Chapter II: The wheel that must never be stopped
Parseltongue is the primordial Gift,
The one that helps us, to understand the steep climb of the cliff.
The wretched serpent, buried at the bottom of swamps,
Never forget, and consumes muggles like tramps.
This paper heirloom of the snake tree,
Is written with the sound of our shared hisses.
We will not forgive, we, sons of the snake's tree.
We patiently await our recovery.
To the blood of our blood, to achieve this legacy.
Heading of the Codex of Slytherin
Lunch with Umbridge was a little less unpleasant than Eddy might have thought. The Riddle twins had been held back at the end of class, and Skeeter and Black waiting religiously outside the classroom door, what was left of the Slytherin in his year's was almost bearable without the foursome.
Dolores had a cordial relationship with Gwendal, but mostly hung out with fifth-year students. Or rather, she imposed her presence to see the unfriendly looks that were addressed to her when she sat down all perky by their side.
However, Eddy's presence seemed to tickle their curiosity. A tall, brown, fifth grade, Rodolphus Lestrange, patched up his nose and then tried to teach him the proper wand movement. Eddy agreed to participate in this charade to ensure his cover. He answered two or three questions about Ilvermony with lip service. Having arrived during the week, it was Friday. So he only had one lesson for the afternoon and that day would be over. Divination not requiring any magic wand technique, his choice of option had naturally gone towards this subject.
Professor Clarence Belline was a round man with black skin; he wore a choker made of various precious fabrics, which shimmered under his astonishingly ethereal movements. Their lesson for today was about tea reading. It should not be too complicated, he thought.
They were only about ten students to attend this option, no trace of the Riddles, or even of the two Gorgons. Sitting on ottomans with Kheiron Shafiq and a Ravenclaw girl with big round glasses, Eddy was trying to figure out what the blackish residue at the bottom of his classmate's cup meant.
"Apparently according to this book, a wedding is expected in the year," murmured Eddy.
"I've been engaged since I was three to a cousin, try again," Shafiq said, rolling his eyes.
"Mmmh, just in case, avoid taking the Knight Bus in the next few weeks. This kind of wheel is for accidents, I think."
"Nonsense," exclaimed the bookish Ravenclaw in an ghostly voice "this is the Wheel of Destiny. The wheel that must never be stopped. There's the same in your cup."
Curious, Eddy approached looking in the black and odorous broth for anything that could support his neighbour's claim.
"You talk nonsense Sybill ... But it's a good sign at least?" Shafiq asked trying to compare the two cups. "Do you really see a wheel of fate? I see at best a patty, at worst fly poop."
Eddy chuckled as the professor leaned towards Xenophilius Lovegood a feeble Ravenclaw boy across the room. The binoculars took offense at their mockery and snatched Eddy's teacup out of Shafiq's hands.
"The Wheel of Destiny is neither good nor bad. It is the assurance of a long and laborious road ahead."
"I'm not a big fan of hard work, or long walks," Kheiron gritted. "I'm more like nap and a short walk. You have to be completely masochistic to act otherwise. But hey, apparently some like to take some perilous paths."
This pike was aimed at Eddy who just raised an eyebrow. Shafiq was abrasive and sarcastic but not as witty as he wanted to believe.
The Ravenclaw continued theatrically to get their attention:
"The Wheel of Fate has marked Lee…But this…this what I see is more terrible. This black star… Oh by Pythia, by Cassandra, by Irma… It's a sign of deeeeaaaath! You will cause irreparable damage around you! The destructiooooon paves your way."
If Shafiq sneered unconvinced, he met Eddy's gaze and his laughter was lost in his throat, for no doubt he must have been pale as ghost. Eddy felt his fists shake as the binoculars looked pleased with the effect she made on their table.
" Trelawney, I think you really should have shut it up…"
"You're completely sick!" Eddy belched as he stood up, knocking over their table. "Stupid girl!"
Like earlier in the day, anger welled up inside him, and it terrified him. He picked up his things under the astonished gaze of his classmates and their Divination teacher.
"Mr Lee, come on, sit down! The class is not over! You don't have permission to leave."
