Chapter XV: Skeletons in the closet.
Salazar Snaketongue, raised from barefoot, carried off by the flames at his wheel by the priors, grew up in a stone cell. He swore to make the place of his tortures the place of his greatness.
So be it.
Page 1 of the Codex of Slytherin.
Eddy was hidden in the dormitory when his classmates left the common room to go to the train. He then hid his things and packed his bag. After pilfering food early in the morning at breakfast, he could remain quietly hidden in his dormitory and then discreetly head outside. Gwendal, Kheiron, Tony and Salazar had returned home, the empty dormitory occupied only by Charm and him. It was a little strange this silence, but welcome. No one had bothered to check that he was still here, and he remained very discreet. Charm seemed to have guessed what was on his mind and was shooting him suspicious green eyes. After two days, he had to leave his hideout and go discreetly outside. Salazar had told her of a secret passage under the one-eyed witch statue that would lead to Hogsmeade.
Mr. Berry was already waiting for him in Birmingham; he had sent him a letter with the old man's strange raven. Afterward he only had to join him down there, once out of Hogwarts. On Christmas Eve, he left his dorm on the sly with his backpack on his back. He spotted Charm lying on Salazar's unmade bed.
"Be good, I'll be back." He closed the door with Charm's little plaintive cry. The sun was about to go down soon, few Slytherins had chosen to stay at Hogwarts apparently. When he came down, the common room was empty. As he hugged the walls, he didn't meet anyone until the third floor. He avoided Picott who was cleaning up some Gryffindor graffiti by hiding in a cupboard. When the janitor leaves to clean up some mischief from Peeves, Eddy comes out of hiding and walks over to the one-eyed witch statue.
It was a huge black stone statue of a hunched little woman with a huge eyeball. He remembered what Sal had told him to say on the way out:
"Dissendium."
A stone staircase tipped out from under the witch. As he was about to descend, he felt a hand violently grab his shoulder.
"Where are you going, little cockroach?" Apollon Picott growled in his ear.
"Let me go!" he hissed.
"Oh no, you're coming with me!"
But Eddy didn't want to. With an angry look, he tilted the statue of the witch on its side. The corner of the bump on her back hit the janitor violently on the head, who eventually passed out as he let go of the young man.
He looked at him collapsed on the ground, startled. His body shuddered, overloaded with magic and panic. He had hit this man on purpose! And that had given him satisfaction.
Thinking no more, he left the third floor, sinking into the secret passage, which closed behind him. He descended for a long time, completely panicked and on edge.
When he emerged in front of a trapdoor, he still hadn't quite realized what he had done. He had punched a man, admittedly surly and mean, and left him behind for dead. Eddy glanced behind him into the dark passageways of the secret passage. He could retrace his steps and help the janitor. Or he could take that hatch and go out to find his family. He gently lifted the hatch. It was in the back shop of Honeydukes.
The manager was chatting with a client dressed in a long black cape. He was not paying attention to himself and was serving a certain amount of sugar to the witch.
Eddy slowly began to emerge from his hiding place to sneak up against a corner of the wall. At one point the hatch creaked, and the woman in her cloak looked up at him. The witch was Mrs. Riddle, apparently doing her last shopping for the evening. She gave him a pinched little smile that strongly reminded the young man of Medusa. She immediately caught the manager in a conversation and gave him a sign to let him slip away through the backyard.
Grateful for this unexpected help, he didn't need to be told twice. He left the shop, stuffing a lollipop that was lying around in a jar into his pocket. Opening the door to the backyard, Eddy saw that the wind was freezing and it was snowing heavily. Bending down to avoid the cold, he walked around the candy store to come back to a slightly more off-center alley. By this cold and at this hour, all the wizards had already gone home to prepare for Christmas Eve.
From there he raised his wand to summon the Knight Bus but nothing happened. He knew that the Knight Bus also worked on Christmas Eve. The young man frowned.
He tried again to call for the bus, but again his wand did not respond greatly. He snapped in annoyance and cold as he bent to avoid the gusts. He knew how to cast spells much more complicated than a few sparks now! Why couldn't he shoot those damn little sparks out of nothing?
Again he raised his wand hoping he could summon the magic bus, but again it remained silent. He let out a furious cry at his impotence.
"Well what do we have here…a lost little boy."
He turned sharply to Mrs. Riddle, who was holding the elf by the hand, her purchases in the other. In the night, he could barely see her face and her cloak as her hair danced in the raging wind. Thus, she looked hazy and ghostly, like the shadow of a candle.
She approached him and grabbed his shoulder. She had never touched him before; her skin was hot from the freezing temperature.
"Are you going somewhere? Come with me, it's very cold outside."
He tried to pull away but frowned at the woman's firm grip. Between her long fingernails, he felt like he was trapped.
"Thank you, Mrs. Riddle. I was going to go there."
"Come with me, I insist," the woman whispered grimly, pulling him toward the main thoroughfare.
Even if the Riddle inspired him with wariness, he didn't want to hurt her. The memory of Picott passed out was too vivid in his mind. He followed her footsteps reluctantly.
"What are you doing here, Mrs. Riddle?" he finally asked as she picked up a huge load of sugar waiting for her near Honeydukes.
