Summary: Carina visits Draco in the Hospital Wing. She receives a letter from Narcissa. Sirius Black invades Hogwarts.
My dumb brother managed to hurt himself on the first day of school trying to touch Hagrid's hippogriff in the Care of Magical Creatures class, so Stella and I go to the Hospital Wing to visit him before dinner. I have to stop myself from retching and vomiting at the scene I see when I get there. Pansy feeding my brother as if he were a baby, while he moans in pain. You'd think Madam Pomfrey couldn't have enchanted a spoon to do that... Stella, who is next to me, laughs at the scene.
"I thought I was going to come here and see you without an arm, how dramatic you are." I say to warn Draco and Pansy that they're not alone.
"For your information, blood traitor, your brother was very brave to try to caress that giant chicken." says Pansy, with a tone of superiority. "What are you two disgraces to the Sacred Twenty-Eight doing here? Have you come to bother Draco?"
I can see Draco's discomfort at Pansy's words. I know that deep down my brother doesn't believe what she's saying, well, Stella and I might even be blood traitors according to what the supremacists of the wizarding world believe, we might even be considered disgraces by the Sacred Twenty-Eight, but I know that Draco deep down is annoyed by her words, it's a shame that my brother is too coward to retort to her.
"Well, I'm still a Malfoy, aren't I?" I say, approaching the two of them. "Which means that, like it or not, I'm still his sister. And you?" I say, looking her up and down. "You're pathetic, trying your best to suck up to my brother because of that ridiculous crush of yours." she turns visibly red. "At least I don't need to throw myself at anyone to feel that I have value, to gain the approval of my parents."
She recovers from what I say before she says, "Well, it doesn't matter what you do, does it? Now that you're a blood traitor you'll never win your parents' approval anyway." she flashes a cynical smile, as if she had won the argument.
"You motherf..." Stella takes a step forwards, holding out her wand. The soup Pansy was feeding Draco flies straight into her face.
Stella and I burst into laughter at the sight of Pansy soaking wet. I can even see my brother holding back his laughter. Pansy is furious and takes a step forwards with her wand in hand, but Draco holds her arm with the hand that isn't bandaged. Pansy looks angrily at my brother. "You will let them get away with this?! Look what they did to me!"
"Come on, Pansy... You started it." says Draco.
Pansy leaves with heavy steps and mutters I don't know how many different swear words at me and Stella. As soon as she leaves and the door to the Hospital Wing closes, I look at Stella with a smile. "Well done."
Draco sighs and leans back against the pillows, looking exhausted. I sit on the edge of the bed where my brother is lying. "Have our parents come to visit their little boy on his deathbed?" I ask.
Stella giggles and sits down in the armchair that Pansy was sitting in a few minutes ago.
Draco rolls his eyes. "It hurts, okay? It was a deep cut, according to Madam Pomfrey."
"Please, Draco, it's not like she didn't give you some kind of pain potion... Stop being such a drama queen." says Stella.
Draco decides to ignore her. "Father and Mum came earlier to see how I'm doing. Father is furious."
Stella and I spend a few more minutes with my brother before we leave and walk to the Great Hall for dinner. We meet up with Ginny and then we both walk over to the Gryffindor table, where I see Emma getting up. I give her a smile and she smiles back. Ginny and I then sit down, joining the others.
The next morning at breakfast I receive a letter from Mum.
𝑫𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒂,
𝑰'𝒎 𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒍 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒇𝒇 𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕. 𝑹𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒈𝒐𝒅𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝑺𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝑻𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒚-𝑬𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒈𝒐𝒅𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒐𝒅𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒏𝒐𝒕. 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒂𝒖𝒏𝒕 𝑩𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒙 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑹𝒐𝒅𝒐𝒍𝒑𝒉𝒖𝒔 𝑳𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑫𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒐'𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒅𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔.
𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒐𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒐𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝑾𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑰'𝒎 𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒓, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒃 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒔.
𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆, 𝑵𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒂.
That explains why there's so little talk of our godparents, since they're both in Azkaban. I don't know why I feel a certain sadness knowing that my godparents are them, since it was to be expected. Who else would my parents have chosen? Rabastan and Marta, Stella's parents, might be another option, but they're not so different from Aunt Bella and Rodolphus... Deep down I wish my godparents could have been Aunt Andy and her husband Edward, but I know that would be impossible. I wonder if things had been different, would Andromeda have been my godmother? It kind of makes sense, Mum's older sister being Draco's godmother and the middle one being mine...
Halloween is here. I can't deny that I'm envious of the third-year students (like my brother) who can go to Hogsmeade for the weekend. I spend Saturday afternoon finishing the remaining homework, and then, together with a few people from my year like Stella, Ginny, and Luna, we sit outside by the Black Lake.
When dinner time comes round, I frown when Theo approaches the Gryffindor table carrying something in a bag. I notice a few people looking at him, curious, it's not every day that you see someone a Slytherin purposely approach the Gryffindor table to talk to one of us (well, apart from Emma, of course).
"What's that?" I ask, pointing to the bag Theodore is carrying.
