Chapter XIV: Dobby to the Derby
Thelesa the Haemo-goblin of the Gaunts knew Cadmus Peverell. They had one son out of wedlock, Zephyr Gaunt. Thelesa died of bloodlust in the bed where she had bled to life.
Cadmus later called her back, once, twice, three times. In vain.
He left after her, leaving Zephyr a stone to engrave in this chronicle. He made it into the ring he gave to Mafalda from the Valerians' Blood. He knew her; she bore him twins, a son and a daughter.
Page # 43 of the Slytherin's Codex
Eddy couldn't forget the kiss he had exchanged with Medusa. He hadn't seen anything, but the feel of her lips on his was something warm and soft he couldn't tear himself away from. Her princess dress from Arabian Nights at Slughorn's party had haunted his thoughts ever since, —as he sometimes woke up in the mornings feeling uncomfortable and hot.
He usually went to the bathroom as quickly as possible to take an icy shower despite this end of autumn. It was getting really, really cold in the castle as the Christmas holidays were approaching. Several students no longer took off their capes between classes. But Eddy only felt the cold from afar, as if the warmth deep in his heart could protect him from everything, including the icy gusts that circulated in the stone alcoves of the school.
Was that what they called being in love? As soon as he thought about it, the thing inside him rumbled with pleasure. But he mustn't think about it too often, otherwise he couldn't prevent his happy look from appearing.
Salazar had even surprised him in full bliss and questioned him. He didn't dare answer her, and Sal didn't insist. Eddy didn't know what would happen if Salazar knew he had kissed his twin. Would he be happy? And what about Medusa? Were they secretly dating?
So when he saw Arthur Weasley studying with Kingsley Shacklebolt in the library, he picked up his book and changed places to sit with them. The two Gryffindors looked up at his arrival. They were writing a huge assignment in the history of magic for one and muggle studies for the other.
Not knowing how to start the conversation, Eddy stammered then went back to his book to do his research. Arthur bent down to read his notes.
"Occlumency? It's a very complicated magic, why are you interested in it?"
"Nothing," whispered the teenager. "I find it interesting… Just in case. I have some concerns."
Arthur Weasley narrowed his eyes, and then resumed his air of a wise old man about to give some vital information. At this comedy, Shacklebolt chuckled and went back to his muggle study book.
"You need advice."
"Yes, but_," Eddy protested, darting a look at Shacklebolt, who was taking his notes with still a half smile and listening to their conversation.
"The lady's name doesn't have to be spoken," Arthur said, continuing his little comedy. "Love is something that transcends house rivalry. Talk to Uncle Arthur, my dear."
Eddy refrained from rolling his eyes. Miss Breviary passed between the shelves to put down a book, Eddy waited until she went further to ask:
"Are you uh…in love with Prewett?"
"Of course," the boy agreed without embarrassment. "She's the love of my life, I know that."
His comrade chuckled again, amused by his candid demeanour.
"Laugh as you want, Kingsley. It is a proof of maturity to accept his feelings and be proud of them."
"There's accepting and drowning in it, Arthur," Kingsley whispered quietly, and then looked up from his book. "So, how are we in love, Lee?"
"N-Uh…How do we know if we're…"
"Oh he's blushing, it's adorable."
"Enough, I'm leaving," the boy gritted, picking up his book while his two comrades chuckled.
"Come back, come back. We're teasing you a bit. Listen, given your embarrassment talking about this, you already have the beginnings of an answer. This is the first step."
Curious, the teenager sat down again waiting for the improvised "teacher" to give his lesson. Even Kingsley had left his book to listen.
"There's a moment when you realize that you're good with this person, you're always hot near them, and you realize that you don't want to be away from them anymore. From there you have to be able to say that to yourself, then say it to the other. In most cases it goes well.
"Afterwards, yes, you have to be able to say it," Eddy murmured, feeling the blush rise to his cheeks just at the thought.
Arthur nodded softly while Kingsley grimaced. Eddy saw Rosier pass through a shelf. He had borrowed several books from the library but seemed unwilling to be seen as he kept peeking behind him. For a moment he met her gaze, and gave her a hateful grimace. The teenager supported her until the other slipped between the shelves. This brought him much joy again. He tried to calm the obscurus as Arthur resumed.
"That moment will come…when you kiss, when you spend time together."
"But that the problem —we only kissed twice. 'First time, she kissed me and she slapped me right after that. I'm completely lost," he whispered sheepishly.
He saw the two boys burst into a small laugh hidden behind their course book. He felt the obscurus growling within him again, ashamed of being humiliated.
Eddy focused his gaze on the books they were holding. Without understanding how he managed with a quick movement of his wand to make them tap the tip of their noses against the hollow of their book to calm their laughter. Mrs Breviaire was just arriving.
"My library is not a tea room. Go outside to trade and stop embarrassing these places!"
Still giggling the teenagers complied, rubbing their noses. Eddy thought he had pulled off an instinctual magic spell. It was certainly weak and a bit childish, but the two boys didn't seem to hold it against him. They had stopped laughing and were leaving the library.
"So much for our noses, Lee. Listen, we should spend more time with the miss, and then you can give her a little flair, Arthur told her as he walked away.
"We leave you, I must finish my presentation now that we are fired. I still don't know what a rubber ducky is," Kinsley huffed annoyed. "Because of that idiot I took this as my Muggle Studies paper. He doesn't know what it is and neither do I. So don't take this happy fool's advice too seriously."
The fort aptly named could not remove itself from its calm and dreamy air.
"Rubber ducks are for bathing. It's a child's toy. I used to play with it when I was little taking a bath with my mother," Eddy answered.
The teenager froze after speaking. He immediately remembered a pewter basin in which he bathed as a child. There was moss, a little yellow rubber duck and his mother's arms, he could also see the tip of her hair, if he looked up he would see her face.
"Is it just for the bath?" But why ? Kingsley asked cutting off his musings.
"Are you fine?" asked Arthur. "Looks like you've been cursed."
"Y-yes, that's fine," Eddy whispered. "I leave you, I have to go."
