Chapter 35 Powerless Part II
Senna moped. She was confined to the hospital bed.
She had felt much better. Snape had created a heavily modified version of the Invigoration Draught for her. After the first batch gave her a strange giddiness and bubbly hiccup, followed by a pounding headache, Professor Snape left to alter the recipe, believing it to be the Fairy Wings reacting with the Honeywater.
Senna would've been discharged yesterday, but she was expecting a very important—and annoying—visitor. Rufus Scrimgeour himself had taken time out of his busy schedule to interrogate her about her experience with Struan.
Or so she thought.
A familiar figure marched into the room. Anger filled the pit of Senna's stomach. It was Tonks.
Senna turned away from the sight of her. "Sorry, no visitors." Senna snapped. "Headmaster's orders."
"I'm here on Scrimgeour's orders." Tonks' voice was cold and professional.
"Is Scrimgeour too busy to interrogate me himself?"
"Yes. Something came up, he sent me instead." There was a lifelessness in her voice.
"Well, there's nothing to know." Senna lied, "All I remember is waking up here."
"You're lying."
Senna turned to face her, "How do you—" But then she saw it, that glass orb she used to interrogate her before, it was a bright shade of red, catching her lie. "Ah, that thing! Maybe we should calibrate it with some juicy truths again." Senna threatened.
But Tonks did not react. Her face remained perfectly composed. Senna looked at her face—really looked—for the first time since the night she dragged her in for questioning. Her eyes were not a vibrant color today, just her natural hazel color. Her hair was also a natural brown. Senna looked her up and down. She looked smaller somehow—thinner. Had she lost weight?
"Nevermind about me," Senna huffed, "Looks like Scrimgeour is working you to the bone, isn't he?"
Tonks ignored her. "What happened after you left Hogwarts that night?"
Senna narrowed her eyes at Tonks' unyielding ones.
She didn't budge.
"I don't think I left the school grounds. Just ran under the trees, and passed out. Someone kidnapped me from there."
The orb went from red, to a pale green.
Tonks' eyes widened a bit, then she nodded. "Where did they take you?"
Senna sighed. "Struan's manor."
"And where is that?"
"I have no clue. Do you really think he would tell me that?"
"What did he do, once you were there?"
"Keep me prisoner…"
"And what else?" Her cold voice did not waver. "What did he want?"
"Honestly, I think he wanted to make me his concubine or something. He's kind of a perv." Senna told her. The orb remained a soft green. Tonks didn't respond, so Senna continued to ramble. She did not want to waste any more of her precious energy being defiant to Tonks. It wasn't worth it. "He tried to brand me, with the Dark Mark." Senna admitted. "But I fought him—I mean—at least I tried. I broke one guy's nose, and his shin, but Struan was too fast, and I didn't have my wand. He was pretty mad I refused to submit to him, so I think he decided to curse me instead."
"I've heard this curse… it saps your magic?" Tonks' voice was still emotionless.
"It saps everything—without these potions, I can't even move." Senna picked up her wand from the bedside table, which someone had been kind enough to bring for her, and waved it in demonstration, attempting a simple light spell. Nothing.
"Did he tell you what he was planning?"
"In the grand scheme of things? Not really, aside from the usual 'I'm going to take over the world'." Senna said the last part with a mocking tone.
"What about with you?"
Senna rolled her eyes. "He thinks that once I learn my lesson I'll come crawling back to get my power back."
"Will you?"
"Never in a million years." Senna said adamantly. And Tonks didn't need the orb to see she was telling the truth. The conviction sounded impressive, even to Senna's ears. "I would rather die in the tournament than ask for his help." Senna thought about this statement for a moment, "You know what, I see what Viola is talking about now. Hah."
"You're not participating in the tournament." Tonks stated. "You don't have magic."
Senna gave Tonks her most practiced delinquent grin. "I don't have a lot of things, but I do have my Headmaster's full permission to compete in the tournament on Saturday."
Tonks looked down at the green orb in disbelief, then, her eyes widened with horror. "That's insane. You have no idea what these tournaments are like."
Senna felt a drop of satisfaction—she had finally broken through Tonks' lifeless facade. "So what? This doesn't concern you." Senna turned over in bed, facing the window. The daylight was rather still, the sun shone clearly through the St. Mungo's window.
