"You have to focus, Marina! I have taught you better than this."
Tom looked at Marina with fire in his eyes as she dropped her hand to the side. She shook her head, and with a weak voice whispered, "it's not that easy Father. It's not, it's not, it's not..."
The chilling air of the Chamber of Secrets made her shiver - or maybe it was just her fear? Her father clenched his jaw, taking a step forward. "Focus!" he bellowed, which resulted in her jumping. "After you feel the adrenaline - the crave to do it again - you will regret even hesitating!"
Marina was completely frozen now. She could feel tears begin to form in her eyes, but she didn't want him to see it, so she looked down at the floor and squeezed her eyes shut. She needed to be strong; weapons don't weep. Tears were a sign of weakness, and she was not weak. But Merlin, she felt her fear crush her when Tom bowed down beside Ginny, who was in some kind of dream state, and used his wand to play with her hair.
"I can't do it, Father-"
"Just two simple words..."
"It will kill her!"
"You know she will be dead anyway. But my method will be far, far worse."
When Marina did not do anything except stare at the younger girl trough glossy eyes, Tom dug his wand into Ginny's cheek.
"Well, then... I thought I had raised you right. But I guess not... Crucio!"
Unbearable pain, taking over every cell of the body. As Ginny twitched on the ground, Marina collapsed beside her. She could hear her father laugh when he heard her screams - it seemed like he enjoyed her pain.
Suddenly, it ended. All the suffering, suddenly lifted off her. Marina bolted upwards, her eyes flickering around the room. The black bed sheet, the sound of being underwater; yes, she was still in the Dorm Room. It had only been a dream - a nightmare. Sweat was dripping from her forehead as she slowly walked out of the room, looking down at her shaking hands.
Her father had been creating nightmares in her head since her second year. He wanted to make her stronger, braver, but it seemed only to break her; parts of her died with the nightmares, and she couldn't do anything to stop it. It was like her father had taken over her mind and played with it like a toy.
Entering the Common Room with heavy steps, she still found it hard to breathe properly. She dug her fingernails into her skin, and bit down on the inside of her cheek. It was dark, yet she could quickly see the shadow of a boy.
Her cousin sat on the leather couch, dressed in his pajamas, his empty eyes staring into the flames. Was there somebody Marina trusted with her life, it was her cousin. He seemed to be the only one who truly understood her, and she would do everything to protect him.
As he turned to look at her, his grey eyes glistening, she decided that she couldn't carry her burden alone anymore. She had to tell someone about what was happening to her at night.
She dropped down next to him on the sofa, the cold leather meeting her skin. Her head found his shoulders naturally.
"Are you alright?" the blond spoke with a tired voice. He brought a hand up to her curls, gently brushing them behind her ear.
"I don't think so," Marina whimpered.
And as if Draco was able to read her mind, he sighed, "what does he want?"
She turned to face him. "He comes to me in my dreams." She would have sounded nearly fearless if it wasn't for her breaking voice when she continued, "he takes me to the Chamber of Secrets, wanting me to hurt others... To train me to kill Harry..."
"So, what?"
Marina's lip trembled. She couldn't take it anymore: the feeling, the fear, the torture, the screaming, the pain... All caused by someone she should trust. Someone she should love. "I don't know what to do, Draco. I can't stay strong when he scares me like that. He says he will... kill me."
"He won't, Marina, not you." He gently took her hand, trying to swallow the lump in his throat. "He would never kill you, you're his daughter. Hey, hush, you're going to be alright, I promise. All you have to do is complete the mission."
"But, in the nightmares he says-"
"It's okay, it's over now," he cut her off.
"No," she mumbled, "it hasn't even begun."
The morning came, and the Great Hall filled with students chatting in all languages when it was time for breakfast. Marina was sitting with the Durmstrang students by the Slytherin table. A boy named Isak was at her side, rambling about the studies they had up in the cold north. His eyes flickered around the table as he spoke, but her eyes never left him.
All her life, Death Eaters had trained her to become a weapon. She had learned a hundred ways to kill and torture, how to persuade someone into getting the information you want from them, how to appear to be innocent, and then - perhaps the one thing she thought was the most important in her situation - how to read someone and their body language.
Marina feared Isak had been taught the same, for she found everyone else in the room easy to read, but him. The flickering of his eyes could tell her that he wasn't completely with her. He was probably making lies in his head that would soon travel to his mouth and her ears so that he could appear much more interesting than he really was. But his voice was monotone, and he lacked emotion in his face.
