Warnings: This is a dark chapter =) I love it and had fun with it once I got my writing groove going. But for those that might not enjoy the Darker side and Dark magic, and toture you might want to skip this chapter. But for those that will read please enjoy the long awaited fic.
Previously:
It was then Vernon's eyes focused on the young girl and boy standing in front of their parents. They were young, maybe around the same age as his son Dudley. Although it made sense, the freaks would train their spawn young. If you wanted to be the most dangerous animal in the world, it must take practice and training. Both children had soft chestnut brown hair, the perfect combination of their Mother's blonde and father's dark brown. They also both had striking green eyes, glinting dangerously in the sunlight. But the boy seemed to have his mother's soft face, while his sister had their father's sharpness. No matter how hard he racked his brain, he just couldn't place them. The mother mentioned earlier that he had abused her child, which was preposterous. He had never met these freaks, of that he was sure. It was an embarrassingly long time before he noticed the wood in the boy's hand pointed at him. Fuck.
Harry felt his red lips stretch out, giving a rather manic and sadistic grin at the fear in Vernon's eyes. He twirled his wand slowly. Vernon tracked the movement nervously. The black hematite focus stone twinkled in the light. The stone was held in place inside the wand's handle with delicately carved holly leaves. They wrapped around the outside of the stone and halfway down the wand. Ollivander was one of the best for a reason. He had a gifted hand for wand creation.
Unable to help himself, Vernon opens his mouth. "Who are you?" He demanded. His infamous anger overtaking the fear. His blue eyes darkened as he took in a bruise on Petunia's face. Cheeks going from a light tan to a dark red, verging on purple. He looked up to make eye contact with the boy in front of him for the first time. The green eyes he had seen before seemed even more dangerous as they locked onto his own blue eyes. He knew those eyes, not just from earlier today. But he knew in his gut that he knew his child. But in his fear and anger, he just couldn't place how or who.
The boy stopped his pacing in front of him. His green eyes pinned on Vernon. His lips still pulled in that terrifying grin. The child reminded him of the animated clown in the bat show Dudley loved. The thought of his son had him feeling dread. He didn't say it out loud, but he loved his son from the day the doctor put him in his arms. The blonde woman had said they didn't hurt children. He didn't trust them, but he held onto that hope that she had told the truth that Dudley was unharmed.
Harry twitched at the question. He knew his looks had changed. He looked like his parents' child. The Black and Riddle genes are strong in the twins. He also knew he had been a toddler when they last saw each other. But how had he not figured it out yet? Had the monster from Harry's childhood been so callous to actually forget him? Vernon Dursley had been the monster in the shadows and nightmares for years. He had terrorised him! He had been a baby! An innocent! He had no right!
Harry felt himself moving and his arm raising backwards, arm bent as his lips opened.
"Crucio!" he shouted as he stabbed his arm forward at Vernon. A bright red light burst from the tip of his wand. It raced towards the walrus of a human. It was in slow motion as Vernon stared in horror, unable to move away. A moment of silence before the light hit its target. Vernon cried out in pain as he was sent flying. He went clear across the room before coming to a stop as he smacked the wall. He let out another cry of fear and pain as he wriggled. Trying to free himself of the binds fruitlessly. Watery blue eyes looked over at the freaks, waiting for their next move.
Harry stood there for a moment, in complete bafflement. He clutched his wand in his hand and held it to his chest as he bit his lip. What just happened? That's not what happens when his father, uncles or aunt use the curse. Not that he would ever disobey his father and sneak in to watch his meetings. No, he would never. He blinked and tilted his head as he looked towards his father for help. Tom smiled at Harry fondly. His small heir looked adorable in his confusion. For a moment, the image of the small teenager flashed back to the tiny little four-year-old he had been when Tom found him. How confused he had been when he found out it wasn't just him and Hermione who had magic. But he also remembered a young Regulus having the same result when he had tried the Curse for the first time. The Black genes were very strong in his son. So much like his mother and uncles Sirius and Regulus.
"You need to mean it in order to channel it," Tom spoke before Harry could say anything. Neither Tom nor Harry paid any attention to Vernon's groaning in the background..
"For the Cruciatus Curse to work, you need to feel it in your blood and core. You need to want to hurt them. Focus on either your anger or desire and let it fill you. Feel your magic humming from the tip of your toes up to your head."
"It is because of this that the Cruciatus Curse is the hardest of the Unforgivable's when casting. Being an emotional spell, you need to feel it down to your core. The Patronus is the same, having to draw on a happy memory." Cassi agreed, running her hand over Hermione's hair.
"With the Cruciatus, there are two principal ways to cast it. The first is feeling anger. This is revenge or a punishment for you. Allowing the anger to flood you." Tom continued, taking over from his wife. "The other is to use joy and happiness. For this, you need to find the joy in hurting people. You allow the joy to float around you. You desire it like a treat, something you don't get often but always look forward to."
"So, does the emotion change anything about the spell?" Hermione asked curiously as Harry seemed to ponder on his father's words.
"Yes it does," Tom nodded, smiling. Proud of his daughter's never ending need for knowledge. So much like himself. "Your Mother's Cruciatus, for example, is powerful and ice cold. Like frostbite. Your aunt Bellatrix and uncle Rodolphus are the same. Because they don't need anger to cast the spell, they feel the enjoyment from inflicting the pain." Tom shot a playfully judging look at his wife.
"It is actually rather rare to cast a cold Cruciatus," He continued, "But according to records, the majority who do cast cold are a Black by blood. Even though it is rare to cast cold, I am only aware of two Black members who don't, in fact, cast a cold Crucio." Tom paused briefly to breathe and make sure Harry was still listening.
