Disclaimer: I don't own HP or any of the characters shown here.
AN-1: I have a Discord, where you can read the next chapter, i.e. Chapter 13 right now. We are close to 750 members, and that is the best way of chatting with me and the several hundred readers there along with keeping up with the updates.
AN-2: I have a P*T*R*N, where you can support my writing and enjoy several benefits at the same time. For those who sign up there, you can read up to THREE CHAPTERS IN ADVANCE right now!
I have a Subscribestar, where you can support my writing and enjoy several benefits at the same time. For those who sign up there, you can read up to THREE CHAPTERS IN ADVANCE right now!
AN-3: A very big thanks to LordLexx and Rezurex for the wonderful work they did as the editors for this chapter!
"Flippendo!" Neville shouted, a jet of pale blue energy racing out of his wand towards Malfoy. But instead of the stuck-up ponce flying away as he wished to be, Draco smoothly ducked underneath the spell and jabbed his wand forwards as he returned to the same spell towards Neville.
"Clypeus!'' he said in response, a shield springing upon his arm as he let Mafoy's jinx splash over it, not even a crack or shimmer on its surface. "What happened, Malfoy?" He taunted the Slytherin, quite pleased with the fact that that Boy-Who-Lived was bringing down a Slytherin bully, with him as his second! "Serves you right for being the slimy git you are."
A git who was filthy rich and had more money on his body than Ron ever would, his mind supplied.
Malfoy opened his mouth to respond, however, at that moment, Neville moved so fast that he may as well have possessed an extra hand! Four stinging spells left his wand, and while Draco managed to shield himself against the first two, his Clypeus broke apart on the third, and the fourth one hit him right in his chest. A gasp left the blond's lips, his face turning completely red as his wand dropped from his fingers and his hand rose to clutch at the place the hex had impacted.
"I guess that concludes this completely unneeded and pathetic farce of a wizard's duel," Neville said and turned around, walking towards the exit with Hermione silently following him, "Hope you have a salve for swelling in your trunk, Heir Malfoy. Good night."
Once they were out of the room and walking towards the corridor, he was just about to congratulate Neville when Granger started speaking. Ron gritted his teeth at that, of course, she would have something to say. It wasn't enough that she had to put him and several others down while she showed off in front of the teachers, now she had to interrupt him and Neville too. Hearing his name being called out, Ron raised his head towards Neville, catching the tail end of the conversation.
"-alled it a farce because it was one. A wizard's duel is done when one wizard or witch feels slighted enough to issue a formal challenge. It is an ancient practice and one which has continued to this day. In a proper Wizard's Duel, the issuer of the challenge must be the aggrieved party, and the person who has been issued the challenge must pit something of his at stake, something whose value must equal the demands set by the challenger."
"I am guessing people don't put money at stake here," Granger frowned.
"Merlin no!" Neville chuckled, shaking his head before he continued, "Money is a small recompensation when a wizard's ego and honor both are hurt. Whole fortunes, manors, castles…hell even women and wives have been won through a Wizard's duel. However, you can't really go and demand anything from someone for some minor slight. The Ministry has started to officiate these duels ever since its foundation, continuing the practice its predecessor, the Conclave of Magicals used to do. For example, the most the Ministry would allow me to take from Malfoy is a hundred galleons."
"Women?!…that is so barbaric!" Granger hissed, rounding up on Neville and glaring at the taller boy, "How can such a thing happen here? In my world the-"
"Shut up!"
Granger froze up at that, and even Ron was surprised by the sudden words. However, unlike what they had expected, instead of shouting or even saying something to Granger, Neville just started to walk faster than before, leaving them behind as they tried to make sense of what had upset the boy.
"Well, well. Look what do we have here, Mrs. Norris," A dry, raspy, and utterly unwelcome voice whispered as a lantern's glow illuminated the darkness around them. Trembling and shaking like a leaf, he and Granger both turned around, only to shriek together as Filch grinned at them, his eyes seeming to shine with fire as a cat's meow echoed around them.
"Wow Ronniekins, never knew you had it inside what it took to lose so many points in one go." One of the twins, probably Fred cheered as they both sat down around him, once again emphasizing the fact that within a few hours, Ron and Hermione both had become unwanted no.1 for the Gryffindor House. However, the twins seemed to be utterly non-affected by it—which considering their habit of pranking others, was simply normal.
"I agree Gred," the one at his right said, thumping him on his back as they both huddled even closer to him, "A straight fifty points, damn Ron. We only lost thirty the first time Old Minnie gave us a scolding!"