He left without letting the two boys answer and ran down the stairs. He had seen a memory with his mother. He had seen a part of her. A part of her arms and her red hair. He ducked into an empty classroom. Somewhat apart he tried to remember that face and those smiles without succeeding. He couldn't remember anything. He then tried to concentrate on the rubber duck he had spoken of. But again nothing came. He let out an angry hiss and behind him he heard a window explode. Panicked, he saw the other windows of the room explode in turn. And he couldn't calm down. He took the illuminial potion he kept in his pocket, in case he didn't know where not if he should drink it.
To calm himself, he began to think of Medusa and her small smile as she returned to Slug's party. This smile, this image and the feeling of her skin against his did him a world of good. He felt himself slowly calming down. Slowly the obscurus within him quieted down and his magic subsided around his body. He drew his wand and pointed it at the windows:
"Reparo!"
The spell didn't come out of his wand right away, but slowly the pieces of glass clogged between them. The repair was flawed but the teenager made it for every broken window. It was better than nothing; at least, he could cast some spells.
He thought that when Professor Riddle's next lesson came he had better have made more progress, the man might be ruthless. But for some time now, the wizard had been too busy with school business to pay attention to him. In Dumbledore's almost constant absence, a lot of business was failing him and Eddy thought in horror that the school already seemed to belong to him. Riddle was therefore watching him from afar and hadn't scheduled any new sessions.
.
.
Snow fell on Hogwarts all at once. One morning all the students discovered no less than a foot of snow around the school like a thick white cloud. The Care of Magical Creatures class that morning was even cancelled. The students of Eddy's option were therefore at the table and ate with this beat between lessons.
Salazar had returned the locket to his father who was wearing it that morning to the staff table and eating thoughtfully.
"If I stay untamed, he'll give it back to me," his friend had confessed to him half-wordily that very morning, unable to restrain a little shudder.
This Damocles Sword punishment above his head looked terrible. Eddy glared at the professor. He had seen him earlier in the week to let him know that their next session would be on Friday. He was in a hurry to vent his anger because it was also against this man that he was furious. He was often tense and irritable these past few days. Even the presence of Sal by his side could annoy him sometimes and he didn't understand why.
"Your mother doesn't protect you from him?" Eddy finally asked in a low voice as Professor Riddle watched them with a smirk.
"No. She even approves of it…don't stare at him too long, he reads in you easily."
"C-Can, can you teach me Occlumency?" I saw that I was capable of it in front of him, I want to learn to defend myself," murmured Eddy after looking back at his comrade. "I only have a little theory and not enough practice."
"I…I've never tried to teach anyone, but I can try," Salazar mumbled after hesitating.
Eddy dove back into his toast and the mail owls came through the ceiling. Eddy watched them fly for a moment, their arrival sending an icy draft into the Great Hall that he barely felt. He noticed a big black crow coming towards him. He was not expecting any mail and did not know this animal. So he was slightly surprised when the crow dropped off a letter written in muggle paper.
The bird croaked and flew away with a flutter of feathers.
Curious, he opened the envelope and let out a letter full of spelling mistakes.
"Chav,
Thank you for your letter, I'm fine. Hope it gets to you in time. I continued my research. There's definitely a Zelda Lee around Birmingham. The clan was seen there according to sources. I can manage to take you by winter, I have work planned.
B."
It was Billy Berry. Happy to hear from him, he couldn't help letting out a little squeal of happiness when he read the words of this man. He had found his aunt and he knew where she was. Vacation was in a few days. He'd told Newt he intended to stay at the castle… but what was stopping him from telling the professors otherwise and sneaking out of the castle to join Mr. Berry? All his dorm mates were going home. It would be easy. However, he felt his heart tugging at the idea of lying and hiding when he had promised Newt the opposite a little earlier.
Sal saw him in full concentration so he forced himself to calm down. He folded the letter and found an excuse to escape. He made his way to the aviary trying to move between the students having a snowball fight and the ice under his feet. It was not easy but he managed to arrive in a piece of ground to the building.
From there, without even thinking he tore a piece of parchment from the scroll in his bag and wrote a quick reply to Mr. Berry informing him that he would be joining him in Birmingham. For that he would only have to leave Hogwarts quietly and call the Knight Bus. It would be easy.
He sent his letter at full speed, fearing to be seen. The owl flew up into the pearl grey skies.
He felt someone pass behind him and turned around. There didn't seem to be anyone, or so, he noticed next. It was a disillusioned figure that invited him to follow him with an almost transparent movement of the hand. The figure climbed the ladder higher into the Owlhouse where the windows were smaller and more sparse.
Stuck in the shadow of a spiral staircase Medusa made herself visible, he could only make out the tips of her slender legs. She pulled him into a long kiss to which he responded. It always did him a world of good. Feeling the sighs of the young woman while her mouth sought his, he forgot all his worries. Nothing else made sense except her skin, the sweet smell of her hair, and her cool hands on his cheeks.
"I missed you," he confessed when she pulled away from him.
"Don't say such things," Medusa whispered against him. "I could enjoy it eventually."
He chuckled and leaned down to kiss her again. Over the past few months he had grown so much that he had to bend down to kiss the girl. He was so comfortable in the shadow of that staircase, with Medusa's hands against his chest. He wanted for a moment that this moment lasts for eternity. So he wouldn't have to worry about anything anymore. But Medusa pulled away again.
"So we're going to kiss like that in small cramped corners?" Eddy finally asked breathlessly.
"Why not, we're pretty good there. I was just dropping by to say hello. I have my Arithmancy class soon."
She was already drawing her wand to make herself invisible again. He gently grabbed her arm.
"Stay a little longer," he breathed, still craving the warmth of her mouth on his.
"No, I don't want to be late. I have to go."
"Stay," he repeated tensely.
"Let go of me," said the young woman, trying to free herself with her frowning eyebrows.
But Eddy didn't want to let her go, after being deprived of her this thing in him demanded the young witch greedily. He wanted more of her warmth and radiated inside of him. Medusa tugged again, then violently grabbed his face and locked her eyes with his. Immediately he felt himself leaving.
"Let me go immediately."
He complied pitifully under her influence. The girl recoiled from the shadow of the stairs as if he had struck her and glared at him fiercely.
"Slap yourself."
