It was her fourth year of seeing the Hogwarts express and yet every time she reached the platform it felt like her first. Dragging her trunk behind her – and its lighter this year, because now she has her own room and her own home where she can actually keep things – she climbed onto the train.
She was still taking all her classes and at this point it's honestly just so she can keep her time turner. It's nice being able to spend days with Jormy in the chamber, nice spending extra time with her Slytherin's without slaving over class work. Not that she slaved over it anyway, sure there was always a lot of it but it was never particularly challenging. To quote Draco, Hogwarts really has gone to the dogs.
Reaching their compartment Eliza blinked in surprise to find Daphne and Astoria already sitting there, usually it was Eliza who was first on the platform.
"Daphne, Astoria" Eliza greeted, levitating her trunk to the over-head storage.
"Hello Eliza" Daphne said, cheeks faintly red as Astoria whispered something to her. Curiously watching the two sisters Eliza took the seat closest to the door and started setting up some privacy charms for when everyone arrived.
"Eliza?" said Astoria next to her and Eliza looked away from casting for a moment to glance at the girl.
"Thank you, for the quidditch world cup – I was going to get you something but Daphne insisted you wouldn't want anything but I wanted you to know-
"Astoria" Eliza cut her off softly "your safety is more than enough for me, I protect what's mine after all" Eliza finished smirking softly at Daphne who rolled her eyes fondly.
Astoria looked up at her wide eyed for a few moments and Eliza was uncomfortably reminded of how Pansy was at the beginning of last year before she stood up.
"I'll see you both later then" she chirped happily and then turned to look at Daphne, winking as she said "have fun"
Daphne blushed bright red and threw a stinging hex at Astoria who laughed as she ran out the door, her escape was halted however when she ran straight into Draco who was standing on the other side.
"Are you okay?" Draco asked concerned as he stopped her from falling. Astoria let out a strange squeak before she dashed away glaring at Daphne when she laughed.
"Sometimes I'm glad I'm an only child" Draco said with blatant confusion written on his face.
"Excuse me?" Eliza protested with mock affront.
"I know what I said" Draco dead panned and that was all it took for them to start laughing.
Blaise and Theo found them some time after that as the Hogwarts express pulled out of the station.
"Eliza!" Blaise exclaimed "oh how I have suffered not seeing your beauty every day, how can I possibly-
His theatrics were cut off as Theo stuffed a chocolate frog straight into his mouth. Blaise choked on the chocolate, glaring at Theo who was shaking with restrained laughter.
"Anyone care for some chocolate?"
Eliza made grabby hands at the sugar quills and Theo snorted as he threw one across the seats at her.
"Does anyone know what's happening this year?" Eliza asked nibbling on her sugar quill "Sirius and Remus won't tell me"
"Mother and father won't tell me because they knew I'd tell you" Draco said and they both share petulant looks that had Daphne giggling.
"Blaise?"
"I've been with Theo all summer, I've got no clue"
Silence fell over the apartment.
"What do we want to bet that I somehow get involved" Eliza quipped, raising her eyebrows.
"I refuse to waste my money on you" Draco said airily which set off a whole new argument about how Eliza would accidentally cause chaos this year.
The journey to Hogwarts passed quickly after that.
When they finally pulled into hogsmeade station the storm had not eased, in fact it had only gotten worse. She hoped Hedwig made it to the owelry okay.
Stepping out from the train she and her court immediately cast an umbrella charm over their heads and hurriedly started walking towards the carriage, grimacing as the wind battered their faces. Eliza didn't even stop to pet the thestrals this year and instead clambered in hurriedly, slamming the door behind them.
The inside of Hogwarts didn't even hold the promise of safety, the second she and her court stepped through the door they had to duck out of the way of Peeves who was gleefully lobbing water balloons at anyone who had been lucky enough to escape the rain.
It wasn't exactly a traditional welcome back, but that was Hogwarts.
Before Eliza took her place at the table she made sure to talk to the rest of her Slytherin's. Gemma and Roman were gone now Eliza noted with a pang of sadness – she would try and stay in touch with them when she had chance.
Eliza slipped into her seat just in time for the sorting to begin.
"I'd hate to be that hat" Blaise muttered as it sang.
"I'm sure that hat would hate to be you" Theo responded and Eliza had to muffle a snort as Blaise dug his elbow into Theo's side.
Malcom Baddock became the first Slytherin to be sorted and her house clapped extra hard to drown out the boos from the other houses. Eliza smiled as she saw Astoria welcome Baddock into the house.
"I think your sister could take over the court when we're gone you know" she muttered to Daphne who smiled brightly.
The sorting continued with Slytherin gaining the least amount of students yet again. Eliza's year was small in comparison to the others – children born in the war but even she had more Slytherin classmates than the newest year. There were only six in comparison to their eleven.
