Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K Rowling.
Chapter 31: The Snakes in the Tree
-Draco-
I sighed tiredly as I plunged down in an empty compartment. Christmas has been interesting. It usually was when mother arranged an extravagant ball with attendees from all over the world, but this one was even more interesting. Mainly because one part of the world where people came from was a prison, and not any prison either, but Azkaban.
I had never gotten to know my aunt before she was sent to Azkaban; the only things I knew about her were stories from my mother and father. Neither of their stories were very flattering. Father respected her, I think mostly due to the fact that she was one of the few who could best him in a duel.
My mother, on the other hand, definitely hated Bellatrix. My mother never smiled. I couldn't remember one time where I had seen her smile at anyone who wasn't me. Or well, actually smile was a better phrase. She had her smile-mask mastered up to perfection.
The thing was, she did smile when talking to Bellatrix, and it looked too genuine. Like she realised that her own sister would be able to tell the difference.
Either way, Bellatrix had been very interested in teaching me a few tricks about a little bit of everything. Fascinating stuff, really.
The drawback of the everpresent visitors was that I never felt at home. There was no time to relax and simply sit with your eyes closed. Marvelling at the sound of a fireplace or admire the view of the grounds.
No, my ears were perched at every single second. My eyes were sharp as a dagger, searching for anything. For I knew that the escapees were on the same side as me, but I held no illusion that they were my allies. Or friends. Or family.
I arrived at the train early and waited for the other to arrive with my eyes closed. The buzz of the crowd grew larger and larger as the clock went closer to eleven. I heard Blasie join before I saw him.
"Have a good holiday?" I asked with a stifled yawn.
Blaise shrugged. "I only got three thousand galleons from my new step-father."
I raised my eyebrows. "Only three thousand? Didn't the last one get you seven thousand or something?"
He nodded and sat down with a smile. "Eight, actually. Mother seemed very put out at the sum."
"Poor man," I said with a grimace.
The compartment door slid open to reveal Daphne and Tracey. Both of them had already changed to their Hogwarts robes. Not for the first time, I wondered how Daphne would look without those on.
Daphne had ugly bags under her eyes. Tracey looked to have traces of them too, but she didn't refuse to wear makeup to cover them up, like Daphne did.
Could Daphne also have gotten a visit from cloaked friends? It was possible, her engagement with Potter wasn't widely known though, at least not from what I had been able to figure out.
The train left the station and the crowd of parents behind. I wondered how many horrible stories had been told about me during the holidays. What I had done and who I had punished in what way.
Draco Malfoy, the evil at Hogwarts.
-()-
-Hermione-
People had come back to school from Christmas with all sorts of ideas. Which was great, we now had a list with spells to learn which was several metres long. Literally. But it was more than we could ever hope to learn. It would also not be very useful to learn all of them.
Problem was, everyone wanted to learn their own spell or technique. Our first meeting had been an unstructured mess, to put it lightly. No one had really paid any attention. We were supposed to begin to learn the patronus. How could that be less important than learning the counter spell to a wingless falcon?
According to Ernie MacMillan, it was, even if he had zero rational reasoning behind it.
When we finally managed to get everybody to calm down and keep quiet, I cleared my throat.
I pointed to Angelina in the back. "Angelina had a great idea over the holidays," I said loudly.
The girl in question cleared her throat. "Yes… I was thinking that it would be a good idea to travel and watch the duels in Nanshu." She pointed between herself and Alicia. "Me and Alicia went and it was actually very interesting."
"Plus, we can get some inspiration of what can be done in a fight," I added. "However, I looked at the board to sign up and most of the spots for Heathcliff's and Harry's next duels are already taken."
"So we can't go?" someone asked from the crowd.
"No, we can," I said with a frown. "We'll just have to hope that Harry or Heathcliff win their duel and progress to the next round."
Excited chatter broke out. I would gladly have been among them. I knew Harry had started out badly but his second duel had been incredible, according to Angelina and Alicia.
"We have a problem," I announced loudly, garnering the attention of everyone again "Not only has Umbridge started to suspect us of something, she has also started to become more…extreme in her countermeasures."
No one said a word at my declaration. Which felt something of an achievement within itself, considering how prone this group had been to flare up in conversation.
"We need to do something," I stated resolutely and met the eyes of a couple of people.
Angelina gave me a slow nod. Corner looked passive but I could see anger swirling in his eyes, it made me want to look away. Even if I felt the same thing.
"What do we need to do, exactly?" someone said from the crowd.
I felt no surprise whatsoever when that person turned out to be Zacharias Smith.
"We need to help people who can't help themselves," I stated wisely. "Too many people have returned from detention with cuts and bruises, bleeding forearms since we returned after thr break. It'll be a few months until people return home, until then, she can control everything which comes out of Hogwarts."