He did so immediately, and that was enough to calm him down. Seeing Medusa's cold gaze as she massaged his arm, he felt pitiful and ashamed. He wanted to say something but the words stuck in his throat.
"This slap, you deserved it, not the previous one."
She spun quickly after getting her things back. Eddy let her. That look she gave him was so chilling because it reminded him of something.
In a second, he had a flash and saw his mother. She was there in front of her father with her round face looking at her father that way.
Eddy then had the impression of being swallowed up in an ocean of helplessness.
.
.
The day of his lesson with Professor Riddle arrived. It was the last day before the start of the Christmas holidays. He hadn't told anyone about his plan to run away. He just had to pack like the others and then everyone would think he had joined the Scamanders. Dumbledore had been away from school for a long time, everyone would see nothing but fire.
But the guilt of lying to his guardians stirred conflicting and violent feelings in him. He couldn't tell Newt and Tina that he was going to Birmingham over the holidays, they would never allow him, his health being too uncertain. Only Eddy felt good, in addition to his nervousness, he felt that he was in great shape. He hadn't spoken to Medusa since the episode in the aviary. She was completely ignoring him now and he hadn't really tried to approach her.
No matter what the Obscurus in him thought, he had hurt the girl and was not removing his upset expression.
So it was a bit tense and anxious that he entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher's classroom. The curtains were down and again the lunar globe was a faint red, making the room look like a burning ember. Riddle was calmly waiting for him near the wardrobe where the Boggart was.
He had practiced casting the spell and so far his wand had always answered his call. All that remained was to test on a real subject.
"Since your greatest fear is intimately linked to your condition, we will therefore continue with the Boggart to bring out the Obscurus. Prepare yourselves.
Eddy began to think of his father and the atrocious face his mother had thrown at him. He didn't remember a scene in particular, it was just a grimace he had often seen on the soft features of his mother.
"Edward Daniel Lee, O'beng you are, and you will remain so. Just like me."
Eddy hadn't seen that his teacher had released the Boggart. This one in the form of his father advanced towards him with his revolver. He froze at the creature's words. No, he was not like him, he refused to think of such a thing. And yet he had hit Rosier, he had hurt Medusa…
The boggart's image then changed. It was no longer his father, it was him, older holding a vague silhouette in his clenched fists. He was strangling her.
"Cast the spell!" hissed the professor.
"Riddikulus!"
The figure in his double's hands turned into a snowflake and disappeared into the wardrobe with the rest of the boggart. The professor closed the handle and looked superbly annoyed.
"I told you to practice… do you call that practice?"
Eddy didn't answer, his teeth clenched and his breath short. He didn't know where he was anymore.
"It's one of the things that feeds your Obscurial state," Riddle said. "It is this fear that you have towards yourself. To become like him."
In front of these assertions, the teenager could only acquiesce —because it was completely true. His unpredictable status created fear in the eyes of his classmates, and after seeing it in his mother's eyes he didn't want such a look directed at him.
"You will not become like him. You got rid of it, it's time to move on. Killing its parent is extremely easy."
"What ? Y-you-
"Yes," smiled his teacher almost nostalgically. "It was quite easy. I have been told that you like Herbology. See, family is a bit like gardening; we eliminate the weeds to put the good shoots under a stake."
The professor smiled even more mischievously, unconcerned about confessing to one more murder.
"We both have the same name in your little patois, devil. You will not become like your father, no you will become far more cruel, but you must learn to control yourself. It is in your nature to destroy."
"Shut up," he hissed in a voice burning with rage.
Riddle chuckled. He cast a spell around him. Slowly a sort of crawling and viscous liquid began to flow from the walls to entirely encompass the classroom in a sort of black and viscous bubble. Eddy saw him crawling under his feet and when he tried to escape through the door, she had disappeared under the slime. He was stuck in some kind of protective shell.
"We are in a dark dimension, Mr. Lee. Here, nothing will reach the outside. Let this fire fail from your bowels."
"No!" he hissed furiously.
Riddle cast a spell on him, which he barely parried. This man was much more powerful than him.
"You'll just be better than him at doing harm," Riddle whispered. "To accept it is to move forward and you have no more time to lose."
"Shut up, you murderous lunatic. Expelliarmus!"
The professor parried the spell with a vague flick of his wrist.
"I see you're going to have to learn respect… Crucio."
The spell hit him and Eddy started screaming. He felt like he had been thrown inside a huge vat of acid. He fell to the ground trying to evacuate the pain, but neither the vibrating pain of his knees, nor his hands -which he banged against the ground- managed to make him forget the unforgivable. He felt with terror the monster this time invade all his muscles to protect him from the pain. Slowly the Obscurus within him took control.
Then everything exploded around him. Eddy felt himself slowly leaving. He saw his teacher analyzing his magic without being able to move. Inside this black bubble he was like immobilized, the particles of pure magic that constituted them were like frozen in time. He then felt with horror something being torn from him and he didn't know exactly where, as he was now disconnected from his body. But he felt the rip clearly and his magic gasped violently.
Professor Riddle was ejected to the other end of his protective field. From there, the Obscurus spat out a Fiendfyre. The professor steered him through the bubble and knocked him down as he got up.
After spitting its rage, the Obscurus slowly left and Eddy felt his body return to human form. He fell back to the ground with a soft thud.
He noticed feverishly that around him the walls had lost their protective shell and that the classroom had resumed its usual appearance.
"You need to let go of that rage inside you, regularly. Like your miserable muggle father before you. You will hurt no matter what. Accept it and you will focus those wounds to inflict on the right people."
"At your order, then?" hissed the young man. "I refuse to help you hurt! I am not like you."
"We're different," his teacher assured him in a nasty voice. "Death is not a concern for me, it never will be. I had the misery to believe that you would understand this point of view. But you are weak."
"What do you mean…you won't die ?
The professor gave him another enigmatic little smile. He put his wand away and Eddy allowed himself to take a breather without the threat of another unforgivable. He was still a little shaky but thought he had taken the aftereffects of the spell rather well when it was the first time he had received it.
"We'll talk about that when we get back to school. Behave yourself until I get back and I might let you in on some secrets."
He turned on his heels, a little panting, his teacher called out to him one last time:
"Against Cruciatus curse, eat sugar. This will diminish afterwards."
