The Crossroads of Fate

Chapter 16: The Tragedy of Neil Nott

Albus did not know what to say except to refuse Neil's offer. At least, temporarily. James demanded Albus take care of him, and Neil knew that. So why was he so adamant in dying? Albus would not find out for a bit longer. Neil fell asleep in the Common room and as far as Albus knew, carried on in life the way he always did, though he did seclude himself in his father's office more and more often and sometimes disappeared into the Room of Requirement. He left Albus saying he needed to talk. It was pretty clear that Neil would approach him again eventually.

After Ancient Runes was Defense Against the Dark Arts. Albus had a surprise when he entered then, when beside Draco was none other than Incommodo and Seth.

"What we're going to do is deal with advanced magic," Draco said as he turned and faced the small class. "The Dark spells I am about to show are Ancient magic, the remnants of which are still seen to this day. Who can recall what the Corpus Curses are?"

Only Scorpius knew and the only reason Albus could tell was because he saw a flicker of recognition in Scorpius' eyes even if he said nothing. Draco received no answer, not even from Aries. Finally, "This young boy here had been caught enchanting an object with such a curse," Incommodo said in a frail, ghostly voice.

"Perhaps he knows then," Draco suggested, turning to Seth who looked back with nothing in his eyes. "Curses that reform the body."

From there, Scorpius, very pale, continued, "These Curses added an extra limb, reversed the eyes, even duplicated the heart. They were believed to be able to strengthen the witch or wizard who comes under these effects but there was a downside. The body has just enough blood to keep it going considering its size. Add another limb and you add another part for your body's blood to worry about. The Dark Ancient Egyptian Wizard Hashemi attempted to provide extra Blood-replenishing Potions but one heart proved to be unable to pump so much blood. So, he created a spell to duplicate a heart. The victim discovered that the extra limbs would fail in days and the failed limbs would render the second heart useless, thus causing both to fail. The victim died."

"This boy is on probation," Incommodo informed Draco. "But he will be punished accordingly in time. His target was my person and I consider that treason of the highest degree. He will observe this lesson and I will watch from afar as you teach the counter-curse."

Incommodo clearly meant to make a spectacle out of a boy who could not be made a spectacle of to begin with. Draco nodded slowly, took one look at an emotionless Seth, and continued, "I will not perform such curses, but lecture on how to perform and reverse them," Draco said. "These Dark spells have three parts. The Maledictus part of the incantation. Each one begins with that word derived from the Ancient language of Latin. The second part is the number of limbs you plan to add. Duo for two, Tres for three and Quattor for four. Last you add which limb you are multiplying. Capita for the head, crus for the leg, and bracchia for the arms and cardio for the heart. Why were they considered Dark Arts?"

To Albus' faint surprise, Seth answered, "Because, it is inexcusable to mess with the natural order of things. To duplicate a limb is just a gruesome way of killing someone, especially when there are cleaner, more efficient ways of murder."

Incommodo's yellow eyes flashed, "Inexcusable…"

"To mess with nature," Seth repeated simply.

Draco stared at Seth with interest. Albus actually expected Incommodo to fix Seth with loathing, or to cast a curse on him for implying that Incommodo had indeed done something despicable. He had two souls, which as Seth said, went against nature. Incommodo stared at the fourteen year-old boy with a truly furious look. Albus knew what would happen before it did, "Mr. Lean, you will say behind. We will leave it here for today. The next time I require presences or an insolent boy, I will alert you. Class dismissed early, get out!"

Lex meanwhile had taken Seth away. Albus was not precisely sure what had happened but Seth walked out of Lex's office twitching slightly before leaning against a wall, panting slightly. Albus could tell he had been tortured. Damn Lex. Lex was trouble. Him, Albus was certain, beyond a shadow of a doubt, was working against Harry. Albus was not sure, but while eavesdropping on Lex and Draco, he gathered that Lex had tried forcing out of Seth the location and names of the Hogwarts Guard. Seth did not give in. Albus felt a rush of affection toward him.

Albus watched as Lex left. They knew so little about him. All they knew was that he came from Greece. A very old Greek family. And for some reason, he joined Incommodo in Britain. That, at least, suggested that he knew Incommodo's true identity. There was no other reason a Greek Wizard would rejoin Incommodo unless he knew what exactly Incommodo had inside him. Herpo himself.

A loud bang went off as mid-December came around and the second round of the Dueling tournament went on. Maria Prince dodged a Blood Curse quite easily, dove to the ground and fired a very simple Knock-back Jinx. Her duels were always interesting to watch. She was not as knowledgeable as she claimed but she was powerful. A lone Knock-back Jinx from her did enough damage so that sometimes, against a particularly weak opponent, it had the effect of a Stunning spell. Even Incommodo looked at her in interest. She did not stop there either. Once her opponent was stunned, she cast another spell to knock him off the stage, advancing her to the next round quite easily and she was the only first year to advance that far.

