Chapter 6 is out!
For this one, I wanted to set the character's dynamics inside Slytherin and Hogwarts. I also wanted to dig a bit into some characters' backstories and backgrounds; that is the reason why there is so much dialogue in the chapter. Ron is in a new and unknown place, so he is gonna need time to adapt and trusting his new friends.
Here also starts my original plotline for the first year. From now on, in most of the chapters, there will be like two parts; one of them being Ron and the canon storyline, and the other being the original one. In the future, everything might be connected, but as of today, I hope you all enjoy the story; especially the original plotline, which is the one I enjoy writing the most!
Scala ad Caelum
Chapter 6: The Most Noble House
Master Shana POV
Monday 9th September, 1991 (Woolworth Building, New York) – Early Morning
"You are late," the guard pointed out. "You should take this more seriously if you don't want to lose your position, Hanthey."
"You should keep yourself out of things you don't understand," Hanthey answered. The guard just shrugged his shoulders and opened the door that led to the Department of Mysteries. Or at least, what the Americans wanted it to be. People could call it as they wanted, for Hanthey, it was just the place where MACUSA had its magical researchers working on many different and strange experiments with magic.
I can't believe it was so easy... But what shouldn't be that easy? He just was a man going to work, just like every other day. The only difference was that today, Nicholas Hanthey had been summoned to Lord Elend Shawn's office. In fact, everyone seemed to know about it, because the many guards of the place didn't even cross in his path to question him about his intentions for the day.
Since he had an appointment, he just knocked twice on the door before coming in. The pureblood lord was already waiting for him, sitting in his chair. "Lord Shawn," Hanthey greeted. "I'm sorry for being late."
He just raised a hand to close the room's door, sending the worker a very scrutinizing look. "This room is completely secure, stop acting," Lord Shawn practically ordered. "I like to see the faces of my allies when I'm talking to them."
What act? Oh, yeah, I got carried away once again... Shana just shattered the illusion around her body and dropped her mask. She wasn't that ambitious but weak man of Nicholas Hanthey. No, she was Master Shana, the Fifth; a Master of the Order of Merlin. She wasn't here for a normal day or work; today was the day she was finally meeting Lord Elend Shawn.
Where seconds ago stood a tall man with a short beard, in his place, there was a not-so-tall witch with fiery-red hair; wearing one of the oriental dresses she liked so much. "Sorry about that," Shana apologised, a bit embarrassed of herself. "I often get... lost on my illusions."
That was her most precious and special skill; the ability to create illusions of other people or things with her magic. The bad part was that she lost herself most of the time in the acting; as if she was wearing a mask that didn't allow her to be her real self. Especially, when the impersonation required as much focus as Hanthey's one. Hell, even her vocal cords were paying the price of trying to make her voice much deeper than what it really was.
"I've heard about your skill and how it affected you," Lord Shawn said.
"It was way worse when I was at school," Shana shrugged it off. "Now, I can control it most of the time, but back then, it felt like I was living many lives; truly a nightmare."
"Cut the bullshit with me, Mater Shana," Lord Shawn warned. "I know that you have never attended one of the Eight Schools; in fact, no one but Master Isaac seems to know where you came from. But that is not the point of our meeting."
"You should be wary of him; he is dangerous," a voice stated in her mind. Shana just shook her head; this was not the moment for her to take control. There weren't any dangers here; this was something Shana had to do herself.
"You've certainly looked into me very well, Lord Shawn," Shana smiled at the man, not faced at all by his many intimidation attempts. "I see that you really live up to your name; that is something not many pureblood lords can say these days."
"I like to know as much as I can of my allies. Especially, when they can be as dangerous as you."
"You sure like to drop subtle threats," Shana smirked. "That one when you, out of nowhere, decided to take part in the Duelling League once again after all those years of inactivity was a nice one. I bet there were many lords who felt a bit uneasy after you showed them that your skills had not gotten rusty with the time. But please, drop the hostility with me; I'm not here to fight. We are natural allies, and if we don't join forces, we might get destroyed by our enemies."
The man finally adopted a more relaxed posture, even though the witch could still feel that his magic was ready to be unleashed if necessary. For the first time since she got into the room, Shana allowed herself a moment to study him. She had heard many tales about the man: how he took part in the war at a very young age; the fact he had been crowned as a duelling master twice; all the time he spent at the Department of Mysteries… Despite that, the wizard in front of her was just a very tired man whose ashen hair was starting to turn grey at many points.
"Just as we suspected many years ago, there is a group of Unspeakables working with Master Isaac," he confessed. "Raven is not the only one, but I assure you he is the leader of said group."
Wow, he sure doesn't like to play around. His straightforwardness helped Shana to remember that she was here today because of a very important matter. MACUSA officials working closely with the Order of Merlin for unknown reasons? That was something extremely suspicious, especially when it was around Isaac's secret project. "Who is that Raven man?" Shana asked. "I first saw him a year and a half ago when he was visiting the Tower; which means he already was a close ally of the First Master back then."
"I don't know who he really is," Lord Shawn admitted. "There are many men here who don't reveal their identity. This is a dangerous job, Master Shana. Here, a lot of witches and wizards work with very confidential projects. Many of those workers don't have the power to defend themselves in the case of someone attacking them to obtain said secrets; if their identity gets revealed by some coworker of theirs to a certain band of thieves, they won't stand a chance. That being said, that is not Raven's case; that man just likes to have as much liberty as he can."
That was curious information to know, but it didn't shed any light on their problem. "So, you don't really know anything about him?" Shana muttered, trying to hide the evident disappointment in her voice.
"Nothing outside of the things he does here, and not from all of them," Lord Shawn answered.
Well, this really wasn't a surprise for Shana. Master Isaac would never associate himself with rookies, especially when it was his main project the one at stake. But that man, Raven, worked closely with Jin the Stranger, who probably was the best mercenary in the entire world; that meant Shana needed to be wary of him. Her main objective of the possible partnership with Elend Shawn was trying to know more about the mysterious Unspeakable; as it usually happened, luck wasn't on her side.
"From what I've been told, he came to work here a few years before the end of the war," Lord Shawn continued. "He quickly ascended in the Unspeakables' ranks, making himself a name. Many started to... follow him after that. He has some sort of a cult of other Unspeakables under his service; lesser men, but what they lack in power, they win it in number."
"So you are basically telling me that you have no way of looking into this man," she summed up. "Great, fantastic, awesome. It has been almost two years since we started with this investigation and we are on the very same spot."
"No, we are not," the older man denied. "I've been working with your men for almost two years. Today has been the first time I really talked to you. I was not going to take this seriously until I had proof that you were really into this. Now that I know it, I can start investigating Raven while you do the same with the Order of Merlin."
Maybe she wasn't going to be so unfortunate for once. "I have one question for you, Lord Shawn," Shana decided to go all-in. "Why are you really doing this?"
He took a moment to answer, but when he did, he looked ten years older. "I've already lived through a war that almost destroyed the whole Wizarding World, Master Shana. Since the war ended, I made myself a promise; from now on, I would be watchful of every single wizard whom I considered could turn into a threat. Honestly, both Isaac and Xaladir scare me. They are very powerful and knowledgeable wizards, but most importantly, I don't know what they really want; that makes them the most dangerous people to me in the world."
There it is, finally some truths. "Master Isaac recruited me because you refused to be the Fifth Master," Shana said. "Why?"
"At first, I almost accepted it," he recognised. "Being recruited for the most powerful organisation in the entire world? That was nothing but an honour to me. I've learned to trust my instincts, Master Shana; they've saved my life many times. They practically begged me to get as far as I could from those men. You don't know with whom you are playing with, girl, and neither do I. But I swear in front of you that I won't let them achieve what they seek, whatever it is. There won't be another Lord Voldemort."
