Chapter V: You Medused him.
The Susurrus watches and whispers at the top of her voice.
Makes sure to have the feelings of her prey.
Beneath her whistles, the dove only follows her choice.
The Susurrus senses her subject's hope,
And, with only a word hung it on a rope.
Note to the Gifts #2 of the Codex of Slytherin.
Newt and Tina in their last letter gave him an account of the Valley of the Kings. They met very intriguing wizards there and when they entered a passage abandoned by time, a chimera had very nearly attacked them. Eddy thought that he would answer them shortly without knowing exactly what to say to them at the time.
He was in the library consulting the Register. It had been a few days since Slughorn's party. Eddy pretended to be suddenly sick to explain his disappearance to the old professor. And this one, aware of his condition, did not hold him too harshly but still gave him additional work. Eddy in the meantime preferred to read the names of all the wizards who have been in Hogwarts. This school had existed for almost a thousand years, so there was a considerable list of names. Eddy tried to find in the surnames noted down magically twenty years earlier those of his parents. He bore presumably his father's name, but no Lee was noted. Was one of those names his mother's? He jotted down a few with a clumsy hand gesture and turned the page.
Another name caught his attention, that of a certain Tom Marvolo Riddle who began his schooling in 1938. Eddy thought that even if he liked Sal very much, the rest of his family now filled him with the greatest terror and confusion. His gaze wandered to the Quidditch field where the Slytherins were having their last practice before the next day's game against Ravenclaw. From a distance and under the setting sun the little shapes on broomsticks looked like furious little flies.
Salazar arrived in the library. He was even paler than usual. Eddy wondered if Professor Riddle had "talked" to him like Medusa. When he saw Eddy, he gave him a small smile:
"Something is happening in the Forbidden Forest, do you want to come?
Eddy didn't know how his friend could be so aware of everything that was happening in the woods. It seemed like he was almost constantly in touch with it. However, he nodded and followed his comrade after putting the register in his bag.
They went down to the park as the Slytherin team made their way back to the castle. Bellatrix gave Eddy a discreet obscene gesture just like Medusa, but the redhead chose to ignore them. Percival Rosier soon annoyed them, and the two teenagers ran towards the forbidden forest, dodging the concierge who was beginning his rounds in the setting sun. They sank into it. Sal walked confidently among the trees whose trunks were still covered in cobwebs. They walked for a few minutes to a small grove.
Eddy first saw a faint shimmer between the leaves, then the muzzle of a unicorn appeared. She was lying on her side between the roots of a tree. Eddy had never seen one, it was the most graceful and delicate animal he had ever met even knowing his guardians' taste for magical creatures. Her long mane flowed down her side like a stream of soft light. Slowly, Salazar approached and sat down next to her. Eddy noticed that her stomach was swollen.
"She is giving birth. I felt something. It's long but it's almost over, now."
The animal laid its large silver eyes on the boy confidently. The unicorn seemed to be in pain and let out a weak whinny as it reared up its hindquarters. A small moan was soon heard and in a small golden shimmer a small unicorn sprang out. She had no horn yet, her muzzle was wet and a little soft, her large eyes looked up with difficulty. Gently the mother unicorn licked the muzzle of her newborn. Salazar stroked the two unicorns gently.
"Do you want to pet them too?"
Unicorns did not like boys too much, and if he didn't doubt Salazar's power, he was afraid of touching the equine couple. Yet his friend was once again confident, so he reached out his hand. The fur of her silver dress was soft and warm, her slow, measured breathing after her long effort immediately soothed Eddy. All his apprehensions diminished like every time he was in the presence of the Slytherin.
"You know, I don't know how you do it, but it feels good. Thank you," Eddy whispered.
Sal nodded slowly. He frowned though. Something seemed to call out to him as he turned his head to the westside of the woods.
"There's someone who shouldn't be here tonight."
He got up abruptly, abandoning the two unicorns and went in the direction he had looked earlier. Eddy started after him. They sank deeper into the forest, increasingly covered with cobwebs.
"Medusa," Sal cried, seeing his sister in the middle of two huge tree trunks.
Only the sight of two enormous Acromentulae as big as muggle cars in front of the young girl froze them with fear.
Eddy had already heard Newt and Tina tell him about these creatures, they were extremely dangerous and sneaky. The long hairy legs of the two monsters quivered as their enormous pruner-sized mandibles salivated with envy. Medusa hadn't moved and hadn't even pulled her wand from her Quidditch uniform.
