Chapter XX: Is it for today or for tomorrow?
Belladonna must be crushed with a pestle in onyx.
This makes it invisible and reduces the risks.
For taste, add some wine, rightly spiced.
To make sure it remains unveiled.
Codex of Slytherin footnote
Since Silvana's death, Salazar has been confined to the infirmary. Dumbledore had forbidden all students to approach the Forbidden Forest within ten metres, and since then, many patrols have taken place by teachers and prefects.
Dumbledore had left the same evening with the rest of the remains of the young centaur, probably to bring her back to his own, because the headmaster came back later with the dress torn as if an army of centaurs had chased him. Knowing the fearsome nature of centaurs, that was probably what had happened.
"So we have monstrous and dangerous spiders that decapitated a centaur at the edge of the forest, and no one is doing anything," Gwendal summed up, leafing through the Little Hogwarts Illustrated representing a monstrous spider, in the study room with Knut the little niffler on his shoulder.
Flitwick was leading the study that day, and he seemed concerned enough with the latest events to let a little hubbub continue in the Great Hall. The Charms professor was himself immersed in Little Hogwarts Illustrated, trying to understand a situation that was beyond him.
"It's like being back in the days of the Chamber of Secrets," Kheiron confirmed.
"The Chamber of Secrets?" Rita asked next to Eddy, her eyebrows raised at the idea of a new scoop.
"It was over twenty-five years ago, but my mother told me about it," Kheiron muttered, closing his Transfiguration book. "Salazar Slytherin is said to have left a monstrous beast in the castle that only his rightful heir would be able to control to attack the Mudbloods. Twenty-five years ago, the chamber was opened, and a girl died. If it is, it's not just a beast; it's a whole colony of spiders."
"Then we're both protected," remarked Gwendal. "Our blood is pure."
Both glanced at Eddy, and even Rita decided to change the subject.
"I'm not sure it's the Slytherin Monster... I mean, he attacked a pony, not a Muggle-born."
"She was a centaur, and her name was Silvana," Eddy said, gritting his teeth, but Rita scoffed.
"Yes, yes, Salazar's little girlfriend. He hasn't left the infirmary for a week, poor kitty."
Behind her cackles, however, Rita looked a little worried. No one, not even Eddy, knew what state he was in. It was said that he no longer spoke and spent his time crying. Some Gryffindors had scoffed before older Slytherins called them to order with stinging hexes. If Salazar was not well liked by the students of his house, the loyalty of the greens and silver was still powerful.
"Do you have news?" asked Gwendal, who was now sketching Knut for the Care of Magical Creatures class. Eddy shook his head, a little annoyed.
"Apparently he's better; Medusa went to see him earlier," Rita replied.
Indeed, the young girl was absent from the Great Hall, where all the students were discussing in low voices while mechanically doing their homework.
Eddy finished his History of Magic homework in a hurry to leave the study. Bellatrix, who passed by them with Rodolphus, couldn't help glancing at her parchment.
"It's the Hammock Act in 1876, not the 'Balrog's Ask'. Where's your flawed mind going to find all those stupid names, Lee? It doesn't work out."
"Whatever," the teenager gritted without correcting his homework.
He then stuffed it into his bag and stood abruptly without glancing at Bellatrix and Rodolphus, who continued to comment on his poor level in history. With brisk steps, the teenager headed for the infirmary.
When he arrived, Charm was waiting outside the door, lashing his forked tail impatiently on the ground. Seeing him, his old familiar gave a little plaintive meow before jumping into his arms.
"Come on, old man. We're both going to see Sal."
As Rita had said, Salazar was not alone. At his bedside were Medusa, but also Mr. Riddle. The three Riddles looked up when he entered the room. Eddy clung to Charm when his professor's gaze turned red as Medusa lowered her head miserably.
"Mr. Lee, here you are... again with your stuffed creature."
The so-called "stuffed creature" hissed at him, and Professor Riddle's eyebrow rose, barely annoyed. Riddle then cast his gaze to the windows, superbly ignoring Medusa.
"Medusa, go away."
"Father, I want to stay with S-
But Professor Riddle wasn't listening to her anymore. He observed a point in the horizon revealed by the stained glass of the window, as if it were something quite worthy of his interest, unlike his daughter sitting next to him. The man's thin lips were closed in a tight, taut line, as if he had found something vaguely repulsive next to him that should just be ignored. Medusa then got up under the sorry eyes of Salazar and Eddy and left the room with her head down.
This scene saddened him so much that Eddy thought he should never have come here. Yet Riddle had a pleasant little smile.
"Please, Mr. Lee. I was about to go back to my office soon, but by a happy coincidence, we bumped into each other."
Painfully, Eddy approached, and as he moved towards the bed, Charm became even tenser, to the point of digging his claws against his arms.
"I don't know if luck is lucky. I came to see Sal, not you," Eddy whispered, looking at his friend.
Salazar had lost weight; he had dark circles under his eyes and an even paler complexion. His blue eyes were slightly wet and down to the sheets, with an almost submissive look.
"Are you okay?"
The teenager barely nodded. Mr. Riddle clicked his tongue on his palate, and a cold, menacing aura took over the room. Charm, in Eddy's arms, puffed out his chest and lowered his ears as if he were about to attack the professor. Eddy tightened his grip on Charm to prevent him from making this unfortunate gesture.
"Dumbledore has informed you that our lessons are suspended for the time being."
"Yes."
"Perfect; hold on tight for now. Since that centaur murdered, we have more serious problems than an Obscurial in full hysterics," mocked Riddle. "Do not restart your treatment; you need your magic. Stay calm, and everything will be fine."
Riddle jerked up, and even Salazar in his bed shuddered as if he were about to receive a spell. This attitude sent a shiver of anger through Eddy, and that anger was directed at his teacher.
"Continue to send me your lexicons—the least word that comes to you, the least expression. We will soon be able to resume our lessons."
On these mysterious recommendations, Riddle left the room with a slow and sure step. Why would they be able to resume their lessons soon when Dumbledore had categorically forbidden them such a thing? Salazar and Eddy waited for him to leave the room, and it took almost a minute for his chilling aura after him to wane to let them talk.
"How are you feeling?"
But Salazar didn't answer; he tweaked the white sheets between his long fingers. Charm slipped out of the arms to jump into Salazar's lap and lick his hand. Sal responded with a caress as Eddy sat on the corner of his bed.
"I brought you homework."
"M-Medusa already took care of that. T-thanks."
"Did your father... do something to her?" The teenager hesitated.
"He's snubbing her," Salazar retorted softly. "It's the best thing that could happen to her, but Medusa doesn't realise it."
After those words, Sal sank deeper into his sheets.
"I'm sorry about Silvana," Eddy whispered. "What the spiders did to her is terrible."