That was the truth I was looking for. Shana now knew the true reason after the man's actions; it was clear why he wanted to stop Isaac. It was her turn to reveal the information which would probably end their lives. "Let me tell you a story," the young Master said. "What do you know about Herpo the Foul and the Seven Founders?"
Six months ago...
Every piece of information they've gathered in the last year, supported by some historic events, had led them to a secret cave just under Mount Vesuvius. Thirteen months; that had been all the time Shana needed to suspect what the hell did Isaac want. He was a very discrete man, and yet, everyone in the Order knew that his life's purpose was to write his name in the history books of the Wizarding World; to be considered one of the greatest wizards in history; to bring glory not only for his name but also for the Order of Merlin.
There were very few things you could do to accomplish that; whatever was the thing buried in the cave, it had to be incredible. To prove her point, Isaac's men had been roaming around the mountain for some time. Thankfully for her, Shana and her allies had been able to find the place before them.
Despite that, they were still wandering in the surrounding area. In order to hide the cave from them, Shana had to cast a very potent illusion around the entrance. Since her illusions were incredibly powerful and realistic—even though impersonating people was her main talent—the soldiers wouldn't find them unless they had a very skilled wizard in the ranks. Not everything was fantastic, though. Such display of magic had left her completely exhausted; she really needed to work on her non-person illusions.
At least, she had very competent people to take the lead while she rested. "Be wary of traps from now on," Captain Jordan warned his men.
He was a tall and serious man with short, dirty, blond hair. He had a long scar that went from his lip to his forehead, jumping through his right eye. Jordan was the captain of the mercenary company Shana had contracted to accompany her in this mission; the Wings of Liberty. "We are on unknown territory!" He kept shouting. "This cave was some settlement used by the Ancient Wizards; expect everything and more!"
The foot soldiers advanced through the different corridors as the more important ones rested at the entrance chamber. As Jordan had said, the probability of finding traps in the way was very high; it was their duty to go first. Shana waited for them to come, sitting on a big rock and stretching her legs. Today, her outfit consisted of a yellowish, oriental-styled havah with some comfy trousers under it; the perfect clothes for the occasion. For starters, it allowed her to move freely in the case of a fight happening or just for adventuring in dangerous territories. But it also showed she was a woman of importance; a very important thing to have in mind when working with mercenaries.
In fact, some of them had already eyed—quite greedily—the two short swords which were attached to her hips. Not as if she could blame them, though; it wasn't every day when a man could lay his eyes on two weapons made of goblin steel. They ain't yours, these are Valkyrie's swords, Shana reminded herself. Still, she liked to think they were looking at the swords rather than at her ass.
At least thirty minutes had already passed when some of Jordan's men came from their little expedition. "Sir, Takuya and Mike are dead, but we've found a safe path," the soldier announced.
"Good," Captain Jordan said. "Be sure to retrieve their bodies and tell the company to move forward; we have an ancient cave to explore."
Shana got up from the rock and got closer to the captain. "Seems like you were right about the traps. We've just been here for forty minutes and there have already been 2 casualties."
"Trust me, Master Shana, I don't know what we will find in this cave, but I highly doubt we are leaving this place with more casualties than those we get in our regular missions."
"How is the war in the East going, Captain?" Shana asked. "Last I've heard from the Wings of Liberty was that they successfully defeated some Thailand pureblood lords and they got a huge amount of money as a reward."
"We do what we are paid for, no matter what it is," the Captain replied. "Once we accept a contract, the only thing stopping us from fulfilling our word is death itself."
"You are such a drama queen," she rolled her eyes. "Tell me, Captain; what do you really want? I'm paying you a great amount of money for this expedition, but your company already has tons of gold in its pocket. Why are you risking everything? You certainly know that I'm walking through thin ice and that I could be targeted by some very powerful individuals."
The serious man took a moment before answering. "That is something I might tell you someday in the future, Master Shana. Depending on what we are finding in this cavern, I might feel the need to extend our partnership. You need protection and men to do the dirty work, and I want to discover the secrets the world is hiding from us."
You are a mystery to me, Captain Jordan, and there are very few things that I like more than resolving them. The cavern's tunnels suddenly got to an end that led to a big and high chamber. Jordan stopped her at the border of the little fall, which was the only way to get down. "Let my men go first, this could be dangerous," he stated. "Steve, take your squad and get down there to search for any dangers."
Five men jumped down to explore the big chamber while all the other members of the expedition looked at them from above. This has been way too easy. There haven't been any traps since we found those at the beginning... There is something wrong with this chamber, I can feel it. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of some mechanism.
"Soldiers!" Captain Jordan shouted. "On guard! I didn't like the sound of that."
The men from the chamber must have activated some magical mechanism. With a very loud sound, one of the lateral walls exploded, sending many chunks of rock towards the five soldiers; as soon as their magical auras disappeared, Shana knew they were dead under the rubble. Despite that, it wasn't the most surprising event to happen. Out of that new hole emerged a furious and big Minotaur, carrying a very scary-looking axe—a double-edged one if that wasn't enough—and fully armoured from above the hips.
"Shit, what the fuck is that thing!" One of the squad leaders exclaimed. "I thought minotaurs had been extinct for centuries! Soldiers, rain hell over that beast!"
Seems like we've woken some ancient creature from its slumber. The soldiers started to fire curses at the creature from above, but the beast's armour was protecting him from any severe damage; it was probably made of a special metal like the goblin one was. In fact, the only thing the barrage seemed to do was to infuriate him even more, as his next roar proved by almost piercing their eardrums.
"Let me take the control, Shana; let's show these soldiers how things are done," Valkyrie was right, it was time for her to take control of their body. But before that, Shana also wanted to do her bit in the incoming fight.
The red-haired witch stepped forward without even looking at the shocked men. "I'll handle the beast," Shana told them. "Try not to destroy this cave while I kill that monster." The woman felt all their eyes on her back, some of them even try to stop her; how they could be so ignorant?
While she ran towards the border of the fall, Shana drew her wand and created a dozen of soldiers' illusions, which surrounded the Minotaur and seemed to confuse the beast. Its answer was to charge at them and try to cut them in a half with the big axe. "Give me the control now!" Valkyrie commanded in their mind.
Shana gave her the control.
Her fiery-red hair suddenly turned raven-black, just as a confident smile appeared on her face; it was time for the warrior counterpart to take things into her hands. Even though Shana was a very competent witch in battle, they were Valkyrie's domain. It was something hard to explain, but she just had better control of their powers and better instincts to survive extreme situations.
Still running, the Fifth Master cast her wand away and drew one of her swords; to slay that beast, special measures needed to be taken. Jumping down from a ten-metre fall might not be the best idea, but those kinds of problems didn't matter when a person had Allomantic powers as she did. In total, there were eight different metals, each one with its specific power; even so, Valkyrie had always thought she had been so lucky to control the four she could. They were known as the 'four physical metals': pewter, tin, steel and iron.
Using them was very similar to use normal magic. It was just a pull from inside, but rather than coming from the magical core, it came from the allomantic core. Valkyre burned the pewter she had previously ingested to augment her physical abilities and her body's resistance, which allowed her to land without taking severe damage from the fall.
Thanks to that, her body was ready for a physical battle with the Minotaur; her blade already dancing in her left hand with excitement. In her free hand, the witch grabbed some metal coins from a bag of her belt; it was time to use iron and steel, her two favourite metals. It was very simple, whenever an allomancer burned steel, it would be able to push against every single source of metal around him; granting great mobility. Then, when burning iron—which was the steel's counterpart—the allomancer could pull from those metal sources.
Valkyrie started to run towards the enraged beast, which had just ended destroying Shana's illusions. Let's see what an ancient beast like you can offer! As soon as she stepped into its axe's reach, the Minotaur lunged at her. It was incredibly fast, but thanks to the pewter, her augmented physical capacities allowed her to dodge it with a calculated sidestep. Ha! I love Allomancy!