"Will you shut up for a second!" He snapped back, making the twins laugh even harder before they went away, leaving him once again all alone on the table. He wasn't really bothered by the loss of points or the ostracization from his housemates. But if his mother got wind of it, then he was sure that a howler with his name upon it would come to scream his ears off. As much as he had laughed in his home when his mother had shouted her message into the envelope for Fred or George, now that he was in the same situation, he didn't think it was funny anymore.
Merlin pants! If only that bookworm hadn't tagged along with them. Then neither would she have begun that silly talk with Neville, nor would they have been left in the corridor for Filch to catch them! Looking up at Granger, Ron glared at her with all his might as she quietly read a book as large as half her body. He couldn't even say anything to her, because the last time he had done so, she had gone and cried in the bathroom, which had resulted in detention and a severe scolding from Professor McGonagall. How was he supposed to know that she was so sensitive? And that a troll would also roam the castle the same night?!
At least Malfoy and his cronies got punishment too, though given how fair Snape was, Slytherin house might as well have received a tap from a feather. Bloody dungeon git.
"Mr. Weasley," A voice said, breaking him out of his thoughts as he turned towards the speaker, and met the stern visage of the Gryffindor Head of the House, "Your detention will be at 6 in the evening today, don't be late. And Miss Granger," she paused for a moment once the surprised girl looked up at her, before she continued, "I expected better of you. Considering your actions and blatant disregard of rules, you are not allowed to take any books out of the library for three days."
Honestly, watching the bookworm's face crumble in horror at the professor's words as the book in her hand vanished was almost worth his own impending detention. As it stood, writing lines was something he abhorred far more than he disliked Granger. If only he had possessed the sense to follow Neville instead of standing in shock, then he probably would have spent this evening playing chess with Neville rather than writing lines.
"Attention, all students," Professor Dumbledore shouted from each place at the head table, making him turn towards the wizard along with the rest of the hall. "While I wanted to do this yesterday, the things I had ordered weren't prepared yet. Therefore, will Harry Potter and Persephone Potter come up here please?"
Ron and the others watched with confusion as the two Potters stood up from the Slytherin table and moved to the front, their heads lowered and hands clasped within each others. When they came to a stop in front of Dumbledore, the professor smiled and rested his hands on their shoulders before he turned them around, their faces towards the students.
"As I said at the breakfast two days ago, these two brilliant, brave, and smart students defeated a mountain troll, and saved their own as well as any other unfortunate soul's life if he or she would have wandered near the beast," He began, patting their shoulders as he praised them. "As I had declared, twenty percent of the troll's monetary value has been transferred to individual vaults opened under their names. However, I feel like that is really not appreciative enough of the magical and mental skills these children have displayed, especially considering their upbringing. And thus, Harry Potter, and Persephone Potter, you both are awarded two cloaks made of the troll's hide you slew! And in addition, your names shall forever be known inside these halls for being the youngest ever to receive the plaque for Special Award for Services rendered to the school, which incidentally, comes along with another five hundred galleons awarded to each recipient!"
Stunned didn't even begin to cover what Ron felt at that moment as the professor finished his words with a wide smile aimed at them all, his hands still upon the Potter twins. A moment later, Dumbledore's smile diminished a little as he frowned a bit, his eyes flicking over each of the tables.
"I may be a little behind the times, but I do think that at an event like this, a little applause is customary?"
And then within the next few moments, Ron began clapping along with the rest of the hall—even as he hated every second of it. After the applause died down and the snakes returned to their seats, a powerful cry pierced through the chatter in the hall, and with a swirl of shadows, an eagle materialized right in front of the Potters.
Dropping the folded cloak and the trophy on the table, Harry had just sat down to finally have the breakfast he so desperately wanted, when a bird's cry sounded right in front of him. Looking up from the platter with a sigh, he saw a pitch-black eagle materialize out of darkness, its size easily two to three times bigger than the ones he had seen in the muggle world.
"That is a big bird." Persephone commented from his left, "Quite beautiful too."
The avian seemed to preen at the praise as it landed on the table and shuffled towards his sister. With a giggle, she fed it a piece of bacon on her plate, with Tracey following right after with one from her own breakfast. "It is impossible for anyone but the house-elves and the headmaster himself to apparate or perform similar magics within Hogwarts," Daphne muttered from beside him, "and now I am wondering why in Merlin's name the Professors aren't coming down to confiscate this creature."