"Acromentulae love to eat their victim's head; the brain is their favourite part. The spiders didn't do this to her."
Eddy and Salazar looked at each other in dismay. His friend answered his question before he even asked it.
"Yes, I have no proof, but it was my father who killed Silvana."
.
.
Salazar came out of the infirmary a few days later. It was March, the days were slowly getting longer, and the sun was slowly present. However, no one in the castle really wanted to take advantage of the sun's rays in the park. Since Silvana's attack, the rumour that hundreds of spiders were at the castle gates has spread like wildfire thanks to, or rather because of, Little Hogwarts Illustrated, supervised by Rita. Since then, some students no longer even dared to leave the castle to go to Herbology; others jumped at the slightest touch as if an enormous, hairy paw had tickled their spine.
He had been attending Hogwarts for exactly a year, and in the meantime, the castle had become very dangerous.
It was in this atmosphere that Eddy went to his Herbology class, joining the group of worried students. The lesson of the day focused on the Bounding-Bulbs that had to be milked to extract the juice. Salazar, still very pale, was facing his framework with Medusa and Bellatrix. Eddy was therefore at the side of Gwendal and a radiant Rita, who had specifically come to stand next to him. Eddy did not know what that foreshadowed, but his instinct told him that the young girl was certainly expecting something from him.
"Good," Mrs. Sprout began when all the students were in front of their trestle. "Bounding bulbs don't like to be milked; they will want to resist you. To do this, you grab it by the root and the head while one of you pulls on the pistil. I will pass through the ranks."
"No way I tickle his pistil," Rita growled, seeing the little greenish pistil wiggle.
"I just ate; please don't make me throw up, guys," Gwendal said apologetically.
"It's good. I'll take care of it; hold it," Eddy whispered, putting on his gloves.
Then Gwendal and Rita harnessed the plant, which swayed even more fiercely between their arms. They weren't the only ones having trouble controlling the bulbs; several students were quite embarrassed, and one of a Ravenclaw's bulbs escaped from the greenhouse through the open window. The young girl and her two comrades had to go get him under the sneers of the others. Only Bellatrix and Medusa managed to maintain the bulb without pain because of their athletic strength, while Salazar took care of milking it.
Eddy got down to it too; a greenish and viscous juice spurted from the pistil to land in the jar he was holding in one hand. The exercise was complicated, but they got through it without too much difficulty. Eddy was the one who managed to get the most juice out of his bulb, and Professor Sprout awarded him ten Slytherin points.
"Once again, you are doing very well, Mr. Lee," assured Mrs. Sprout. "There is still a little juice left; the bulb is still agitated. Continue; I will go see your comrades."
Incredibly pleased, Eddy complied under the sneer of Gwendal.
"How can you like Herbology? This subject is essentially about fighting against monstrosities that want to attack us."
"Kind of like Defences Against the Dark Arts," Eddy commented. "Except that there, I don't need a wand, and it's a little quieter."
"It depends on who," Rita breathed, holding back the bulging furiously with all her might. "So this milking? Is it for today or for tomorrow?"
"It's coming; it's coming."
Eddy squeezed out a few more drops before the totally drained bulb began to calm down. Rita let out a small sigh and wiped her brow after her effort as Eddy took off his gloves.
As he brought the jar back to Professor Sprout at the end of class, he saw that Rita was following him like a leech.
"What do you want? If it's still an article on the Obscurus, no way."
As the students were beginning to leave the greenhouse, Eddy saw Medusa pass with Salazar as Bellatrix stunned the still-vivacious bulb that was trying to jump on her with a book.
"I understood that I would never have it," Rita exclaimed. "I saw your guardian pass by the park earlier; can you introduce us? I have to ask him about poisonous acromentulas."
"You're confusing Acrumentula and Venomous Tentacula. H-how is Newt here?"
"Yes, so you can play the matchmaker? Hey! Come back!"
However, Eddy wasn't listening to her anymore; he left the greenhouse in a hurry to go to the park. He was supposed to go to his Divination class but preferred to skip class. Seeing Newt was more important at the time. However, he bumped into a massive chest and gritted his teeth when he recognised Rosier. He was waiting for Sprout to arrive with other sixth years and the Slytherin gave him a small smirk.
"So the Obscurial, Salazar, cheated on you with a centaur, so you're falling back on Skeeter? You really have no taste; it's catastrophic."
"Shut up," he hissed as Skeeter stalked up to him.
"It's Medusa who has catastrophic taste for wanting to approach your slug face," Rita scoffed, oblivious to the insult. "Soon you too will be thrown away like the bottom of her cauldron."
"Don't be so sure, Skeeter," Rosier replied confidently, passing them and his group of sneering friends.
He walked down to the park with Rita still following him. It didn't take long for him to recognise Newt's tall, slender silhouette, accompanied by his eternal suitcase.
"Wait for me!" Rita shouted. "So you're dating Salazar? Narcissa was talking about it with Lucius this morning. "
"No, and stop following me; I have to talk to Newt alone," he growled.
"You're boorish as a Bounding-Bulb! I'm the one who warned you he was here."
He walked down the slope, and Newt noticed him. He had Charm wrapped around his neck and gave them a shy little smile. Eddy hadn't known how to react to it since their last interview. Newt resolved this awkwardness by crossing the distance between them to put a gentle hand on her shoulder. The old man's clear eyes eased his hesitation.
"Hello, big guy."
"H-Hi," the teenager whispered. "What are you doing here?"
"Albus asked me to come to assess the danger of the acromentulae. I must tell you that I did not expect such a number."
Rita nudged Eddy and extended her large hand to Newt to introduce herself.
"Hello, Rita Skeeter, Publishing-supervisor at Little Hogwarts Illustrated, We saw each other briefly at Slughorn's party."
A little surprised to be interrupted, Newt shook her hand, slightly ethereal. The young girl smiled and took a quill pen and a piece of parchment out of her bag.
"I'm glad to have you on hand. All the students are very worried about the death of this filly. Would a microscopic, very small, tiny interview be possible?"
"I don't have time to-
"Just a word, then?"
"UhImeanuh-"
"An intelligible word this time?"
"Claws off, Skeeter," Eddy interjected. "Is the situation that serious?"
"Yes," Newt admitted after a moment's hesitation. "I didn't go far into the forest, but from the nests that I could see, we are at nearly ten thousand individuals. Acromentulae do not usually colonise and do not live in such large numbers. For them to have come to such extremes is that something is worrying them."
Rita jotted down all the information she could with a feverish and focused air.
"What are you going to do now?"
"The school board wants to bring in the aurors to exterminate all the spiders... But they're living and spirited creatures... I'm working with Albus to arrange for the majority of them to be repatriated to Borneo. Only since the death of that centaur, the other centaurs accused the wizards of her murder. They chased me out of their territory; operating in the forest is going to be very complicated."