"Minotaurs rely too much on their vision, blind him," Shana advised her counterpart. When the beast was finished retrieving its axe from the ground, Valkyrie stepped back and taunted the Minotaur to charge at her. The beast—with its snout literally fuming—did exactly what she wanted and rushed at her with an incredible roar.
Valkyrie just burned steel to launch forward two of the coins that were on her right hand with a very precise allomantic push, sending them right towards the beast's eyes. Thanks to the creature's roar, she knew the coins had made contact; the Minotaur might be way more furious after that, but it also was completely blind. Now it's time to finish it! Valkyrie jumped on the spot as she threw another coin backwards, pushing against it until it reached the wall.
In most of the situations, magic—including Allomancy and other branches—was something very hard to explain; a sea with endless possibilities. That wasn't the case with steel and iron. In the case of those two metals, there were very specific rules about their use and limitations; it was science rather than magic. If the allomancer pushed against something heavier than him, the person would be rocketed in the opposite direction. In the opposite case, in which the person was to be heavier, the source of metal would be the one to fly away.
That was the reason why Valkyrie was sent flying towards the Minotaur as soon as she pushed against the coin which was now embedded on the wall.
There was nothing the Minotaur could have done. Valkyrie just flew past the beast, to its back, and sliced open the back of both Achilles's tendons with a precise cut; making the huge beast fall on its knees. Then, not giving it time to recover, she unsheathed the other sword just to sank both of them at the beast's armpits; completely nullifying its ways of attacking her. Now that the four-metre creature was kneeling on the ground, Valkyrie observed that the armour had a weak point in the joint of the back with the neck; leaving some of its furry skin exposed.
"Be merciful and give it a quick death, we are the ones who invaded this creature's home," Shana said to her counterpart. For once, Valkyrie agreed with her; so she just sank her sword into the beast's neck, severing its spinal cord and killing it quickly. She retrieved the sword as the beast fell to the ground.
Valkyrie, thanks to all the pewter she had consumed during the fight, was starting to feel a bit weak; that was why she pulled a little vial out of her belt and drank it off in one gulp. The little vial contained pewter solution; made of pewter, water to dilute it all, a bit of her magic, and a bit of vodka for the sake of it. It was the only way to restore the reserves of allomantic metals; it might sound a bit rough, but it was a simple as drinking juice with lumps. The woman enjoyed the sensation before giving the control back to Shana; she may have developed an addiction to certain metals.
The illusion that made her hair look black disappeared, her red locks coming back in an instant. As soon as she noticed it, Shana tried to fix her hair since a few locks had gotten out of her polished bun. Captain Jordan appeared at her side and looked down at the fallen beast. "How many more secrets are you hiding, Master Shana?" He asked, sounding quite amused. "Turns out you are also an allomancer who can control at least four metals; can you control all of the eight magical metals?"
Shana raised her brow and looked at the man, very impressed with his knowledge about the extinct art. "You know about allomancy?"
"First, you burned pewter to enhance your physical abilities. Then, when you were down here, you burned steel to push against those coins of yours," he theorised. "My best soldier, Leader Levitt, is also an allomancer who has mastered the four physical metals. I know how your skills work."
"That's... interesting," Shana said, quite shocked at the revelation. "In my whole life, I've only met another allomancer. If what you say is true, that soldier of yours would be the second one." It was very interesting information, but they had more important things to do.
Shana walked to the wall's hole to examine it. There is something here, I can feel it. She touched it and started to move her hand across the whole wall; until she found what she was looking for around its middle. Is this a blood ward? Come on, Herpo, I expected you to be more original.
"Give me your knife, Captain," Shana practically ordered him. The man looked at her with curiosity, but he handed her the knife with no questions. She made a deep cut on her right hand and pressed it to the wall, but nothing happened. Maybe more blood is needed, or maybe... Shana looked back at the dead Minotaur and said: "I need the beast's body right here, bring it to me."
Two soldiers levitated the corpse with great effort and placed it just where Shana wanted; right in front of the wall. She unsheathed one of Valkyrie's swords and slashed open his thigh, severing the femoral artery. Unfortunately, the blood got out with no pressure since the creature had been dead for some minutes. Thanks to that, Shana had to use her wand to gather a good amount of blood; when she had a decent amount of it, she threw the mass of blood towards the wall.
As soon as all the fluid soaked the wall, a chunk of it disappeared, leading to a secret passage that went downwards. The corridor was suddenly illuminated with ghostly, blue torches as soon as Shana stepped in. "Soldiers, guard this place!" Captain Jordan commanded at her back. "Leader Kouji, you and your squad are coming with us."
The seven of them started to go downwards, with Leader Kouji at the lead. He was some Japanese wizard with relatively long hair tied in a man-bun; from what the Master knew, he was one of the most skilled soldiers the Wings of Liberty had. They needed around ten minutes to complete the descend, just to find another chamber. As soon as they found it, Kouji raised his hand to stop the group, but Shana ignored him and stepped into the chamber. If her suppositions were correct, there weren't any more traps waiting for them.
"Captain, shouldn't we look for some traps?" Kouji asked, looking at the witch as if she was some kind of weird creature. "This has been easier than it should; I don't like it."
Captain Jordan followed her. "I don't think there are any traps here, Kouji," he answered. "Whoever created this place, he did not want to exterminate the intruders; my guess is he wanted to test them. The creator was waiting for someone to find this place, but not anybody; someone worthy. That was the real intention behind those traps at the beginning and the minotaur; am I right, Master Shana?"
The young woman just nodded at the man without looking at him. "He is too clever for just being a leader of some mercenary company, I'll be watchful of him," Valkyrie muttered, but Shana ignored her and examined the chamber. This one was very small compared with the previous one, but much more interesting. There were many cages; some of them had bones and others had egg's shells inside of them. But what really caught Shana's attention was the huge heptagon carved in the wall in front of her.
The heptagon had a circle carved in each one of the seven points, with an unknown glyph inside of them. Despite the astonishing view, what really interested her was the fact it was made of metal; how could she be so sure? Well, it was what her allomantic skills were telling her. When an allomancer burned either steel or iron, from every metal source around him came some ethereal, blue lines. It was how the metal tracked and distinguished other nearby sources for the pulls and pushes. In this case, some thick ones were coming from each one of the heptagon's points.
Shana looked behind her, to the big rock column that supported the weight of the chamber's ceiling; a smile forming on her face just as some idea came to her mind. I guess supporting the ceiling isn't the only purpose of this column. Eh, Valkyrie, you know what we have to do, it's your turn.
Valkyrie took control with a tired sigh, her hair darkening just as her posture changed to a more confident one. "Captain Jordan," she called. "You and your men have to step back; now."
The warrior didn't wait for their response and pressed her back against the column, facing the huge heptagon. Then, she started to burn all the steel she had at a faster pace and tried to push the heptagon forward. The wall started to move very slowly, just as she was also pushed backwards, to the column. I hate this bullshit of action-reaction... Valkyrie started to burn pewter to fight the pain and to not get crushed against her supporting piece of rock.
The heptagon was split into two symmetric parts, and both of them went backwards diagonally. Just as Shana thought, the heptagon's wall is much lighter than what it looked. Valkyrie kept pushing until a hidden room was revealed. Then, she stopped burning the very little steel she had and fell to the ground, but fortunately, Captain Jordan was ready to grab her before she kissed the floor.
"That was an excellent display of skill and power, Master Shana," the man congratulated her.
"Shut the fuck up and help me to get on my feet," Valkyrie grunted.
Once she was back on her feet, the warrior took a long breath and gave the control back to Shana. "That consumed all the reserves of steel I had," Shana sighed. "Thank you for grabbing me, Captain. I believe that we just found what we were looking for."
There was some type of wooden altar in the middle of the secret room, with some yellowish parchment on it. Shana started to sweat excitedly. Finally... after all this time, I finally found something of use. The Fifth Master grabbed the parchment with trembling hands and looked at it. This is Ancient Greece... Bless Master Lawrence for making me study it all those years...