It piled pressure on Albus when his duel came up. If he failed to pull ahead like a first year had done, he would feel rather defeated. Albus' opponent would be Sierra Lean later that month but he was not sure he could take the third year girl. She too had shown capability, just as Seth had done.

As Albus did not have a duel and had watched some, he was not obliged to watch the rest. As no one he was interested in was dueling, Albus decided to leave. This was his chance. He had a vague plan in mind regarding Incommodo and it involved watching whatever he had in mind in the Pensieve. Albus took out his cloak and map and disappeared in case anyone followed him. As expected, he saw Professor Nott tailing him, waiting outside the room Albus disappeared into. Albus could not open the door lest invisibility be suspected. Albus had an idea. He stuffed his cloak and map back in his bag and walked out as visible as ever. The second he turned a corner, before Nott could turn it too, Albus threw the cloak over himself and sat against the wall, watching Nott looking around frantically. Eventually, the Professor gave up and walked away. The map showed him returning to the Great Hall where it looked like Alex and Lily were fighting.

As Albus walked the castle, he could see it was beginning to show signs of future decoration for the holidays. It would be the first time the castle would even feel that way since the previous year had seen two deaths and a siege as the holidays came up. As Albus made it to the seventh floor's Room of Requirement and stared at the map again just in time to see Alex's dot fly off the center of the hall, signaling Lily had beaten him. Albus widened his eyes, impressed. Lily had beaten Alex? She was indeed stronger than Albus had ever given her credit for. Albus returned to the task at hand and made the room appear. Privately thanking Lysander for acting in time to prevent the Headmaster's office falling into Incommodo's hands, he walked. Even if Incommodo got the office eventually, it was useless to him now.

Slowly, the door appeared and Albus put his cloak on and opened it. The room was almost empty except for those in their own quarters, excluding Lorcan and Lysander who, according to the map, were sneaking into Lycah's old hut with Maria. He quickly closed the door and waited for anyone to come and see who it was. Looking at the map again, he still saw that everyone was in the Great Hall and other students had retired to their dormitories. Theodore and Neil Nott were in the Professor's office now and it seemed Alexis was in a duel with a boy Albus did not know. Grateful Albus was invisible so he would not have to talk to any of the expelled students, he opened a cabinet in a small corner, aware that Alexander had appeared from his own quarter and was smart enough to deduce someone invisible was there.

"Summun there?" one asked sleepily.

Albus did not answer. From his bag, he pulled the phial out and placed the memories of Incommodo in. He knew people would wake up if he made too much noise so he cast Muffliato to avoid eavesdroppers. Albus threw his cloak off and leapt in before anyone could say anything. He took a gasp of air as he landed in a memory. A distant one, it seemed. It looked almost surreal. A boy was standing, a boy of fifteen. This boy had fair skin, black hair falling in dreadlocks and yellow eyes. Though he looked rather different, the dreadlocks and eyes reminded Albus forcibly of Incommodo. This was obviously young Mortimer Ink. But an Ink who already had two souls, even then. He looked sickly and his eyes gave it away. How he managed to survive it when Albus was told that the magic was so intense, few could, Albus had no idea.

"Mental diary," Ink said aloud to what had to be himself. "Entry One: To my future self, or to anyone who witnesses this memory of mine, hear this: My name is Mortimer Ink and I am going to rule the world, the entire Wizarding world. The people here are sick. It's been eight years since Ink had contact with the Scepter. Ink has been trying to hide it, trying to get rid of what's inside him, but Ink can't. Nobody can know. Ink has been fighting it but the more magic Ink does, the more his mind goes, the more powerful Herpo gets. Ink makes this mental diary in an effort to strengthen one piece of his mind, to merge it with Herpo instead of combating it. Increase the standards of education. Some kids don't care, especially those Potters. Opal Potter knows my secret. She did Spirito Revelio on her eyes during a practice and saw two souls within Ink. Ever since, the Potters have been giving me grief. They fear Ink, they hate Ink, and they'll see Ink killed. Ink has no choice. Ink must prevail. Education must prevail. The Potter brats who care only for the fun Hogwarts has to offer miss the crucial point where Ink might have been helped. They miss the crucial point where Ink begs for help. Ink's mind shall go now… and be replaced with Herpo, with the mind of a Dark Educational Wizard. Perhaps then, they will know Ink's name!"