"Sirius and Regulus both cast hot. Although Sirius, unlike Regulus had, has only used the curse a few times. During the war when he got desperate."
"Sirius is also the only one known to us to use the curse to save a life." Cassi interrupted. "James Potter had gotten hurt in the holidays before their seventh year. I don't know the events, but we all heard the rumours that his heart had been weak and irregular. They feared it would stop. Remus had read about a muggle device that uses electric shocks to stop a heart. Forcing it to restart itself. In a panic, Sirius used the Cruciatus on him. And it worked. James woke up with his heart working normally again."
"Wow," Harry breathed. He was eager to learn more and more about his mother's cousin. And his original Godfather, who had cared for him when James and Lily didn't. But his Father and Mother were still bonding with the man. Trying to figure out if they trusted him after being one of Dumbledore's lap dogs and being so against his family and Dark magic for so long.
"So what's the other Crucio?" Hermione asked, "is it hot?"
Tom grinned, "Yes exactly."
"Your Fathers," Cassi nodded, "Is a hot curse. It feels more like hot knives or lava invading your veins. This is because his anger and the need to punish those who failed or wronged him fuels it. Your uncle's, Rabastan and Bartys, Crucio's, are the same. They pull that anger to the top, allowing it to bubble."
"Most people can't cast both types of Crucios." Tom finished "those who can usually go through something extremely traumatic in order to switch." He grabbed Cassi's hand when she flinched.
"Bella and Rod have only cast a hot Cruciatus once." Cassi whispered, her grey eyes staring out, but unseeing. "1981. They were so broken and angry. Desperate for the Longbottom's to feel every inch of the pain and heartbreak that they were feeling. The pain they had caused our family." Tom's eyes were dark at the reminder. It was only a matter of time before they could make sure that Alastor Moody and Lily Potter finally suffered the same fate. Their actions will not go unpunished.
"Yes. Well." Cassi shook her head and wiped away her tears. "Let us not dwell on such things today." she with finality and a tight smile.
"Of course," Tom agreed, his hand on her back. He turned back to Harry. "Do you think you are ready to try again?" he asked, looking at his son.
Harry nodded, looking at Vernon. The muggle was back to the spot next to his wife. He was crying and shaking from the spell. It hadn't worked fully, but it still caused small electric shocks which Vernon had thought were bad enough. But knew it was about to get worse judging by the way the freaks were talking.
"Yeah, I'm ready." Harry nodded as he took in Vernon's state of panic. "You may have forgotten who I am, Vernon Dursley." Harry started. His magic crackled around him, the tingles spreading from his fingers and toes to the rest of his body. "But I never forgot you." Vernon appeared to be piecing together what was happening, albeit slowly. Which might have been because of his fear and pain, or he just wasn't that smart.
"I remember how you would lock me in the cupboard under the stairs. I remember you stuffing your faces as I starved in the dark. The pain from the whippings with your belts stayed with me. The way you would scream and slap me around." Vernon's mouth dropped. It was the freak himself. How had he survived? He had dropped the child without care at a Catholic Orphanage. How had the freak found them? They had moved houses and wiped their hands off of the whole thing.
Petunia had gasped next to Vernon. Hermione grinned, waving her wand and removing Petunia's blind fold. The first thing she saw after adjusting was Harry with his wand pointed at Vernon. He looked nothing like Lily or James; she noted. Neither did he look like her family.
"Potter!" Vernon spat.
"It's Riddle now actually," Harry corrected him. Green eyes narrowed as his magic and rage built up slowly. He moved into a stable casting position. Legs apart with his dominant right leg slightly further forward than his left. His right arm was out straight, whereas his left was out to the side for balance. Bent at the elbow, looking a bit like a wing.
He closed his eyes and focused on the anger deep in his core. It was already there, bubbling just below his gut. He thought back on the little things he remembered. How the Potter's neglected him after Dumbledore declared to the Wizarding World that Henry was The-Boy-Who-Lived. How they then left him on the doorstep of the Dursleys. He thought about how Dumbledore manipulated everyone, including Harry's Father Tom. He even thought about how there was most likely a potion controlling James. How Bellatrix lost her heart in one night because of the orders Dumbledore gave Lily, Moody, Frank and Alice.
Harry opened his eyes, the eyes glowing with his power. The Killing Curse colour dancing and shimmering. He smirked at Vernon.
"CRUCIO!" He shouted, the bright red light bursting from his wand. But this time, instead of blasting Vernon into a wall, it encased him. Vernon crumpled to the floor, mouth open as he screamed. Screamed harder than he had ever screamed before. The pain was white hot, igniting all his nerves. He could actually feel the anger that was directed at him. Vernon's throat felt like the skin was peeling off from the scream that was never ending. He threw his head back as he felt his massive body bending and contorting in ways he didn't know was possible. His body was writhing across the floor as he tried to escape the pain. Unable to tell which was up or down. Left or right.
Harry was grinning as the power washed over him. His magic came alive with the casting dark magic. His core accepted it immediately. He could feel his magic dancing around him, the light electric tingles moved along his skin. Goosebumps covered his body as he held the curse. He could faintly hear Vernon screaming. The sound was a kind of muted and muffled noise, as if Vernon was underwater. He could also hear Petunia screaming for her husband. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see John and Jean hunched down as much as the runes let them.
Harry felt his giggles as they made their way up from his stomach, escaping out his mouth. His body flooded with ecstasy, as he tilted his head back slightly, his bright eyes glazing over as the red glow from the curse seeped into his sight.