He then ejected him from the class like an insect. Eddy hit the wall facing the door, suppressing a cry of pain. When he wanted to get up, he realized that the aftermath of the unforgivable spell was too violent, he couldn't move for a moment. He didn't want to be like his father, he wasn't like him. Yet he felt it since he had stopped his treatment he was angry and easily irritated, threatening to explode at any moment. He also physically resembled this man his brain had wanted to forget.
He stood up heavily, his head full of dark thoughts. Maybe he had hurt his mother like he had seen his father do and she left because of it? The dark words of his parent therefore had a meaning.
He returned to his dormitory without really waking up from his trance. If his Obscurus had been discharged, now his head was full of torment. Sal tried to call out to him with Charm on his knees, but he turned on his heels towards his own bed. And ignoring her, he fell asleep completely dejected.
.
.
It was rare for Medusa and Salazar to take the train home. Their mother was waiting for them at the station. They returned every year for the holidays, because although they did not celebrate Christmas, they had obligations within the wizarding community.
The winter holidays were very often the occasion for families to meet, whether it was at the Ministry ball to which they were invited each year like all the important wizards of the country.
It wasn't a very crazy vacation most of the time because they had to take part in these obligations while maintaining their usual workload. Salazar hated parties even more than Medusa because that was also their birthday. December 21, and Medusa realized that for some reason, her little brother didn't want to grow up. The future their father offered them scared him it seemed.
Today, taking the Hogwarts Express, they were celebrating their fifteenth birthday and that didn't seem to please Sal who was silent. They had sat in a compartment with Rita, but no one was really talking. Everyone seemed to be incredibly tired from this interminable term.
Medusa played with Echo who had grown well over the past six months. He was now beginning to respond to her in Parseltongue. But the young girl held her tongue in front of her comrade. If she thought that her classmate wouldn't be unduly surprised, it was better to remain discreet. As long as Dumbledore was around her origins had to stay fairly low-key, her parents had told her. Echo bit her fingertip and went back to hiding in her robe.
She didn't have him with her every time she kissed Eddy, and so much the better. Turning her head towards the glass, Medusa thought that their last embrace had ended very badly. She wasn't sure she wanted to see him again for a while. The holidays were a good pretext. Eddy had scared her in the aviary, she had felt his hand close on her arm and he hadn't wanted to let go. He too was changing under the tutelage of their father.
And she was there.
She then looked at her brother falling asleep with his head resting against the window. So, with his eyes closed, he was the spitting image of their father. He was so serene that way. When they were little they slept together, Medusa always fell asleep when her brother closed his eyes.
"Do you want to play chess?" Rita muttered, cutting off her daydreams.
She nodded. The blonde took out the small chessboard and the pieces from her backpack. She began to lay out the pieces and the game began.
Medusa watched the sun go down. They weren't arriving for another hour, but today was the shortest day of the year.
Medusa had a pawn grabbed by Rita and became interested in her game. She was losing miserably as she was not concentrated.
The two young women then saw passing near the window of their compartment, Bellatrix and Rodolphus. The young Slytherin held his bride by the hand. The two friends didn't know that Bella was officially dating the Lestrange despite their engagement.
Bella gave them a quick look and followed her fiancé down the hall.
Sal hadn't moved, he was still asleep, serene and calm against the glass. Rita followed her gaze and smiled:
"He's happiest when Lee is with him. Not that he's not happy with you, but he needed a friend."
Medusa thought that indeed before, Eddy her brother had been terribly alone despite her presence.
"He better not get too attached to Lee, when he leaves it will hurt him too much," Medusa said in a trembling voice.
"Yeah, I know Eddy won't be long. Half the school knows it, we all went to do some research, you know. But he seemed to be getting better," Rita said. "It's a bit silly to think that he is going to leave, for the moment he is there. Sal is better..."
Rita attacked her king whom she had left defenceless with delight.
"And you, my dear, are also better when he is here. Checkmate. This is the first game I win. Are you too distracted or did you let me win?"
"The second option of course," mocked the young woman.
Medusa pulled out the pocket of her Echo robe and ordered her to sleep with her Susurrus powers. The reptile obeyed and fell asleep in the palm of his hand.
"H-how did you know?" Medusa then asked, darting small glances at her sleeping brother.
"Lee came back with owl poop on the shoes and you with a little feather in your hair in arithmancy the other day. I didn't understand right away, that's when I saw your furious face and his cocker spaniel face for you at lunch. Since then, you spend your time daydreaming on your own. The couple argument, quite a mess."
"We're not a couple, and you better shut up Skeeter. We just kiss."
"Why kiss if it's not to be a couple?" exasperated the blonde, putting away her failures.
"For that. Expecto Patronum."
Medusa had taken out her wand and from the pointed end of it sprang a light silver filament. It wasn't Rita's feat with a corporeal patronus but this one was slowly taking shape.
"I need happy memories," Medusa whispered as she finished the spell. With him, I have some. He too has it. We're having a good time as long as no one knows about it. We're not doing anything wrong."
Rita looked a little uncertain but nodded. The train was beginning to slow as they headed back into London. It was cold and the sky was black with muggle pollution. Salazar had woken up. The two young women and the young man began to gather their belongings as a figure suddenly entered their compartment.
"Haven't you seen Lee? I looked for it the whole trip."
It was Umbridge holding her Froufrou at arm's length, the cat stomach was swollen and tight.
"His damned fornicator Kneazle has gotten my Froufrou pregnant again! No way to find the master and the culprit! I know they're on the train, Lee signed up to go home!"
"What does it matter to us, Dolores? He must be hiding from you and your equally fornicating pussy," Rita scoffed. "Get out of here."
The young girl complied, cursing something bad. She was as pink as her little bow in her hair. The train stopped for good. Medusa will collect her last belongings with her brother and her friend and they leave the train following the stream of students. An icy cold grips them on the quay.
"See you later," Rita whispered, joining her father further near the chimney exit.
Richard Skeeter gave the twins a polite nod and took his daughter by the hand before disappearing with her. Medusa and Salazar looked around the dark corners for their mother. They found it somewhat hidden behind the big clock. Students and parents passed by her without seeing her. Bellatrix and Narcissa followed their mother Druella who barely walked two meters from their mother without noticing her.