He smiles before handing me the bag. "A few things from Hogsmeade."
He chuckles. "Of course, I had to make up for the fact that my best friend couldn't come with me to Hogsmeade. But to tell you the truth, there are several things in the bag that your brother bought for you..."
I'm grateful that Draco has been so kind (who knew?). "Who knew that little Draco had such a soft heart?" I turn to the Slytherin table to find my brother's gaze already on me, smiling shyly. I smile back, silently thanking him for the gesture.
Shortly afterwards, the feast is served and the ghosts give a performance. When dinner is over, I'm excited to go back to my dormitory with my friends and get a better look at what my brother has bought for me. We walk to Gryffindor Tower, but near the entrance we see a commotion of other Gryffindor students.
"Somebody get Professor Dumbledore. Quick." says Percy Weasley, who arrives just before us.
The five of us look at each other in confusion.
"What's going on?" says Ginny.
Seconds later, Professor Dumbledore arrives, making his way through the students towards the portrait at the entrance. I see Harry, Ron and Hermione a little further on.
"Oh, my..." Hermione says, grabbing Harry's arm. I can't deny that I feel a twinge of jealousy towards her right now, I wish she was holding onto my arm...
As soon as I turn my attention to what's really important, I realise that the Fat Lady is no longer in the portrait. The portrait has been torn. Dumbledore turns round, I've never seen his gaze as dark as it is now. Professor McGonagall, together with Lupin, runs up to the headmaster.
"We need to find her," says Dumbledore. "Professor McGonagall, please go to Mr. Filch at once and tell him to search every painting in the castle for the Fat Lady."
"You'll be lucky!" says Peeves, the poltergeist.
"What do you mean, Peeves?" says Dumbledore calmly.
"Ashamed, Your Headship, sir. Doesn't want to be seen. She's a horrible mess. Saw her running through the landscape up on the fourth floor, sir, dodging between the trees. Crying something dreadful," he says. "Poor thing,"
"Did she say who did it?" the headmaster asks.
"Oh yes, Professorhead," says Peeves. "He got very angry when she wouldn't let him in, you see. Nasty temper he's got, that Sirius Black."
Sirius Black broke into Hogwarts. Sirius is my mum's cousin. He was another of the Black family to be disowned, all because he was sorted into Gryffindor, just like me. He's one of the most notorious criminals in the UK wizarding world, because he killed who knows how many people on the same night that Harry and Emma's parents were murdered. He's been in Azkaban ever since, until he recently escaped...
All the Gryffindor students are led by McGonagall into the Great Hall. A few minutes later the students from the other Houses arrive, accompanied by the Heads of their Houses. Once all the students are safely in the Hall, Dumbledore speaks, "The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle," says Dumbledore as soon as Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick close the doors to the Great Hall behind us. "I'm afraid that, for your own safety, you will have to spend the night here. I want the prefects to stand guard over the entrances to the hall and I am leaving the Head Boy and Girl in charge. Any disturbance should be reported to me immediately," he adds, addressing Percy Weasley, Head Boy. "Send word with one of the ghosts."
The headmaster stops before leaving the hall and turns to us. "Oh, yes, you'll be needing..."
With his wand, he moves the tables of the four houses to the corners and conjures up hundreds of sleeping bags.
"Sleep well," he says, closing the door as he passes.
The students start chatting as soon as Dumbledore leaves. Some Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students approach (including Emma, Stella and Luna), curious to know what happened.
"We were on our way back to the common room when we saw that the portrait guarding the entrance was empty, the Fat Lady was gone." I explain. I see that Draco and some of his colleagues also approach me to listen.
"Her portrait was cut." says Amber next to me.
"By whom?" Aster Diggory asks.
"Peeves said it was Sirius Black." replies Ginny.
As a result, many people gasp in fear and others start whispering about why Black invaded the castle. I exchange glances with Draco and Stella. The commotion doesn't last long.
"Everyone into their sleeping bags!" shouts Percy Weasley. "Come on, now, no more talking! Lights out in ten minutes!"
I grab a sleeping bag and choose to stay close to Draco and Stella. We set up our sleeping bags and soon we're in bed.
"Black is your cousin, isn't he?" says Stella. "I remember my mother telling me that Aunt Bella's cousin was a blood traitor and a maniac..."
Draco and I nod.
"What do you think he's doing here?" I ask anxiously. "I mean, break into the castle? What did he want in the Gryffindor common room?"
"Wasn't he one of the Dark Lord's most loyal servants?" says Draco. "Maybe he blamed his defeat on Potter, and broke into the castle to go after him..."
"But breaking into the Gryffindor common room when there's no one there?" says Stella. "I don't know, I don't think it's the best time if he wanted to get back at Harry or something..."
Everything is very strange in this story. After all, why is Sirius a criminal allied with Voldemort? It doesn't make sense... Voldemort's main cause was blood purity, and it's not for nothing that many of his allies (including my own father and my aunt Bellatrix) are also pure-blood supremacists. Why would a 'blood traitor' ally himself with the very people who are against him? There's something weird about all this.