Uttering those words felt unreal. This was happening, in a school no less.
"We could brew potions," a blonde girl declared from the crowd. Luna, I think her name was.
I nodded. "That's a very good idea, to heal and relieve pain." I stared out over the crowd soberly. "Any other ideas?"
Corner raised a hand. "What about retaliation?" he said hoarsely.
I frowned. "If we attack anyone, the ministry will just introduce new regulations and make our life even harder."
He smiled bitterly. "Yes, but if the inquisitorial squad know that they will face retribution when they turn someone in..." he trailed off.
"-They won't hand people in to Umbridge," Angelina finished darkly.
Silence reigned over the group for a few moments. Everyone was mulling over the question just posed. This had started as a group to improve grades. It suddenly had a chance to become something far greater.
And something far worse.
"I say we take a vote," Corner said coolly. "This has to be a group effort, all of us need to be behind it."
"A vote it is," I said solemnly.
-()-
-Draco-
Pansy looked like she wanted to murder Daphne. I wondered how the two of them managed to live in the same room.
It was the morning when we would travel to Nanshu and watch not just Potter's duel, but Ida Heathcliff's too. We had been lucky enough to get those two duels on the same date. Joshua and Antonia had rejoined the student population at Hogwarts after Christmas, both of them knocked out without a win between them. Barely anyone from Slythering spoke to them, it was not lost on anyone within the castle that the two Slytherin contestants had been the two worst ones. Something the other houses never failed to point of in various ways.
The huge drawback with going was that we had to get up at an ungodly hour. Even if most classes began earlier this year than previous years, they paled in comparison to this.
I could tell that Blaise silently agreed with Pansy's assessment that Daphne was the fault for this, but he didn't show it. I had an idea why.
Daphne herself looked just the same as usual. Not a trace of makeup and a hairstyle which looked stunning. I wondered when she must have gotten up to have the time for it. She should have been the one looking like an inferi -instead, we did.
Umbridge surveyed us when we gathered in the Great Hall to await Flitwick to guide us to China. I had never been to China before, or Asia for that matter, I had to admit that I was looking forward to it.
Flitwick arrived, cheerful as ever, and led our group of about twenty to his office. Umbridge had shut down every floo connection in the castle except her own. And Flitwick's, when he had to use it.
It would be five stops during the journey. One in Paris, one in Budapest, one in Dubai, one in Sri Lanka and finally, Nanshu.
The floo stations weren't very crowded but the closer we came to our goal, it began to fill up.
Our group looked ready to drop dead on our feet when we stepped out from the fireplace in China.
I wasn't sure what I expected. At first I wondered where the tree was, it was supposed to be so large you couldn't even see the top from the ground. It took a couple of seconds before I realised that we had arrived in the tree. Every wall was carved out of the trunk and the branches created roads to countless houses and other areas. I thought I spotted a park with a small pond in it.
Flitwick led us over a branch and we finally reached a house where the champions supposedly lived. It was small and had five rooms, although two of them stood empty. Potter's door was shut, which I personally thought was a good thing. I had no idea what I would do or say if, or when, I saw him.
My only wish for the trip was that he would suffer. I could tell that Daphne had been looking forward to this, this was her chance to see Potter suffer the same way she had. Potter's opponent was supposed to be pretty good, but he came from Beauxbatons, not a school known for their prowess in this competition.
Heathcliff was in the living room and greeted her friends excitedly. Us Slytherins just stood in a corner and spoke among ourselves. Admiring the view of the beautiful tree, endless branches with leaves in the colour of deep red. I had learned that the leaves changed colours over the seasons.
Then the time came and we departed for this first duel, Heathcliff against someone from America. Alex Bell, I think his name was. I didn't know the name of the school but it had apparently done pretty well, the four contestants had only lost two matches between them.
Only the notorious school 'Göran' had done better. With one game lost between six contestants.
We climbed higher in the tree, past what looked like smaller duelling rings. The groups stages had apparently been played there, but for every round, the duelling would take place higher up in the tree. The finale would be at the top. With only the stars above.
Ida and her opponent bowed to each other curtly and the duel began when the referee fired a spell at the ground between them.
I had decided to try and take some inspiration from what I saw in the duels. I knew Blaise would do the same. This was an excellent opportunity to learn something which we hadn't learnt in defence.
Ida and her opponent traded blows. Precision and power.
But her opponent was better. He moved with swift, precise movements and although some of Ida's spells came close to him, he was never really close to being caught.
The aim was to get your opponent's wand three times, then you won.
Ida lost her once and then twice to impressive pieces of magic. I saw the American create a shimmering ball where he caught Ida's spells and stored them. Then he flung the ball at Ida who exploded in a whirwarr of colour.