"Why do they accuse wizards? C'mon, what wizard in a school full of kids will want to behead a centaur?" Rita pointed.
Eddy had only one name in mind, and seeing Newt's expression, it looked like he suspected something. Newt gently put a hand on Eddy's shoulder to pull him aside.
"I'm going to need to talk to Eddy for a while; why don't you write down all your questions and pass them on to him later?" I will answer it later."
"For sure," chirped the happy big blonde. "Could I have the title of your next book as a bonus? That would be an incredible scoop."
"'The Dance of the Dragons' is an inventory of all the dragons I have encountered during my career."
The girl's little beetle eyes twinkled; she picked up her things and eventually left.
"How's Tina?" Eddy finally asked after half a minute of silence. "I'm so sorry for what I said and did. I didn't mean to hurt anyone; I got scared and-"
"I know. Tina is fine; she and Queenie are home, taking a little rest. Albus gave you your present," he said, showing the watch he had on his wrist.
"Yes, thank you very much. I should have sent you a message. But I didn't know what to say after all that. I don't deserve such a gift."
"I think you do," Newt whispered softly, gently taking his shoulder to lead him away from the forest. "I don't approve of your decisions, Eddy, or that you're still hanging out with Riddles despite our warnings, but fifteen is an important age. How do you feel without a potion?"
"Still fine."
Except that he felt empty and detached from his emotions, he didn't think it was necessary to tell his guardian about it if it wasn't to worry him more. Newt looked a bit worried, though, and the curvy lines around his pale eyes drooped slightly. He retrieved Charm from around his neck and handed it to Eddy.
"Charm is also worried about you, he told me. We're all worried about you, but I think it's something you already know. We unwittingly hurt you a lot while testing this new potion. I'm sorry. Would you like to come and spend the holidays at home?"
Eddy finally nodded as he retrieved his familiar. Charm purred in his arms, and his warm fur warmed him a little.
"I don't want to command you, of course, but it would be wiser for you to return to the castle. You never know, especially since you have class."
"It's divination; I'm cataclysmic in this class, and Professor Belline is terrified of me now."
"Then a little trip to the owlhouse will do you the greatest good. This was where I hid when I didn't want to attend certain lessons with Leta. The top floor stays warm even in winter, and we were never found."
"Your friend, Leta Lestrange, is that it?"
Newt looked a little wistful, and his fine lines lifted on his smile as he retrieved his suitcase.
"Absolutely. Have a good day, big boy."
"I'll send you a letter soon," Eddy promised, walking away.
Newt's gaze followed him as he walked back up to the castle. When he turned halfway to put Charm on the ground, he saw that his tutor was heading towards the Keeper's hut.
.
.
Newt had passed two days earlier without the spiders problem getting fixed. Nobody had had to complain about an attack, but all the students were still very tense. Salazar, at dinner, was ferociously writing little signs in his notebook without looking up at his meal, which he had barely touched. His friend's death had affected him greatly, to the point that he had skipped his father's Duelling lesson earlier that day.
Ever since his father came home, Salazar had been avoiding him as much as possible, and even Mr. Riddle did not seem to care; he looked confident and content.
Thus, Eddy had noticed, and he had spent enough time with this man to know that it did not bode well. Something was going to happen soon; he felt it, and he had no idea how to stop it.
Eddy spotted Medusa three places away, eating with Rosier. What he had to say to her must have seemed very insignificant because the young girl rolled her eyes. Seeing that almost made his heart ache as he returned to his plate. He didn't know exactly what Medusa was doing with Rosier, but to imagine that the company of the prefect didn't please her that much, despite the fiery kisses they exchanged, delighted him.
"If it wasn't the spiders that hurt Silvana, we can tell the aurors," Eddy whispered. "Newt told me that soon the ministry will send some."
"They won't, I'm sure," Salazar replied.
"For what?"
"Because Auror Headquarters Chief is Sandor Rosier, Percival's father," the teenager replied without looking up from his notebook. "And that he's one of my father's closest supporters. He won't do anything."
Salazar pressed his quill so hard against his notebook that the lead broke. They finished their meal to go to their last lesson of the day, Astronomy. Eddy was already anticipating this class because at night, at the top of the Astronomy tower, and at this time of year, it was freezing cold. Salazar seemed to hesitate between skipping class and following him. He finally chooses the second option by storing his notebook in the inside pocket of his wizard's robe.
They finally went upstairs with their comrades, then entered the tower where Professor Sinistra was waiting for them.
The lesson consisted of observing the constellation of Taurus, which was visible at this time of year. They each passed in turn in front of the huge telescope in the middle of the tower to observe the Pleiades cluster and then compare them to their almanac. It was cold, and everyone was in a hurry to finish the lesson while feverishly taking notes on their almanack.
Leaning against the stone pillar to protect himself from the wind, Eddy vaguely observed the park below. Charity was making her guard with Professor Flitwick, their silhouettes kept well away from the trees as they moved through the darkness lit by the tips of their wands.
Unexpectedly, Salazar dropped his notebook and his quill, which fell with a muffled noise by Eddy's side. The teenager thought that his comrade was going to pick them up, but he remained there, frozen and in a daydream.
"Sal?" whispered Eddy, passing his hand in front of his comrade's eyes to try to make him react. "Are you ok?"
Salazar was mumbling things under his breath, still with that same static air.
"By Slytherin," Bellatrix whispered nearby, leaning on the railing.
Several students rushed there, and Eddy saw below that the park in the dark quivered strangely. The ground seemed to move and ripple in a long, furious mass. It was when a piercing scream broke the tense silence of the night that they began to realise that something was wrong.
Below, Charity was carried away by a gigantic dark mass as Professor Flitwick passed out. It took Eddy some time to realise that the black mass was in fact a cluster of dozens of spiders that were pulling the young woman towards the depths of the forest. And a second later, a shrill scream rang right in Eddy's ear.
He visualised a huge spider the size of a car climbing the tower and already clinging to the railing to climb. Medusa, who had screamed, cast a spell on the spider to expel it as panic took over their class.
"Come back!" ordered Sinistra, panicking as another spider tried to break into the tower. "Take shelter!"
Eddy pulled away, grabbing the still-petrified Salazar's arm, and saw that hundreds and hundreds of spiders were emerging from the Forbidden Forest in a continuous mass. Under the rolling of those long black legs, the park looked like a rough sea, into which Flitwick was swallowed up in his turn. A cold sweat of fear ran down the line of Eddy's back.
"We need to contact Aragog," Salazar whispered in panic. "We have to stop all of this!"
"Let's try to get out of here already!"