"My thestrals listen when I train them, but with candy in hand, it's a lot easier. With children, it's a bit the same," she laughed cruelly. "And you, where do you plan to go to leave school in secret?"
The glow of a streetlamp gleamed off the side of Mrs. Riddle's cheek, revealing her softly smiling face. She had a cold and cruel beauty; her dark eyes sparkled with unhealthy curiosity toward his intentions. The young man felt pitiful and took the fault in front of this worrying creature.
"It doesn't concern you," he hissed. "Now, unless you want to report me, I'm going to leave."
"Come on, I could have reported you a long time ago," Mrs. Riddle retorted, not letting go of his shoulder. "But it looks like you can't leave with your little wand worries. No worthy mother would leave her children's friend alone on Christmas Eve in such weather. Come with me."
"N-no, it's okay," he whispered. "I'll-"
"Go back? Come on, we both know you won't. I insist."
This time she looked much more menacing. The side of her tanned face had taken on an expression of a snake about to bite very much like her husband's.
She grabbed his hand sharply, the elf first dismissing the cart filled with sweets, then grabbing their hands before Eddy could break free from Mrs. Riddle's claws. Eddy felt himself being pulled towards the ground with a small loud crack. When he opened his eyes, he couldn't quite see where he was. He was in the middle of a thick blanket of icy mist. He smelled the odour of mud and the fainter smell of stagnant water in the cold, damp air. At least here, it was no longer snowed like inside a storm. The elf was barely discernable and was already grabbing the cart appeared before them.
"Take one part to the kitchen, the other to the stable. I'll see you there," Mrs. Riddle commanded the elf who disappeared.
She then turned to Eddy, her features blurred by the fog.
"Hold on to me, Mr. Lee. Or you may well get lost in the Salazar Swamp."
Her mournful little chuckle and slight sneer were enough for Eddy to agree to follow that order without question. Walking behind her, Eddy thought what he was doing was crazy. He followed a dangerous woman into a lair of dark magic where a would-be dark mage resided. Meekly getting out of this firm grip in the fog seemed unthinkable to him because it seemed so threatening. He felt the Obscurus in his body stirring against this strange hypnotic magic.
"I do not want to impose myself. I'm going back to Hogwarts," he finally whispered.
"But you're not imposing, Mr. Lee. I insist; it is a pleasure. My children and my husband will be delighted to see you."
He felt cold sweat running down his neck and would have given everything he had to be back in his warm dorm. After a few moments of icy walking, the woman let go of him. They were in front of a large building that looked like a church. The building seemed as old as Hogwarts but more sinister and cold. The stained glass windows on the second floor depicted a basilisk about to swoop down on its prey and shone in the dim moonlight. Mrs. Riddle opened the heavy oak door for him and led him into a hall that opened onto a large square courtyard. An oriental archway opened onto a stone salon. Mrs. Riddle abruptly grabbed his neck to bring him up to her as she entered the living room.
It was a large room of grey stone carved into the basement around a fireplace the size of a muggle car. She rippled greenish flames in her hearth. Salazar and Medusa were on the ground playing chess, and Mr. Riddle was reading the paper nearby.
"I found a kitty outside playing truant," Mrs. Riddle whispered as she entered theatrically, clutching the scruff of his neck.
All three of the Riddles looked up at them.
Upon recognizing him, Medusa turned even greener than fire, Salazar froze, and Mr. Riddle simply giggled. He laughed in front of Eddy and his family, mocking the spite displayed on his features. Eddy felt ashamed and blushed where the twins widened their eyes at their father's hilarity.
With a mocking hiss, Mrs. Riddle let him go to sit on a couch as far from the light of the flames as possible. Mr. Riddle calmed down a bit and gave Eddy a wry sneer.
"Here undeniably is a young man who has no business here. You were supposed to go home to your guardians at the latest news."
Medusa and Salazar had stopped their game and, this time, looked at him with a common tense and terrified gaze. In front of their piercing gazes, the young man felt even more ashamed. He didn't know what to answer to this despicable man.
"I've decided otherwise," muttered Eddy, not knowing where to look. "Now, I would like to leave."
"By this cold? In the middle of the night when you are a minor? If I hadn't been your teacher, I still wouldn't have allowed you to do so. Stay, it will be a pleasure to have you within these walls."
Somewhere, Eddy had no doubts about it. His teacher wasn't used to being so caring or even polite. He had the carnivorous smile of a wolf on the hunt. However, he resumed his newspaper with a half-smile.
"Let me go!"
"Everyone will know then that you sneaked up like a worm. What interests me is knowing why. If I'm interested in the answer and the motivations, maybe I could let you go. But by the time that answer comes, please, you're welcome."
He had spoken with a sort of ironic politeness tinged with contempt. He pulled his newspaper up to eye level and hissed:
"Medusa, Salazar, show your little comrade where he will stay. On the ground floor, near the kitchens."
The twins jumped up and dragged him out of the room. Before the door closed, he had time to see Mrs. Riddle give him a sarcastic wink. Still frozen, Eddy could only let himself be dragged by the two Riddles in the hallway. They were advancing at the level of the courtyard, which looked a lot like the Transfiguration courtyard of Hogwarts, with a small centred fountain.
