Majo Kon-ki The Marriage of Tanya the Witch
(The marriage chronicles of a witch)
Arc 2 - Chamber of Secrets – part 5
November, AD1992, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
"Ahhh! I really miss relaxing in an ofuro…" Tanya thought, bathing in the Gryffindor girls communal showers.
It was late, but this was the only hour of the day it was certain she would have the baths only to herself.
It wasn't like she was embarrassed of looking at other girls nakedness or even being seen. Mostly of these girls were just children and the salaryman was never a lolicon.
No, the true problem was getting too used to it and finding herself, one day, sharing the bath with a matured and attractive woman, then putting to test just how much of a female she'd become.
Such an abhorrent thought! What if her gender also determined her 'preferences'? Knowing that devil, he probably planned to make her fall for some man, maybe play 'Juliet' with some enemy soldier! Or could it be, letting her be molested by a pervert was always how he planned the endgame?
This last thought reopened old wounds.
"No! Don't think about it! I will go home soon! Just two more hallows!" Tanya thought, hugging herself.
"I think this is enough-"
"Tanya!"
"Gahhhh! L-Luna?!" Out of nowhere, Luna Lovegood appeared, wearing a swimsuit.
"How does she always do this?!"
"Let me soap your back!"
"What? N-no, thank you. I am getting out now."
"Are you afraid your disguise will wear off in the water? Is that why you shower alone?"
Tanya blinked at her.
"Excuse me?"
Luna made a serious expression, it was a first for her.
"I know the truth."
"What are you talking about?"
"You wanted to talk with dad to learn how much he knew about it."
"I don't know what you are-"
"Dad has been studying and searching for years, but he could never expect that the subject of his research would come to him."
'What do you know about the deathly hallows, sir?'
"Hell!" Tanya kept her impassive expression, but on the inside she was screaming!
"It makes so much sense now, you left clues all over the place, but what really gave you away were the Wrackspurts."
'Wrackspurts of this color go after males, but the ones of this size go after grown up men.'
"C-could this girl actually have figured everything out?"
"You did so much for me and I am still your friend, but I can't keep your secret, I promised daddy to tell your story."
"WHAT?!" It seems like Tanya will actually need her to have an 'accident'!
"But, please! Believe us! We only wish to find others of your species and learn with them!"
"Maybe if I drown her, it will look like- Wait! 'Species'?"
"Err… Luna, what do you think I am?"
"You don't have to hide anymore. I know you are a Crumple-Horned Snorkack!"
"… huh?"
"It took some time to put together all the pieces. Like how the wrackspurts who go after older human males go after young female Snorkacks. You prey on gnomes and are territorial with pixies! I was confused why you attacked Mr Ollivander, but let me guess, he wanted to use your crumpled horn to make a wand, right?"
"This girl may be even crazier than her father!"
"Ron said that you are not using polyjuice, does this mean you can change appearances at will or you all have a second form?"
Tanya already felt a headache forming.
"Now, listen here-" Tanya felt a shiver down her spine.
"T-this pressure!" She immediately activated her mana sensing ability. Somewhere in the bath area, a presence was emanating the same deadly hostility she felt on Halloween night!
"The monster of Slytherin is supposed to go after muggle-borns, huh? And it looks like I am the first target! Shit!"
"Luna! Whatever happens, don't move a muscle!"
"Why-"
"Just do as I say!"
Luna must have sensed the urgency in her voice as she sat on the floor and stayed silent.
Now Tanya could give her full attention to where exactly the monster was. Only this was proving surprisingly hard. There was this killing intent directed right at her, but it seemed to come from everywhere! Like the creature was the room itself.
"Hum?" She noticed small tremors in the walls 'moving' from one corner to the other.
"It's inside the walls?!"
Tanya didn't waste time and fired a wandless blowing curse. But besides opening a big crack in some tiles, nothing seemed to change.
"Damn! I don't have much potency without a wand!"
Tanya kept firing spells, but only the room was getting damaged.
"There is only one thing I can do…"
The girl stopped her attacks altogether.
"Tanya, what are you doing? Why are you destroying the bathroom?" Luna was completely unaware of the danger they were facing.
"Quiet! I need to focus!"
Tanya began to concentrate, she was pulling all the mana available in her body into a compacted ball of light in her hand.
"Now… Where are you?"
She saw something pounding at the first crack she made, trying to enter the bathroom through it.
"Wait… wait…" She had to time it right. If fired too soon, the wall could shield the creature. If it was too late, it would enter the bathroom and attack the two girls.
"I only have a single chance!"
Small pieces of debris were falling and the crack started to widen, meaning the unknown creature was beginning to break in. That was her clue!
"NOW!" She threw her improvised 'mana grenade' into the hole of the right size. Immediately, Tanya took Luna with her to the ground and covered both their heads.
Besides the deafening explosion, she could still discern a loud hissing sound as the evidence that she hit something.