A fiery figure burst from the darkness of the night and charged towards the forest, from what Eddy discerned. It was so vivid that many of them felt blinded. In an instant, a fiery blaze gripped the Forbidden Forest as serpent-like coils of fire came to prey on the spiders in the park.
Another scream alerted Eddy and Salazar; just behind them, Bellatrix and Medusa were battling a monstrous spider.
Sinistra was too busy freeing the body of an arachnid to help them. The acromentula sprang its web, sticking Medusa into a tight grip as Bellatrix screamed a cutting spell. One of the spider's legs was cut clean; she lost her balance on the railing and fell, taking Medusa with her in her web.
The young girl fell into the void, pushing out a high-pitched scream. Without understanding either how or why, a mysterious force had taken Eddy's place, and he no longer controlled anything within him. He felt himself jump with an inhuman leap over the balustrade to fly towards Medusa. Yes, he was flying; he realised as he saw he had lost his human form as he sped towards the girl. Medusa was only a few feet off the ground, still entangled in the spider's web, with a horrified expression on her face.
"Miss Riddle!" howled Sinistra above them. "Mr. Lee!"
As the spider crashed to the ground, he managed to grab Medusa. They bounced off the ground several times, like a strange ricochet, to land further into the park, crushing two lone spiders. From there, he released the girl and fell hard to the ground, choking with pain. Paralysed, Eddy felt himself regain human form and had to close his eyes for a moment, completely stunned by the pain in his body. In the midst of this chaos, Medusa violently tugged at his arm.
"We must go! Get up!"
Eddy managed to open his eyes; other spiders were coming in droves towards them, while huge flames burned the surrounding woods. In this nightmarish setting of dancing shadows, he was unable to move; his muscles were liquefied as Medusa shook him. His body couldn't handle such an overload of magic anymore.
"Get up, Eddy!" GET UP!" screamed the completely panicked girl.
Two spiders took full force of the spell as they advanced towards them in a macabre line. Medusa grabbed his arm and threw it over her shoulder with a thud. Breathless, he could only drag himself as Medusa tried hard to move forward.
"You jumped to save me," Medusa whispered, dodging a column of flames bursting from the forest. "You are completely sick!"
They both fell to the ground as the spiders, in pursuit, burned.
"I didn't do it on purpose," murmured Eddy, clinging to the girl's neck. "My magic took over."
"You foolish, watch out!"
Medusa created a shield at the last second as half a dozen spiders lunged at them. Eddy managed to raise his hand to grab his wand, but no spell came out as Medusa struggled to hold it. They were surrounded by spiders, one of which tried to attack them from behind and spat out its venom. A shield springs from the darkness to protect them.
"Professor Flitwick!" Medusa sighed, reassured, as the little professor came flying towards them on a tiny broomstick.
The little wizard had his robe torn off and was injured in the arm. He had probably bewitched a tree branch to make a broom and join them. He was panicked and horrified as he pushed back a column of monstrous acromentulae.
"Mr. Lee, Miss Riddle, you need to get to safety immediately! Stay behind me!"
Another powerful column of flames burst from the forest and forced them, in any case, to close in on Flitwick. The blaze went on to burn the monstrous creatures clean, offering a passage among the charred bodies. Eddy, Medusa, and Flitwick turned back to the figure emerging from the flames between the burnt trunks of the forest.
It was Mr. Riddle mastering a gigantic Fiendfyre that was going to burn all creatures. When the professor noticed them, his eyes turned red. His voice clacked an order even more surely than a whip.
"There are still Mrs. Burbage and other students in the forest! Take them!"
"I'll help you; I'm going to the northern border! Levitate!"
Flitwick's spell suddenly caused them to levitate. Eddy and Medusa found themselves floating a few inches above the ground and then were thrown at full speed through the park towards the castle. The two teenagers began to scream as the stone walls of the castle closed in at breakneck speed. Barely a metre from the walls, they were stopped mid-flight and seemed to crash into an invisible mattress. Completely stunned, Eddy wanted to vomit but still could not stand on his legs because his weakness was now mixed with a strong dizziness. He felt like he was going to pass out. Yet Medusa roughly grabs his arm.
"Hurry up, by Morgana! Get up; we have to reach the hall!"
"I can't do it!"
More spiders were coming. Flitwick evacuated the astronomy tower on his broomstick while McGonagall, fifty metres further, coordinated the arrival of the survivors. The sky no longer had any stars at that moment and had taken on the fiery colour of the flames. In the middle of this hell, the figure of Riddle was flying over the treetops to burn the spiders.
Charity and others were in the forest and were therefore in dire danger. Eddy managed to muster enough momentum to painfully put one foot in front of the other as Medusa sent a huge spider clinging to a balcony above them back into the forest. They avoided being stuck in a web as a huge mass loomed in front of them. Hagrid was injured all over; he had a piece of a spider's legs clinging to his beard.
Without trying to understand, he threw them both on his shoulders and began to run towards McGonagall.
"Let go of me, you old bastard!" Medusa screamed, stomping her feet against the half-giant's chest.
"No way! I'm trying to help you! retorted Hagrid, kicking another Acromentula hard.
Professor McGonagall then noticed them and shielded them with a shield charm as they entered the magical wards of the hall. It was as if they had passed a soap bubble; in an instant, the pressure from outside was lessened, and no spider could penetrate. Hagrid released them, and they both fell gracelessly to the ground, coughing as their lungs were filled with smoke from outside. Eddy noticed that almost all of the students were in the Great Hall at the end of the Hall. Others were accompanied by Professor Belline, who gave the repatriated students an angry look.
"Faster! The shadows have taken over this castle tonight; we are all in danger!"
Medusa stood miserably with Eddy as the sky outside turned blood red. They would have thought that under Riddle's Fiendfyre, there would be no tomorrow. In the Great Hall, the large windows were protected by powerful spells from Sinistra and Miss Breviary. The students were massed in the middle of the room, observing the windows with their wands outstretched. Salazar was near the entrance, and when he saw them, he ran towards them.
"We have to stop all this! Father will burn the whole forest!"
"Let him burn it," Medusa yelled back, still in shock. "Let him burn this damn forest and all the damn creatures in it!"
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Sal hissed back laconically.
"Stop!" Eddy reasoned in an attempt to calm them down. "We are safe; that's the most important!"
But Salazar wasn't listening anymore; he was repeating his sentence again with his eyes fixed on the ground and an anxious expression on his face. The plaintive howls of spiders being burned echoed through the Great Hall, and with each howl, Sal seemed to grow paler and paler. He was almost ghostly and was shaking like a leaf. Medusa noticed it too, and full of remorse, she attempted a gesture towards her twin. At the halfway stop, completely overwhelmed as Salazar seemed to be having a panic attack, he rocked back and forth. A few students moved aside when they saw him, and concern spread among them.
