Chapter XVIII: This way, there is no more hope for him.
The hemo-goblin bleeds out, as it seems.
Born from blood and various other things,
A gloomy anger bleeds into his moult.
Search into his heart, and you will find out.
This anger cannot be appeased.
Unquenchable thirst is uncontrolled.
Then, give this hemolover a prey.
And for this time, he will finally obey.
Note to the Gifts # 8 of the Codex of Slytherin
Eddy had never felt so bad in his life. Since his return, he has skipped several classes. He could not bear to be in the same class as Medusa anymore; he was too ashamed. He nearly hurt her. For a second, his anger at being rejected had been stronger than anything, and he had not been able to contain himself. All the windows in the hallway had been shattered, and he could still see Medusa's gaze at that moment.
He felt like he was dying a second time. Maybe Professor Riddle was right; he was just destroying and hurting. He was going to end up looking exactly like his father. So what? He had to follow Riddle in his plans to discharge his urges by praying for the lesser evil. Maybe he was just another sick and dangerous animal that needed to be chained to the bottom of Newt's suitcase?
He hadn't answered their last letter since the Christmas holidays. Newt and Tina had sent him a new evening robe and a huge box of goodies. He did not touch either of them. He didn't feel worthy of it. How could he tell them that he had done the wall of the castle during the holidays and had spent several days with the very man who caused them so much concern? Nothing had changed since Ilvermorny; he kept making the same mistakes. His magic has been reacting weirdly ever since; it was explosive all the time.
Eddy, leaving the Great Hall in a hurry after breakfast, saw Icarus the Great Owl from Tina coming towards him with a new letter. He stuffed it into his pocket, superbly ignored the bird, and left the dining hall. Ever since the incident with Medusa, he has avoided Charm and Salazar as much as possible. The latter arrived through the huge arch of the Great Hall and tried to talk to him. Eddy took a random staircase and then a secret passage to avoid him. Salazar didn't seem to want to follow him; Eddy went deeper into the floor. He was on the fifth floor, in a wing of the castle, where he had no class. He had never been here before, but the great stone hallway was empty. He stood in a corner, near a solitary torch, and opened the letter.
"Eddy,
We are back in England. You still don't answer our letters; please tell us what's wrong. Dumbledore is far too busy researching Grindelwald to answer us about you. I just want you to be well, big boy.
Newt and I will be at Hogsmeade on February 12 for your trip. We would very much like to see you.
Please answer us.
Tina »
Eddy crumpled up the letter, unsure of what to do. Newt and Tina, seeing him, would probably understand that he no longer took his potions. Tina had always been more observant than her husband due to her former Auror skills. Eddy did not know what would happen next.
At his strained thoughts, his magic crackled. He put the letter back in his pocket and wandered aimlessly down the dark hallways. He had no idea where he was in the castle, but no doubt he was lost. Maybe if we never found him, he would finally have this feeling of peace? He saw a shape emerge at the end of the hallway holding a strange, large silver object. When the shape had come close enough, Eddy recognised it. It was Mrs. Burbage, the Muggle Studies professor, holding a gleaming bicycle. When she noticed his presence, she smiled behind her big, round glasses.
"Oh, Mr. Lee. Aren't you supposed to have class?"
Eddy knew that his condition had been discussed and commented on by his teachers. If he had never had a class with Mrs. Burbage, she was well aware of who he was. He was about to turn away.
"I'm leaving, Ma'am. Sorry for the inconvenience."
"I have some doubts," replied Mrs. Burbage calmly. "Apparently, from Slughorn and a few others, you've been skipping class lately. Why don't you join me and my students today?"
"Uh, I mean…"
"You know I have only a few students, barely ten per promotion; my classes are of a different kind than those to which you are accustomed, Mr. Lee. Perhaps this breath of fresh air will give birth to an interest."
She cut it off in a calm, amused voice. Eddy did not find for a moment the grip and severity of the other professors. Mrs. Burbage spoke to him like an old, long-lost friend. The young woman was so pretty with her big glasses that made her eyes look bigger that he didn't know what to say. He sputtered painfully as he backed away.
"Come on, come with me," said Mrs. Burbage, ahead of him with the solex.
She only walked a few meters to a door. Eddy followed her; maybe that was just what he needed to clear his head? He hadn't been able to take this option last year—the previous teacher having already mysteriously disappeared—and hadn't reiterated this wish this year. He walked into the classroom after her.
Mrs. Burbage did not lie; there were only nine students in the huge classroom. They were mostly sixth-year Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs. They were seated on little coloured pillows; the room had no desk or chair, and a soft white light poured through the huge pattern windows.
"Sorry for the waiting; I found one of your comrades in the corridors and thought it fit to invite him to join us. Go sit, Eddy; in this class, they call me Charity."
Eddy spotted Arthur Weasley sitting next to another blond-haired Gryffindor and stalked to his side. He was the only Slytherin in a class of older students, and they were eyeing him suspiciously for the most part.
"Welcome," Arthur greeted him with a small smile as the Gryffindor next to him grimaced. "We see each other often at the moment, so how do you get caught skipping class?"
"You're not the first to have been picked up," the blonde told him next to Weasley. "That's what happened to Molly earlier this year."
Eddy saw the red-haired young woman sitting on an ottoman next to a Hufflepuff girl. Molly Prewett glared at Weasley and looked away as Charity began her lesson. Eddy thought they must have had a fight.
"We're continuing our lesson with Muggle transportation. Last time I showed you how to take the subway in London, today we are going to do some practical work."
She rang the little bell attached to the bike.
"Who can tell me what this object is for?"
"Me! Charity!" the blond Gryffindor fidgeted. "It is a bike! It helps muggles get around. They roll sitting on it like brooms!"
"Alright ! 15 points for Gryffindor, Ludovic! But you don't have to shout, you know," Charity replied softly.
A few students laughed as Ludo turned brick red. Mrs. Burbage showed them how to sit on it. Eddy had already done this; he realised that some wizards had no knowledge of Muggles. Charity suggested they try riding on it. Molly was the first to get up; she approached the bike and disdained her 'boyfriend'.
"You did something to her," Eddy realised to his comrade, turning to him.
Arthur blushed as Molly began an energetic bike ride. She didn't go far and crashed into an ottoman. The girl fell and threw the bike angrily under Charity's benevolent smile.
"Let's change the subject," Arthur slipped away. "You get a head out of it too. She drives you nuts, your Gorgon?"
"Are you dating one of the Gorgon Sisters?" The blond was alarmed, stopping to ogle him disdainfully to seem much more curious. "I did not introduce myself, Ludovic Bagman."
He presented him with a square hand that was a little too firm. Eddy had seen this young man before; he was the captain and beater of the Gryffindor team. He shook the outstretched hand, then replied:
"We broke up, and the rest is none of your business."
"Well," Bagman scoffed in a whisper, "you know that you were dating the Riddle girl; it was getting obvious. In your presence, she becomes all weird and embarrassed. I saw you both on Christmas vacation."
Eddy pursed his lips, remembering that the teen shared their table before he left with Medusa. So he had seen them talking in low voices. Bagman didn't seem to care.
"I'll keep a low profile," Bagman assured him. "I gave up defences Against the Dark Arts after my OWLs. Riddle's father scared me too much. It's uncertain if he'll be able to read my mind like that."
"Did you drop that subject because of him?" cried Arthur and Eddy in harmony.
A few heads swivelled towards them. Arthur did the trick by going for a bike ride. Clumsily, he climbed on it to the cheers of the others and made a small turn, dodging the small cones that Charity made appear on his way.
The young teacher smiled, and at each of her smiles, Ludo Bagman sighed transiently. Eddy suppressed a sneer in his beard. It was true that the young woman was pretty, kind, and gave one of the funniest lessons he had attended.
"Muggle Studies teachers. He's been in this school for ten years, and the teachers haven't lasted for ten years. I really don't feel that guy or Arthur either. You're very close to the twins; do we have to go and say things to Professor Dumbledore?" asked Bagman without prelude.
"Nothing," Eddy retorted immediately. "Don't get involved in this."
"We've been protecting her since the beginning of the year," Bagman said very seriously", looking at Charity. "We're sure he won't hurt her."
Eddy noticed that the blond, blue-eyed teenager looked a bit silly; he found him after his tirade even less clever. Mrs. Burbage did not need a bunch of suitors trying to play knights in armor. She looked confident and assured, and this attention must have amused her more than reassured her. Arthur got off the bike and handed it to Eddy.