"It's not good. Not good at all," Sal muttered. He looked truly panicked, then Eddy realised:
"Can't you control them?"
"No ... they, they don't listen to me," he breathed in a flat voice, holding out his wand.
"Indeed, Heirs of Slytherin," the spider muttered in a dreadful mandible-like sound.
"You've come to our territory," whispered a spider even bigger than the others as it emerged from a ditch.
Several other small spiders were coming up behind them. Eddy was shaking, feeling his magic crackle inside him, Medusa remained frozen.
"We'll be leaving, Aragog," Sal whispered. "We are going to leave-
"Too late, Heirs of Slytherin," Aragog cackled.
Without trying to understand further, Eddy grabbed Medusa's arm close to him, and made her run with him, Sal on their heels. Eddy cast a spell to expel the spiders that were now emerging by the hundreds from the various ditches in the clearing. They ran without stopping for a moment.
Medusa still trembling and frozen did not advance, he threw her on his shoulder, breathing heavily as he embarked on the race of his life. She didn't flinch as a sweaty Salazar cast spell after spell to slow down their pursuers. After ten minutes of frantic running, they almost reached the edge of the forest. Sweaty and breathless the two boys stopped to catch their breath.
Eddy dropped Medusa on the ground; she seemed to have regained some colour.
"Why did you… follow us?" Eddy said to Medusa, trying to catch his breath.
"Because you have no right to go here! You're going to get yourself into trouble. Salazar-
"I know what I'm doing, mind your own mandrake," her twin cut her off.
She gave them both a venomous look.
"A thank you would be appreciated," Eddy scoffed. "So you are afraid of spiders, uh?"
In the bluish darkness, she must have blushed because her complexion had turned a strange shade of purple.
"Shut up. You better shut up about what you heard in that forest, or someone much stronger than me will rip you to pieces!"
The Heir of Slytherin, or one of them, Eddy mused, remembering Professor Riddle's red eyes at Slughorn's party. This explained the hissing he had heard and the respect established by the father and the daughter with the Slytherins. Eddy thought that his life was perhaps too intertwined the Slytherins for his own sake.
"Let's go home, I have a match tomor-iiiirk!"
A monstrous spider emerged from between two thickets with a furious cackling. Before they could react, the girl drew her wand and screamed:
"Avada Kedavra!"
A tiny small green beam shot out from her wand to reach the creature, which collapsed in front of them with a thud, dead. Medusa froze again, Salazar had an expression of pure horror that Eddy had never seen from him.
"Sal…" whispered the little witch. "I didn't want-
"You spend too much time with our father, Medusa."
Even though taking down a creature that specifically wanted them dead seemed like self-defence to Eddy, he more or less understood what his friend meant. Who at fourteen could cast the death spell so easily?
The teenager turned on his heels with his friend, leaving the young girl full of spite. They eventually left the forest. She quickly followed them, passed them, and left without a word.
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The next day the weather was nice and mild on Hogwarts. It was the day of the Slytherin-Ravenclaw meeting at Quidditch. Eddy was bad at flying, - in fact, cataclysmic -, but he loved Quidditch. At Ilvermony if he skipped class, he never missed the games that emptied his head of troubles. Salazar did not share his morning joy as he drank his tea, holding a book in his hand. The students had mostly chosen sides and most of them supported Ravenclaw. Almost two-thirds of the Great Hall sported the colours bronze and blue.
"Are you sure you don't want to come?"
"No, it's fine, thank you. I'll be in the park when it's over," replied his friend.
Eddy swallowed his eggs quickly and followed the stream of students on their way to the Quidditch stadium. He found a place in the Slytherin stand on the third floor, near Shafiq and Gwendal. They were not far from the commentary box where Rita Skeeter shared her microphone with Andromeda Black under the supervision of McGonagall. Dumbledore was also in the stands, not far from them, chatting with Professor Slughorn.
The players arrived on the field. Medusa and Bellatrix were the only girls on the green and silver team. In addition to Captain Percival Rosier as keeper, Spencer Mulligan and Rabastan and Rodolphus Lestange as chasers, while the seeker was another tall, dark-skinned boy with long hair in tight dreads that Kheiron told him, it was his cousin Marcus Zabini. Rosier went to greet Chang, the captain of the Ravenclaws, and the match started. The players rose into the sky.