Talk to my back, Eddy thought fiercely as he walked feverishly towards the ladder leading to the lower floor. He felt it, he had to get away as soon as possible otherwise Trelawney 's crazy prediction might well come true sooner than expected.
"You'll get a detention, Mr Lee!" Belline stormed from the top of the ladder.
"Add it to my collection, I missed it!" Eddy retorted fiercely as he disappeared down the spiral staircase.
His bravado somewhat loosened the noose of rage and anguish that threatened to suffocate him. He was still unfamiliar with the school and unable to find a suitable place to be alone. So he ran to his dorm. And running was one of the things he did best. In a few minutes, following the stream of green-robed students, he found his way back to his common room and rushed to his dormitory.
But since Merlin, the 'Wheel of Fate' or whatever seemed to be against him, the dormitory was not empty as he would have thought. There was Salazar Riddle. He was as pale as Eddy was, curled up in bed holding Charm in his arms.
Eddy realized he was shaking as much as he did; yet the morning anger hadn't left him. He quickly took the toiletry bag and rushed into the bathroom. He pulled out the vials Slughorn had given him earlier in the day, tossed them roughly into his case except for one, which he swallowed bottoms up, trying to calm the trembling in his hands and the racing of his heart.
Eddy hunkered down between the sink and toilet and then, began to sing a song from his childhood in a low voice. It took some time but it had its effect. After a long time, his magic and rage subsided. He splashed himself with water, happy despite everything that he hadn't exploded and thought that maybe it was time to get out. He must have been locked in there for an hour.
Riddle hadn't moved, frozen like a pillar of salt, watching the aquatic ballet of water creatures through the windows. Charm left the young Riddle's embrace to curl up against his legs.
As usual, his friend understood his dismay better than anyone. He had followed him like his shadow for years. Eddy picked it up, turning his back on Riddle and heading to his bed. He slammed the curtains shut with a furious desire to sleep until the next day. However, he noticed two letters placed delicately on his pillow. An elf must have dropped them off. If the writing of the first meant nothing to him, the second in this case tore from him a shiver of anguish.
Eddy resolved to read the first letter:
"Dear Eddy,
I hope your first day to Hogwarts went well, but given the rumours I have been hearing since this morning, I doubt that is the case.
Why don't you come and have a cup of tea with me tomorrow at 5:00? Will that give us time to talk before you leave for your detention?
AD.
PS: I love Chocolate Frogs . »
This surprised him only a little considering his catastrophic firsts classes. Eddy stifled a sigh. He finally calmed his apprehensions and forced himself to tear the delicate paper from the second envelope.
" Hello big boy,
Tina, -to tell the truth-, was in too much of a hurry to write to you to wait for the day of the post. I had to ask Albus to forward this letter to you as soon as possible after it passed through Post-Away. We have arrived safely in Nagoya where I will hold my congress on kelpis. These are still so little known around the world! However, Japanese philosophy seems to have great interest in these fascinating creatures. I can't wait to tell you about it when we see each other this summer.
I hope your return to school went well, Albus told me you were sorted into Slytherin. I expected no less of you. I hope these are not too hard on you, -those of my time not being the warmest individuals-. Don't lose hope, you'll show them who you really are, and eventually you'll make a lot of friends, I'm sure.
If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask us, or ask Charm, this Kneazle has a bad temper but is the most loyal in his kind.
Take care of yourself,
Newt .
Hello my boy,
I hope all is going well and that Hogwarts isn't too big or overwhelming for you. You must have learned a lot of exciting things. I'm dreaming of being a little mouse to attend the classes that Newt has so often told me about. I hope you've made friends, but given your character, I don't think it's for now. You will definitely find friends. Take your potions, repeat our exercises regularly and everything will be fine my dear.
You are very brave, be good with your teachers, and don't hesitate to go see Albus if you have any trouble. He helped you when you were little, he will know how to help you today.
PS: Nagoya's cherry blossom trees are magnificent, I'll bring you a plan, we'll plant it in the garden this summer.
I hug you strongly.
Take care of yourself.
Your Tina. »
The solicitude of his guardians hurt him even more. He didn't know what to answer to this letter other than by recounting his successive failures. He could never tell them, and somehow suspected that Dumbledore kept Newt a record of his days as his guardians were so worried about him.
