LATIBULE
(n.) a hiding place; a place of safety and comfort
TESSA WAS HEARTILY EATING HER BREAKFAST THE NEXT MORNING. She was hungry and in a good mood — too good of a mood to even bother making a snide response to Pansy Parkinson who had publicly declared her disgust on the massive amount of food she ate.
Theo had grinned smugly when his point was proven after Draco had snapped at Pansy to mind her own business.
Snarling bodyguard, he'd said during the World Cup.
They were currently going over their new course schedules as Fred, George, and Lee discussed methods on bluffing their way into the Tournament a few seats down.
"Today's not bad . . . outside all morning," Ron hummed as he trailed a finger along today's classes. "Herbology with the Hufflepuffs and Care of Magical Creatures . . . damn it, we're still with the Slytherins . . . "
"Double Divination this afternoon," Harry groaned, pouting at Tessa as though she had the power to delete that subject forever from History.
"You should have given it up like me, shouldn't you?" Hermione said stiffly, spreading butter onto her toast. "Then you'd be doing something sensible like Arithmancy."
"I don't like anything related to numbers and mathematical problems," Tessa grumbled through a mouthful of sausage.
Ron laughed. "Well, I heard that most athletes aren't very well-inclined in subjects involving numbers."
"That's very stereotypical of you, Ron," Tessa tutted while shaking her head.
Ron snorted before turning his attention to Hermione who was adding loads and loads of jam to her toast. "You're eating again, I notice."
"I've decided there are better ways of making a stand about elf rights," Hermione replied haughtily.
"Yeah . . . and you were hungry." Ron grinned with Tessa.
There was a familiar rustling noise above, and Tessa pushed her empty plate aside as she watched the hundreds of owls soar in with their morning mail. Her eyes fell on Tommy's golden feathers that contrasted brightly amidst the brown and gray — and to her amusement, found Draco's eagle owl flying right next to him.
The eagle owl parted from Tommy, soaring to perch on Draco's shoulder with the heap of sweets his mother sent him. Tessa waited for Tommy to make his usual circle directly above her before landing on her shoulder as well.
"'Ello, Thomas — what do you have for me today?" she crooned sweetly, taking all the letters from him. She made a move to reach over for some bacon to feed him, but the owl had hooted once and left her shoulder. She watched with a dropped jaw as he flew over to Catherine who had an arm stretched out for him. "Wow — what a betrayer," she drawled and stuck her tongue out at her mother and Tommy.
Tessa looked to see she had two letters, a small parchment of a note, and a parcel. She first opened the letters to find them to be from Uncle Kasi and Philip.
Dear Tessa,
I'm truly sorry for not being able to see you off to the station yesterday — work has gotten even more hectic these past few weeks. I wanted to be able to see you and your mum back home for Christmas, but when I heard about the Triwizard Tournament — I figured you two would want to stay. That's the reason why Cathy pretended to work there for this year when she heard from Dumbledore.
Anyways — I hope you behave well this year now that she's there. I also hope this means fewer trips to the hospital wing, and fewer letters from McGonagall about your detentions and pranks. Continue to study hard for this year, I'll always be proud of you.
Love you and miss you a lot,
Uncle Kasi
Tessie,
Did you hear about the Tournament? I'm sure you have by now! Wow — how exciting that must be? I'm a bit envious on how it's taking place there in Hogwarts. You're lucky to get to watch it all happen.
But anyways — your birthday is coming up in a month. Is there anything in particular you'd like this year? A book you've been dying to read? Some pranking items? Write back to me, and I'll see if I can have Tommy send it back to you.
I really miss you a lot, and I hope I can see you soon.
Love always,
Philip
Tessa grinned and pulled out a fresh roll of parchment and a quill from her bag. Pushing all the plates around her aside, she started to scrawl her message back to them.
Dear Uncle,
That's alright! I knew about work, and understand it's not easy to leave anytime you want to. Don't worry — we'll have plenty of time in the future to get together. Take care at home, and don't skip meals!
Maybe you can have your meals with Remus? Uncle Alex? Or maybe with Grandma Odette and Grandpa Edward? I hate eating alone as well — so maybe eating with someone might help.
No promises on being at my best behavior!
Love,
Tessa
Dear Philip,
It's honestly a great surprise when I found out about the Tournament! But yes — I'm very excited to see how everything plays out. Don't worry — I'll be sure to write to you when it starts!
