Chapter Nine
"It's funny how sometimes the people you'd take a bullet for, are the ones behind the trigger."
Ritu Ghatourey
9th June 1943…
Rhaegar's face was a storm waiting to explode as he strode throughout the castle.
The Head Boy wanted to kill something… or someone.
Two people. And honestly, who could blame him?
Athelinda yet again, had been caught- by him, always him- harassing the some students- soft targets by the looks of them- and her newfound sycophants guffawing along.
He wanted to hex something.
His blood was boiling by the time he caught Athelinda outside.
She had finished her Care of Magical Creatures lesson, and Rhaegar was free.
Now was the time to confront her.
Rhaegar stepped outside, not paying attention to the fine spring morning.
He grabbed her arm roughly, ignoring her outraged splutters and hisses, pulling her to a secluded spot, next to a tree, by the lake.
"What the devil is wrong with you?" He snarled. He was frightening when he was angry.
Her eyes narrowed. "What's it to you?" She hissed. "Just because some whiny moaners couldn't stop crying, you come to their aid?"
Rhaegar flushed with rage. "Myrtle Warren has been bullied enough."
She sneered. "Myrtle Warren is a cry-baby- over-grown and with little talent as it is. If she wasn't Muggle-born I'm certain she'd be a squib. In fact, she barely more than one or the other."
Rhaegar's eyes flashed. Now she'd done it.
"Why are you so interested in her anyway?" She laughed mockingly. "I thought you would have better, finer taste in women."
"Like my sister?" Rhaegar said drawled in return. She froze. "Well, in the latter, I would be interested if the subject is worth it."
"Why are you so interested?" she asked, biting into him like frost. But it would take far more than that to intimidate him.
"Oh, it's not interest." Rhaegar hissed. "If it's not worth it."
Athelinda recoiled. He had never spoken to her like this. But Rhaegar had had enough. But she recovered her wits.
"If you don't think it's worth it," she said slowly, building up the tension. "Then why do you ask?"
"Because you are acting like a self-absorbed bitch from the seventh circle of hell, Athelinda," Rhaegar snarled. "I have done nothing, nothing- in order to gain your contempt. And I would not accept being treated as such! You would not accept it either when everyone started bullying the Slytherins! So why do you expect me to put up with it?"
Athelinda felt like she's been dealt a blow. But he recovered everything and rage flared up.
"I stood up to them for you, I told them that it was prejudice just as bad as Grindelwald if they made assumptions without even knowing everything. The Minister was all in for questioning you all!" he allowed his temper to get the better of him and it flared brightly. He wasn't supposed to tell her that.
"If it weren't for Dumbledore and me, you would have been taken in by the aurors- maybe even subjected to some form of torture! Oh, yes, you think it's illegal. Well, let me tell you, they do bend the rules! People aren't allowed to kill after all, and if people did, the only way to defend themselves is to kill them before they killed everyone in return! And if it meant using torture tactics to work out who is the enemy than it is what they'll do!" No one was supposed to know this.
Athelinda paled further. She was always pale but with colour in her cheeks and deepest red lips. But now…
"What are you saying?" She hissed with such venom, she outdid her snakes.
"That you are a self-absorbed hypocrite!" Rhaegar snarled. "And you had better start mending your ways! It isn't just me you've treated with contempt. It's everyone who isn't like the 'perfect' you. Only you could be free of fault. But you won't accept anyone else treating you with anything other than the respect you feel you deserve- no, are entitled to- for whatever imaginary great accomplishments that you've done!"
Athelinda had had it. She pushed him away and drew her wand. Rhaegar drew his.
She saw red. There was red in her eyes.
With a cry, she shot a hex towards him, which he blocked with incredible ease, eyes glinting menacingly- looking truly dangerous.
Enraged further, she shot another hex and he did the same to her. She shot multiple hexes and jinxes at him. He did the same.
But the amount of spells and the severity of the damage it would have caused, were increased in Athelinda's casting. It didn't help that the majority of the spells she used were non-verbal- the way in which an enemy would be dealt with in order not to give them any clue as to what they were defending against.
