Soooo...*waves nervously* Hey y'all?
So sorry for the heckin long wait. I just had life get really really crazy. But I now have a class that doesn't really require my attention so I am free to just write for 50 mins three times a week. Guess who decided to finally get that next chapter out!
So because it was such a long wait, I made it a long chapter. Also that was an accident. I had major writer's block for this story so I basically shoved them into the plot two days after they were last 'on screen'.
Sadly, no Harry actually in this chapter, and hopefully I will have left y'all with quite a few questions at the end of this chapter.
Wednesday morning found Draco walked through the halls, a perfect picture of someone well put together, fitting the mold his parents had raised him in. Posture straight, chin up, stride with confidence. To an outside observer, there was nothing wrong in the life of Draco Malfoy.
Everything was wrong in the life of Draco Malfoy.
To start with, there was a mad woman in charge of the school. Surely even the Minister had standards for his employees? Umbridge was in no way capable of caring for children, she has proven time and time again that she does not have the students best interests in mind. And with the creation of the inquisitorial squad, she had created an even bigger divide between the houses and encouraged disruption among the students.
Another thing was the sudden change that came over the school when the headmaster left. It wouldn't be unexpected for everyone to mourn the loss of the old fool. Despite being absolutely eccentric, even Draco could understand that Dumbledore was the shining leader that everyone looked up to and (sometimes begrudgingly) respected. Yet Draco couldn't help but notice that it had become slightly more peaceful, at least amongst the houses. Pansy, while known to be an antagonizer, had actually ignored a few Hufflepuffs who had bumped into her in the hallway. Gryffindor's have been less obnoxious, and Ravenclaws had actually rebelled in the library the other day.
At the same time that Granger had collapsed in the courtyard with the vision of Potter screaming in immense pain. Two days ago.
Since then, Draco had felt a difference even in himself. He was a bit lighter, as if a dark cloud had been removed from his mind. His strut, while still emanating importance, wasn't done with a harsh sneer, more of a determination or disinterest, depending on what he happened to be doing. What was more, is that since Monday when he had shared a few hours with Granger, he had found himself beginning discussions with her and others of lesser blood status. Granger was, after all, one of the smartest witches in their year. Even smarter than some of the lower status pure bloods. So asking her for opinions on spells or charms or other assignments only made sense if he planned to be one of the best wizards of the year.
The decision had not gone unnoticed by the other Slytherins. They were furious that their "Dark Prince" would sully his reputation by being seen with a mudblood. Most of the older years had shunned him, and were still trying to convince the younger years that he was a traitor. But his pureblood status and family legacy had prevented any serious retaliation. Only a few people in his house, Daphne Greengrass and Blaise Zabini, still spoke with him.
Which was why his world was falling apart. If someone had told him last week that he would currently be on his way to the library to study with Granger, Longbottom (the other wizard had had an upward turn in all of his classes since Monday), and Zabini (who had also acknowledged the young witches brilliance) he would have thought that they were Befuddled or something.
Draco was just about to turn into the corridor to enter the library when he bumped into something, causing him to fall over. When he looked up, he saw a young girl with ice blonde wavy hair and weird little turnips dangling from her ears. Blank eyes stared down at him with an emotionless smile.
"Heir Draco Malfoy, you must hurry. Summon the Champion to save the savior. Hagwart's offspring is suffering and must be rescued. Summon the Champion to save the savior…" The girl's voice was raspy but still chimed like bells. Before Draco could respond, her whole demeaner changed, the girl seeming to slump like a puppet with cut strings, head falling to her chest before she sprung alive again, no trace of the emotionless being that had put him on the floor.
"I'm terribly sorry. I seemed to have spaced out a bit while walking. Must be the wrackspurts." The girl said, tilting her head to the side and slightly hitting her head as if she was trying to get water out of her ear. "Sometimes they make one loose focus." The girl finally seemed to have noticed him sitting on the ground, close to gaping like a fish (which a Malfoy would never do). "Oh! I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?"
"No." Draco said, snapping to his senses and getting to his feet. "Excuse me I need to meet someone."
"Alright, but watch out for the wrackspurts, they do cause a lot of trouble you know." the girl said before skipping away. Shaking his head, he continued to the library at a brisk walk, intent on talking to Granger about the interaction.