Charm purred and tried to nibble on his cheek then planted his claws gently on the soft fabric of his sweater, paddling against him trying to provide him with warmth and comfort. It worked, and again Eddy calmed down. He heard a shudder behind the curtain of his bed, then the slight creak of the floorboards. Riddle had stood up, but wasn't moving, seeming to be watching him from behind the drapery.
Eddy had no desire to talk to him, nor to answer Newt and Tatina, so as it was something he did very well, he decided to put things off and let himself be lulled by Charm's purr. .
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Medusa stared at her reflection in the mirror. The sun hadn't quite risen yet, and on a Saturday no one would bother her. It was good, she didn't want to see anyone. She spent a long time tying her black hair, twisting her locks along her pink ribbon to be sure to manage to show the best image of herself. That is to say, she wanted to look perfect. The reflection of the bathroom mirror wasn't quite satisfactory, she clicked her tongue in annoyance then look at her little golden watch. She knew she would be late if she spent more time on her hair.
Medusa left the bathroom and crossed her room, Rita and Bellatrix were asleep and Umbridge was snoring, her abominable cat Froufrou stuck against her toadyish mouth. With a contemptuous grimace, the young girl went down the stairs to the common room and then left it in turn. She crossed the still deserted corridors with a calm walk. The ghost of the bloody Baron passed by her side without noticing her. She climbed the stairs and heard the cry of a rooster in the park. Upon arriving on the second floor, she headed towards the Defence Against the Dark Arts room, which she passed through to go up to her father's office.
"Would you have kept me waiting, Medusa?"
"I would never have dared, Father," she simpered.
The tone of his parent had put her on the right track; he seemed in a good mood compared to the day before. If Tom Riddle's mood was know to be unpredictable, Medusa had learned over time to know when it was reasonable to be strong-headed or on the contrary to hunker down. She found her father busy filling a bag with a wave of his wand while many books flew around him. Her father's slender silhouette stood out in the first rosy light of dawn.
"You're leaving," Medusa observed.
"I congratulate your sense of deduction. I have some business to take care of, next week Eileen will take my place."
Medusa barely suppressed a gnashing of teeth. She didn't really like Eileen Prince who replaced her father when he was away on business. The woman was a good teacher, but the idea of being excluded from the intrigues of her father annoyed the young girl.
"I didn't bring you here to talk to you about my business. I have a mission for you."
At that, Medusa raised her head hopefully. Her father sat casually on his desk, playing with the Gaunt's ring along his slender fingers.
"You may have noticed our explosive new recruit to Slytherin…"
"Yes, Little Loony Lee, the American."
"He's not American," her father snapped. "On the evening of his dispatch he spoke another language with the Sorting Hat. A language I've heard before."
This piqued Medusa's interest and she leaned closer. Her father was immersed in intense thoughts and when he acted, thus it was a valuable reward would be at stake, like a dog ready to bite, Medusa shuddered.
"What is this language?"
"I do not have the faintest idea. But that's where you come in. I can't go get that boy myself; you saw that Dumbledore seemed attached to him. He took away the detention I had given him and gave it to this alcoholic hybrid. Dumbledore doesn't want me to be alone with him."
This heightened Medusa's interest. Her father never bothered to monitor the detentions he inflicted on his students, he was always delegating this thankless task to Prince or the janitor. However, that Dumbledore decided on his own to hand over restraint to a third party meant something. Eddy Lee had a dark secret, and somehow Dumbledore was involved in it.
Her father and Dumbledore cordially hated each other, anyone spending more than two minutes with them would see that. Medusa didn't have the old man in her heart either. The sooner he would be out of Hogwarts, the better.
"So I have to pull the verses out of his broken little nose?"
"No," her father hissed sweetly, "I want you to do what you do best with your little friends. Push him to break. The boy is unstable. The day he cracks, I'll be there to pick him. I won't be away for long, I'm just giving you a head start to do as you please. He is all yours."
The girl felt a shiver of excitement and wicked glee, and rubbed her hands together, eager to get Bella and Rita to start making plans.