As the dust cleared, Tanya saw that her spell blew up an entire wall, one huge pipe was also damaged and leaking water. As of the signature, it was gone.
"Luna, are you alright?"
"I-I feel a little dizzy…"
"Sit here, I am going to get help."
The little girl was half-way out when Harry suddenly appeared.
"Tanya! You okay?!"
"Harry? What are you doing here?"
"I heard that voice again! It was coming from here and this invisible barrier won't let me inside! But it fell after the explosion."
"It was the same I felt that night! I think the monster came after me."
"WHAT?! Are you hurt? Let me see- Eh?"
"What- Gah!"
They both realized that Tanya was completely naked!
"D-don't look you pervert!" She tried to cover as much flesh as possible with her small hands.
"S-sorry!"
"Hurry! Give me your- Ah!"
"Whoa!"
Trying to take Harry's cloak, Tanya slipped on the wet floor and pulled the boy with her to the ground.
"This is a dejavu…" Like it was with the troll in the past, Harry fell on top of Tanya.
The mysterious creature escaped alive, without the girl being able to identify it. And once again Tanya was humiliated by a boy she couldn't punish as he was needed alive and well! It was another big fiasco!
"Aff, what else could go wrong?"
"WHAT IS GOING ON IN HERE?!" Professor McGonagall yelled, arriving at the scene to find out the cause of the explosion.
What she saw disturbed her greatly.
"M-m-miss Degurechaff! Mr Potter! What are you doing?!" The professor was looking at them with eyes so widened that seemed to be about to pop out.
"I had to ask!"
"Boo-hoo, professor! You ruined their mating ritual! And I was looking forward to their little Snorkack babies!" Luna said, sounding utterly disappointed.
"Huhhh… How did ALL of this happen?!"
Professor McGonagall took the children to her office (after Tanya and Luna were fully dressed, of course) demanding a good explanation for what she saw earlier. Instead of a good explanation, she got a fantastical one.
"Professor, we just witnessed the mating call of the Crumple-Horned Snorkack, a female only species that needs to assume the appearance of others, even humans in order to procreate. When the right season arrives, she will destroy her environment to attract strong suitors!" Luna had a gleeful expression narrating her story, like she was the host of a wildlife documentary channel.
"And you kind of messed up. Now who knows when Tanya will get in the mood again?"
"Miss Lovegood, WHAT IN HEAVEN'S NAME ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" Professor McGonagall asked, looking pretty bewildered.
"Hummm… Marcus Flint proved to not be a worthy mate, right? You- Ah! You remove horns to mark as refused, but since we are a hornless species, you took his teeth instead? And Harry actually saved Justin."
Tanya only hoped that Luna's nonsensical 'findings' would make the deputy headmistress forget how LIVID she was by seeing two of her charges in such a 'compromising position'. Not to mention the destruction of the girls' shower room.
"…" Harry, for his part, was at a loss of words with so many 'revelations'.
"How the hell did this girl manage to come up with all this nonsense?! Ugh! A minute! I only need a minute alone with her, so I can strangle-"
Even planning for the girl's ultimate dismissal, Tanya put Luna's presence to good use.
The 'official' story was that Tanya destroyed the bathroom with accidental magic as she was startled by Luna's sudden presence. Harry was able to enter because the anti-male barrier was damaged. He only wanted to cover a naked Tanya with his cloak, but the wet floor made them trip and fall over each other.
This was faster than explaining the actual fact. Not to say that Tanya had no evidence of the attempt against her life and even Luna was unaware of what really transpired. It was a very sound explanation and seemed to satisfy professor McGonagall, but before she could dismiss the three, someone knocked on the door.
"Professor, we heard that Luna is here."
"Please! Is she okay?"
Tanya recognized the Ravenclaw's first year girls.
The wonders a 'little scare' could do! If before those girls' only concern was to bully Luna, now they were genuinely worried the girl could have gotten hurt in the explosion in the Gryffindor dorms.
"Hi Felicity! Latisha!" Luna waved from her seat, noticing her ex-bullies-turned-friends.
"They won't believe it when I tell them I found the Crumple-Horned Snorkack!"
"…!" Tanya flinched.
"I already have to stand people thinking I am Harry's girlfriend. Now I will have people saying I am a horned beast?It would be too embarrassing! And it could arouse suspicion if the ministry hears about it!"
Tanya had to do something to shut Luna up quickly while McGonagall's attention was elsewhere.
"Luna, you can't tell anyone about what you learned today."
"Huh? Why not?"
"Because- err…"
"I feel like I am back to that day five years ago! Fearing the ministry will barge in my room to take me to be- Hold on! I can tell some half truths!"
"Because if people find the truth, the ministry may wish to study me. And who knows how far they may go? I may end up dissected to get answers to all my special abilities."
The girl seemed to believe as she paled by hearing the word 'dissected'. At her side, Harry had this thunderstruck expression.
"Y-you are right! The vampires will also be desperate to hide your existence!"
"Vampires? Oh, whatever!"
