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A great many thanks to Rezurex and LordLexx for the amazing work they did as the editors on this chapter!
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and Last but not least, a very happy and joyous Christmas to everyone who celebrates the day!
"You blithering, blubbering fool! How many times do I have to tell this class to clean your utensils and knives?" Snape snapped at the poor Gryffindor, his scathing voice silencing the class completely as everyone turned to view the spectacle.
"Twenty points from Gryffindor for your stupidity, Finnegan, and another ten for blowing up yet another cauldron!"
With a wave of his wand, he vanished the bubbling white sludge in the charred and cracked cauldron along with the acrid stench that had permeated the classroom, making everyone silently breathe a sigh of relief and glare at the cowering, soot-covered Gryffindor.
"What are you all looking at?", Snape barked. "Is the draught going to make itself on its own? Get back to work!"
"That is the second cauldron he has destroyed since the start of the session," Tracey said in a disbelieving voice. "How do you think he even does that? He is confirmed to blow up something in his face at least once a day!"
"Bad luck?", he answered, turning his eyes back to their own potion simmering on the flames. "We should probably concentrate on our own potion."
"Harry, you are the best brewer in this class behind Daphne," she rolled her eyes—unaware that the girl in question listening next to them, a small smile forming on her face before it disappeared again. "Nothing is going to happen to our work, and we will get an Outstanding once again!"
"Let's hope you didn't just jinx us," he retorted and started chopping the next ingredient. "Now, dice up that Fern root please."
Working in silence after that, Harry and Tracey soon completed their potion and submitted it before exiting the classroom. Strolling towards the Great Hall for the lunch, they soon heard raised voices from a classroom a little ahead of them. His curiosity piqued, Harry moved a bit closer to the door, and he felt his breath hitch as he recognized Persephone's voice amongst the noise.
Tracey also caught on to it and opened the door with a worried expression, only to come upon the sight of Persephone breathing heavily with her wand in her hand and two students at her feet.
A Ravenclaw and a Gryffindor, both second years or third years by the looks of it, and both were whimpering in pain. They looked at the redhead with teary eyes and scared expressions as they crawled back towards the wall.
"What the hell?", he said, moving into the room, causing the boys to shriek and bolt from the classroom. " What were they doing here, Seph?"
"They," she said back with her face twisted in a frown, her emerald eyes still locked on to the spot the two boys had occupied. "-were hoping to 'punish the spawn of death eater scum'."
"And considering we are the only ones in this castle without powerful fathers to run back to, they decided to target you.", Harry finished her words, Persephone nodding at his words once he finished.
"Are you alright?", Tracey asked as she nervously wrung her hands together, taking a step towards the redhead before she stopped and just looked at Persephone. "Did they hurt you?"
"No," she responded as she stashed her wand back into her pocket and sat down on a chair. "They spent so much time bragging and grandstanding that I was able to get both of the-Hey!"
She was cut off by her brother as he strode forward and grabbed her hand before pulling it upright, making her wince and hiss at the sudden movement. Without a glance at her reaction, Harry touched a point on her shoulder and raised the cloth there, before he brought his fingers back and allowed the red on them to be seen.
"And the Ravenclaw may have gotten me with a cutting curse…", the bleeding girl mumbled as Harry dropped her arm and sat by her. Tracey was about to say something when Harry suddenly blurted out, "Tracey, can you please get away from here. I really don't want you to get involved in the mess if those two come back with a professor."
"What?!" Tracey gasped with wide eyes. "What do you mean? Get away? I am not leaving you two to get chwe-"
"Tracey!", Persephone interrupted while standing up with her brother's support. "We appreciate that a lot, but the world is already biased against us and there is really no need for your perfectly good name to get besmirched by associating with us in such a matter."
Tracey opened her mouth to argue further, but her words somehow seemed to pierce through her ears into that brain, and she glared at them both.
"Fine," she sullenly muttered and walked out of the room. "Stupid idiots."