"Merlin, Sal?! Sal, do you hear me? Cut yourself off from everything!"
"What's wrong with him?" Eddy said. He was trying to grab Sal's hand. "He's having a panic attack!?"
"No, it's a crisis," Medusa breathed, paralyzed. "It happens to him sometimes; he risks hurting himself! Salazar? I'm with you. I'm with you. Do you hear me? I'm sorry, Sal. Stay with me, please!"
While her brother stirred in the reddish light of the windows, Medusa leaned towards him with the delicacy of a goldsmith to hand him a glass of water taken from the table. Salazar ejected him, rocking back and forth even more; he was scratching his left arm fiercely.
"What's wrong with him?" Arthur Weasley broke through the crowd. 'We must call Pomfrey!"
"She's protecting the south wing with Kettleburn," Skeeter retorted further. "Let him breathe, move!"
"Something has to be done! Has anyone seen Ludo? It's the best in nursing! He was in the park," Arthur said in a loud but worried voice around him.
"Sal! Come back!" Medusa finally screamed, grabbing her brother's face.
Eddy did not know if she had used her power, but the happiness of seeing his friend again in the midst of the chaos told him not to ask questions. Medusa threw herself into her younger brother's arms, and Salazar felt like he was electro-shocked. He leapt to his feet with surprising vitality and hurried out of the Great Hall.
"SAL! COME BACK!" Medusa repeated this, chasing him with Eddy.
"Med!" he heard Rosier scream.
They avoided a group of students and Belline, who tried to block the entrance while Sal had almost reached the entrance of the castle. Medusa quickly outpaced Eddy; she was faster and fitter than him, and she had to stop halfway.
"We have to stop this," Salazar yelled, running. "I have to go see Aragog!"
McGonagall noticed this and could not stop a spider from swooping down on her. The professor collapsed with the creature. Medusa cast a spell to expel it, and Sal fled to what was left of the forest. Eddy and Medusa followed him down to the park without thinking further.
"MR. LEE! MISS AND MR. RIDDLE, come back!" shouted McGonagall, transfiguring armour from the entrance to protect the castle.
The closer they got to the flames, the weaker Salazar seemed, and among the corpses of a whole bunch of spiders, he collapsed. At the same time, Mr. Riddle was supporting Mrs. Burbage and Ludo Bagman. Both were severely injured and paralysed by the venom of the arachnids. Medusa ran up to Salazar, and it was then that a monstrous spider still alive emerged from under the corpses of fellow creatures. She fiercely bit Medusa's leg and then her arm. The girl collapsed too, with a cry.
Without thinking more, Eddy rushed towards her, preventing the spider from tearing off the girl's arm. He fell to his side, and his magic expelled the creature. Medusa fell back into his arms as Riddle's figure raced towards them. He dropped the passed-out Charity and Bagman a few feet away and glared at them.
Suddenly, in the middle of the surrounding fire, the silhouette of a phoenix emerged. It was Fawkes flying high in the blood-red sky.
As he hooted, big black clouds formed in the smoke of the flames, and finally the rain came to put out the fire. The spiders returned to what was left of the forest in a furious swarm. The fighting seemed to be over amid the chaos of the bodies of hundreds of burned spiders.
Professor Dumbledore appeared in the middle of the park and looked furious.
Eddy then realised that the principal had been absent the whole time and had been unable to protect any students. As the two professors faced each other, staring at each other, Eddy passed out alongside Salazar and Medusa.
.
.
Eddy opened his eyes only a few hours later. All the students had been confined to the Great Hall, where the wounded were also being treated. On makeshift bunks, some students slept while others were in shock. Through the windows, Eddy watched the aurors bustling about the park, clearing away the dead spiders. Three of them were asking Hagrid below what Eddy could guess from his window. The forbidden forest had burned by half, leaving a charred and blackish mark all over the park.
Salazar and Medusa were still passed out, and Mr. Riddle hadn't reappeared. Mrs. Pomfrey passed by them and assured Eddy that the venom would quickly leave their bodies. If he knew the nurse's talent for healing, seeing the two bodies of his comrades stretched out in front of him in the middle of the refectory tugged at his guts. Dawn was rising slowly, and Eddy could barely move from his still-shaken sleeping bag.
Charity, two berths behind him, woke up abruptly with a little cry.
A few students also woke up to this shoot. Arthur Weasley ran up to the still-shocked Muggle Studies professor. From what Eddy discerned in the young woman's bunk, she had lost one of her legs, swallowed up by a creature. She looked confusedly at where she was, clutching the sheets of her bunk. At the entrance to the dining hall, Riddle was chatting with Sprout and Flitwick.
"It's okay, Charity," Arthur whispered to her. "It's all over; you're safe."
"Oh my god, oh my god," Charity repeated slowly, paralyzed. "Where is Professor Dumbledore? What happened is appalling; were there any injuries? Deaths?"
"It's fine; we only have a few injuries to report," Arthur replied softly before continuing in a slightly bitter voice. Professor Riddle got you out of there with Ludo and kept the creatures at bay. Without him, we would have been finished."
Recognising that seemed as disagreeable to Arthur as it did to Eddy.
"But where was Dumbledore?" exclaimed Charity. "He had to protect the castle; he said the situation was under control."
"He was looking for Grindelwald, no doubt," Riddle's voice whispered as he arrived. "The aurors are asking him some questions right now. We were very lucky tonight; my apologies for not arriving soon enough, Charity."
The young woman blushed as the professor inclined towards her. At this move, Arthur pulled away, gritting his teeth. Ludo, still asleep, would not have liked the scene that presented itself to them while Mr. Riddle was comforting the young woman. One would have thought he genuinely cared about the professor, but Eddy had spent enough time with Tom Riddle to know he was still playing a cruel role. Arthur spotted him and came over to him, falling on his bunk.
"You three are so damn lucky you're still in one piece," the Gryffindor remarked, glancing at Salazar and Medusa in their bunk. "Throw you like that in the mouth of the Acromentula, brrr. I just developed a phobia, I think. If this man had not been here, we'd all be dead, but I don't trust him at all."
"And you're right, stay away from him with Prewett; that's the best thing you can do."
Eddy would have put his hand in the fire that Riddle had allowed the spiders to pass the defences of the castle; Salazar had understood that too and had tried to stop the whole thing. Today, the school had only one culprit to blame: Dumbledore.
"If Molly ever talks to me again," Arthur sighed, catching sight of the sleeping girl in her bunk. "But you, why do you stay with them if being near the Riddles is so dangerous?"
"Because I'm trying to protect them," Eddy whispered.
Which explained why his magic had responded so quickly when Medusa had been in danger and later with Salazar. It had been simple and natural; like breathing, the Obscurus had taken over and protected those who mattered to him.
