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Act II - The Warlock of Hogwarts
Chapter 25 - Promise
"The nature of a malediction, on a conceptual level, is centred around two concepts, Flow and Bind. The concept of Flow ties in with the transference of the curse down a bloodline, though certain conditions might be added or removed to enhance the lethality or obscurity of the curse. Just like water may spread across a larger area, decreasing its overall density, a malediction grows weaker as more and more people get exposed to it. This is where the concept of Bind, while completely opposite to Flow, is brought into the equation, tying the curse to a particular bloodline in an attempt to increase cohesiveness. The stronger the concept of Bind, the greater the potency of the curse on a specific individual."
Daphne watched Harry recite the paragraphs without rest, while the dicta-quill kept noting them down in an enchanted journal. Her father had bewitched it to instantly duplicate the contents of the journal into two exact copies of it, one of which lay in his father's office, and the other in Black mansion for Andromeda Tonks to study and cross-reference it from her own research.
She had grown to like these little moments that they shared together. Harry had, over the course of the last few weeks, told her several times that she didn't need to actively be there for him to recite it, with the dicta-quill taking care of things. But Daphne had denied, vehemently so. After all, all of this was for her sake, and she'd be damned if she was away resting in her dorms while he meticulously did his part. Unfortunately, there was no sure fire way to tell the Headmaster, or worse, Professor Snape, where she was spending her time, so she had started to use his Cloak or worse, the shortcut in the general girls bathroom to get a quick in and out to what was quickly becoming her favourite place in all of Hogwarts.
But even if all they did was note them down, it didn't mean they couldn't make things a bit more enjoyable.
"That makes a lot of sense," she said softly, ruffling his hair as he lay on the floor, with his head on her lap. After her horrible attempt to excuse her first kiss and the quick follow through on that, Daphne had begun to initiate displays of affection, going so far as to publicly stake her claim as his future wife. Her usual superior personality was out in full force, and she wasn't afraid to tell off any girl who even thought about trying to flirt with him. Even Susan Bones knew better than to test her luck when she was around.
Privately, she had grown to step into his personal space and initiate hugs and kisses every time they spent together. What really surprised her was the complete lack of stiffness on his part as he responded back with equal affection. It was a major shift from the Harry Potter she had seen during the summer. She knew that Fleur Delacour was part of the reason, but she had grown accustomed to the idea that she'd have to share her man with the veela, no thanks to his inheriting multiple Lordships. That he was completely immune to the allure helped, but it did leave a bitter taste in her mouth.
Except well, when they kissed. And the way his fingers would crawl under her shirt.
Her boyfriend blinked, and looked up at her. Daphne noticed that he still hadn't lost his unfocussed trance. One of the major limitations of the awareness was that it extended only until the periphery of the entire Chamber of Secrets. The moment they walked out of it, the awareness vanished.
"...what?"
"You said it makes a lot of sense," said Harry. "Why's that?"
"Because Ophelia was a Virgo," she clarified. "Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn, they fall under the Earth-sign. The Bind would be stronger on them, making the curse that much potent."
He shook his head. "You're wrong."
This time it was she who looked confused. "How?"
Harry blinked, and sat up. "Because a malediction cast on an Earth-sign would have maximum potency and kill her almost instantly. It wouldn't get the chance to get passed down a bloodline. According to citation 2, page 113; ensuring that the victim isn't an Earth-sign is one of the prerequisites of casting the curse."
Daphne frowned. "Ophelia was born on the 25th of August, 1884. She was a Virgo. Any astronomer could tell you that."
His eyes moved rapidly, checking through something. "No, she's not a Virgo. She's a Pisces. And I know why."
He shut his eyes, and when he opened them, the trance had vanished. He was no longer connected to the Awareness.
"Why?"
"Because it's a bloodline curse. The emphasis here isn't on the curse but bloodline. Flow is more important than Bind. It is the characteristic of Water, and the Moon rules over water. In this case, her Moon-sign is more applicable for the curse's potency, and by her moon-sign, she's a Pisces, a Water-sign." He paused. "Merlin, I didn't know Astronomy was this deeply tied to esoteric curses."
Daphne shook her head silently. She too had no idea. Most students dropped the Astronomy course right after their OWLs, choosing to focus on more prominent disciplines like Transfiguration, Charms, Runecraft and DADA. But to think it had such esoteric applicationsβ¦
Her respect for Aurora Sinistra and her subject grew up by a notch. Maybe next time, she'd spend a little more time focussing in Astronomy class.
"You know," said Harry, "it's possible Sagittarius Black made the same mistake as you did. He had cast everything perfectly, but he miscalculated her horoscope. Or maybeβ¦ maybe the reason that no one ever found a cure for this curse is becauseβ¦"
He froze.
As did she.
Both of them gawked at each other.
"Because it's not a blood curse at all," Daphne mumbled, an icy feeling spreading all over her. Her head felt dizzy from the realisation, and her hands and feet grew cold with an overwhelming fear. She glanced at Harry, and saw the colour fade from his face, and knew that he had come to a similar realisation.
