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Chapter Seven: Little Shop of Horrors
Harry and Ruby consult Sirius and Lupin. On Halloween, T. M. Riddle tails the Ancient Runes lesson and uncovers a mysterious threat. Umbridge and Narcissa visit. Naturally, chaos ensues. Read from the beginning at FFN|AO3!
Below them, the Great Hall had erupted into chaos, some students revelling in Umbridge’s fright, others clamouring and arguing amongst themselves, several shouting at Goldstein to shut up.
“Stop calling him a liar, I saw them too!” shouted Ruby, popping up from the Slytherin table to glare at everyone. The dark-skinned boy next to her was grinning ear to ear, looking around excitedly at the drama unfolding.
“Like anyone would believe her after what she did!”
“Well, they are probably telling the truth,” said a Ravenclaw, “that’s what you get for hanging around with a Potter, anyway!”
A redheaded boy at the Gryffindor table started to get up before Harry and the bushy-haired girl pulled him back down.
Tee chanced a look at Umbridge. She appeared to have been drained of all colour, her wet eyes wide, livid, and incredulous at her loss of control of the situation. The Potions Master’s schadenfreude seemed to have triumphed over his composure. Minerva looked even more annoyed than she had the entire evening as insults and jibes flew across the hall.
“Look, I just think we all need to calm down,” said a tall Hufflepuff in a diplomatic tone, standing and spreading his arms as if to steady a spooked horse.
Blaise Zabini would listen and sing along to 'Slut Me Out 2'
"Don't worry about it," said Anthony, "I'm sure something insane will happen in the next few weeks and totally eclipse it." [ACA Chapter 5]
"SKKKKRSH!"
Daphne screamed, clutching at Ruby, who had backed into a display, sending its contents crashing to the floor. Tee whipped around, sick to his stomach, to meet a small, grey skeletal thing, rotted skin still clinging to its bones, limp clumps of blonde hair barely obscuring white, cloudy eyes.
"The sparks," Goldstein gulped out. "What about—"
...
"Incendio!" shouted Ruby, and the Inferius caught on fire with a loud, rushing BOOMF! "Anthony, stop trying to do the sparks!"
[Anthony] Goldstein stopped frantically fussing with his wand just as one of the Inferi swiped at him. "Petrificus Totalus!"
[ACA Chapter 7]
Chapter Eight: Tactics and Blunders
“Either you didn’t see them, or you’ve got a death wish. Anyway, the Aurors are looking into it already, what’re we going to do that they can’t?”
“For one,” said Hermione, from behind her newspaper, “they’ve finished the investigation.” Looking almost as severe as Professor McGonagall on a bad day, she folded up the newspaper and handed it to Ron.
Harry leaned forward, peering over his shoulder.
INFERI SIGHTING AT HOGSMEADE PROVEN TO BE A HOAX
Several Hogwarts students claimed to have encountered Inferi at a junk shop at Hogsmeade 31st of October; an Auror investigation proved this sighting to be a bad Halloween prank. Several charmed skeletons were found at the back of the shop, Stitches and Draughts, matching the eyewitness descriptions. With tensions high and the threat of the Dementors in very recent memory, the Auror Task Force explained, it is an easy, but unfortunate mistake. Graciously, the Minister herself—
“See!” said Ron, flushing with excitement. “I knew it!”
Anthony snatched the newspaper out of Ron’s hands, upsetting a tureen of cream of mushroom soup. His face grew redder and redder as he scanned the article, eyes narrowing.
Hermione exchanged a worried look at Harry.
It did seem a little… convenient, thought Harry, as he slowly watched the Prophet crumple around Anthony’s grip.
“You seriously believe this rubbish over me?” asked Anthony, in that same, icy tone. “Come on, we all know the Prophet isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on.”
“Can’t disagree with that,” Ron muttered.
“Hermione?” asked Harry, hoping Anthony would listen to her if not to them.
Hermione, who still looked grim, nodded, and Harry thought he could almost see the gears whirring in her brain.
“Well, we know the Prophet isn’t trustworthy, so even if the Aurors did find something, they could hide it. But why would they want to do that?”