"Now let's get you to the infirmary," Harry said and continued when he saw her open her mouth. "And no, we can't heal that ourselves, because if they both went to a teacher then we would have to answer about how we healed that."
Persephone grumbled in annoyance about know-it-all brothers, but she didn't protest any further as they slowly started moving towards the infirmary. They were about halfway there to the place when the unmistakable sounds of shouting reached them, getting louder-no, closer with each passing second.
"This is completely unacceptable! They are already bullying children here? How much longer until they turn into complete copies of their parents instead of just their looks?", the voice echoed through the halls as the sounds of rushing footsteps became clearer by the second.
"Minerva!", Professor Flitwick's voice reached them. "Will you simmer down? There is no conclusive proof of the claims Mr. Smith and Mr. Grey have made. And remember, you are the deputy headmistress of this school, which supersedes your responsibility as a Head of the House Gryffindor."
"Oh Merlin," Harry groaned. "What a mess?"
"Let's just get this over with," she sighed. "At least the cut isn't that bad, so I'm not in danger of dying due to blood loss."
Seconds later, Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick came around the corner and stopped at the sight of them. By now, the blood from Persephone's shoulder had slightly spread over to her white undershirt and his hand too was covered in the crimson liquid. Judging by the shocked expressions on the professors' faces, Persephone getting hit by a Cutting Curse had never made it to their ears.
"Ms. Potter!", McGonagall gasped. "You...why are you bleeding? We need to get you to the infirmary immediately!"
Before they could say anything at the sudden worry being displayed by her, Professor Flitwick cleared his throat and spoke, "Minerva? I will take them to Poppy, you can go ahead to Severus instead."
Looking at the short professor for a moment, McGonagall nodded once and gave both of them a glance before she hurried towards the dungeons.
"Mr. Potter, please follow us."
A moment later Persephone rose into the air with a surprised yelp and was dropped into a stretcher the materialized beneath her before the Charms professor turned around and started walking towards the infirmary with Harry following after him.
When they arrived at the infirmary, Madam Pomfrey quickly levitated his sister off the stretcher onto one of the hospital beds. A screen was erected around the bed, and they were told to sit in the chairs beside her while she treated his sister's injury.
"What happened to Ms. Potter?", Professor Flitwick broke the silence, his small black eyes trained on the screen.
"I don't know," Harry admitted. "When I got to that classroom, two boys were on the floor and Persephone had a cut on her shoulder. The boys ran off and we decided to come to the infirmary when you found us."
"The two boys-" the professor started, his eyes meeting Harry's,"-alleged Ms. Potter of attacking them unprovoked, because they were talking about how good it was that You-Know-Who was stopped by Mr. Longbottom on that Halloween. If what they said turns out to be true, then I am afraid your sister will face truly severe consequences."
"Persephone is not stupid enough to do something like that," Harry refuted. "We have heard far worse things than what those two supposedly said ever since we have arrived in Hogwarts."
The half-goblin conceded the aforementioned point with a nod and they sat in silence for a few minutes before the screen was pulled back and Madam Pomfrey emerged, revealing the sleeping form of Persephone on the bed.
"A Diffindo to her left shoulder," she began as she walked towards them and sat down on a chair, "-about two inches across and barely a quarter deep. Bleeding wasn't too severe, but I still gave her a Blood-Replenishing Potion along with a Sleeping Draught."
"And did she reveal anything about what happened?"
"Yes," she sighed and looked at the Charms professor. "She was coming to the great hall when two students, a Ravenclaw and a Gryffindor, pushed her into an empty classroom to, and here I quote 'teach her a lesson'. They shot spells at her, but she casted a shield charm and then made quick work of them both, but not without getting that injury in the process."
"Twenty points from Ravenclaw for lying and bullying," Flitwick declared angrily as his eyes closed briefly before they turned towards the entrance of the room. "I will let Severus and Minerva handle the punishment for the remaining two students."
Seconds later the two heads of houses walked in, both wearing scowls on their faces as they came to stop in front of Professor Flitwick.