"Maybe all Sagittarius wanted was to kill Ophelia and her baby," said Harry, looking utterly horrified. "He used the Black Family Magic, which is geared towards curses, without realising that he wasn't damning her, but her entire bloodline. He thought she was a Virgoβ"
"When she was actually a Pisces." Daphne murmured, her fingers shaking from the realisation. "And that turned a lethal death curse into a malediction, killing every Greengrass woman of her line."
"Powered by the Black Family Magic." Harry finished. "The reason Sirius and Andi haven't been able to find anything about it, isn't because Sagittarius used a specific spell, but because he didn't. The Family Magic mutated and created this malediction, which meansβ"
"So long as the caster is alive," murmured a shocked Daphne. "The curse will continue to persist. Only in this case, the caster is the Black Family Magic itself."
Her hands fell listlessly to her sides.
"I⦠I never had a chance, did I?"
She shook her head several times. She didn't want to believe it, but you couldn't make fact into fiction, no matter how much denial you've got to draw upon.
And Daphne was nothing if not pragmatic.
"Ophelia was cursed in 1906," she murmured, "and ninety-one years later, the curse will be at its strongest. And it will achieve what it was created to achieve. The complete annihilation of Ophelia's line. That meansβ¦"
She met his anxious eyes. "In two years, I'm going to die."
Harry flinched at her tone.
"You β you don't know that."
She looked at him. "Not you too, Harry Potter. You know what it's like to grow up knowing that the Dark Lord is after you. To know what it's like that your days are numbered."
"That's different!" Harry began heatedly.
"It's not," she said, a mirthless chuckle escaping her throat. "It's really not. I always knew that the curse would take me, like it did my ancestors. I knew there was a chance that the curse would turn lethal in two years, and that maybe I'd die, but thenβ¦ then I met you, and all this. I thought, I thought I really might have a chance at being happy, at living my life, butβ¦"
Her eyes went blank. "I never had a chance in the first place."
"Daphneβ¦" Harry croaked. "Daphne β Daphne, there's got to be a way out of this." He was shaking. No doubt the harsh truth had just hit him. She stared at him blankly as he grabbed her by her arms and shook her like she wasn't a living, breathing human being. "Daphne, look at me!"
There were tears in his eyes, glistening in those green orbs.
"...Yes?"
She met his eyes, and before she knew it, he had grabbed her, and pulled her into a tight let his possessiveness engulf her, relishing in the feeling of safety and satisfaction that it brought, no matter how ephemeral it might be.
"I'll find a way," he whispered in her ear. "Thisβ this was just from one book. We don't know for sure if it was actually the Black Family Magic that did it. And if it did, Sirius is Lord Black. Maybe he'll be able to reverse it."
She wanted to shake her head. It made her heart ache to see how desperately he was grasping for straws. "Wouldn't work. Sirius is Lord Black. He's not the Black Vessel. No one but a vessel can undo a Family Magic. You can'tβ nobody can save me."
His hands gripped her tighter.
She hid herself on his neck while she trembled with sobs. She closed her eyes and relished in his touch. It felt wonderful. She could have lived a lifetime of this without care.
"I hate this, you know," she confessed. "All these years, I lived to fulfil the task of the Greengrass Heiress. I was the last of my family. I needed to be strong, to become someone worthwhile, and then marry and pass on my bloodline to my children. Whether I did, or I survived, it didn't matter. At least I'd do something. When my father approached Lucius Malfoy for the contract, I cried. I wasn't happy. I didn't want to get married to Malfoy, but I would have, because it offered a way out. I thought, I thought that even if I couldn't live my life the way I wanted to, at least my life would be a sacrifice for future generations. My first-born would be a Greengrass and take the mantle. Dad would stay the Regent and teach him to be worthy of the name, just like he did with me."
They just stayed there, in each others' embrace for a moment. Harry didn't even say a word, which made her want to cry even more.
"Then you came into my life," she continued after that extended moment of silence. "I always knew you'd play a role in my life. I hated you for being the Greengrass vessel, and I hated that I was the one sacrificing everything while you didn't even care for my lineage. But then this summer happened. I got to know you."
She gripped him tighter.
"We were handfasted, and then at that party, you told me that I⦠that I was strong. All my life, my father has treated me like a frail doll, but you, you told me I was anything but. That I taught you what it means to be strong. I stalked you for years just to know what made you tick, and you, with just a week of being together, you knew my deepest, darkest secret."
"You are strong, Daphne," he murmured. "You're the strongest woman I know."
She smiled. "This time we spent together, it was the best time I've ever had. You taught me to be myself. To be Daphne, not the Greengrass heiress. To do what I love. You were stupid and clumsy and silly and unreliable but you made me happy. You⦠You made me dream of a future together."
Her fingers clenched.
"And then this happened."
"It's not fair," Harry mumbled.
"No," she sobbed. "It's not. Harry?"
"Yes?"
"Can you do something for me?"
"Anything."
You stupid Gryffindor, she thought fondly. "I want you to dissolve our betrothal."
Harry didn't make a single sound. He was too shocked by her demand to do otherwise.