He began to talk about Dark Arts. If he was telling the truth, Durmstrang Institute embraced the darkness. The students at the school learned what it was and how to use it. When he was finished talking, she leaned on the table, and spoke, "It's nothing like Hogwarts then. Everyone here is so sensitive."
Now, a dirty smirk appeared on his lips. He ran his hand through his hair - was he nervous? "Are you, though?"
"Me?" she chuckled. "No. If it was my choice, the Dark Arts would be prioritized in teaching. I mean, we are blessed to have this power, right? Why not use it?"
Dumbledore clapped his hands together. Both Marina and Isak turned to him. The Headmaster took a stand beside the Goblet of Fire, and his lips tucked upward when the students in the room became silent.
This was the moment Marina had been waiting for. She straightened her back, hearing Dumbledore speak, "It's time for the Champion Selection!"
The light of the Goblet of Fire dampened. She peeked toward the staff table. Junior was sitting between Flitwick and Sprout - the last one clearly trying to hold a conversation with him. Yet, his attention belonged to Marina. They were the only ones in the room who knew what was about to happen. He grinned, stabbing his fork into his food, and she turned to the Gryffindors. Poor Potter, she thought, almost laughing to herself. Always so clueless about what's about to come.
Out of the Goblet of Fire flew a patch of paper. Dumbledore caught in with one hand.
"The Durmstrang champion is Viktor Krum!"
Applause broke out. Krum got up from his seat, nearly knocking the table over. The boys of Durmstrang Institute chanted his name, almost grunting, and several people pat his back before he walked to stand next to Dumbledore.
The Goblet of Fire spat out another patch of paper, and with a gush of wind, it fell to the floor. The Headmaster of Hogwarts bowed down to pick it up, his moon-shaped glasses sliding to the tip of his nose.
"The champion from Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour!"
A blonde, tall girl shot up. She waved proudly to the people in the hall as if she had suddenly become a royal, accepting loud roars and applause from the crowds of students before running to stand next to Krum.
Now, the room turned silent. The students of Hogwarts knew what was about to happen: the Goblet of Fire would spit out the name of one of their own, and the possessor of the name would have to defend Hogwarts' reputation all through the year.
Sudden darkness fell upon Dumbledore's face when the next patch of paper flew out of the Goblet. Marina closed her eyes and waited for her name.
"What is..." One could hear Dumbledore mumble. "Harry Potter? Harry Potter!"
Before Harry could even get up from his seat, a fourth and final name flew out of the fire.
"Marina Black..."
In just one simple second, chaos broke out. Pansy grunted loudly; Draco froze; Blaise stomped his foot on the floor; Isak clutched Marina's hand, and chatter broke out in the hall. The cunning Black let her jaw drop, and faked a surprised look.
"What is going on?" Dumbledore hissed. The fire turned blue, signalizing that it had nothing more to announce - all was said and done. To avoid any more attention, the headmaster dragged the champions to behind the stage.
What was left in the great hall, was a thousand of confused witches and wizards. The Hufflepuff table was trying to comfort Cedric Diggory, who had promised his father to win the tournament for Hogwarts. The Gryffindor table was looking at Ron and Hermione, demanding answers as if they had them. The Slytherin table was in conflict, half of the serpents happy to have a representative, the other half scared to death for Marina.
"Harry, did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire?" Dumbledore asked calmly.
Harry was standing uncomfortably in front of Dumbledore. "No, I promise."
"He must have," the giant headmistress of the Beauxbatons Academy cried.
"Did you, Marina?"
"No, Headmaster," she twirled a strand of her curly hair around her finger. "How was I supposed to do that? You put an age line around it, remember?"
"They can't compete, can they?" Snape shot in from behind her. "It could end horribly."
Dumbledore took a deep breath. Marina locked eyes with Harry, and pouted her lips.
"We must follow the rules. We will have to send them into the tasks, whether we like it or not," the Headmaster confirmed. "They have no choice: from this night on, Marina and Harry are Triwizard Champions."
Fleur began shouting in French to her Headmistress, and several others, including Igor, stomped their feet into the ground and cried out in frustration. Snape leaned closer to Marina, making sure nobody else heard his words. "You do understand that this will be extremely dangerous?" he said.
"You do understand this will be extremely..." Marina answered, clearly mocking his tone, "necessary."
She looked at Snape with an enormous amount of confidence. She knew what she had to do, and she knew that she would face eternal glory soon enough.