30. WHAT I CARRIED
ALL BY MYSELF
"DID YOU SEE his face?" Tobi laughed as he signed with Lily and Harry as the three of them and the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team walked on to the pitch for practice.
"He was terrified!" Lily spoke and signed with a smile on her face. Ron had received a Howler from his mom after he and Harry drove the flying car to get to Hogwarts because they missed the train. They only received detention, but Harry also received an earful of lectures from Tommy and Thea.
"I honestly thought he was going to crap his pants." Fred spoke up from behind the mini-Marauders and George laughed.
"Guys!" Oliver scolded the group and they quickly shut up, paying attention to the Quidditch caption. "I spent the summer devising a whole new Quidditch program. We are going to train earlier, harder, and longer."
"He's kidding, right?" Lily signed to Tobi and the boy shrugged. The pair turned their heads when they saw Teo, Marcus Flint, Sonali, and the Slytherin Quidditch team walking on the pitch.
"Where do you think you're going, Flint?" Oliver asked
"Quidditch practice." Flint answered.
"I booked the pitch for Gryffindor today." Oliver replied.
"Easy, Wood. I've got a note." Flint assured him as he handed the captain a piece of parchment. That's when Tobi noticed the annoyed looks on Teo and Sonali's face. He signed to his brother, 'What's up?'
"I, Professor Severus Snape, do hereby give the Slytherin team permission to practice today, owing to the need to train their new Seeker." Oliver read from the parchment before looking up. "You've got a new Seeker, who?"
The group of Slytherins divided to reveal Draco with a smirk on his face, broom in hand as Hermione and Ron walked towards the crowd. Harry's eyes widened, questioning, "Malfoy."
"You've got to be shitting me." Tobi mumbled to himself.
"That's right. And that's not all that's new this year." Draco smirked before showing off his broom, which matched the rest of the team's.
"Those are Nimbus 2001s," Ron noticed immediately. "How did you get those?"
"A gift from Draco's father." Flint answered and Tobi could see Sonali and Teo rolled their eyes.
"You see, Weasley, unlike some, my father can afford the best." Draco turned to the redhead.
"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in. They got in on pure talent." Hermione smirked.
Draco turned to the Granger girl, glaring at her before he spoke, "No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood."
Teo froze in his spot when the slur left the blond boy's mouth as the wizards from both teams let out gasps. While his blood boiled with anger, Teo's mind spiraled to the last time he heard that word.
~
first year
"Are you serious? You seriously thought we wanted to be friends with you, mudblood?" Daniel Beckett and his group of Slytherins laughed at Teo in his first year. All of a sudden, the de Oro boy felt very small whilst his body froze. Why wasn't he doing anything? He felt his feet began to move away from the group and Beckett laughed again, "Yes, go! Run to your filthy mudblood brothers and your filthy mudblood sister!"
Tears flooded Teo's eyes as he began to run up the steps of the Slytherin common room, trying to ignore the laughs and chuckles of the boys.
~
"You'll pay for that one, Malfoy!" Ron raised his voice as he took his wand out from his cloak. "Eat slugs!"
Ron's wand, which was broken from stealing a car and whatnot, sent him flying backwards and towards the ground. Draco and a couple of the other Slytherins began to laugh and Teo broke. He took out his wand and pointed it at Malfoy, "Say it again, Malfoy. Go on!"
Draco's eyes were wide with fear as he froze, not saying a word. Teo smirked, keeping his wand towered the boy, "Yeah, here's the famous de Oro magic I'm sure your father has told you all about. Do you wanna find out what it's like to be hit by it? Go on! Say it again!"
His hands were up in the air now while Draco shook his head, staying silent. Teo nodded, "Good, keep it that way."
"And you guys," Teo turned to the Slytherin members who laughed with Draco and they all stared at him. "You know how terrible that word is. So quit laughing before you're on the receiving end of this wand too."
~
"You threatened your Quidditch team?" Tommy ran up to Teo with Thea as he and Tobi sat at the Hufflepuff table for dinner, already beginning to eat.
"Tommy—" Thea and Tobi spoke in unison, both of them playing 'mediator' for once.
"Yeah, and I'd do it again after what Malfoy said." Teo scoffed as Louis and the Weasley twins sat down at the table.
"Wait, what did Draco do?" Louis asked, turning to the siblings.