I know they are looking for my legacy. I know they are coming after me. I know they want to kill me.
That is why I had to write this card for you, Konstantinos, my last true friend.
I have something to confess.
Today, I killed my wife, my brother, and two of my dearest friends.
I am saddened because they were unnecessary deaths, but I had to do it; there was no other way.
Gerdnyaram found out what I was going to do thanks to her damned powers.
Her powers were the ones to sentence her, I just happened to be the executing hand.
Your cousin must be done gathering her friends from the Alazthi elite by now.
I know they will come after me, but I am not going down without fighting.
I have already given the order to all my followers and friends to bring hell itself upon the Alazthi and what is left of our great Order.
Konstantinos, I really hope it is you who read this letter. I really hope that they do not kill you because of my actions.
If it is not you, I really hope you, the one who is reading this, whoever you are, to be one of my heirs.
I, Herpo the Foul, am the greatest wizard to ever walk this planet, and my legacy shall last generation after generation.
This may be what was fated to me.
But whatever is waiting for me in the future, I do not fear it.
I shall Ascend to Immortality.
"Master Isaac is after something Herpo the Foul created, then," Lord Shawn guessed. After hearing Shana's story, he was leaning back on his chair with his eyes closed.
"No," Shana answered. "He isn't after 'something'. I suspect he is after Herpo's most legendary creation."
Lord Shawn finally opened his eyes to look at her. "He is after Herpo's Horcrux."
"That is what I believe."
"But... Herpo's Horcrux has been one of the greatest mysteries in the entire Wizarding history; nobody could prove that it really existed."
"I shall Ascend to Immortality," Shana recited. "I'm sure it really existed, Lord Shawn. What nobody could prove is if the Horcrux was destroyed or even found."
"Let's assume you are right and said Horcrux existed. What would he do with it? What would he win from it?"
"Well, for starters, he would gain international and historical recognition. Isaac would put his name on every book, and that would allow him to be remembered forever," Shana enlisted. "But... what really worries me is that he could, somehow, interact with the Horcrux. We know nothing about those aberrations of nature. We don't know what a capable man like Master Isaac could do if he had one on his power."
Lord Shawn looked at her for a few seconds before getting up. He walked towards her while extending his arm. "You should let me take control, you know what they say, better safe than sorry," Valkyrie tried to convince her, but Shana ignored her. Some kind of mist started to form at Lord Shawn's hand, but it quickly started to condense and extend, shaping into an absurdly big longsword. So that is his famous longsword; Legatum. I've always wanted to see one of the legendary swords made of Alazthi steel.
"You've convinced me, Master Shana," Lord Shawn said. "We can't let Master Isaac put his hands on the Horcrux. I won't allow it."
Shana also unsheathed one of Valkyrie's swords and placed herself in front of Lord Shawn. "There is more than what you are letting me see, I can feel it. You are afraid that if he fails, he tries the same with Lord Voldemort's."
"Maybe I am, but I don't think he will," Elend Shawn confessed. "I talked to him when we were in war times, and I know he feared Lord Voldemort. Besides that, there is even less knowledge about Voldemort's hypothetical Horcrux. The very few people who know what a Horcrux is try to ignore said knowledge. The Dark Lord being somehow alive can't be possible, but I know it is; Albus Dumbledore knows it is; the Masters from the Order of Merlin know it is."
"Then, let's seal our partnership with the ancient way," Shana stated, before making a cut on her right hand. Lord Shawn did the same, and they both grabbed each other's forearms; the sacred blood of a pact oozing onto the floor. Finally... We are making progress.
Ronald Weasley POV
Monday 9th September, 1991 (Hogwarts) – Early Morning
After making peace with Blaise and Daphne, Ron's week improved drastically. There still were a lot of problems within Slytherin, of course, but the dynamic of the first-year students was kinda stabilised... more or less. There were two clear groups. On the one hand, there was Ron's group with Blaise, Tracey and Daphne. Meanwhile, on the other hand, you had Malfoy's, with Parkinson, Bulstrode, Crabbe and Goyle.
Then, there was Theodore Nott. Ron didn't really know what was happening in the weedy boy's mind. He never insulted Ron, at least, in front of him; but he laughed without problems with Malfoy's remarks. What really surprised the redhead was that he also laughed at Malfoy when Ron was the one to insult him. He was definitely the weirdest guy Ron had ever known.
One of the things Ron had looked forward to the most before coming to Hogwarts was to finally attend a class of Defence Against the Dark Arts. Shame said class had been, without any doubts, his biggest disappointment so far. Professor Quirrel's class was nothing but a joke. The man just talked about all the adventures he had, but when someone asked about details, he changed the topic quickly.
On the contrary, the greatest and positive surprise had been the Potion's class. There was much more than throwing the ingredients and removing them in the art of potion's brewing. He had understood it after hearing how Professor Snape talked about it; one of the few times the young man looked as if he wasn't a walking mass of fury and disdain. Ron had to admit Professor Snape was a complete git with everyone who wasn't from his house; he was cruel and unfair even to the most brilliant students like Hermione Granger.
Up to this day, Ron was the first-year to win the biggest amount of points among all the Houses. But even after preparing himself for two years, the boy wasn't the best in all the subjects. He already had McGonagall, Flitwick, and Binn considering him their best student. But he was greatly surpassed by at least five students in Potion's; Blaise being the best of them all. Surprisingly, Neville Longbottom was the top student at Herbology.
Despite that, not everything could be good and beautiful...
Come on, Ron. Is not that hard, you just have to give the letter to one of the owls. Ron had needed the whole week to write the letter to his parents. In the end, he decided to blurt out all his thoughts, and now he couldn't do anything but hoping they could understand him.
The night before, Ron had remembered the promise he made to Ginny, so he also wrote a lighter and happier letter for her, explaining how his first week and how his new friends were. He also talked to her about her idol, Harry Potter. Ron had managed to talk with him on the second day after the classes, and much to his delight, he wasn't resentful of him because of his sorting; in fact, they both enjoyed a pretty good afternoon having tea at Hagrid's hut.
After twenty minutes of gathering enough strength to send the letter, Ron headed to the school's flying grounds since today they were having their first flying lesson with the Gryffindors. At least we don't have to stand Professor Binn for three hours... When he arrived, he spotted Harry, who was talking nervously with Neville and Dean Thomas; so Ron decided to salute them before going with his group.
"Hello there," Ron greeted. "Are you nervous about your first flight, Harry?"
"Of course I'm nervous!" Harry answered. "I've never flown before, and everyone here hasn't stopped talking about Quidditch and flying since the first day. I swear if I fall in front of Malfoy, I'm leaving this school before he can laugh at me."
"Don't worry about him. I'm pretty sure talking is the only thing he is good at… Oh shit, Madam Hooch's arrived. See you later guys, I have to be with my housemates." Ron sprinted towards his section, finding a free broom between Daphne and Bulstrode.
"What are you waiting for?" Madame Hooch barked at the few students out of place. "Everyone stand by a broom right now!"
Well, this is something I can do. Ron shouted with everyone "UP!" and the broom jumped into his hand. He looked everywhere and saw that only a few of them like Harry, Malfoy, Nott, or Finnegan managed to do it perfectly. Madam Hooch showed them how to mount the broom and kept barking instructions, but she suddenly stopped when she realised that Neville Longbottom was rising up without any control over his broom. Oh shit... this is not going to end well...ouch... that has to hurt.
The whole class gathered at the place in which Neville had fallen."Broken wrist..." Madam Hooch muttered. "None of you is to move while I take him to the hospital wing!" The Professor shouted as she helped Neville to get back on his feet.
"That must have hurt," Daphne said, suddenly appearing at his side. "I hope they learn from this for next year. Flying lessons shouldn't be mandatory."
"What are you talking about?" Ron asked, incredulously. "Isn't it enough that first years can't apply for the Quidditch team that you can't have us enjoying some good flying?"