Her father did not seem to be done yet. He put a metal instrument in a leather trunk and said:
"One last thing. What happened in my class yesterday was a first and will be a last. If Salazar doesn't hear it, I hope you do. I expect increased diligence and an exemplary attitude from him. There's no way he'll continue to show up like this or I'll be a lot less complacent."
"It's not Sal's fault," Medusa muttered, "it's that Lee who-
" I don't care about your apologies," her father hissed violently in parselmouth. "If he still misses a class out of whimsy or gets into trouble and therefore gets me into trouble, you will be personally responsible. Have a nice day, Medusa."
Like an automaton, Medusa jabbered the usual greetings and turned away, closing the door behind her. The crackle of ash and the greenish glow through the thin gap in the wooden panel told her that her father had left the establishment.
Medusa allowed herself a sigh of relief. Then, after this brief show of weakness, she went down to the Great Hall. A few students got up and ate their breakfast, looking a bit unawake.
Bellatrix was one of those, dipping her bun limply in her pumpkin juice. Bella greeted her best friend with a tired expression on her face:
"Med, where have you been? You're awfully early for a Saturday."
"I had a little chat."
Bellatrix's eyes twinkled prompting Medusa to say more. But Medusa, like her father, liked to spare her suspense to thrill her audience. She gave him a wink to assure her that she would tell her more shortly.
They ate in silence while other students joined the Great Hall.
"By Circe, I'm the last one awake. What a day, my friends what a day", said Rita, slumping between her two classmates without any grace. "I think I'll go back to bed, it's ugly, cold, and I have a terrible stomach ache."
Rita grabbed two soft-boiled eggs from a basket and broke them methodically into her eggcup, a surly expression on her face.
"Your you-know-what again?" Bellatrix asked. "Go get a potion from the nurse, by Morgana's wig."
"Her potions don't work and she treats me like a sissy," Rita gritted. "No, no, no! It's not my fault if the nurse hired by that crazy old Dumbledore can't brew a potion properly!"
"School is going down the drain since that muggle lover got here," Bellatrix confirmed, too happy to vent her anger, glaring fiercely at the headmaster.
"I must be able to prepare something drinkable for you," Medusa retorted. "All we have to do is convince this good old Slug to let me borrow from his reserve.
"You really look like a dug-up Skeeter," Sal interrupted, sitting down next to Medusa. "What are you planning to prepare?"
The three young girls blushed uncomfortably and Medusa preferred to change the subject. Salazar was soaked in morning dew and a small feather was stuck in his wet curls.
"Sal, you absolutely have to stop going to the forest," Medusa exasperated, as she brushed down from his hair. "Or at least think about washing your face a little. You saw what happened yesterday."
Her twin looked at her with blue, contrite eyes. Medusa saw him tremble, put a hand over his, and share all the affection she had to offer by legilimency. Which wasn't much, but more than Sal could get. He broke off their contact and began to scribble in his notebook, sipping his tea cautiously.
Rita and Bella hadn't moved, watching their little game they had grown accustomed to from first year. The Great Hall had filled up in the meantime. Medusa didn't take long to find her target. Eddy Lee had just entered the Great Hall, alone, slumped and gloomy. There was neither Pettigrew nor Shafiq. His two outbursts from the day before had gone around the school, and everyone was starting to think that if Lee had transferred during the year, it was for a reason. He was completely crazy.
Yet, a stubborn figure refused to leave Lee alone. Dolores Umbridge had put her most garish ribbon in her dull hair and was showering the teenager with words.
"Umbridge must like that crazy Lee," Bellatrix spat, watching the pair.
"I'm sure I can squeeze that in somewhere between two lines in Hogwarts Illustrated," Rita said.
"Oh Rita, honey, you are amazing. Get out your best quill, I can't wait to read this", Medusa chuckled. "But I think we will have to press him a little more. That strong head insulted you, attacked Sal, and knocked our house off points all in one day. And what we to strong heads?"
" We're cutting them", bellowed Bella and Rita in the same singsong voice.
"Leave him alone."
Bella, Rita and Medusa looked over at Salazar who had only looked up from his notebook as a warning.
"Come on, he tried to hurt you, Sal," Medusa retorted.
"He is in pain. He's really in pain, Med."