"What will be the gift this year?" Sal asked, dodging a group of first years.
Medusa had no idea; their birthday often corresponded to a somewhat curious ceremony where they learned more about their lineage. On their seventh birthday, they had been given a copy of the Codex of Slytherin to study. The following years had been played out around this Codex, to be celebrated, at the same time as them, even those before them. They sometimes received relics from their ancestors; the ribbon that Medusa wore was one of them. He was able to change shape and colour on command. It was a very old protean magic item.
They arrived at the level of their parent who let the stream of students pass until the station was almost empty.
"I'm very proud of the progress you both have made," their mother whispered. "Your marks has arrived."
She held by the hand their elf Duddy who was as usual terrified in her presence. They grabbed their mother's hand and the elf Apparated them.
They were back home after these few months and hadn't had the feeling of really experiencing respite in the meantime. The days in the dungeons came back to them. They were in their large living room open in an arcade on the square courtyard, there was always a biting cold despite the huge fireplace and the braziers in each corner. The burns their father had left when he ignited the room were gone.
"Go get your things and change. We'll have dinner late, when your father gets home."
Their mother left them there and disappeared. Medusa didn't really like winter either, it was cold there, there was hardly ever any sun and their mother was more powerful at this time of year. She could arise at any moment.
Medusa headed down the hallway downstairs and Sal went upstairs. Once in her room, the young girl undressed and entered her bath after running it. She enjoyed the warm water on her skin with Echo bathing between the bubbles.
"Careful, little ssslug," Nagini's recognizable voice hissed. "The little whissstleers of his kind can't sssswim for long."
The huge python slipped into her bath to enjoy the hot water. Medusa adored Nagini who had watched over them as children, but the Maledictus had a preference for Sal and usually spent all her time with him when he was around.
"You're not with Sal?" the witch hissed in parseltongue as she scratched the snake between her eyes.
"He wanted to be alone," Nagini pouted.
The young woman made her a new affectionate scratch. Sal had returned to his silence. She hoped dinner tonight would be calm.
She got out of the water, dried off and dressed in the dress the elves had left on her bed. It was a long dress with long fitted sleeves. She put it on and combed her hair.
Then there was a knock on his door.
"Miss Medusa? The Master has arrived, he wants you for dinner," Tinny's small voice shudders.
"Tell him I'm coming," murmured the young girl.
The little creature feverishly disappeared behind the door. There was a time, she had been able to speak normally with this elf who had raised her with her brother, but in the meantime, Medusa had learned from her father to torture him. Since then, he feared her. This change didn't do much to her, apart from a little sting in the heart that she hastened to hide behind an impassive mask.
She went to the large dining room. Their father sat at the end of the table, her mother at the other end and Sal between them. She faced him.
"You're late," hissed their father.
"Forgive me, I had to go get rid of those impure bloods. I wouldn't want to defile these places with my filth."
Her pious spiel seemed to please him. He didn't want to punish her. On the table, the elves had bustled about making the two of them their favourite dishes. A jellyfish stew with herbs sat proudly in a silver dish next to a fennel pie, — the new dish Sal regularly requested. A glass of wine was placed in front of them.
"Tonight is not an evening like the others," resumed their father. "You become adults."
Salazar gave a little shiver that he barely concealed in front of her. Medusa saw him lower his head.
"You don't seem happy, Salazar. "You must now honour the name of our lineage. More important matters await you now."
Their parent made a small black velvet case appear in front of each of them. They opened it with trembling hands. It was a silver chain forming a snake in its center. The jewelry was goblin-made and extremely delicate.
"Are these the jewels Zephyr Gaunt gave to his children, father?" Medusa asked, eyeing the chain apprehensively.
His last jewel had turned out to be a poisoned gift that had possessed her brother for part of the term. Salazar was suspicious too, he looked at the present with a grimace.
"That's right. Our ancestor had this little talent in jewellery. He made a ring and these necklaces for his own," their father replied, caressing the ancestral Gaunt ring on his finger. "These necklaces will protect you from spells and enchantments cast against your blood... but not by your blood. Remember it." With this warning, they put the necklace around their necks. Medusa was hungry but their father hadn't finished talking. "When we get back from vacation, I'll show you how to open the Chamber of Secrets. You are old enough now to move on to the next level."
Medusa shuddered with a mixture of excitement and apprehension, while Salazar froze. They began to eat in silence. Medusa had her head boiling with information and questions. Somehow, everything their father had planned terrified her but she was looking forward to it. The more questions she had answered the better, but Sal was now as involved in it as she was. What she wanted to avoid was happening too fast and she couldn't do anything.
Their mother was the first to get up and Salazar wasted no time in following, presumably in a hurry to get back outside.
"If you go into the garden tonight, you'll end the night in the dungeon," their father whispered, not looking up from his empty plate as he walked away.
After these 'recommendations', her brother changed direction to join his room, without a word. Her father sighed in exasperation as the door slammed shut behind him. Medusa found herself alone at the table with him while the elves were clearing away the cutlery by levitating it.
"Thank you for this gift, Father," the girl whispered, playing with the chain.
"You seemed a little wary taking it, though," her father whispered softly, looking up at her.
"Hard to forget what your last gift did to Salazar. You silenced him for months," she hissed anyway.
She expected to receive a Cruciatus and even the elves leaving the banquet hall froze. Tinny and Duddy were looking at her with wide, round eyes of concern.
"Salazar needed coaching, Medusa," her father retorted emphatically. "This is the only one he seems to understand. The Obscurial managed to snatch his necklace, black magic can't do anything against such a pure concentrate of black magic. Your brother knows what to expect now."
Medusa was less sure, she narrowed her eyes. The elves left the room.
"I know how to make a patronus, Father."
Her father, who had started playing with his ring again, looked up at her again, looking taken aback.
She looked towards the back of the room and began to think hard about her last kiss with Eddy. How good it felt to be with him, to let her guard down a bit, to be normal. The thought sent shivers down her spine.
"Expecto Patronum."
From her wand, a light filament began to flow, and then slowly it took shape. It was even more powerful than with Rita during their trip, it came to life. A silver thestral appeared. He bowed to them and paced around the room in an airy trot before disappearing. His father smiled.