"And here's a game that's off to a flying start," Skeeter shouted into the silver microphone. "Lestrange grabs the Quaffle and heads with Rabastan towards the Ravenclaws' goals!"
The goal was intercepted by the Ravenclaw keeper, a red-haired girl with impressive muscles. She sent it back but Rodolphus recovered the quaffle by deliberately shoving the team chaser in front. The Ravenclaw bleachers exploded in outrage:
"After a foul, referee Mr. Dingley gives Ravenclaws a penalty," Andromeda said happily.
The Ravenclaw player made his penalty, Rosier failed to reach the Quaffle and the goal was awarded under the cheers of the blues.
"Ten to zero for Ravenclaw," Skeeter muttered, her voice so low it sounded like she was whispering into the microphone.
"Yes, ten to zero," Andromeda trumpeted louder to make sure her comrades heard.
But she didn't rejoice for long, a powerful bludger sent by Medusa slammed into the chest of one of the Ravenclaw pursuers so hard that he nearly fell off his broomstick.
"And Riddle hasn't lost any of her touch," Skeeter remarked. "Bravo my dear! Keep on going!"
"Skeeter! What did we say about journalistic ethics?" McGonagall squeaked behind her into the microphone.
The game resumed, a goal was awarded to Slytherin, then another to Ravenclaw. Bellatrix and Medusa viciously blubbered any Ravenclaws that came within range, targeting the Seeker in particular —a fragile-looking second-year girl. A goal was awarded to Ravenclaw and Shafiq did not hide his indignation by grumbling loudly. Gwendal jumped with every movement the drummers made as if he were afraid of receiving a bludger in the face at any moment. The match had been going on for a good twenty-five minutes. Eddy noticed Professor Riddle in the teachers' gallery. He sat casually looking bored. As soon as Eddy noticed it, the professor looked up at him. An icy current ran through the boy who preferred to take care of the match:
"We're still 30 to 60 in favour of Slytherin, again discipline make all the difference!" Skeeter announced in a superior voice.
"Absolutely," Andromeda agreed, "That's why it's always good to remember that the Slytherin team hasn't won the cup for six years. The discipline of the former Ravenclaw, winners of last year, made and will still make all the difference, I have no doubt about it!"
A vivid clamour applauded Andromeda Black's words and suddenly the two Seekers were in pursuit of something in the sky. It was the golden snitch. Bellatrix rode her broom past their grandstand, her bat under her arm. She glared at Eddy and childishly he stuck his tongue out at her. She gave a strange smile before spinning on her broom.
"Looks like Zabini and Zabini saw the snitch!" Andromeda remarked. "Fly, Evora!"
"Brother and sister Zabini are on two different teams?" realized Eddy pointing to the little witch following Zabini
"Yes, she's my fiancée," replied the teenager. "Suffice to say that even if we are cousins, we do not speak that much. She's an annoying brat. Go ahead, Marcus! Catch this snitch!"
Eddy couldn't dwell on the subject any longer. His instincts told him to turn his head to the sky. Black had just sent a super-powered bludger in his direction. At the last second, he was stopped by Riddle's bat that she sent back to the nearby Ravenclaw Seeker.
Gwendal fell from his seat in amazement, taking Kheiron along with him. In her clutch to reach the Bludger, Medusa was so close that her face was only inches from Eddy's. She gave him an enigmatic smile before heading back to the field. Marcus Zabini closed his hand around the golden ball, ending the match.
"AND SLYTHERIN WINS 210 TO 40," Rita snarled with a voice so shrill that most of the students plugged their ears in spite of themselves.
The Slytherins raced down the field to applaud their triumphant team with joy. Eddy glanced towards the Slytherin stand. Mr Riddle had already left, Eddy met Professor Dumbledore's gaze. He seemed both puzzled and worried.
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To celebrate their victory, the students had the right to organize a superb party in the common room. The voice of Catalina Song, - Skeeter's mother - sang her latest hit: Invite me into your filter on a record player and some students danced playfully. Others detonated firecrackers in a beautiful ensemble. There were the older students at the back of the room drinking and giggling in low voices. Eddy was in a corner by the fireplace with Shafiq, Gwendal, Umbridge, and two second years. Eddy would have liked Salazar to join them, but he was hidden behind his notebook in an armchair in the shadows. He was still just as uncomfortable with crowds. Somehow, Salazar reminded him a lot of Newt, always reserved and dreamy.