Now, Anthony looked subdued. “I don’t know,” he said, scratching the wooden table with a fingernail. The prefect badge pinned to his robes glinted in the dim light, and Harry noticed that the skin under his eyes was swollen and purple. “I have a hunch.”
Sirius broods. Mafalda sticks her neck out. Ruby and Anthony won't stop talking about the Inferi. Harry gets himself into trouble. Read from the beginning at FFN|AO3!
Chapter Eight: Tactics and Blunders
“Either you didn’t see them, or you’ve got a death wish. Anyway, the Aurors are looking into it already, what’re we going to do that they can’t?”
“For one,” said Hermione, from behind her newspaper, “they’ve finished the investigation.” Looking almost as severe as Professor McGonagall on a bad day, she folded up the newspaper and handed it to Ron.
Harry leaned forward, peering over his shoulder.
INFERI SIGHTING AT HOGSMEADE PROVEN TO BE A HOAX
Several Hogwarts students claimed to have encountered Inferi at a junk shop at Hogsmeade 31st of October; an Auror investigation proved this sighting to be a bad Halloween prank. Several charmed skeletons were found at the back of the shop, Stitches and Draughts, matching the eyewitness descriptions. With tensions high and the threat of the Dementors in very recent memory, the Auror Task Force explained, it is an easy, but unfortunate mistake. Graciously, the Minister herself—
“See!” said Ron, flushing with excitement. “I knew it!”
Anthony snatched the newspaper out of Ron’s hands, upsetting a tureen of cream of mushroom soup. His face grew redder and redder as he scanned the article, eyes narrowing.
Hermione exchanged a worried look at Harry.
It did seem a little… convenient, thought Harry, as he slowly watched the Prophet crumple around Anthony’s grip.
“You seriously believe this rubbish over me?” asked Anthony, in that same, icy tone. “Come on, we all know the Prophet isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on.”
“Can’t disagree with that,” Ron muttered.
“Hermione?” asked Harry, hoping Anthony would listen to her if not to them.
Hermione, who still looked grim, nodded, and Harry thought he could almost see the gears whirring in her brain.
“Well, we know the Prophet isn’t trustworthy, so even if the Aurors did find something, they could hide it. But why would they want to do that?”
Now, Anthony looked subdued. “I don’t know,” he said, scratching the wooden table with a fingernail. The prefect badge pinned to his robes glinted in the dim light, and Harry noticed that the skin under his eyes was swollen and purple. “I have a hunch.”
Sirius broods. Mafalda sticks her neck out. Ruby and Anthony won't stop talking about the Inferi. Harry gets himself into trouble. Read from the beginning at FFN|AO3!
Mafalda turned, and Tonks was nearly dangling out of the swing, her head tilted, eyebrows raised in concern.
“What happens to you?”
Tonks laughed softly, pushing off a little, the swing creaking gently back and forth. “I know us Hufflepuffs don’t look like much, but I can defend myself. I’m an Auror, you know, I’ve got three years of training.”
“I don’t mean you’re not capable, I just mean—” Stupid, stupid Veritaserum. “I don’t want anything bad to happen to you when I inevitably make a mistake.”
A loud, sudden dragging sound told her that Tonks had pulled herself to a stop.
“It’s like when you fly up to the rings and throw the Quaffle,” she said, voice earnest. “You don’t think about missing the hoop, because you won’t.”
Now, a laugh escaped Mafalda.
“You’re not really trying to make a Quidditch analogy, are you?”
“You were a Chaser, weren’t you?”
Mafalda flushed, her hands growing warm against the cold metal chains, and hoped the moonlight would hide it. “You noticed me?” She’d hardly thought Tonks — a popular, charming older student — had been all at aware of her existence.
“Of course I noticed you.”
She held Tonks’s gaze for perhaps a little longer than she should have, something strange and warm snagging in her stomach, just in the place a Portkey would.
yk i’m very curious about how tom will react towards draco in rfmd bc iirc didn’t abraxas make toms hogwarts years hell back when he was a gremlin? and draco basically looks really similar to his grandfather
Yes and yes to both of your questions, (1) Abraxas is/was a menace to society, (2) Draco looks a lot like Abraxas.