But Rhaegar blocked or escaped them unscathed. And retaliated further. Athelinda started using wandless magic against him, dangerous and destructive as it was- for both her and her opponent, which so happened to be her own brother.
The duel became even more intense. She nearly started using the Unforgivable Curses, but recoiled inwardly as this was her brother, whether or not she hated dark magic.
But never would she allow anyone to treat her with anything other than respect. Never would they speak to her like that. Never would they humiliate her in front of the teachers. Never would anyone treat her like that while they themselves fall short of what they should be.
Even her brother, who could have easily taken all he wanted out of the world- if he had the guts to want it- and make the world into something other than the scum-hole it was. And he had thrown it all away- thrown away the chance to turn the world from a scum-hole into a glorious civilisation like Atlantis had been. Throwing away any chance of leadership- any chance of glory- to serve with the crowd.
He was weak. She had always thought him the strongest person that she knew, even stronger than their father, but he was weak.
Too weak not to seek power for himself, or glory.
Too weak to do anything but to serve.
Unlike her, he was weak.
She would never walk in anyone's shadow.
Letting out a scream of rage, she cast a powerful hex towards him- without even thinking its consequences. But fortunately for him, Rhaegar knew what it was, and that Athelinda had for once outreached her abilities.
Counteracting it with something that neutralised it, he quickly dodged before she had a chance to use this as a distraction and figure out his plan, and cast another spell. She blocked and counterattacked- only to find herself lifted into the air.
Rhaegar had once again cast a trip-jinx towards her.
She landed hard on the ground and she saw ropes jet out of his wand and throw themselves, wrapping around her wrists and ankles, not simply pinning her, but holding her captive.
He had won again.
And the biggest insult was that he had done it in a way he already did before.
It was a humiliation and a cause of rage.
"Done?" he barked. "Or do you want more?" he saw nothing but his rage.
She shrieked in rage.
"I hate you!" she snarled. "You bastard son of a-" the ropes lifted her into the air.
Rhaegar was about to give her a healthy dose to slam her into something in order to knock sense into her. But a shocked realisation came unto him.
This was his sister.
And he acted towards her in the way he always dreamed of, towards the monsters that brutalized and tortured him- insulting any dignity he and anyone else had.
And he truly would become like them- if he did that to his own sister. They told the others to butcher their parents too.
He dropped her. She lay on the ground, gasping for breath, eyes wild, like a predator who was thwarted. No, she was not prey.
Shocked, horrified and repulsed at his own actions, disgusted at himself. Rhaegar looked up in dismay.
She scrambled to her feet, face contorted in rage. He had won with what he did last time.
"I beat you the last time," he said slowly, trying to conceal his inner feelings. "I have done so now. And I will do it again. If you think you can defeat me- try me. You never learn, Athelinda."
He wanted to show her she was no better, She had never learned from her mistakes. That was all.
Merlin, he never wanted to hurt her. He loved her!
To show her that despite all the high expectations she had on everybody else, she still had the same failings. She fell short of her own vision of herself.
"I hate you!" she snarled again. "And I swear by the blood of Merlin, I will make you regret this, Rhaegar!" and with her hair all over the place, and her robes askew, she strode off.
I already have. He thought.
I hate me too.
"What?" Willamar demanded.
Rhaegar took a deep breath.
"You had a practice?"
"No, it wasn't a practice." He groaned. "We had a fight."
There was a bone-chilling silence in the air.
"What is it?" Willamar asked, frozen.
Rhaegar took another deep breath and told the story.
"Merlin," Willamar whispered. He sat down.
Rhaegar buried his face in his hands.
"Why?' Willamar asked aghast.
Rhaegar, barely speaking out of a mumble, told Willamar the story. How Athelinda had been treating everyone, including himself. How she had touched on sore subjects with everyone. And how the teachers were paying no notice.
Why? Because she was their golden girl. The one everyone could see no wrong. Dumbledore could, he could see right through anyone, but he was not here. He had gone, somewhere, on some sort of journey.
'Dear God," he whispered. It was a prayer. "Why?"
Why did it have to be so intense?
Alphard was right. Willamar learned all there was about Rhaegar's ordeal.