"I am not just a rare being. As far as I can tell, I am the only one. This means if I die, my 'species' will go extinct."
"I-I don't want you to die- Oh, Merlin! I already told professor McGonagall!"
"It's okay, she didn't believe you. But from now we will keep this secret just between us, alright?"
"I don't want to lie to daddy! But, okay."
"This worked better than I imagined! Then,why stop here?"
"I am afraid you already made too much of a ruckus asking around about me." Tanya just came up with an idea to capitalize on this situation.
"It's possible the, err, vampires have already sent someone to investigate you. And if they see us together, they may discover me."
Luna started to tremble, scared how her fantastic story just took a turn to the terror genre.
"Sorry, we need to be apart from each other. Until 'they' lose my track, maybe for a year or more…"
"NO! I don't wanna leave you!" Luna whimpered with tears in her eyes.
"It will be necessary. Or someone may find out about me. Is that what you want?"
She shook her head.
"Then, from now on-"
Luna hugged her even more strongly than when they met.
"C-can't breath!"
"Oh! I am gonna miss you so much! Sob!"
"I won't! I already have my hands full with Harry Potter and his friends. I don't need another nuisance!"
It seemed like Tanya convinced her just in time, as professor McGonagall came back to say they were free to leave.
"Miss Lovegood, your friends here will accompany you back to your dorm."
Luna turned to leave with heavy footsteps.
"Bye Tanya… bye Harry."
Harry just waved at her, an overwhelmed look in his face.
"B-bye Luna."
"… Harry, don't forget your big responsibility as her mate to repopulate the 'you-know-whats'. So, no more flirting with Ginny, okay?"
Her answer was Harry blushing deep red.
"Before I dismiss you two, I must warn you of something, miss Degurechaff."
The professor stared very hard at Tanya.
"Today I will believe your 'accidents', but next time you will be getting detention until the day you graduate! Did I make myself clear?"
The girl just nodded her head and left together with Harry. Tanya didn't let this threat spoil the great news. She was feeling so giddy that she felt like dancing!
"Finally! I am finally free of that pest! Now I can-" Tanya was suddenly embraced by Harry.
"It's okay! I know you are sad, but don't be. I am not leaving you side… ever!"
Unfortunately, she couldn't get rid of this boy either.
"I know you did this to protect Luna! We are gonna stop this monster and soon you two will be friends again!"
"Don't you dare ruin all my effort!"
"And, err… Tanya, a-are you-"
"… I am what?"
"Y-you know… that story, just now…"
"I going to say only once, so hear me very well! I AM NOT A CRUMPLE-HORNED SNORKACK!"
"Oh! T-then we don't need to 'repopulate' too, r-right?"
It was just before the starting game of the season. Under the stands of the quidditch pitch, away from prying eyes, two former death eaters were talking.
"Severus, care to explain why you never mentioned anything about a certain Tanya Degurechaff?" Lucius Malfoy had an expression full of suspicion.
Severus Snape raised an eyebrow. He knew this day would come, only not so soon!
"You have no need to concern yourself with a low-born like her. She is not even from our house."
"You must not think too much of me. Draco informed me how much you are favoring her! Humpf! It's so like you…"
"Curses!" Now THIS could mean trouble for him. Like in the past, his affection towards a muggle-born could raise questions about his 'loyalties'!
"… to keep in the shadows your dealings with a powerful ally!"
"There is an explanation- Wait. What?"
"I still remember my grandfather stories…" The blond man let out a small chuckle.
"What would he say of me meeting a Degretschow!"
"Degretschow?"Snape blinked at the unknown name.
"I should have suspected when Fudge told me about a child single handed taking down seven hit wizards!"
"That babbling oaf!" Severus Snape felt his heart accelerating. He had to do something to remediate this situation. Who knows what could happen to Tanya if someone like Lucius Malfoy had his sight on her!
"The rumors about that incident were highly exaggerated. Those hit wizards were just a bunch of arrogant weaklings."
"Yes, I know. They were led by Hesketh. That man has so little magic in his blood that it is quite a surprise he isn't a squib."
Snape let out a breath of relief inside his mind.
"Now, it was the hidden meaning in that magazine which revealed her true intentions."
"Bloody hell! I totally forgot about that magazine!" The professor understands the implications. Many of her ideas could be seen as an affront to pure-blood supremacy.
"Her theories are not that special. A bunch of silly ideas coming from a girl with too much free time." He felt like a traitor but he had to somehow convince Lucius she wasn't a threat to his beliefs.
"Not special?! It was a wondrous idea! Blood traitors like Arthur Weasley are already opening their guards to her because of that rubbish!"
"Huh?"
"I thought it was a plot by Albus Dumbledore. The old decrepit must not even suspect that his 'mudblood propaganda girl' has such a magnificent magical heritage."
"He thinks that she is a pure-blooded witch?!" Now this puzzled the professor.