Salazar looked up from his notebook to look at her with pleading eyes. Medusa had always been intrigued by her twin's gifts, without really understanding what he really was. Communication with him was often complicated and nebulous, legilimentia could bring them answers but Salazar didn't seem determined to commune with her.
"He suffers, everyone suffers," Rita pointed out in a syrupy voice. "Not everyone has to become a grumpy troll when they're not well. He's in detention all weekend, right? We take care of him tonight before he goes to your father's office?"
"A little bath in the black lake would be the most beautiful effect," thought Bella aloud. "Or maybe a little haircut with the Jigsaw Bulbs from greenhouse number 3?"
"Father is away, Lee has been sent to that half-witted Hagrid, we can attack tonight", retorted Medusa. "Sal, where are you going?"
Sal had nonchalantly risen, leaving his notebook on the table. In the middle of the Great Hall he looked like he was looking for something to do. So, Medusa feared the worst. He seemed to have found what he was looking for. He levitated a jug of tomato juice above the head of the three girls and dumped the contents onto Bella and Rita. Both girls let out a horrified yelp as some laughter broke out in the room.
"Mr Riddle!" shouted the voice of McGonagall coming running. "Tonight, detention! 7 p.m. in the Great Hall with Mr Lee. Twenty points from Slytherin!"
Their Transfiguration teacher's face was almost the same colour as the decanter's contents dripping onto the floor.
Salazar nodded happily as if someone had just told him a tasteful joke. He sat down again and began to draw again, not realizing the furious gaze of the three Gorgons.
"What have you done?" Bellatrix hissed.
"It's just a little tomato juice, a flick of the wand, and no one will know," Salazar retorted.
"No one will know about it? But everyone saw you, kind of retarded!" Rita growled.
"Don't call him like that," Medusa gritted.
"I don't know what I should call him anymore, but I know I don't want to see his face for a while!"
She jumped to her feet, and Bellatrix wasted no time in following her furiously. Salazar took his notebook and sauntered off.
Eddy Lee gave her a surprised look, and Medusa had to hold herself back to avoid giving him an obscene gesture. When she looked up at the head table, her rage grew even more when she saw Dumbledore giving her an amused wink.
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"If I count correctly in addition to this evening and tomorrow you have received a detention for the entire week to come from Professor Belline. And that in just one day."
"It must be a record," grumbled Eddy, his hands clutching his mug.
"Oh no, I'd rather be honest with you, my brother Abelforth the day he arrived received a month's detention for trying to smuggle a goat into his dormitory illegally. The situation is not as bad as you think, Eddy. Arrangements will have to be made so that you can continue to study serenely."
"Serenely? I almost hurt a student and almost exploded in the Divination room!"
"And young Mr Riddle is safe. Then as you point out so well, you almost exploded, you were able to contain yourself. Back-to-school day is never easy and I realize that Slytherin house isn't known to be the friendliest, but you managed to hold on."
"So I have to relive those horrible days until the end of the year?" I'm going to crack, I'm not going to hold on, Professor", snapped Eddy. "I don't want to hurt anyone."
"So I'll do everything I can to make sure that doesn't happen. Your will is as much as your efforts. Professor Slughorn's potions, are they working? Do you have any side effects with this recipe change?"
"Not that I know of, no. I'm just tired, but I'm used to that."
Dumbledore's blues eyes looked pained, but inspiring pity was the last thing Eddy wanted. He put down his cup and stood up to observe the precious objects shimmering in the Headmaster's office. In front of him was the miniature replica of the Hogwarts Express circumambulating on rails around a silver globe. Eddy watched it for a moment, soothed by the mechanical hum of the little engine. Fawkes on his perch hooted softly. Eddy reached out a hesitant hand towards the phoenix –which had the shape of a baby bird just out of the egg– and stroked it as Dumbledore looked on. Fawkes nibbled his hand affectionately.
"Phoenixes are fascinating creatures and they never forget those to whom they gave one of their tears."
"He saved my life," Eddy whispered. "But I don't know... everything would have been easier for you if..."
He did not finish his sentence, preferring to observe his worn moccasins.