It was disheartening really.
She wondered how many turned away from Slytherin because of their reputation.
When the feast ended Eliza could barely contain a growl as Dumbledore stood to his feet. The man had received a lot of flak from the papers after her trial but as no-one knew the extent of Eliza's mistreatment at the orphanage (and no one ever would if she had anything to do with it) the public were quick to forgive their light lord.
Eliza couldn't wait to tear him down, brick by brick.
First she would damage Hogwarts' reputation, which she had already done partly by exposing the substandard education. She would go on to reveal all Dumbledore kept hidden, she already had Rita looking for dirt on the man. There was no way someone lived to be as old as Dumbledore without making mistakes and Eliza was determined to find them.
"...I also regretfully announce that the inter-house Quidditch Cup will not take place this year"
A goblet toppled over near Eliza and she turned to see Draco looking like he was about to cry.
"They've just cancelled Quidditch" he said distraught and Daphne patted him on the back in commiseration.
"This is due to an event starting in October, I have great pleasure to announce that this year-
But at that moment there was a deafening rumble of thunder and the doors of the Great Hall banged open.
The stranger at the door started moving forward, a dull clunk echoing about the hall with every step and when lightning flashed across the hall she heard many people gasp seeing the man's face, riddled with deep gouging scars and a large whirring fake eye strapped to the man's face rolling around sickeningly.
"Well if that isn't an omen" Eliza quipped watching the man stride down the aisle.
"Mad-eye Moody" Draco breathed and Eliza immediately picked up on the tensions of the older Slytherin's.
"Who is he and what problem will he pose to us?" Eliza asked immediately keeping her eye on Moody.
"He was an auror in the war, put away a lot of family members. I doubt he'll like Slytherins" Theo explained succinctly and when Eliza cast him a questioning look he shuffled nervously.
"Someone had to be the one to arrest my father"
"I'll deal with it" Eliza said. She'd talk to the professor and then if all else failed she would once again go to Severus for help, she didn't mind marking essays when she had a time turner. She would have to get that off the man before lessons tomorrow actually.
"May I introduce our new defence against the dark arts teacher, Professor Moody"
"Oh why couldn't Lupin stay" Blaise complained and Eliza snorted.
"He and Sirius have some 'catching up' to do" Eliza remarked drily
"Do you think they're-?
"Don't want to think about it"
She loved her godfather, or dog-father as he tended to call himself, but there were some aspects of his life she never wanted to think about.
"As I was saying" Dumbledore continued "it is my great pleasure to announce that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year"
"You're joking!" a Weasley shouted across the hall and Eliza had to agree with the sentiment.
The Triwizard tournament? That had to be banned because practically no champion ever survived it? She pleaded for it to be a joke.
Dumbledore carried on explaining.
It wasn't.
Letting go of her composure Eliza allowed herself to face plant the table, groaning quietly. She could hear her court snickering around her and blindly poked at whoever was closest to her.
"...only students of age will be allowed to compete..."
At least there was some sense apparent.
"..and the delegations from Beaxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October"
October.
She only had September free of absolute madness. She would just have to make the most of it.
~
The second they were dismissed from the Great Hall Eliza called for a house meeting on top of the usual welcome back. Deciding to speak before Severus arrived to greet the first years Eliza clambered up onto the coffee table so she could see all her Slytherin's and whistled loudly to get all their attentions.
"I am going to say this" Eliza began quietly, making sure they were all listening as she looked out onto the crowd "and I am only going to say it once"
"Even if you are of age, by my decree, you will not be entering the tournament"
Protests met her words but Eliza cut through them sharply.
"There has not been one tournament were someone hasn't died. There is no eternal glory, there is only death and as Slytherins I should hope you would be striving for more than that"
"But what about the money!" someone protested in the crowd.
"If you need 1000 galleons that badly, for such a noble cause, I'd be glad to provide" Eliza offered "but if your risking your life for more pocket money you will be outcast from the Slytherin house for as long as I deem fit"
The crowd was silent then, shuffling nervously beneath her glare and Eliza sighed, sitting down cross legged on the coffee table.
"I don't want to scare you, or order you, but I do want to protect you. It is not that I doubt your capabilities. All of you here are powerful wizards in your own right but Slytherins are more than just ambitious – no matter what the hat said. We are resourceful and cunning and most of all we know better. I am asking you as your leader but also as your friend, please don't put in your name. I promise it's not worth it"
Eliza blinked in surprise when the Slytherin's started cheering.
"That's our Eliza!" Warrington shouted proudly and Eliza rolled her eyes at their antics, hopping off the coffee table with a smile on her face.
"Yes Miss Potter, my sentiments exactly" Severus said, stepping into the room.
"Are we back to Miss Potter now, professor" Eliza said scrunching her nose.
