Chapter 18, A Snake In The Grass
The summer passed peacefully. Loughness and Hydra spent a lot of time at Severus's apartment at Durmstrang hanging out with Sortia, and as Wulfric was there a lot, they had a chance to see all their favorite people. Graven even came with Wulfric a few times, and though she was nice enough, she didn't say much. Sometimes, she and Wulfric could be strange. Hydra supposed it was an older kid thing but still.
It felt at times the two of them, or at least Graven, left Hydra, Loughness and Sortia out of things. Like the one time Graven made a comment about being too high to follow the conversation. When Hydra asked what that meant, the goblin girl glared and told her that she was too young to know. When Hydra persisted with the others joining in, She and Wulfric adamantly refused to explain what 'high' meant in such a context. Not to mention Graven promised to skin them alive if they asked any adults. With that in mind, Hydra, Loughness and even Sortia decided that they were no longer interested. Goblins had impressive power, and though Hydra and Loughness could hold their own against one, they saw no reason to disrupt their little friend circle over something that didn't affect them.
"I'm sure we shall find out in a few years or so as we get older anyway," Hydra commented to Loughness and Sortia later, after Wulfric and Graven had gone.
"I suppose," Sortia drawled, shrugging. "You don't think it means that she is ill, do you?"
Loughness shook his head. "She's too hot to be ill! She has that nice pink glow in her cheeks, and did you check out her wrack?"
Sortia and Hydra exchanged a glance before Sortia sighed. "No, we did not, Loughness."
"And we don't care to as we aren't interested in girls," Hydra clarified, as her twin obviously required a bit of clarification. on the matter.
When their next Hogwarts year began, Hydra had no way of knowing how horrifying it would be. During Headmistress McGonagall's welcome speech, she introduced a new student. The girl had odd silvery blonde hair with strange blue tints in it. She looked nearly Graven's age. Hydra kept staring at her odd hair, as she'd never seen anything like it before. The girl's presence was jarring in a way Hydra couldn't quite put her finger on. She did find herself recalling her dream, though, and that cold blonde haired woman who made her be a slave. Even recalling the dream now, in The Great Hall of Hogwarts surrounded by so many students, still made her stomach clinch in horror that she could never quite shake off.
Headmistress McGonagall announced that this girl, Delphini Dolohov, was a transfer student who had previously been home schooled. She wished to graduate from a proper school, however, so was taking her seventh year at Hogwarts. "To spare her being sorted with the children, I sorted her when she visited the school last week," McGonagall said. "She is to be in Slytherin! Slytherin house, give your newest addition a warm welcome."
The girl approached the Slytherin table to a hearty round of hoots and applause from all the boys... Or rather most of them. She smiled flirtatiously as she took her seat among the other seventh years. Hydra did not miss the fact that Loughness was staring at the new girl in flat disinterest though she was old enough for him to have found her figure attractive. He must have felt Hydra looking at him, for he turned to meet her gaze, arching questioning brows. He must have read her expression earlier, she thought. She shrugged, then slowly gave her head a small shake. The woman in her dream hadn't had silver or blue in her hair, and nor was she as young as this girl. When everyone in the Great Hall began to eat and talk, Hydra realized she'd just been staring at the girl throughout the Headmistress's usual speech.
"I notice you weren't made Prefect," Guillermo said conversationally. "I wonder why. I mean you're clearly one of Flitwick's favorites."
"Same reason you weren't last year I suppose," Hydra said with a shrug. "Prefecting is a social thing, and we aren't exactly the social butterfly sorts. Not to mention we hang with Slytherins of dubious behavior," she added, flicking an amused glance to Sortia and Loughness.
"Yeah but so does James, and he's a Prefect," Guillermo said, pointing at the Prefect badge on James's Ravenclaw robe.
Hydra sighed. "Do you want to be a Prefect, Guillermo?"
"Oh hell no!" Guillermo shook his head firmly. "All that extra work? I think not. Sure it'd give me extra time with girls, but they likely wouldn't be impressed with me if I had to give them detentions and such. My point is just that James also hangs with the same Slytherins."
"Yes, but unlike me, he couldn't help Sortia out when she wants to pay someone back," Hydra said. She referred to her elf magic that was far more difficult to trace. She and Loughness had used it for a few nasty yet deserved pranks on a few Gryffindor prats who'd come after Sortia in the past. Filius knew as much, so he was surely playing it safe with the handing out of power. Or perhaps he just knew that those who weren't interested in being Prefects, should not be Prefects. "James is good with people," she said and Guillermo nodded.
"Yep and now he'll be able to help us out of a jam if anything inconvenient ever happens."
"Just make sure it doesn't," James groaned, finally deciding to take part in the conversation about him. "Being a Prefect doesn't make me God or anything. I can only do so much."
Guillermo nodded sagely. "Not god, got it."
James laughed, jabbing Guillermo in the ribs with an elbow as he reached to snatch the plum pudding cup from Guillermo that they were given for dessert. "You're not eating that, so I will," he announced."I think I better take my payment in advance for whatever trouble you, Loughness and Sortia cause over the next two years."
"Wise of you," Hydra said with a chuckle.
"Hey, we don't get into much trouble," Guillermo said indignantly. "There was that one time Sortia hexed Potter and Malfoy and the time I was snogging that Hufflepuff girl in the Hufflepuff girl's bath, but otherwise we've been exceptional."