Some seventh years saw the game they were playing and giggled.
"Spin the bottle?" Shacklebolt said. "Oh that's so cute."
"Let them be young, Berenyce," replied the other with feigned wisdom, taking a glass of pure fire whiskey pilfered in the kitchens.
When they went dancing to a new song by Song, 'Stupefied, stupid love', Gwendal spun the bottle, which landed on Umbridge.
"Truth or Dare?"
"Dare," replied the young girl in a hesitant voice.
Two fourth-year students joined their small gathering by the fireplace.
"Go and drink a glass of whiskey bottoms up," Gwendal finally said, out of ideas.
Uncertain, the young girl ran. She went near the bar and took a glass that she swallowed entirely under their giggles.
This seemed to have attracted the three Gorgons, who followed her as she staggered back towards the small circle.
"I'm dying to join you," Bellatrix said in a small falsetto.
The mood froze the moment the three girls sat down. Eddy, whose turn it was, twirled the bottle that fell on Skeeter. He asked her truth or dare.
"Truth," said the tall blond witch.
Eddy chose what he could ask for. He hadn't forgotten the Hogwarts Illustrated awful article.
"How did you manage to get into the newspaper while Andromeda dislikes you?"
"Because the H-I belongs to my parents," Rita answered in a nasty voice. "Someone had to provide the funds to set up the club at the base. Andromeda didn't have much choice. Next year, I 'll be in charge since she's leaving school after her NEWTs. You lose nothing by waiting, Lee, I'll get you."
Rita and Bellatrix giggled. Bellatrix spun the bottle, which landed on Shafiq. She challenged him to kiss a slightly blushing Rita. Rolling his eyes, the teenager complied. Even if it was a bit awkward and clumsy kiss, the young girl was delighted. Eddy wondered what Kheiron's family would say knowing that he was kissing another young girl than his fiancée even in a game. It was Medusa's turn to spin the bottle. It lands on Eddy. He stared at Rita and Bellatrix to make sure they hadn't hexed the bottleneck to get ahead of him.
"Truth or dare," the petite brunette declared.
"Dare," Eddy finally said after a moment of hesitation.
"Kiss Me."
Eddy felt himself blushing, while the other students froze. Even Bellatrix could not seem to believe her ears. Medusa looked calm. It was true that Medusa was pretty with her long black hair styled by her ribbon as a headband around her tanned face. Her dark eyes shone.
Girls were still a vague and annoying concept for the teenager, but if Medusa was impolite, she was undoubtedly a very pretty girl.
"Well then, Lee? Are you scared?"
"Not even true! You're saying crap!"
A small group of fifth-years, including Rosier and the Lestranges, turned their heads towards them, attracted by his cries.
Refusing to chicken out in front of his comrades, Eddy approached the young girl, lowering his eyes a little. She smelled of wild strawberries like the last time. His lips were only inches from hers when she roughly grabbed his face and pulled him up to her level. Their eyes met and she whispered in a velvet voice:
"What's your darkest secret, Eddy Lee?"
Before he had time to free himself, a strange torpor seized him. Nothing existed at the moment, other than to respond to Medusa Riddle. Without being able to stop, he then replied:
"I'm an Obscurial… and I killed my father."
Everyone froze around them. Medusa smirked, horrified. She let go of him and jumped away. Eddy turned his head as someone had stopped the music. All the Slytherins were looking at him, whispering. Umbridge flushed, let out a terrified squeal and ducked behind Kheiron and Gwendal. Salazar stood up in the dark and gave his classmate an apologetic look.
Trembling, Eddy realized that the worst have happened through Medusa's fault. He stood up, watching his entire comrades jump back. Some even, let out a little yelp with wide-eyed terror. He started running out of the common room.
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The Obscurial affair made the rounds of the school in approximately twenty minutes the next day. All the Slytherins having a brother or a sister in another house had warned their family not to approach Lee. The rumour had spread at full speed and Medusa was involved in it.
She had Medused as her comrades said when talking about her Gift, which she sometimes used to have shown it in public -without ever being caught by a teacher.
"Well done," whispered Percival Rosier at breakfast. "You Medused him, like a chief. It'll never pass with the school board. Dumbledore is completely senile for allowing this… abomination. He's going to be ejected from this castle, this old fool, and his retarded bomb with him."