The American won in extravagant style, but both of them were left lying on the floor, unconscious. The effort seemed to have exhausted the American fully. I knew that was dangerous, overexerting yourself was one of the most risky things you could do. I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up with lasting damage to his health.
So Heathcliff was out, only one Hogwarts champion remained. School solidarity did absolutely nothing for my desire to see him beat into an indistinguishable mess.
No, I wouldn't care if Hogwarts was left embarrassed, as long as the suffering girl beside me got even the tiniest bit of satisfaction. As long as she was happy, I was happy.
-()-
Potter looked different from the last time I saw him. He held himself differently. His hair was cut differently, although still an ugly mess.
The thing which struck me the most was how much he looked like he belonged in the tent where he was waiting for the duel to begin. Potter had always looked out of place to me, as if he wasn't sure he was supposed to be where he was. As if he wasn't sure he was allowed to be where he was.
The fellow from Beauxbaton was glaring at Potter like he had embarrassed his entire school, which wasn't entirely off the mark.
I smiled inwardly at the memory of the third task. A frown crept upon my face, the boy I had planned with had never appeared outright cruel, but he had probably come up with his way to enslave Daphne at the same time we were working together.
Just before the duel was about to start. A dark skinned girl jumped down from the stands and approached Potter. I raised my eyebrows.
Potter smiled when he saw her and said something which made the girl feign crying. I glanced at the others. Blaise looked vaguely amused. Tracey was also glancing at Daphne with a concerned look.
I watched Potter with the girl and then, they embraced each other. My eyes widened. Even from where I sat, I could see Potter was smiling broadly. Then they broke apart and just looked into each other's eyes for a few seconds before Potter walked up on stage.
I glanced at Daphne. Her mouth was hanging slightly open. I could see her hand was trembling slightly. I put my hand on hers and gave it a comforting squeeze. The girl closed her hand around mine and squeezed it so hard I thought it would break. She looked like she was about to cry then and there.
Then she let out a long, shaky breath and everything was gone. Her grip relaxed, the shine in her eyes disappeared and her look hardened. I thought I could see pure hatred in her then.
So Potter had gotten tired of Daphne and decided to get another.
No one could tell me Potter wasn't evil. If for nothing else, then for what he did to Daphne.
The referee fired a spell into the ground and the duel began, jerking me from my thoughts.
I didn't just want Potter to lose now, I wanted him to suffer the pain of a thousand cruciatus curses. I could only imagine what Daphne would want to do.
Potter stepped out of the way of the first spell with a hasty step and retaliated with two cackling bolts of pure energy. They struck the opponent's shield with two resounding thuds.
The two combatants stood frozen on their spots, all for eyes between them sharp as an eagle.
Potter flicked his wand once, twice, thrice. Daggers made of pure light darted for the opponent with deadly accuracy. His opponent twisted and turned to get out of the way, Potter continued his onsluaght, unphazed.
Even I knew that the Beauxbatons student was swimming in deep waters, then he was sent sinkning by a conjured eagle of Potter's.
Potter smiled victoriously, holding his opponent's wand in his hand.
"Point Potter," the referee declared stoutly. "Potter one, Faivre zero."
So Faivre was the opponent's name, that was good to know. He was good, too. But Potter was a step better. At least it looked like that to me, loath as I was to admit it.
I spared a glance at Daphne when Potter threw the wand back to his opponent. Her expression sung of devastation. Like someone had just announced her grandma's death.
The contestants lined up again and the duel began anew with a spell in the ground.
Potter conjured a large, wooden horse he sent galloping towards his opponent. His opponent had no problem immobilising it and leaving it behind him as he advanced on Potter with a barrage of spells.
Potter remained unconcerned, his features not betraying a piece of emotion.
"Look!" Blaise said and nudged me. He pointed at the horse Faivre had immobilised. Something had broken out of the horse and was approaching Faivre from behind.
The human-like creature slammed Faivre in the back of the head, slamming him face-first into the ground.
Potter wasted no time summoning the wand and turning the creature to dust.
"Point Potter," the referee declared. "Potter two, Faivre zero."
I sighed, this didn't go the way I would have wanted it to. Potter threw the wand back and Faivre got up on wobbling legs.
Faivre clutched his head in pain, I thought I could make up a trail of blood.
The last round wasn't a fight -it was a playing session. Potter looked like he was doing do agility with his opponent, he practically conjured hoops and tunnels and passages which he had his opponent run through to avoid the offensive Potter released.
Daphne was sitting next to be with her fists curled into tight knots, her eyes burning brighter than any of the fire Potter sent flying towards his opponent.
The results was inevitable, and after a while, Potter got bored and ended it. A single, precise, sharp hit to the abdomen. Faivre was pale as a ghost and drenched in sweat when he fell to the ground.
Potter summoned his wand and it was over.
