)(-)(
The dim light woke me up.
I opened my eyes, looking up. The hospital ceiling.
I had been transferred from the Forbidden Forest to a bed in the Hospital ward. Getting onto my elbows, I saw that I was alone save for the two creatures. The Thestral dam slept on the floor, quiet and still. Emperor settled himself on her back, in his tiniest kitten form.
How was the dam allowed in the ward? Then it dawned, not everyone could see her, and if they did, they would not speak of her.
I sat up without a pain, surprising myself and Madam Pomfrey.
"Miss Potter?" Madam Pomfrey shouted. "Lie back on that bed, or so help me, I will charm you to it!"
"Madam, I feel fine!" I said, sitting up straight, feeling the ache in my whole body. "I'm not in any pain anymore, it's just sore."
"Now that is very strange," Madam Pomfrey said, crossing her arms as she stood next to the bed and the sleeping creatures.
"What?"
"These two," She sighed with an amused smile. "I tried to make her leave, but she refused. Always leaving my sight when told, but she always snuck right back in after I looked away." she tutted at the Thestral. "I need to do some more examinations, then I'll call Professor Snape to escort you back to your room," She took her wand out of her apron pocket. "There isn't a need for you to collapse on your way back."
I nodded, my voice stuck in her throat. I waited until Madam Pomfrey before shuffling off the bed and closing the curtains. Draping my arms around the dam's neck, I cuddled the creature. The Thestral brought her neck up and lowered her head until it laid on my shoulders.
I nodded off quickly, once again returning to the endless void that was my subconscious.
)(-)(
It wasn't long before Snape tore the curtains open, then sighed at the sight of the trio.
This girl really had a knack for animals and creatures of all types. From bonding with a Familiar within a few months of meeting, to meeting the Omens of the school, and befriending the merpeople.
She was an anomaly, a Potter in Slytherin House, but she was a Witch under his care foremost. A student with a whole universe of possible magic to learn, and an endless thirst for knowledge, and the ambition to achieve everything impossible.
But, for now, she would need heavy guidance to achieve her goals without allowing history relapsing the third time.
Snape waved his wand silently, a small twinkling sound erupted and woke her up with a jump.
)(-)(
I gasped in shock with wide, alert eyes, before groaning and yawning.
"Hello Sir," I said, getting up carefully from the floor as to not disturb the animals. "What time is it?"
"It is around seven in the morning, Madam Pomfrey has insisted on you not attending lessons today." He said, "But Dumbledore has stated that you will have to attend your detention. Now come, I want you to rest for the rest of the day. Breakfast will be brought to your room when you ask."
On the way back to the dungeons, I felt like I wasn't myself. I wasn't a quiet person. I had a big personality. But my mind kept wanting to sprout whatever could cause me to break down into sobs again. Too many emotions were bundled inside of my chest, weaving between the few positive and so many negative emotions that I feared they would tumble out of my mouth unmeanfully.
Snape stopped before his office, gesturing for me to come in. I walked in, standing by his desk.
The room was much like his classroom. The walls had shelves lined with large glass jars, though they only covered a single wall while the rest had bare and bleak shelves awaiting ingredients, and potions, and trinkets. A single row held an array of books, textbooks and journals I thought.
"Now, Miss Potter," He said, glaring down at me with no heat. It held an air of care and delicate wonder. "What did you see?"
I fiddled with the hem of my robe sleeve, twinkling it between my fingers. "I fear that if I speak, I'll return to a blubbering mess of tears and sobs. I-I don't want to remember any of the things I saw flash before my eyes."
"Of what nature were these things? People? Words? Creatures? Or memories?"
"Memories, perhaps people and words. Mum and Dad are dead. Screams. Green light. Anger. Grey. Black. Death. Snake. Man. Darkness."
My breath quickened until I heaved them out. Snape was quick to silence the room as I began to scream with all my might as the flashes returned. He poured a Calming Draught down my throat and then a Dreamless Sleep one too, hoping it would calm me enough.
It took me only moments to calm down. My gaze was glazed over, dazed, as if possessed but I returned soon enough. I used the back of my hand to whip the running tears from my face, looking at the moisture that welled in my palms. They stopped.