The moment-" he choked. "The moment I pulled her up in the air, I realised... I wanted to slam her and get it into her head she wasn't the only person worthwhile... Just like I did them. I hated them. But I also wanted to show we were worth something too."
He inhaled deeply. "But I saw that it was Athelinda." he laughed harshly. "So you see Willamar, I am not suited for leadership the way Father and Dumbledore thinks I am."
Willamar was silent.
"We have to talk to her," he said. "She does need sense. Even if it means getting sense knocked into her head." he shook his head. "This has gone for too long enough. I'm going to put a stop to it. I'm writing to Father."
And with that, he walked out of the room.
Willamar succeeded in rounding up Athelinda.
Or rather, he would have.
Instead he listened in on her talking to a student.
"My, is that your draught of Sleeping Death?" he heard her say. He saw her talking to a blonde curly-haired girl, who flushed over her cauldron and vials. "Well, I must say, I'm impressed," she drawled. "I didn't think you could brew such a potion. Professor Slughorn must be pleased." Someone sniggered. "After all, you are a person of rare talent- it's rare when you show such talent. Your parents must be exceptionally pleased." And from what Rhaegar said she'd uttered in comparison to this, it was rather pathetic and kind.
But Willamar already snapped.
She's said enough.
"Athelinda," he barked.
Athelinda's head snapped up. Willamar looked at her frostily. He jerked his head, he certainly wasn't going to dignify her with a respectful sentence, after that.
She looked at him with coolness. "Has Rhaegar talked to you?" She asked. "Did he ask you to be his errand boy from now on?"
"What does it matter?" His patience was getting even thinner. "It matters because I will not be anyone's slave, nor will I walk in anyone's shadow!" She hissed.
"You're only a slave by your own actions, Athelinda!" He barked. "You've become a bully- and a hully is always a weak, pathetic victim who couldn't stand up for themselves."
She recoiled. "How dare you," she hissed.
"I'd dare more than that," Willamar snarled. "You're weak, and selfish. You're egoistic and glory-seeking! You think that you're better than anyone else, just because there are flaws in this world that needs repairing! Well, let me tell you something, Athelinda- you're not better than anyone else! At least Ministers of Magic, and other corrupt officials have left school and gained experience in this world, yet here you act as if you were the one responsible for anything good, and everyone else deserves your contempt!" He grabbed her wrist, when she squealed in pain, he loosened his grip slightly, but not enough for her to pull away.
"They don't deserve your contempt," he went on. "In fact, they who inflict contempt upon others without reason, deserves more contempt than all put together. Keep that in mind!" He snarled, before thrusting her to the ground, so she fell to the floor. He strode away.
I am not weak! Something within her hissed. I will never be beaten.
Everyone else- her brothers- were the weak ones. She was stronger and more powerful than they. Or she will be even stronger and more powerful than they.
She narrowed her eyes. She was more powerful and stronger- she would prove it.
The good news? Grindelwald's forces were being pushed back.
Everyone cheered when the news was announced in the Great Hall.
But, they were warned. It was not victory yet.
As for the bad news?
A less than two days after the news, and four days after the confrontations, when someone came screaming, tearing through the castle.
It was Olive Hornby.
She came screaming, running to the Heads of Houses, and eventually the Headmaster came running as fast as he could, while Professor Slughorn made her drink a tonic to keep her calm.
Rhaegar watched the scene wide-eyed and in horror.
Just as they thought when the monster behind the attacks (literally or metaphorically, whoever, or whatever did it, was a monster), had stopped (although he was more cynical than that), a girl was found in the bathroom.
However, unlike the predecessors to such gruesome treatment, this girl was found dead.
He looked on in horror, his face white.
As the girl was placed upon a stretcher in the bathroom on the first-floor.
It was Myrtle Warren- the girl Athelinda had so ruthlessly tormented.
She was dead- cold, white and utterly void of life.
Rhaegar stood still white and cold with shock.
Now the future seemed more chilling than he imagined.
Rhaegar stood still and cold, he had yet to relay the news to the Gryffindors- he didn't want to.
How could this happen? What could this mean?
Myrtle Warren was dead- not only her life, but her future as well- a chance for a future to prove herself and rise higher than those who bullied her- was gone.