Just then, three kids burst in on the scene. One kid was in Gryffindor robes, one, the youngest, was in Slytherin robes, and the eldest seemed to be a Ravenclaw. Ink looked up just in time to see a jet of light knock him down. He rested his head in apparent defeat as the kids made themselves known. "Good going, Albie!" a boy who looked like a third year said in glee. "Barely saw it coming? Did those yellow eyes of yours blind you, Inky?"

"The name is Ink," the fifth year said through gritted teeth. "Potter!"

"That's Cadmus Potter to you," the third year said with pride. "Son of Jason Potter the Great!"

"The one- the one who Imperiused my father into making a Horcrux," Ink muttered.

"Yeah, well, he sort of deserved it for those Muggle kids he killed in a park," Cadmus defended. "Shouldn't have tried drinking firewhiskey on a bad night, huh? Yeah, tough choices but it had to be done. Trust me, Ink, some people deserve the pain the maiming of souls do to them."

Mortimer Ink got up, dusted himself off and looked at them all. "Ink needed help, Ink asked and begged but Ink was cast aside like an old Daily Prophet. Ink shall have revenge."

"Ink has megalomania," Opal muttered. "Albatross, do not associate yourself with him."

Ink did not leave it there. He raised his wand high, his open palm facing the three Potters. Ink looked dangerous now. "Potters deserve this pain. Ink casts a curse then. A curse… so long that Ink lives, every Potter born from this generation onward will herald a war upon their entry into Hogwarts school! Will bring misfortune to those around him." As he spoke, a swirl of black smoke surrounded the three Potters. They did not seem to notice the smoke, only Ink and Albus. They looked at him dubiously and all three laughed.

Albatross looked completely normal, no change seemed to have befallen the three Potters, Opal, Cadmus and Albatross. The boy nodded shortly as Ink left. The memory faded and another one formed. Once more, Ink was standing, looking the same. Not much time had passed. "Mental Diary Entry Two- no, final entry: Opal has gone down to me in the dueling tournament, I have won the cup. I have won recognition. Herpo's mind was weakening as Ink was helping himself gain recognition. But Opal Potter fights back. Opal Potter does not want Ink to have recognition. She swears she will get Ink expelled. She has decided that as she is leaving Hogwarts this year, she will leave after my revelation. Ink's two souls will be known. There is only one solution. Ink's minds are in agreement. Ink's mind will now merge upon the execution of our agreement but it is for the best. For the protection of Hogwarts school, its education system, and Ink's dark secret nobody wanted to help, the Potters must be punished. All three of them must be punished!"

Ink stopped talking as the door opened. Opal Potter walked in. She and Ink gazed at each other. Ink spoke first, "Ink asked for help, Ink begged for assistance but Ink was thrown away. Ink is not allowed the recognition he needs to live. Ink will have his revenge!"

"Ink is crazy," Opal said. "Ink doesn't deserve help. Ink made a mistake. Dark Magic of this type cannot be done without the consent of the one gaining the two souls. And if it was done without Ink's consent, Ink would not be as blurry as he is, Ink would not be as yellow-eyed as he is, or as frail-looking as he is. Ink would be healthier. And Ink will be found out, mark my words."

"Two souls, Opal Potter. But surely, you're ok with that. Didn't your father go to Azkaban for Imperiusing a man to make a Horcrux and ruin his own soul? Took years of medical experimenting to undo that damage."

"Don't talk about my father," she whispered.

"Why not?" Ink asked chidingly. "Surely you agree with him. I mean, there you were yesterday signing praises for him and how well he raised you and your brothers. See the infidelity already?"

"I'm going to turn you in," she said matter-of-factly, withdrawing her wand. "To Headmaster Fortescue. You're going to be expelled."

"No," Ink said simply. As he said this, he waved his hand and the door shut. Wandless magic. Ink withdrew his own wand and pointed it. "Sorry, you've seen too much, Potter. Ink has asked for too much, it seems. Ink does not deserve help so Ink will be as evil as people want him to be."

Opal started shaking in tension. Her eyes flickered to his wand and to the door. She knew she could not make it. Albus' heart was beating frantically. Potter. What had happened to her? Did she have any siblings? How else did her name carry on if Ink had intended to kill her? She took a shaky breath, "You'll be expelled. You can't curse a student and"-

Mortimer held his wand up to the light. "You don't recognize this wand? Come on, it'll only take you few"-

"FREAK!" she screamed. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?"