"The thing I say, what was it? I mean the creature, not the flashes." I said, my tone low and tired.
"The creature, we don't know what it was," He said coldly. "It sought after the blood of the unicorn, entering a state that ensured eternal life with a cost. The creature drank but caused itself to lose the humanity it has left."
"Eternal life?'
"It could heal a person an inch from death,"
"What if they died? Could the blood resurrect them?"
He flinched at my words, thinning his lips in thought.
My thoughts tumbled in my consciousness. Why did he flinch? Was he scared or intimidated by one or the other?
"No, death is death, Miss Potter," he said. "There is no going back after death, though many have tried. There is no guarantee that whoever you come back as is the same person who died."
"I remember doing some light reading, Hermione Granger recommended it," I said, fiddling with my sleeve. "I read of a stone that could resurrect, is it real?"
"Where did you read this book?" Snape stared. His gaze was intense with emotions but hidden behind that was fear and, could it be called approval?
"Library. I think it was called the Resurrection Stone, or the like?"
It was silent. He refused to speak of whatever he knew, I could see it in his eyes. They were dark, as if remembering something. His inhale was slow but heavy, letting him calm whatever thought he had.
I had to be the one to break the silence.
"Sir," I knew I wouldn't like the answer to the question, but I needed to know. "The creature, when it came towards me, I was in so much pain. This pain keeps occurring and occurring, again and again. The only recurring thing that links them is one person."
He stifled his snort, crossing his arms loosely to convey his impatience. "Come, Miss Potter, who do you believe is the cause of this?"
I looked up from my hands, drawing my gaze to Snape's. He already knew, I bet. He knew for some time now. I took a breath in and looked through my dark lashes, my eyes calm, calculated and cold.
"Quirrel."
He had a self satisfied grin.
He knew.
"Why do you think that?"
"Why shouldn't I?" My new timid and shy demeanor disappeared and my true self came out, all the things I saw and assumed coming out at once. "Day one, my stomach said not to trust him. Quidditch match, my eyes said that too. And yesterday, before the detention, I went to get some books. Quirrel was walking out of a classroom, muttering to himself and fixing his turban. I thought I saw a face on the back of his head. From what I understand, all my pain has linked to him. Why?"
"I can't say that I know," Snape said, almost scowling at my determined gaze "Off to your dorm, now. Rest until the detention tonight."
I couldn't believe it. He knew and he wasn't going to admit it. I needed to know why Quirrel wasthe cause of my pain. I had to know to stop it. I couldn't be scared of him all year.
I needed to know the truth.
)(-)(
I made it halfway down the corridors of Hogwarts, stopping before the door on the third floor. My hand reached for the door, but a sharp scratch to my ankle stopped her. Hissing, I looked down and saw Emperor glaring at me.
"That hurt, Emperor! Really hurt," I knelt down and rubbed the area, lifting my trouser leg to show the red area. I rubbed it lightly with the tips of my fingers. He was trying to stop me from going in but I had to know.
"MISS POTTER!" A voice bellied out in the corridor, making me freeze. My eyes widened but I curved my lips into a sheepish smile as Madam Pomfrey came into view.
"I swear to Merlin, if I find that you are trying to get into that room, I will tell Professor Snape to lock you in the dungeons until tonight," She gave me a sharp look, hands on her hips. "Come, Miss Potter."
I didn't move, wondering if it was worth it to run away and hide, or face her wrath and possible punishment.
"Come on now, Miss Potter, you aren't in trouble," Madam Pomfrey said, waving her hand to start moving. "Curiosity gets the better of us all, come along. I'll bring you to your room and have a House-Elf bring food. No more exploring nonsense."
I sulked and hunched my shoulders a little, conveying guilt and acting like I was giving into her wish. "Alright, Madam. I'm sorry, it seems like my curiosity did get the best of me. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again."
"Good," Madam Pomfrey simply said.
We began to walk down to the ground floor of the castle, passing several loitering students that finished dinner early. Madam Pomfrey quickly dismissed them to their common rooms, library, or any other place that wasn't the corridors.