"After all, even I was almost misled. If the interview didn't reveal her extensive knowledge in languages, especially Japanese, I would still be trying to convince Fudge to end that project."
"What is so shocking about knowing Japanese?"
"A German witch showing great ability at a tender age and happening to know Japanese? She is a Degretschow, she has to be!"
Snape wished to ask about this Degretschow. However, this would expose his ignorance, and Lucius couldn't be allowed to dictate the pace of their conversation.
He had to be the one in control of the situation. This game had to be seriously played or that little girl could end up in danger.
"How do you know about Degretschow?" The professor asked, acting like this was a name he heard everyday.
"So, you really knew! I thought only a few pure blood families knew of this bedtime story!"
Snape smiled internally. He didn't even need to convince the gullible imbecile to tell this 'bedtime story'. Knowledge is power and the foolish Malfoy was very eager to give it up so easily!
To sum up, Degretschow was an ancient family of powerful and pure blooded wizards, descendants of the royalty of the Holy Roman Empire (an old nation that included the present day Germany).
Their origin was during the tenth century, a time when the church began to harass monarchies ruled by wizards, forcing the kings to appoint squibs as their heirs in order to hold the crown. Everywhere, princes born with magical abilities were being killed or at least banished. This was no different in the Holy Roman empire, only that one ostracized prince swore to, someday, he or one of his descendants would reclaim the right to rule not just the Roman Empire, but the entire world.
Now, under the name Degretschow, their bloodline produced only a single heir in each generation. Their consorts consisted of the strongest witches and wizards from the purest magical families of Europe. Conform the centuries passed, Degretschow would grow more powerful and influential, planning for the right moment to finally take over. However, something unusual happened about three centuries ago. The current Degretschow visited Japan to take one of the daughters of the emperor as his bride. Thus marking the end of the legend, as it was reported that both he and the Japanese princess were killed by one of his many enemies.
"He died?" The professor almost asked this question out loud.
"… why do you think the girl is related to Degretschow? They don't have the same surname."
"Don't play ignorant! Any fool with a basic knowledge about runes can see the truth! The founder made up his new family name based on the runic pronunciation of an old saying between wizards of the time: 'de Gret schow', in the current German you pronounce 'dieser Gott schlecht'. The free translation would be the nonsensical 'this God bad'. An expression used between wizards of the time to show disgust against the muggle's so-called 'religion'."
"Tanya happens to despite religion and God…" Snape recalled this fact.
"And there is another way to pronounce this expression in a variation of the Germanic runes: 'de Gur echaff'."
"…!" Snape had to control himself from the shock that wanted to appear in his face.
"An obvious name like that! But I must admit the greatest clue was still the Japanese language. The rumors about the 'crest' were true it seems."
"The crest? As in the 'magic crest' rune?"
'Magic crest' was an ability so rare that some believed it to just be a myth. It was a way to magically store all of the caster's wisdom and pass on to an offspring. The inheritor would be able to instantly learn a lifetime of knowledge, then repeat the circle by storing more knowledge into the crest and pass again to another successor. It was said that by using it, even a toddler could have the intelligence level of an adult.
"Legend says how many magical families destroyed themselves by infighting over the right to receive the crest. This must be why this Degretschow only had a single child. But I heard this mith belonged to the far orient."
Again, the professor didn't need to ask, as the arrogant idiot was babbling non-stop about his findings.
"Until that point in time, the Degretschows chose their consorts more close to home. But their current representative heard about a special ability only a princess of the Japanese had. Something she inherited from her mother's side, it was called 'majutsu kokuin', translated as 'magic crest'."
"Tanya was always too bright of a child, at seven she already acted like an adult!"
Snape could guess Lucius Malfoy's conclusions. Degretschow faked his death and was successful in assimilating the magic crest into his family. In modern times, the actual representative would be worth centuries of stored knowledge. This much power would be enough to place oneself as the ruler of the world.
"I am impressed, Lucius. Tell me, how did you discover all of this?"
"This is a bedtime story passed down in my family. We had a special interest because the one who supposedly killed the two was a Malfoy. You see, before he chose the Japanese princess, it was a daughter of our house who was to be his bride."
"In other words, it was a petty revenge! So like the Malfoys…"
"What about you, Severus? Were you the one who forged her background information? I looked into her family to make sure she wasn't related to HIM."
The professor had to admit he thought the same on their first meeting.
"I can't confirm and neither deny it."
Lucius Malfoy just shook his head.
"Don't want to take credit for that clumsy work? Tanya Degurechaff, orphan, daughter of Elsa Hartmann with her 'school crush' Fredrick Richthofen. I am surprised nobody else found out."
Actually, her name was a mistake from one of her caretakers. She believed she heard the dead mother whisper this name. The professor always thought this was strange. But then again, this was just one more strangeness to add to a vast list of weird things about Tanya.
"There is still something that I found peculiar. As a Degretschow, she has to find a proper husband. Does this mean she is planning to take Potter?! Draco said they are very close."