"Nothing," Mortimer shrugged, leaning against the door now. "Yet. Your brother just lost his wand. He's probably going insane looking for it. Wait till he finds out his wand did the deed!" Opal raised her wand to defend herself but as she parried one spell, Ink fired another seconds later. It was almost too easy for him. A jet of green light hit her straight in the chest. Albus gaped in shock as she fell back against the desk, cold, stiff and dead. Mortimer sighed in relief. He kicked her and hit her in a closet.

Mortimer knew he had little time left now. He unlocked the door and walked out and to the Slytherin Common room. There, he met a red-faced boy who seemed to have been crying. Opal's brother, Albatross. "I-I c-can't find my w-wand an-anywhere. I lost it."

"I discovered it," Ink said casually. "Here you go. It was in a room with your sister."

"My sister?"

"She's in the Charms classroom on the first floor. Go on, she's waiting for you."

The boy sighed in relief, took the wand and left eagerly. Albus still felt tense. What Ink had in mind for the three Potters, he did not know. The fifteen year-old boy followed at a far pace, watching the boy walk into the Charms classroom. He found nobody there, of course as his sister's body was in a closet. Ink, from around a corner, held his hand as if holding a wand, pointing it at the boy's wand. Slowly, as if against his will, the boy raised his wand to chest-level. Suddenly, a jet of green light sprung out of it. The boy dropped his wand in fear but the jet sent the cabinet in flames. It worked like a Charm. Albus was sickened at the action. Whatever the Potters had done, did it warrant this reaction?

Mortimer Ink rushed from his hiding place and ran in, changing his facial expression completely into one of horror, "What did you do?"

"I- I didn't- didn't…" the boy's eyes rested on his sister's body. They welled up in tears, "NOOOOOOOOOOO! Opal!"

"What happened!" a sudden voice said. There stood their older brother Cadmus. "Ink! What did you"-

"I did it!" Albatross yelled. The young boy seemed so terrified, his knees gave way and he fell to the floor. "I didn't- I didn't mean to. It just came out! I swear, it just…" Albatross yelled again, screamed in agony as Ink stowed his wand away. Cadmus bent down by his first year brother, begging Ink to get help. The damage done, Ink did not refuse. Help did come. At least, what Ink himself and what Albatross considered help.

The next memory was a short one. Ink was standing with a badge over him. He looked very different now. His skin was beginning to gain the papery appearance. His voice, while still strong, was beginning to lose that strength. The more he spoke, the colder and harsher his voice got. "Mental Diary, Final Entry: Ink has lost, Herpo has won. Ink will never be known. Ink has died on May 21st 1917. His remaining mind was destroyed on May 1st 1925. Herpo is Ink now. The pain of eight years of mental distress have come to an end and the age of Darkness, the Era of the Dark Arts will spread. The Era of Education. The Era of the Education of the Dark Arts. The two minds have finally come to a conclusion, a conclusion Ink deems appropriate so people will know his name. From our graduation onwards, Ink goes on not as Mortimer Ink the Tarnished, but as Herpo the Foul, the Educator. Mors Incommodo. The very evil the Potters wanted him to be. Opal Potter has died, Cadmus Potter has dropped out of Hogwarts, and Albatross Potter was confined to St. Mungo's for fear of another deadly outburst of magic. It was not Ink who did the deed, it was Herpo's timely intervention that caused his wand to shoot off. Albatross is innocent of the crime… he will always be expelled. Albatross' life is doomed, Cadmus' life is dedicated to the doomed life, and Opal's life is forfeit. Never forget Herpo, and never forget the Arsenal of Education. His advent is just beginning."

Albus almost lost his lunch. The events were horrible to watch not only because he saw how Albatross and Cadmus lost their livelihoods because of a false accusation, but because he knew firsthand what it was like to lose his mind. It had temporarily happened to him in fifth year, it was Voldemort's endgame with Albus, and seeing the results of such a merging scared him. It was not death that would end Albus. It was worse. Albus did not know how the Reservation managed to get their hands on Voldemort's essence, how they managed to degrade a Horcrux into a mere sliver of essence, and let that essence evolve. He had no idea what sort of magic could do this.

Walking out of the small corner the Scamander twins had hidden the Pensieve in, Albus found he was not alone in the Room of Requirement. The past of Cadmus, Albatross and Mortimer was forced from his mind when he saw a small crowd of Guard members gathered around Lancet's small cot. Mark, Maria, Cherry, Lysander, Seth and Alpha were sitting around him, the boy weakened a great deal. Lancet was barely moving but Maria was muttering something to Seth and Lysander was staring blankly ahead.

"We got a heartstring," Mark muttered to Albus without meeting his eyes.

"Th-they let you…"

Albus looked from Mark to Maria to Seth. He hoped Seth did not force this. Albus looked uncertainly at Lysander who looked disturbed again. Very upset and shaken. "L-Lycah- Lycah would want this," he choked up. "Sh-she'd want her baby brother to live."