If he knew how it was used, he had done it a few times and had never liked the experience. He clumsily climbed on it and pedalled forward. He nearly arched forward. He continued valiantly but had to stop the charges. It had nothing to do with riding a horse like he did with Salazar or Mr. Berry.
He gave the bike back to Charity, thinking he should also explain his disappearance to Berry; he still hadn't. He didn't really know what to say to him; he told himself annoyed as he returned to his ottoman between Arthur and Ludo.
"And now you pull out six wand-long heads," Arthur teased gently. "So what happened?"
"Explain us your sorrows; I will maybe explain mine to you," retorted Eddy, sarcastic.
Arthur grimaced, but Ludo chuckled. Charity had placed the bike against its metallic leg guard. For the few remaining minutes, they had to sketch and annotate the bike.
"I ask Molly's hand to her father. He said no, and since then, she's been grumbling at me. I had to wait until I found a job at the ministry for that."
He let out an unhappy sigh. Eddy sympathised; somewhere on his level, he was in a'somewhat' similar but much more chaotic situation.
"So she's been ignoring me ever since. And you?"
"Quite the same," he mumbled in a low voice to prevent Bagman from hearing too much of this conversation.
They heaved a jaded sigh. Bagman chuckled.
"Girlfriend or no girlfriend, I'm going to make her lose Riddle in the next game. You can hold out your shoulder so that she can go there and cry her rage."
"Last year, you were the one who cried with rage," Weasley observed amusedly as he finished his sketch. "You forget that she almost broke your leg with a bludger."
Bagman growled under his breath as he finished his drawing. He really seemed to have had enough of Riddles, like many Gryffindors. Some were very suspicious of their defence teacher; Eddy wondered how many students had been warned like him by people close to Dumbledore.
"Even Quidditch doesn't seem to interest her anymore," Eddy retorted, thinking of Medusa. "Torturing you in flight may please him, but I'm not sure if that can fix my problems."
"Here he is giving us a diagnosis on his little daddy's girl friend," Bagman gritted a little teasingly. "Wanna bet with me? Ten Galleons that I beat the Slytherins with my team."
"I don't have that amount, and I'm not going to bet with you."
Bagman sighed, got up, and went to return his sketch to Charity at the back of the room.
"You do it right. Bagman is in debt all the time; I can't even imagine what it will be like when he's of legal playing age," Arthur sighed.
Eddy thought that this big booby was sure to find himself in a very bad situation quickly. Besides his dumb Gryffindor courage, he seemed quick to get into terrible trouble at the slightest signal.
The lesson ends with the distant ringing of the bell. The students seemed delighted with their session, and Eddy had to admit that he did not see the time pass. Arthur and Bagman put their things away, and the redhead obediently followed his girlfriend, trying to talk to her. She superbly ignored him and left, clinging to her Hufflepuff friend's arm. Charity called Eddy as he tried to get out.
He retraced his steps to plant himself in front of the young professor.
"So this initiation? Did you like it?"
"It was very… entertaining."
She smiled slightly at this compliment.
"Definitely. The muggle world is like that. Many young wizards know very little about this world. Yet, to keep our existence a secret, we also need to know about Muggles. This is a point that Professor Dumbledore and I share. Don't you agree, Eddy?"
He nodded awkwardly.
"My option with fourth-year students is Wednesday afternoon. I only have four students. It's not too late to register; I'm sure you'll be able to catch up."
"I'll think about it," he ventured uncomfortably, because Charity didn't let go of her big smile. "Can I go?"
"Yes, of course. Wait a second; I think I have something for you."
She went to the back of the class towards a large library and picked up a book. She came back and handed him a book on Romani tales.
"Professor Riddle told me about your origins. I thought you might like it."
"Thanks."
He was uncomfortable about Riddle telling Charity about him. The young woman seemed a little charmed by the way she pronounced Professor Riddle's name.
"You know, Eddy, just because Professor Dumbledore isn't around doesn't mean you don't have anyone to turn to here. If you need to talk, the door to my classroom will always be open to you."
Eddy froze; he wondered if she was sent by Dumbledore and found that idea credible. The young woman inspired him with a little less sympathy, not for her affiliation but rather for the fear of putting her in danger.
"I'll think about it, Charity. Have a nice day."
He greeted her, put his book in the pocket of his wizard's robe, and left. Maybe the solution wasn't so much to take a new option as to obediently go to class? He passed a student descending to get his bearings in this wing of the castle, then sped towards his divination class. With his wanderings, he was five minutes late. Professor Belline greeted him with a vague, disdainful look. Eddy had never shone in his subject or even been very diligent. He showed up at checkpoints, and that was it most of the time. Eddy had stuck with capnomancy, a curious practice of analysing the smoke emanating from a candle. Today's lesson was on 'Yarrowmancy'.
Eddy stood next to Kheiron and Xenophilius. Yarrowmancy consisted of using yarrow sticks to determine, by strange calculations, signs on a large square covered with numbers. Eddy found that, in addition to being very complicated, it was really a discipline of pretenders.
"Look who decided to honour us with his presence," Kheiron whispered, seeing him trying to follow the explanations marked by Belline.
Eddy held back a grimace, thinking that in addition to having missed a lot of class, he hadn't been very friendly with his classmates lately, ignoring them completely.
"It's complicated," he said, placing his sticks in the middle of his hand.
Kheiron rolled his eyes as he tossed his own yarrow browns at the number-covered square.
"You've been completely ignoring us since the holidays, and you've been away all the time. Not that entrusting you with the homework to catch up bothers me, but if in fact, it's starting to bother me, especially if it's to be snubbed by the end."
Eddy rubbed his head, thinking how much his temper had upset his comrades. This made him feel even guiltier. He thought there was no point worrying more about his problems; maybe it was best to fix them. Going back to class and apologising might have been a good start.
"Sorry," he mouthed. "I didn't have a great holiday; I'll improve myself."
"I understand. Now stop giving me extra work, and we're quits. Well, so what is this Yarrowmancy saying?"
"I have 12, 14, and 1," Xenophilius muttered. "According to numerology, it means a girl born at the end of the year."
"What's the 2 with the strand facing it like that?" Eddy asked.
"Travel", Xenophilius and Kheiron mocked with one voice.
"How fun," he replied sarcastically.
"No, that is really travel," Xeno said. "It seems your fate is on the roads; maybe that's why you're so anxious in this castle."
Maybe it made sense; even though the castle was big and nice, he still felt that sense of confinement. One of the only times he felt such a strong sense of freedom was during his trip in the caravan with Mr. Berry. At that moment, he had the feeling of moving towards something, of finally being on the move.
"That must be it. So number 1 is a girl? A trip with a girl?"
"You have two sticks pointing to 1. That's two girls, you lucky boy," Xenophilius chuckled in his ethereal voice.
Eddy smuggled with surprise and knew immediately that it was really a quack subject. He groaned, blushing, as his comrades laughed at his 'good fortune'.
Professor Belline then showed them how to burn the yarrow stick in the heart of his hand. Acrid smoke rose from the little greenish stick, and Eddy was sure he had smelled it before.
"With your knowledge of capnomancy from our previous session, observe the smoke that emerges from your sticks," said Belline. "I'll go see your results."
"Other than it smells bad, I don't see what we're supposed to see," Kheiron muttered.
Indeed, the smoke was whitish and barely visible; it stung the eyes. Eddy coughed. This smell was strong and nostalgic; he felt himself leaving in his memories.
He was young, maybe six years old. He was on Mom's lap, and she was clinging to him. Eddy was facing Aunt Zelda.
He only saw her hand; she was playing with the flaming stick. The choking smoke made him cough.
"He won't live long," whispered his aunt's deep voice. "Not like this. A fire is already gnawing at him."
"Then, what does this smoke say?" Belline then cut him off.
Eddy jumped violently, torn from his memories. His magic suddenly ignited inside him, and the strand just crackled and exploded into a small piece of ash. Kheiron gave a startled little cry, and Xenophilius ducked under the table for cover.
Belline, who had protected himself behind his golden shawl, sighed.
"The Evil Eye, this is the Evil Eye, my boy."