Medusa risked a glance at the staff table. Dumbledore was concerned as he heard the rumour rising, but her father wore an expression of pure contentment. She met his gaze. The smile he gave her was so sincere that she felt an intense surge of joy rising inside her. They smiled at each other for a moment and Medusa turned to her Quidditch captain with a cheerful look:
"Thank you, Percy."
She read in his mind that he found her to his liking. For a while, these thoughts had invaded the minds of some boys who found that she had grown up and that her body was interesting. She read something unhealthier in his mind and frowned.
"Don't take your dreams for reality, Rosier. I would prefer the company of trolls to yours. Be careful that I don't Meduseyou too."
He smiled. Ever since she had been on the team this year with Bella, she had been telling herself that this boy was just an idiot. He also occurred to be very disgusting.
"My worst secret, I tell it to you if you want: it is that I find you awfully cute, if you want to kiss someone instead of Lee I can volunteer."
"Go cook some dragon dung, Rosier," snapped Bellatrix, who had stopped throwing breadcrumbs at Umbridge with Rita.
As the boy replied with a vaguely annoyed smile, Professor Dumbledore stood up, calling for silence with his wand resting against his neck.
"It looks like the news has gone around the school, young people. I regret to report that the rumours you have heard have some truth. More information will be given to you this evening at dinner. An expert in the field will come and explain to you what it is all about. I hope you will have the patience to wait until tonight, and the benevolence not to intimidate your comrade if you see him."
Medusa indeed noticed that Lee was not present, but she expected no less from him. It had to be said that she herself did not really know how to position herself in the face of Eddy's revelations. She didn't quite know what an Obscurial was, she just knew it was dark and dangerous. And he had confessed to having killed his own father… She promised herself to quickly go and ask her father about it. She looked around for her brother, who was also absent. Since yesterday, he had refused even to look at her, and her joy suddenly collapsed.
She saw Professor Dumbledore rise from the head table and cross the Great Hall. Medusa held his gaze as he passed her, she read a sort of polite, dry anger that made her shiver. The principal disappeared, no doubt expected at an emergency meeting at the school council.
It was Sunday; if the council had decided to meet, it was because the affair was surely serious. No longer hungry, Medusa slipped away to leave the Great Hall. She was alone and for once, it felt good. She allowed herself a little walk before joining her father's office where she seemed naturally invited. In the Transfiguration yard, empty by the early hour she sat on the stone railings, her legs dangling inches off the floor. In the large beech tree in the yard there was Charm, Lee's Kneazle, with Froufrou, Umbridge's cat. Even the horrible creature didn't seem to know where his red-haired owner was. The animal, noticing her, spat at her furiously before scuttling, Froufrou following him. Medusa grimaced and thought that maybe this cat deserved to be put in its place. However, she decided to join the second floor.
Her father had quickly gone up to his office as she had planned. When she crossed the threshold of the room, she felt grabbed by two cold hands.
"Thank you, Medusa."
Her father had hardly ever taken her in his arms. The hug was distant and strange but the girl decided it was such a rare gift that it should be treasured. When she pulled away after a few seconds she saw her father's expression and realized she had never seen such a happy face on him. She smiled at him just as much.
"If that little Romani is an Obscurial, Dumbledore is finished. Soon he will be a distant memory. You disobeyed me but for this one time, I forgive you. The boy will be mine and soon this school too."
"I'm very glad," Medusa replied. "But what is an Obscurial, Father? Nobody really seemed to agree or know what they were talking about during breakfast."
Her father pulled away and pulled out his wand. He traced dark filaments in the air, which formed into a compact, thick ball. It was a kind of burning diagram of darkness exposed before the eyes of the young girl who approached, fascinated.
"An Obscurial is a sorcerer whose powers have been forced so deeply into them that they rebound beyond the sorcerer's control. Many Mudbloods become Obscurials because of Muggles who torture them. It is dark and powerful magic, more powerful even than anything you have known in your short life, Medusa. They are beings destined for destruction, they don't have much of humanity. I had never met before; in general these wizards die in childhood."
Medusa thought that indeed that explained the boy's behaviour and sudden mood swings.
"One of them almost destroyed New York almost forty years ago," her father continued. "All that power…in a creature that should have died…what a waste it would be not to harness it."
He seemed pensive. Medusa didn't dare ask what he was planning to do with Eddy. He looked up at her and smiled at her. He sat quietly on his desk.
"So I have to thank you. What do you want?"