As for how Tom will react to Draco (whom he's only seen from afar that one time in the Great Hall) when they inevitably run into each other, is like he did with Theodore Nott, but worse. Truth be told, I keep trying to splice in a scene where he makes a snarky comment about Draco but it didn't fit anywhere in the previous chapters. Anyway as you can guess Tom's not a big fan.
I know this is cryptic but Draco's part of the yearly mystery plot which starts happening in Chapter 5.9 (which is really, really crazy) so I don't want to reveal too much about his character and the context in which Tom has to deal with him.
nothing to see here, just Lily haunting the narrative
People, of course, started whispering when he came in. But after years of that, Harry expected it. This was normal. This was safe.
For how much longer?
HIs mother had done it. She’d been the one to defeat Voldemort that night, the only one to truly harm him, set him back a decade. Ruby had come back from Godric’s Hollow talking about runes under a crib. In his dreams, he’d seen her whisper to an unseen presence, strange and frantic.
How? he thought, sinking into one of the overstuffed armchairs.
If only there was some way to talk to Lily — some way to find out what she’d discovered.
His thumb ghosted over the ouroboros ring Quirrell had given him, feeling the delicate detailing — the beaded eyes, the snakes’ scales. If it really was the Resurrection Stone in disguise, something he’d put out of his mind as one of Hermione’s more bizarre theories, and one she seemed to have long abandoned, there was some way he could talk to Lily anytime he wanted, couldn’t he?
But it couldn’t be. It was all another childish hope. How many times had he wished to speak to the dead, and the ring hadn’t answered?
Chapter Nine: Red Rum, Red Hands
Oh, he’s spotted it,” said Blaise from behind her, his voice giddy with anticipation.
“Who?” asked Parvati.
There was no answer, because Harry and Cedric both seemed to dive in unison, robes snapping in the wind after what must be the Snitch near the ground, far too small to see.
“Now, the technique Potter’s using’s called a Spiral Dive—” Blaise began.
“Shhh,” said Parvati, almost dangling over the railing. “They’re so close!”
The two Seekers were neck and neck, hands outstretched, pressing themselves flatter against their brooms—
Then they both pulled up. Hard. The Snitch must have slipped away.
“Well, wasn’t that hair-raising?” called Lee, and the stadium cheered in approval. “It’s still anyone’s game, sixty to eighty, Gryffindor to Hufflepuff — but Johnson’s currently doing her best to make that score even.”
The tension in Harry’s shoulders as he rose was clear even from far away. The Gryffindor stands yelled encouragement, but he seemed indifferent, unhearing as he watched the swarming chaos of red and yellow below. Cedric looked similarly contemplative.
And then, it happened.
Cedric dove.
“Diggory spotted the Snitch!” called Lee. “With Potter in pursuit — no, where’s Potter, why’s he just sitting there? Earth to Potter!”
“Why isn’t he following?” asked Parvati, the wind from Cedric plummeting blowing her hair back from her face.
She was right; Harry was just sitting there, casual as you please.
What if something’s wrong?
“Wronski Feint,” Blaise supplied. “At least, that’s what Diggory’s attempting. But Harry knows there’s nothing down there.”
Indeed, Harry’s face was tilted towards the sky, scanning the clouds with a tense, quiet determination.
Is that really what he’s doing?
Gryffindor plays Hufflepuff, but, believe it or not, Harry and Cedric's last match-up is far from the most exciting event this Saturday. Read from the beginning at FFN|AO3!
(ch. 95 review) — eeeee!! i need to know wtf is going on like rn. malfoy, fess up you little ferret, ik you know something. also, the whole hospital wing scene is kind of cute when you ignore harry bleeding out (soz harry, you’re destined to a monthly hospital visit ig), it’s nice to see friends together and just theorising, i enjoyed it a lot and think it really captures the essence of caring (and nosy) teenagers. as for riddle, (i saw you mentioning how we thought riddle will react to this and how he’ll join) for some reason i think he’d want out of this bc it’s giving unpaid babysitter (dumbledore is not paying him enough, or in his case, at all), poor guy wants nothing to do with saving the potters i bet but he’ll have to do smth anyway bc karmas a bitch and he needs to make it up to them 😭. now how he’ll join this mess… well he’s into dark arts and curses, the guy probably knows how to heal it or at least how to go about it. i am so excited for the next chapter 🥰🥰
You'll find out the truth... eventually. Malfoy does know something and he's a worse liar than he thinks. And I'm glad you enjoyed the Hospital Wing scene (despite the stakes).