She was tormented. Miserable. Harassed mercilessly. And she spent the last moments of her life weeping until the terrifying moment when death came for her.
What must it have felt like? He wondered. Would she have time to be terrified- even mildly afraid? Did she know what was happening, or did the monster take her by surprise?
All her chances were gone.
I hope Athelinda was happy, he thought bitterly. That was what he said to her when he confronted her.
"What?" She had exclaimed.
"Satisfied now?" Rhaegar's eyes were unnaturally bright. "The girl you tormented is now dead- and the last thing that she felt before her end was misery- because of the likes of you!"
His sister had paled. She never imagined. A shadow of her former self came up- guilt and shame. Sorrow and regret. But then...
"She asked for it," she sneered. "Someone wanted to spend the rest of her life lying useless and miserable inside a toilet. What a weakling."
Luckily for her, the teachers came into the room.
Rhaegar stood in shock.
Now the parents would have to be informed. Hogwarts would close down. Roughly a thousand years ago, all this- the Founders' Great Legacy- had started- now it was about to end.
Or so he thought.
"What is the meaning of this?" Rhaegar could not remember who spoke- Dumbledore or Dippet.
He stood frozen as Tom Riddle- his sister's hated 'friend'- had his wand pointed at a huge figure, with bushy hair, and whose normally merry, twinkling black eyes were wide and fearful.
Rubeus Hagrid was brought before the Headmaster and his Head of House, thus.
"Headmaster," Tom's black eyes were chips of dark volcanic stone which held the flickering remains of lava. "This boy was found keeping monsters within the castle.
Rhaegar heard a gasp. He stifled the urge to groan and bury his face in his hands. Oh, Hagrid, what have you done?
"Monster?" Dippet gasped. "A monster?"
"An Acromantula," Tom said, his eyes burning. He gripped the shoulder of Hagrid's robes tighter. "As some may know, Acromantula venom paralyses- and in larger doses, is lethal."
Everyone gave a collective gasp. Everyone that is, except Dumbledore.
"An Acromantula?!" Rhaegar lost track of the conversation.
His mind went blank.
He remembered what was said about the Founders.
They weren't stupid. Salazar Slytherin wasn't stupid.
Neither he nor his fellow founders, guilty or not, would have built something without the other three's knowledge. But if they did, they would not be so stupid enough as to allow the easy possibility of a student having the ability to release something that was kept secret within the castle. Furthermore, it would not have been someone like Hagrid. He wasn't foolish, but he wasn't the brightest student, to tell the truth. The Founders would never have allowed the possibility of someone like Hagrid opening up any of their secrets which they guarded deep inside the castle- if they had one.
Furthermore, if Riddle claimed that Hagrid did it on purpose, he didn't know who he was supposed to be fooling. Hagrid loved even the most dangerous or the most boring of creatures, and with Hagrid's secret status as half-giant (yes, Rhaegar knew), he would have never, ever, ever, attacked a Muggle-born.
And there was the fact that Acromantulas were native to South-East Asia- Borneo and Kalimantan.
"No!" He found himself suddenly shouting.
"It wasn't him."
Everyone turned and stared.
He turned to the person, whom he thought was the most reasonable- Dumbledore.
"The Founders weren't stupid," he found himself repeating his thoughts.
Dumbledore nodded, approvingly. "There, you see Armando? Common sense from the most logical."
"It does not discount the fact that this boy has been keeping monsters inside this very castle!" Dippet shrieked.
"Aragog's not a monster!" Hagrid protested. "He's jus' misunderstood! He's harmless- he never hurt anybody- never!"
Rhaegar withheld the urge to groan again. Hagrid was not helping. He shot him a covert look which told him to shut up.
"Acromantulas are classified with a five x status," Rhaegar said firmly, to remind Hagrid, but also to make certain that when he did speak for Hagrid, no one would accuse him of bias. "They are known Wizard-killers, whether or not the one you had killed yet, there is always a likely chance- whether you want to admit it or not!" He said sternly. "And you brought it into a castle full of adolescent students? You risked their lives- I have never been more disappointed in you, Hagrid."
Hagrid looked down in shame.
