𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐑

the one with the sectumsempra

"Your behavior has changed recently, Ms Firegold," he said. "Rows between you and Harry have become seemingly regular. And the way you approached the Malfoy situation. . ."

I didn't hear him after this. All I could think was how Dumbledore, despite my repeated warnings, chose to wear the Cursed Gaunt ring, solely for his own selfish wants. All he wanted was to own the resurrection stone to see his sister who was dead. All I could think, as Dumbledore told me about my approach to 'the Malfoy Situation' was how he chose to neglect the issue in the books despite knowing there was a boy in his school, lonely and under tremendous pressure from the Darkest Wizard to do something he didn't want to do because his father had failed at a job. All I could think was how he turned his back of Draco and Snape. . . He had manipulated Professor Snape in the most vulnerable moment of his life, and forced him to pledge his loyalty to him solely because Snape loved Lily Evans, and continued to manipulate him so even when Dumbledore couldn't protect Lily by reminding him constantly how Harry was the last of Lily Evans. What happened next was caused by my boiling subconscious.

An hourglass shattered to dust on Dumbledore's desk and Fawkes cawed loudly. The fire in his fireplace glowed to a dark shade of green as I looked firmly at the ground beneath me. "You are in no position," I said in a deadly calm voice, "To test me for loyalty when all you ever did was turn your back on the people who desperately needed you!"

Dumbledore didn't seem fazed by my change of character. His calmness only egged me move on with what I was saying. "You made Professor Snape your loyal servant by using his vulnerability. You held him to keep on being your spy despite Lily Evans dying! And you, for your own gains, wore the ring, despite me warning you. You made Draco, a boy—he's just a boy—a servant to yourself too by putting him in a position where he can neither do as Voldemort says nor be perfectly loyal to you as well! You bound him to a killing vow despite knowing if he didn't do as his master asked, his whole family would be dead!" The window behind him had crumbled to dust now. "And now you're testing my loyalty? How dare you!"

Dumbledore stared at me with a serene look on his face and said, "The Apple doesn't fall far from the tree, Skylar," he said. "You are a splitting image of your mother—"

"I am nothing like my mother!" I roared; Fawkes cawed loudly again, as the sword of Gryffindor rattled in it's encasement. "My mother saved my life. My mother was loyal to her cause, no matter how bad the cause was! And she didn't do it because she wanted to! She did it because she was pushed away by everyone she ever cared about for some age-old prejudice against Slytherins!"

"That is what I meant when I said you are just like your mother," he said. "I see the determination I saw in her eyes when I look into yours, and I also see the sheer will to protect those you love that is so familiar to your father. You have one thing Voldemort doesn't," he said. "The capability to love!"

"Voldemort and I aren't so different, you see," I said. "We were both raised in an orphanage, unsure of our lineage, knowing something was different about us. No one helped either of us. No one loves either of us," I said. "The only thing different about us is how he chose to act to this lack of affection. I found a family here, Professor. So did Voldemort. But he was neglected too!"

"How so?"

"You said to Harry you always knew something was strange about Tom, didn't you?" I asked. "Yet you did nothing to help him with it. Tom Riddle needed guidance and he was not provided with it. He gave into the lure of Dark Magic because no one told him otherwise! It was not Slughorn who gave the monster in him a chance to rise. It was you!" I bellowed.

His eyes immediate hardened to a forlorn sense of sadness and guilt. "You've caught me," he smiled weakly.

"Damn right I did," I snapped. "I am loyal to my cause. I do and will continue to do everything to save the ones I love from a future that I know like the back of my hand, even if it means dying. I will not stop at anything to bring Voldemort down, despite how much I think he was wronged! The damage is too far gone, Professor. And those who could have stopped it, did nothing."