Riddle definitely has had it up to here with Hogwarts/Potter drama (unpaid babysitter is so right) but you know at the same time he's messy and loves drama (and besides Dumbledore thinks stressing him out is funny and karma).
I hope you enjoy the next chapter!
Chapter Nine: Red Rum, Red Hands
Oh, he’s spotted it,” said Blaise from behind her, his voice giddy with anticipation.
“Who?” asked Parvati.
There was no answer, because Harry and Cedric both seemed to dive in unison, robes snapping in the wind after what must be the Snitch near the ground, far too small to see.
“Now, the technique Potter’s using’s called a Spiral Dive—” Blaise began.
“Shhh,” said Parvati, almost dangling over the railing. “They’re so close!”
The two Seekers were neck and neck, hands outstretched, pressing themselves flatter against their brooms—
Then they both pulled up. Hard. The Snitch must have slipped away.
“Well, wasn’t that hair-raising?” called Lee, and the stadium cheered in approval. “It’s still anyone’s game, sixty to eighty, Gryffindor to Hufflepuff — but Johnson’s currently doing her best to make that score even.”
The tension in Harry’s shoulders as he rose was clear even from far away. The Gryffindor stands yelled encouragement, but he seemed indifferent, unhearing as he watched the swarming chaos of red and yellow below. Cedric looked similarly contemplative.
And then, it happened.
Cedric dove.
“Diggory spotted the Snitch!” called Lee. “With Potter in pursuit — no, where’s Potter, why’s he just sitting there? Earth to Potter!”
“Why isn’t he following?” asked Parvati, the wind from Cedric plummeting blowing her hair back from her face.
She was right; Harry was just sitting there, casual as you please.
What if something’s wrong?
“Wronski Feint,” Blaise supplied. “At least, that’s what Diggory’s attempting. But Harry knows there’s nothing down there.”
Indeed, Harry’s face was tilted towards the sky, scanning the clouds with a tense, quiet determination.
Is that really what he’s doing?
Gryffindor plays Hufflepuff, but, believe it or not, Harry and Cedric's last match-up is far from the most exciting event this Saturday. Read from the beginning at FFN|AO3!
Tom: "Well, if I was trying to do murder, I'd be a lot better at it. You know, I have experience."
What happened? How should he know? He’d been cooped up in the castle (mostly in this very room), or carrying out Dumbledore’s orders like a good little wizard. Not to mention, if he was going to kill someone, it would be efficient and effective. Whoever had made an attempt on Harry Potter’s life was sloppy and dramatic — this Dolohov Dumbledore had mentioned.
Chapter Ten: Parry, Feint, Castle
“What is it?” asked Harry, pushing himself up into a sitting position so he could get a better view.
Sirius let the medal slip through his fingers, the satin ribbon held between his index finger and thumb, slowly rotating in the ample light of the Hospital Wing, the ‘M’ sparkling.
“Order of Merlin,” he said. “First class.”
I knew it was something important! thought Harry triumphantly.
“Not something you drop in a junk shop,” said Sirius contemplatively. “Not something you’re really intended to wear, either. Some sort of message, maybe… a warning… or a threat…”
There's something he suspects, thought Harry, his stomach lurching uneasily, searching Sirius’s face studiously, noticing the slight clench of his jaw. Something he doesn’t want to tell us.
“What is it?” Harry breathed.
Sirius sighed heavily, his voice growing more and more bitter as he spoke. “I can’t be sure. But there’s one Death Eater who definitely owns one of these, one Death Eater for whom it is his crowning glory, his only achievement.”
All the time Sirius was speaking, it was as if something dark and heavy was settling on the Hospital Wing. Harry felt as if the light had dimmed, the room had darkened, a great shadow was leaning over them.