"Spectacular. Astonishing, I would have believed from you a snake."
"He had never taken shape until now," the troubled girl replied. "Mother will be delighted."
"Don't get too close to your mother with patronus," her father whispered to her confidently, and then gave her a little wink. "She doesn't really like it."
The girl smiled at him, amused. He had kept his glass of wine and was playing with it. "You're going to step into the big leagues, Medusa. There will be no turning back. Soon a changeover will take place, the school and the world will be easy to pick.
"Father… were you the one who freed… Gr-
"No".
"Is it Mother then?"
He did not answer but gave a half smile. Medusa was not genuinely surprised. She suspected for a while that they had something to do with all this. Luring Dumbledore away to get his hands on Hogwarts seemed to be only part of his plan though.
"You will know everything very soon. Be patient, soon Dumbledore will find himself cornered, and he will make many mistakes."
Medusa had no doubt of that. Seeing his former enemy outside with an enemy within the school would cause Dumbledore to make very bad decisions.
"Follow me, Medusa," her father ordered, standing up.
She broke off her thoughts and followed him. He didn't take the stairs and took the long, lighted hallway to his bedroom. He was the only one with access to this room of the house. The only time Medusa had been there had been after her attempted kidnapping with her brother. He had confined them there with their mother while he questioned Fabian Prewett. He had come back bleeding and had spent whole days with them in this room. It was the only time he seemed to feel something towards them, he was afraid, of losing them. It was perhaps the most normal feeling he had shown this then.
Their father's bedroom adjoined the study and was that of Salazar first of the name. It was a large room of dark stone, a wide, somewhat orientalist window looking directly out over the swamp. The floor was made of glass assembled in stained glass and she could see the deep, black swamp stretching beneath her feet. It was a powerful act of magic, which had always fascinated her. In a corner of the room, the young girl noticed a curtain stretched over a large mass. She didn't really know what was behind it because her father was pulling her towards a desk near his bed.
"Open the first drawer," he ordered.
She did, inside was a small box. She opened it slowly. Placed on a velvet case a splendid diadem covered with precious stones with an enormous sapphire in its center.
"Ravenclaw's tiara," the girl whispered.
"Exact. I found it many years ago. Have you heard of the power of this item? "
She shook her head no, so her father stood up and held the tiara up with a ray of light through the large window. The sapphire shone softly with a soothing blue glow.
"He who exposes his jewel to the light then sees in it the wisest way. "This is how you came into the world. And you, do you want to know the path you have to follow? This truth is not often well received by most wizards."
The girl approached and held out her hand, frowning. She passed the blue sapphire to the light but was surprised to see no bluish rays like with her father. The tiara showed nothing.
"This jewel only shows you a way if you have to move on. You are in a place from which you cannot move for your own good. Between these walls, with your blood. You have always put your loyalty to us before your personal ambitions. What are your ambitions for you, for the future?"
He now turned his back on her and put away the jewel. He rarely asked her such personal questions and each time she had the impression of being analysed at each syllable:
"My gift grows and by my aptitudes in potions, I aim for excellence. Slughorn will introduce me to his guild president soon."
"Excellent. Now I have to talk to you about something. For some time, I have been receiving a lot of engagement proposals. They are about you, Medusa. You are an adult now."
"You're going to betroth me to someone," the young girl said alarmed, freezing.
"It's not planned. For now, at least. I just ask you to be careful and refuse any invitation, no matter what. You must have received a few requests, I read in the minds of your little comrades that you attract more than one. I never want to hear about anything like that, is that clear?"
The girl nodded, suppressing a tremor. If he didn't know about Eddy, he had noticed that she was a bit more moody. She recovered immediately.
Her father opened the door to his room and motioned him out.
"You know Medusa, it's a great power you have there in addition to your gift. Beauty is a precious asset. You still need to know how to use it correctly. If I hear you're disobeying me, we'll lower those ambitions."
Then he closed the door, leaving her panting in the hallway.
.
.
The ministry ball was boring and insipid. With the escape from Grindelwald, the mood had not been good for many wizards. And in recent years he was attracting a little less purebloods for more halfbloods and mudbloods. He was therefore less and less attractive. Their family had left after an hour and a half, after their father and mother had had a long talk in a corner with Cygnus Black.
Medusa hadn't even seen Bellatrix and Rita there. So, she hoped to see them at the Derby the next day. Near Epsom, the large covered stadium was transformed into an old disused factory for Muggles. In the first-class grand box, Medusa watched as the thestrals moved into position on the snow-covered ground.
"Aren't they beautiful?" Abraxas Malfoy sighed beside him. "Rarely have I seen thestrals so muscular and obedient. Your mother has a real gift, I keep telling her."
He was smoking his pipe and a little ash fell on his white costume like Medusa and the other guests who had chosen this colour. The last Derby race of the year usually ended with this rule of dress to always dresses immaculate to mimic the colour of the snow. Everyone complied with this little bourgeois sartorial habits. Abraxas Malfoy looked away from the glass and leaned toward her.
"I am delighted to have you here, Medusa. Your family will always be welcome and you are particularly beautiful."
Medusa wore a long, flowing white dress with a long lace sleeve. Malfoy's gaze on her robe was unmistakable and she was able to prevent a tongue clack on her palate."
Malfoy seemed to recover a little. He shouted at his son in a little white sailor suit holding an elf by the hand, to get away.
"Lucius, come say hello to Miss Riddle. Over here my boy!"
"H-Hello Medusa," the little boy said, letting go of the elf's hand to shake his own. "You are very beautiful tonight."
"Thank you, you too," she replied sincerely because this compliment was more out of politeness than seduction.
"Lucius! I didn't allow you to take Dobby to the Derby so you would smear Miss Riddle's hands with his filth. You didn't wash your hands before greeting her!" Abraxas Malfoy huffed.
"It's nothing, Mr. Malfoy. I don't think your elf is dirty and I don't take offense," replied the girl in a polite voice to defuse any conflict.
The Malfoy seemed satisfied; he followed a tall Quidditch player to greet her. Malfoy had been one of Slughorn's pets when he was at Hogwarts, so he had picked up some of his facial expressions. The Derby races in his dressing room were a bit like Slug parties in that regard.