Albus took Lysander by the back and Lysander rested against Albus, silently letting tears come down his face. Albus wished he could sympathize. He barely knew Lycah, he barely liked her, but he knew Lysander loved her. He knew Lorcan loved her. And now he knew Lycah loved them back, felt at ease with them, and felt animosity towards a world who rejected her. And she was dead. The girl the Scamander twins spent the majority of their time with was dead. "Can he be saved?" Albus asked Mark.

"Maria says that since his heart is useless now, she'd have to create an artificial heart," Mark sighed with a twitch in his eyes. "She asked Seth for help and he agreed on condition she explain the Orb's workings to us and she help to take the Reservation down."

Maria was swirling the contents of a small jug of water around, humming a tune that sounded eerie, something about Double Toil and Trouble. The water looked very different, a strange color Albus had never seen before. It looked like a mixture of red and white without being pink. She passed it on to Seth who flicked his wand, muttering a spell Albus could not hear. Mark watched with slight distaste as the concoction became solid red, and then back to its bicolor liquefied state. He passed it back to Maria who added a string of something red in it. Slowly, the concoction became something moldy, like clay, and while it was still in Maria's hand, Seth used a spell to mold it before passing it into Lancet's open mouth.

Cherry watched intently, fingers crossed. "Keep it in," Maria told him. "Like a Muggle pill. Don't down it until you have something liquid to drown it down with."

Seth added a small pour of water to it before letting Maria swirl the contents around and pour it into Lancet's open mouth. He gulped everything down and then- exhaling a final bout of breath- fell into sleep. He looked dead, he was not even breathing, his body looked rigid and still. Cherry froze, looking close to breaking point. Maria looked completely unconcerned in a way that reminded Albus forcibly of Seth. "There- his best bet. His body will take a while."

"How long?" Mark asked testily.

"Depends," Maria shrugged.

"On…"

"Age, health, date of birth…"

"Date of birth?"

"Depends on the Star Sign," Maria said as if it was obvious. "People have been comatose for months, some for years, and some only for weeks. Some for mere days. This boy may take a while because he's a Werewolf-Vampire hybrid. Anything could happen."

"H-his d-d-date of birth was December 20th," Cherry offered.

"Sagittarius," Seth muttered to Maria.

"The centaur, really close to the stars and Ancient Greek legends," Maria recalled, probably reciting what she read constantly. "Generally takes two weeks to a year."

"A year?" Cherry shrieked.

"How's his health?" Maria asked. "Ever got sick? Underage outbursts?"

"Only got colds during the winter, he has loads of outbursts," Cherry recalled. "Healed a broken leg once."

"Hmm, a common cold during his season, not good," Maria mused. She struck Albus as some kind of cryptic old psychic. "But with healing outburst, that's a good sign. I'd say a month or two."

"Maria, have you ever actually done this?" Mark demanded.

"No, but mother has and I've helped her with it many a time," Maria said. "I studied this a lot. She tried saved my stepfather. Shame he died either way. The disease spread to his lungs and stomach next and beat his brain into submission before we could do anything. Alchemy is too slow to heal those sorts of things."

Lysander looked ok now, muttering something about comforting Lorcan before disappearing. Seth disappeared too, oblivious to Maria smirking in his direction. Albus also returned to the Slytherin Common room, wanting to think, keeping what he watched to himself. He did not share his experience with Seth who walked with him in silence. A part of him wanted to talk but he was not sure to who. Seth was in a corner with Sierra, Mark was laying back staring up at the ceiling, and Neil was just silent as the grave before noticing Albus was there and walking up. Albus began to get the feeling his mind would not have a break when Albus turned to him. The boy had an ominous look of finality as he met Albus' eyes. They looked shattered, like whatever life had been left the past few weeks were gone. They were devoid of all hope and Albus pitied him even more. "I just… I wanted to say thank you. For- for at least trying."

Albus met his eyes again, considering him. Whatever James wanted Albus to do, Albus was finding it difficult. Neil had given up all hope. Albus knew he was on his very last chance. He sighed and took Neil by the arm and led him outside. "Ok, tell me your story. But do me a favor, please give me a chance to talk to you before you decide on anything. Deal?"

Neil said nothing. Albus was well aware, as he followed Neil to wherever the kid wanted to go, that Neil was about to do more talking than he usually did. His heart started pounding. He followed Neil up, higher and higher through the floors, the half-decorated castle, until they reached a winding staircase taking them up to the Owelry, a room Albus had not been in for a long time. Once they reached the top, Albus made sure the door was sealed shut and placed Muffliato to make sure they were not overheard. He even made sure that no one was around or in their vicinity by the map before folding it and placing it in his pocket with the Ring. Albus felt his fingers clutch the ring.