At the mention of a possible relationship between Tanya and Harry Potter, not even Severus Snape was able to contain his temperament.
"NOT IF I HAVE ANY SAY ON IT!" The professor said fuming and crossing his arms.
"Don't tell me that she fell for him! So far her only mistake was revealing so much in that magazine- WAIT! Is it possible that she didn't make any mistake? That it is finally time for Degretschow to reveal herself to the world?!"
Regaining his composure, Severus Snape had to ask himself: Could any of this story be true? Could this little girl who he already adored so much be a dark lady even worse than Voldemort or Grindelwald?! This would mean that Tanya is an enemy of the cause Lily died defending. Making her also an enemy of himself!
"Would I need to turn my wand against her someday?"
"Oh, the irony for the one to finally create the world the Malfoys so much sought after, is a witch from a lineage we almost destroyed! Instead, they flourished and became even more powerful! It's like we always said, purity always conquers!"
While the professor was in deep thoughts, Lucius Malfoy was still rambling. Exactly like a certain ravenclaw girl also with blond hair.
"Severus, I want to propose an alliance. With all my influence and contacts, and most of all, my PURE BLOOD, I am definitely worthy of her cause!"
"You are aware that HE might consider this a betrayal."
"Bah! He is nothing compared to Tanya Degurechaff, the PURE-BLOOD PRINCESS!"
Snape was astonished. For the coward Lucius to bad-mouth the dark lord, he must really have high expectations of Tanya.
"Have you not considered that she might want revenge on those who persecuted her family?"
The governor lost all color from his face. Snape almost grinned, regardless of this story veracity, Lucius Malfoy already feared Tanya more than Voldemort!
The professor would get the truth from the girl later. For now, he would manipulate this bigoted cretin into the perfect 'jester' for 'princess' Tanya's court!
"P-please Severus! You must convince her that I- WHO IS IN THERE?!" Lucius suddenly shouted.
"What's wrong?"
"I heard something from over there!"
Snape Looked in the direction he pointed and there was just a banner fluttering in the wind.
"It's just a banner. Are you hearing things? Could this be FEAR of the dark lord finding out about your change of allegiance?"
Lucius Malfoy looked away embarrassed.
"Nonetheless, just in case, let's continue this conversation later in a more private place. Come, the game is about to begin."
As Snape and Lucius Malfoy walked away, they failed to see the two children coming out of their hiding place.
Despite only hearing small pieces of the conversation of the two adults, it was enough to put together the main topic.
"Harry's girlfriend is a princess? Wow!" Colin Creevey said very excited.
"… a princess?" On the other hand, Ginny Weasley wasn't looking very happy.
"But Tanya is from a bad family who wants to conquer the world! Does this mean she is bad too?"
His companion regained a bit of hope in her eyes. Harry Potter was a hero, he would never associate himself with a dark witch!
"Yeah! She killed some innocent gnomes-"
"Unless Harry made Tanya a good witch with the power of love!"
"Oh…!" And just like that, her hopes were crushed.
"Do you reckon she will be queen of both this Holy Roman place and Japan when she grows up? And Harry will be the king- Ah! The game is starting, see you later Ginny."
As the boy ran to get a good spot to take pictures, Ginny Weasley was left flabbergasted. After a full minute, she fell to her knees.
"SHE IS A PRINCESS?! AN ACTUAL PRINCESS?" Ginny thought, grabbing her head as the harsh reality of what she just heard sink.
Tanya Degurechaff was strong, smart, intelligent, cute, well-mannered, mature and… even a powerful pure-blooded witch princess?! It should be a crime to be this wonderful!
Ginny didn't feel this devastated since she saw Harry snogging Tanya. He was not even ashamed to do it in front of Luna!
"Harry will never look at me, Sob! Oh, Tom… you will still say that I am better than her, won't you?"
"Look! There is Harry!" Hermione shouted excitedly as the Gryffindor team walked on the pitch.
"…" Unlike her friend, who was in high spirits, Tanya was in a fool mood.
"Dang! Those Nimbus two thousand one are really fast! Our only advantage is that 'toothless' is not playing today." Ron mentioned.
The players mounted their brooms and Harry's eyes caught Hermione. She pointed to her blond companion to show him who finally came to watch his game. Even from this distance, the bush haired girl could tell that Harry smiled at the sight of her.
"Kyahhh! It's like watching a soapy opera but without all the cheating!"
"Come one Tanya! Wave to Harry! He will be very happy!"
"…" The younger girl just glared at her.
"Ahhhh! She won't forgive me any time soon! To think that I of all people would berate anyone for reading a book!"
The day before, Hermione with Harry and Ron managed to get a permission from professor Lockhart to borrow the 'Moste Potente Potions' book from the library in order to make a polyjuice potion. They were almost successful leaving with the note when Tanya asked what she wanted to do with such an advanced and dangerous book.
"Err, j-just for background reading?" Hermione gave her the same excuse she'd given professor Lockhart.