"A new dress and a new snake. One smaller than Nagini. I want one with me here", she replied immediately.
Like an old habit, he rolled his eyes, and finally agreed. It was normal after all to receive a reward for doing a good deed, right? Medusa had quickly learned that it was better to ask for little to be sure of receiving something. She was about to leave but hesitated:
"Salazar wasn't attracted to Lee by chance, was he? Would he… be able to influence the Obscurial?"
Her father gave her an enigmatic little smile.
"Perhaps…but if the Obsucrial comes back to you, come and tell me about it," he said, looking at her.
Just with that look, she knew everything she needed to know. The young girl thanked her father one last time and left.
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That same evening, Lee had still not reappeared. Umbridge was shouting to anyone who would listen that he had tried to attack her on her way to the Owlery but no one believed her. All had only one word left in their mouths. Obscurial. Many had rushed to the library and never had Miss Breviary been so crowded there on a Sunday. Others had already told their parents and the feedback was going to be terrible since Dumbledore still hadn't arrived from his meeting with the school board.
"He's already fired and your father is now in charge," Bellatrix gloats.
However, she quickly undeceived herself, Dumbledore entered the room at a brisk pace, another large man following him. The stranger was frail and about sixty years old, he had a quiet, somewhat dreamy walk. Some of the students seemed to recognize him, because they opened their eyes wide. Rita whispered:
"It's Newt Scamander, the author of my Care of Magical Creatures book. My parents attended one of his lectures!"
A sixth year silenced her while Dumbledore and Newt Scamander went to the professorial dais. From his place, her father watched this newcomer with an inquisitive look. The other teachers seemed tense.
"My very dear students, esteemed colleagues. Let us not keep the suspense any longer, now you all know that Mr Lee is an Obscurial. I made the decision to welcome this young man within these walls without informing you of his condition. To better understand this decision, I would like to introduce you to a very old and precious friend, Newt Scamander, Magic-Zoologist."
There was a small hum in the room among those who hadn't recognized him. Medusa's brother, at the end of the room did not take his eyes off the man.
"Mr Scamander and his wife Popentina have been Mr Lee's guardians for seven years. So I leave it to him to explain further."
Scamander took a hesitant step forward. He offered them a shy smile but he looked tired as if he had just returned from a long trip.
"Th-nice to be back here," he began in a quavering voice. "We just came back from a meeting with the school council where I explained to them the same thing that I am going to confide to you. An Obscurial is a deep and powerful manifestation within a wizard when his magic is repelled within him. This happens most of the time when the wizard or witch grows up in an environment hostile to magic. Not everyone becomes Obscurial, do not worry, but that's what happened to Eddy. I met him seven years ago after he blew up the trailer he was living in. He used magic to defend himself against his violent and abusive father. I had already encountered Obscurials in the past, without being able to cure them. Your friend was a child in pain and he needed help. We managed my wife and I to bring him some. We worked with Albus for years for this, to cure this evil that another had hatched in him. Eddy is not dangerous. He is currently under treatment and has been for a long time in order not to explode the Obscurus in him. He may have strong emanations, even small tantrums, but any teacher in this school will be able to contain them. Think of it as a curse or a disease to be fought. But I repeat to you, he cannot and will not harm you."
He seemed to be looking for his adopted son without seeing him. He exchanged a look with Dumbledore who continued:
"The school board made the decision to leave your comrade with us, where he belongs."
There was a disapproving murmur. Bellatrix raised a disdainful eyebrow.
"Now I would like to have your full and undivided attention, young people. Many of you when you came to this school were also prone to disaster. What is this school for if not to teach you how to control your powers and magnify this magic? I therefore ask you to welcome Mr Lee with the greatest warmth and to support him in his handicap. I thank you and wish you a good appetite."
The dishes appeared on the clapping of the Headmaster's hands. Newt and Dumbledore went to sit next to each other. Her father didn't seem disappointed or angry, on the opposite he looked too satisfied for her not to be suspicious. Medusa then noticed the worried features of Scamander who was desperately waiting for the moment when his protege would cross the threshold of the Great Hall.
He had been missing for a day. Medusa bit her lip. It was all her fault. Yet, she did not derive much joy from it. Salazar met her gaze and looked away.
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A week had passed since Newt Scamander's speech and Eddy had still not reappeared. Scamander had spent the whole evening looking for his protege, according to Rita who had evidently followed him. She had seen him prowl near the astronomy tower before being caught by Picott the caretaker who had locked her in a dungeon as punishment for an hour.