Neil looked wistfully at the window. Albus could almost see James in his mind's eye, in his memory, glaring at him, expecting him to get this right. This one was on Albus. Neil was twiddling his small thumbs, fidgeting, looking very uncomfortable. For a moment, Albus thought Neil might give up, open the door and leave. They stared out the window for a while. Eventually, Neil sat. For five whole minutes, they stayed sitting in silence. Albus' mind was running through so many scenarios, all of them looking bad for Albus and Neil. The boy who was quiet and sneaky.

"Eight years ago," Neil said quietly. "I had a mother, a father and a newborn sister named Sara. She was really young, really happy, and she- she loved my company. My father worked at the Department of Magical Transportation, and mother worked at the Daily Prophet. They were so busy and couldn't be home all the time so they hired a babysitter. A woman named S-Stella."

"Was she good?" Albus asked. Where was this going?

"Well… she was a vampire," Neil said quietly, looking up at Albus. His eyes once more seemed insistent that vampires were generally evil. This time, they seemed empty. Whatever memory he was recalling was bothersome. "I woke up one morning and saw she was about to bite Sara. A baby bitten would die- I-I was s-so scared. I-I was asleep and she didn't notice I was even in the room. When I screamed, she ran away and didn't come back that day."

"Didn't you tell your father?" Albus asked.

"Of course, but he didn't believe me," Neil said, taking a deep breath, holding back tears as he continued on. "He thought I was seeing things because I had just woken up. He couldn't see that Stella was actually out to get us. I kept trying to tell him, but father kept asking if she did anything since then but she didn't. Not for a whole year and I even started thinking that maybe I was imagining it. She continued taking care of us. So, father never believed me and eventually, I didn't believe me. I thought maybe I had seen something that wasn't there because I was half asleep."

"Did- did she give you visions or something?" Albus asked, heart pounding. He kept reminding himself that he was not just hearing a story. This was truth, everything that Neil said actually happened. For the first time, Albus was the one using so few words and Neil was the one telling a long story. More than he had ever spoken perhaps. Albus was still putting together what could have happened that made Neil think and act so drastically at times. Stella obviously did something more and Albus had a bad feeling what that something could be.

"No- Stella took me away and blackmailed me," Neil muttered.

Neil was silent, giving himself a break from the painful memory. He fidgeted, moving his hands excessively, face pale and eyes shattered of hope. After a minute, Neil continued, "Stella said that if I told my father anything, she'd kill my sister and me. I had to listen to her. So… she k-killed mother and it was all my fault. I lost my mum." He muttered quietly. The blow was the death, Albus knew how he'd feel if he lost his mum, if he lost any of his parents. Estranged he might have been from his father, the loss would be devastating. "Father stayed home and he took a long break from the Ministry to take care of us and Stella helped him. I couldn't do anything. She would've killed Sara and my father fell for her. They always fall for vampires' natural charm…"

Neil's eyes were watery, tear running down his cheeks but he seemed to be holding up. He took a break to breathe. Albus found his arm had instinctively wrapped itself around the boy. Neil leaned himself against Albus' side, staring up, shaking in his tears and grief, "When father was out, Stella stayed home and- and she was horrible. She hurt me. For four years, all I knew was pain. I never again felt how a normal body feels like, a body without a wound or a scar. This…" Neil showed a faded cut on his arm, "and this," and he lifted his shirt to show a faded gash on his back, "and even this" and he lifted his head up to expose his neck where two puncture parks could be seen.

Albus did not know how James heard this without freaking out. Albus was horrified. A vampire doing this to a boy like Neil was beyond him. "She bit you?"

"She did not allow me turn into a vampire by sucking the venom out. And Sara wasn't eating anymore."

Albus had wide eyes now. How had Neil even survived? He was five? He became six and still endured all of that. It was hard to believe that while Albus was in Hogwarts worrying about why Mark was so mean, worrying about exchange students, worrying about what was beyond the forest, Neil was at home being hurt by a crazed vampire. Albus ignored the tears running down his own face, wanting to appear a little stronger for Neil's sake. "Why? What did you do?"

Neil sighed and stared down. "You know… some people act on what they think is right. But some just want to watch you suffer. No reason but to see me and my sister in pain. For four years, I couldn't even do underage magic because my suffering suppressed it."

"What happened to her!" Albus demanded, determinedly wiping his tears when Neil wasn't looking.