"He called Hermione a 'mudblood,'" Teo whispered the last word as Thea, Tommy, and Louis's eyes all widened. Thea let out a gasp, holding a hand over her mouth while Tommy and Louis just stared in shock. "So yeah, I would do it again."
"Bloody hell," Louis mumbled to himself before standing up from the table and leaving his plate of food. He stormed over to the Slytherin table and raised his voice, "Draco!"
"What?" The younger Malfoy brother scoffed, rolling his eyes at the sight of Louis.
"Common room, now." Louis spoke sternly and Draco's eyes widened at his brother's tone. He froze slightly and Louis grabbed the boy by the hood of his cloak, practically dragging him out of the Great Hall.
"Teo," Thea sat down next to her eldest brother, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
The oldest de Oro brother just stared at his sister, trying to find the words to lie and say yes. But he couldn't. He had to tell them. Shaking his head. Teo whispered, "No. No, there was something I never told you guys that happened in first year and today literally just sent me back."
"On the train ride home for Christmas break, first year," Teo began to explain while his siblings looked at him, listening intently. "Beckett and his friends, they all gathered around me and told me I wasn't their friend. Not really. Then they called me a mudblood."
"Oh my god." Thea whispered and she held her brother's hand.
"I'm gonna kill him." Tobi mumbled while he glanced at the Slytherin table.
"No," Teo shook his head, giving Tobi a stern look. "And then after that, he told me to run away to my mudblood brothers and my mudblood sister."
Holding in a sigh, Teo saw the tears that rushed to Thea's eyes while Tobi and Tommy stayed silent in shock.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Tommy whispered.
"Because you guys didn't have to know. You didn't have to know someone called us that." Teo explained with a shrug. "I was okay carrying it all myself."
Thea pulled her eldest brother into a hug and Teo let out the sigh he was holding in, hugging his sister back. Tommy and Tobi smiled at their brother, nodding gratefully.
~
The Golden Four walked down the hallways with Louis, the Weasley twins, Eva, and other students after finishing dinner. Thea looked at the twins, Tobi, and Lee with a slight grin, "Another party?"
"First one of the year." Tobi reminded her and Thea sighed.
"And we want the bookworms to come this time." Fred smirked at Eva and Tommy.
"Not a chance." Tommy replied.
"No way." Eva agreed and the twins rolled their eyes.
"When would it be—" Teo's words stopped, as did his steps. He held his arm out as the group saw more and more piles of students gathering around something.
"It's Harry, Hermione, and Ron." Louis whispered, being able to see due to his height. The quads and the Weasley twins exchanged a scared look before pushing their way through the crowd, Louis and Eva following them.
A hand flew over Thea's mouth as she held in a gasp. There in front of the trio of second years, was Filch's cat, petrified, and words on the wall written in blood. The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. She turned to her cousin, "Harry?"
"It wasn't us, I swear." Harry pleaded with his older cousins while Hermione and Ron had terrified gazed on their faces.
"Enemies of the Heir, beware." Draco read out loud before glancing at Harry, Hermione, and Ron. "You'll be next, mud—"
Draco's words froze when he noticed his older brother behind Thea. Louis gave the younger Malfoy a stern look, practically a death glare, and Draco remained quiet.
"What's going on here?" Filch pushed his way through the crowd and his eyes widened in horror when he saw his cat. "Mrs. Norris?"
"Oh no." Thea whispered.
Filch turned to Harry, his voice shaky, "You murdered my cat."
Harry shook his head frantically as Filch grabbed his shirt, pulling the boy closer. "I'll kill you. I'll kill you!"
Tobi and Teo immediately stepped in, grabbing their cousin and pulling him out of Filch's claws. They pushed Harry behind them, blocking him from Filch as Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape arrived. "Argus?"
The three teachers stared at the scene, their eyes filled with terror before Dumbledore raised his voice, "Everyone will proceed to their dormitories immediately."
The students began to disperse but Thea remained frozen in her spot, not wanting to leave Harry. Further in ground, Cedric stood with Micah and Silas, and he saw the girl he admired not moving. He began to walk towards her to help her, but stopped when Louis slipped his hand into Thea's and pulled her away, "Come on, Thea."
The girl let herself be pulled down the hallway, whispering to herself,
"What the hell was the Chamber of Secrets?"