"Eddy," Salazar finally whispered. "I already have a lot of trouble taking care of myself; I can't take care of you as a bonus."
"What you did," Medusa said quietly as she opened a door. "It's completely silly… absurd, inconsiderate, stupid."
"Do you have other synonyms in stock?" Eddy squealed as he followed her with Salazar.
"Yes, unwise, irresponsible, completely crazy? In fact, you have your own gift, that of getting you into bigger trouble than you," Medusa whispered. "I don't want to know what smuggled you out of Hogwarts, our father will pull the worms out of your face at dinner. Here is your room or your future gaol if you are not careful."
It was a large room of light stone. A large stained glass window made of painted glass fish, snakes and frogs overlooked a small bed in which was a gigantic snake the length of a canoe. He took a step back.
"Don't worry, it's Nagini. She's not going to hurt you since you're invited. She's very cuddly, you'll see," Sal replied as Nagini waved happily towards him.
The snake leapt into his comrade's arms and gave him a small hiss to which Salazar answered. Medusa added another hiss and for a moment there was only a small incomprehensible flutter of tongues.
"Nagini likes you," Sal told her. She wants to leave you her room."
"Ah ... it's his room."
"Yeah, when I'm not around," Sal replied. "She sleeps with me most of the time."
He gave another gleeful whistle and Nagini got off his shoulders and left the room as he opened the door. After making sure they were alone, Medusa and Salazar lit candles in the room. Eddy watched them perform this little trick.
"Now that you're here, you're constantly under our father's eyes," Medusa whispered. We're going to give you a little emergency Occlumency class before dinner. When he looks at you, focus your mind on something specific. But please, please don't think of me. "
The last word of her sentence had been spoken so low that she sounded like she had just let it drift in the wind. She looked down in terror as Salazar frowned.
"That goes for you too, Sal," the young woman said. "Well, think of an image, anything powerful that can act as a barrier to show instead of your thoughts. You have it?"
"Uh…"
She looked so panicked just like Salazar that he tried to focus on an image. The image of his bath came back to him as his mother took him in her arms. He was very small, maybe four years old? He saw her arms again and felt the softness of her skin. But his thoughts were drawn to the rubber duck floating in his child's bath. The duck was yellow and vivid still in his memory; the image was easy to remember.
"I think I have."
Without warning Medusa laid her eyes on him, he felt her invade his mind and began to think hard about the bath duck. He was yellow. He was small. He was smiling. The little yellow duck was wet. He felt Medusa trying to move on in his mind and went back to thinking about the duck even more fiercely. She eventually let him go.
"It'll take a few seconds, so you'll have to stick to it. We're not at Hogwarts anymore, Eddy. This is his favourite playground."
"He can not do much to me ... I mean, during our lessons I'm under oath, here it has nothing to do. If things get out of hand I'll find a way out," he tried to reassure her.
"If he doesn't want you to go, you won't go, pal. Beware of our mother. At night, never sleep without a lit candle near your face. You'll feel her coming," Salazar told him.
Eddy froze at these recommendations as the door knocked. A small elf with a small snout instead of a nose gently opened the door.
"Master Salazar, Mistress Medusa, supper is ready. Greetings, Mr. Lee, I am Tinny."
The elf bent down slavishly, clutching the sort of filthy blanket she had on for clothing. Eddy knew little about elves.
Newt had told him that they were powerful creatures often magically linked to the power of witch bloodlines. The little creature seemed so sad and miserable that he thought that this elf had probably not chosen his destiny.
Medusa left the bedroom first, followed closely by him and Sal. He didn't want to be there; Mr. Berry was probably waiting for him outside Birmingham, wondering where he had been. His lack of magic after his escapade had ruined his plans, and he didn't understand why.
They walked along a corridor decorated with frescoes of double-headed snakes to arrive in front of a door. Here, Salazar and Medusa were very different from Hogwarts; they moved expressionlessly in a robotic gait with the same phlegmatic air. Thus, it looked as if they could have seen their house ablaze in front of them without moving an inch. Medusa pushed open the heavy door and entered the banquet hall first.
It looked like the Great Hall of Hogwarts, but lower, smaller, and much darker. Black water stretched out from the pool below them, separated only by a pane of glass in the middle of the room.
Mrs. Riddle and her husband were already at the table; a chair had been added in the middle of the long stone table. Never in his life had Eddy been in such a cold place. On Christmas Eve, he noticed that there was not the slightest decoration; then he remembered that this tradition had never taken place among his comrades.
He thought longingly of the apple cake that Tina and Queenie usually baked at Christmas and felt the burning urge to go there as they sat down.
In front of each of them was a bowl of nettle soup in a small, silvery, steaming cupola. Then far away on the table was a bowl of strange conch shells and jellyfish tentacles. Eddy ate little wizard food with his guardians; he didn't really like it, just like them. He suppressed a shiver of apprehension.
Mr. Riddle allowed them to start eating. But Eddy was not hungry; his teacher eyed him from his seat like an appetizing snack.