"Don't look at me with that face; flying is not a ladylike activity," Daphne explained as if that was a very valid reason, but suddenly, the blonde's eyes shot up to the sky. "Eh, what's happening there? Why is Malfoy flying? And why is Potter going after him?"
Ron joined the whole class and looked at the blue sky, where two of the students were having an argument.
Shit, Harry sure knows how to fly; what the hell was he worried about? Harry rocketed towards Malfoy, who managed to get out of the way at the last moment, and then, the blond boy threw something high into the air. Harry went instantly after whatever thing Malfoy just threw, but he wasn't going to make it... Bloody hell, what was that? He caught it before it touched the ground? That's bloody amazing!
"HARRY POTTER!" Professor McGonagall shouted while walking towards the Gryffindor group.
Shit... he is going to be so fucked up… Madam Hooch had clearly told them to not fly until she was back; Harry was in for lots of trouble. But what infuriated him the most was the fact Malfoy was already on the ground, acting as if nothing had happened.
The other Gryffindors tried to defend him, but Professor McGonagall ended up taking Harry with her to the castle. "I think there is going to be one free bed in the Gryffindor's bedrooms tonight!" Malfoy laughed.
That ignited Ron. It was possible for Harry to be expelled because of that git. He was about to shout a few things to Malfoy when he felt some soft hands covering his mouth. "Don't be stupid and make a number here, much less to defend a Gryffindor," Daphne whispered into his ear. "If you worry that much about your friend Potter, you can ask him what happened later, in private."
Ron shook her hands out of his mouth before turning to her. "What the hell are you doing? Are you barmy or what?"
"I'm just saving your neck," she sneered. "In case you don't remember it, we agreed to teach you how to survive in Slytherin. Getting into a fight with someone like Malfoy because you wanted to defend some Gryffindor in public is definitely not the way to do well in our House."
Why do they have to be this infuriating... But in the end, Ron decided that listening to her was the best he could do for now. After all, he had given them his word that he would try to not cause many problems, especially since he understood he could also get them into trouble. Someday I'll finally clock that git... or maybe I should hex him...
The rest of the day was incredibly normal, but everything changed when Harry approached him after dinner was finished; when the redhead was making his way towards the common room, completely alone. "Eh, Ron, do you have a moment?" Harry called him.
"Harry!" Ron exclaimed. "What happened to you after Professor McGonagall took you to the castle?"
"Oh, it's true, you didn't know. Well, she named me Gryffindor's new seeker, but that's not the point-"
"What? For real? Shit, Harry, you have to be the youngest seeker in at least-"
"A century, I know," Harry interrupted him. "But listen, I need your help. Malfoy has challenged me to a duel this midnight, and I don't have a clue about what to do in a duel."
Malfoy has challenged him to a duel? Shit, this is great! Daphne told me to solve my problems in private, well... I'm not getting anything more private than this. "You can count on me," Ron smiled at him with confidence. "I also have some things that I want to... solve with him."
"Thank you..." Harry sighed, clearly relieved. "He told me that we are meeting in the trophy's room tonight."
"Great! I'll be there."
Night came and Ron had to wait for everyone to be asleep. He was currently laying on his bed, with his robes still on, thinking about what hex he could use against Malfoy and his gorillas. Time passed and the redhead finally heard Blaise and Nott snoring; it was time to move. For anyone else, walking in the middle of the night without making any noises could have been hard, but for a Weasley, who was used to moving silently in The Burrow, it was very easy.
When Ron arrived at the meeting point, he found himself pretty much alone. Where the hell is everybody? He suddenly heard some noises, so Ron aimed his wand at them, expecting to find Malfoy and his goons. But in the end, it was Harry the one to come out of the corner; he wasn't alone, though. What are Granger and Longbottom doing here?
"Ron!" Harry greeted as soon as he noticed his friend. "Thank God you are already here. Where is Malfoy? Shouldn't he already be here?"
"What... are they doing here?" Ron asked, pointing at the other two members of the group.
Harry glared at Granger before answering. "Well, Hermione tried to stop me from coming, but the door that led to our common room closed before she could go back. While Neville was sitting outside when we found him. Anyway, it doesn't matter now; they need to come with us or we'll get caught by Filch and his cat."
Okay? That's some weird shit. "Whatever," Ron shrugged it off. "What has me worried is the fact that bastard has yet to appear; I don't like this-"
"Shhh," Granger shushed him. "Did you hear that?"
The three boys tried to listen to whatever thing Granger was referring to; was that the noise of footsteps? "Crap, it's Filch and his cat, run!" Harry whispered to them.
The four of them started to run as silently as they could. They went through some doors and sprinted down entire hallways until they got into some abandoned gallery. "Malfoy tricked you!" Granger started, as soon as they were safe. "Just as I told you! You should have listened to me! Now we are all going to be expelled!"
"Shut up!" Ron muttered; this was not the time to hear her stupid nonsense. "You are giving me a headache with your noisy complaints."
The girl was about to shoot back, but they suddenly heard Filch's steps outside the gallery. "Oh, my dear students, I know you are here..." he said with a chirpy voice. It almost looked as if the janitor was trying to sing a very shady song he wrote himself. "Get out so we can talk… There is nothing to worry about, my dear students."
Yeah, good luck with that. Ron ran like never before. He didn't even wait for his friends; if they couldn't follow his pace, it wasn't his problem. When he was practically out of breath, their escape came to an end as they collided with a closed door. Harry and Ron tried to push it open, but it was useless; they were locked. "Come on, you can't be serious!" Granger exclaimed. "Get your wand out, anyone!"
Shit, I'm bloody stupid! Ron got his wand out of his robes' pocket and aimed it at the door. "Alohomora," he chanted. With a simple spell, the door was unlocked with a loud click. "Come on, get in." He waited for them to step inside so he could close the door.
The four of them got inside the room and tried to breathe as much as they could. They could hear how Filch had suddenly started to argue with Peeves; the argument ended with a loud noise of something breaking and Filch loudly cursing Peeves. Merlin blesses you, Peeves, you were finally helpful. It was then when the redhead realised how much his legs were hurting; what a way to ran!
"G-Guys..." Neville muttered—his face as pale as a ghost—while tugging from Ron and Harry's robes "W-We are not alone..."
The three of them turned around to see what Longbottom was going on about. WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING! In front of them, there was a giant beast with three big heads, three pairs of eyes, and three very sharp sets of teeth. Ron suddenly remembered the Headmaster's words about finding the most horrible death. They all shouted for their lives and ran out of the room as fast they could. Ron didn't care about Filch and Mrs Norris anymore; he just wanted to crawl back to his bed. They sprinted for what seemed like an eternity, but they finally stopped somewhere on the second floor.
"You know what?" Ron asked the others, completely breathless. "I think it's time for me to go back to bed, goodbye." He didn't even wait for them to say anything; the redhead just took the first staircase that went downwards. What the bloody hell is the Headmaster thinking? Who had the brilliant idea to put that thing on a school?
When he arrived at the entrance of the common room, he blurted out the password as best as he could and walked towards his room. He practically threw himself towards the bed and fell asleep instantly with his robes still on.
Tuesday morning came, and for the first time in a week, Ron had trouble waking up. Wait, why am I already dressed? Then, he remembered the events of the previous night and shivered a bit. Oh, yeah... that's why... His head ached like hell, but since he was all alone in his bedroom the others had to be already waiting for him in the common room, so Ron stretched and went to meet his 'friends'.
They were all sitting on the same couches where Ron beat Daphne in their first chess' game. "Good morning..." the redhead greeted them; more like yawned at them, actually. "Who's excited for a great Herbology lesson in the morning?"
Daphne raised her brow and looked at him like he had grown another head. "Why... are your robes so wrinkled?" She asked, looking for an answer for the weird dilemma. "You know what? I'll rather not know the answer."