"You regain first name privileges if you don't annoy me" the professor quipped startling a laugh out of Eliza.
"I hate it when you two get on" Draco said petulantly which made Eliza laugh harder as Snape welcomed the first years into Slytherin.
It was nice to be back.
~
The storm had blown itself out by next morning, but the sky remained grey and muggy. Her timetable was roughly the same as last year and Eliza was glad to see she only had one class outside today, care of magical creatures. She couldn't even begin to imagine what lesson Hagrid will have prepared for them today. Although she had grown to like the half-giant after the Hippogriffs she was still, quite rightfully, wary.
She was saddened when her suspicions were proven to be correct.
"Blast ended Screwts!" Hagrid announced, pointing at the creatures.
"Eugh" Lavender Brown screeched and really, that was the only way to describe the disgusting creatures.
"Only jus' hatched so I thought yeh could raise 'em yerselves"
Sharing a dubious look with Draco the blonde turned to look at Hagrid scornfully.
"And why would we want to raise them? I mean what do they do?" he asked narrowing his eyes at one of the screwts.
"What's the point of them?"
Hagrid couldn't answer that.
Eliza spent the rest of the lesson trying to vanish Draco's shoes.
~
It wasn't until Thursday that the Slytherin's had their first defence lesson with Professor Moody.
Eliza let the Gryffindors file in before them, all eager to take the front seats, and then walked in afterwards. She, Daphne and Blaise took the closest seats keeping Draco and Theo behind them as well as any other death eater affiliated families. She would not take any risks today.
Eliza listened intently as Moody delivered his lecture, his strange fake eye whirring around the room at a dizzying speed as he spoke.
"Do any of you know which curses are most heavily punished by wizarding law?" Moody asked and Eliza felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. This couldn't be leading anywhere good.
"Erm, the imperius?" Weasley stuttered out and Moody nodded.
"Gave the ministry a lot of trouble that one" he said and his blue eye settled on Draco, Eliza had to resist the urge to reach for her wand.
Moody walked over back to his desk and pulled out a large jar with three black crawling spiders. The professor reached into the jar and grabbed one of the spiders and in horror Eliza watched as he cast the imperius curse right in front of them.
Most of the class crowed with laughter as Moody made the spider do all sorts of tricks but her slytherins stayed silent, solemnly watching on. Eliza knew what they were thinking about, if not their own families their minds were probably going back to Eliza's past duels.
"I could make it jump out the window, drown itself, throw itself down one of your throats-
Bow
Moody continued his lecture which Eliza dutifully copied even though she was barely paying attention. She was forced into listening however when Moody loudly shouted
"CONSTANT VILIGANCE"
She didn't jump but it was a very near thing.
"A lot of people used that to escape justice at the end of the war, it was a hard time at the ministry" Moody growled looking at Draco.
"There's another curse, the- the cruciatas" Longbottom said timidly after raising his hand. Eliza was reminded of the fate his parents had suffered at the hands of the Lestrange's, she wondered how he would cope with what Moody was about to do.
The spider grew when Moody cast engogrgio on the spider before casting 'crucio'
He cast the spell so easily it made Eliza tense. Only familiarity could explain the ease in which he performed that wand movement. Alarm bells were ringing in her head and Eliza was never one to ignore them.
The spider twitched and rolled across the desk, not making a sound and Eliza observed impassively. Even when her mind echoed with the screams of another man, writhing on the floor beneath her, blood on her hands.
She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, jolting herself back into the present as Moody continued.
She had come to terms with her murders over the weeks. It had to happen, they were going to kill her. And truthfully she didn't regret it that much.
She knew a normal person would, a normal person wouldn't even be able to watch Moody torture a spider. But she wasn't normal, she just wasn't and so she couldn't hold herself to other people's standards. She killed because they were a danger to her and her own and that was it.
There was a war coming.
Eliza had no time for guilt.
"Anyone know any others?" Moody asked. Eliza didn't have to look around to know they were all looking at her.
"Avada Kedavra" she said softly, meeting Moody's hard gaze.
Moody cast the spell on the spider and through the green light Eliza could tell he hadn't taken her eyes off of her.
Tom had once told her that her eyes reminded him of the killing curse.
Eliza wondered what Moody saw, another student or perhaps another monster?
They spent the rest of the lesson in a subdued silence, dutifully nothing down Moody's lecture. He wasn't a pleasant teacher by far and aside from making most students uncomfortable he wasn't overtly unfair.
They only had him for a year anyway, they would just have to grit and bare it.
~
The rest of September continued uneventfully. Eliza continued to send letters to Sirius and the Malfoy's. She was disheartened to see she had received no owls of Tom. She wondered what he was doing but tried to banish any thoughts she had about him. She knew this would happen eventually and she refused to pine over him like some love sick teen. They had their own lives to get on with.