"So? Was it to find your little family of destitute gypsies that you decided to stay illegally at Hogwarts to escape?"
"Yeah," Eddy said through gritted teeth.
Medusa in front of him sipped her soup from her ladle. She, like Salazar, seemed to be anticipating their father's every word to come.
"Apart from my spouse… were you seen on your way out?" Don't lie to me, I would know."
Eddy looked down at his soup.
"Picott saw me when I was taking the one-eyed witch's way. I knocked him out. When I left he had not regained consciousness."
Mr Riddle nodded stiffly and began to eat. The icy atmosphere had not diminished.
"Are you aware that your escapade, the assault on a school staff member, and the break-in at a storehouse, in addition to your Obscurial status can only cause your dismissal, if known?"
Needless to say, Eddy had guessed all of that. He had again failed miserably, yet his teacher smirked.
"I do not intend to repeat your fling. Everyone here will be very quiet on this subject. Would you like to notify your guardian of your presence here? Unlike some, I make sure that both parties agree to keep a child who is not mine at home."
Riddle spoke in a smooth, cold voice as he gave her a tight, wry little smile. Eddy drank his nettle leaf soup; it was better than he expected. Mrs. Riddle was also watching him with a thin smile on her face from across the table. He was between two predators on the hunt, and each had his own way of tickling their prey. After shooting his empty spoon, he replied to his teacher.
"No. It will be fine. Please do not notify Newt and Tina. I don't think you really want Dumbledore to know that I spent time at your house either."
"But Dumbledore has been very busy lately," Mrs. Riddle cooed, sipping slowly from her glass of wine.
The witch exchanged a long look with her husband. Eddy wondered what they were saying to each other as he returned to his plate. After the soup, it was leftover jellyfish sage stew. The scorched tentacles were bathed in a pinkish sauce much like blood. Medusa stuffed her tentacles with delight as one would with spaghetti. The image was so disturbing that he looked up.
"What do you want from me, Professor?"
"I expect you to get better," replied the professor. "You ran away like a kid, so I'll treat you like one. You will not leave these places without my permission; here you are under my full responsibility."
He barely restrained an apprehensive quiver.
"I have to go find my aunt. I have a contact waiting for me there! Let me go!"
"Do you know why when I found you, your magic wasn't working, Mr. Lee?" Mrs. Riddle asked from her side of the table in an almost singsong voice.
He froze and shook his head. Medusa and Salazar looked up from their plates, intrigued. Mr. Riddle leaned forward and continued for his wife:
"Because your magic is influenced by your emotions, Mr. Lee. Anger is a big part of it, but tonight it must be guilt that's blocking you. You are ashamed of having lied and attacked Mr. Picott. As a result, it will take time for your magic to work again."
Eddy couldn't move, dejected and ashamed because there was some truth in what his teacher was saying. So what? Wait to finally be able to take the Knight Bus and leave this damn swamp? Tonight he had never felt so bad in his life, and it had nothing to do with the Obscurus in him. The latter was frozen by the black aura of the professor. Here, he noticed, he had hardly felt it since he had arrived.
"Eat," Mrs. Riddle ordered. "It's going to be cold."
Her face had such a sinister expression that he had the instinct to do it. It emanated dangerous vibes from the woman half-hidden in the darkness, watching him with a curious expression on her face. Eddy saw that, and even Salazar looked troubled by his mother's attitude. The meal ended in silence.
"Get out," Mr. Riddle ordered as soon as they had put down their cutlery.
With this courtesy, he no doubt wished them a good evening. Medusa headed without a word to her room. Eddy noticed that it was not far from his. When the young girl passed near him, her scent invaded his nostrils so strongly that he felt himself blushing.
I'm screwed, he told himself. It would take a miracle for Mr Riddle not to find out what they had done. When he probably knew that the professor was going to torture him with spells much more Machiavellian than a simple cruciatus. Medusa was doomed too, judging by her pale complexion and shaky look. She already trusted him so little at Hogwarts, so here constantly under the supervision of his parents? He panted back into what would be his bedroom tonight. The candles were still lit. He fell on his bed next to his small belongings.
In this freezing room, he had the impression of becoming petrified. He thought it was a grim place to grow up. While the building was certainly large, luxurious, and old, it was nonetheless terribly cold. Slowly, he heard the door creak, and he froze. Nagini swayed into the room after Salazar. He had several of his little notebooks in his hands.
"I thought you needed to not be left alone tonight."
His friend sat on his bed. Eddy moved aside to make room for her. He watched in horror as Nagini slipped between them and softly snapped her jaw at him.
"I tell you, she's not mean. Nagini was a witch before. She was even a princess in her clan in Indonesia. A black mage charmed by her beauty asked her to marry him. She refused, so he cursed her. She's been stuck in the body of a snake for years. She feels alone even now."
He tenderly patted Nagini on the head. Eddy was sad for the story of this Indonesian princess, but she was still a monstrous snake capable of swallowing him up in one bite.
"Do you still want to go see your aunt?"
"Yes. Do you think there's a way your father will let me go?"
"If you follow his twisted plans, he might consider doing it. Take care of yourself."