Turning towards the Head table, Harry was indeed surprised that no one was moving to take the unknown bird from them. They were only looking with varying emotions on their faces. Professor Snape appeared utterly uninterested, Professor Flitwick wasn't able to control his smile, and even gave him a wave when he looked towards the Charms teacher. Professor McGonagall on the other hand, looked worried and resigned at the same time, for what reasons, Harry didn't know. However, it was Professor Dumbledore who caught his attention, the white-haired wizard raising a goblet in his direction with a small smile, his eyes flicking towards the black bird for a moment before he nodded and stood up, exiting the hall through the backdoor.
"I think that letter would probably explain something," Tracey said, pointing towards the little red scroll tied at the talons of the bird. However, when she reached out to remove the letter, the eagle suddenly jumped back and flared its wings, a short shriek coming from its beak as it glared at the alarmed girl.
"I guess he doesn't like you," Persephone said teasingly as she reached out tentatively, only for the creature to practically melt when her hands touched its chest feathers, "It is very cold" Persephone frowned, running her fingers over the fine feathers before she slowly reached down and grabbed the thread binding the scroll.
Untying it and bringing it towards her, she was quite surprised when the bird flared its wings and flew up to her shoulders. However, before Persephone could even tell it that her shoulder was quite small for a creature of its size, the eagle surprisingly shrunk in size. No, shrunk was the wrong term, because it seemed as if the time was reminded upon it. Its giant wings shrunk and the small crest on its head receded, while its talons lost some of their curvature.
"Huh?" she said, suddenly faced with a little, black eagle sitting on her shoulder and staring at her with pupil-less, black eyes as it nudged her cheek.
"That is so cute," Tracey squealed, once again reaching out with a hand towards the small, harmless-looking bird, only for the palm-sized avian to snap at her approaching fingers, its eyes promising nothing but violence to the dejected girl. "Yeah, I guess you are right, Persephone."
Chuckling at her, Persephone shook her head and unrolled the scroll. However, as soon as she started to open it, it warped slightly and an eyeblink later, there was a parchment sitting in her hands. Sharing a look, Harry and Persephone raised it and started to read the contents together.
Harry and Persephone
First of all, congratulations on surviving and killing a mountain troll, your family would have been quite proud of you. Especially your grandfather, considering Charlus always spoke of teaching his grandchildren all about combat and fighting. As a gift from me for this accomplishment, that eagle is now yours. I haven't named it yet, but it knows that you two are going to be its new masters.
However, as you will come to know in the following weeks, while the eagle may obey you both, by no means it is a slave. Further, it will form a familiar bond with either of you, and once that happens, it will naturally gravitate towards the one it has formed the bond with.
Christmas holidays are coming, and if you decide to spend them away from Hogwarts, then send a letter saying so with that eagle to me, I will pick you both up from the platform.
Arcturus Black.
Lord of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black
"Sgàile," Persephone said, folding the letter and turning towards the small eagle on her shoulder, "It is the perfect name for you." The short bird nipped at his sister's ear, making her giggle as she bopped its head.
"Gaelic for Shadow," Daphne nodded approvingly, before her eyes turned towards the parchment in his sister's hands, "I assume it was from Lord Black?"
"Yes," he nodded, taking the letter and folding it up before he dropped it in his bag, "He told us that if we want we can spend the Christmas holidays with him."
"And are you guys going to do so?"
"Well, yes," Persephone shrugged, petting the currently chick-sized, newly christened Sgàile,
"We will need to make a stop at the place we were living in before that though."
"That is good," Daphne spoke up, "While the Blacks are not as prestigious as they used to be due to the number of high ranking Death Eaters that came from the family, Lord Black is still greatly feared and respected in the upper echelons of the society. If nothing else, this will certainly act as a protection for you both for some time."
"With the way everyone still glares at us, that is quite a welcome bit of news." Persephone commented, earning a chuckle from him as he started to eat his breakfast, his mind wandering all over the place as he tried to envision how their holidays would go in the house of Arcturus Black.
Hours later, as they sat in the library with piles of homework all around them, the four Slytherins jumped in shock, when out of a sudden, Nymphadora Tonks appeared right behind her cousins. "Wotcher Harry, Seph," she said, conjuring a chair between them and plopping down on it, "Whatcha got there?"
"A little warning would be nice next time," Persephone hissed, still clutching her chest and breathing heavily, "It is all nice and good that you want to be an Auror, but this isn't a boot camp!"
"Yeah, what she said," Tracey nodded, before she frowned and turned towards the redhead, "Wait, what is a boot camp exactly?"
"Why are you here Tonks?" Harry asked, turning towards the older witch while his sister started to tell Tracey about boot camps.