Senna waited. But she didn't hear Tonks retreat.
"Not satisfied?" Senna asked her. "Well I did see something else. They branded a new Death Eater while I was there. His name was Braydon Walters, scrawny, acne filled face, golden hair. Doesn't look so tough, if you ask me."
Senna turned to face her, expecting Tonks to pull out a notepad and write something down, but she simply stared at Senna. Her eyes had gone darker, nearly black.
"Not good enough? Well sorry Auror, that's all I've got."
Tonks ignored the jab. "Why are you doing this?" Tonks' voice was barely audible, and about an octave higher. Senna knew this was the real Tonks—the one same one she spent spilling her secrets to in a broom closet.
"Talking to you? Well because I don't have the energy to care."
"No," Tonks said. She put the green orb in her robe pocket. "But I guess that answers my question. You don't care?"
The sudden softness of her voice was disorienting, Senna had just gotten used to stone-cold Tonks. "Not one bit." Senna snapped.
"So you are going to get yourself killed in the tournament, because you don't care?" Her voice rose and a literal flash of orange washed through Tonks' eyes. She could swear some of her hair turned red too.
Senna wanted to tell her that she wasn't planning on dying. But Senna thought that opening up to Tonks again would be just as suicidal as going into the tournament without magic. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
"This hasn't anything to do with my experience with Struan."
"I know."
"Then I can, with much confidence, say that this is none of your business, Aruror."
The corners of her mouth pointed downwards. "Fine."
She spun on her heels, swiping the curtains out her way as she left.
Senna was discharged that evening. She was escorted back by her Headmaster and two Aurors. Thankfully, none of those Aurors were Tonks.
Senna entered the dorm, and immediately headed towards her familiar cot, but Headmaster Roberts put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "Senna, given the curse, and your status of Champion, I saw to it that you have a private room to yourself." Roberts told her. "I hope you find that you are able to get better rest there." Roberts took her in the opposite direction of the girls' dorm, and led her to where his office was.
"Here we are. I had one of the girls move your stuff. Please let me know if there is anything you need. In the meantime, I am going to write to several of my old friends. There are a lot of curse experts and healers in our county that might be more competent in the matter." With that, Headmaster Roberts left her at the door, and went into his office only three doors down.
Senna looked down at the key given to her, and wondered if he did this because he was worried the Aurors would try and take away his Champion again.
Senna unlocked the door and stepped inside, admiring her new private room and bathroom. She had to admit, this was nice. The walls were a plain beige, a larger bed with an ornate metal bed frame, a study desk, with a bookshelf on which Senna's books were haphazardly placed…
The sight of the brown, brick-like book made her heart jump.
Senna ran to the shelf and pulled out the book. For the first time, she paid attention to the cover.
Guardians of Ophidian, vol. 1
The words shivered unnaturally. Senna was surprised she was still able to read parseltongue. Perhaps the ability to communicate in parseltongue ran deeper than magic. It was in her blood.
In this volume, we explore the meaning of the Mighty Serpent, our Master and most sacred deity.
As Ophidian sheds his skin, he is renewed. This is why our Masters are the symbol of rebirth, transformation, immortality, and ascension.
Our Master is a symbol of eternity and continual renewal of lifeforce energy.
Senna skipped ahead, skipping all the mumbo-jumbo about serpents. She looked through the section that held symbols, trying to find a symbol similar to that on her neck, but came out empty handed. Then, she tried to find something on the energy-sucking leech she had seen in her dream. But still came up empty..
She read until her vision became blurry. Even with the potions, her energy was not as it once had been.
Her body was stiff from lying in the hospital bed. Her new room was large enough to do some exercises in. With the tournament looming over the horizon, Senna ignored the lethargy and pushed herself to exercise.
She started out with some basic stretches, which nearly took all the wind from her. But she pushed herself farther, trying to get through some forms she knew would limber her up. A few minutes in, she was drenched in sweat, on her hands and knees, unable to do more.
Her fingers itched to the crate of potions Snape had given her, but his warning echoed in her head. 'Only take a vial, once per day. Any more than that, and there will be serious side effects.'
Senna tried to at least make it to the bed, but as she pushed her lead arms and legs despite the fact they weighed a million pounds, she saw the now familiar darkness around the edges of her vision. The tunnel closed in, she tried to hang on to the light, but it consumed her once more.