With that, Sal began to write in his notebook. He circled acronyms between them and rewrote them once assembled in another small red notebook placed under the first.
"Sorry to show up unexpectedly," Eddy whispered. "Are you mad at me?"
"Less than my sister, no doubt. I understand why you did it. You want to find your family members before you die. Eddy, whatever my father offers you, you can't defeat death. You can just delay it."
"At least with him, I have the impression of delaying it," the young man hissed. "Listen, I know he doesn't mean me well, but surprisingly our sessions really help me to see things more clearly. I managed to remember my family thanks to that."
That was all he could add and Salazar took it that way. He frowned and went back to his notes as Nagini wrapped herself around his neck.
"You can fall asleep. I'm going to watch tonight, I have work."
"You don't have to watch me sleep though."
"You mustn't be alone here," his friend told him with absolute seriousness. "And like I told you, I have work to do so I'm not looking at you."
"Are these the formulas you write?"
"Yes. I don't pay attention to the signs I write but they have different origins but most of them are languages that I don't master. There for Sanskrit, I know how to read the sign, and its pronunciation but my father still has to send me a dictionary of ancient languages. Right now, I'm stuck, I try to put them together to sound."
Salazar began to mutter a few words under Nagini's hiss. It didn't really make sense, but their pronunciation brought up something nostalgic in the young man, who sat up a little on his cushions.
"That word you said there, 'manusya', sounds like manus in Romani. It means human. Same for this 'nidra', it's nitra for me, it means sleep.
"Romani is derived from ancient Sanskrit," Salazar realized. "Gypsies come from India, that's why it's so close! They kept this language crossing the countries!"
"Does that mean I can help you?"
"I think so," Salazar said, smiling so frankly that for the first time that day Eddy felt happy and useful. "It must be an ancient invocation for sleep, and there, for healing."
"How are you able to do that? I mean, write ancient languages that you don't know, do all these things? Doesn't that scare you...sometimes?"
He knew he had gone too far. Sal had gone back to his notebook looking serious. Nagini rushed towards him to give him a caress.
"I have to work," Sal said stubbornly, so Eddy decided to change the subject.
"Then let me help you. Say the words and I'll tell you what it makes me think of."
Sal complied with a faint smile and Eddy responded each time as best he could. They did this for a long time, Sal phonetically rewriting his rough translations to make sense of them. After a while, Eddy couldn't hold on any longer and felt himself go.
.
.
Eddy wasn't quite sure what a normal day was like at Riddle Manor. When he got up, dawn was breaking in the sky and Salazar was awake, Nagini asleep next to him.
"Slept well?" asked his friend.
"I've rarely been so cold in my life, I confess," murmured the young man, shivering.
"Telling you that we get used to it would be lying. In summer, it is a little more pleasant. Come, let's eat."
He followed his comrade to the kitchens at the end of the hall, leaving Nagini sleeping on her bed. After giving birth to an Occamy and a unicorn, maybe sleeping with a giant snake was most common. The kitchens were a small, low-ceilinged room. In front of a cauldron the elf Tinny was busy while the other was hastily cutting bread. Again, it occurred to them that those elves looked very miserable, yet at the sight of Salazar their faces lit up a little.
"Mr Salazar, breakfast will be ready in a moment. Sit down please, you too Mr Lee."
The elf's tone was rather playful, even almost motherly as Tinny smouldered lovingly over Sal. They sat down. The breakfast consisted of toast with cuttlefish butter. It was a black and viscous paste but with a very sweet taste, it felt like eating honey.
"Thank you Tinny, that's very good," Eddy assured her.
The elf froze, a little taken aback to be congratulated by anyone other than Salazar and gave the young man a toothless smile. At his side, the elf turned to them:
"Don't tell Tinny , thank you. Tinny is only doing her duty for her good Slytherin masters. Duddy is not listened to by his younger sister Tinny. Duddy doesn't have enough authority."
The elf did indeed look a lot like Duddy except that he had a sort of little pointed bird's snout instead of a snout.
"Mr. Slytherin is at Hogwarts, he can't hear Tinny being nice to Mr Salazar," Tinny whispered softly. "Tinny is doing nothing wrong."
"Don't worry, Tinny," Sal retorted. "Father has been in school for how long?"
"He spent the night there, sir," Duddy replied learnedly, calling his sister to do the cooking.
The elf then poured them a tall glass of pumpkin juice and went back to work, worried that they wouldn't be overheard.
Salazar watched them from afar, looking sad.
"I've already offered them clothes to set them free. They want to take them but won't take them. I don't understand."
Like many things, the two creatures' displayed attachment to him, perhaps explained why they didn't want to leave the Slytherin household.
Eddy wondered if Professor Riddle had spent the night at the castle to cover up his escapade, but did not have time to question himself further because Medusa walked sadly into the room, looking very sleepy.
She was in a dressing gown and thick. When their eyes met she seemed to realize what outfit she wore, and disappeared so quickly he thought she had Apparated.
"I don't think she slept all night either," yawned Sal, taking his glass of juice.
Eddy looked down, his cheeks burning as he thought of the young woman's dressing gown. It was baggy and thick, but he had never seen her with so little clothing except at the beach. He felt the thing inside him roar with a loud cry.