For my birthday? Well . . . it would be nice if you somehow managed to create a potion that ages you to seventeen, and permits you to come to Hogwarts. I don't really have anything in particular to ask for. This year, I'd be happy to just be able to see you at least once in Hogsmeade!
Love and miss you even more,
Tessie
Tessa sharply whistled once, and Tommy instantly soared over to her as she let him take the letters and fly back to the Owlery. She then proceeded to open the parcel — and to her surprise lay a book inside: The Giver by Lois Lowry. There was a note slipped between the pages that said:
This is a brand new Muggle book that was just published last year — and I thought you might be interested in reading it. I've read it this summer, and I know not many witches and wizards have heard of it — but it'd be nice if you gave it a try. Hope you like it.
From: doesn't matter
Hermione peered over her shoulder and cooed, "Another letter from your secret admirer? If you don't find out who he is by this year, I will." Tessa burst out laughing at that before smiling to herself and sliding the book carefully into her bag.
Lastly — the parchment note. She picked it up and let her eyes skim through the words written in elegant cursive — a stark contrast from the shitty print of the former one:
The sunflower seeds you gave me last Christmas bloomed a few weeks ago during the summer. It's a shame I can't give you one, Braveheart. They looked really bright and yellow last I saw them.
Tessa nearly had a whiplash with how fast she snapped her head up. Her breath caught in her throat upon realizing he was already looking at her, that amused sort of fondness in that pale, pointed face of his. He winked at her, and she narrowed her eyes at him. Stop winking at me, or else.
Draco smirked at her, propping his cheek up with a fist. Make me.
Tessa flushed at that, words failing her once again as she bit her lip in slight panic. She glanced around wildly for a moment, unsure of what to do or say before she looked back at him — and noted the way something flickered in his eyes that were trained on her mouth and the way she chewed her bottom lip. He brought those silver eyes of his back up to her and —
"Tessa, come on! We're going to be late to class," Hermione said as she yanked the girl up to her feet and out the Great Hall.
ϟ ϟ ϟ ϟ
After a rather long Herbology class of collecting bubotuber pus, it was finally time for Care of Magical Creatures with the Slytherins. Tessa and the others walked down toward Hagrid's hut at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid himself was standing outside, a hand on his boarhound, Fang. There were several open wooden crates on the ground with an odd rattling noise that sounded like minor explosions.
"Mornin'!" Hagrid said, grinning at the four of them. "Be'er wait fer the Slytherins, they won' want ter miss this — Blast-Ended Skrewts!"
"Come again?" Ron said.
Hagrid pointed down into the crates as Lavender Brown squealed and jumped backward. The Skrewts looked like deformed, shell-less lobsters with legs sticking out in odd places and no visible heads. There were about a hundred of them in each crate, each about six inches long, and smelled like rotting fish. Every now and then, sparks would fly out of the end of one of them.
"On'y jus' hatched," Hagrid said proudly, "so yeh'll be able ter raise 'em yerselves! Thought we'd make a bit of a project of it!"
"And why would we want to raise them?" came the drawl of Draco Malfoy, signaling the arrival of the Slytherins.
Ron's nostrils slightly flared as both him and Hermione turned to give Tessa a look. She rolled her eyes and said in an irritated voice, "I'm not his keeper — don't look at me like that."
But nonetheless, she did throw a glance over her shoulder to Draco who caught her gaze and looked momentarily shocked. He cleared his throat and rephrased his question, "I mean, what do they do? What is the point of them?"
Hagrid looked stumped for a second as he thought really hard. He said gruffly after a while, "Tha's next lesson, Malfoy. Yer jus' feedin' 'em today. Now, yeh'll wan' ter try 'em on a few diff'rent things — I've never had 'em before, not sure what they'll go fer — I got ant eggs an' frog livers an' a bit o' grass snake — just try 'em out with a bit of each."
"First pus and now this," Seamus muttered under his breath, and Tessa couldn't help but to laugh quietly with Harry at that.
They got to work shortly — trying to toss frog livers inside the crate, but the skrewts didn't seem to have any sort of mouth.
"Ouch!" Dean exclaimed. "It got me! Its end exploded!" He angrily showed Hagrid a burn on his hand.
"Ah, yeah, that can happen when they blast off," Hagrid said with a nod.
Rhea Huang let out a squeal, jumping backwards to point. "Hagrid, what's that pointy thing on it?"