Abraxas and Dobby had moved closer to the window to watch the start of the race. The little elf was feverish and anxious as the thestrals rushed forward.
"Do you like racing, Dobby?" Medusa called out to him.
The little creature looked up with big eyes like tennis balls at her and lowered his big ears in fear of being scolded.
"Yes, Dobby likes speed a lot. Young Master Lucius convinced g-good Master Malfoy to let Dobby see a race."
Even for an elf he was small, he must have been a teenager of his kind. Medusa was reading a lot in those big green eyes in front of her. He hated his status as an enslaved elf and if he loved Lucius very much, he knew that one day his friend would treat him with as much contempt as his father before him. It had to be growing up, turning your back on those who raised them to join those who spawned them.
When the first thestral reached the finish line at the end of its lap, the little creature let out a cry of joy so intense that a few wizards turned their heads towards their trio. Medusa grimaced at the thought of when. As if attracted by attention, Rita landed in a curdled white dress with a wise Peter Pan collar.
"I didn't see you at the Ministry, we didn't stay long with my parents. Since the escape from Grindelwald the mood has changed a bit."
She was also speaking from here thinking that indeed there were not many people in the room compared to usual. She didn't recognize any faces. Sal was in a corner still scribbling in his notebook. He hated the Derby because he knew very well how their mother trained these creatures. So more often than not he isolated himself, indifferent to the guests. Medusa however joined him at his table and Rita followed. When she leaned over she saw that he was feverishly wrapping his scribbles between them to isolate them.
"I have to make sense of them. I have dozens of notebooks like that."
"Is that extra-terrestrial language?" Rita asked, leaning over the mixed Sanskrit runes. "Merlin, you seem to be telling some fascinating things."
She seemed to think quite the opposite. Somehow, Rita liked Sal but would never understand him. The young girl moved away, she spotted a young singer near her mother and went to see her:
"Miss Warbeck!" I just heard your first hit, Slither in the school train! I am your biggest fan!"
She left them with these cries. Medusa sat next to her brother as the race below ended to outraged cries from the losers.
"Father ordered you to continue deciphering all this?"
"Yeah…but somehow I'm doing it for me. I think it's formulas, I haven't tested them yet… but what I translate looks like rituals."
He refused to say more. He put his notebook in the pocket of his white suit because he saw their mother coming to them. She was dressed in a long, fitted black dress reaching up to her neck, her hair swept back in a high ponytail. The derby box was backlit enough for her to avoid constantly hiding. She was the only one to have disavowed the dress code planned that day. She gave them an imperious kohl-faced look. So she looked intimidating, she gave them a thin little smile.
"We'll be able to come down soon, kids."
Medusa felt Sal grab her hand from under the table. She barely hid her grimace behind a smile.
Then when another run resumed to a loud bang from the sender on the field, their mother motioned them to get up. They complied and left discreetly at the back of the lodge while all eyes were on the field. There was at the bottom of the lodge hidden behind the conveniences, a door.
"Password," the voice whispered from the other side of the door.
"He-Must-Not-Be-Named," their mother whispered so softly they could barely hear her.
The door opened, revealing a wizard Medusa had encountered before. He was tall and hairy, with a thick beard. He darted his yellow eyes on their family and the young woman remembered his name, Fenrir Greyback.
"Milady."
"Shave that beard," their mother hissed, nudging him inside. "You smell the wet dog from the outside, Fenrir."
The challenged growled an insult under his breath, and Salazar and Medusa hurriedly followed their mother down a long narrow staircase. The place was dark and damp; they descended in silence for a good two minutes, — almost breaking their necks on each step in the darkness. After a while, they emerged in front of a door.
They were under the Derby ground. And it was a huge training ground carved out of the rock where wizards and witches clashed. Some had their white evening dress, others were in training clothes, there must have been two hundred people there. When they arrived a few heads raised their heads and greeted them. Medusa recognized many faces of good wizarding society and former Hogwarts comrades. Their mother grabbed them by the shoulders and led them to the middle of the field. On a small dais, their father sat on a throne and watched the hustle and bustle of the fighting with delight. He spotted them as they walked towards him, and he stood up.
Immediately, silence and calm took hold of the enormous terrain. All the wizards approached with the same movement towards their father while waiting for him to speak.
"My dear friends, today we welcome among us several new followers."
With a wave of his hand, he invited them to come upstairs. They saw that they were not the only ones going up. Bellatrix, Rodolphus and Rabastan also went up. Unlike the two of them, they were in combat gear. A few people commented on their arrival in low voices. His father raised his hands and there was silence."
"It is through our children and through inheritance that we pass on our vision of the future. It is through them that the future of darkness will be."
"Long live Lord Voldemort!" Long live the Dark Lord!" shouted the wizards in a beautiful ensemble.
Medusa noticed their mother in a corner, watching the scene with a vaguely bored look. The followers were feverishly awaiting the sequel but Medusa did not know what she would be made of. Sal seemed to have understood him better because he had frozen like a pillar of salt. Bellatrix close to Medusa, was shaking with such excitement that she almost made the dais vibrate, even Rodolphus at her side seemed to be asking her to calm down with fierce little glances.
"Today the blood of the Blacks, the Lestranges and the Slytherins join the darkness in our fight. Today, these will show us what they are capable of."
Abraxas Malfoy arrived dragging his son and Dobby by the hand. In the midst of all these adults, the child and the creature looked even tinier. The Malfoy threw the elf into the middle of the empty circle near the dais.
"It's yours," their father said, pointing to the creature. "Consider it a welcome gift."
He then pulled her brother back and Medusa was the first to shout:
"Crucio!"
Dobby braced himself back and let out a long, high-pitched cry. Bellatrix took over and in turn threw a powerful jinx at the creature, which fell back to the ground, letting out long, plaintive, deaf moans. This seemed to make the wizards around them laugh a lot, and they laughed heartily. Salazar hadn't moved from where he was next to their father, he was white and feverish. No doubt every unforgivable Dobby received was as if he received them himself, he was trying to ease the creature by taking some of its pain with him. She cast a fierce glance at her younger brother.
