front of a Muggle and causing harm and distress to that same Mugg -"
He cut off as a jingling noise echoed from outside, followed by two voices. One male and one female.
"...Couldn't your father have that hovel cleared away, Tom?" asked the female
"It's not ours," said the male "Everything on the other side of the valley belongs to us, but that cottage belongs to an old tramp called Gaunt and his children. The son's quite mad, you should hear some of the stories they tell in the village -"
"Tom," the female spoke again "I might be wrong - but has somebody nailed a snake to that door?"
"Good Lord, you're right!" the male said "That'll be the son, I told you he's not right in the head. Don't look at it, Cecilia, darling"
The jingling became distant.
"'Darling'" whispered Morfin in Parseltongue "'Darling', he called her. So he wouldn't have you anyway"
Merope paled in comparison to her normal complexion.
"What's that?" said Gaunt sharply, also in Parseltongue, he looked between his son and daughter "What did you say, Morfin?"
"She likes looking at the Muggle," said Morfin "Always in the garden when he passes, peering through the hedge at him, isn't she? And last night -"
Merope shook her head, but her brother went on ruthlessly
"Hanging out of the window waiting for him to ride home, wasn't she?"
"Hanging out of the window to look at a Muggle?" said Gaunt quietly. All three Gaunt's had seemingly forgotten Ogden was there "Is it true? My daughter - pureblooded descendant of Salazar Slytherin - lumbering after a filthy, dirty-veined Muggle?"
Merope shook her head frantically
"But I got him father!" cackled Morfin "I got him as he went by, and he didnt look so pretty with hives all over him, did he, Merope?"
"You disgusting little Squib, you filthy little blood traitor!" Gaunt thundered towards his daughter
Charlie and Harry's eyes widened in response "No!" they both shouted, as Gaunt grabbed his daughter around the throat.
"Relashio!" Ogden cried, pointing his wand at Mr Gaunt, who was thrown backwards, away from his daughter and tripped over a chair and fell flat on his back.
With a roar of rage, Morfin leapt out of his chair and ran at Ogden, brandishing his bloody knife and firing hexes indiscriminately from his wand.
As Ogden fled from the room, Harry and Charlie felt themselves rise, as they once again appeared in Dumbledore's office.
xXxHarryPotterxXx
"What happened to the girl?" Harry asked, the moment the reappeared in front of the headmaster "Merope, or whatever her name was?"
Dumbledore surveyed them "She survived," he nodded "Ogden apparated back to the Ministry and returned with reinforcements within fifteen minutes. Morfin and his father attempted to fight but were over-powered. They were convicted by the Wizengamot. Morfin recieved three years in Azkaban, and Marvolo, recieved six months"
"Marvolo?" Harry questioned
Dumbledore nodded
"Where have I heard that name, before?" Charlie asked, looking thoughtful "Oh;" her eyes widened "That old man was -"
"Voldemort's grandfather," Dumbledore confirmed "yes. Marvolo his son Morfin and daughter Merope were the last of the Gaunts, a very ancient wizarding family noted for a vein of instability and violence that flourished through the generations due to their habit of marrying their own cousins..."
Charlie cringed at the idea "And im related to them?" she screeched "Ew, no thank you!"
Harry frowned "What are you talking about?" he asked "How are you -"
"Oh come on, Harry!" Charlie cried "Merope was Voldemort's mother!"
The Gryffindor's eyes widended, and he shook his head "No way!" he breathe
"She is right," Dumbledore confirmed "You also managed to get a glimpse of Voldemort's father. I wonder whether you noticed?"
This time Harry answered, everything falling into place within his mind "The Muggle Morfin attacked? The man on the horse?"
"Very good indeed," said Dumbledore "Yes, that was Tom Riddle Senior, the handsome Muggle who used to go riding past the Gaunt cottage and for whom Merope Gaunt cherished a secret, burning passion"
"And they ended up married?" Harry exclaimed in disbelief
Dumbledore nodded "I believe you are forgetting that Merope was a witch," he reminded Harry
"Yeah, but -" Harry started, but Dumbledore cut him off
"We will discuss this topic next lesson," he nodded "It is late, and I'm pretty sure your friends will be wondering where you are. Miss Hunter, if you would please wait a moment while I contact Professor Snape, to escourt you back to your common room" he nodded at Charlie, before turning to Harry "Mr Potter...good night"
Harry hesitated and turned to Charlie
"We'll talk about it tomorrow," the Slytherin nodded "We'll discuss it with Ron, Hermione, Riley, Nikki and Marcus when we're alone. Maybe we can meet up in Hogsmeade or something"
Harry nodded "Okay," he agreed "Goodnight"
"Goodnight," Charlie waved. Once Harry was out of the room, Charlie turned to the Headmaster "Professor; my locket! It was the on Merope had...Marvolo said it was a treasure past down from Salazar Slytherin himself," he pasued "Does that mean...I mean...am I..." she trailed off
Dumbledore surveyed her "Yes, Charlie" he confirmed "you are the last descendant of Salazar Slytherin. And you will remain the last, until you have children of your own"
Charlie swallowed as she stared at the headmaster, but before she could say anything further; the office door opened and Snape strode in "Charlie?" he questioned "Let us go, Mrs. Young is waiting up for you..."
"Yes, Professor" Charlie nodded "Good night, Headmaster"
"Goodnight, Charlie" Dumbledore nodded, watching as Snape placed his hand on Charlie's shoulder and swept her from the room.
A/N: Oh...If I do say so myself, i am quite proud of this chapter. What did you think though, thats more important. The rest of this chapter will be discussed between the friends when they go to Hogsmeade; so don't expect it in the next lesson with Dumbledore.
Review (please)
~*Kara*~
All OCs and anything unrecognizable is copyrighted (c) and belongs to me xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx
Chapter updated 28 March 2011 at 05:24am