"The plastic duck. Think about your rubber duck, Eddy," Medusa hissed as she reappeared dressed in a long black dress.
He tackled it as best he could, plunging back to his sandwiches. Salazar next to him chuckled. He knew very well what was going on between them but would not talk about it here.
Medusa had dug into her salamander pepper scones and was drinking coffee, grimacing with every sip.
"Why're you coffee if you don't like it?"
"Why did you stop taking your potions? Given your good looks and your changing moods, that's the only explanation," the young girl retorted.
Eddy narrowed his eyes uncomfortably. He could well hide in his toast; it wouldn't matter, Salazar sighed. They fell back into silence, while the elves continued to bustle.
Suddenly Salazar raised his head and produced a whistle to his sister who answered him. Again, for a moment, there was only the small hiss of their mouths. Eddy had never realized how terrifying those little hisses of tongue were.
"Did you help him translate formulas yesterday?" whispered Medusa after a final hiss. "These gypsies are famous… Mother never tells us about them."
"Your mother is Romani?" whispered Eddy.
"Yes. Her father was one of them. She never taught us the language; she doesn't have very good memories of your people. Our parents met in Albania," the young woman told him, finishing her coffee with a final grimace. "She was banished with her mother when she was young. How could a people who banished their own so easily have lasted so long?"
"I don't know, ask the Blacks with Andromeda, and we'll have the start of an answer," Eddy snapped.
Eddy now knew that you only banish a Romani from his clan for one thing, murder. And he wasn't even surprised anymore. He had the impression from being around this Pureblood family that torture and murder were so common there that they could talk about it even at breakfast.
Nevertheless, by discovering the Romani origins of his two comrades, he felt a little closer to them despite the cold look that Medusa threw at him from his empty cup. That explained Mrs. Riddle's burning interest in him. He promised himself to be careful.
"Are you going to test these formulas?" the girl finally asked curiously. "Father is not there, and mother has gone to sleep."
"Our mother lives at night and goes to bed in the morning," Sal told him. "I'm ready to start, but what I translated is complex. You will have to fetch many things in the laboratory."
He looked thoughtful and stood up to think, one hand resting on his chin.
"What's the use of that spell you found?" asked Medusa, making a parchment appear to note the objects to be recovered.
"No idea," Salazar admitted.
"What? Do you want to cast a spell whose effects you don't know? You lost your mind," jumped the girl.
Somehow, Eddy did not prove her wrong. Sal was still acting casually when the punishment would be terrible if things went wrong. But there seemed to be so much affirmation in that translucent blue gaze in front of them that they didn't know how to respond.
"I don't know exactly what it does. But it is good. Incredibly good. You have to trust me."
Eddy and Medusa looked at each other this time, concerned. At that look, Salazar jumped eagerly.
"The weather is clear, the sun is going to be high and the ground is white with snow, it's the best time! We have the purest elements for a White Magic spell."
So he acted almost like a sulky child. With a roll of her eyes Medusa finally nods.
"If we know it doesn't hurt …" began Eddy uncertainly.
"Then that will change a little the walls of this old building which must have known only evil spells," finished Medusa. "Well, what do we need exactly?"
Salazar told her several ingredients and the girl went up to the laboratory. Eddy watched her go as his brother stood in the middle of the yard.
He observed the course of the solar disk, it must have been almost eleven o'clock now. Medusa returned with the ingredients. Eddy saw her install stones of amber and salt around a circle that she drew in negative in the snow by picking it up in the palm of her hand.
"Amber is for stability and bonding," Medusa said, frowning. "Sal, who are you planning to tie up with?"
But Salazar did not answer, he was looking puzzled for something around him. When it was close to noon and the sun disk was right above their heads, Salazar awoke from his trance:
"I forgot the main ingredient! I'll be back!"
"What ingredient?" Eddy choked.
But Sal had already sped down the hall. Eddy glanced tensely at Medusa. He thought just like her to stop everything but Mr Riddle arrived at that moment in the hall. From there, he saw them in the yard and gave them a curious look. As he approached, Salazar appeared through another entrance to the yard with Nagini in his arms.
He ran through the snow and threw the snake into the midpoint of the circle.
"Salazar! No!" screamed Medusa in terror.
But Salazar was already beginning to chant a bit of the formula Eddy had helped him translate the night before. Mr. Riddle rushed towards them with an angry expression but froze.
Around the circle dug in the snow, there was a small protective halo that surrounded Sal and Nagini with a bluish glow, similar to that of a Patronus. Eddy frowned at the pure magic in front of him. Sal seemed to be struggling to maintain the circle; he was sweating and panting. Medusa leaned toward him, shouting as Nagini went through a spasm of pain.
Mr. Riddle had lost his furious look for a face much more puzzled by what was happening in front of him.
"Father! We have to do something!"
"Try to take Salazar's hand, Mr. Lee. He needs power," the professor muttered coldly at this sight.
Even if he didn't fully trust the professor, he couldn't leave Sal alone as he writhed just like Nagini.