"Ah, some of 'em have got stings," Hagrid said enthusiastically as Lavender quickly withdrew her hand. "I reckon they're the males . . . The females've got sorta sucker things on their bellies . . . I think they might be ter suck blood."
"Well, I can certainly see why we're trying to keep them alive," Draco said sarcastically. "Who wouldn't want pets that can burn, sting, and bite all at once?"
"Just because they're not very pretty, it doesn't mean they're not useful," Hermione snapped. "Dragon blood's amazingly magical, but you wouldn't want a dragon for a pet, would you?"
At that, Tessa swiveled around to meet gazes with Draco who sent her a look. I honestly don't see the point of these . . . things. They keep threatening me with their stingers, too. He pushed his sleeves higher up his elbows to keep from slipping and getting stained with frog liver.
She rolled her eyes at him. Don't be such a crybaby. Be nice to Hagrid, or I'll gift these to you on Christmas instead of more pretty sunflower seeds.
Suffice to say, Draco quietly worked throughout the remaining of the class.
"Well, at least the skrewts are small," Ron said as they made their way back up to the castle for lunch.
"They are now," Hermione said exasperatedly, "but once Hagrid's found out what they eat, I expect they'll be six feet long."
"Well, that won't matter if they turn out to cure seasickness or something, will it?" Ron said slyly.
"You know perfectly well I only said that to shut Malfoy up. As a matter of fact I think he's right. The best thing to do would be to stamp on the lot of them before they start attacking us all."
Tessa let out a dramatic gasp. "Did I hear that right? Hermione actually agreeing with something Draco said? Goodness — the world must be ending!"
Hermione scrunched her nose up at her and said nothing as they sat down and started to help themselves to lamb chops and potatoes. She started to wolf down her food, leaving Harry and Ron staring wide-eyed at her.
"Hey, The Girl Who Lived To Eat," Ron called over to Tessa who sat on the other side of Harry. He jutted a thumb to Hermione. "Is this her new stand on elf rights? She's going to make herself puke instead?"
"No," Hermione said, her mouth bulging with sprouts. She didn't notice the face Tessa made at her talking with her mouth full. "I just want to get to the library."
"What?" Ron cried out in disbelief. "Hermione — it's the first day back! We haven't even got homework yet!"
She shrugged and scarfed down everything else on her plate. "See you at dinner!" Hermione waved at them as she bolted out of the Great Hall.
"I don't know how she can only manage to eat one plate of something so delicious," Tessa tutted to herself. Her brother snorted and slid over some more lamb chops to her.
When the bell rang, the three of them set off to Professor Trelawney's classroom. They entered and sat in their same circular table. "Good day," Trelawney's misty voice said from behind them, making Harry jump and knock his knee against Tessa's.
Trelawney appeared, her glasses bigger and rounded than ever as she peered at Harry.
"You are preoccupied, my dear. My inner eye sees past your brave face to the troubled soul within. And I regret to say that your worries are not baseless. I see difficult times ahead for you, alas . . . most difficult . . . I fear the thing you dread will indeed come to pass . . . and perhaps sooner than you think . . . "
Tessa and Ron shared an eye roll as Trelawney strode to the front of the room.
"My dears, it is time for us to consider the stars," she said. "The movements of the planets and the mysterious portents they reveal only to those who understand the steps of the celestial dance. Human destiny may be deciphered by the planetary rays, which intermingle . . ."
"Stars," Tessa mumbled softly as she half-listened to Trelawney's rambled discussions. "Interesting."
Trelawney continued to talk about planet positions, when she pointed out Harry being born under Saturn's influence. Tessa glanced over at him, but he seemed to be daydreaming.
"Harry," she murmured and kicked him gently under the table to nudge him awake.
Harry blinked in surprise. "What?"
"I was saying, my dear, that you were clearly born under the baleful influence of Saturn," Trelawney repeated in her wistful voice.
"Born under — what, sorry?"
"Saturn, dear, the planet Saturn! I was saying that Saturn was surely in a position of power in the heavens at the moment of your birth . . . Your dark hair . . . your mean stature . . . tragic losses so young in life . . . I think I am right in saying, my dear, that you were born in midwinter?"
Tessa couldn't conceal the snort that left her as Harry said dryly, "No, I was born in July."
At the end of the class, Tessa wasn't entirely pleased with how much homework they'd been assigned. "A detailed analysis of the way the planetary movements in the coming month will affect you, with reference to your personal chart," she snapped. "I want it ready to hand in next Monday, and no excuses!"