Rumours were endemic about Lee now; everyone considered that he had to leave the castle as soon as possible. Some were even very relieved at his passing and hoped never to see him again, like Bellatrix. Medusa was not part of this category.
Salazar ignored her. He followed the lessons at her side without a word, taking notes. He had gone in search of his friend but returned empty-handed and cold. In fact, it was so icy that their father seemed very pleased with the change and congratulated her once again.
Bellatrix came to sit next to her in the common room as she played a game of wizarding chess with Rita. Her bishop slew Rita's pawn with delight, and Medusa looked down at her best friend who smirked.
"Andromeda is in charge of bringing Lee his meal tonight. Professor Dumbledore asked her earlier. He is hiding in the astronomy tower. Do you think you can slip some Living Dead filter into his food? I wonder what effect it will have…maybe it will blow him up inside," she smiled perversely happily.
Bellatrix had a very bad laugh. Rita looked uncomfortable but Medusa smiled. When they had met in first year Bella and her, they had not liked each other right away. They were two pale-faced, dark-eyed little girls who had sized each other up warily. It only took two days for it to escalate and Bellatrix to slap her hard on the lip when Medusa said something acerbic to her in the dormitory. She responded to the blows with a spell, and then used legilimency on herself. She simply didn't know that the Blacks were naturally gifted in this discipline. What one saw, the other saw something similar in her own memory. Quietly, looking at each other's bleeding lips, they had become best friends.
"No need," Medusa whispered. "In a short time, he will go away on his own."
Medusa checkmated Rita who held back a sigh. The witch stood up, leaving her place on the chessboard to Bellatrix who rubbed her hands in anticipation with the same evil look on her face. If Medusa was good at chess, Bellatrix was just unbeatable and faced the chessboard as she faced duels, - with a crazy and unfocused air that knocked out her opponents in a few moves. She left her two best friends, violently jostling Umbridge who was passing by, just for the pleasure of hearing her little cry of terror. She went upstairs to reach the Astronomy tower.
She got close enough to the door that it opened to reveal Andromeda Black, her Head Girl badge glistening on her chest in the setting sun. The young woman so similar to her best friend gave her an angry grimace. She had the same face as Bellatrix, but hers did not have the tired, sickly look of her younger sister.
"I think you've done enough, Medusa. They say it was you who forced him to tell his secret? Go back to the Great Hall, the dinner will start soon."
"I'm going," Medusa snapped. "So you go back to taking care of your muggles. Are you going to help all the poor people in this school, Saint Andromeda? Bellatrix know about Ted Tonks? Let me through or she'll know soon, believe me."
Andromeda cringed before saying angrily:
"You know Medusa, being cruel like your father won't endear you to him. It doesn't work for Bella with our dad, why would it work with you?"
"Because I have much more to gain", she replied with still the same cruel mask. "Move. I don't intend to provoke him. I have to chat with our little circus animal."
Andromeda narrowed her eyes in disgust but let her pass. She climbed the scrap metal staircase and was surprised to find no one there. There was a small silver tray near the balcony but Lee was nowhere.
"You really want to end up going through the window, it's not possible otherwise," said Eddy's voice in her ear.
She turned around; he was only a thin, somewhat transparent figure, as if he had missed a spell of disillusionment. But Lee just wouldn't be able to just cast the spell.
"Become visible again, Lee! Have some nerve, by Salazar."
"I can't," he said angrily. "When I burst, it happens. Now go away. Your curiosity is satisfied? The whole school wants me out."
Medusa hesitated with the urge to retort something acerbic. She stood on her feet with an evil expression. However, she saw the silhouette of the Obscurial blur like a smeared painting. Slowly the scribbled presence moved past her simply to grab the small golden potion from the tray. He opened the vial and drank it; the image grew slightly stronger, soon the figure showed its features. Lee was looking out the Hogwarts balcony with a relaxed expression.
"Is that your treatment? I've never seen a potion like this before."
"Yeah. Illuminial. My tutor and Dumbledore invented this potion together. You have to be an excellent wizard to brew it. It blocks my magic inside of me in a soft way; it simply prevents me from using my powers. I have to drink this twice a day for the rest of my life. If I manage to live beyond twenty-five."
"You're doomed," the young girl understood in a flat voice.