Arthur took the time to process his answer as Charity and Riddle whispered in the rising sun. The young woman's hand was tightly entwined in Riddle's.
.
.
Medusa was passed out for two days. In the meantime, the wounded had been moved to the infirmary while life at the castle resumed its course. Some classes had been cancelled while the Easter holidays were approaching. Medusa thought that all the students would definitely go home this year.
On the cotton sheets, the young girl was still half paralyzed. Salazar had left the infirmary earlier. He had received a lesser dose of venom, and she had recommended that he go eat; he was pale as death.
She wondered if he still felt what had happened during the fire. They hadn't talked about that night again, and Medusa, ashamed, didn't know if she had used her gift against him when she had promised never to do it again.
She had used force to bring her little brother out of his crisis, and it was not an experience that she was in a hurry to repeat. Because it was painful for Sal. In those moments, she hated her gift, and she hated magic. What good was having those powers if she was hurting those who mattered to her with them?
She knew, however, thanks to her legilimens gift, that Rita, leaning on her bed with her pen and her journalist's notebook, was not there simply for an interview on the latest events.
"So after receiving a near-lethal dose of Acromentula venom, how do you see the future, Medusa? Are the damages irreversible? We need a catchy title; Xeno will still make his drawings on the Crumple-Horned Snorkack."
"Why are you keeping Lovegood if he doesn't follow your editorial line?" Medusa said, annoyed, taking a sip of Slughorn's specially prepared anti-venom into her mouth.
"Students mostly buy the paper for its comic strips," Skeeter said, exasperated. "So, we finished this interview? I'll try to interview Burbage next. She is completely traumatised and never leaves her office. Maybe she'll agree to answer through the door."
Medusa chuckled at the energy her friend put into collecting gossip while the students' moods were low. Maybe that was what the students needed to understand what had happened.
"For the future, I don't know. I just want that old crackpot, Dumbledore, out of the castle. You can quote it as is. You don't leave children with a colony of thousands of spiders."
Skeeter's pen quilled. She put her glasses back on with a small smile.
"Yes, that's what comes out of the majority of my interviews. Dumbledore is doomed," she cackled.
However, when Medusa met her friend's gaze, she knew it was not to rejoice in the departure of the old man Rita came here. She read many questions in her classmate's head that she dared not ask. Suspicious, Medusa put down her anti-venom and waited for Rita to confess.
The young girl put away her equipment, looking for what to say, then finally raised her head.
"What do you like about Rosier? We had agreed to say that he was a moron from our second year."
"He is," Medusa agreed, trying to hide her tremors. "Just… I'm fine with him, like with Lee."
The lie ripped out of her throat like it was poison. She had not spoken to Eddy since he literally threw himself into the void and didn't want such a thing to happen. This gesture by the teenager had troubled her much more than she was willing to admit.
"Dragon's balls; it's an idiot, and he speaks badly to you in extra," pointed Rita. "What? Were you engaged to him by your parents?" she then wondered.
"Mind your own mandrakes," Medusa finally hissed. "Just because you don't have a girlfriend doesn't mean you have to meddle in other people's relationships."
Medusa was sure she pricked where it hurt. Her friend pursed her lips, and stood up abruptly.
"Don't be surprised if you find yourself alone, Med. I'll skip your interview. 'Bye."
The blonde left the infirmary, and Medusa, with her good hand, violently pulled the white curtains of her bed to isolate herself. Once alone behind the curtains, she began to cry.
In the evening, the infirmary had emptied, and Medusa was still behind its curtain. She jumped when they suddenly opened. It was Rosier. He abruptly closed the curtains behind them and hugged her. Frozen and still half-paralysed, Medusa couldn't move. She felt a violent creature scream inside her in fear and disgust.
"You scared me so much, you know?!"
"Let go of me!" she hissed quietly.
"You know I was really worried about you?" said the teenager, sitting on her bed to take her hand. "I would not have thought that possible at the beginning of the year."
"What do you want from me?" she asked coldly, pulling her hand away as firmly as she could.
"I missed you, and I'm honest. I can't wait for you to get out of the infirmary," Rosier told him with a small smile.
"Not me. I don't love you, and I never will, so please leave me alone. Find someone else. I don't want you to touch me anymore."
"But I think I love you," said the teenager with a falsely annoyed air. "I was conceived by a love potion, you know? My father gave some to a Muggle who worked for the Minister of Muggles when he was in charge of her protection. It took a year before he knew I existed. I thought I would never love you; I felt nothing, but when I saw you leave after your stupid brother, I thought I was scared to death. So I think I love you, Medusa Riddle."
He punctuated his declaration with a charming smile, and the young girl wanted to vomit in disgust.
"My dad's had a few affairs with yours lately; I think realising that's the perfect timing."
"For what?" Medusa whispered, dreading the answer she would read in his eyes.
"To ask you in marriage, you dumb. Look, I could treat you well, we could both have a good life, and you wouldn't be locked up at home taking care of your brother anymore. If your family follows the ancient pureblood rites, we can both get married already, and you would be free. My blood isn't quite pure, but apparently yours isn't that clean. Has anyone ever heard of Riddles other than your father?"
"How dare you?" she hissed.
His whistle was so abrupt that he called out to the nurse, and she drew the curtains. She saw their duet and the tenseness on Medusa's face.
"Is everything okay, Miss Riddle? Mr. Rosier is bothering you. Visits are almost over."
"I was going to leave," replied Rosier. "I'll let you think about it, Medusa."
The teenager left with his hands in his pockets. Mrs. Pomfrey watched him go, then looked at Medusa, who hadn't opened her teeth.
"Are you okay, Miss Riddle? You are shaking like a veela!"
"Y-Yes. It's the venom leaving my body," she invented. "I will be fine soon."
.
The young girl could not regain the use of her legs until two days later, during which the infirmary was emptied. She was one of the only students who was still bedridden. After checking that the Acromentulae's venom had not damaged one of her muscles, the nurse confirmed that she could go out.
Once outside, Medusa headed for the stairs. She knew exactly what to do at this moment because it was her only solution. She could not imagine any other. Through the windows, she saw the extent of the damage to the park. The spider bodies had been removed, but only a dark expanse remained, twice as large as then, where the Forbidden Forest was. Aurors were still patrolling near the forest, and her father's tall, black figure was with them, lit by a powerful lumos. At this vision, she quickened her step towards the second floor. It was dinnertime; all the students were already in the Great Hall except the prefects who were patrolling; the risks were lessened, and she knew it. Rosier was still patrolling the dungeons at this hour. She headed for the girls' bathroom.
Myrtle wasn't there; it was said that since the episode of the spiders, she had hidden in the prefects' bathroom because she felt safer there. She rushed to the sink and focused her gaze on the small snake engraved on the faucet.