Exasperated by his teacher's ramblings and upset by what he had just learned, he felt himself congeal with anger. For a second, he thought of going to send his teacher, who had always had a grudge against him. It would be easy; he would literally send her flying around the classroom, and he would have peace. He managed to contain himself; the image of Medusa in the corridor was enough to contain, at the last second, this burning thing he felt rising inside him.
"That must be it," Eddy managed to say, clenching his fists under the table.
"You must guard against it! You must wear talismans to bind you; it is very important, my boy."
He looked so vaguely superior and dismissive, and Sybill at the table behind them was drinking in all his words with a transfixed pout. She let out a squeal, however, and even Kheiron, facing Eddy, turned almost greenish.
"Uh, what are you doing to us here? Should we be worried?"
Eddy looked down at his own body. He was completely gone and looked like nothing more than a slender figure full of magic. Eddy panicked, Belline sighed in interest, and the other students had their mouths open in an incredulous and worried 'O'.
"Um, I have to go," he said, slipping away.
Xenophilius looked curiously at his new form and wanted to hold out his hand. Eddy pulled back at the last moment, his magic crackling. He suddenly felt like a pressure cooker about to explode. He got up abruptly, and Belline jumped aside.
"I have to go," he mumbled once again.
Belline's bouncing belly, who was simply expelled to the other end of the class, Eddy's saliva stuck in his throat, and he left the classroom before a student could react.
He panted out of the room, hoping not to meet anyone, but the evil eye must have really been on him. The bell rang, and the hallway began to be invaded by students. Some noticed his strange state and pointed the finger at him with their comrades.
From a distance, he must have looked like a vague silhouette holding a bag over his shoulder in the void, emitting small sparks of magic. There was a long whisper in his path as he fled up the stairs. He did not know exactly where to go but had to leave these crowded corridors as soon as possible. Only one solution offered itself to him on the spot. He went down to the second floor. First-year students were in front of the classroom and jumped when they saw him arrive in his strange state with his bag almost flying. Peeves, who was passing by, chuckled as he recognised him.
"But there's no Obscurialee!" Obscurial-Lee! You understood?"
A spell catapulted him through the windows. A few students huffed, and Eddy turned around. Professor Riddle was there, his lip pursed in a thin, slender line, and his eyes fixed on him. He did not look at the first-years and opened the door to his classroom.
"Class today is cancelled," Riddle announced without preamble. "Immediately return to your common room."
Some students rejoiced; others looked worried. Riddle grabbed Eddy by the shoulder strap of his bag and threw him into the classroom, closing behind them.
"Can you explain to me…this?" snarled Riddle, showing his appearance with a dry wave of his hand.
"I'd like to know," Eddy said with difficulty. "A memory flashed in my memory, and... this happened."
Riddle inspected his strange form. Eddy felt his magic crackle as the glowing gaze lingered for a second on where his face was.
As if fascinated, Riddle wanted to approach his hand to touch his magic on the edge. No sooner had he approached than a powerful current ran through the professor, who was thrown two meters away. Riddle let out a loud curse while massaging his hand. Eddy froze, convinced that he was going to receive a cruciatus in the second. However, his professor had lost none of his inquisitive look of dangerousness; at that, the magic of his Obscurus crackled more and almost set the desk next to him ablaze.
"You need to calm down urgently," Riddle hissed.
With the back of his hand, he made his strange black bubble grow, which he had already used in the past. The black slime ran down the wall and spilled into the classroom. Surrounded by the black dimension, the boiling Obscurus within him quieted slightly before roaring even louder. Riddle, shrouded in darkness, nodded cheekily at him to get him to let go.
Surprisingly, the teenager didn't have to be told twice. He felt his magic rushing through his body in tentacles of vibrating magic, a powerful, fiery beam shooting out of his ribcage and crashing into a corner of the slime. He continued like this for a while, really not knowing how much time had passed. It felt good to unload this overflow, this anger, and this shame; it was different than with Salazar, and here it was more brutal and almost more satisfying.
Eddy, exhausted, fell to his knees. He looked at his hands, which had regained their usual tanned colour. He felt the rest of his body, reassured to find it tangible and a little less chaotic.
Riddle hadn't moved, and his mouth still puckered up in a cold, dry pout. Eddy got up pitifully. He realised that this time his energy discharge had cost him a lot; he was tired, like when he was taking his treatment.
"Are you quiet? Good. What happened? What did you see?"
"I was in divination; I smelled the smell of yarrow, and it reminded me ... My ... my aunt. She said I was going to die. I don't have the rest; Professor Belline interrupted me before."
At these words, once again, his teacher seemed as touched as if he had been told about the fine weather. Riddle crossed his arms over his chest for a moment, and Eddy worried, wondering what that boded to. The professor took his yew wand out of his pocket and pointed it at him.
"Would you like to know more?"
"Y-yes… but until now, you've never asked my opinion to get into my head."
Riddle smirked, but his eyes glowed.
"I have this courtesy so that never again this kind of event happens under my supervision. If students had touched you, you would have sent them flying down the hall!"
Eddy thought, mortified, of Professor Belline, who had literally been sent through the Divination class. He hoped, despite his exasperation, that he was fine now; it barely calmed him in his shame. Riddle had never paid much attention to the students or even his colleagues; however, he was certainly more worried that his strange "tutoring" was no longer as discreet as he had hoped. While he thought he had calmed down, his Obscurus gurgled in perverse delight at this thought.
"We'll quickly see what makes you smile, Mr. Lee," Riddle said in a nasty voice. "Legilimens."
Before he could make a move to dodge the spell, it hit him head-on. Riddle hadn't entered his head for a long time. Helpless, he tried to preserve his privacy by guiding his teacher to the memory in his memory.
He was on his mother's lap in Aunt Zelda's trailer; he recognised this familiar universe. The caravan was sparsely furnished with miscellaneous items accumulated over the years. There was only one source of light inside, and it was a small, whitish candle that swayed nervously as Aunt Zelda fidgeted with her yarrow strands. Soon the room was filled with thicker and thicker smoke, and little Eddy began to cough.
He didn't know what he was doing in that room with Mom and Aunt Zelda; what was she talking about in a low voice? Eddy found the tarot cards in front of him much more fun. Aunt Zelda had left them for her as she watched the white smoke from her strands.
"He won't live long," his aunt's deep voice whispered in English. "Not like this. A fire is already gnawing at him."
He felt Mom tighten against him. Eddy jumped as his mother's arms firmed around him.
"How so?" asked his mother. "Is he ill?"
Aunt Zelda's face appeared behind the yarrow smoke. She was skinny and made up with strange symbols on her face; her long black hair was tied in a loose black headband around her skull. Her thin lips smiled slightly.
"He's not sick," Zelda replied, at least not in the way you mean it. "But he will die young; I saw him. He has magic in him."
"These are things you saw in the smoke, Zelda! It means nothing. I asked for your help with the strange things he does, not for you to condemn my son! Magic ? Zelda, it does not exist."
Zelda looked a little superior; she lifted an ornate pipe to her lips, and the tawny smoke that emanated from it was even smellier than the smoke of yarrow. Little Eddy coughed more, but both his mother and Zelda didn't seem to notice. He had dropped the tarot cards and was now watching the two adults with concern. The things he was doing worried Mom.
"Of course you don't understand Maeve; there's so much you can't understand, but I know what I saw. This way, there is no more hope for him."
"Shut up! Shut up!" his mother shouted, hugging Eddy so tightly that he gasped. "I should never have come!"
"Mom what-"
"That is why the uninitiated should not know of the powers of divining. Knowing the fate of his blood's blood is a heavy burden," Zelda retorted pompously. "But near you, his path stops."
"With us?" From me or from Danny?"
"Both, Maeve."
"It's time to go back to the present," Professor Riddle's icy voice whispered in his ear.
Eddy felt catapulted out of his memories. Worn and tired, he could barely stand on his feet, his head full of questions and his heart torn. His aunt had sentenced him to death, and his mother had acted accordingly; she was gone. Trembling, Eddy looked up; his teacher hadn't moved and had his face frozen in a curious expression. He seemed to be immersed in his thoughts. Eddy slumped against a desk behind him, unable to stand. He had his mother's name, Maeve, her face, and her motives for leaving him. Suddenly, he no longer felt tenderness towards this woman but a burning anger for having abandoned him.
Riddle summoned a chair in front of his desk and waved it to him as he moved to his own seat.
"Sit down before you stupidly pass out in front of me."