Tom watched with pride as his son cast the unforgivable successfully on his second try. It did not surprise him in the slightest when, after two or three seconds, Harry started cackling uncontrollably. Laughing was the most common reaction when someone used such powerful dark magic, and the cackling was purely from the Black side. He grinned as his son held the curse, even though his laughing was making it hard to breathe. Although when his son's bright green eyes lit up, and the Avada green glowed. He had to admit that had taken him aback. He shared a glance with his wife and he knew it startled her, too. Hermione was standing close, methodically studying Vernon's reaction and her brother's magic. Finally, before the Muggle went insane, Tom stepped in. Pushing Harry's wand up to the roof, breaking the connection of the spell. Vernon went limp immediately, panting and crying. Tom scrunched up his nose and waved his hand, removing the mess the Muggle had made in his pants. Disgusting. With another wand, he re silenced Vernon and his wife, who was screeching at him, telling him to do something.
"How are you feeling?" Tom asked Harry as he turned around to look at him. Grinning at the loopy look on his face. Cassi was running some diagnostic spells over their son now the giggling had stopped. Just making sure his body hadn't fought against the Dark Magic. But it appeared his core had accepted it just as easily as Tom's core had back when he was young. Cassi was nodding happily at the results. Shaking her head with a giggle when her son swayed into his sister, still very blissed out.
"Good," Harry slurred with a wonky smile, his eyelids sitting heavily half open. Hermione kept him steady with a hand on his back. Cassi guided Harry to the small couch they had conjured earlier. Ordering him to sit and relax.
"You can have another try later, once this has passed. We don't want you to overwhelm your core. You haven't subjected your core to such strong Dark Magic before." Harry nodded happily as he lay down, his head in Hermione's lap.
"Does it always feel like this?" He asked, looking up at his father. He couldn't believe it did, otherwise how would anyone fight or duel with Dark Magic?
"No," Tom confirmed with a smile and a shake of his head. He patted Harry lightly on his shoulder as he pulled his chair over next to the couch and sat down. "The release of pressure around your core will always be there, but never this intense again. Every core is neutral, neither light nor dark. Because of this, it can accept and create both light and dark magic. But while the core is neutral, everyone has a magical leaning. Some people find either light or dark magic extremely easy, but the other will be quite draining and difficult."
"But what does that have to do with feeling like this?" Harry asked, baffled. His tongue was still heavy and mind was foggy. But the tingles were slowing down and he no longer felt the loss of breath.
"I am getting there," Tom chuckled at his son's impatience. "When your core is first introduced to powerful magic, dark or light. It has to expand and adjust. What it does, because it is neutral, it can take in the Magic and absorb it. When it is being absorbed, the core has to adjust itself to accept it. When it expands and adjusts, it releases the excess through basic body functions. Such as laughing or crying. But as you use the magic more and more. The core becomes bigger, but also recognises the magic easier. Therefore, making it easier to absorb and adjust. So the more you use it, the less side effects there will be."
"Of course, the core and magic still have so much we don't understand," Cassi added smiling, "the core is one of the many things the Unspeakable's at the Ministry study, although much of the work they do is classified. When they get all the answers they are looking for, and it is safe to do so, they release papers and books on their work."
"I believe we have some copies in our library," Tom nodded as Hermione opened her mouth, "Alto will help you find them whenever you wish," he smiled, Alto was the head librarian of the Black, Riddle and Slytherin Manor Library. He was a good house-elf and adored the books as much as Tom and Hermione did.
"Mione?" Harry drawled as he looked up at his sister. His black pupils were still wide and the thin rim of green iris' still glowing, although definitely dimmer than before. "That was great." he grinned, smiling wider when she laughed.
"You should try it," he nodded seriously, "I feel good." Hermione laughed freely as all of her nervousness faded. She could see her mother tending to Vernon and Petunia, moving them off to the right side of the room. Still bound and Vernon's blindfold back on nice and tight.
"So darling," Cassi called over her shoulder to her daughter as she moved John and Jean into the middle. Now the two Grangers were standing where Vernon had been for Harry just moments ago.
"Do you know which curse you would like to try first?" Cassi asked with a smile. It was bittersweet. She was so happy this day was here. They were learning the Magic of their families and getting revenge on those who had harmed them. But she also felt a slight sorrow. Her darling children were already 13 years old. Where had the time gone?
"The Imperius," Hermione smirked as her green eyes raked over the Grangers. Her eyes alight with malicious joy. She had put a lot of thought into how today would go. What spells she would use, and why. Perhaps in another world where the Grangers had loved her, she would feel perhaps horror with herself because of how excited she was to torture two muggles. But they deserved this, and everything else coming to them.
"A good choice," Tom nodded in approval. "It is an odd spell when compared to its two counterparts. Unlike the Cruciatus and the Killing Curse, your emotions and desire will not power the Imperius Curse."
Hermione nodded, listening intently as Tom continued to explain.
"You don't need to want to see the victim suffer. But it needs you to focus and control your mind. It is a very deliberate spell. As you cast the curse, you will need to lower your Occlumency walls." He smiled ruefully at the sudden panic on Hermione and Harry's faces.
"But we built the Occlumency walls to keep people out!" Harry spluttered as he sat up. He was finally feeling back to himself, although still a little weak in his muscles and floaty in his head.
"You don't need to drop them completely," Tom promised, knowing that while for most Magicals, the idea of lowering their shields would be uncomfortable at worst. But for his twins, it was so much more. Occlumency walls helped them control their powerful magic. With how strong their cores were, even the slightest change in emotions can lead their magic to lash out in bursts. He dreaded to think how much damage they could have done to the manor without the Occlumency walls before they got their Focus Stones.
