VI - THE DARK MARK


~O~

Whoever has experienced the power and the unrestrained ability

to humiliate another human being

automatically loses his own sensations.

- Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

~O~


He had to keep calm and think. If he wanted his plan to work, all the pieces had to be in the right place at the right time. At the same time, he couldn't afford to waste time as he wanted to make his point before Christmas.

No one but Rufus Lestrange deserved to stand at Tom Riddle's side and be considered his equal. That was the message he intended to get out to everyone, including Tom himself.

Resolutely, he drew the curtains of his four-poster bed around him and laid the parchment and quill on the bed. If he wanted to make progress, he had to get serious about planning.

He knew that Abraxas was on his side, even if it was obvious that his feelings for Dumbledore were standing in his way. If he wanted to do something about her, he had to make sure that Abraxas didn't find out. For that, he needed a distraction.

Rufus stared thoughtfully at the parchment with all the names on it. He had made a list of all the students who could be useful in some way. Slowly, he let his gaze glide over the rows until it finally stopped on one.

Orion Black.

The boy was the youngest in the group and was surprisingly easy to manipulate. Although he had been accepted into Tom's inner circle, something was holding him back. It had been easy for Rufus to figure out why Orion had suddenly gone from the young, dedicated student to a shy, insecure follower. Again, Hermione Dumbledore was to blame. She had seduced him and then rejected him, only to threaten to tell Tom everything. Since then, Orion had been afraid of Tom and had a strong dislike of Dumbledore.

Grinning, he drew a line from Orion to Abraxas. He would set the boy on Abraxas so that he wouldn't notice anything. He was sure that Orion would be only too happy to harm Dumbledore.

Directly above Orion was another name that gave Rufus a headache. Peter Nott. He also belonged to the circle that Riddle had let in on his future plans. Even for a Slytherin student, Nott was unusually secretive. The fact that he also believed in a world in which the Muggles were subject to the wizards was almost all Rufus knew about him. He rummaged hard in his memory. Did Nott ever let on that he valued Dumbledore?

He tentatively drew a question mark next to the name and turned his attention to the next one on the list. Humphrey Avery. If he was given the chance, he would probably enjoy himself immensely with Dumbledore. He had been the first, and so far the only, one who had tried to harm her. Back then, Tom had clearly taken sides and defended the girl's honour.

Rufus put his fingertips together and closed his eyes. He originally planned to simply torture Hermione. Everyone in the inner circle had felt the curse before, and Tom had asked each of them to speak it at least once. So far, they had all been unsuccessful. Obviously, this curse was important to Tom. Or he was just trying to silence his co-conspirators because if they used a forbidden spell and he therefore would have something on them. Whatever his intentions, he could obviously be impressed by casting an Unforgivable.

There was another option worth considering. It was the easiest, most efficient, and most pleasurable form of display of power. It would be a risk. If there was anything left of the affection Tom once held for the woman, it might backfire. But then again, was there any tool more powerful to prove how helpless she was, how much of a hindrance for any great aspirations? Even if it angered Tom, wouldn't that be precisely because it was such a huge blow to his ego? It would be the ideal stepping stone to later on dethrone him.

Who would want to follow a man who couldn't even protect his woman? And what man would want a dishonoured woman? Dumbledore would finally lose her place at Tom's side, and everyone else would feel the first cracks in that perfect facade that Tom had built. It really seemed like the ideal way.

Alone, he would probably be able to do little against Dumbledore. She had proven to him in the past that she could be very quick with her wand, and in the duel against Tom at the beginning of the school year, she had also demonstrated that she could do more than just spells learnt in class. He had to surprise her to be sure of his victory. She had no chance in a duel against him, but he risked too much attention with a long fight. He had to take the wand away from her quickly and effectively.

A plan formed in his head and suddenly all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place as if by magic. It was risky because he needed Nott, but if he worked skilfully over the next few days, he would be able to win this secretive Slytherin over to his side.

oOoOoOo

Hermione stared thoughtfully at the open book in front of her. She had originally been looking forward to Alchemy, as she had had other priorities during her time at Hogwarts, but now she regretted her choice. Unlike Astronomy, Potions, or Arithmancy, which were all closely related to Alchemy, this subject seemed to be all theory and history. As interesting as it was to read about the beginnings of alchemy in other cultures, she was bored.

This was probably the reason why the subject was taught to all houses together and she was the only one from Slytherin to take it. Not even Tom, whose timetable was very similar to hers, had apparently been able to muster the necessary interest for this class.

The fact that Professor Selwyn was obviously trying to make life as easy as possible for himself further dampened her interest. Since the beginning of the school year, every lesson had been the same. He gave a ten-minute lecture on the subject, then referred them to the relevant chapter in the textbook, which they had to read and summarise on their own. Not for the first time, she considered giving up the subject. She could read in the library on her own just as well.

Sighing, she looked over at the Ravenclaw student who always sat next to her. Unlike her, he seemed to be enjoying his lessons. His quill glided incessantly across the parchment, almost silently, and he produced such a smooth writing that Hermione had wondered more than once if he had enchanted the quill. She had never exchanged a word with him and to this day, she didn't even know his name.

With a quick shake of her head, she mentally called herself to order. Good grades were easily earned in this class, as the essays never required more than a summary of the chapter covered and so all the homework could be done in class. So far, she had received an O every week, which was very helpful in her quest to be the best student.