"Open up," she hissed.
Slowly, the faucet and the basin sank into the ground in a great spray of water. As she was going to sink into the dark pipe to wake up the monster, a small origami paper came towards her.
A small snake swayed happily, enticing her to follow him. She only knew one person doing this type of enchantment: her father. And like every time her parents entered her thoughts, fear was stronger than any other feeling. With a small yelp, she closed the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets and followed the origami as it sped down the hall. Medusa had her temples buzzing and her whole body shaking; it only took a second for him to know that she had tried to open the chamber. Now she would have to explain the whole story to him; he would demand it from her.
However, there, the young girl did not know what would happen to her.
She ascended the floors, following the bewitching bend, until she found herself on the seventh floor of Gryffindor Tower. The origami passed three times in front of a tapestry, and Medusa imitated it like an automaton. She could not delay the punishment that would befall her.
However, when she opened the door and entered the room, she was surprised to find Dumbledore waiting for her, quietly seated on a chintz armchair.
"Hello Medusa, I'd like to talk to you if you don't mind."
The old man smiled at her. The young girl immediately turned around to take to her heels, but the door to the room of demand had simply disappeared. She called him several times before resigning herself with a beating heart to turn to the Headmaster of Hogwarts. Dumbledore looked very miserable and tired. Grindelwald was out in the wild, and he had failed to protect the students and the castle, and even some of his colleagues blamed him for it.
"You want to kidnap me after you tried to kidnap me, you old crackpot? So you really want to add one more crime to your long list of misdeeds?"
"As you know, it's only a matter of days or hours before the School Council meets to vote on my outright dismissal. At that point, the troubles will start for me. Simply put, as long as I still have some power left in this school and in the magical world, I would like to help you not make an unfortunate mistake, Medusa. I know what Mr. Rosier did to you and what you were about to do. Don't wake up the Slytherin monster against him; let me offer you another alternative."
Medusa froze completely frozen. Dumbledore quietly kept his eyes lowered, still offering her a seat opposite his, which she refused with gritted teeth.
"This pig is going to die; he will pay with his life for what he did to me. Let me out, or I'll force you!"
"I am well aware of your power, Medusa; you are very powerful at a very young age. In many ways, you remind me of your father. What you have suffered from Mr. Rosier is unspeakable, and I have no words to express all my sympathy for you. He must be judged; with your testimony, he will be dismissed, and I know enough people in the Department of Magical Justice to ensure that his trial is fair despite his ancestry. You deserve justice."
"But you expect something from me," Medusa whispered.
"Indeed," Dumbledore replied slowly without looking at her as he crossed his long fingers in front of him. "I have no excuses for what I did to you and your brother when you were children. On one hand, you wouldn't accept them, and on the other hand, I'm sure I at least tried to do something good for you both."
"The death and disappearance of the Prewetts isn't exactly a good thing," Medusa hissed. "You killed our elf... You will pay for it."
"I was hoping to provide you both with a suitable and welcoming home through close friends. I saw in your eyes that day at the Ministry the same distress that I had seen in the eyes of another boy many years ago in a Muggle orphanage. I didn't want to repeat such a mistake. The Prewetts followed me, and my naivety took their two sons from them. I live with this error every day of my life."
Medusa gritted her teeth as Professor Dumbledore continued in a very calm voice:
"I won't insult you by convincing you that Tom Riddle is a criminal, Medusa. You understood this very early because you are a brilliant witch. However, you and your brother deserve to be saved. I can help you both, but for that, I need to know what he's up to."
"Help us?" Medusa whispered in a surprisingly frail voice.
No one so powerful had ever offered her this, and the young witch was troubled and therefore suspicious. What was new was always dangerous. However, Dumbledore remained the only wizard capable of frightening her father, which she had also understood very early.
"By getting you away from him and your mother and hiding you with Mr. Lee. By fighting him and by trying to help your brother with his gifts."
"Shut up," she hissed suddenly because these words there seemed terribly tempting.
"I know he was the one who freed Grindelwald from his prison and told him to attack the Derby to distract me. In order to help you, I need you to tell me what he's up to."
"What if I don't know myself?" she retorted defiantly, approaching the old man like a huntress.
"Then I couldn't do anything for you, unfortunately, Medusa. I must ensure your cooperation. He becomes too powerful, and too many lives are at stake."
Medusa froze when she was only two metres away from the old man. Dumbledore then raised his electric blue eyes to her. The girl couldn't tell what the director was thinking. The hand that the Headmaster held out to help her was a basilisk hook that she could not hold onto, or she would hurt herself mortally.
"For my 'cooperation' I must betray," whispered the witch in a sour voice. "And I have nothing to give you. Let me go."
She had used her whispering power, she was sure, yet she did not know if Dumbledore was under her glaring spell or not. She yearned to order him to hurt herself, as badly as she felt inside her, but the sound of a faint flicker distracted her from her ambitions. The door to the hallway reappeared. She ran there like a fury.
"Tell your brother I'm remorseful," Dumbledore whispered as she left the room.
She did not answer and ran down the hall towards the stairs. She descended floors four to four towards the one she had left earlier. When she arrived on the second floor, she saw that a small channel of water was escaping from the girls' toilets. When she approached, the door to the adjoining classroom opened, and her father introduced himself. In reflex, Medusa lowered her head. Without a word, her father told her to go back to the classroom, and the young girl complied.
The classroom was dark, the globe of light was off, and only one window was open to the cool of the night. The moon was not shining on this side of the castle; her father was only a silhouette in the darkness. Medusa didn't know what to say in her defence.
"Dumbledore cornered me to talk to me, Father," she began in a small voice.
"I know," he answered in a cold voice.
He was in a corner of the room, near the professor's office. Medusa could barely make out the end of his robe in the darkness she had grown accustomed to. Not knowing whether to move towards him or stay put, she chose the first option. From there, two ruby-coloured orbs emerged from the darkness of the classroom. Medusa closed her eyes, already anticipating the first pain in a long series that was about to befall her.
"Medusa, I know everything."
Behind her closed eyes, the young woman curbed her tremors while waiting for the spell to come. Instead, two hands grabbed her shoulders to give her a hug. It was cold, strange, and unexpected. However, she let it go by responding with all her might. The tears came; she did not even try to hide them.
"Rosier will pay for what he did to our family, I promise. But for now, Dumbledore must pay for his crimes."
He pulled away and took her chin. Her father's red eyes were cast down on her as she sat with her arms dangling and sobbing miserably.
He stood there silently, staring at her for almost a minute.
"My mother was a squib. She used a love filter to seduce my filthy father."
Medusa froze, choking back tears. Her father never spoke of their grandmother. Merope Gaunt was a taboo subject in their home.