"What will happen is, when you cast the Imperius," Tom continued, "you will feel a push against your walls as your magic tries to bond with your victim's mind. You are taking total control of them. You are becoming their brain, sending orders to their body. If you don't lower your shields enough for the bond to form, then you could do serious damage to their brains and even your own. Many have screwed up and become permanent patients of St. Mungo's in the Janus Thickey Ward because of a poor connection."
"We could lose our minds casting it?" Harry asked as he sat up and tilted his head to the left. He sounded a little too interested and amused for Tom's liking.
"That is very unlikely," Cassi laughed delicately, her son reminding her fondly of a younger Bellatrix. "For a caster to do serious damage to themselves and the victims, there has to be repeated use of an incorrect bond. Or something breaking the connection so suddenly and forced a snap strong enough that there is a magical burst. But that is rare."
"Okay," Hermione nodded, feeling more comfortable, whereas Harry actually looked slightly disappointed. "What does the Imperius feel like? You said the Cruciatus had two different feelings."
"For them or for you?" Cassi chuckled.
"As the caster," Tom spoke at the same time as his wife, but she waved him on to continue, "It feels like waves of water pressing against your mind. Lapping to get in. Then, when you find the connection and bind with it, it becomes a whisper behind your ears. You can feel them the entire time you have them under the curse, but it is very faint. Many people can continue their day to day lives without bothering them. For a first time caster, it can be very disorientating though." Tom explained,
"If you perform properly the curse," Cassi continued again, "and the bond between your core and the victim holds correctly, then they will follow your orders while appearing to be normal to the ones in their lives. Going on as if nothing is wrong. The weaker the connection, the more obvious it is to those who know the victim best, and it will not take long for them to realise something is wrong."
Hermione nodded in understanding, making notes in her mind. She wished she had brought her spell book with her, and debated summoning it. She kept track of every new spell she learnt, a page to every spell. The incantations, movement, description of said spell, and then any notes of things she thought were important to remember. But Harry had said because they were learning to cast and finally doing the practical work, she wouldn't need it. 'Why did I listen to him?' She thought with an eye roll.
"What about as the victim?" Harry asked curiously with a soft lift in his lips.
"I will let your Mother take that one," Tom said stiffly. Although he had never been under the control of the Imperius, he had been under the Imperium Summa. The memories of what Dumbledore made him do, they made it hard to talk about it. This was also why he also wasn't usually one to cast the Imperius, only doing so when he absolutely needed to. But when he had a choice, he would have Severus and Barty perform the curse. They were both very adept at the curse and easily the best Tom knew. On the other wand, he had banned Rabastan from using the Imperius for missions. The very few times the younger Wizard had successfully cast it, he then made the victim do the stupidest things he could think of, instead of the actual job he was supposed to make them do. All the times he failed, which was most of the time, the victims became useless to them with their minds snapping. If a magical mind had snapped, it meant it had disconnected from their core. When this happened, it didn't matter how well the Imperius was cast. They would be robotic and slow to follow the orders. There was even a case or two of the Imperius, not working at all on them after the snap.
"The reason the Imperius is such a dangerous spell, despite being the only Unforgivable you can fight off, is because of the wonderful feeling it produces. As the victim of this curse, you will feel the most wonderful lightness, like floating. The curse removes every worry or sadness you have ever thought or felt. Leaving nothing but a warm and vague feeling of happiness. Totally unaware of your actions while under it." Cassi explained.
"Although once you are free, released from the curse's grip, you will remember everything like a nightmare, and those memories will never fade unless wiped by the Obliviate." Tom added quickly.
"Wow," Harry breathed. Now he definitely wanted to try being on both sides of the curse.
"That powerful sense of peace, that is why most people are so susceptible to it. When you feel that kind of true contentment, you do not want to fight it off. But it is possible." Tom said, 'unlike when under the Imperium Summa,' he thought bitterly. But he shook it off and continued.
"Barty has the quickest reaction to throw it off I have ever seen. He doesn't even stop, it just rolls off him like water on a hydrophobic surface."
"Really?" Harry asked, eyes wide as he shared an impressed look at Hermione. Yes, every member of the Inner Circle, including their Uncle Barty, was extremely powerful. But the twins didn't know anyone could just have the Imperius roll off them.
"Oh yes," Cassi nodded, "I remember the first time Barty wen under the curse." She shook her head. It seemed like so long ago now. So much had happened since they were children.
"Barty, Regulus and Rabastan were the youngest to be marked, only sixteen." Cassi paused, sending her husband a playfully disappointed look and tutted.
"I was insane, technically you can't hold that against me," He defended quickly with a smirk. Cassi laughed, shaking her head before turning back to Harry and Hermione.
"No one outside of the Inner circle besides me and Marigold even knew that they had received the Dark Mark. It was top secret. But Dumbledore was suspicious. He already suspected that Tom was not only recruiting in Hogwarts, but that Slytherin's were training their children to be marked as young as possible. So he kept a close eye on us in particular. But one weekend, we were down in Hogsmeade just having a good time. And out of nowhere, Barty stopped talking. He went rigid and his eyes glazed over."
Harry had his mouth open in horror, his bright green eyes just blinking in shock. "Someone cursed him in Hogsmeade?!"
"Oh yes," Cassi nodded, "It only lasted a few seconds before Barty was shaking and back to himself. He took off running with us hot on his heels. We huddled down in the Three Broomsticks, which thankfully is always full of people."