Peeves appeared with a bucket in his hands, dosing the portraits in water. One of them began screaming at him but Peeves just smiled and cackled. He did the same to the rest of the portraits on the wall, somehow he turned the water into paint and splashed them. The portraits were covered in rancid and ugly shades of every colour imaginable.
"I swear," Madam Pomfrey muttered under her breath, quickly running after the chaotic Poltergeist. He flew away with a cackle as she followed him.
I saw the opportunity and took it. I slipped up the stairs, pulling the Invisibility Cloak over my head as I picked a small Emperor up and put him on my shoulder.
I rubbed my other shoulder, cracking the bones in my neck and shoulder blades as every step closer to the door made me uncomfortable. I took each step slowly. I was a step away when something shoved me back a few metres.
"What are you doing, Miz Potta?" Peeves whispered into my face as he shot forward. He had a cheeky and knowing look on his face. "I thought I heard you say you were gonna go to your dorm until your detention tonight."
"Yeah, I did," I smiled innocently after taking the cloak off of my head. "I thought a small walk would help ease my worries before the detention."
"Now why would you need to ease your worries, Miz Potta?" He began to mock walk as he floated around me, hands behind his back. "Is it someone, or something?"
I gave him a once over, trying to determine his angle. What did he know? What did he want? Would it help me to tell him, or would it take me back several steps? I would have to take the chance. With Peeves' reputation of mischief and chaos, the chance would be good. He was mischievous but he didn't want to put the students into too much danger.
"I don't actually know," I frowned, letting my eyes glisten with tears for but a moment. It made Peeves soften his features and posture at my fake sadness. "I-I'm just scared. I just want to know what's happening to me, and-and nothing has been explained to me. And I don't know what to do anymore."
"Ohohoh, Miz Potta," Peeves said, frowning. "I-I—" He grumbled as he took a moment to think, "—think you need to rest! Yeah! Especially with your scar hurting recently!"
"That's why I decided to come here," I pouted. "I remembered that the dog was here, and‐and I've got a knack for animals. They make me feel calm and everything, and I can't think straight."
"Oh," Peeves said. "You've gotta see this then, come on. Miss Potta, this way!"
He waved me over frantically and I knew I got what I needed from him.
The three-headed dog sniffed the air as I walked in, their noses twitching as I smiled at it.
A single head lifted and stared into my very being. I froze mid-step. He gritted his teeth, causing the yellowish fangs to drip in ropes of saliva. Taking a big breath in, he huffed and placed his head back down, continuing to watch me as I continued to move closer.
He would have to watch me closely.
I was cautious with my movement, remembering when Aunt Marge's bitch almost bit me . The young bitch just had her puppies and I came too close too quickly, but the bitch quickly calmed when she realised that I meant no harm.
I held a loose hand in front of the middle head, allowing him to sniff me. This would enable him to actually trust me as I planned to stay with the hound for the next few hours until the detention. Was the hound violent, or just misunderstood much like all the other creatures?
Peeves had left moments ago, deciding after the look between the dog and me to leave them, else have to deal with the creature which would tear him apart, be it by hound or human means.
The middle head sneezed, the snot barely missed me as I jumped out of the way and landed on one of its paws. I froze as its right head took me by the scruff of my robes and shoved me between the other two heads. I was settled in the crooks of their necks, nestled comfortably as the left and middle heads snuggled me.
Fear had pulsed through me at the beginning but I could tell this creature wasn't going to attack me. It just wanted attention, needed companionship since it was so isolated from everyone and everything.
I used a firm tone to tell Emperor to not attack the hound, it wouldn't end well for anyone.
I named them. The middle was Zastiti, protect, the right was Haos, chaos, and the left head was Harmoni, harmony. I didn't know why I chose these names but it felt right. Haos played with a lion-sized Emperor as he tried to lash at the paws playfully, eventually, the hound had enough and squished Emperor with a paw gently.
It was an easy night, falling asleep in the presence of the supposed 'evil' creature. I just drifted off peacefully as Emperor curled up around me, the three-headed dog, naming it Tercet as a whole, with his heads on either side of me, snoring into my ears.
But nothing could draw my mind away from the trapdoor the beast protected.
)(-)(