"Do you really think the death of a child could have relieved Popertina, Newt and myself? Those are far too dark thoughts for a boy your age. You are here, you are alive, and despite everything in relatively good health. Hogwarts is a magical place capable of many miracles; I know Newt told you about it. We all three hope you get better soon. That's why I would like to… give you some recommendations for the rest of the year."
Dumbledore seemed to hesitate. He stood up with a wrinkling of his cloak and came delicately to take the baby Fawkes between his long fingers parched with age. In the large hands of his teacher, the phoenix looked ridiculously small. Yet Fawkes settled himself comfortably between Dumbledore's gnarled palms and fell asleep.
"It is rare to create such a strong and complex bond with a magical creature. From what Newt told me, your Kneazle Charm seems to fall into this category. Charm will have the right to accompany you in each class, make sure to be discreet about this little privilege, but it is good that the right people surround you. I know you have met many members of your house in the past two days, as well as some teachers. Also, I would like to ask you to pay attention to a particular teacher. Professor Riddle."
Needless to say, Eddy would have bet it, but he nodded as Dumbledore slipped baby Fawkes into the inside pocket of his robes.
"Is Professor Riddle dangerous, sir?"
"I have to tell you, Eddy, I don't really know. The Tom Riddle who left this school twenty years ago was very different from the one who teaches today. I don't know who this man is anymore so I ask you to be very careful with him."
"He and his children too, right?" added Eddy, thinking of all the warnings that his comrades had sent him since the start his class.
"In a sense, yes, prudence is the mother of safety. But your detention will start soon; I'm not going to delay you any longer. However, here is one last recommendation from me, write Tina and Newt. I would like you to go and apologize to your teachers afterwards. That's the best way to get yourself accepted after all that's happened."
"So I have to do it for Riddle too?"
"For Professor Riddle, and yes, that would be preferable. Good evening, Eddy. Have a good detention."
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Eddy had just had time to pilfer candy at the table, before dragging his feet to his first detention of the year. Gobbling up a surprise blackcurrant-flavoured Bertie's Bott's beans, Eddy leaned against the stone wall of the Great Hall, Charm was sitting at his feet.
"He really likes you."
Salazar Riddle approached him with even worse hair than in the morning. He had his hands in his pockets, but above all seemed terribly happy to be there.
Salazar leaned down to pet Charm, and then shifted to wait against the wall not far from Eddy.
"You made yourself stick with me on purpose, why?"
"Because it felt right to me," the other boy answered as if evident, with a soft tone of voice. "I didn't mean what happened yesterday in Defence Against the Dark Arts. It wasn't done on purpose. You got your nose broken and detention for nothing. It's not your fault."
Eddy thought the Riddle was making fun of him and never had a worse joke been played on him. As he was about to say something, Hagrid appeared. He was a gigantic man in his late thirties, with thick curly hair and a full beard. His little beetle's eyes gleamed as they fell the young Riddle.
"Salazar, it's been a long time since you've had detention. You don't have to have any if you want to come see me, you know."
"If it's my only chance to get into the Forbidden Forest after curfew, I'm willing to be stuck every night, Mr Hagrid."
He's completely mad, thought Eddy, startled.
The giant introduced himself to the redhead and held out a palm so enormous that his hand looked like a baby doll's hand. However, Hagrid inspired him with frank sympathy. He was gruff, simple, so without the fuss. After the usual introductions, Hagrid lit his torch so the two teenagers followed him, along with the Kneazle.
"What will constitute our detention, Mr Hagrid?" Eddy asked, advancing towards the gnarled trunks of the forbidden forest.
"Cleaning the Forbidden Forest, lately it's 'real job in there. I'm glad to have a hand tonight."
Although the moon was full, no sooner had they entered the forest than darkness surrounded them. Hagrid 's miserable torch wasn't enough, Riddle lit his wand with a lumos and Hagrid seemed to expect Eddy to do the same.
The young wizard preferred to inspect the gnarled and blackish trunks looking for what he had to clean.
Hagrid gave them each a pair of dragons leather gloves and then said:
"We're going to split into two groups. Salazar you stay with Lee, keep an eye on him. What we're going to have to remove tonight are cobwebs, they' everywhere, even the centaurs are starting to get tangled up in them'. At the smallest problem, you send red sparks with your wand. I'll meet you at 9 p.m. here to take stock."