A loud cheer erupted and I thought I could see an aristocratic-looking man cackle. He had most likely put some money that Potter would win, and gotten nice returns. My father usually put some money on the latter stages of the tournament, I knew that the betting was the biggest side of this whole tournament.
Potter left the stage and hugged the dark skinned girl again. I felt Daphne tense up beside me and I patted her thigh soothingly.
"I wouldn't want to face him," Blaise said with a frown. "He's terrifying."
-()-
We got an opportunity to talk with Potter after the duel. Potter was waiting in his tent as everyone approached. Heathcliff and her Ravenclaw friends seemed very impressed by Potter. Potter appeared very uncomfortable under all the female attention and squirmed in his seat a little. I smiled in amusement and met Blaise's eyes. It was at least something. Potter deserved so much more suffering, so so so much more.
Then they left him alone and Potter looked up to see us. If he was surprised to see us there, he didn't show it. His gaze fastened on Daphne and frowned. Our group of five walked up to where he sat.
Potter stood up and smiled sweetly. He probably didn't want to look up when speaking to us.
"How nice to see you all here," he said with a smile.
I rolled my eyes. "I unfortunately can't say the same."
"Nor I," Daphne added. "I always thought Gryffindors were righteous:"
"I'm not?"
"No," Daphne said. "Walking around with that whore is anything but righteous."
Potter rolled his eyes. "Really?" His eyes settled on me, where I stood protectively in front of Daphne. "I could say the same about you."
Daphne's lips curled. "I told you I would. Didn't I?"
Potter sighed and rubbed his face. "You did, but I don't go around and call every person in your life whores, do I?"
"I'm only telling the truth," Daphne said bluntly. "I'm not going to sugarcoat anything for you."
Potter scoffed. "Sugarcoat? Is that what you're doing, giving me the truth? Well, let me do the same." His eyes braced and clashed against Daphne's. "The more you do this, the more this whole ordeal becomes your fault, not mine." He shook his head. "I'd hoped that we could at least become civil, after some time, but you seem intent to be anything but."
Daphne pinched her nose. "You're a bastard, Potter. It's not more complicated than that."
He shrugged. "Whatever, let's not do this now, okay?" He glanced at the rest of us. "So did you actually have something to say, or were you just coming her to accost me?"
In that moment, the black girl appeared by Potter's side. "Hello!" she said, annoyingly happy.
"Hello," Pansy said, her nose pinched in distaste.
An awkward silence settled on the group.
"Are these your friends?" the girl asked and nudged Potter.
Potter grimaced. "Not quite, though..." he trailed off and nodded at Daphne.
The girl looked at Daphne, her mouth opened in realisation.
Potter nodded in confirmation after a wordless question.
I clenched and unclenched my fist. Potter had told this nobody how he had enslaved Daphne. My already low opinion of the girl shrunk impossibly lower, she knew what Potter had done and still didn't realise that he was evil and bad and horrible and abhorrent and not good enough for Daphne.
The girl extended a hand to Daphne. "I'm Alice, it's nice to meet you."
Daphne ignored the hand. "I can't say the same."
Alice nodded in undestanding. "I can understand that, I suppose." She tilted her head. "Is it alright if I have a word to you, girl to girl?"
Is stepped in front of Daphne. "No," I said cooly. "It is not!"
Alice raised her eyesbrows. "I didn't ask you, I asked her."
I held up my finger up warningly. "And I know that she doesn't want to talk to you, so it really doesn't matter."
"You'll lose at some point, Potter," Daphne said from behind me. "When you do, I'll be there, happier then you'll ever make me."
She left and we followed.
-()-
-Hermione-
It was a simple operation, actually. That didn't change the fact that I was glancing over my shoulder constantly and felt a tight knot in my stomach. Corner sneaked a couple of steps ahead of me and Neville was just behind me.
We had acquired the news that two Hufflepuff third years had been caught with a prohibited quill. Whether or not the quill was prohibited was irrelevant, what was important were the two members of the inquisitorial squad who had handed them in to the tyrant.
Fabian Selwyn and Millicent Bulstrode.
The two in question were two corridors ahead of me, according to the marauders map. I signalled to Neville and Corner and the three of us stepped out around the corner to get the two Slytherins in view.
Mine and Corner's spells struck them square in the back without any chance for them to react. We approached their lifeless forms-
Corner stepped on Selwyns hands, creating a sick crack -his eyes gleamed like emeralds with satisfaction. We got on with what we were supposed to do.
I took care of Bulstrode. Corner took care of Selwyn. Neville took care of the message.
A/N: Greeting! I didn't even think about it when writing this chapter, but there actually isn't a single scene from Harry's POV in here, but he's in the chapter quite a lot, so it should be fine. Anyway, to clarify, chapters will be posted on Fridays from now on, instead of Thursdays.
I'd love to hear a word or two about what you thought about this chapter, or the whole story. Cheers!