Eddy hesitated. Panting and shaking, he didn't even have the strength to answer or put on a strong face. He complied, and his stomach growled for lack of his Obscurus. Riddle lost his focus for a mocking pout.
"I think we need to talk, Mr. Lee. You will dine with me tonight."
"I don't want to have dinner with you."
"I suspect so, as do I, but you can't move because you're too weak. I can't let you leave my office like this after so many witnesses have seen you come in for the sake of the pact we maintain. You are in no condition to go to the refectory or to your dormitory."
Eddy thought that dinner was indeed being served in the Great Hall now. After his divination scene, he did not want to go downstairs to see all his comrades staring at him again. In fact, if he had had the strength, he would have taken refuge in his dormitory and disappeared there. It had to be the best he could do because it was all his loved ones had ever wanted, right? Riddle conjured up a light dinner of soup and stew on his desk. Eddy eyed the bowls suspiciously, and his teacher looked annoyed.
"If I wanted to poison you, I would have done it at home and certainly not here. Eat; you need to regain strength."
Riddle attacked the soup in his own bowl with an annoyed flick of the spoon. Behind his cold, sly look, Eddy found him tense. Since the revelations he had made to Mrs. Riddle, his teacher was a little less confident than he seemed. If what Eddy had seen in his memories had troubled him, Riddle somehow was too. An aunt seemed to have predicted a very disastrous fate for them both. After their wand and the murder of their father, their resemblances on some points were disturbing. Eddy felt a certain anxiety about this, and even if he did not want to admit it to himself, he had a certain interest. It was precisely because their fates intersected that Riddle needed him. And knowing that this monstrous man who had abused him and Salazar and Medusa many times needed his help gave him a kind of unhealthy pleasure.
Aunt Zelda was right; a fire was growing inside him that would continue to ravage everything. He had to know how to address this dangerous fire. Eddy peered into his bowl and gulped down his celery soup. Riddle needed him to learn Romani and understand this prediction, and he needed him for his plans. He decided to speak, a little provocatively:
"It seems that our families like to treat us like demons and wish us awful things.
Riddle gave a quiver of a smile on his cold mask, and he let out a dry sneer as he toyed with his glass of wine between his long, slender fingers.
"Your aunt is indeed right," the professor purred slowly, raising his glass to his lips. "Your Obscurus is growing and begins to show its face. That's what happened earlier. Soon he will be here."
Eddy thought back to his strange form as he lost control and how lonely and tired he felt that his seizure was over.
"Why am I so weak now? My powers are blocked and have only appeared brutally since the holidays. The Obscurus materialises by taking my powers."
"As it seems," his teacher retorted cheerfully, raising his fork of stew to his mouth and trying to look him in the eye. "Your Obscurus is a blocked part of yourself that continues to grow; after being strengthened, it is now present to the point of manifesting itself in this way. It was to be expected in awakening your memories."
"I'm going to be consumed," he said bitterly. "I'm not strong enough to beat him."
"No." Riddle nodded remorselessly. "You continue to be weak, to be full of guilt and other honeyed feelings that paralyse you. You won't be able to face it that way, that's for sure."
Both of them had finished eating and pecked at their meal like an earthenware dog. Eddy had never spent a meal in such a strange atmosphere. Under the moon in the classroom, the atmosphere was silent and calm, but it was as if he were in the eye of a hurricane. From one moment to another, the storm in him was going to wake up to take everything away. Eddy had spent most of dinner staring down at his plate as the professor tried to catch his eye.
"You do not eat", observed the teenager. "You hardly ever eat, or very little."
"Indeed," Riddle replied mockingly, "thank you for caring about my health, but I don't need to eat much or sleep more than a few hours. You save a lot of time, something you miss, as always. You're going to find that aunt as soon as possible, Mr. Lee, aren't you? When you find her, what do you plan to do with her?"
"I don't know," the teenager admitted honestly. "I'm mad at her and at my mother. I'm not going to kill her; I'm not like you."
"You would kill her by accident, indeed," corrected her teacher cynically. "Killing your muggle aunt will bring you relative peace; she was wrong, though; there is still some hope left for you."
Eddy had stopped shaking now that his body had ingested some food; he was just tired and annoyed by his teacher's cryptic little phrases to destabilise him.
"You talk about saving my life and saying that death is no longer a problem for you. Am I going to have answers, or am I going to continue to remain in the dark?
"Given how little skill you have in guarding the secrets I confide in you, my reluctance to divulge any more to you is understandable," Riddle retorted acerbically.
"Be honest with me for once!"
"Stop reacting like a child," the professor hissed sharply as a singular pressure hit the room.
Suddenly, an icy current passed through him; it was as frightening as when he had paralyzed him in the Salazar Priory. Eddy felt like he was being held in a vice and that he would never be able to breathe anything but an icy gasp again. Slowly, Riddle loosened his hold on him, and the teen refrained from gasping and coughing. He swallowed hard, refusing to give this man the pleasure of seeing him suffer.
"It wasn't the attempted murder or abuse of your father that led to your condition, Mr. Lee. Nor again the words of your supposedly clairvoyant aunt. Another trigger will fuel that brutal, violent thing inside of you forever. There is a way to snatch it from you, but you are obviously not ready. Get some nerves, for Slytherin's sake."
"How do I be ready? By accepting to be just bad? Like you?"
"Isn't that precisely why you always come back to me? Everyone is bad; some are just kidding themselves. You no longer have time to belong to the second category. The way that I propose to you requires that you accept it!"
"Then I want to know what you offer! the teenager shouted back.
His anger barely seemed to make his teacher react. On a movement of his hand, he could not move surrounded by an icy net.
"Do you know about horcruxes?" Obviously not. You have no idea of the power of such an object or the grace that I give you to tell you about it. This will take care of all your worries and prevent you from dying forever. This is what I offer you.
"What are horcruxes?" he articulated with difficulty.
"That will be for a future session. Drink this."
A vial of potion levitated towards him. Eddy recognised it; it was an invigorating potion. The grip of his teacher's spell loosened to let him move. He shivered in spite of himself.
"How do I know if it's a healing potion?"
"I'm not going to drug you," Riddle said irately.
The levitating vial opened, and a few green drops escaped from it to land against the parted lips of the professor. He closed them after ingesting the substance and clicked his tongue against his palate.
"A classic reviving potion. Our next meeting will take place soon. Until then, I'll give you a little extra work; make me the most complete lexicon of Romani as possible. I want five pages minimum."
With an impatient wave of Riddle's hand, the still levitating vial slammed into Eddy's mouth, its contents spilling half into his mouth, the other on the floor or on the desk. With a wave of his wand, Riddle erased the marks and bumps from their meal. The teen wiped his mouth, humiliated and ashamed, while Riddle looked vaguely amused.
"Did you make horcruxes of them, Professor?" Eddy blurted.
"If I hear that word in the head of anyone in this castle, you'll never know. Anyway, that'll be for next time. Now get out."
Without further ado, Riddle turned his back on her. Eddy was on his feet; the potion had taken effect, and once again, the man had managed to turn his head around. He didn't know what to think anymore. Holding firmly to the shoulder strap of his bag, he turned on his heels and left.
He was in the hallway, quieter but even more lost than before. Riddle had offered him a solution, but he still did not know exactly what it consisted of. This caused him much more apprehension than hope. He walked down the hall to refuse to think about it. Night had fallen, and the curfew would be soon. However, he still had time to go to the aviary. The solution for him after this nightmarish day was perhaps to reassure his loved ones.
The students must still be having dinner; he didn't see anyone. He went to the owlhouse under the crescent moon and hurriedly rushed into the building, avoiding the ice. On entering the building, however, he was surprised not to be alone. Salazar appeared to be talking to someone. In a second, his friend spotted him as he was behind the stone nook and jumped. Eddy walked in, and with Sal, there was Charm ogling a sleeping little owl on her perch.
"Shafiq told me about what happened in Divination," Sal said. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," he mumbled. "Were you talking to someone?"
"Yes, Charm."
Sal turned away to pet an owl, while Eddy quickly picked up his quill and inkwell as his flitter brushed against his legs. Eddy gave him a hug to make up for his absence and began to scribble a message. He told Tina and Newt that he would be at Hogsmeade and explain himself to them. He wrote a second message for Mr. Berry and apologised to him. He really didn't quite know how to approach things, so it was awkward, and with a lot of erasures, he ended his letters.