Eddy ran his hand through the silver circle, and the moment he touched Salazar, he lost control. His magic simply exploded, but instead of wreaking havoc, he felt it flow through him towards his comrade. The Obscurus was jubilant, letting out its joy and strength. Around them, everything was traversed by a violent wind, which expelled the snow and Medusa against the stone wall. Only Mr. Riddle remained static and erect, his long wizarding robes beating time.
Then Sal finished muttering and roughly put his hands on the snake. Everything was illuminated with a furious white flash that blinded him. For a long moment, Eddy saw nothing. He let go of Sal suddenly and fell backward.
When the young man opened his eyes, he was feverish and tired, and in front of him, the snake had disappeared. Instead, there was a completely naked young Asian woman holding Salazar in her arms. She was crying all the tears in her body. She was truly a beautiful witch with noble features as she wept into the frozen young Riddle's shoulder. And he wasn't the only one frozen; Mr. Riddle had his mouth hanging open in disbelief just like Medusa.
"Oh…Nagini," whispered Mrs. Riddle, who remained confined to the shadows of the hall.
The so-called Nagini cried more against Sal.
"Oh, t-t-thanks. Thank you," she kept repeating with a strong guttural accent.
"It's nothing. It's all right now," Salazar replied softly.
Mr. Riddle slowly approached the woman on the ground and slipped his cloak from his shoulders to rest it on hers. Half-dressed, she pulled away from Sal and glared fiercely at Mr. Riddle. Without removing his impassive expression, he helped the witch to stand. He led her into the shadows towards his wife who seemed upset.
"Give her a bath; she's frozen. I'll meet you later."
Mrs. Riddle nodded and hugged Nagini with more concern than she probably ever had with her children. She disappeared with her down the hall, so Mr. Riddle turned to them. Medusa had joined him near Sal, and all three froze at the smile that the mage wore in front of them.
He was fascinated.
"Do you realize what you can do, Salazar?" Mr. Riddle asked in a voice exulting with joy.
Salazar himself didn't seem to know. He shook his shoulders with some embarrassment.
"How did you know I could give him my power?" asked Eddy.
"Mr. Lee, you are an ever-growing concentrate of pure magic. It is for this very reason that your body will eventually give way to this power. You are a continuous and perpetual source of energy. Salazar seems to be able to control your power. Your Obscurus needs to unload, and this can be one of the useful jobs."
He pointed to the circle of amber where Nagini had been freed from her curse. Eddy cried out as Salazar froze.
"I will not be your personal power plant!"
"With your combined powers, you were able to save this woman. You can do great things. You are just a destructive impulse that must be directed. If it is, we can lessen its effects and benefit from this rage. Together we can do great things. But you can also go back to your miserable treatments. Your condition will slowly deteriorate, and you will eventually die before your guardians find a solution."
Eddy felt confused after the Deputy Director's speech. What he had participated in was beyond anything he had seen, like Salazar staring apprehensively at the circle. He had helped this witch regain her humanity. It made him feel like he had done something powerful and useful. He risked a glance at Medusa, who looked as confused as he did.
"Medusa, Salazar, go back to your room to work. I need to talk one-on-one with our guest."
With an apprehensive pout on their face, the twins eventually complied. Medusa while leaving gave him a fierce look. He began to think fiercely of the rubber duck of his childhood and looked down at the ground.
"Look at me," the wizard ordered in a voice so cold he shivered.
He refused to do so with an odd mixture of fear and defiance.
A spell knocked him to his knees. Eddy let out a long howl as he writhed on the frozen ground. He felt like he was being plunged into an icy bath of water, it wasn't an unforgivable but the feeling seemed almost worse to him, he felt the magic of his Obscurus rumble with rage.
"That's how you work, like an animal!" Riddle whispered in a voice sharper than a sword. "The monster within you is fuelled by your anger and fuels it endlessly and endlessly. You fit well with a Magizoologist. They are the ones who did not use the right method. You must train yourself and I will train you at leisure."
He released him for a moment from the curse. The teen huffed, he wanted to be anywhere but with the Riddles. No doubt, Medusa and Salazar were behind the door listening.
"Stop!" he screamed bloodlessly as another spell was cast on him. "Torturing teenagers is all you know how to do?"
"Go tell me I tortured you, go as soon as I let you out of here. Because you're going to get out of here, I assure you. I spent the night fixing your foolishness at Hogwarts. The janitor won't remember anything and no one will have seen you. So, for avoiding dismissal and possibly imprisonment, you miserable worm owes me a favour."
He lowered his wand and Eddy was able to breathe more or less properly again. He was there, lying on the ground without being able to move. His discharged Obscurus hummed with anger without being able to act.
"Now you are already on a clear path. You can't turn back, all you have to do is follow this slope. If your magic is channelling through Salazar, I have a vested interest in keeping you alive. Those I have under my protection remain alive."
Then he planted it there in the yard and went upstairs to join his wife and Nagini.
Eddy didn't know if it was the freezing cold of the earth he felt or something even more confused, but he couldn't move. His blood had stopped in his veins. For once a strange and hazy feeling had taken hold of him, it was a small hope mixed with fear. Mr Riddle wanted to keep him alive to use. But he did not know why.