"Yes, one day the Obscurus will consume me. Either I'll die or I'll spend the rest of my life as a 'magic ball' locked in my guardian's suitcase to do the slightest harm. So your childishness with the two vipers that serve as your friends, I think that's the least of my worries. But… what did you do to me on game night? It was more than legilimency."
Medusa pursed her lips and sat down against the balcony, her back to the boy.
"I shouldn't have revealed your secret. It was stupid. I thought to myself that since you knew the origin of our blood, I must have something against you. Our ancestor, Salazar Slytherin had the good taste to mix his blood with wizards of different ancestries to give us, his blood, more strength and advantages than the others. Our ancestors have been writing down their talents and abilities for years in a book that we pass down through our blood. It's the Codex of Slytherin. I am what we called a Susurrus. I can read your mind but I can also control you for a short time. We all have different talents in our family, which, I believe you saw it, is complicated. To call it a gift would even be wrong way to talk about it, to me it looks like curses. Imagine yourself from the age of three starting to hear the thoughts of people around you, constantly, just by meeting their gaze? It's awful, it completely pisses you off. My father has the same powers as me, and many more. I assure you that we end up despising everyone by dint of seeing what they really are."
Eddy looked pensive, he reappeared a little more. Medusa didn't want to inspire pity in the boy but felt the need to confide. Somehow, Eddy was as screwed up as she and Salazar were, she thought. They could at least understand that.
"What are Salazar's powers, then?"
"That's the problem. The Codex of Slytherin only mentions it once for a very distant cousin you may know, Isolt Sayre, the founder of Ilvermony. She also had this gift towards magical creatures. But her bond with magical creatures seems less intense than Salazar's. No one knows what exactly his magic is. Even our father does not really know, but imagine…the power to make any creature, magical or otherwise, obey you. In my father's hands, it is dangerous. My brother is different you noticed it. He didn't speak until he was five years old. Our mother took him to consult the muggle doctors in secret.
"Is Sal sick?"
"Well no, it's more complicated. The doctor called it autism, or a form of autism. He sees the world differently from you and me. He is often unable to understand the expressions and feelings of the person in front of him... Maybe his own gift for legilimency has made him like this? I told you, it sucks. Our mother never communicated this result to our father, I read it in her mind."
"What is your mother's power?"
"She's a Darkblood. She is able to disappear into the shadow of every object."
As well as a few other powers he did not need to know about. Medusa saw the sun disappeared behind the hills bordering the black lake. She wondered what it felt like to be an orphan.
"I mean, Lee, you're not the only one who's screwed up. You killed your parent who beat you and you did well", she said in a cold voice.
"I don't remember it anymore. I don't even remember his face. When my guardians found me, I was just a ball of magic. I spent months locked in a suitcase then I forgot everything. I preferred to forget in order to heal. But I guess you can understand what it's like to be abused, can't you?"
Medusa froze. He knew. She was not sure how, but he knew. She felt anger and shame welling up inside her.
"You know Riddle, you're almost too polite today. It's weird. What do you want?"
"Let's put our cards on the table, Lee. My father is up to something and wants you and Salazar involved in it. I'm asking you to help me protect him. You don't get anything but trouble, but I'm sure you'll say yes. Like me, you want to help him, don't you?"
Lee had fully materialized now. He fixed his brown eyes on hers. For the first time since he had arrived at the school, he looked at her long enough for her to discern some of his thoughts. She read there that he found her pretty, -like the others-, and that he did not really know what to answer.
"Our father is a brilliant and powerful wizard… he just never wanted to have children, I know that. If we were born Sal and me it's because he gains something, and that terrifies me. I shouldn't have been such a harpy to you, it was to protect Sal. Let me help you in turn. Come back to school; take lessons for Salazar or for you by Circe. With Rita and Bella I will prevent others from doing you any harm. You've already missed a week of class and you're the worst student, don't make it worse."
"I-it's okay. I have a favour to ask of you", the boy said hoarsely. He took what was left of the potion on his meal's tray and slid off the balcony to be at her level. He presented her with the remains of the little golden potion. "You're the best at potions, help me. Teach me how to brew this potion; I have to know how to make it by this summer."
Medusa wondered what he was planning to do during the summer but nodded. For the first time, they shook hands. Medusa, shaking her classmate's warm hand, said to herself that this little grumpy boy inspired her with a little sympathy. But, she would never admit such a thing.