"I can't believe someone would curse, not only a student so close to Hogwarts in Hogsmeade, but wasn't this while Bartemius Crouch Senior was at the height of his career in the Ministry?" Hermione asked, baffled. Crouch Senior had been a powerful man before the Auror's acting on the word from the Order of the Phoenix arrested his son for being a marked Death Eater. He was charged and sentenced to Azkaban with Bellatrix, Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange for taking part in the torturing of Frank and Alice Longbottom into insanity.
"Oh yes," Cassi nodded gravely, "it was a tremendous scandal. We all suspected Dumbledore. He had called Barty up to his office earlier that week, and even more Slytherin's throughout the entire year. He was calling up anyone he felt he would have an easier time turning"
"No!" Harry gaped in shock. He had done that in Harry and Hermione's first year! Wow, the man had not changed tactics.
"He was NOT subtle," Cassi rolled her beautiful grey eyes, smiling when her children laughed.
"So why did he try to convince Uncle Barty?" Hermione asked. The uncle she knew was hard-headed and very Dark oriented. Not someone she would class as 'easy to turn'
"Barty was a different person back then," Cassi explained, thinking back. "It isn't my story to tell, so I won't go into details. But his home life left a lot to be desired. He came to Hogwarts with no confidence but seeking power. His father Bartemius is a horrid man, but he is a Neutral with Light leanings. Dumbledore believed Barty had only gone to Slytherin because he had his Father's ambition to go far in the Ministry."
"So, how did he fight it?" Harry asked. From his Mother's tone, he had strong suspicions on just how horrible Crouch was to one of his favourite uncles and had no intention of prying further. One thing he hated was talking about the Dursleys and Potters. He also hated the thought of others talking about it behind his back.
"I asked him just that question once we returned to the safety of the dormitory," Cassi smiled, "I believe his exact words when I asked were, 'I felt warm and happy, and I thought nope that's not right.' he said he just ran from the feeling, putting up his Occlumency walls as he went." Cassi laughed. Dark humour had always been a coping mechanism for Barty, so it wasn't a surprise when he took the chance to make a quip even right after being cursed.
"Do you need to know anything else?" Tom asked, looking at Hermione, who was looking thoughtful as she prepared herself.
"No wand movement, right?" she confirmed, standing up from the couch. Smiling when her Father shook his head, "Then no more questions," She turned to face the Grangers, she waved her wand and with a quick "Finite Incantatem" the conjured blindfolds fell off of both John and Jean Granger, floating delicately to the floor at their feet. Both of the Muggles blinked furiously, trying to adjust to the bright light in the new room. The dungeons they had been kept in were so dark they could barely see the shadows of each other. The only time they could see more than that was when their captors visited them and the torches lit up the dungeon in red and orange.
"John!" Jean cried out with relief as her eyes finally adjusted and she caught sight of her husband beside her. She struggled fruitlessly, trying to get to her husband. John, however, wasn't even looking towards her. Instead, he was staring at the small family in front of him, a frown on his lips and forehead furrowed in frustration and anger. He could hear Vernon still whimpering. Whatever they had done to the large man must have been agonizing, judging by the earlier screams and the fact the man was still in pain. There was, of course, a chance, however slim, that Vernon just had a low pain threshold. But John didn't think that was the case unfortunately for himself. John wasn't overly fond of the overweight jackass, but they had commiserated together over having had freaks in their houses and families. Although Vernon had seemed happy that he, unlike Petunia, John and Jean had not been blood related to the freak in his family. The two couples had also spoken about the fear they held for their children. Dudley Dursley aged 13, Ophelia Granger aged 10 and Claudius Granger aged 9. They had no way of knowing if their three children were safe, and didn't believe the blonde freak when she said they didn't harm children.
John remained stoic, ignoring his wife's screaming beside him. He wouldn't show these monsters his fear. He frowned when the older two, the blonde woman and brunette man who had kidnapped them, stepped back, allowing the teenage girl to take the lead. John felt his gut sink when he realised who was standing before him. His first born. The freak they left at the orphanage. He had recognised the name Potter when Vernon had shouted it earlier. Both Vernon and Petunia had mentioned the spawn who Petunia's sister had left on their doorstep, claiming it wasn't a demon like them. So it was clear to John that the boy was the child who had wound up to be a demon like his parents. He had before now thought that he and Jean had done it. That they had kept themselves, as well as their future children, Ophelia, and Claudius, safe. But just like the Potter demon, here it was, the female spawn that he himself had left behind in order to protect his pregnant wife and himself. She had thick and curly chestnut brown hair, which was thick and curly instead of the light brown frizzy hair he remembered. But the eyes were the biggest change. Bright green instead of chocolate brown. Filled with fire and anger instead of fear and panic. But John was positive. It had found them.
"I see that you have figured out who I am, Johnny," Hermione smirked, twirling her wand in her hand. Thankful that Jean had finally stopped her screaming when John hadn't acknowledged her. She was looking frantically from her husband to the child standing in front of them.
"What did you do?" She screamed at her husband. Had he spawned this devil's offspring in an affair? Did he sleep with this child? Why were they here? Unlike her husband, she had not put the pieces together. But that wasn't surprising. Not only had she had thoroughly wiped her memories of their first child, determined to forget and move on. But she had also dropped out of school young, believing her only purpose, and her only desire, was to marry well and have a wonderful family to raise in the church like her mother before her.
"Don't put this on me," John finally snapped, "You were the one who grew the demon freak for 9 months and then gave birth to it!"
"CRUCIO!" Harry screeched as he leapt to his feet, stumbling as he cast the spell quickly. John fell to the ground screaming as blue flamed fire burnt his nerves. Harry released him after five seconds, creeping forward to stand next to Hermione.