Sal had watched him, silently using his magic shower on the birds. Soon, several came flying over the brown boy's outstretched arms or shoulders. When Eddy looked up, he choked a small laugh in his throat. Salazar now had a dozen owls and owls on him, two of them on his head, playing with his hair with their claws. He looked like a curious Christmas tree.
"Take whichever one you want." Sal smiled awkwardly, gesturing at the owls he was supporting.
"I'll settle for those two," Eddy replied, picking up the two owls that were starting to fight over Salazar's head.
The eagle owl and the other speckled owl complied with their mission by glaring at each other fiercely and flew away a good distance apart. Eddy watched them go in the cool of the night.
"We should go," the teenager said. "The curfew must be passed."
"Did something happen with Medusa? You two have been avoiding me since the start of the school year."
In the darkness, Sal could hardly read his mind, and the young man seemed rather preoccupied with the owls chirping for food. With a wave of his wand, Sal levitated a packet of seeds from his pocket so that it fluttered up to the beaks of the birds. Charm licked her chops as she rubbed her forked tail impatiently on the stone floor. Eddy picked him up before he jumped on his prey and decided to respond.
"I almost hurt her... I did not want it; it was stronger than me."
At that response, Salazar froze, the seed packet suspended in mid-air. The teenager sighed, and Eddy shamefully wondered what he was thinking.
"If you don't want to hurt people, stop blaming yourself and take action so you don't do it again. Come back to class, since the atmosphere is icy. My father manages to hurt us indirectly and separate us without doing anything. On that, I don't want to let him win."
The boy thought he was right. Again, without being physically present, Riddle had been able to separate them from each other just by his presence. He was tired of letting him win in his tortures.
"I'm going to help your father translate your grandmother's prediction. It worries him a lot; maybe there is a way to thwart his plans."
Sal hesitated; he sounded worried and feverish. With a small, gentle wave of his hand, the remaining owls flew away with a flutter of feathers to return to their perch. A feather lands on Charm's face in Eddy's arms, which plays with it.
"Maybe, but you should leave this between him and my mother. I think it's better."
.
.
.
The following day, Eddy returned to class. He got detention for attacking Mr. Belline, who luckily hadn't been injured. Each having decided to ignore the other since this incident. His teachers seemed a bit sympathetic and did not try to incriminate him further. His comrades had decided on ignorance for the most part and whispered among themselves about him as soon as his back was turned. Fearing him somehow saved him from most bullying, but being stared at like a dragon about to attack every time he appeared in a room still made him just as uncomfortable.
Medusa ignored him completely so as not to change; she took care never to meet his gaze. At lunch, however, one morning, he found her staring at him behind her fish and chips, and when their eyes met, he tried to give her a contrite grimace. She immediately plunged back into her meal without saying a word. She was alone as often. According to Salazar, she frequently argued with Rita over nothing, and Bellatrix ignored them. Not far from Medusa were Rosier and Kheiron, arguing with his fiancée, Evora.
Their argument sounded heated. Eddy turned his head towards Sal.
"Are you coming to Hogsmeade this afternoon?" asked the boy.
"I have to join Newt and Tina; I'll join you later if you want," Eddy replied, taking a slice of bacon from the large silver bowl.
Sal looked annoyed at not being invited, but Eddy understood he needed an explanation and wanted to speak to his guardians in private. He didn't want to involve Salazar in any of this.
"I'll be by the Shrieking Shack," Sal said after a moment. "Take care; you look worried."
"What are you doing, Rosier?" snapped Evora Zabini, addressing the Slytherin prefect beside her.
"There is nothing that concerns you. Yes, you and your cousin hate each other; you're going to be forced to fuck together to give your families an heir; now stop bothering us in the middle of lunch and go back to your table!" hollered Rosier brutally.
A few students chuckled at the outburst. Eddy frowned; he had never seen him so acerbic. Evora went pale and froze; even Kheiron looked furious. Medusa chuckled as she downed her drink as Rosier smugly put his hands in his pockets.
"It was not worth insulting my family as a bonus," retorted Kheiron, exasperated.
"Telling the truth is not insulting, Kheiron," Riddle chuckled.
Evora glanced annoyed at Medusa, and the girl turned away to return to the Ravenclaw table. Calm returned to their table, Medusa brushed off Rosier when he tried to talk to her, and Eddy advised Salazar:
"Do you think she'll want to talk to me again?"
"Maybe two will be better," Sal thought after hesitation.
However, no sooner had they gotten up and approached the young girl than she abruptly left the Great Hall. No, this time he wouldn't get away with an apology. Eddy watched her go and left the Great Hall, followed by Salazar. They went to their exit at Hogsmeade with a low countenance.
Eddy knew the upcoming discussion with his tutors was not going to be pleasant. He hoped he could manage to contain himself since, since his incident in divination a few days earlier, he no longer felt the Obscurus. In fact, he no longer felt anything. To avoid thinking about it, he asked Salazar:
"Were you able to make progress in your translations? I will have something to help you with presently."
Eddy was thinking about the lexicon he had made for Mr. Riddle, a copy of which was in his dormitory. If he could help his friend and do his hateful father a favour, the teenager thought it was a blessing in disguise.
"Not too much," Salazar said softly. "I have other worries in mind."
He refused to say more as they walked down to Hogsmeade. In the middle of winter, the weather was freezing and foggy. The little white powder that covered the stone path this morning had frozen over, making it icy and dangerous. Almost like tightrope walkers, Eddy and Salazar joined the rest of the students scattered around the village. Despite the freezing temperature, many of them had decided to leave the castle to venture into Hogsmeade. Sal looked really uncomfortable and was squirming around to dodge passersby walking too close to him.
"I'm not sure how long I'll have," Eddy admitted. "I'll meet you at the shack; I'll stop by Honeydukes."
Sal nodded and dove into an alley to escape the crowd. He was at the Three Broomsticks, where he was to join Tina and Newt. He walked into the crowded pub, looking around for his guardians. He did not see them anywhere. He dodged a waiter advancing with a huge tray of butterbeer to join the bar where the waitress, Miss Rosmerta, was.
The woman seemed to recognise him immediately; she smiled, one of her gold teeth gleaming as she hexed several plates and mugs.
"How, that must be you, the little lamb, the Magizoologist told me 're up there, first door on the right."
"I'm not a 'little lamb'", exclaimed the teenager, while a witch and her child leaning on the bar laughed.
Eddy recognised the woman; it was Mrs. Prince, Mr. Riddle's auxiliary, with a kid who must have been her son. She smiled vaguely at him and went back to cleaning her kid's face, which was smeared with cake icing.
"Go ahead," Miss Rosmerta said, going to serve a couple of Ravenclaw witches. "No disorder; I care about my rooms; I know Scamander's reputation."
Eddy complied, grumbling at the name. He climbed the rickety staircase and went to the room indicated by Miss Rosmerta. He knocked on the door and entered. The bedroom on the first floor was small and a bit shabby—a single bed with the sheets pulled up in a cramped corner of the room.
"Eddy, big boy, I'm so glad to see you!"
Tina and Newt were there, smiling at him with a look of concern, and the teenager noticed that they were not alone. Sitting on the bed, a tiny wizard with big round glasses looked feverish and uncomfortable, unlike a beautiful, dark-skinned elderly witch that Eddy recognized. Lally Hicks had taught him during his first year at Ilvermony before retiring. Beside her was Queenie, Tina's sister. The two witches had been travelling the world since they had both retired.
Eddy didn't expect to see them here. He almost felt trapped. By reflex, he looked down to avoid meeting Queenie's gaze. He knew little of his legitimens gifts, as he had only seen him once or twice, but his time with the Riddles had taught him to improve.
"As you say, so grown up," whispered Queenie, rushing to embrace him with an airy gait. "The last time I saw you, you had just started school."
"Newt, Tina, Queenie, Professor Hicks, I'm happy to see you."
"You can call me Lally, Edward; I'm not your teacher anymore." Lally smiled as Queenie moved aside to sit gracefully back on the bed.
He glanced at the stranger, while Newt smiled softly. Tina called Newt to order with a slap on the arm as the little wizard waddled around uncomfortably.
"Oh sorry. Eddy, this is Ulman Ferish, a medic specializing in magical mutations. He has helped us a lot in our research over the past few months."