He was about to answer her when he heard Malfoy's surprised voice. "Weasley? What are you doing here?" For a moment, the redhead didn't react; the last thing he wanted right now was another row with the rat, he needed to wake up a bit for that. Then, he remembered. It's true... that bastard tricked us... he must have told Filch where to find us.
Ron's whole face turned red with rage. "You bastard..." he muttered with venom in his voice. "You'll pay for what you did..."
"What are you talking about?" Malfoy smirked, tapping his head with a finger. "Did you hit your head or something like that? Maybe, your robes are so tight that it is starting to affect your brain; you should buy another one... Oh, wait, it's true. You can't afford them."
All the Slytherin students who were in the common room started to laugh loudly. Ron's eyes tore up a bit and his whole face turned red with rage. He drew his wand as fast as he could and aimed it at Malfoy's head, but Tracey stopped his arm and tried to calm him. "Don't do it, Ron! Let him talk, it's the only thing he knows how to do."
"That's it, Weasley," Malfoy laughed out loud. "Listen to your filthy half-blood friend as a good blood traitor like your kin would do."
That's it you fucker... Ron shook Tracey off his arm. Charlie, I hope you are proud of your little brother. He aimed his wand at Malfoy and exclaimed "FLIPENDO!" The blond boy couldn't even move before the hex hit him. He was sent backwards, into a table, flying over it and falling to the floor in a very funny position.
Ha! You ain't laughing anymore, eh! Ron heard his friends gasping and the whole common room laughing even louder; but this time, at Malfoy's expense. He smirked confidently, but not for much time. Crabbe grunted and ran towards a surprised Ron, who wasn't expecting the goon to have any kind of initiative. The redhead was sent to the floor after Crabbe punched him hard in the face.
"Ron!" Tracey cried.
Crabbe punched him for a second time while Ron tried to fight him off. After some more hits and turns—most of them missing his face by mere inches—the redhead finally managed to aim his wand at the gorilla, but Goyle came out of nowhere and kicked it out of his hand. Shit... I'm dead. Just when Crabbe was about to punch him for the umpteenth time—and probably for the last one—he suddenly froze in the middle of the motion and fell backwards with a loud 'thud'.
"What the fuck are you doing, you brats?" A voice echoed in the room; whoever his hero was, he was very furious.
Ron heard another thud and felt how Goyle also dropped dead to the floor, just at his side. He looked to his saviour, and much to his surprise, he found Daniel Williams' bored face looking at him dead in the eyes. "Don't answer me, I don't care," the prefect said. "You, crying girl, do you know what happened here?"
"Ron was just defending himself-" Tracey started.
"I said that I didn't care," the fifth-year boy interrupted her. "You are coming with us so you can explain what happened to Professor Snape," then, he turned to some boys who had been laughing during the whole fight. "You four, third year, ain't you? Well, since you have a free period this morning you are coming with us too. Come on, grab those three clowns and get them to Professor Snape's office." Ron was yanked up by the prefect's arm.
The recently formed group walked in silence towards Professor Snape's office; no one uttered a single word during the entire walk Shi, shit, shit... I'm so dead... I'm more than dead. They finally arrived at the office's door, and Daniel knocked on it "Professor? It's me, Daniel. I have some problems in need of your... judgement."
The door was opened and they all came into the office. As soon as he saw them, Professor Snape had the best scowl on his face that Ron had ever seen. Merlin... Fred and George didn't lie when they told me he was scary... "What happened?" Snape asked. "Why is Weasley bleeding?"
"Long story, I guess," Daniel answered. "You should ask the girl; she'll answer you better than anyone."
Professor Snape looked at Daniel's eyes, and Ron didn't know how the prefect was able to hold his gaze. "Good, thank you, Williams. Take Weasley to Pomfrey's, I'll talk to him in private later."
Daniel grabbed his arm and led him out of the room. They walked in silence for a minute, until the older boy broke the silence. "You need to have a thicker skin. Doing what you did put you at that bigot's same level of stupidity."
"What did you expect me to do?" Ron complained. "You must have heard how he insulted me and my friend. You, better than anyone, should understand it."
"That's why I'm trying to help you, brat," Daniel sighed. "I'm not gonna lie, I like you; you have balls, and from what I've heard, you are intelligent and ambitious. But you are committing the same mistakes I did when I was your age." He suddenly stopped, making Ron crash with his chest. "You need to learn how to control your temper. Here, in Slytherin, there are dangerous people, not like that clown you just humiliated. Don't be as stupid as Malfoy and think before you do something the next time."
Then, he pressed his hand on Ron's lip and muttered something. The redhead felt a warm sensation and the pain suddenly went away. "What did you do?" He asked, still touching the lip which was bleeding seconds ago; there was no trace of blood nor pain anymore.
"I'm not going to walk you to the infirmary for just a stupid, broken lip," Daniel sneered as if the mere thought was funny enough to laugh. "You know how far is it? I have better things to do. Come on, go outside to take some fresh air so I can pretend that I went with you to Pomfrey's."
The prefect started to walk towards some staircase that went upwards and disappeared from Ron's sight. Holy shit, he is amazing! Ron did what he was told and made his way towards the gardens; he could use some fresh air right now. Once he was outside, the boy looked everywhere for a tall tree that could shade him. When he found it, he sat and observed the Great Lake. Where the bloody hell is Gerd? She used to disappear for a few days, but it's been more than a week since I last saw her...
He was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts when someone sat at his side. Much to Ron's surprise, it was Nott, who was also looking at the Great Lake with a weird look. "You are a very interesting individual, Weasley," the weedy boy started. "You got sorted in Slytherin out of nowhere; you happen to be one of the best students of our year; hell, you even know how to defend yourself."
"What do you want?" Ron asked. Among all his year mates, Nott was the one he knew less. He spent time with the two first-year groups, both Ron's and Malfoy's, as if their fight didn't have a thing to do with him.
"Nothing, I just came here to talk a bit," Nott answered. "You know? You could do very well in Slytherin if you play your cards right, not like Malfoy is doing right now."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Come on, you aren't that slow. Malfoy's name carries a lot more weight than yours, but Weasley is still an Ancient and Noble House of England," Nott explained. "Let me tell you something. I've never seen Malfoy acting as stupidly as he is doing these days. Sure, he was never a genius or something like that, but he's always had a good mind for the pureblood life. Your rivalry with him is making him lose all the power that his name carries within Slytherin." He stopped for a moment and lied back on the grass with his arms behind his head. "You are slowly casting him out and taking his place. If you only acted as a true pureblood instead of being the blood traitor you are... You could do great things, Ronald Weasley."
That made Ron snort. "There are very few things that infuriate me as much as when you preach about your blood superiority and all that crap; how can you think like that? Look at Tracey, she is a great person even when you all treat her like shit; even her closest friends, like Blaise or Daphne, look down at her sometimes. You can come at me with any of your crap about pure being better than half-blood, but Tracey is proving herself as one of the best students of our year."
"Yeah, you may be right, Tracey is not so bad. But the only reason why she is doing good in class is because you are helping her," Nott calmly said. "Let me tell you a story, Weasley." He suddenly sat and looked him in the eyes for the first time during the whole conversation. "I was seven years old when my mother was beheaded in the middle of Diagon Alley's upper district."
What did he just say? Ron was left completely shocked and speechless with the way the boy had dropped those words. He had to be imagining things, right? There way for Nott to say something like that out of nowhere...
"In case you didn't know, beheading is the pureblood way of executing," he kept going. "My mother was a half-blood; quite ironic, isn't it? Most of the pureblood families try to keep their lineage as pure as they can by marriages among cousins or with other notable pureblood families, but my father fell in love with her. She was a much better person than him, what the hell, she was a much better person than everyone. That didn't stop her murderer, though."
"Do you guess who could have killed her?" Nott asked, and Ron could do nothing but looking at him. "Of course you wouldn't guess, that's where the irony comes from. It was a muggle-born wizard who executed her the pureblood way, you see where do I want to get?"