She turned her attention back to the book. The oldest known treatise on Chinese alchemy is the Chou-i ts'an t'ung ch'i, a commentary on the I-Ching, also known as the I Ching or Yijing. She took up her pen and began to summarise the dry text in even drier words. As interesting as it was that alchemy in China was much more based on arithmancy, the writing style of the text spoilt her reading. The most famous work of Chinese alchemy is Tan chin yao chüeh, a standard work that was probably written in the 6th or 7th century. It focuses on the use of mercury in the production of an elixir that makes one immortal.

Hermione's thoughts involuntarily wandered to Nicolas Flamel. Not for the first time, she wondered why Flamel didn't want to share the secret of the Philosopher's Stone with anyone. It wasn't the stone itself that made him immortal, but the elixir that he was able to produce with the help of the stone. Why didn't he share his success with anyone except his wife?

Thoughtfully, she tapped her lips with her quill. The first time she, Harry, and Ron came into contact with Voldemort was also directly related to the stone. Back then, he was looking for it because he was almost shapeless, searching for ways to return to a real life. The stone was destroyed in the end, but why did Voldemort never even try to achieve immortality with the help of the stone before?

Should she ask Tom?

It would be a good way to bring up Horcruxes again. She knew she couldn't stop him from creating more - it would change the future - but maybe she could find out more about his motives.

"Is everything all right with you, Miss Dumbledore?"

The soft, deep voice snapped Hermione out of her thoughts so unexpectedly that she dropped her quill, which promptly left several large ink stains on her parchment. She suppressed a curse. With a wave of her wand, she made the stains disappear before turning her attention to the person sitting next to her.

"Now I've probably just made it worse, I'm terribly sorry," the blond boy muttered. His red cheeks and uncertain look emphasised how uncomfortable the situation was for him.

Hermione gave him a friendly smile, even though she was more than annoyed by the interruption. "Don't worry, you had good intentions and I thank you for that. I don't think I ever learnt your name?"

The blush on his face deepened. For a moment, it seemed to Hermione that he didn't want to tell her the name, but then he said very quietly, "Selwyn. Jonathan Selwyn."

"Oh," Hermione gasped before she could stop herself. That was the reason why he never introduced himself to her. She gave him an encouraging smile and held out her hand. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr Selwyn. I'm Hermione Dumbledore."

He took her hand and seemed relieved that she said nothing to his name. As if this encouraged him, he explained, "Everyone else in the year knows that I am the nephew of our Alchemy professor. That makes me uncomfortable. Especially because..." He broke off and glanced forwards. Hermione followed his gaze. He didn't have to say what the Ravenclaw wanted to tell her. His uncle had disappeared behind a newspaper and wasn't paying attention to the class.

"I feel I understand you better than you think," she offered him with a conspiratorial tone. "As a Slytherin, it's not easy being Professor Dumbledore's niece. He's not exactly held in high esteem."

Selwyn's eyes began to light up. "I've never thought about that. Of course, you probably have to listen to as much ridicule as I do."

"You can't imagine how many times I've been told I'd be better off going to Gryffindor."

The pale boy returned her grin. Hermione briefly wondered whether she should engage him in further conversation, but by then he already returned to his text. Either he found Alchemy really exciting, or he was too shy to have a longer conversation with her.

Resignedly, she reached for her own pen. The boy was the epitome of the ambitious Ravenclaw. Perhaps that was the real reason: Because his uncle was so obviously disinterested in teaching, Selwyn wanted to prove twice over that he was rightfully in Ravenclaw. Cautiously, she squinted ahead. If the professor hadn't turned a page every now and then, one could have assumed that no one was sitting behind the huge newspaper at all. Not for the first time, Hermione wondered why there were no quality controls for lessons at Hogwarts.

Before she had to agonise over the text about alchemy in China any longer, the abrupt folding up of the newspaper signalled the end of the lesson. Relieved, Hermione rolled up her parchment and stuffed it into her schoolbag with her book and quill. She gave Selwyn a quick smile - and froze.

She hadn't recognised him from his shy appearance, but now in profile it was so obvious that she wondered how she could have missed it.

She knew Selwyn. Sitting next to her was a Ravenclaw student who would one day be a Death Eater too. The Death Eater who was responsible for Hedwig's death. And whom they had narrowly escaped when Lovegood had betrayed them. She remembered the old wizard's face clearly as he had searched the house with his wand drawn. It had probably been him who had caused the Erumpent Horn to explode.

She forced herself not to leave the classroom any faster than usual. Jonathan Selwyn had been nice to her. He wasn't a Death Eater yet; he probably wouldn't join Tom while still at Hogwarts either. After all, he never mentioned that he had any contacts with anyone from Ravenclaw. The boy hadn't done anything yet.

She only had a short break before she had to move on to Care of Magical Creatures. Too short, she suddenly realised. Her breathing quickened and she could feel her heart pounding throughout her body. Before her eyes, the last of her classmates trudged down the stairs, but everything was distorted. Panting, she leaned back against the stone wall to counteract the sudden dizziness.

Another Death Eater was here at Hogwarts with her.

Another wizard who would inflict terrible harm on her friends in the future.

And she was having fun with Tom Riddle, scheming with him, lying and cheating and helping to chain his followers to him.

Once again, she wondered how she could have lost sight of her own self so quickly, so easily.