James groaned. "Yes, but that isn't exceptional."
Hydra burst into laughter, glad to enjoy the insanity of her friends and forget about the new girl with the odd hair who probably had not been the one in her recurring nightmare. Perhaps she should've worried more, though. A week before that school year ended, two girls were found dead, killed by the venom of a poisonous serpent. The girls were in Gryffindor, and it was the fat lady's portrait who reported Delphini Dolohov for the murders.
She saw the girl turning into a serpent. When she was captured by the combined efforts of four professors, she was still a serpent, and a giant one at that. She only resumed her form to fight, but she was restrained by Professor Flitwick until the Aurors came to take her in. All the students had been put on lock down in the Great Hall during the rapid search of Hogwarts grounds for Delphini. Hydra was surprised that it was all over in nearly an hour after the bodies were discovered. Other than being relieved that the murders hadn't been in her own house or in Slytherin, she didn't feel much about it. Likely she was numb with shock, she told herself.
"Why kill Gryffindors, though," Loughness said. "I mean in particular."
"Why not," Sortia drawled. Though she played it off, her face was tight with fear, and her sallow complexion even whiter than usual with shock.
"Maybe they are more yummy when bitten," Guillermo suggested and James choked.
"Why must you ruin the sacred concept of food," he demanded before shoving another spoonful of breakfast eggs into his mouth. Though they were all roused an hour earlier than usual when the bodies were discovered, the elves had breakfast out to everyone in under five minutes. James may be as rattled and shocked as the rest of them, but he had no trouble stress eating. Not for the first time, Hydra wondered where he put it as he was thin as a rail.
"The Daddies are going to melt down when they hear this," Loughness said. "They shall pull us out of school for sure."
"I'm fine with homeschooling," Sortia said. "All our parents shall have kittens, as they rightly should! This place is clearly unsafe... At least for Gryffindors, but who knows who's next? I never liked or trusted that girl."
"Me neither, but why, though," Loughness wondered.
"You going to eat that?" James asked, gesturing to Loughness's thus far untouched plate of breakfast.
Loughness frowned. "Eventually I will. Leave it alone." Turning to Sortia he proceeded to answer her question. "I just thought her eyes looked empty. And for some reason I could not explain, she wasn't shaggable. She was too weird, and don't ask me to explain, because I can't," he said flatly. "She just set my bloody teeth on edge. That's all. I thought it was about Hydra's dream, but when she said Delphini wasn't the blonde woman, I didn't know what my issue was really about."
"Same," Hydra said. "I didn't like thinking about it much. Probably because it was a thing that I could not explain and that made my little Ravenclaw brain hurt." She forced a chuckle, attempting for some reason to lighten the mood. Seeking normality was... normal in a situation like this, wasn't it? "I also didn't like thinking about it because thinking about it made me feel weird. On edge like Loughness said."
Suddenly Loughness straightened in his chair. "Ooh maybe she made our magic on edge... You know, our special magic. Maybe her being a Maledictus sets you know, our special magic on edge? Annoys it somehow," Loughness said. Clearly he meant the elf half of their power. Hydra nodded. That was a very good thought.
"I think it was because their blood wasn't pure," Guillermo said suddenly. Sortia, James and Hydra gaped at him, silently trying to sort out whatever he was getting at.
"Who? What," Loughness asked, clearly as confused as everyone else.
"The murdered girls. I think both were Muggle-born," Guillermo said.
Hydra groaned. "Are we going to start this Voldemort shit again?" Hell Grindelwald never killed people for that. Even Dark wizards who believed Pure-bloods were superior didn't all need to kill lesser wizards and witches. Just Voldemort!"
Sortia made a face. "My parents say that some freaks actually still idolize him like some weird cult mentality thing. They're all mental."
"Why the hell are people trying to follow him even long after he's dead," Hydra exploded. "This is going to ruin all the work I did preparing for my owls! I just know it will. If Loughness is right and we're going home, how am I to take my OWLS!?"
"I can't believe I never had a vision about her," Guillermo complained glumly. "Some seer I am."
"Don't be hard on yourself, Bro," Loughness said sympathetically. "Her weird Maledictus magic likely disrupted your seer gift just as it did my and Hydra's you know, special type of magic."
Guillermo sighed. "Yeah, I guess so. That's so weird, though. And I still think any seer worth his salt would've had some sort of warning flash about her."
Loughness grinned. "You did, though. You didn't want to shag her anymore than I did. We'll always know now that when we don't want to shag a relatively pretty girl, it's because there is something seriously wrong with her."
Sortia and Hydra exchanged a long suffering look as they both sighed. "Am I the only one who cares about OWLS," Hydra demanded.
(Dear Reader)
This bit is a precursor to Cursed Child and we are of course going beyond that time period in this novel as most of this novel takes place after Bad romance (cursed Child part 2.) Though it may appear that we've changed Canon Delphini, we haven't. We've only expanded it.
If you haven't already, check out our story Bad Romance, mentioned above for reference. Even if you don't wish to read the part 2 to Cursed Child, going up to chapter twelve will clear up anything that may not seem canon. Chapter twelve explains a lot but you'll need the chapters before it for it to read clearly. Delphini is one scary construction.
Hydra and co are in Bad Romance as well, but you don't need it to follow this story. Though you really should read it, because it rules!)