She stared at Hermione very hard, as if trying to read the lie in her face.
"That is definitively a lie…" Hermione was almost apologizing.
"… is what I would say if I didn't know how much of a bookworm you are."
The three kids had to hold themselves to not let it show how relieved they were.
"But how did you get this authorization?"
"Easy, the git loves to give autographs!" Ron cut in.
Hermione was about to defend the professor when Tanya spoke.
"There is this book I wished to read… I will try to get a permission too!" Like this, Tanya also easily got her note.
Later, the four were in the 'hunted' bathroom reading their respective books, with a limbless Myrtle weeping over them.
Very discreetly, Hermione wrote down the instructions for the potion. Still, they had to discuss how to get the ingredients and that was not possible in front of Tanya. Hermione was about to give an excuse for them to leave when she finally noticed the book her friend had.
"T-T-TANYA! WHAT ARE YOU READING?!"
With a very content look in her face, she had in her hands the 'Secrets of the Darkest Art' book.
"This is so great! Have you ever heard of Fiendfyre? It creates a beast made of flames-"
Hermione didn't let the girl finish. She forcibly took the book away.
"Hey! I was-"
"Children shouldn't learn the dark arts!"
Hermione was fuming when she returned both books. She had to contain herself to not give madam Pince a piece of her mind for lending such dangerous lore to a second year student.
"As if she isn't menacing enough as she is! Look at the state of our bathroom! We have to use one of the prefects' for now!"
"I am sorry Tanya! I am not letting you learn dark magic under my watch!"
"Let's hope that Harry's enemies have the same consideration!"
"I know you worry about him, but as long as we are together, we can help each other!"
"Yes! Together we are stronger! As the older and wiser, I need to set an example! Show her that it's not necessary to lower ourselves by learning the dark arts-"
"Is that bludger going only after Harry?"
Like Ron said, one of the bludgers was exclusively targeting Harry. Fred and George had to give their full attention to defend their seeker.
"Someone clearly tampered with it!"
"It's probably professor Snape doing his annual murder attempt!" Tanya said, full of sarcasm. Her mood was probably even more sour because it started to rain.
"Ugh! Does she need to be so resentful?"
"I will shoot it!"
"That is against rules, you will forfeit Gryffindor the match." Tanya reminded Ron.
"Bollocks! What are we supposed to do?!"
"Simple, we go after the source." The little girl stood and fixed a stare at the pitch.
"Tanya, what are you doing?"
"A variation of the mana detection skill. I am trying to lock in the magic of the bludger and follow it back to the source."
"She can do that?! Is there anything this girl can't do?" Hermione felt a small pang of bitterness and envy.
"Found it! Ron, watch Harry. Hermione, you are with me."
Hermione followed Tanya and, down in one of the stands, they found the perpetrator.
"A house elf! He must be the one Harry mentioned!"
"Shush! If he hears us, it may be difficult to handle him. Elves are very powerful magic casters or so I heard."
"Then, how do we catch him?"
"We need to take him by surprise with our deadliest spell!"
"D-deadliest?!"
Tanya pointed her wand at the small creature and a ball of fire lit up and quickly morphed into a serpentine dragon.
Hermione was agape. After reading about it just yesterday, Tanya was already able to cast fiendfyre!
"No! Stop!" Hermione pushed Tanya's hand out of the way at the same time she fired her curse. It was barely for a few inches, but the dragon missed Dobby completely.
"Wha- WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
"You don't have to kill him!"
"Of course I- Ah?"
The elf realizing how close death was to him, snapped his fingers and disappeared.
"He escaped! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU! You almost killed an innocent being! And that spell could have lit fire in the entire pitch!"
"Innocent?! He was trying to kill Harry!"
"We could've- Eh?" Like Hermione mentioned it could happen, the stand was on fire. And since the flames were cast by fiendfyre, the rain would not be enough to put it out.
In their hard struggle to put out the flames, the girls didn't even notice when the game ended. They only saw Harry lying unconscious as his team and professor Lockhart rushed to him.
"Oh my! Is he-"
"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" Tanya again yelled at Hermione.
"What?! Mine?"
"I could've killed the elf before Harry got hurt!"
"B-but-"
"Set straight your priorities! Harry has many enemies, some he doesn't even know about. If you are too afraid to dirty your hands, eventually someone dear to you will DIE!"
Hermione felt like the girl had slapped her in the face. Before she could say anything in her defense, Tanya ran to the pitch, probably to check on Harry herself.
"At least we won…" Harry said dispiritedly.
From what he heard about Flint, it was an awfully rough night growing his teeth back. An entire arm then…
"Madam Pomfrey even suggested this was karma!"
"Harry! I am so sorry, it was all my fault!" Hermione apologized, looking gloomy.
"Huh?"
"We- I mean, Tanya could've killed the culprit. It was a house elf."
"Dobby?!"
"I think so. We could have avoided all of this but Tanya wanted to kill him with fiendfyre!"