"Well?", Professor Snape said. "Where are Mr. Grey and Mr. Smith, protecting your little kittens again, Minerva?"
"Severus!", Madam Pomfrey hissed as she stood up and motioned towards the privacy screens over the beds. "Will you keep it down? Mr. Smith and Mr. Grey are right here in the infirmary."
"Then get them out here," Snape drawled, his eyes darting to Persephone's still form for a moment before he stilled and with a motion too fast to be seen, drew his wand and summoned the aforementioned students directly to his feet, their bodies slowing down to a stop right before they would have crashed into the stone before they dropped on their asses.
"Severus!", Professor McGonagall gasped as the three took a step forward towards Snape, while Harry just stared wide-eyed at the Potions Professor, one, who despite being easily irritated, had never been visibly furious.
"No!", he growled, whirling towards the teacher, his lips twisting into a snarl. "Don't you dare 'Severus' me now, woman! I will not have your gross and frankly, pathetic administrative capabilities allow another Slytherin to be bullied and targeted just because some stupid neanderthal of yours thought it to be noble or funny! I have had it with dozens of children being attacked every year because some pathetic idiot thinks it to be 'justice' or 'fun'."
"That is a Diffindo to her shoulder Minerva," Madam Pomphrey said, a grimace on her face. " Any higher and it could have easily been fatal. There is a reason dueling and offensive magic are forbidden in the corridors between children."
"Mr. Grey has already lost his house twenty points," Professor Flitwick spoke up, his eyes shifting to the unconscious boy at his feet. "And he will serve twenty days of detention with me, commencing tonight."
"And considering Gryffindors don't seem to understand that bullying or even harmful pranking is forbidden in Hogwarts, eighty points from Gryffindor for bullying and lying." Snape drawled as he looked at the motionless students before awakening them with a wave of his wand.
Both of them woke up with grogginess as they groaned their way into wakefulness, only for them to catch sight of the looming potions Professor in front of them and pale.
"Mr. Smith and Mr. Grey, you have exactly ten seconds to tell us the truth of how you were present in the dungeons minutes ago when you were supposed to be at Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures respectively, and if you dare to lie," Snape trailed off in the end with a menacing look on his face. "I will find the truth, and it will not be pleasant for you both. Start talking, now!"
The boys went even paler if such a thing was possible, and they looked at their own heads of houses for support, only to receive equally disapproving looks from them both. Gulping once, the Ravenclaw started speaking first and with every word, Harry felt the need to finally let lose all the anger and hatred bottled up inside him. It would have taken him nothing more than a flick of his wrist to break their bones, but according to his sister dear, that was something which couldn't be done under any circumstances.
But if physical manipulation of reality wasn't possible, then he would just have to be subtle and invisible about it. With his mind envisioning what he wanted to happen and single-minded focus, Harry unleashed a small amount of magic inside him with the intent of making the boys spill the truth.
"We just wanted to teach her a lesson," the Gryffindor admitted. "She and her brother's behavior infuriated me. They walk around as if they are something special and not just the spawn of some Death Eater brood. It went on for days until at some point enough was enough. Something had to be done. Therefore, we decided to catch them today, right on Halloween. The Potter's have no right to celebrate when their own parents were the cause of so much suffering for my family!"
"Congratulations Mr. Grey," Professor Snape sneered. "You just made it to the top ten stupidest Gryffindors I have ever known in my life, another fifty points from Gryffindor for intention to cause severe harm and clear lack of decorum and discipline."
"Shut up you Death Eater, and go lick Malfoy's boots like the smelly and greasy bat you are!"
'Oh my God!' Harry thought as silence fell upon the room, the only sounds audible being Grey's heavy breaths and Ravenclaw's whimpers as he realized what had just happened.
''I think the magic worked a little too perfectly.'
"Are you not coming to the feast?"
"No, Daphne," Harry said as he yawned and leaned back on the chair. "I personally have no interest in celebrating Halloween, and besides-"
"It wouldn't be advisable for us to go there when just today two students tried to prevent the same, violently.", Persephone finished the sentence.