"N-No..." Ron muttered.
"It boils my blood when people like you defend muggle-borns and half-bloods like they were saints," Nott practically hissed; long was gone his calm facade. "Even more when you talk about us, the followers of the Blood Purity, like we were the worst filth to ever walk this planet," he stopped for a moment before resuming. "My father has always been a troubled man, especially since what happened to my mother. He wasn't with us at that exact moment because he was buying some ice creams. But as soon as he saw what happened, he did what nobody would have expected from him; he cried in front of my mother's body instead of going after the man who killed her to murder him brutally."
"If you're asking how I know the man who killed my mother was a muggle-born, well that is quite easy," Nott went on. "Even six years after the war, the event was still fresh in everyone's memory; even the Aurors took their duty seriously. In fact, there was one of them patrolling Diagon Alley at that exact moment. He saw the murder and pursued the bastard who killed my mother. Be ready for the best, here comes the joke. It turned out the man was caught and declared in front of a few Ministry officials; he was declared as innocent and absolved from all accusations; just like that. Even his identity was hidden from the world."
"W-What do you want to say with that," Ron asked him. The sudden mood change of Nott was sending shivers down his spine; the boy clearly was not good on the head.
"He was absolved because he was a muggle-born who fought in the war for the Order," Nott resumed his explanation. "My father never had as much influence within the Ministry as Malfoy or others had; not even close. He is a warrior, not an arse-licking bastard. The law might have declared that man innocent, but I'll never forget his face. He looked at me eye to eye when he killed my mother; that was the moment I knew I would kill him someday. That is the reason why I don't care about school and your stupid rivalry with Malfoy, do you get it now? I don't need to excel in classes and those kinds of things. I already have a dream to fulfil once the chance appears in front of me."
"Why... why are you telling me all this?" Ron asked, totally confused.
"Because we, Ronald Weasley, are more alike than what you think," Nott must have seen his freaked out face because he continued talking. "Your uncles were also beheaded the same way my mother was. Funny, eh? Among all the first-years from Slytherin we are the only ones with some family members murdered, isn't it curious?"
Nott finally got up and patted Ron's shoulder in a friendly way, but it was his weird smile the one that was setting Ron off. "Remember what I've told you, Weasley, especially when judging other people without knowing who they are. You truly are some interesting and special wizard, but in the pureblood society, you need to be very careful and selective with whom you make an enemy."
With that, Nott just left Ron alone, totally speechless and freaked out. Merlin... Now I understand why he acts like he doesn't care about anything... he's really lost his head...
His conversation with Nott had left him totally shocked. He didn't even attend the Herbology class since the others must have told Professor Sprout that he had been sent to the infirmary. Another reason why he didn't go to class was because he didn't want to see his 'friends' faces right now. Ron really thought they were starting to like each other, but none of them made a move to defend Tracey when she was insulted like that; even less to help him when Crabbe was about to beat the crap out of him.
That's why he decided to eat alone before their friends got out of class. What can I do now... they will go to the common room, so I can't go there. Slytherin first year's had Charms on Tuesday afternoon, but Ron still had a few free hours before the class. Because of that, he decided going to the library to prepare for his weakest subjects would be a great idea, especially since he wasn't earning as many points as he was during the first week; it wasn't one of his favourite activities, but it was either that o roaming the castle for a few hours.
It had only been a little more than an hour and he already was tired of studying; reading Percy's notes back at home had been enjoyable, but trying to understand a bit more about potion's brewing just by reading a book wasn't the funniest thing to do. Talking about potions, Professor Snape has yet to give me detentions, there is no way I'm avoiding them... wait, isn't that Granger?
The bushy-haired girl sent him a quick glance before completely ignoring him to sit on one of the farthest tables of the library. Ron observed her as she started to get a lot of books from her bag. Merlin... her back must ache a lot... it's impossible to carry out all so many books. There was something about Granger that set Ron off; it was like she had a problem with him just because they competed between them to see who could get more house points.
But he also did that when they had to share class with Ravenclaw. In fact, people like Anthony Goldstein and Padma Patil were incredibly good, and none of them seemed to take things so personally. I didn't share a near-death experience with them. Wait, now that I think about it, I haven't talked with any of them since yesterday. With those thoughts in mind, Ron found himself walking towards her table.
Granger almost jumped out of the library when Ron dropped his bag on the table without saying any words. "Ups... sorry about that," Ron apologised. "Wasn't my intention to drop it like that, I'm not used yet to have so many books in my bag."
If glares could kill... well, he would have died at this exact moment. "What do you want, Weasley?" She asked, now looking back at her books.
"I saw you here, all alone, and since we haven't talked about what happened last night, I thought this was a good opportunity to ask how you were doing."
"Please, don't talk about what happened yesterday. We could have been expelled! Do you even know how close Filch was to catch us?"
Madam Pince shushed them, so Ron whispered: "Expelling us? Nah, I didn't really think about it. I was a bit more worried about being eaten. Why the bloody hell do they need to have a beast like that in a school?"
"That beast was guarding some trapdoor."
"Wait what? How do you know it?"
"Well, I just looked at its feet, I'm sure that's something you can also do."
"Wow, you can really joke," Ron faked a whistle. "You just taught me two things in less than five seconds; have you ever considered being a teacher after graduating?"
Ron wanted to keep joking to lighten the mood, but she shut him down with a glare. Merlin, woman; I get it, you don't like my jokes. The redhead opened his book and tried to read in silence, but he wasn't in the mood for studying. "We could help each other, you know?" He proposed. "I'm doing good at Transfiguration and Charms, but I could use some help with Herbology or Astronomy."
"Why should I help you? Gryffindor and Slytherin are both competing for the House Cup, and you are ahead of us right now."
"I didn't take you for someone who worried about that competition."
"To be honest," she started, now looking at him. "I don't know if it is because I want Gryffindor to win, or it is because I don't want Slytherin to win."
Come on tell me something new, the other Houses don't like us... what a surprise. It wasn't a secret Slytherin's fame was awful; hell, even children who have yet to attend Hogwarts knew about it. Thanks to his raising and his brother's tales, he was one of them a few months; in fact, now he thought about that fact, it was pretty funny how everything had changed in so little time. People even looked at him with bad eyes, even though there was no mistake about him being a Weasley.
"Don't look at me like that," Granger defended herself, already getting pretty flustered. "You are nothing but bullies, even to someone as good as Neville. I still remember what Malfoy did after he fell from his broom."
"You ain't telling me anything new," Ron snorted. "Imagine if you had to spend almost your whole day with them."
"Is that why you were in the infirmary this morning?" She asked, a bit too quickly. "I heard something about you and Malfoy getting into a fight, and he was practically fuming this morning."
"Sort off... He finally got on my nerves."
Granger was about to say something when Blaise appeared out of nowhere to sit at Ron's left. "Hello, Granger," he greeted without much enthusiasm. "Can we talk for a moment, Ron?"
Not really... "If I don't have other choices..." he ended up saying. "Well, I guess this is a goodbye, Granger. We should try to study together another day."
"Maybe... but only if you learn how to be quieter."
At least she tried to make a joke; we are making progress!. The two boys got out of the library and Ron let Blaise lead the way. In the end, the dark-skinned boy took him to some abandoned classroom on that very same floor. Both Daphne and Tracey were already waiting there; the blonde sitting on the Professor's table and the brunette on some chair.
"Ron!" Daphne exclaimed. "How are you? You made us worried when you didn't attend Herbology!"
"Wow, thanks," Ron answered, sarcastically. "You guys could have worried about me when I was about to get clocked by Crabbe, but I guess that better late than never!"
"I knew this was coming," Blaise let out a loud sigh. "Listen, we are sorry, okay? I was about to hex Goyle when he kicked your wand out of your hand, I swear, but that prefect beat me to it."