In her dream, Senna was surrounded by darkness.
'Moore. Give me more magic.' The hissing voice begged.
Senna's neck burned, and she felt the leech sucking away her lifeforce through her neck. She wanted to scream, to rip the leech off her, but she could not move.
'Why are you doing this?' She asked the leech.
'I need more.'
'Why?'
'Give me more.'
A bitter taste burned her tongue. It was strong enough to pull her from the depths of her slumber.
"Ick." Senna tried to spit out the nasty liquid, but someone was holding her chin up, forcing her to swallow it.
Senna coughed violently, her nose and throat burning. She had gotten some of the potion in her sinuses.
"Good morning, Senna." Her Headmaster's round and pink face pulled away from her as he stood from his kneeling position.
"Ugh," Senna groaned as she recovered. "What time is it?"
"It's nine in the morning, I am having someone bring you breakfast."
"Nice!" Senna croaked, "I get room service too?"
"I should've been here earlier," Roberts said, ignoring Senna's random comments, "I should've figured you need the potion to wake up at all." He placed the empty vial on her bedside table. "I have a curse expert coming from Rhode Island to look at your affliction. He will be here this afternoon. I'll need you to be back here at no later than noon."
"Got it." Senna realized she was still wearing the same clothes as the night before, and her Headmaster must have picked her up off the floor. "So I'm guessing… I'm excused from class?"
"Yes." He nodded, "Though, realistically, you could still attend classes that don't require magic, such as History of Magic."
Senna grimaced.
The corner of Roberts' mouth lifted at her visible disdain for History. "Well, I leave it up to your discretion. But please make sure you're here to meet Lord Bane."
"Wow. Lord Bane. He sounds important." Senna mumbled.
"He is." Her headmaster had begun to make his way out. He opened the door just as someone came in with a tray of food.
"Excuse me." He said as he passed the Brownwell girl.
Senna didn't know this girl. She was nervous, which was obvious in the way she sat the tray down without so much as a glance in Senna's direction.
'Should I say something to her? No, I wouldn't even know what to tell her.' The girl swept from the room without a word.
Senna blinked, staring at the spot the girl disappeared from. It occurred to her that she was still a legilimens in addition to being a parseltongue. Senna wasn't sure how that was even possible. She thought both of those abilities were magic related, and yet, whenever she tried even the simplest of spells, nothing happened.
By the time Senna was dressed, the halls were void of students. First period had already started, but she had no intention of going to Transfiguration.
Senna made her way to the gym. She needed to build up her stamina if she was going to survive the first task—whatever that was.
Senna spotted a gorgeous red-head with perfectly ironed robes sitting on the bench of the gym. For a moment, she wondered what a pretty girl like her was doing in a place such as this, before she realized that this was actually her girlfriend. She blamed the curse for the brain fog.
Viola stood up and approached her, shoulders squared, an intense look in her green eyes. She had a purpose.
Senna gave a gasp of disbelief. "Are you..." Senna pointed an accusing finger at her, "Actually skipping class, Ms. Prefect?" Senna made it sound like she was committing murder.
Viola rolled her eyes. She stopped in front of Senna, and placed her hands on her hips, assuming her typical bitchy stance.. "I was excused from class."
"How on earth did you manage that?"
"Nevermind that." Viola shrugged. "How are you feeling?" Viola's eyes rested on her neck, where the big ugly curse mark showed.
Senna shrugged too. "As shitty as ever, thanks for asking."
Viola reached out and touched her neck. Her hands were warm. Senna took her hand and held it in her own. It was unlike her to seek comfort in Viola's touch, with her own free will, but she had actually missed her.
Senna leaned in and pecked Viola on her warm, soft lips, and Viola inhaled in surprise. Her green eyes met hers, a frightening intensity pouring from them. It made Senna shiver.
"That mark, does it hurt?" Viola quietly asked her.
"Not right now. Just when I'm talking to the curse in my sleep."
"Er.. What?" Viola took her hand back, as if Senna were a crazy person she should stay away from.
"It's hard to explain."
"Then try."
"I can't, I don't have much time. The tournament is tomorrow." Senna spun away and made her way to the center of the gym. She had missed Viola more than she would ever admit, but that had to wait. "I know I haven't told you all the details yet, but I will catch you up afterwards, okay?"