"Ugh," Tracey groaned as she started picking up her parchment. "I still don't know how you can just finish your sentences. Do you have a telepathic or psychic bond?"
"No Tracey," he replied. "For the hundredth time, we don't have any sort of bond between us."
"Besides," Daphne interjected, shifting around her own stationery. "It would also send the wrong message to the world as a whole, at least for now. Dowager Lady Longbottom is already out for your blood, don't give her another reason to hate you even more. Your surnames, unofficial and official, both are enough to do so."
"I get why she hates the Potters," Persephone frowned. "But what did the Blacks do that made her hate them?"
Daphne and Tracey glanced at each other before the Greengrass heiress said, "I think it would be better if you heard the tale directly from Lord Black himself."
"No," Persephone shook her head. "While we are thankful to him, we have to know this now. Too many unknown things can never be good for anyone, especially for us, when every syllable out of our mouths and every step we take is a problem for many."
"All right," Daphne sighed and stared at them with a frown. "Dowager Longbottom has hated the Blacks since 1970 when Lord Arcturus Black killed her husband, the Late Lord Francis Longbottom in the Ministry of Magic's atrium."
"What?!", the twins whispered, shock written all over their faces.
"Yes," Daphne nodded. "Lord Francis Longbottom, Arcturus Black, and your paternal Grandfather Lord Charlus Potter went to Hogwarts together, and while nothing more than acquaintances in the school, the three of them fought against Grindelwald's forces numerous times, each receiving an Order of merlin First class for their deeds."
"That day, an Order of Merlin was being given out to your grandmother," Tracey continued. "But the incident happened in the Party afterward, when a tipsy Francis Longbottom made a pass at Melania McKinnon, a woman he had lusted after at school too."
"So, what was the problem?", Persephone asked.
"Because she was Melania Black by then, with grandkids of her own.", Daphne answered blandly.
"And Arcturus Black himself was deep into his cups, so he challenged Francis to a Duel to Death because a close friend or not, you don't flirt with a man's wife, and especially not with the Lady black," Tracey said, leaning forward with wide eyes while she recounted the tale. "When the duel started, it seemed like both were evenly matched, but then Francis Longbottom once again made a comment about how Lord Black was getting old and how Melania should probably find a younger, better man."
"What happened after that?", Persephone asked, her emerald eyes gazing at something far away as she imagined the fight.
"Arcturus Black completely trashed the late Lord Longbottom after that. The hundreds of wizards and witches gathered there could only watch in silence as he shamed his former friend, tore apart his ego and respectful station with nothing more than his wand and magic. At the end of the night, Francis Longbottom laid broken, bloodied, and dead at the feet of Melania Black, who just picked up his wand and gave it to her husband."
"And all of this happened in the plain sight of Francis Longbottom's wife-"
"Augusta Longbottom."
"Yes," Daphne nodded. "Augusta Longbottom saw her husband getting disemboweled and cursed to death at the hands of Arcturus Black, and coupled with the actions of his grandchildren during the war, nowadays all of Wizarding Britain hates the name Black and everything it stands or once stood for."
"Enough about that," Tracey suddenly said. "Do you want us to bring you something from the feast tonight? I am sure we can ask a senior for help."
"No, no need for that," Persephone replied, shaking her head. "We had plenty of lunch in the infirmary once I woke up so that won't be a problem."
"Suit yourself," Tracey shrugged. "But I have to tell you, according to everyone, Halloween's Treacle tart and Roast boar is the best thing Hogwarts gives us to eat."
"O-Oh my g-god!", Harry gasped out as he lay sprawled on the floor. "I think you put too much thought into that one, Seph."
"Well, you are the one who told me to give it my best shot, and it is really not my fault that you are so ticklish"
"That I did," Harry said as he sat up. "Now stand still and let me attempt the Stunning spell."
"Why?", Persephone asked as she stood up with her arms by her side. "You were able to use that yesterday when Professor Quirrell asked us to demonstrate it."