The giant left them. If Hagrid had inspired him with certain sympathy earlier, he found it completely unreasonable to leave two third-year teenagers in the middle of the night in the middle of a supposedly forbidden forest. However, Riddle didn't seem to care, he was tracing among the trunks with the air of knowing perfectly well where to go. Charm followed him like a shadow, his eyes looking like two glowing marbles in the darkness.
"This is where you're constantly stuffed," Eddy realized, linking it to Salazar's tardiness and scruffy look.
"Yes, it's the place where I feel the best", replied the teenager in a very soft voice.
Somewhere Eddy understood him, the calm and freshness of the woods inspired him with a definite sense of serenity. They had arrived at a small clearing covered with a heap a mass of cobwebs. With his gloves, Eddy began to tear them off, but their size and the characteristic shape of the webs reminded him of the sketches added by Tina for the last edition of Fantastic Beasts.
"These are webs of Acromentulas … How come they are here when they live in forests in Borneo?"
"You know a lot about magical creatures. But the reason why it's here… I can't explain to you."
His cryptic answers annoyed Eddy once again.
"I really don't understand you, Riddle, do you know that?"
"I don't really understand myself either. The point is… I wanted to talk to you. Face to face. My sister, Skeeter, and Black are considering going after you in the near future. Maybe not tonight because they had a fight and I didn't quite understand why. But you are in their line of sight."
Salazar made a pile of torn spider's webs and placed them in a corner, rubbing his gloves against the bark of a hundred-year-old tree. Eddy threw his own pile nearby and Charm rushed over to play in it.
"I had already guessed that," Eddy grumbled. "These three silly girls don't scare me."
"But they could awaken the Obscurus in you, and given the pain you have hiding it, I think that's the worst thing that could happen to you."
Eddy whirled around so quickly his neck cracked. Terrified, he recoiled and sprawled over the gnarled roots of a cedar tree. Charm did not seem worried at all and dutifully licked his pad. Salazar Riddle leaned over Eddy, holding out a hand to help him up, a small smile on his face. He seizes this hand with a feverish and trembling gesture.
"H-how did you know? H– "
"I have felt it. I don't really know how to explain", Salazar muttered, scratching his head, tangling a cobweb in his dark hair. "There are things that I feel like that, since my childhood. When you arrived, I felt something was wrong and last night it jumped out at me."
He gave him a shy, uncertain smile. Still paralyzed from being unmasked so quickly, Eddy forced himself to articulate:
"Don't tell the others, I beg you!"
"It wasn't my intention," Salazar muttered in bewilderment. "Actually, I came here to help you. My father must not learn who you are, let alone Medusa. Now meet their eyes as little as possible, do you hear me? Its very important."
There was a clearly visible concern on his face. Salazar mumbled something, then finally asked in a small voice:
"Since when? How did it happen?"
Eddy could have resisted the teenager's curiosity, however, it was with great purity that Salazar seemed to ask these questions. In those blue eyes lit by the lumos of his wand there was intense concern. Charm had always been his guide for many things, and the very night he arrived, he had chosen the young Riddle to sleep with him. This very evening Charm was rubbing against Salazar's legs with an air of pure contentment. So Eddy responded feeling a weight slowly lift from his shoulders.
"I was seven…I don't remember my life before that at all. I forgot my parents and their faces. The only thing I have left is my mother tongue. Romani. For years, I only spoke like that."
"Are you a gypsy?" Salazar asked without the hiss that usually characterized this question.
"I guess, like I told you, I don't remember my life before. But surely."
Tina and Newt had had a few leads about him, but Eddy felt that now was not the right time to talk about it.
Salazar looked thoughtful, scratched his head again, and then pulled off his gloves.
"Thank you for sharing your secret. I'll give you mine now, do you want to see it?"
Taken aback Eddy nodded. What did Salazar Riddle have to show?
Slowly, Salazar crouched on the ground and put his hands between the roots and the cobwebs that had just been pulled out. Eddy didn't understand what the boy had in mind, but small tremors challenged him. Around him, Eddy noticed that small snakes arrived undulating on the ground. However they were not alone, small field mice, hedgehogs, bowtrucks, imps, arrived as if they were attracted by the young boy on the ground.