"The descendant of one of the oldest and most powerful bloods in the magical world 'fell in love' with a miserable being. Love is a very pathetic feeling if it can be so easily imitated. In people's minds, love or any other impulse makes them weak and predictable. When I was your age, I saw what the boys in my class were thinking, and I understood how miserable they were. All of them. You see, I specifically didn't want to have a girl because I should have protected you from those thoughts that I kept hearing. I gave you a necklace for your protection as well as a snake. You left Echo at the priory, and I didn't pay enough attention. Now whose fault is it?"
Medusa wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand, looking down at her feet. To this question, she had no answer, and that was what gnawed at her inside; she felt it for days.
"It's Dumbledore's fault," her father whispered. "He knew, and he did nothing to help you and refused to bring you any. I am here; I have always been there. Everything will be fine, Medusa. Today, Dumbledore is finished. Tomorrow, we will have our revenge. I promise you."
.
.
Medusa had left the castle almost at the same time as Dumbledore. Aurors had come for the director one morning, and the girl had not been found ever since. Eddy and Salazar looked for her until Sal decided to go see his father. Salazar returned, saying that she had come home early for the holidays and was with her mother.
This news made them both worried. On the morning of departure to return home, all the students went to the thestral carriages. None had decided to stay in the school, and it was rumoured that, exceptionally, it would be closed to get the castle repaired and let the aurors finish their work. It was an exceptional situation. Under the mild March sun, it seemed as if summer was approaching and that the fortress would not reopen its doors before the start of the next school year. Salazar and Eddy did not quite share that mix of euphoria and worry as they rode the Hogwarts Express. Mr. Riddle had also disappeared with Medusa; they would have thought that after Dumbledore's dismissal, the new Headmaster would not have hidden his joy, but he wasn't there.
In the hallway, they bumped into Umbridge. The young girl had Froufrou's basket and her many little kittens in her arms. When the teenager caught Eddy's gaze, she blanched a little.
"Don't let your dirty kneazle bother my Froufrou, Obscurial," she whispered, pointing Sleeping Charm to his shoulder. "Otherwise, I castrate him!"
"Charm does what he wants,"" Eddy snapped. "If you hurt him, I'll send you waltzing all over the train."
The young girl froze in horror at the thought and then let out a high-pitched yelp when a hand fell on her shoulder to tickle her like a big tarantula climbing on her neck. Umbridge leapt nearly five feet forward, nearly crashing into Salazar as Bellatrix, whose hand belonged, chuckled. Behind her were the Lestrange brothers, completely laughing at their comrade's phobia.
"It's not funny!" cried Umbridge, flushed.
"Oh, yes, it is," Bellatrix chuckled. "Now will you clear off, Dolly? You're the dot in the landscape."
The young girl in front of her comrades looked very pathetic as she collected her things and left with her head bowed. Bellatrix then turned to Salazar.
"Where's Med, Sal? It's been two days since she disappeared."
"Already home, apparently," Sal whispered. "She will be waiting for me at the station with my mother."
Bellatrix took it for granted and returned to her compartment, following her fiancé and her brother-in-law. Sixth-year Dolohov joined them, so Eddy and Salazar walked away with their luggage.
"But it's true that you don't have good taste in girlfriends, old pal," Eddy said, stroking Charm with his free hand.
The train started with a shrill whistle. They passed the waggon where Gwendal was with his Longbottom cousin, Xenophilius. Lovegood and Kheiron The compartment was so noisy that Salazar did not want to go inside. With an apologetic smile for his companions, they headed for a quieter compartment at the bottom of the train. They found Skeeter busy chatting with little third-year Ravenclaw Zabini.
When they entered the compartment, the two young girls stopped talking.
"Can we sit down?" Salazar whispered. "The others are full."
"I was going to leave anyway," Zabini said. "Keep that to yourself, Rita."
"I told you, we'll see, Evora," Skeeter replied with a careless gesture.
Young Zabini glared at them and slipped away as Skeeter returned to her periodical. Not having received instructions to sit or not, Eddy and Salazar settled on the bench facing the blonde. When they saw the headlines of the Daily Prophet, they froze.
"Dumbledore's dismissal!" The former Headmaster of Hogwarts is accused of endangering the lives of others. The School Board returns Albus Dumbledore to the High Court of Wizengamot for a trial for severe misconduct.
Eddy and Salazar looked at each other in consternation. Mr. Riddle had his hands on Hogwarts, but he was not done. He was just getting started. Realising this was like a crushing blow for the two teenagers. Rita lowered a corner of her journal with a small smile.
"I'd love to go to trial," Rita raved. "It's in a week; I absolutely have to convince my mother to take me."
"A trial," Salazar muttered, stroking Charm, who had slipped into his lap. "Dumbledore is dead. Really dead."
Salazar froze as he gazed at Charm, and Eddy wondered what he might be thinking at the moment.
"Did you see Medusa before she left?" Eddy finally asked as Rita played with her Muggle lighter after finishing her article.
The young girl stopped torturing her lighter's mechanism to look at them with a worried face. She lowered a corner of her glasses, but it was not to create suspense but rather, on the contrary, to save time in order to formulate things as well as possible.
Such delicacy was unusual for her, the increasingly worried teenager realised.
"I went to see her the other day... She really wasn't in her usual mood. I wanted to question her, but we had a fight. So I left. I should have understood from how she was with Rosier."
Rita questioned Salazar with a look that was now fixed on a corner of the newspaper, features twisted with anxiety. Eddy guessed that he was listening to the young girl and that he didn't want to meet Skeeter's gaze to get the truth.
With dread, Eddy, too, began to put the pieces of the puzzle together, and when Rita opened her mouth, he would almost have preferred that she be silent.
"Rosier had hurt Medusa, Sal. So much…"
.
.
.
When they arrived in London, no one spoke for the rest of the trip. Eddy was stunned by Skeeter's revelations. It was a cruelty that he had not been able to perceive and that he did not want to imagine. All his thoughts were on Medusa right now and how she felt.
When he saw her at the end of the platform with her mother as they walked out, his heart did a flip in his chest.
She, like her mother, looked dark and sullen as they walked through the crowd. Bellatrix reached Medusa more quickly and tried to talk to her. Her classmate ignored her and turned to her brother. Without a word, she grabbed her brother's hand, and without looking at Eddy and Rita behind her, she disappeared, following her mother and taking her youngest with her. Bellatrix, Rita, and Eddy eyed each other in disappointment and then went their separate ways.
Eddy spotted Tina and Newt near a waggon at the head of the train. They had seen him head towards the Riddles, and his guardian had a tight little pout. When he came towards them, dodging the small groups of students and parents, Tina gave him a sweet smile, just like Newt. However, their smile faded when they noticed his expression.
"Are you okay, big boy?"
"No," he answered honestly. "It's not okay at all."
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