She pushed herself off him and looked into his eyes.
"All this started out of a tiny, useless hope that I could be saved, Harry. But now I know that I can't. And it makes no sense to deepen a bond that'll eventually shatter in two years. We've been together for only a few months. We can go back to how things were before. You can be the Boy-Who-Lived, the hero that saves all. I'll become the Slytherin that stalks you from the shadows. We can even play out a public fight, maybe over Fleur Delacour. It'll make Pansy happy. And there's alsoβ"
She paused, realising that he still hadn't said a word. He just stood there, staring at her blankly.
"Harry, you're scaring me. At least say something."
"Why?" He asked, his eyes shadowed as his face became obscured by the shadows of the Chamber.
"Why what?"
"Why are you doing this to me?" he hissed. His fingers clenched around her arms, digging into her skin. It hurt a little, but that was the last thing in her mind. Compared to the maelstrom in her mind and heart, it was almost a relief.
"Harry Iβ"
"Why are you mocking me like this?" He snarled. "You and your father barged into my life. You told me about the blood curse and I accepted the consequences. I accepted you. I know there was a part of me that wanted to be selfish, wanted to say no and just walk away, consequences be damned. There were moments when I looked at you, saw your earnest smile, and felt like a fraud, that I was cheating on you, not just with Fleur but with everything else. And yet you went out of your way just to be with me. And now⦠and now you do this? Why?"
"Harry β"
"No," He thundered, and Daphne flinched at his tone. "This is not happening. We were handfasted, and we'll be wed in a year, as per contract. Thisβ this changes nothing. Yes we know a bit more about this malediction, but that also means we've grown closer in understanding it. And I'm sure we'll find a way."
"You can't."
"Yes," he growled. "I can."
A terrifying anger rose in her. She knew this was just his emotions talking. But it was her life. No one, not even he was allowed to give her false hopes. Not after all her expectations had been shattered. To think that she'd find happiness, true happiness, and then see them all get snatched because of the curse, ending the Greengrass line with her death for once and for all, and to have him talking like thatβ¦
It felt insulting.
"Don't make promises you can't keep, Harry Potter."
"I am not." He swore. "I'll find a way."
"How?"
Harry's eyes blazing with anger, desperation and fear. "I don't know and I don't care, but I'll find a way. I'm Death's Avatar. There is no magic, Family or otherwise, that Death cannot undo."
Daphne watched him. Something about the way he said it made her feel like it was more than a statement. More than a proclamation made by someone run by their emotions. And for a moment, she wanted to believe him. Believe in his words, his assurances, his faith.
But she couldn't.
She had to be practical.
"You're Death's Avatar, Harry," she said softly. "But you don't even know how to control that power. And even if you did, what can you do? Channel your Death into me? Kill the malediction and my magic? Extinguish the Greengrass lineage? And then what? Tear the magic out of me and force me to live the rest of my life as a squib? I refuse, Harry Potter. I was born a witch, and it is a witch that will perish in this body."
"But β"
She raised her hand. "You cannot fix me, Harry Potter. You cannot fix everything. You might be the Peverell Vessel, but you can't stop Death, can you?"
"No," he murmured. "I can't. But I can stand between you and the Black Family Magic."
Why? Why did he not understand? Why was he being so damn stubborn? "Harry β"
"No Daphne," he snapped. "I'm not giving you up. I am not giving you up. You understand?"
He shook her again.
"But β"
"Don't you see?" he asked, tears running down his cheeks. "This place is a living example of that. Salazar constructed this to use the power of the original twenty-eight. The Miraculum Operarius. He wanted to use the power of all these Houses, of their Family Magics, to create miracles. Miracles, Daphne, not magic. He wanted to will his own Family Magic into existence."
"He failed, Harry!" Daphne snapped. "And he left behind a legacy that nobody, not even Lord Voldemort could complete."
"Voldemort never cared for anything other than himself. He had no ambition other than becoming the twisted creature he was and terrorising the world. But I am not Voldemort," said Harry, standing up. He offered his hand to her. "I have the awareness. I have the knowledge. And I'm the Peverell Vessel. Death's Avatar. Ever since I've awakened this power, I've also come to see the dark side of magic. Seen it as the corruption that it is. Whether it be Walburga Black's wraith, or Voldemort's possession, or a hundred dementors, this power has ended them all. I'll find a way to undo this thing and destroy it."
Daphne watched him with a smile. The fool was promising something he had no control over. But then again, it was this senseless optimism and the courage to stand in the face of unending hopelessness that made him a Gryffindor, didn't it?
She hated it. She hated seeing him like that. What he said might not have been a magical oath, but knowing Harry, it might as well have been one.
"And if you don't?"
"I'mβ I just will. We have all of this now. Iβ we will find a way together. We will get you out of this. I just need you to trust me."
Trust in him. In his optimism. Even if it was probably a lie.
Daphne smiled.
Maybe it was a lie. But so what? At least it was a beautiful one.
"Well then," she murmured, "you better hurry. Two years isn't a lot of time, you know."
The grin that tore through his face made her heart flutter.
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