"Well said!" Dippet cried. He nodded to several teachers, and to Riddle. "Take him to a secure room in the dungeons- I'll be contacting the Ministry."
"Wait," Rhaegar said. He looked at Dumbledore.
Dumbledore gave Dippet a piercing gaze. "It is not likely," Dumbledore said. "That Hagrid was behind these attacks- or that acromantula of his. Acromantula venom is toxic- but based on the descriptions you gave me, Riddle, the spider that you have glimpsed, is a young one. It would have been enough to paralyse, but only mildly. It would not have been enough to petrify, and it certainly would not be enough to kill."
Everyone stared.
Riddle stood like a column of ice.
Dumbledore looked at Dippet. "It was not Hagrid."
They stood still.
"Furthermore, we must take into account what Rhaegar has said. No adolescent student- no matter how accomplished he is in Care of Magical Creatures- has enough skill to control a creature, or to magically petrify and kill the way these pupils have been dealt with," Dumbledore said calmly. "He is not guilty."
Rhaegar looked at Riddle.
The boy looked like he had been slapped in the face. Normally Rhaegar would have rejoiced, but something was off.
Did he know- did he want Hagrid to be expelled or arrested? Why? He wasn't sure that Hagrid had ever gotten into anybody's bad side- apart from being too fond of animals, particularly the exotic and dangerous kinds.
But then... What if it wasn't about Hagrid alone? What if...
Then it hit him.
Rhaegar once again lost track of everything, before everyone started to leave. Hagrid was taken to the Headmaster's office, Dumbledore went as well- Hagrid's father had died, and who knew where his mother was?
But before Tom Riddle could make an exit, Rhaegar spoke.
"Strange," he said softly, but just loud enough for him to here.
Riddle turned. "What?" He asked.
It was the first time either of them spoke directly to one another.
"The staff gave the announcement that Hogwarts might close down," Rhaegar continued in the same tone. "The students would be sent back to their homes. You love it so much here at Hogwarts. Straight after the announcement was confirmed- you come bearing a 'culprit', whom you caught red-handed. All by yourself- with no assistance," he looked at Riddle.
There was something unsettling- frightening even, about Rhaegar's eyes. Something frightening, alright. Something which spoke of death- of combat, of blood-shed, of masses dead, and burning villages.
"How did you do it?" Rhaegar asked quietly. "I'm sure I would like to know. Dumbledore too. "
He tilted his head to one side.
The two wizards- only teenagers, yet so much more, regarded one each other.
There was something powerful, something burning brightly in both pairs of eyes.
Neither of them was what they seemed.
Hagrid was expelled.
There was nothing anyone could do- not even Dumbledore, Kettleburn and Rhaegar's own protests could be enough to save him from that.
He might have been proven innocent- Dippet checked with several healers, medi-wizards, Slughorn and various officials and medical persons- but the fact was he brought a dangerous creature into the castle- a castle-full of students.
Luckily, Dumbledore managed to persuade Dippet to allow Hagrid to stay- he had no family, anyway. Ogg the Gamekeeper had a new assistant- an apprentice.
Hagrid was resigned- he was optimistic and was happy. He made the best of things, and Rhaegar was glad.
But Tom Riddle often found Rhaegar's eyes, watching him when he least expected it. Dumbledore wasn't the only one who kept a close watch on him.
And he had a feeling that this boy might be more than he seemed.
Like his sister.
Wow, I'm sorry! I had exams! Yeah, this was the bit where things got really dramatic. Ogg was the Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts at the time- Hagrid was likely made his assistant rather than Ogg being fired so Hagrid could take his role. As for acromantula venom- well, remember the mandrakes? They were babies, and Professor Sprout said that their cries weren't strong enough to be lethal- what if Acromantula venom- small as Aragog was when the flashback in Chamber of Secrets was seen- was not as potent because the spider had not fully matured? But I don't think Athelinda will be too happy to discount the possibility that Tom was mistaken or lying. She's now on better terms than she was with her brothers.
Next chapter- Rhaegar's belated coming-of-age ceremony- and how he makes his mark on the world- what his sister will do- and their little sister's coming to Hogwarts!