"Oh by the good masters," he heard whispering next to him. "Duddy, go get a blanket. The good guest of the very good masters is frozen."
It had to be Tinny. The last thing he saw was the creature's little snout nose leaning towards him and then he forgot everything and let himself go.
.
.
When he opened his eyes, he saw nothing. He was in his bed in the room lent by the Riddles. Eddy had passed out after his confrontation with the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. He then wondered how long it had been since he felt himself leaving. It was pitch dark, so probably more than ten hours. He hoped the twins were fine.
As he was about to turn over in bed to grab his pillow, he noticed in awe that he couldn't move. In the darkness, there was a dark and dangerous mass above him.
The form prevented him from moving fully, and it was Meroe Riddle. He suppressed a yelp. No candles were lit, and the moon was not shining on this side of the building.
"What are you doing here, Mrs. Riddle?" he muttered in awe.
What was this woman doing in her room, leaning over him like a sleep paralysis?
Mrs. Riddle leaned closer to give him a carnivorous smile. Her face was only two inches from his.
"You did a great service to a very dear friend of mine today. It's rare that I feel grateful, but it seems that's what I feel for you right now."
She shifted slightly, making her dark eyes gleam in the darkness.
"That and a certain curiosity, I must admit. My sweet husband started training with you. So I have to bring my stone to the building."
Somehow, Eddy thought maybe dying would be a good thing if it could get him away from the woman who was fussing over him.
"We share something, you and I. I know. You know."
She had now placed her hot hands on either side of his face, and her long black hair fell on either side of him. He couldn't see anything but her dark eyes in the dark. He had never been so afraid. It was as if he would never see the light of day again. Eddy thought he was going blind.
"You have… n-not come to trade gypsy myths, Mrs. Riddle," he managed to whisper, and the woman gave a cruel chuckle.
"No, indeed. Until recently, my origins were quite indifferent to my husband. He always forbade me to speak Romani… but since he met you…" he seems confused.
"I don't want to get involved in your ff-family matters," he whispered flatly.
"Oh come on, you've been involved in these things for a long time, my boy. I know a gypsy woman said something to him before she died twenty years ago. I want to know what he told you."
"Who was this woman to you?" he managed to articulate too curious to know. "You don't want your husband to know you came. I can go get him. He will no doubt be delighted to meet you here."
Mrs. Riddle pulled away a little. Her cunning smile revealed canines of a whiteness that almost dazzled him in the darkness. He felt panicky sweat roll down his neck.
"We have our little arrangement, him and I," the Darkblood whispered. "This woman was my mother and my husband's great aunt. He stabbed her before trying to burn me alive to take me away."
She smiled almost wistfully, and her mournful laugh echoed through the room. Eddy understood the complicated puzzle of the Riddle family better and better, and he felt no real rush to learn more. Despite himself, he recoiled, as if sinking into the sheets would make what he was hearing seem less terrifying.
"Don't be so devastated, Mr. Lee. The family is something complicated, but we learn to live with it. Some families have skeletons in the closet, some have freaks in their suitcases, others have hostages in the attic. This is life. When we understand this, we draw great strength from it. A strength that I could use to pull the words out of the mouth of yours. So, what are the last words of the blood of my blood?"
She leaned over him again with the manner of a snake approaching to bite. Eddy wished he had an invisibility cloak to disappear. Mr. Riddle's wife scared him more than him now because despite his tortures, he had never been there so close to threatening his life. Here, the woman did not move, waiting for his answer.
Slowly and in the firmest voice he could give, he repeated the words Professor Riddle had asked him to translate.
Amazement took place on the squib's face. Again, like a jack-in-the-box, she stepped back and looked pensive.
"It doesn't mean anything…" she whispered bitterly. "Are you sure he said that?"
"Those are the words he g-g-gave me. Fun to destroy."
The squib gave a shudder that he barely discerned in the darkness. Her voice suddenly sprang up, annoyed.
"The Anglo-Romani you speak is different from Balkan Romani. He will enjoy it but will destroy, or be destroyed. Such is the prediction. But… it is not complete. Part of it is missing."
The woman jumped to her feet, no longer keeping him in the darkness. If he couldn't see her, Eddy felt that she was still present in the room and deep in thought.
"He didn't give you all the sentences. There are several of them."
"Th-That's a-a-all I have," Eddy murmured.
She was still invisible, a shadow in a bath of ink, but Eddy felt her enjoying the fear in his voice. A shadow came to tickle his hand to get his attention.
"Thank you for those valuable insights, Mr. Lee. I count on your discretion for the future."
Suddenly he felt that she had appeared on him again and was crashing down on his body like a nightmare. He barely suppressed a fearful moan.
"If you betray our little arrangement, I will swallow you up with your Obscurus. The black magic that flows in you makes me very envious."
And after whispering those last words, she had disappeared from the room for good. Eddy remained frozen again in the dark. He thought that he had suddenly entered a very dark and dangerous world, the very world that Tina and Newt had tried desperately to keep away from him. And then, that night, Eddy had the feeling that nothing would ever be the same again…
AN: Hey! Sorry for the delay, I was moving to an another city and was also feeling unwell. I hope you enjoyed the rest. See you soon for the next part.