"Yes," He nodded. "But I am going to try it wandlessly this time."
Persephone nodded at that and watched as her brother raised his right arm towards her and closed his eyes, his face strained with tension. Almost two minutes elapsed before she saw a flicker of red light form at the tips of his fingers. It steadily grew larger and larger until he suddenly cried, "Stupefy!". A red light, its size many times smaller than the ones they launched yesterday, flew towards her. It slammed into her midsection, and she wobbled for a moment before she fell bonelessly to the ground.
Harry immediately ran towards her to wake her up, a smug smile already forming over his face. Kneeling down beside her, he touched her shoulder before trying to shake her awake, only for the seemingly unconscious girl to jump up with a shout.
Startled and scared out of his wits, Harry shrieked and fell on his ass, his heart beating like a drum in his ears. He stared at his not unconscious sister with wide eyes, before she cracked up started laughing madly.
Even as Persephone almost fell down in her laughter and tears came from her eyes, all Harry could do was look at his sister in disbelief. He had been had, badly at that and… his spell didn't work at all.
"You didn't feel a thing.", he mumbled, wiping the little bit of sweat that had gathered over his brow.
"I didn't feel a thing," she said between pants and smiled at him. "I think either you are too tired or you don't want to stun me."
"Probably the latter," Harry admitted. "Seeing you injured and then unconscious today really shook me, you know?"
"I know brother," Persephone replied, sitting down beside him and pinching his cheeks. "If I can be sure of one thing in this world, it is your love for me and that not even one day will pass where you will not worry about me."
His cheeks went a little red at that before he swatted her hands away with a smile and stood up.
"Come on, I think we should get back to the common room," he said. "Other students will soon be returning from the feast."
"Aww," she cooed. "You aren't going to let your big sister try her hand at stunning you?"
"I think you had too much sugar in the evening, I will have to talk to Tracey about regulating your sugar intake."
With a gasp of outrage, she whacked her brother on his head and then ran ahead, A rather shocked Harry started sprinting after her just moments later only for both of them to suddenly stop as a series of voices sounded right beside them.
"Look at these hatchlings, disturbing our rest at this time."
"Too loud!"
"Shame that we are trapped here!"
"Food!"
"You can speak too?" Harry hissed at them in surprise, his eyes wide as he looked at the several snakes painted upon the canvas. "We went by this painting so many times, but we never thought that even painted snakes would be able to talk."
"Of course we can speak, you foolish hatchlings," a bluish-green serpent hissed as it raised its head. "We are not like those small-minded brethren of ours who can never think of anything other than food or warmth."
"You mean you are like Scylla?", Persephone asked, with clear excitement in her voice.
"Who is Scylla, human?", a black and ochre-colored snake hissed as it came forwards through the tangled mess of writhing bodies.
"She is a magical snake which we rescued from a cage," Persephone replied. "She was the only one there who could talk properly like you can, others were just hissing random things. Scylla can also turn invisible!"
"She must be a magical serpent then, where is she now?", the blue-green one hissed again.
"I had to leave her in the non-magical world," Persephone admitted. "This place doesn't allow snakes as companions."
"But she can turn invisible, can she not," it replied. "And there are many places in this nest for her to live and hide in."
"You hear that, Harry," Persephone said as she turned around and hugged him tightly. "We can bring Scylla with us when we come back to the castle!"
"Yes, we can," Harry agreed. "But for now, we have to get back to the common room."
Promising to visit the snakes later, Harry and Persephone moved towards the entrance to their common room, only to freeze in their place as they felt the floor vibrate a little. Having lived with Dudley Dursley and his father both for a decade, both of them knew how the ground shook when something heavy moved in their vicinity, but this? This was something that visibly shook the paintings around them in the next few seconds as the ground beneath them shook with increasing intensity with each passing moment.
A foul stench started to permeate the air around them, and they both gagged as it only got worse from there. But even as their bodies trembled and their noses burned, both of them arrived at the same conclusion together, it was a mountain troll, A Mountain Troll, who was fucking loose in a school!