"I can't come to talk to my little cousins?" she asked, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms over her chest.
"I didn't mean that," he responded, and Nymphadora chuckled at the discomforted expression on his face. "What did you want to talk about?"
"Nothing special," she shrugged, "Idle chit-chat to be honest. Anyways, what are you studying?"
"We are studying the Avifors spell," Daphne answered, not even looking up from her parchment as she continued to make the notes, "We have the practical as the first thing tomorrow."
"That is a useful spell," Tonks nodded, "It is easy, quick, and if you are skilled enough, can target more than one item. I have seen several people use it to change the debris or stray conjurations around them into birds to block a spell."
"Can you control what type and size of bird you want?" Persephone asked, "The book we have doesn't mention anything beyond transfiguring a small box or a platter into a sparrow."
"You can," she replied, flicking her wand and transforming Persephone's quill into a peacock, only this was small enough to fit inside her palm. "A little thing you will not learn in classes until much later. Most basic spells are like foundations for you, which you build upon by learning their advanced forms. The incantations and even the wand motions may not match, but some spells, in essence, remain the same. Therefore, if you become proficient enough with a spell, you can manipulate its effects without using any suffixes or even using an advanced version."
"Nymphadora Tonks! Get out of my library!" Madam Pince's voice came from behind the shelves, and all of them laughed at the wince she gave off at the librarian's words. With a muttered goodbye and a ruffle of their hair, Tonks gave them a last smile before she started whistling as she walked out of the library. As she disappeared around the corner, she waved her wand once in Persephone's direction and they watched with awe as the tiny bird in her hands reversed back into a quill, only this one was made of a peacock feather…and it suddenly duplicated into four identical quills, each one floating over to the four first years.
"Your cousin is awesome!" Tracey gushed, stroking her own cheek with the soft feather.
"She really is," Harry agreed, dipping his new quill in the ink before he continued the homework he had been working on. A few minutes in, however, Daphne and Tracy both stopped writing. "Harry," Daphne said, her eyes flicking towards something behind him as she tightened her hold upon her quill, while Tracey seemed to grow more and more worried by the second, her eyes constantly moving between them both and however was behind them.
However, when he turned around in his seat, Harry was left quite flummoxed when it was Neville Longbottom he came face to face with. Of all the people he had expected to be standing behind him, the Boy-Who-Lived had to be last amongst them—especially considering he didn't look angry or even serious. In fact, if anything, the boy looked nervous.
"Heir Potter, Heiress Potter, can I talk to you for a minute, alone?" he asked, his eyes flitting towards the girls behind them.
"We will be back shortly," Daphne answered before they could say anything, the blond pulling Tracey from her seat before they both vanished around the corner. Neville walked around the table and slowly took a seat in one of the vacated chairs.
"I wanted to apologize," he said after a few moments, making them both blink in surprise.
"While I might not have personally antagonized or insulted you, as the Heir to the House of Longbottom, I apologize for the actions of my Grandmother against you both. While this doesn't mean that I forgive what your father did…I swear upon my name and that of my House that once I gain control of my house, I will return every single property and vault that was stolen from you both."
"Why the sudden change?" Persephone asked curiously.
"I guess it is because I finally see that we aren't too dissimilar," he answered, "and now that I am not living with her…I can finally see my grandmother's actions from an outsider's perspective. Honestly, I hate your father, but at the same time….what happened to your mother, and what happened to you two is something I can never agree with. Lily Potter, even if she was the wife of a death eater, should have been trailed by the Wizengamot. And your inheritance being stolen by my grandmother and the ministry broke so many laws, yet it was all ignored because my grandmother said so. That abuse of power, that single-minded determination to send you two to Azkaban… isn't something I can get behind."
Finishing the long explanation—more of a rant really, what with the way his hands had been waving around and his eyes appearing to glare at something—Neville took a deep breath. Seeming to realize his emotional discharge, his face burned slightly as the Gryffindor ducked his head and mumbled something.
"We accept your apology, Heir Longbottom," Harry began after a few moments, sharing a look with Persephone as he did so. After she gave an encouraging nod and Neville looked up at him, he continued, "And as for the actions of your grandmother, well, we certainly don't blame you in any way or form. If she is hateful and angry enough to condemn two children to the worst prison on the planet itself, then I don't really think anything can be said or done about it."
Neville nodded at his words, relief spreading across his face as he stood up and nodded at them once. However, it was as he was starting to move away from the desk that he stopped and turned towards them.
"Tell me, do you want to help me solve a mystery?"