"Cut yourself," she ordered him in thought. "Cut yourself off from the world, stop connecting to it"
But he didn't want to stop and fixed on the creature writhing in pain a blue and paralyzed look. The torture lasted a long time. Each in turn, they launched the unforgivable or other curses of their own to the laughter of their elders. Bellatrix let out a high-pitched moan as Dobby collapsed at her feet. He had fainted. She gave him a powerful kick in the head and this time it was the little Lucius who gave a cry instead of the elf.
"Should we kill him?" she asked, grabbing Dobby by his dirty rag.
Abraxas Malfoy narrowed his eyes, reluctant to lose his servant.
"Still so aggressive, Bellatrix," their father replied. "Now, let's see how to unload this aggressiveness. Medusa, Bellatrix, show our friends the power of a follower of darkness. All spells are allowed."
It was like a signal, Bellatrix gave a powerful kick to Dobby to eject him and began to draw a limit by walking like a crab in a boxing ring. Wand outstretched, the two young girls stared at each other. They had often fought a duel together, but here this fight had more stakes and would be merciless. They both knew it.
"Bat Boogey!" Medusa suddenly cried.
"Slug Spit," Bellatrix yelled, dodging her hex. "Confringo!"
Medusa parried the spells and started throwing some back at her classmate. There was an inferno in Bella's eyes that nothing seemed able to extinguish, she was smiling like crazy. She danced between each spell she cast on her as if freed from her torments in this way. Medusa was also starting to have fun, it had been a long time since she had fought at such a high level. A spell from Bellatrix ignited a piece of her white dress, the young girl extinguished it, losing her lustre.
"Avis!" she hissed.
Hundreds of small birds formed and went to lacerate the young Black who let out a howl of pain. When the enchanted birds disappeared, Bellatrix was bloody and furious. She pointed her wand at Medusa:
"Crucio!"
The curse hit her head-on. Medusa screamed, too surprised to shut up. She fell back to the ground, cut in two by the pain. The unforgivable was practically as powerful as those of her parent, she felt as if she were on fire.
Bellatrix had moved closer and cast a powerful hex on her to slash her. Medusa felt the blood squirt on her dress, she let out a scream and got up filled with rage and adrenaline:
"EXPELLIARMUS!"
The wand fell from Bellatrix's hands. Medusa then cast a violent hex on him to knock him down. From there, the girl also threw an unforgivable at her comrade who writhed in pain. She fell back beside her and grabbed her face as she let out a final cry of pain. Bella's violet eyes widened in horror as she realized what was on her mind.
"No ! Not that Med!"
"Nothing is forbiden, Bella. Hit yourself!"
Under her power, the girl actually hit herself in the face. Medusa pulled away. She was still burning with rage and surly. She whispered again the order to hit the young woman, and she obeyed. The second slap was even more powerful than the first.
"Now, bow down."
Bellatrix, furious, tried to resist but Medusa's anger was even more powerful. The girl made a piteous bow and her power of suggestion ended. Medusa huffed shakily. She noticed that all the wizards were now watching the two witches with apprehension. They were dishevelled, covered in blood, wild. Rodolphus helped Bellatrix up, she complied with a furious pout. Salazar lowered his head and looked at his shoes, but their mother in the corner had an almost tender, proud smile.
For a brief moment Medusa felt only a cruel and violent joy even more powerful than all the misery she had caused her comrades at Hogwarts. She wondered if that was the joy in the darkness her father had told her about.
"A beautiful fight, I expected no less of you, Medusa. There are still a few technicalities missing, but you have proven yourself worthy of serving this cause, my dear Death Eaters."
At this name, the group quivers with excitement. Her father's smile widened, he looked happier here than she had ever seen him.
"Here you will learn to perfect yourself in the black arts. Soon our army will be complete. Extend your arms.
Slowly, Bellatrix and Medusa uncovered their left arms, as did Rabastan and Rodolphus, Salazar joined them trembling.
"Mosmordre."
From their father's yew wand sprang a tattoo that was violently imprinted on their skin. All five held back a grimace of pain. The tattoo was of a skull spitting out a snake coiled around itself. It rippled for a moment, black and hot on their skin, and disappeared. Soon all that was left was the soft texture of their skin, but Medusa still feverishly smelled her tattoo. She had the urge to scratch her arm to make her reappear, but she restrained herself.
After this enthronement, their father gave them leave to discuss face to face with their mother. Some wizards seemed curious to speak to them, even reverential at best. Medusa knew that in many ways the purity of her blood and her father's place in obscurity could earn her the title of princess, but in front of these people she didn't want that title.
Everyone seemed to expect something from them. She pulled Salazar aside, relieved that their father hadn't forced him to torture Dobby. If Sal knew how to fight he was incapable of offensive magic, probably the fact that he couldn't throw a cruciatus risked making him lose credit with his followers. Sal hadn't said a word, he was pale and devastated by what he had seen.
Medusa would have liked to comfort him but she had participated and even enjoyed it a little. She was covered in blood and was still bleeding a little. Her brother gently looked at her. He took his little spiral notebook out of his jacket and began feverishly to search for a page. Medusa watched as Bellatrix walked away with the Lestrange brothers. She cast a cold look at Medusa before leaving the training ground.
Salazar was now feverishly reciting words he was reading in his notebook.
Medusa frowned as her brother put his hand on her injured leg. Under his spoken words, her leg went smooth in a warm and pleasant quivering. When she leaned over it, Medusa noticed that she no longer had any scars.
"How did you do that?" Medusa whispered.
Her brother shrugged, then Medusa felt her father's presence behind her. She shuddered and turned around. He was done talking to their mother and they were both there staring rapaciously at Sal.
"This notebook is indeed full of surprises. We'll work on that as soon as we get home tonight," their father said with bright eyes.
"Each gift can serve the darkness in its own way," whispered their mother.
She grabbed their brother by the shoulders and pulled him away from the training ground. Medusa watched him go, uneasy.
"I wish he could fight as well as you. But being able to heal so simply is a talent that cannot be let go of me. What other mystery still awaits us with him?"
"I don't know," Medusa whispered.
But she was in no hurry for her father to find out. The wild joy she had felt after her fight with Bellatrix now tasted bitter and metallic like as blood. She had never felt that trapped.