"The tournament tomorrow…" Viola stated, unsure. "Senna, about that…"
"If you're going to tell me it's stupid, then don't bother, I already know."
"I want you to forfeit." Viola blurted out hurriedly. Her tone was familiar, this was the same tone Viola had used when trying to stop Senna from rushing into the fight when the Death Eaters had broken into the castle. It was a desperate plea.
Senna stopped. Her heart squeezed in an uncomfortable way. She was worried about her, perhaps. But Senna had made up her mind.
"I can't."
"But why? It's stupid, you're in no condition to compete."
"I know."
"Then why?" Viola had practically shouted the last word.
The frustration of the situation crept into her solar plexus. She took a while to think, facing away from Viola. She didn't want to face the judgement in her eyes.
"Because if I don't try, then Struan's already won." Senna said in a low voice.
"I don't know what you mean." Viola said, frustration was evident in her voice.
"He wants me to give up. He wants me to admit that I need power from him. He wants me to crawl back and beg for my power back, and tell him he's been right this whole time. And I can't do that."
"But if you die, then what? All your effort would be for nothing."
"Seriously? Do you even know what we're going to do in the tournament?"
"No, but I've read about the past tournaments, and champions have fought dangerous creatures such as Lethifolds, Dragons, and Chimeras, dangerous obstacle courses of lava and dangerous magic traps—Senna, you can't face any of those without magic!"
"I've got to try." Senna said, with conviction in her voice.
"No!" Viola's cheeks were nearly as red as her hair now.
"I'm sorry, Viola, I'm going to try." Senna thought for a moment. "How about I promise to forfeit if I feel like my life is in danger?" Senna thought this was a great compromise.
But Viola did not take it. "To be honest, I don't think you are a good judge of danger."
"And why's that?"
"Remember the time you thought it was a good idea to try and rescue your favorite Auror, and you almost died then, didn't you?"
Senna recoiled. She had her there. "Not really. I was totally fine."
Viola made a disgruntled noise. "Senna—"
"You're not going to change my mind."
"I just—" Viola looked away from her, "I don't want to see you get hurt."
Senna took in Viola, her furiously red cheeks, the curly locks of red hair that fell forward to hide her blush from the world, and the commanding voice that had fallen to a mere plea.
Senna smiled and walked towards Viola, wrapping her arms around her waist.
Viola turned, and when she saw Senna's smile, her brows pulled together in irritation. She tried to push Senna away, but Senna held on. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing. It's just the irony of it all…" Senna leaned in and rested her cheek on the top of Viola's head. Being tall had its perks.
Viola was irritated, but Senna could tell the warmth of her hug was melting through the anger.
"It seems like just yesterday that you would pay money to see me get hurt. And now things have changed." Senna told her.
"That was never true." Viola huffed, indignant.
"Oh?" Senna took a deep breath, inhaling her sweet scent. If she did manage to die tomorrow, she wanted to have a few pleasant memories. "If I remember correctly, I was literally the menace of your existence."
"Well you remember wrong."
Senna chuckled. "Right. I totally misread the slapping and verbal abuse. You've been so nice this whole time."
Viola's hands, which had been resting on Senna's hips, squeezed in irritation at Senna's sarcasm. Senna bit back a groan of pleasure.
"I've liked you for a while." Viola's voice was a whisper now.
This caught Senna off guard.
"Are you sure you're not mixing up the definitions of love and hate?" Senna asked with a heavy note of sarcasm.
"I'm sure."
Senna's heart rate picked up. She expected Viola to negatively react to Senna's use of the 'L' word. Maybe something like 'It's not like I love you, stupid,' or 'Don't be so cocky,'—but perhaps Senna was overthinking things.
"So Senna, please…"
Senna suddenly let go of Viola and grabbed her face in her hands. "Hang on—did you just say please?" Viola's eyes were wide with surprise, "Who are you and what have you done with Viola Richmond?"
"Stop that!" Viola slapped her hands away, her cheeks grew even redder, "Just forget about the stupid tournament, okay? It's not worth you dying over."
Senna gave a big sigh.
There was a long silence between them.
"Viola." Senna finally said.
Viola's eyes were sharp and determined.
"Please." Senna was the one pleading now, "Have some faith in me. I'm stronger than you think."