"When I turned ten, things started changing. Stella took Sara and I up to bed but Stella wanted something more because Sara had turned five. Sara was the same age I was when I got beaten and Stella started to want to hurt her too. I begged her not to hurt my sister, to just hurt me even more, as much as she wanted, just leave Sara alone. She wanted to hit me in front of Sara instead and threaten her to shut up too. I got scared. Very scared. Just when she was about to lash me, my fear finally got the better of us. I had a real outburst of magic. I don't know how it happened. There was just an explosion and- and Stella was gone. Dust. And I was free."

Albus sighed in relief. He guessed the main issue was Neil unable to move past his own suffering. His sister was five years his junior, which meant she would be about eight. "So... your sister would be starting three years from now. By then, she'd understand you, wouldn't she? You- I mean, you came to Hogwarts just after all that happened and you hadn't seen her since. So… by the time you see her agai"-

Albus stopped at the look on Neil's face. His sister was theoretically still with his father. If Neil was bothered because he could not see her, he should've seen her when Nott moved to Hogsmeade. That meant she was simply not there. Neil was silent. Albus knew what happened, he didn't need Neil telling him. Neil covered his face, shaking and Albus held him. He held him tightly, as James used to, not sure how to approach this. James was right. This was beyond him, this was way beyond Albus' ability to help. He could not tell Neil it was ok. The fact was, it was not ok.

"I killed her," Neil sobbed. "The only innocent person in the house. My father believing me doesn't even help anymore. It's too late. It doesn't bring her back. When I came, the hat argued to put me in Gryffindor. Said I was brave for taking the pain for my sister… but I'm a coward. He put me in Gryffindor where people bullied me because my grandfather was a Death Eater. Like, everywhere I go, there's pain. Whether I'm alive or dead, I have to be in pain but James stopped me. He tried talking to me. He- he loved me. He tried his best when I told him what happened. He was the only one I told. The only one who listened. And he- he stopped the others from bullying me. He almost made me enjoy life again. I'd do anything for him because he did anything for me. And then he- he died. Everyone I loved was dead." Neil looked away, determined not to cry again, staring up.

Albus couldn't hear anymore. He- he did not expect this. It had been a while, but tears were running down his cheeks too. James. James had been at the forefront of this, suddenly, everything made so much sense. James wanting to talk to Albus and introducing him to Neil in fifth year, and showing him to Lycah's hut. Neil begging James not to fight against the Reservation's siege and James staying behind. He had stayed. And yet, when it came to family, when it came to giving the Reservation what they wanted so the rest of the school would be spared, James gladly sacrificed himself. He recklessly sacrificed himself, sacrificed himself when Albus could've simply cursed him to look dead like he did to Lily.

"I-I'm sorry…" Albus offered quietly, knowing he was going to cry about James later. Albus sort of wanted to cry too, feeling more than ever how painful James' death truly was. Albus was not the only one who lost a brother. Lily did, sure, but now as he discovered, Neil lost a brother. He lost a confidant, the only person who ever mattered. Probably his only hope.

"James was kind…" Neil said in a small voice.

James had been kind, not to Albus but to Neil, someone he practically adopted as a little brother, someone he dedicated his life to taking care of. Albus could see it now. Why Neil had a major fear of vampires, why after four years of being lashed and hit and bitten, he did not even like being touched, why he stayed quiet, alone with his own torturous thoughts. He blamed himself, and the only one who helped was… James? Albus' prankster brother? Albus knew he owed his dead brother an apology he could never give.Albus had blamed James for bullying Neil the way James bullied Albus, Riley and Mark but all that time, James' intentions were pure, defensive and honest. Even going so far as to make sure Albus would look after him once he had graduated, to make sure the boy was happy, getting mad when Albus said Seth had the Resurrection Stone.

The Stone. James wanted it for Neil. He said it himself.

And Neil… despite all his suffering, he was still willing to act, he even stole for some greater good of kicking Rojer from the school, used his sneakiness to good cause and James was the cause of all of that. Just when Albus thought he made peace with his brother's death, the grief started gnawing at him again. Albus had him wrong, Albus had fought with him a week before his death but James had grown up and Albus was too stupid to see that. "Th-thank you, Neil."

"For what?"

"You saw the- the best part of my older brother," Albus said miserably. "A part I had never seen. And that was my fault."

"I'm sorry," Neil said, gazing at Albus steadily. "I- I didn't want him to die."

"H-he had you- he had you in mind, even before death," Albus told him quietly. "You were all he could think about. Y-you're lucky you even had his love. Look- James wanted to do something for you. Something really special." Albus stopped as his hands in his pockets felt the Resurrection Stone. Him talking to James would've been great but now he thought of it, the person who probably needed to talk to James more than ever was Neil. Albus, as rocky as his relationship was with James, at least got to say goodbye. At least James knew what he was getting himself into. He never said goodbye to Neil. He just up and left. Died.