"Don't you ever call my sister a freak, demon or an it," He snarled, green eyes glowing as his magic swirled around him. "Or I will take your tongue out,"
"Harry," Hermione whispered with a soft smile, "thank you, but I can fight my own battles,"
"I know you can," he grinned wickedly. "If either of us were strong enough, it would be you. But it doesn't mean I won't jump in to help you as your brother."
"When did our children get sweet?" Tom hissed in Cassi's ear, "Usually they are feral, going at each other," Cassi laughed delicately,
"They may get feral, I will admit," she conceded with a smirk, "Much like Bella, Sirius and Regulus used to. But you know their bond is strong, not only as twins but as friends and outcasts together. We may never understand the bond they have. But we know they will always be there to help each other."
"How did I get so lucky?" Tom asked, kissing his wife on the cheek before turning back to his two children.
"What is happening?" Jean sobbed, looking at Hermione. "Who are you? Where are my two children?"
These were the wrong words to say. Hermione's beautiful face contorted harshly into a dark scowl entirely reminiscent of a young Tom Riddle. Harry went to raise his wand again, but the dizziness of casting two Crucios for the first time, so close together, had him stumble. Tom was fast in his reaction to steady his son, hands on his shoulders. He pulled Harry backwards, giving his daughter a fond smile and a nod of encouragement.
"We are right here," He whispered. She shook her head before pulling her curls into a messy ponytail.
"Oh, only two children?" Hermione asked, glaring at Jean menacingly, "What about your first child?! What about your firstborn daughter?" Jean looked disgusted at the very mention.
"The little girl you abused for something she couldn't control? You hurt her repeatedly, before then abandoning her in the middle of the night at the letterbox of an orphanage, uncaring if she even lived."
"She was a freak!" Jean screamed, fighting the magical restraints again. "A danger to the normal, perfect baby growing inside me! She would have tainted Ophelia!"
"Well, your stupidity aside, now you will pay for what you did," Hermione promised darkly, voice going quiet as she approached Jean, her wand out in front of her. "Your genetics made me. You are the reason I was born with magic. The only way that is possible is if one of you has a magical ancestor. So if you want to blame anyone for the magic choosing me, it would be you."
Hermione grinned as Jean shuddered in fear as she realised, finally, who was in front of her.
"Of course, I take a lot of pleasure in informing you that because one of you passed it down, both Ophelia and Claudius could be magical as well." Hermione winked at Jean as she shook her head in denial.
"No," she stuttered, "they never. They showed no signs and aren't unholy like you."
"Ah yes," Hermione nodded solemnly, "that is because I am powerful, as is my twin brother" Hermione nodded at Harry, smirking when Harry wiggled his fingers in a mocking hello.
"My magic needed to exercise, if you will, like a muscle." Hermione lectured. "But there are many cases where those born to Muggles, non magic folk, have no accidental magic. They don't know they have magic until their 11th birthday when someone from the school comes to them. Ophelia is 11 in October, yes?"
"How do you know that?" Jean choked out. "How do you know their names?"
"We watched you," Tom smirked, "for weeks before we made our move. Had to be careful."
Hermione cackled before spinning to face John. As she walked towards him, his eyes darted towards the menacing shadow of her new family behind her. Just standing there proudly as the monster who was once his daughter stalked him.
"But I guess there is something I should thank you for," Hermione said sweetly, startling John and Jean. She looked back at Harry standing with her parents. "If you hadn't left me at Wool's Orphanage, I would never have found my family. My genuine family. My parents, who weren't afraid of my gifts, but encouraged them. Taught us to harness it, to use it against those who would harm us"
"Of course, the irony of all this is simply that you were so sure that I was a freak, a demon, a monster, a danger to you. That you, in fact, created me that way. If you had loved me as my true parents do, I would have loved you in return and never dreamed of harming you. But because of you, how you abused me with the beatings and the neglect, and then finally, abandoning me. Now? hurting you is all I want to do."
Jean started sobbing, pleading out for her life, whispering Ophelia and Claudius' names, begging for mercy. John had stayed silent, but his stoic mask was slipping in fear. He really never could pull off the tough, stoic facade well. Like a child playing dress up in his father's suit.
"You didn't stop when I cried!" Hermione finally snapped, shouting in anger, "You hurt me every day ignoring my pleas! Now it is my turn!" She took a deep breath to calm down, she smiled at the two terrified Grangers. It was the same deadly but serene smile her father gave when he was furious, his eyes and teeth promising pain despite the pleasant expression.
"Now," she said sweetly, "do you recognise this?" Hermione slipped a large kitchen knife out of her dress pocket slowly. The metal blade glinting in the sunlight, and the red handle slightly faded with a large nick in the base.
"Tha.. That's mine," Jean muttered, confused, blinking at the knife from her favourite set. It had been an anniversary gift from her husband four years ago. It had been an expensive set, and she took extreme care of all the knives. But unfortunately the one in Hermione's hand, the Chef's Knife, the handle had chipped when their dishwasher broke mid cycle.
"Yes it is, well done," Harry cheered condescendingly, "you aren't completely thick then," Hermione let out a chuckle as their parents hushed her brother, saying "It's her turn, you've had yours," But she enjoyed his comments interrupting now and then. Reminding her she wasn't alone.
"Now," Hermione continued, "One thing I remember was how panicked you would get saying how my magic would ruin everything for you. Your perfect image of the perfect family. You cared way too much about your reputation at the church and in the county. I remember you screaming about your precious church, and how witchcraft was the work of the devil, and how you couldn't bear the shame if anyone found out you produced the devil's spawn."