Once in the library, he found the secluded corner that the Gryffindor was prone to frequent and was relieved to see that their other two friends had not arrived yet. Quickly, he sat down opposite of her and waved his wand, casting a few privacy spells so that they would not be overheard. Granger had just watched him with a puzzled look, the book she was reading set aside for the moment in favor of watching him. Another change in the muggle born that had happened since Monday.
"What is it, Draco?" she said, ignoring the rules of formality. He narrowed his eyes but the interaction in the hallway was more important than correcting her behavior.
"There was a girl who stopped me in the hallway. Blonde hair, turnip earrings, light eyes. Do you know her?" He asked.
Granger paused for a moment before a small smile quirked her lips. "Her name is Luna Lovegood, a ravenclaw a year below us. Why?"
"Cause she was in this weird trance and started spouting nonsense to me."
"Which is pretty typical for her. She is a bit whimsical. I wouldn't pay too much attention to it." the brunette snickered and reached for her book, obviously thinking nothing of the incident. "Do be careful not to let the wrackspurts get to you."
"Well yes the wrackspurts were mentioned, but she wasn't whimsical. She was telling me something weirder, to summon a champion and save a savior." Granger sprang back up, ignoring the book.
"Wait, what? Tell me exactly what she said."
"I believe it was 'summon the champion to save the savior, Hogwarts offspring must be rescued.'" Granger pursed her lips in thought.
"Hold on one moment." She stood up and quickly left their little safe circle of the silencing charm, almost bumping into Blaise as she left.
"What's got her in a rush?" he asked, setting his stuff down beside Draco. The blonde considered his friend, one of the only one's in Slytherin who had not abandoned him because of his change. Maybe he could be trusted.
"She didn't actu-"
"Probably off to get a book." Another voice interrupted, and Draco gave a scowl at the other boy who had joined them. It was a new occurrence, Longbottom actually speaking his mind instead of cowering about it. Another drastic change for the school. The slightly pudgy boy had taken the chair next to Granger's abandoned seat. "She had that look she get's when she knows what book she wants, just doesn't quite know where it had run off to."
Of course with the way the books in the library wondered, it was no guarantee that when you put a book on a shelf, it would still be there when you came back.
"Well might as well start on that defense essay before she returns. At least she won't glower at us for neglecting study time." Longbottom laughed.
"I may have distracted Granger from work for the moment, a tough feat I assure you." Draco said.
"Is it something to do with Potter?" Blaise asked. To an outsider like Longbottom, it could be inferred that the boy had asked because Granger was one of the Boy-Who-Lived's best friends. But to Draco, he could tell that Blaise was scared, wanting to know what happened to the boy, their one hope at a better life.
"Yes, but-" A book slammed onto the table infront of them, thick with old leather binding, barely being held together and at this point Magic was the only way those pages had not fallen out on it's trip to their table. At least, that's what Draco thought.
"Found it!" Granger announced before putting up another few privacy spells. Draco would have to ask about that last one though, something that pointed out potential eaves droppers.
"What exactly did you find?" Draco asked.
"The Original Hogwarts Guide. Written by the founders themselves." She beamed at the other's flabbergasted looks. "Well, they did realize that it wasn't reasonable for every student to read a book of this size so it was shortened considerably to closer to fifty pages, but this one was more in depth, and like a first draft."
"Why do we need it?" Blaise asked. Draco could just barely make out Nevielle's whispered "and when did you have time to read that?" but if Granger heard, she ignored the small jab.
"I was thinking about what Draco said that Luna had told him and-"
"Wait, Looney Luna?" Longbottom interrupted, a slight pink tinted his cheeks. "What did she say?"
"Summon the Champion to save the Savior. Hogwarts Offspring must be rescued." Draco repeated.
"Yes that." Granger nodded.
"Well, Harry was one of the Hogwarts champions last year for the tournament. Do you think she meant him?"
"Wait, why are we putting stock into what this random girl said?" Blaise interrupted, something that Draco wanted to know himself.
"Because Blaise," Granger's lack of formal address was apparently to everyone and not an old grudge against Draco then. "Luna is a distant descendant of the Seer Cassandra, further removed than Trelawny but the gift could have been passed onto her."
"Thought you didn't believe in that sort of stuff." Draco teased, raising an eyebrow in remembrance of their third year gossip that Granger had stormed out of class.