"N-nice t-t-to meet you, Mr. Lee. Tttt-Tina and Newt have talked to me a lot ab-b-bout your cond-d-dition. I had never met s-s-s-such an old Ob-b-bscurial."
The little wizard looked at him with a strange and confused air, that of a scientist in front of a particularly complex equation. Eddy immediately hated this feeling of being a lab rat. It was even more similar with Mr. Riddle, because here the man forgot all decency and living space and was already taking his arm to examine it.
Eddy pulled away abruptly.
"Did you ask me to come over for more testing?"
"First, let me know if you are well. I have a feeling something happened, Eddy," Tina whispered. "Should we be worried?"
In front of all his people, Eddy knew he could never tell Newt and Tina that he had quit school and quit potions. For the first time in days, a searing shame paralysed him. He suppressed this emotion by clenching his fists in the pockets of his robes.
"It's okay," he lied. "I… I argued with Salazar and Medusa."
Tina narrowed her eyes. She had not forgotten how Medusa had treated him that day at Selsey and hadn't seemed to like the girl since. This half-lie almost seemed to suit her; she could easily imagine the kind of thing Medusa was capable of saying.
"Are we going to start testing?" Mr. Ferish chirped impatiently.
"Wait a minute, what are you going to do? I don't want it!" Eddy got angry.
"What Ulman is trying to say," Newt corrected softly, "is that we think we've tweaked the potion a bit. Since the last time we spoke, we've made some more corrections, and maybe we have a viable sample. Professor Dumbledore told me he would be there; he should be here soon."
"I can't wait to see dear Albus again," Lally enthused. "We haven't seen each other since 1961, when the last Great Warlock of the International Confederation of Wizards was elected. Oopsie, I'll let you continue, dear Newt."
"What we're trying to say," Tina said softly, "is that to know if this new protocol works, we have to see what it looks like on you."
"What if it makes me feel worse?" Eddy asked in a shaky voice. "If I no longer control myself?"
Tina seemed to hesitate and gave him a little comforting gesture that had no effect at the time. He saw Queenie was trying to meet his gaze. Eddy looked at Newt as Mr. Ferish looked annoyed.
"We'll go in my suitcase for that, Eddy. Then there will be several of us to intervene in case something goes wrong. That's why Dumbledore has to join us. Everything will be fine; we don't want you to suffer. "
Eddy thought about refusing, but his tutors had spent so much time researching to help him that he felt a strange feeling of overwhelm. Between gratitude and helplessness.
"I…I will."
He would then find a moment to explain what he had done, but, out of cowardice, Eddy preferred to postpone this moment.
Soddenly, they heard Rosmerta's giggle. It wasn't long before she knocked at the door. Tina opened the door, but instead of Dumbledore, with the landlady, there was a completely different person. Smiling nonchalantly at Miss Rosmerta—obviously under his alluring smile—it was Mr. Riddle. Newt and Tina had frozen just like Eddy, and the three other wizards were watching this stranger with an inquisitive glance.
"If you need anything, I'm down there, Mr. Riddle."
"Thank you, Christie," Riddle answered learnedly. "It will be fine."
The still-flustered woman walked away down the hall, and Riddle entered the room.
"Professor Riddle," Lally recognised, "I haven't seen you since defending your doctorate on Maledictus and Malediction at Durmstrang more than fifteen years ago. Your approach to black magic interested me then."
"You know each other," Newt stammered, instinctively stepping in front of Eddy.
"Indeed," Riddle answered softly. "Professor Hicks was part of the jury that followed my work. It's nice to see you again, professor. Your last book on Metastasizers and Defector Charms was absolutely excellent."
"But who is this man?" Mr. Felish asked, as Lally could not help but smile at the compliment.
"Mr. Felish, your reputation at San Andreas Hospital precedes you. I am Mr. Lee's teacher and Hogwarts Deputy Headmaster, Tom Riddle."
"Delighted! Delighted!" squealed the little man. "My cousin Filius told me about you; I remember. Are you here for the tests?"
He held out a hand to her, and within seconds, Felish seemed to be in Riddle's pocket as well. It was amazing how in seconds, with a flirtatious smile and a few words, he could put on a mask to get whatever he wanted. Queenie in the corner of the room looked tense as if she was standing in front of a Basilisk about to open her eyes. She stared at Mr Riddle frozen like a pillar of salt.
"What are you doing here?" Eddy asked dryly.
At that, Riddle only raised an eyebrow, as he seemed eager to keep his mask on.
"Professor Dumbledore won't be able to join you today. He just left in an emergency. I took the liberty of replacing it."
"Where did he go?" Newt asked.
"That, I don't know; you'll ask him yourself when you see him."
How did Riddle know they would meet here? The teenager thought of Mrs. Prince on the ground floor of the pub. Salazar had already told him to be careful of this woman as she was very close to Mr. Riddle. There was no doubt she had warned him. Mr. Riddle really knew everything.
"We'll manage; thank you for coming, Professor," Tina replied firmly. "We better go to your suitcase, Newt."
None of them really wanted Professor Riddle's presence, and Queenie understood that because she was staring at her sister and guessing very well her confusion and her tension.
"Mr. Lee is a Hogwarts student; it is my duty as Deputy Headmaster to ensure his safety," Riddle replied smoothly. Mr. Lee has a huge, magical power buried within him; you might need some help."
"It's true that from the little I saw of him in Ilvermony, Edward was already surprisingly powerful despite his treatment. I was his transfiguration teacher there during his freshman year," Lally explained.
"Fascinating," Riddle said, probably not thinking a word of it. "Well, can we start?"
Newt and Tina were lost and puzzled. The situation was clearly beyond them, and Riddle was just beginning to play. If his guardians resisted, Eddy wondered how the situation would turn out.
"I…I need to speak to Mr. Riddle privately. I will be back."
He slipped between Tina and Newt and grabbed his teacher roughly by the arm. Before slamming the door, he had time to give his guardians a confident look. When they were in the hallway, Riddle quickly pulled away and hissed:
"Never do that again."
"What are you doing here?" Eddy asked in a low voice, despite his annoyance.
"The woman in the pink coat... who is she?" Riddle retorted without answering him.
"Queenie. Tina's... Tina's sister. She is a legilimens."
In the darkness, Riddle turned livid. He grabbed Eddy's arm and forced him to look at him.
"Bless my arrival, Mr. Lee. We'll be in serious trouble if our little pact leaks out. Have you met his gaze since you've been with them? Answer."
With a lumos, he dazzled his face. The blinded teen couldn't move as Riddle checked his head. Eddy managed to shield his thoughts with the rubber duck image, as Medusa had taught him. Thinking of Medusa hurt him, and for a second, the image of the little plastic duck disappeared. Just as Riddle was about to leave his head, Medusa's face caught his attention. Eddy pushed him away roughly. Riddle bumped into the door, and behind his wand, he gave him a cold grimace. It took him a second to calm down before his pursed lips blurted out:
"We're going back to this room; you're going to test this new treatment, and we're going to protect each other. If your guardians ever force you to confess what we did, you are literally dead. We will settle this matter with Medusa… later.
"Don't… Don't harm the wizards in the room."
"At my level of anger, it will be up to them…and you," Riddle hissed.
Eddy swallowed hard as Tina opened the door. She stumbled against the professor's back and jumped when she saw the man's outstretched wand. She raised hers immediately with her old auror reflexes and asked in an imperious voice:
"What are you doing, Professor Riddle?"
"We're talking, Mrs. Goldstein," Riddle replied quietly. This corridor has the misfortune of being very dark, and I belong to this category of person who prefers to see the face of my interlocutor. But we're done."
"Is everything okay, Eddy?" Tina asked anxiously. "Do you mind if one more person is here?"
"One person more or less," observed the teenager cynically. "It doesn't make much difference anymore. Everything's okay."
He entered, with Professor Riddle following him as Tina closed the door. Newt's magic suitcase lay open on the bed; only Newt was left in the room. Tina must have given Eddy a worried face behind Eddy's back because he frowned.
"Did you come here out of scientific interest, Mr. Riddle?" Newt asked as Peak, his little Bowtruckle swung around on his shoulder.
"Indeed, I have always thought that science deserves the most unexpected of collaborations."
He gave them an enigmatic smile as Newt looked concerned. Peak observed this menacing individual, patting Newt's cheek with his tiny hands as if to warn him of the danger.
"Let's go," Eddy interjected immediately.