"So, before you both die," she teased, ignoring John's hitched breath and how Jean resumed her sobbing, "I will destroy your reputation. I will burn down that image you loved so dearly." She raised her wand. The wood was a soft grey-purple, and the newly added purple and green fluorite stone glowed as her magic warmed the wand. Ollivander had carved the fluorite into the handle like Harry's hematite, but Hermione's had vine wood threads wrapped around the stone.
She pointed it at John and grinned menacingly.
"Imperio"
Hermione's velvet voice echoed as she chanted the incantation. A white glow, which left her wand swiftly, followed her voice across the room. The result was instantaneous. John's body relaxed and all his fight disappeared, sagging as every emotion left him and his brown eyes glazed over in fabricated peace. Jean cried out in anguish at the change in her husband, full of horror. She didn't know what Hermione had done, but knew it was bad.
Hermione immediately felt the waves lapping at her core and the walls, just like her father had explained. With a deep and quick breath, she lowered her expertly built walls. She had been half expecting a tsunami to barge in, breaking her walls. But it was, instead, a delicate trickle. Drops of control soaking her core. Then she felt it, the connection, a thin thread waiting for her to wrap her magic around it. And just like that, the Imperius was in place. It was over within seconds.
John Granger was under her total control.
"John!" Jean screamed in fear, crying hard when her husband didn't respond, "John, please!" She begged fruitlessly. Her struggle against the magic binding resumed and intensified when he didn't respond to her cries and pleas.
"He can't help you," Hermione taunted with a laugh. This was amazing! She could feel her magic singing under her skin, and every sense, enhanced. She could see more shades of colours, feel every slight movement of the surrounding air, hear every breath as if they were her own. Taking a moment, she paused and focused on the control she could feel. John's mind was blank with the power of the Imperius. He wasn't able to fight it at all. It was almost like having a puppet, but she could feel the strings attached to the puppet of John in her mind and core. Each one was ready to tug at her whim.
"He can't hear you, or see you." Hermione continued joyfully, "He has no control, as if he doesn't exist. Just a spare appendage of me. Obeying my every desire."
Hermione paused in suspense, leaning over to look Jean in the eyes. "Would you like a demonstration?" she asked lightly.
Tom and Cassi watched in awe as John then curtsied and spoke, "As you command it," the way he spoke normally, with no hesitation, was astounding. Tom had never seen the Imperius Curse used so smoothly on the first try. The skill and power his daughter was displaying had him speechless. His wife let out a choked gurgle next to him, apparently in the same mind of shock. For many first time casters, the victim would appear very wooden, walking stiffly and only following direct orders without trying to be human. But John had curtsied flawlessly. He was looking around the room and even blinking. Tom and Cassi felt a strong warmth of pride flood them.
"You really are the Devil's child," Jean sobbed as she watched her husband walk out of the small square of magic that was keeping her trapped in. He had been stuck in place before too, but now he was moving to stand next to Hermione.
"I knew you were a monster! I should have drowned you in Holy Water the day I found out what you were!" Cassi let out a wordless shriek at Jean's words and leapt to attack the bitch who hurt her daughter. But Tom held her back. He wished to kill the muggle as well, but this was Hermione's time. Hermione was quiet, letting the woman rant, watching until she finally quietened, dark blue eyes wide with anger and fear.
"Johnny," Hermione hummed as she stuck the hand holding the knife out towards John. "Take it," she ordered him, smirking at Jean. John took the knife without a pause, clenching it in his fist.
"Stab her." Hermione instructed with an arched eyebrow and her smirk twitching in amusement. Jean screamed as John nodded and walked towards her with the knife. "But make sure don't nick arteries or vital organs. I want to make this last and see her suffer."
"No! John would never!" Jean screeched, only to sob when John kept walking, his eyes just looking through her.
"The wonders of Magic," Hermione laughed, "he doesn't have a choice."
"John!" Jean wailed, but just like before, her begging fell on deaf ears. Her husband was now in front of her. His left hand was on her shoulder, while the right held the knife next to her belly button. She knew she couldn't move, but the fear that filled her was too strong and she tried to move away from the knife.
Suddenly, John moved, stabbing the knife forward, burying it into her stomach. She screamed in agony as the knife tore into her, the piercing pain as the hilt smacked her skin was the worst she had ever felt. And she had given birth three times. A burning spread throughout her body and she screamed louder than she thought she could when her husband pulled the knife out, lifted it up to her third rib and stabbed her again.
"That burning you feel?" Hermione spoke again. "It is a special potion I made with my Uncle Severus. We wanted to create a liquid fire, one that would move through your bloodstream, burning you alive from the inside. We managed it as you can feel. I dipped the knife in it earlier today," Harry laughed from behind Hermione, enjoying the show his sister was putting on.
"Of course, this won't kill you yet. We were careful to make sure that it would be a slow burn so you can really feel it," Hermione taunted as Jean gasped and gurgled, unable to draw in enough breath to continue to scream. Helpless, as her dear husband just kept stabbing her. Her blood was everywhere. Splatter covered John's face and pooled at his feet. Jean could feel her blood filling her mouth before dribbling out over her lips and down her neck. The only things keeping her upright were the magical binds and John's grip on her shoulder. She looked up into his brown eyes, hoping for a glimpse of her husband, but he wasn't there. Just the Devil's puppet now. She began crying earnestly as it finally hit her. They weren't getting out of here alive. She would die at the hands of her own husband, and no doubt would he die here after her. They would never see their two beautiful children again, never seeing them grow up and have families of their own as they showed the world just how great they were. She would never grow old with John and enjoy retirement with their grandkids.