It was, unsurprisingly, defence that broke the calm trend September had been taking when Moody announced he would be placing them under the imperius curse.
"But- but that's illegal!" Granger squawked but once the Gryffindor's learnt the lesson had the Dumbledore seal of approval all protests stopped.
Eliza had never tried to resist the imperius curse before but there was a first time for everything.
Meeting Draco's eyes she raised an eyebrow and he nodded in response seeming sure, Theo and Daphne made a so-so gesture but Blaise shook his head mournfully. That wasn't too bad, Draco and Theo had more secrets that needed to be kept hidden than the others. And if Eliza could bide some time they wouldn't have to be put under the curse at all.
Moody cast the spell on the Gryffindors first and Eliza watched disdainfully as Moody embarrassed each and every one of her classmates.
"Now then" he growled, his eyes resting on Draco from across the classroom. Before he could call Draco up however Eliza slipped out of her seat.
"Oh is it my turn professor?" Eliza chirped as she stood up.
"Eager, Miss Potter?"
"I just can't wait to show these Gryffindors how it's done" Eliza replied cockily, hoping he would fall for the bait.
"If you insist Miss Potter"
"Why of course professor" Eliza demurred and came to stand in front of him.
"Imperio" he said and Eliza immediately felt weightless, she practically slumped into the feeling of pure relaxation which promised nothing but vague untraceable happiness.
It felt...wrong
Now why don't you bow
Bow? Why would she do that? She wouldn't do that for anyone. The happiness surrounding her increased and Eliza bristled uncomfortably at the overwhelming feeling, it just wasn't right.
Bow
No thanks, said a voice Eliza was inclined to agree with, I'd rather not actually.
BOW
Eliza jolted awake harshly, stumbling back with a sharp breath before she smiled at the professor.
"Really professor? I think you'll have to try harder than that"
"Now that's more like it" Moody growled congratulating her.
"Let's try again Potter"
"Eager, professor?" Eliza smirked, throwing his own words back at him.
Eliza spent the rest of the lesson throwing off the imperius curse which became easier and easier with each time. It was incredibly annoying but when the lesson was dismissed Moody had no time to cast the imperius curse on the rest of her Slytherins.
One disaster, successfully avoided.
~
The locket was now nothing more than an empty husk, a remnant of the slytherin legacy, a reminder of his past. At least Tom had been proven right. He had absorbed the horcrux on the upcoming Sabbath. The pain was still immense but Tom found his soul (as it was) settled easier. Memories slotted into place quicker and Tom found that the ache in his bones disappeared faster.
It was overall a lot more bearable and Tom decided it was worth the wait to absorb his last horcrux on Samhain if it meant he recovered faster.
Although he was incredibley curious to know just what Eliza discussed with his horcruxes. He regained his memories everytime he absorbed one of his horcruxes but any memories with Eliza were oddly blurred and Tom could only assume it was because they took a place in a seperate mindscape. He could still feel emotions however, joy, curiosity, protectiveness. He wanted nothing more than to write a letter and see exactly what she was up to.
But until then he had more pressing matters to deal with.
His counterpart was still out there somewhere, obviously biding his time. Tom couldn't risk making a move to reach out to the rest of his followers if Voldemort was going to be aware of his actions. Which meant Tom couldn't make a move until his counterpart was dealt with.
In the long term, finding his counterpart was possibly the least challenging this he intended to, and it would be if he could just find him.
Yes, Tom had somehow lost track of himself.
His second time being seventeen and he was already caught up in an absolute clusterfuck of a situation.
But he was patient, and more than willing to coerce anyone for any information on Voldemort. Plus the man was hardly in any fit state to realise the slight intrusion of his mind when Tom subtly poked through their link. In fact, after poking about his mind, Tom was surprised his counterpart could think of anything clearly. His mind pulsed with rage constantly, leaping from paranoid thought to violent outburst. It was tiring, it was hard to believe Tom had let himself live like that for so long. But in the ramshackle corridors of his own mind Tom had found Voldemort's plans which even in his deranged state still had merit.
Which brought him all the way too Western Russia.
His counterpart was planning on resurrecting himself, regaining a body. And to that he would need Eliza Potter. Something they both had in common, too bad that Tom was certain that this game was one he would win.
"Hello Karkaroff" Tom purred as he finally broke into the headmaster's office with a laughable ease.
"Long time" Tom paused, training his wand on the headmaster who was paralysed with fear "no see"
Karkaroff's dark mark burned in the presence of its master.
The man whimpered, stumbling from his desk pathetically coming to slump down to the floor in front of Tom, clutching at his burning arm. Tom revelled in the power.
"My lord" the man managed to choke out feebly.
Oh it was nice to be back.