His guardians nodded awkwardly. Then Tina rushed into the suitcase. Eddy re-entered the familiar atmosphere of Newt's old suitcase. In a small corner near the ladder was a colony of sleeping fire crabs, while a unicorn whinnied softly. Lally, Ferish, and Queenie were near a small cauldron containing another potion. It had the consistency of caramel and a strange yellow colour, almost neon green. When Eddy approached, he almost had trouble looking at the bottom of the cauldron as the colours were so vivid.
"This is the Illuminial in its evolved form. We're thinking of slowing down the evolution of the Obscurus by putting it to sleep with the light of the Illuminial," chirped Ferish. "This solution was heated throughout its preparation by the light of several patronus. This makes it more complex, but I think that this process is precisely a particularity that can reach the Obscurus."
"The Obscurus is part of me. What will happen to me when I ingest this potion? Do you have any idea?"
Behind his big magnifying glasses, Ferish hesitated. He tweaked his little curly mustache as Tina came to put her hand on his shoulder. He hadn't taken his potion in months; how would his growing Obscurus react to this new preparation?
"You may be quite weak physically," Ferish admitted. "You may be ... a little weakened."
"The risks are very low," Newt protested softly.
Behind them, Riddle clicked his tongue in annoyance on his palate, as if hearing the dumbest thing ever.
"A problem, Professor Riddle?" Tina asked coldly.
"What you're suggesting won't work," Riddle announced pompously.
"Eddy, you're extremely worried," Queenie said worriedly. "Everything will be alright."
Horrified at the thought of being unmasked, Eddy pulled away from the old woman and turned on his heels towards Newt.
"Why won't this work?" asked Newt, frowning.
"Your solution to curing good with evil is stupid. It is violence that has created this suffering in him; it can only be solved by violence.
"I've heard that dark magic versus dark magic thesis before," Newt muttered. "It rarely ends well, Professor Riddle."
"A few cases might surprise you, Professor Scamander."
"I…I will," Eddy said. "But you must be ready to stop me."
The tension barely subsided. Ferish poured him a glass of potion and, with his other hand, conjured up a quill and parchment.
Eddy eyed the contents quizzically and glanced at all those adults who were feverishly waiting for him to swallow the stuff. If he assuaged his fears with Newt's blue gaze, it was Riddle's confident little smile that convinced him to drink the concoction bottoms up. It tasted awful; he felt like a huge, ash-tasting piece of gum was stuck in the back of his throat. Eddy coughed as he bent forward. He couldn't breathe; the sticky substance stuck to the back of his throat, pressing against his trachea.
Lally raised her wand not far from him, and some sparks flew out to hit him. In a second, everything went wrong, and then he had the impression of being plunged into a burning fire. It wasn't pleasant anymore; he almost felt his flesh burning as he felt the ash taste of the potion in the back of his throat. Eddy tried to scream and lost control; everything exploded around him. He had no control over anything.
He watched with horror as his magic hit Newt hard, and he fell ten meters away, not far from his enclosure in Gnarled. As Tina tried to talk to him, the Obscurus gripped her in a tighter and tighter grip. Tina was suffocating, and he couldn't do anything to stop it. Lally and Ferish bombarded him with spells.
It had to stop! As Tina grew increasingly pale, Riddle cast a spell to maintain her form on the ground. He released Tina, who fell back with a soft noise. The strange black cloud that he was in couldn't move; he was almost out of breath. He was going to pass out.
"Stop hexing him," Riddle growled. "The Obscurus is here; leave him!"
The worried adults seemed to be weighing the pros and cons with their wands outstretched. Eddy, unable to move, saw Riddle turn towards him. He kept feeling the medicine churning around, like some kind of huge worm stuck in his oesophagus.
"Let that fire out now, Mr. Lee."
"Eddy! No, don't," Newt yelled.
But too late, like a need to breathe, he was unable to contain himself. And it was as simple and satisfying as taking a breath of fresh air after having his head submerged. A long column of flame erupts from its entrails, along with other things. Raw, pure, dark magic dancing around Riddle was going to hold it back so it wouldn't blow up the inside of the suitcase. Mister Riddle almost seemed to enjoy himself, enjoying the magic around him; he virtually seemed to absorb it. For a moment, his eyes and medallion reddened. Eddy felt himself return to human form. It was painful that he felt the extremities of his body, then his legs and his arms. It was as if he had run an entire marathon in seconds. Eddy felt his stomach churning. He bent forward and vomited all the potion several times as the last flames disappeared.
Tina and Newt ran up to him.
"Eddy! Are you okay?"
She tried to hold him close, but he was still raging. Eddy felt his magic push her away roughly. She gasped in pain, and her husband came to support her. If Eddy was too tired to move, seeing them move away with concerned gestures broke his heart.
"Take it easy; listen, we're not going to hurt you, Eddy. We're done. Think of the tale of the fountain of good fortune; recite it with me," Tina said softly.
"Leave me!" Eddy shouted. "Stop with your damn stories; it does not help me!"
He froze, shocked at his own violence, as Tina blanched as she rubbed her throat. He then realised what he had done. He had nearly killed her by strangling her.
"I am so-
"I told you it wouldn't work." Riddle cut him off, brushing away a particle of invisible magic on his black suit. "The boy almost died."
"Whhh-what see-is it p- pa -p-past?" stuttered Ferish.
"Why did the potion react like this?" said Lally. "It was supposed to put the Obscurus to sleep, not make it explode."
"The Obscurus has grown enormously; Eddy should be at its worst."
"Mr. Lee stopped taking his medication on my recommendation," Riddle blurted.
Attention was focused on Riddle. Tina looked like she was about to scream as Newt looked at the professor with a kind of cold anger that Eddy had never seen on his guardian's soft features.
"Is it true, Eddy?" Tina snapped.
As Riddle had spoken about this fact himself, this breach was open for him to confess this truth.
"Yes. And I've been doing much better since."
"For what?" Newt articulated with difficulty.
"You should be thanking me," said Riddle. "If the boy was still taking his medicine, your recipe would have killed him. You would have choked him to asphyxiation; that's what he tried to do to you. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth—that's how magic thinks. By unloading its magic, as you have seen, we achieve a result far better than all your attempts."
"Eddy is dangerous to everyone without this treatment," Newt said.
For a moment, his tutor's gaze rested on him, and Eddy read there both a lot of disappointment and also a great deal of anger. Dejected with helplessness and shame, Eddy looked down as Queenie tried to gently grab his hand. He let himself go, his eyes fixed on his shoes.
"It is also with your treatment. If the monster inside him hadn't been so powerful, he wouldn't have been able to fight to expel the cure before he couldn't breathe."
"We need to revise all our calculations on the doses with these new parameters," Ferish enthused as his quill took notes on an increasingly long parchment. "We have to take samples."
"No! You won't touch me," the teenager fussed.
Newt began: "Why didn't you tell us? Is that why you didn't want to spend Christmas with us?"
It must have been the worst time to confess his fault, but the shame and disbelief of his guardians made him realise that postponing the inevitable would be useless.
"Yes… and also to be able to leave the castle during the holidays."
Tina and Newt froze and turned pale as sheets.
"Where did you go?" Tina asked slowly, looking at Mr. Riddle as if she was already anticipating the answer.
"To my house," Riddle smiled. "My wife caught him outside on Christmas Eve. It was my duty to offer him shelter when his magic was extremely unstable. I left him the opportunity to confess his fault to you as a punishment. He had plenty of opportunities to do it, but he didn't."
"Queenie," Tina asked abruptly, "is Eddy all right? Is this man hurting him?"
For a second, Queenie lowered her head to meet Eddy's gaze. He looked away, but that second was enough.
"He's terrified. He's in pain," Queenie whispered. "He is very angry..."
"Stop reading my head!"
Suddenly, his magic came out and was about to hit Queenie. Riddle pushed him aside at the last moment as Lally protected her friend with a shield.
"Let's calm down," said Lally. "Edward, we're trying to figure it out."
Riddle jerked him up. For a moment, his teacher's hand with his strange black ring bumped into his palm, and an icy current of anger ran through him. Eddy was barely standing on his feet, and he had to be supported by Riddle despite himself. He looked at Tina and Newt and couldn't help himself.
"What there is to understand is that I no longer want to be your test subject! That's enough. I just want to have peace for as long as I have left. Each solution is worse than the previous one and hurts me more! The first thing you said to me was that I would never be hurt again, but you hurt me! I want to stop!"