Albus knew he'd shake his head and his hand went into his pocket again, clutching the stone one last time. He could almost see James' form, in his mind's eye, giving him a final look of approval. Albus would help Neil, yes, but he would not claim credit. This was James and this, even from beyond the grave, was his doing. "James meant to give you this, might've helped. But he never had it. I did and I handed it to Seth because it's… sort of his. But he gave it back to me. Just for now, take it."

"Wha- what is it?" Neil asked in a very small voice.

"I'll tell you but promise me something," Albus proposed. "I wait outside for you to return. Once you're done with it, I reckon you might reconsider things, and hand it back to me. Turn the stone three times and you can talk to the dead."

Neil took it slowly, staring at it like it was a Relic from an old storybook which, Albus reminded himself, it was. Neil nodded to Albus' proposal slowly, disbelievingly taking the Resurrection Stone's ring and turning it over, looking closely at it. This was Albus' only chance. If he failed this one, he could not succeed. He'd be haunted forever at this failure. James trusted him.

Neil was in the Owelry for a long time, over an hour. Albus did not remain outside either. Taking Neil by his word that he would do nothing, that he would hand Albus the Stone before coming to any decision, Albus left the room. He did not expect anyone outside so he jumped slightly when, standing outside the Owelry was none other than Rojer Selwyn. This did not look like a vicious Rojer, however, but a very interested one. He- Had he overheard? One look into his cold eyes and Albus could tell that he did overhear the story.

"Underage outbursts, huh?" Rojer commented quietly as Albus tried walking past him. Albus did not answer but Rojer continued speaking, "Master Tyro is completely addled. Someone modified his memory, which is a familiar tactic, Mr. Potter. I know it was you. You were the same one two years ago. Yet, the Headmaster knows of something rather impressive. Something young master Kimble put him up to, and now something Mr. Nott just had the audacity to confirm. Underage Magic has the tendency to cause harm as well as good, sometimes irreversible. Do you know what that means?"

"I'm sure I have no idea," Albus said impassively.

"It means that Underage Magic is incredibly powerful," Rojer explained. "It's a general theory of magic. When Hogwarts was built, opponents of the school argued that by controlling underage magic, the founders were decreasing a Wizard's basic power levels. This is what gave rise to the Creed of Purity to begin with. Power. Ultimate power a Mudblood would never understand. This is why many of us created artifacts that would tap into a Wizard's basic power. Thus, the artifacts like the Soulless Scepter were found, Salazar himself tried replicating the Scepter into a Staff. While the Headmaster has possession of the Scepter, the Staff remains elusive. Any idea where it might be, Potter?"

Albus sighed, "Mr. Selwyn, I'm really only a seventh year student, never took your General magic course, the only friends of mine who did take it are all expelled now, and I don't have any idea what you're talking about and I never will. Underage magic? I never witnessed anything like that, it's just a sign of Wizardry."

Albus knew he spoke out too soon, too boldly, and Rojer stared dangerously. "Perhaps Mudbloods are not the only ones who should be denied an education. Perhaps this denial should extend to the entire Wizarding race. Thank you, Mr. Potter, for an illuminating discussion."

Rojer left. Albus, of course, stood rooted to the spot. He took refuge in a room off the Owelry and sat there. Underage magic… Rojer was right. Apollo was incredibly powerful when he made Incommodo disappear and it was not exclusive to Apollo. James' anger got the better of him when he was six, even Lancet had done something, and people like a young Lycah just watched things grow. That was Incommodo's new objective. Studies into underage magic, and Apollo unwittingly put him up to this and now Neil gave Albus his story, it gave Albus a ground to stand on too. The difference was that Incommodo did not have Apollo with him. Albus had Neil. And Neil… now more than ever, related and unrelated to James, had to be kept from Incommodo.

Every now and then, Albus had checked the map to see if Neil was still in the Owelry. Even an hour and a half later, the boy was still there, pacing back and forth. Albus did not know if he was still talking to his mother, his sister, or whoever, or if he was just thinking. Albus felt like he was waiting in a hospital for news. Would Neil talk to James as well? Bigger question, would the Stone even help him? Was Neil capable of being helped or did James and Albus try in vain? Would he simply hand the Stone back and never be seen again? Only time would tell. As Albus walked away, to a room not far from the Owelry, he wiped a tear from his eye again. When this was all over, when Albus died and rejoined James… he was giving that brother of his a long-deserved hug.