Maledictus

Ch.3 - Hogwarts

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"NOT WARTHOGS, HOGWARTS!"

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Alice began trembling again as Lucius Malfoy walked in, his nose in the air. Looking in every nook and cranny for some sight of dirt. As his smug grin was slowly losing its smugness, he spotted, in the very far corner of the large hall, a cobweb, with a nest of spiders.

"What to you call this, mudblood!?" he shouted, his voice bouncing off all the walls. She squeaked and hurried towards him, almost tripping over the long blue dress she had on since last night.

"A s-s-spiders nest, Mr. Malfoy" she said quietly.

"And what did I ask you to do?" he said, peering down at her as if she was a bug waiting to be squished.

"T-To clean the entire room, Mr. Malfoy" she stuttered, her knees banging together in fear. He glared at her before smacking her hard across the face, leaving a red mark and a burning sensation in her cheek.

"The entire room you say?" he sneered as she nodded. "This corner is part of the room, but it's not clean!"

She began to head back to the bucket, but Lucius caught her by the collar of her dress and pulled her out of the room. She didn't know where she was. All she knew is that she had to be a human house elf [not that she knew what they were] and this man could do magic. This place was odder than 'Britian's Circus for oddities'.

He brought her to his office, which was much bigger than the room she had slept the previous night. She was asked to sit and she did, afraid to do anything else. He shuffled some parchment around his desk before leaning back in his chair and breaking the silence.

"What age are you, mudblood?"

"I-I'm eleven sir" she replied, looking at the floor, he processed what she had just told him.

"And do you know anything about Hogwarts?" he asked.

"Yes Mr. Malfoy, warthogs are-" she began, thinking he said warthogs. He sighed, shaking his head in slight shame.

"Not warthogs, Hogwarts!" he shouted, causing Alice to slump further into her chair. She pulled herself up, using her frail, bony hands and shook her head. "Hogwarts, school of witchcraft and wizardry, is a school that trains children with magical abilities. And you Ms. Adair, unfortunately have magical abilities" he said with disgust.

A look of horror swept across the young girls face. If she went to this school, her secret could be exposed, and nobody wants that to happen.

"Must I go, Mr. Malfoy?" she asked quietly.

"Of course you must go! It's the law!" he shouted, banging a fist on the table, she jumped and a gasp escaped her mouth, but she hid it neatly with a cough. "Now you listen very carefully, you are enrolled as Alice Malfoy, do you understand me?" she nodded quickly, still not knowing why she couldn't just be Alice Adair, but kept this thought to herself, knowing if she said anything it would end badly.

"So, who are you?" he asked

"Alice Malfoy" she replied, playing with the hem of her dress.

"And what is the relation between you and Draco?"

"I am his younger sister"

Just as he was about to let her go, he remembered one last condition she must follow.

"And remember, you must end up in Slytherin house, or there will be hell to pay" he threatened before letting her head back to her room.

She flopped down on the stone bed and wrapped herself in the paper-thin blanket that was provided. She curled up, wanting to sleep, but she was afraid, afraid of what they would do if they ever found out.

She checked her grubby watch that she had had for years on end. It belonged to her brother, before it was hers. It was a deep midnight blue, he said that it matched the sky and that she should have it. He said it just before he was taken away by men in heavy black trench coats. She remembered the day as if it was only yesterday, it has stuck with her because of his cries and haunting screams as they put a wand to his head.

It was nearly five. She couldn't tell if it was dark or not as there were no windows.

About a half an hour later there was a slight knock on the door and she jumped up.

"Don't worry, It's only me" whispered Draco, handing her an apple and a glass of water, but she gave them back.

"Mr. Malfoy, you'll get into trouble, you need to leave" she said as bravely as she possibly could, but still trembling.

"You'll starve and soon enough die!" he protested.

"And who will notice that I'm gone? I have no one left in this world, no one will notice" she whimpered. Draco didn't know what to say, so left but not before leaving the apple and water.

She pulled the blanket over her head and stuffed a fist in her mouth before screaming with frustration. Why her? Why not someone else? She thought she was free when she escaped the circus, but she was wrong.

Because now she was a prisoner of a wizard, a wizard you never want to mess with.