“I can’t be sure,” said Sirius again, frowning at the medal. ”But I think this may belong to—"
Dumbledore, T.M. Riddle, and Bill get to the bottom of the mysterious curse. Sirius visits Harry in the Hospital Wing. Tonks trains Mafalda for her new and dangerous mission — spying on Narcissa Malfoy. Read from the beginning at FFN|AO3!
Chapter Eleven: Brewing Conflict
Beside her, Harry’s potion looked alright, but Ron, at the bench with Hermione, nervously surveyed the contents of his cauldron, which was spitting green sparks. Hermione’s was the exact purple as the textbook’s, but her hair had erupted into a halo of frizz as she bent painstakingly over her work.
Just as she reached for some stewed mandrake, Malfoy cleared his throat.
“Still planning to make good on your threat, Potter? What was it you said?” He turned around halfway with a razor-sharp smile, eying her like a shark. “You’d be watching me?”
Ruby forced herself to say nothing, even as Harry stilled beside her, pausing mid-stir for a second.
Seven times clockwise seven times clockwise seven times clockwise.
She needed to focus on the potion. Not Malfoy’s taunts, not Nott listening with his head cocked, wide-eyed with voyeuristic interest.
“Poor baby Potter,” Malfoy went on, voice lilting as if he were singing a lullaby, leaning closer. “Nearly driven mad by her visions.”
He made a grotesque face, tongue lolling out of his mouth, and eyes rolled back into his head so that all Ruby could see were the red-streaked whites. Nott hastily reached over to turn down the heat on Malfoy’s unattended cauldron, and Ruby wished there was some way she could do the same to her simmering anger.
“Shut up,” snapped Harry. “Leave her alone.”
“What’s wrong?” asked Malfoy, head tilted, all faux-concern. “Jumping at shadows?”
Nott’s shoulders shook with amusement.
Ruby and T.M. Riddle spy on Malfoy and Nott following the Snitch incident. Dumbledore supervises Harry's extra lessons. Brewing the Draught of Peace in Double Potions brings anything but relaxation. Read from the beginning at FFN|AO3!
Chapter Twelve: Litany Against Fear
He had just risen to his feet when a cold presence entered the room. It was felt before it was seen — icy despair encasing the room — five hooded figures like great, black coffins, chilling Tee to the very bone. It was the library in London all over again. His fingers reached for his wand in an almost instinctive movement, but they were as numb and clumsy as if he had been walking through a snowstorm. His heartbeat was quick in his throat, like an animal before the butchering blow, mouth dry—
And then something soared through the air, warm and silvery, spreading light throughout the room, which had suddenly gone dark. The phoenix Patronus repelled the Dementors, sending them stumbling back in a rush to wherever they’d come from.
How? wondered Tee, shaky with relief, still trying to catch his breath, to catch up with his heart stuttering in his ribcage. The silver phoenix had perched on the table, folding its wings, refracting light like liquid opal.
“Just the beginning, I fear, Tom,” said Dumbledore, assuming a defensive position, his gaze shrewd, all the levity drained from him. “On your guard.”
Tee slipped his hand into his pocket, fingers brushing the warm length of pine, still unsettled. The room looked a little darker than it had when they first entered, and the cherubs had that same sinister quality.
Dementors in the Ministry — where did they come from?
And he was incapable of calling forth a Patronus. Though they weren’t very interested in his shattered and torn soul, that didn’t protect him from their other effects. He was helpless against them; as helpless as a boy from a lifetime ago, curled under an iron bed as bombs shook the earth and heavens, hiding from Death.
“I think it best that we find our way to Narcissa’s office.”
Tee nodded, trying to regain his composure as Dumbledore’s attention turned from the wall that the Dementors had disappeared into to the door that they had come through; or rather, the space where it had been. He just couldn’t shake the feeling of being led into a trap as Dumbledore raised his hand to the wall, and the door slid open at the slightest touch.
When he mentioned this to Dumbledore, the latter only said with a wry smile:
“Well, Tom, then surely we must spring it.”
T.M. Riddle and Albus Dumbledore are summoned to the Ministry, where they discover a deadly trap. Mafalda starts her first day as an Auror trainee (and double agent) and encounters a familiar rival. To survive... well, they'll have to overcome fear itself. Read from the beginning at FFN|AO3!