"Anaisàbhailte", both of them incanted, pointing their wands at their heads, creating a transparent magical barrier that thankfully allowed them to breathe easier. Turning around the corner, they saw it, and both of them gaped for a moment at the size of the thing.
At fifteen feet tall, it had mottled grey-green skin, with only some animal's hide serving as its loincloth. It possessed a small head, from where its stone-grey eyes were looking at them as it hefted up the giant tree trunk which served as its club. Eyes widening, both of them attempted to backtrack, but the troll moved much faster than its size would suggest and in a single step, covered the measly six feet they had managed to put between them and the troll.
He brought the club down on them with a grunt, making both of them scatter in the opposite directions, the corridor thankfully wide enough for it. Harry felt the broken splinters from the wood strike his legs and back, one of them even piercing through his skin, before he turned around and raised his wand towards the creature.
"Diffindo!", he roared, an arc of green energy erupting from his wand's tip before it struck the troll right on his chest, and just washed off its thick hide. Both of them, the troll and the human, watched the spot dumbly for a moment before the giant roared and brought up its club for another strike.
"Wingardium Leviosa!", his sister yelled and Harry watched as the club started the float away from the troll, only for it to grab the tree trunk quickly and break the hold Persephone had over it.
"What do we do now?", he asked fearfully as they turned around and blindly ran deeper into the dungeons, the trolls lumbering steps easily keeping pace with them.
"We don't really know anything which will get through that thick skin," she said between gasps. "And that is not taking into account its magical resistance. If only we could have banished it back to where it came from, I'm pretty sure there is a spell for that somewhere in this castle! I think we should try losing it in the corridors and hope that a teacher comes in fast"
"Repeat what you just said", Harry spoke as he came to a sudden stop.
"We should hide and wait for someone to save us…", Persephone repeated bemusedly.
"It will get to us before that, and if we cannot harm the troll directly," he said as he ran back towards the troll. "We will have to do it by other means!"
"What?!, she yelled, her heart almost coming upto her throat before she too ran after him. "Harry, what the hell are you doing?"
They had barely needed to run for more than a dozen seconds before she stopped by her brother and watched him raise his wand towards the troll, the creature barely thirty feet away from them.
"On three, pull the club towards yourself," he declared and she nodded in response. "One, two, THREE!"
With a grunt of exertion, she pulled her arm back and with it, the club. The troll attempted to resist the force and it may have even succeeded, but when Harry tried banishing its feet at the same time, its body tilted and with a heavy crash that shook the castle, it fell to the floor flat on its nose.
Its club on the other hand came flying towards them until it rested right at their feet, after which both of them almost fell to the ground at the massive amount of energy it took to accomplish the task. Ahead of them, the troll moaned loudly and grunted as it started pushing against the ground to stand up, a puddle of green blood formed on the floor where he had broken its nose.
"Come on now," Harry panted. "We have to transfigure this log into a big spear and harpoon that troll."
"Easier said than done, you dolt," she said back as she got to her knees. "Alright, let's kill this smelly heap of shit!"
"LIGNO FERRUM!", both of them shouted as the troll finally stood up on its feet. The log of wood slowly started changing into their desired shape, and both of them screamed in frustration and anger as they pushed more of their magic into the spell. Within moments, there was a six-foot-long, and half-a-foot across spear resting on the ground in front of them, its grey surface shining in the torchlight around them.
"Ungh!", he grunted as they lifted their hands and with it, the transfigured spear in front of them. Turning it slightly so that the tip pointed towards the advancing troll, Harry and Persephone glanced at each other, before hurling the spear with a shout, using all their remaining strength, towards the troll.
The javelin shot off like a bullet and with a squelch, it punched through the troll's chest before flying out of the back end, leaving a gaping hole in its wake. Through their blackening vision, they could both see the troll look down at its chest for a moment before with a groan it toppled backward and crashed to the floor.
"Holy Circe!" someone gasped, but before they could look up at whoever it was, both of them finally fell unconscious.