"I don't think it's something I would be interested in pursuing and I think it is a waste of time to learn, but those gifted with the sight can actually give true prophecies or messages." She turned to Longbottom and addressed his earlier point. "And yes, while Harry was a champion, I don't think he is the champion that the message was talking about." She opened the large book towards the end, which really impressed Draco because who had the ability to read that much. After a few moments of skimming and page turning she pointed to a paragraph that was barely legible.
"According to the guide, Hogwart's magic chooses a champion to help defend the students in times of great distress or against a threat within the school's walls. This champion will have access to a magic embedded into the castle by the founders. Most often, this title is given to the Headmaster or Headmistress of Hogwarts."
"So we need to somehow get Dumbledore back to help us?" Blaise asked skeptically. Draco had to agree with his friend's attitude towards the headmaster. Slytherin's weren't exactly the Headmaster's favorite house.
"Unfortunately, I think we need to." Granger sighed, her face slightly pinched as if it wasn't something she wanted to happen either. Strange.
"What's wrong with that?" The other Gryffindor asked, clearly as confused as the other's about Granger's attitude towards the Great Albus Dumbledore. "He could actually get rid of Umbridge. He could rescue Harry!"
"Nevielle, haven't you noticed all the changes since the headmaster left? You haven't messed up a spell in class! You're currently sitting at a table with Draco Malfoy!" Granger exclaimed. Draco hid a wince at the reminder. "I think that Dumbledore had been charming us. I don't know why exactly."
"Because he's always wanted power." All eyes turned to Blaise in surprise. The boy just shrugged as he continued. "Before he was the great Dumbledore, he was best friends with Gillert Grindlewald. They were exploring the world, finding and using extremely powerful artifacts that were made to improve or strengthen one's magic. Dumbledore had always had a thirst for control and power."
"But he defeated Grindlewald." Longbottom pointed out.
"After they somehow killed Dumbledore's sister."
"Dumbledore had a sister?" Draco asked, the information a complete surprise.
"And a brother. Aberforth works as a bar keep in Hogsmeade. Nice fellow, doesn't mind serving the younger folk as long as we're respectful." The three continued to stare at Blaise as if he'd grown a third head. "What? I've always been considered the nice Slytherin. I can make friends." Draco shook his head.
"Still, Dumbledore is the true Headmaster, he would be able to summon the magic right?" Nevielle asked.
"It makes sense that he would, yes." Granger confirmed. "So we need to locate him and ask him to come back."
"We could tell him that the witch took Potter." Draco supplied. If Dumbledore wants power, than having the golden boy in his pocket would be a great way to get it.
"That might work. Does someone have a good owl?" Granger asked, and Blaise nodded. "Thank you. I don't know what happened to Hedwig, but she left at some point this week and hasn't come back."
"Hermione should write the letter. It would make the most sense that she would be the one to reach out if Harry was in danger." Longbottom suggested.
"Alright, now that we have a plan for getting the Champion back, who do you think Hogwart's Offspring is?" Blaise asked and by Merlin why had Draco wasted time with Crabbe and Goyle when this absolutely brilliant young man was always around?
"Well, assuming the Savior means Harry, we could also assume that he's also the offspring?" Granger guessed.
"Possibly." Draco agreed. "But we may have to discuss this later, if you don't want to be late to your next class." Granger startled a moment before remembering that they were still in school.
"Oh my gosh! Come on Nevielle, we're almost late to transfiguration!" The poor boy barely had time to pick up his bag before he was being dragged away. "I'll write the letter after class. Hopefully, it will get to Dumbledore tonight!" Granger called over her shoulder, and Blaise gave a small wave and a chuckle at the pair as they disappeared in the shelves.
"You know, I don't think that Granger is that bad." He said, turning back to the Slytherin Prince. "Do you really think that Dumbledore's absence is the reason for the change in the castle?
"Maybe. I guess we'll find out when he comes back." Draco reasoned. Both boys glanced at the other side of the table with now empty seats. "Although, I don't think I want it to return to the way things were before."
Hey y'all!
If I spelt Nevielle wrong, please let me know. Hopefully, this wasn't too hastily written, and that it doesn't seem too forced. I may go back and re-edit this chapter later with a bit more detail, but for now I wanted y'all to have something to read!
Comments and Reviews are loved! Thank y'all for sticking with me!