"Bloody hell! She cast a fiendfyre?!" Ron sounded scared.
"I had to stop her! But maybe if I didn't, you wouldn't have gotten hurt! I am so sorry!"
Hermione started to sob and Ron began to console her at the same time that he looked fiercely at Harry.
"Blimey! You need to show her who wears the pants! Where is the bloke who taught Flint a lesson?"
"Actually, I didn't do anything to him."
"Ron! That behavior was probably what 'enabled' her to do the same to protect Harry!"
"W-what? You think it's my fault? I never asked for her to do this stuff!"
"Harry, mate! Tanya is madly in love with you! I got it the night she killed our gnomes."
"You two keep saying she is in love with me-"
"No Harry, you don't understand! Tanya quite literally turned MAD for loving you! It's borderline insanity!"
"Eh?"
"I believe she was never taught how to love someone. She expresses it by twisted demonstrations of affection. Like how she killed the gnomes just because they were inconvenient to you!"
"Hmn… 'twisted demonstrations of affection', huh? This may be true.I mean, she likes Luna but always look irritated with her."
"Well, that is fine with me-"
"THAT IS NOT FINE! Tanya could grow even more obsessive and violent! As time passes she might become too destructive! Any of these days, she could hurt Ron and me just to have you all to herself!"
"!" Harry couldn't avoid the picture in his mind…
'Oh, Harry! You are only mine now!'
… of him and Tanya together, sitting in a big pile of bodies! A gleeful and mad grin on her face!
"W-what should I do?"
"Go out with her already!"
"Ron is right, Harry! If you two are dating, this could calm her down. Your relationship would become a sort of 'emotional sanctuary' to her."
"Yup! If she is too busy snogging you, she won't have time to learn more dark stuff!"
"But I only see her as a sister-"
Both children groaned.
"Then, say it to her! She will find another bloke to-"
"NO!"
"NO ONE IS GOING TO TAKE MY TANYA- Wait… since when is she 'my Tanya'?"
"Stop being so stubborn! Can't you realize that she may be suffering-"
The Gryffindor team walked in, interrupting their conversation with the intention of celebrating the victory. Unfortunately (or maybe not), this drew madam Pomfrey's attention and she forced them all out saying Harry needed to rest.
As Hermione and Ron left, their looks promised that this talk was not over yet.
It turned out Harry would be getting another visitor that same night. Hours later, he woke up being tended by Dobby.
Needless to say that Harry was furious with him! He was almost killed, or like the elf said, was almost sent home grievously injured! Because of him, Tanya had to exaggerate again and now Ron and Hermione would be pestering non stop about this! And that was not all, he confessed being the one who sealed the gate at platform nine and three quarters! And yet, Harry forgot everything after what he said at the end.
"… there is a Chamber of Secrets? And did you say it's been opened before?"
"Ah, sir! Ask no more of poor Dobby!"
"Don't worry, the time to talk is over!"
Harry and Dobby turned to see Tanya emerging from the shadows.
"How long has she been there?"
Dobby grunted at the sigh of the girl.
"I-it's the meany fire-girl! Dobby must go!" Dobby snapped his fingers and Harry expected him to flee but he was still in the room with confusion written all over his face.
"Did you really think I would not be prepared? Now, do elves believe in any god?"
Tanya took her red wand and Harry saw a terrifying grin on her face. Kind of like the one he fantasied earlier! There was no doubt in his mind that she was going to kill him!
"Wait, Tanya! Don't hurt him! He knows about the chamber of secrets!"
"So what? He will never tell us anything. This is how a house elf is. He can't go against his master's wishes, a slave in both body and soul."
"Is it that bad?" Harry was shocked at Dobby's- no, all the elves situation.
"Now that we are clear-"
"No, Tanya! Please don't kill him!"
"Aff… Look at what he did trying to 'protect' you! Think of what he could do if his master gave an order to kill you!"
In the end, Harry couldn't help feeling sorry for the little creature.
"I-I know, but still… please!"
Tanya glanced at him, an annoyed look in her face.
"Fine! Bigby!"
As Tanya shouted, a second elf appeared in front of Harry's bed. Just like his name suggested, he was bigger and larger than Dobby. You could describe him as a 'Dobby with steroids'.
"Bigby and the others blocked magic of bad elf as ordered, miss Tanya, ma'am."
"Tanya? You have elves?!"
"Of course not, they are Hogwarts'. Who do you think prepares the food, cleans the castle and moves the baggage around?"
"Err, wasn't magic?"
"You really thought that this all happened out of nowhere?!"
"Ugh!"
The girl explained that Snape introduced her to a few elves about a year ago. Usually, the students couldn't order them, but the professor made Tanya an exception knowing she would never abuse this privilege.
"After I almost caught Dobby, I had the feeling he would come back and asked for a few elves to wait in ambush. Except for Bigby here, the others are jamming his magic."
Hearing all of this, Dobby meant to run away, only to be blocked by his more robust counterpart.