"You caught us completely out off guard, Ron," Daphne tried to explain. "By any means were we expecting you to hex Malfoy. There has always been tension in our group, back then, when we used to meet for socializing. But this… this was the first time a real fight happened. We were completely paralyzed."
"If I had warned you all before the fight, would you have helped me?" Ron asked, raising a brow.
"Well... I-I don't think so," the blond girl answered with honesty. "I-I don't like fights... and I can't just... take sides this soon... you know what I'm saying?"
I thought so... "Well, at least you are sincere. I hate when people lie to me," Ron sighed
"I would have helped you," Blaise pipped in. "If you had told me beforehand, that's it. I don't have any love for Malfoy, he's just a git who used to make jokes about me and my mother when I wasn't there to defend myself. But Daphne wasn't telling the truth when she said this was the first time that things ended up in a fight."
Ron looked at the blonde girl, who was looking to the floor while embracing her knees. "We were paralyzed because there was one time when things ended up in a fight; this very summer before Hogwarts, in fact," Blaise explained. "There was some American boy who used to socialize with us, actually he's like a friend of Daphne, but he wasn't so bad when you compared him with Malfoy. Well, the thing is that we all got heated up in an argument, and Theodore... well, sometimes you don't know what he is going to do if he gets angry."
Ron fully agreed with him; Nott was mental. "The thing is Nott's father had already taught him some basics about duelling," Blaise kept going. "Now, this other kid I was talking about—Alexander Shawn is his name—also knows how to defend himself a bit. The argument escalated very quickly, and most of our parents... were pretty disgusted with our behaviour. Things weren't pretty that summer, and some connexions between families were broken. So, when you did that out of nowhere... well, we all remembered that moment."
"Oh..." Ron didn't even know what to say. Nott had freaked him out this very same morning just by telling him some story, seeing him in a fight could be... scary to say the least. "I see. Well, now that I think about it... it's true that I was a bit... reckless this morning, but I just got to my limit with him."
"We understand you, Ron," Daphne reassured him. "That's why we wanted to apologise and to talk about it. It wasn't honourable what we did, but you can't expect for others to fight because some idiot was able to taunt you."
"Yeah, I know you are right," Ron agreed on that. "Daniel also told me that multiple times. But that's how I am. I really tried to not fight him, but I can't ignore him forever."
"Well," Daphne smiled a bit, now more animated. "I don't think there are going to be any more fights soon. From what I've heard, Professor Snape was rather disappointed with Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle; so I don't think they are picking any fights with you anytime soon."
"Oh yeah," Ron snorted. "I just remembered that Professor Snape wanted to talk to me in private... just great."
"I have an idea," Blaise piped in. "Why don't we all forget how we acted this morning and focus on making things better the next time? It is not the best idea, but it is something to start with."
"Okay," Daphne quickly agreed.
"I never thought I would say this," Ron started. "But I was really starting to like the direction our group was going, and now, we all know we've done something wrong. We also know how others feel about it, so let's try to do better next time; okay guys?"
"I agree," Blaise added.
"Tracey?" Daphne asked. "Why haven't you said anything this whole time? Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm okay," Tracey smiled, even though her smile wasn't very convincing. "I'm just happy that we aren't breaking our group."
After that, classes and dinner went very smooth and well; at least when comparing them with the morning's events. Ron didn't know what on earth could have Professor Snape told Malfoy, but the blond boy didn't even look in his direction. Merlin saves me... I'm so dead. Far from being a reassuring thought, it was making him even more nervous; if the young Professor had scolded Malfoy so hard, what would he do with him?
"I just can't wait for the classes to get a bit more complicated," Blaise commented, once they were on their way back to the common room. "We've practically done zero magic since we started. I know we have to learn the basic concepts and theory first, but that first Transfiguration class was the best. Potions have also been incredible, though."
"You only say that because you are the best in our year at potions, Blaise," Daphne rolled her eyes. "But you are right, I wish we've done more magic by now."
"I just wish we had a class of Defence," Ron lamented. "It was the subject I looked forward to the most, and it's been the biggest letdown so far."
"Stop right there, brats!" Someone said, from behind. Oh, no. Not you, please...
Daniel was walking quickly towards them with some other brunette girl who also had the prefect badge on her chest. "You three can keep walking; you can't, Weasley. Professor Snape wants to talk with you right now; he is already in his office. I'd wish you good luck, but there is no saving you. I hope this will help you to think twice in the future."
Shit... the good thing is I won't need to talk with my parents about the sorting because I'll be dead. Since Snape's office was close to Slytherin's common room, they kept walking together; his friends sending him sorry looks all the way.
"Don't worry that much, Ron," Daphne tried to comfort him. "I bet it isn't going to be so bad. You saw that Malfoy and his goons didn't look so... well, I don't know how they should look, but they didn't seem to be very affected."
"Yeah, but you are forgetting a little detail," Blaise added. "Professor Snape is Malfoy's godfather."
Yeah, I'm so dead. They finally arrived at the office's door, so they wished him good luck and kept going. Ron knocked on the door to make his presence known; the door suddenly opened, startling him, but he got inside either way. Professor Snape's face was completely devoid of any emotions, he was just sitting on his chair and looking dead at Ron's eyes, whose armpits started to sweat uncontrollably.
"Take a seat, Weasley," the young professor practically ordered. "If I remember correctly, I did warn you all that I didn't want any fight within the house. Not only did you ignore me, but you were also the first students to get into a serious fight in all the years I've been here as a docent."
Ron tried his best to look at the Professor's face, instead of looking to the floor like he wanted to do. But the young Professor just got up from his chair and walked towards some big and steaming cauldron he had at the end of his office. Then, he started to stir its contents. "Do you know that I'm Draco's godfather?"
"Yes, sir."
"I might be, but not here, in Hogwarts. In this school, all the students are the same for me. I only have favourites when they earn it with their merits and hard work," he went on. "Mr Weasley, pass me one jar of salamander's blood."
What? Salamander's blood? Ron looked through all the jars that had liquids inside of them; luckily, there was only one orange-coloured vial, so he took it and delivered it to the Professor.
"What are the properties of salamander's blood?" Professor Snape asked.
Its properties... come on, Ron, it was in the second year notes you've read. "Mmm...Salamander's blood is mainly used because of its... healing and... rejuvenating properties?" The redhead bet everything on his hunch.
"I'm brewing this potion for the second year's class tomorrow; what potion am I brewing?"
Second year… salamander's blood... think, you idiot... "Are you brewing... the fire protection potion, sir?" Ron guessed.
The man did nothing and kept his eyes on the cauldron. "You are one of the main reasons we are ahead in the race for the House Cup, Mr Weasley," Snape commented. "You are proving to me that you aren't like the ninety-five percent of the other first-year students. Every single year I find myself resigned to the fact that I'm going to be teaching one of the purest branches of magic to complete dunderheads. Potion's brewing is an art, and it wasn't made for some utter idiots to understand and respect it."
The man finally looked at him. "You may have heard that I used to bias some students over the rest, and that's completely true. The only thing in life I do respect is hardworking and those ambitious enough to give their best, Mr Weasley; don't make me put you on the idiot's list. Take this as a warning, but if I ever heard something like what happened today from you again... Trust me, you don't want to be on my bad side."
Ron gulped with the dark look the Professor sent him. "Yes sir, I understand. It won't happen again. I promise."
"Good, but this is not all I wanted to talk about with you. As the Head of your House, the Headmaster himself assigned me the task of telling you that your parents want to talk with you in person, here at Hogwarts."
I knew this was coming... whatever... I had to face it someday. "Yeah," Ron sighed. "That certainly sounds like something they would do."
"Remember what I have told you today, Mr Weasley. You are dismissed."
Ron got out of Professor Snape's office and started to walk towards his bedroom; there was nothing in the world that could prevent him from throwing himself into his bed. Merlin... what a day. I still have to face mum and dad... But once I do that, I'll finally be able to be on terms with everybody. I just hope they are as understanding as the twins were...