He stopped when he saw that Tina had burst into tears. It was as if he had been wrapped in cotton then; he didn't want to feel anything anymore, and the padded softness of indifference seemed to him preferable to tears in front of him.
"After your good care, I'm going to get Edward to the infirmary before he passes out," Riddle whispered, grabbing his arm.
Newt struggled to say something as Queenie, Lally, and Mr. Ferish stood frozen in deep dismay. Eddy didn't look up at Tina as Riddle dragged him.
"Eddy, I would like you to spend the next holidays with us. We have to talk," Newt whispered softly as he freed the ladder that led outside.
Without nodding, he left his Riddle-supported tutor's suitcase. They then left the room and then the bar to go up to the outskirts of the village. Some of the students still on the way out watched in amazement at their strange duo as Riddle had put his arm under his shoulder to help him walk.
"Are you satisfied?" the acerbic teenager asked as he struggled to put one foot in front of the other.
"Absolutely. Not you? Honesty is one of the keys to your salvation. I knew how to prevent a cataclysm from happening and to protect our pact. You don't deserve my time, Mr. Lee."
"Go spend your precious time on someone else," he growled, annoyed.
Eddy saw Riddle's eyes redden, but it wasn't him he was looking at. Salazar was at the edge of the forest, covered by a colony of bowtruckles, which in winter had a brownish colour. When he saw Eddy being held by his own father, the teenager froze.
"That's exactly what I'm spending my time on. Salazar," hailed Mr. Riddle. "Come help me help your friend, my boy."
Like an army of small butterflies, the bowtruckles fell from the teenager's body as he walked towards them, almost like a convict. Salazar's big blue eyes were wide as he obediently grabbed Eddy under his other shoulder. Mr. Riddle left all of Eddy's weight to his son, who nearly fell under the sudden burden.
"What happened?" Sal asked in a voice from beyond the grave.
"Nothing serious," exasperated his father, leading the way. "Give him some energy; I still need to talk to him. If he passes out, I should postpone our discussion."
The discussion about Medusa. Eddy had almost forgotten him, but not his teacher. Eddy wondered what that portends. Riddle was very calm, even too calm. Salazar was also worried. As they hobbled along, the young Riddle muttered a phrase. A small current of energy passed through Eddy, who felt barely better. At least he wasn't dead weight anymore against Sal, who could barely walk with his weight. Eddy was able to stand awkwardly on his feet as they walked through the gates to the castle. Salazar was tired and pale; his spell had cost him a lot of his vitality. Eddy even wondered if he should back him up.
Halfway up the stone stairs, Riddle turned around.
"Thank you for your care, Salazar. Remarkable, this transfer spell. Your friend looks much better. You should go for a little walk; you look exhausted. The fresh air of the park or the forest would do you the greatest good."
"No!" Salazar shouted. "What is happening? What else are you going to do to him?"
"Salazar, I don't often do favours for you. Enjoy what I give you. Mr. Lee and I are just going to talk."
Riddle grabbed Eddy by the collar of his robe to drag him to the stairs. Still too frail and feverish, he could only let himself go. Riddle's strange calm paralysed him. Eddy didn't know what that boded. What had Riddle seen in his head other than Medusa's face? Did he know the rest?
Riddle threw him into a secret passage without a word, then down the hall to his classroom.
"After you, Mr. Lee," smiled Mr. Riddle.
It was the strangest and most dangerous smile Eddy had ever seen. Riddle seemed genuinely happy with the discussion that was to follow. As Eddy did not move, paralysed with panic and terror, Riddle threw him into the classroom, and he slammed into a desk, gasping for air. The professor entered, blocked the door, and began to gather various things with a wave of his wand. Riddle paid absolutely no attention to him as he got to his feet. The professor had two messages written with flying pens, while things were wisely piling up in a trunk. Riddle seemed to be quietly preparing for a trip. The two messages were barely finished and flew out the open window. Once that was over, Riddle started packing his things again. The sorcerer's robes left his desk to shove themselves into another smaller suitcase as spellbooks flew around in the trunk.
When this spectacle and the expectation put Eddy to torture, the teenager decided to speak:
"Are you going to tell me what we're waiting for?"
"Shut up," hissed Riddle.
That cold voice cracked like a whip. Moments later, there was a knock on the door. Medusa introduced herself when Mr. Riddle waved the door open. When the two teenagers saw each other, they blanched.
"You asked me… Father?"
"Right on time. Unfortunately, I won't have much time to devote to you, Medusa. I'm going on a trip tonight. I'm going to miss your game tomorrow."
Trembling, Medusa took a few steps forward, staring at Eddy as Mr. Riddle closed his suitcase with the same nonchalance as ever. This attitude was almost worse than the screams and the spells; as much for Medusa as for Eddy, it was unexpected and therefore dangerous.
"I personally charge you with ridiculing Gryffindors for what matters. I never liked flying on a broom; that's something you're good at. This probably explains your patronus. Have you seen Medusa's patronus, Mr. Lee?" Riddle asked, turning sharply to him.
"No," the teen replied after a moment of hesitation as Medusa grew increasingly pale.
"It's a thestral. Medusa used the time spent with you to make him appear. She used you and then gave up once she got what she wanted. That's what I read in her eyes in your memories."
Then Eddy knew exactly what memory Riddle had seen; it was his argument with Medusa in the hallway as he smashed the windows. Eddy gulped and looked at Medusa. Her face was tense; she looked down at her feet, suppressing her tremors. A slightly cold and diffuse feeling prompted him to move towards Medusa. She shuddered away. Through what he saw in the girl's black eyes, it confirmed to Eddy all of Riddle's words.
"You always know how to surprise me, Medusa," Riddle whispered mockingly, not deigning to look at his daughter. "Using people for your benefit is something you know how to do so well. You manage to indulge in disgusting mediocrity in your relationships, but at least you know how to use them properly."
"Thank you for those compliments, Father," the girl quivered in a broken voice.
"Now that the situation is clarified, you can leave, Medusa. Good evening and good game."
The young woman tried to say something, looked at Eddy, and then finally left the class looking down. Eddy watched her leave, and when the door slammed behind her, Riddle turned to him.
"It's best that you have no illusions. There are many things I can offer you, but this is not one of them."
"What was that? Why did you do this?"
"An elixir of the purest and oldest blood runs through my family's veins. Medusa knows it, and it is for this exact reason that she will always play you. You are nothing to her; put this in your mind."
Had Medusa actually spent time with him to create happy memories? At the moment, still too upset by what he had experienced at the Three Broomsticks, Eddy looked away and hissed:
"None of your business! None of this concerns you. I hurt Tina and Newt; I never meant to hurt them. Because of you, I lost everything!"
"So much the better; you must lose a great deal for what I offer you. You have lost things, but you will live. How do you feel?"
Eddy snorted. The idea of this sadist asking him such a thing after his words and plotting to harm him pissed him off, but he realised it was almost detached anger. Again, he seemed to be in a cotton fortress where everything was far away. Medusa's guilty gaze and Newt and Tina's frightened eyes had erected a wall of dark matter around him.
"Empty. I feel empty."
"Perfect. Thus, we will no longer have to suffer your little anger. The Obscurus will be satisfied with this barrier for a while. Then comes the next level."
"That horcrux stuff again, huh?"
At this name, the face of his professor closed somewhat. He gathered up his last belongings with the wave of his wand, and his belongings wisely piled up on his desk.
"Effectively. But you're not quite ready for that yet. When we have found the exact origin of your Obscurus, then we can move on to the next step."
"But what is it? I'm tired of your formulas and your ready-made slogans!"
For a moment, Riddle's eyes turned red, and his smile widened.
"I'll be back soon, Mr. Lee. I have stuff to do. In the meantime, go back to class and learn. You have many shortcomings, and I cannot waste my time trying to make up for them. If you ever do this stuff again with Medusa, I'll know, and she'll pay for it. Good evening."
In a dark cloud, Riddle disappeared, and Eddy found himself alone in the classroom. The still-frightened teenager saw through the window that Dumbledore's Phoenix Fawkes was returning to the Headmaster's Tower. Dumbledore had probably just returned from his trip. Eddy watched the fiery wings of the phoenix disappear into the setting sun and then returned to his dormitory.
In the void within himself, Eddy was not even able to realise that he really should have been worried.