"Bigby do you recognize him?"
"He Dobby, he Malfoys', miss Tanya ma'am."
"What? You are Malfoy's house elf?! So all that talk about protecting me was a farce? You are just acting as ordered by that git!"
"No! Dobby didn't lie! Dobby wants to protect Harry Potter, sir!"
"I can still blast him into oblivion, your choice." Harry felt tempted by Tanya's offer but in the end, couldn't be directly responsible for any harm against the defenseless little guy.
"No, just make him leave."
Tanya signaled to the bigger elf.
"You heard him Bigby. Don't kill him but give him a small lesson, understand?"
"Bigby understands, miss Tanya, ma'am!" The bigger elf grabbed Dobby by his neck and snapped his fingers. Both were gone, but somehow, Harry could hear Dobby's whims as he was brutally beaten by Bigby!
"If he tries to hurt you again, I will not be so merciful."
"You call 'that' merciful?!" He was starting to see why Ron and Hermione were so worried!
"Rest for now. I will be back in the morning- Someone is coming!"
Like Tanya said, the boy heard footsteps coming down the passageway outside.
"Shit! I have to hide! But where- Ah!"
Tanya jumped in Harry's bed and tucked under the covers.
"T-Tanya?!"
"Shh! I can't get into more trouble! Remember what professor McGonagall said!"
Actually Harry was kind of happy with how this turned out.
"Does this mean she will sleep with me this night?!" Harry was excited thinking he would be able to sleep holding her warm hand.
But this became far from his mind when professors Dumbledore and McGonagall entered carrying a petrified Colin Creevey.
AN: Sorry this chapter is late but I had a death in the family and was depressed for a few days… As I tried to cope with the loss, I also tried to write but the words just wouldn't came out. So, please forgive me if this chapter looks a little rushed, please inform me if you guys find anything to WRONG in this chapter.
The dialogue between Snape and Lucius Malfoy was a last minute addition, besides the reason I informed before, this was the main reason I had to take more time to update. Again, sorry about that.
The stuff about the runes was all made up by me, originally I was going to say it was an ancient dialect, but I decided for runes when I saw that some words of the runes in Harry Potter are based in german words. I was surprised that Degurechaff actually is not a german name, so it has no meaning. Degretschow comes from the german dub where Tanya is Tanya Degretschow (or at least is what the YS wikia said). And the 'magic crest' ability was taken from Fate/Stay Night series.
'Secrets of the Darkest Art' is the book that contains the information about horcruxes. It's mentioned that Dumbledore took the book away from the library, but its never said when. My guess is that he took it out either after the diary's destruction or after Voldemort tried to kill Harry in the graveyard, because those were instances were the headmaster began to suspect about Voldemort using a horcrux. I don't know if it teaches Fienfyre, but for the sake of this story, let's say it does.
Next chapter: Tanya's troubles take a turn in a complicated direction, as Harry Potter finally receives… THE TALK!
And another thing. A certain review said that I broke rules of common sense by marring together two fictitious fifteen years old. Guys… I don't need to explain that this is a work of fiction and should not be taken seriously, right?
I am in no way promoting any form of crime, law breaking or even any sort of unethical behavior.
I believe that some things should be keep apart, like reality and fiction. I am someone that could be thrilled with a murder scene in a movie, but will be as shocked as the next person if I hear something of the sort in the news.
This is will be only time I will address something like this. Don't like this story? Just don't read.
Reviews:
setokayba2n: So far, the only ghost that knows about her experiments is Myrtle herself, the other ghosts, are just afraid after they learned that Peeves vanished without a trace. I don't know if I will use Veritaserum in any moment of this story.
Lubber: I actually am confuse about how do you spells 'Halloween', in the second book, they spell Hallowe'en. So, with one is right? Or it is spelled different in the US and UK? I am from Brazil, so I really don't know. We don't celebrate this holiday, but we used to call it witches' night.
Harry is still too innocent to truly know about what 'dating' actually implies. But once he is made aware…
Ocansino: Originally, in this chapter, Harry was going to almost curse Malfoy to death because Hermione would tell him that she saw Draco showing some interest on Tanya. In some initial drafts of this story, Draco would even became a 'love rival' for Harry. But it would turn this story even more bigger and would be an unnecessary plot. I already choose someone better for this role… But thanks anyway, and please continue sending your ideas.
wedgegeck: As you can see by this chapter… Almost!
EricFreak: no, Peeves will not return. If what you said about him being created by the magic of the castle is true, then lets just imagine that Hogwarts will take a few decades to recreate another poltergeist. It is not common knowledge that Tanya can rip apart ghosts, so Nick still doesn't know. Maybe in the next year…
The polyjuice plan will appear in the next chapter… so wait to see.
Zakan: Thank you.
SneakyDevil: not even going to waste my time with you.
Kidnapped Sect Elder: I am hoping that your 'can't believe you wrote this' was meant in a good way. If so, thank you.