Hermione smirked as John pulled the knife out of Jean for the thirteenth time. "Stop," she ordered before he could stab her again. Thirteen stabs, it seemed an appropriate number. With a chuckle, she closed her eyes and went back into her walls and core. Slowly, she unwound her magic from around the strings of control. With that, the connection broke and John was free, no longer under the curse. Before opening her eyes, Hermione took a quick second to replace her Occlumency walls. She opened her Avada eyes just as John fell to the ground on his knees, taking Jean with him. For him, it was like that second when you wake up from a horrible deep sleep nightmare. Heart racing and the fear still prominent, he looked around, blinking his eyes furiously. Then he saw Jean covered in blood and he realised the nightmare was real. He had stabbed his wife repeatedly.
He screamed in anguish, dropping the knife and scrambling his hands as he tried to stop the bleeding. "Jeanie!" but there was nothing he could do. There were too many wounds, and they were too deep. He watched as she let out a shuddering breath, life leaving her eyes. She was dead in his arms, his name on her bloodstained lips.
"No, no no," He sobbed, his hands leaving blood smears over his face as he tried to wipe away his tears. He didn't even notice Hermione levitating the knife away from him.
"Now, for the next part," Hermione grinned wickedly, as her father stepped forward to help. Tom waved his wand, levitating Jean's body up and away from John.
"You are monsters!" John shouted as he reached out, trying to grab Jean's body. To stop her from leaving him. But he was unsuccessful, unable to compete with Tom's magic.
"This is everything you deserve," Tom sneered. "Tea-Leigh," he called, smiling when an old female house-elf popped in next to him.
"Yes, Master Tom?" she asked as she gave a curtsy. "It's time," he grinned, laughing when the elf got a bloodthirsty grin on her face.
"What can you possibly do to me after this?" John cried as Hermione and the small creature stepped forward towards his wife's body.
"Well," Hermione laughed, "since you asked. Magic can do some amazing things. Like creating the perfect crime scene."
Harry laughed as he moved to stand with his sister again.
"We will dump your dear Jean in the garden of your holiday beach house in Bamburgh. With an anonymous tip, the Northumbria Police will find her body," Harry delightedly shared. His sister's plan was genius.
"Your family's precious reputation will crumble," Hermione took over. This was everything she had hoped it would be.
"Because with her body, will also be this knife," Hermione nodded her head at the weapon which was floating next to Jean. "Which is covered in your fingerprints, Johnny." Hermione laughed at John's devastated face. She knew he had realised what this would mean. Although his reputation wouldn't feel that important, right now, with his wife being dead by his hands. It was that his two children would spend the rest of their lives believing he had killed their mother that was destroying him right now. It was still satisfying to tear down the reputation they had cared so much about.
"Everything will point to you killing your wife before fleeing. You know, I am feeling rather vindictive today. Perhaps I will also implant false memories into Ophelia and Claudius' minds of them only just surviving. Memories of you trying to kill them after they walked in on you cleaning up their mother's murder scene." John broke, screaming in agony at the idea of his children thinking he would ever hurt them. That his precious Ophelia and Claudius would believe he murdered their mother in cold blood. The world would think him a murderer. His Mother might die of a broken heart. His friends and family would talk about how they never saw it coming.
"You know what to do, Tea-Leigh," Hermione smiled, watching as the elf nodded and disappeared with the body and knife. John sobbing uselessly.
"Slate!" Cassi called out, John startling when another elf popped into the room with a loud crack.
"Yes, Mistress?" The elderly elf croaked. He was the life mate of Tea-Leigh. The two of them once worked for Cygnus Black, but when Cassiopeia moved out on her own and eventually married with kids of her own. They had followed her with the promise to Cygnus they would watch over his daughter and grandkids. Their friends and co-elf workers Indigo and Sangria had gone to Bellatrix, Lapis and Juniper to Narcissa, and finally Heliotrope and Celadon to Andromeda.
"Let's get the three Muggles back down into their cells," she smiled as she moved to check over Hermione, making sure her daughter wasn't having any unwanted side effects from using the Imperius. But she seemed in perfect health with no complications.
"You two did extraordinary today," Tom said proudly. "You cast spells that should have been well beyond your years, and yet you did it with ease, power, and control. But just as importantly, you faced your childhood demons. I cannot express how proud I am." He hugged them both tightly.
"Now I want you to both spend the rest of the day resting." Cassi added, "Give your cores time to recover before we do it again."
"Tomorrow?" Harry asked eagerly, making his parents laugh.
"If there are no cramps to your core in the morning, then yes," Tom said as Cassi nodded. "Now run along and maybe have a nap if you can." He kissed their heads. "Now, I have an hour before my meeting with Lucius, Amelia, and Minister Fudge. If you need me, I shall be in my office going over some paperwork." The goblins had finished all paperwork and files on the history of Dion LeClair's life and falsifying the family tree. He would be Lord Slytherin again, faster than he had expected. He couldn't wait, Dumbledore would know who he was. But he could never prove it.
Tom would be ready.
Thank you all for being paitent with me, thank you those who left encouraging comments you guys kept me going through the struggle.
I am back in work for the first time in 2 years and it has been difficult. I love the job and my co-workers but mentally and physically its draining. But I am forming a routine and getting back on track. This fic is the start of my life returning to the new normal. Thank you everyone, I truly don't deserve the love I get but wow it makes everything easier on the bad days.
xxxxx
Love Mermaid.