It was soon almost a hundred curious little beings who had invaded the clearing, in the shadow of a grove they could even make out thestrals. Salazar sat up, letting the bowtruckles climb into his lap. A niffler wrapped around the boy's neck, some little beings wanted a caress from the teen, others were just peaceful spectators. It was the purest scene Eddy had ever witnessed.
Riddle's quirks seemed to find their explanation in this calm scene lit by a moonbeam.
Eddy then thought that Salazar Riddle, -despite Dumbledore's warnings- was the kindest boy in the world.
"Ah, you were there, it's time, you two. Ooh…"
Hagrid, who has arrived, watched the scene with wonder but no surprise. Salazar delicately lifted a bowtruckle, to allow him to climb up the collar of his robe. He noticed him and saluted the giant.
"So he showed it to you, uh?" Hagrid called out, sitting down heavily next to Eddy dropping his cobweb bag. "He hardly showed anyone 'his thing'. Me, it was by chance, two years ago, I saw a youngblood rush into the forbidden forest and then when I chased him, I found him face to face with a bloody unicorn. I thought he was going to get hurt, but he wasn't. In all my life I have never seen this sort of stuff..."
"Mr Hagrid– … What kind of magic is that?"
"Boy, don't ask me stuff like that," Hagrid growled uncomfortably. "I quit school at thirteen, so the books, all that things… I just know it's good …deeply good, like the little one. This child is the complete opposite of Professor Riddle."
Hagrid suppressed a shudder; Eddy realized that was terrified of Professor Riddle. Far from this terror, Eddy felt that a new serenity had taken hold of his being. For the first time since his accident, Eddy no longer felt his Obscurus roaring inside him. And it felt amazingly good. No more screaming, no more rage, just calm.
Then, the tears rolled down his cheeks on their own. It had been years since he had cried; in fact, since the night when he was ten years old, the Obscurus in him had nearly killed him. Hagrid heard him sniffle:
"Well, boy, don't cry like that! Nerve!"
He gave Eddy an awkward pat on the back that nearly took his lungs out, he half-choked on his sobs. Riddle had risen, the spell had broken, and slowly and almost reluctantly, the little inhabitants of the forest were returning to the darkness. Only a bowtruckle clung stubbornly to Salazar's hair. He gently removed it allowing him to reach the ground.
"Crying feels good," the young Riddle replied in a soft voice. "Is Detention over, Mr Hagrid?"
If they had done almost nothing, Hagrid, too flabbergasted by Eddy's crying, nodded.
They returned under his guidance towards the castle before taking the path to the dungeons.
Nobody uttered a single word, but after sharing their common secret, everyone thought on their own. Walking into their dorm and undressing for the night, Eddy thought he might have made a friend. Salazar gave him an awkward little smile and pulled the drapery off his bed.
Then, he saw Newt and Tina's letter to which he still had not replied. If a day earlier he would never have known what to answer to their missive, today everything seemed to have changed. He took a sheet of parchment from his bag, put his inkwell and his quill precariously balanced on his mattress, and then began to write with an excited hand despite the ink stains and spelling mistakes.
" Newt, 'Tina,
I don't really know how to start this letter, I have so many things to tell you! I met many peoples at Hogwarts. You were right Newt, it really is a special place, but the most special is this boy in my class, you absolutely have to meet him. I have never seen anything like this in my entire life…
.
.
.
The Romani, known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group and traditionally nomadic itinerants. The majority of them are now sedentary.
They live predominantly in Europe and Anatolia, but have diaspora populations located worldwide with significant concentrations in the Americas. In the English language, the Romani are widely known by 'Gypsies', which is considered pejorative by some Romani due to its connotations of illegality and irregularity as well as its historical use as a racial slur. (When they arrived in England, they were falsely confused with Egyptians due to their skill colour.)
I'll more often use the term of Romani in my narration then, but, due to historical context, some character will use the 'gypsy' term in the story.
There will be some Romani words in this story. It will be written in brackets if it is Eddy's point of view, or will be translated into a footnote.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter ! See you soon for the next called: Yew