"Miserable old bat," Ron said bitterly as they walked towards the Great Hall for dinner. "That'll take all weekend, that will . . . "
"Lots of homework?" Hermione said brightly. "Professor Vector didn't give us any at all!"
"Well, bully for Professor Vector."
They reached the entrance hall, which was packed with people queuing for dinner. Tessa slowly turned around to go down the other corridor. "I'll be back," she told them with a quick wave. "Need to go to the loo."
Tessa swiftly used the bathroom nearby, washed her hands, and made her way back — only to hear a resonating BANG — followed closely by a voice yelling, "OH NO YOU DON'T, LADDIE!"
Tessa shut off running down the corridor, turning left to see Professor Moody limping down the staircase to where a pure white ferret lay shivering on the floor on Harry's feet. For a moment, complete and utter confusion filled Tessa — until she caught sight of Crabbe and Goyle watching the animal fearfully. She gasped and spluttered, "Draco?!"
"Did he get you?" Moody growled upon approaching Harry.
"No," Harry replied, "missed."
"LEAVE IT!" Moody shouted, causing Tessa to jump in surprise.
"Leave — what?" Harry said, bewildered.
"Not you — him!"
Tessa was lost on whether to laugh at the situation or be concerned for Draco, as Crabbe and Goyle picked up the ferret and started running toward the dungeons.
"I don't think so!" Moody roared, pointing his wand to the ferret that flew ten feet into the air, and fell smack to the floor. Tessa let out a strangled noise at that, watching horridly as Moody continued to make the ferret bounce up and down in the air. "I don't like people who attack when their opponent's back's turned. Stinking, cowardly, scummy thing to do . . . "
"Stop!" Tessa cried out, trying to push her way through the crowd but Ron and Harry held her still. "You're hurting him!"
"Never — do — that — again —" Moody continued, making the ferret smack against the cold floor in every bounce.
"Professor Moody!" came the shocked voice of Professor McGonagall, and Tessa whipped around to see her carrying a stack of books.
"Hello, Professor McGonagall," Moody replied calmly.
"What — what are you doing?"
"Teaching."
"Teach — Moody, is that a student?" McGonagall shrieked, the books spilling from her arms.
"Yep."
"Professor, it's Draco!" Tessa exclaimed, still in disbelief Moody dared to do such a thing to a person.
"No!" McGonagall darted forward with her wand out — and a moment later, Draco took the place of the ferret. His hair was disheveled, and his face was bright red. He brought himself up to his knees, wincing in pain.
Tessa stopped struggling in the boys' arms as she silently took his figure in. She scanned his face and arms that were visible, quietly noting which places were bruised. She knew he must've been a prat again to Harry and did something mean again — but for him to be transformed to a ferret and smacked repeatedly up and down the floor was not what he deserved as punishment.
"Moody, we never use Transfiguration as a punishment!" Professor McGonagall said weakly. "Surely Professor Dumbledore told you that?"
"He might've mentioned it, yeah," moody said gruffly, "but I thought a good sharp shock —"
"We give detentions, Moody! Or speak to the offender's Head of House!"
"I'll do that, then."
Draco was still on the floor, forcing himself to stand to his feet with pain etched on his features. He growled lowly under his breath, "My father will — "
"Oh yeah?" Moody approached him, his leg clunking noisily. "Well, I know your father of old, boy . . . You tell him Moody's keeping a close eye on his son . . . you tell him that from me . . . Now, your Head of House'll be Snape, will it?"
"Yes," Draco muttered resentfully.
"Another old friend. I've been looking forward to a chat with old Snape . . . Come on, you . . . " With that, he yanked Draco up by the arm and tugged him toward the dungeons.
Everyone stayed quiet for a few moments before McGonagall waved them off to go inside the Great Hall. Tessa was absorbed in her thoughts as she stared at her empty plate.
"Don't talk to me," Ron said to them as he started piling food into his plate.
"Why not?" Hermione said in surprise.
"Because I want to fix that in my memory forever. Draco Malfoy, the amazing bouncing ferret . . ."
The three of them snickered in response, starting to eat their dinner. Tessa was still focused on the silverware on the table as she said, "It may be his fault for causing trouble in the first place — but he didn't deserve that sort of punishment."
"Oh, lighten up, Tessa!" Ron said. "He's probably faking his pain again."
They laughed again at what Ron said, as Tessa quietly got to her feet. She took her bag and stepped away from them. "I have to go," she murmured, and left the Great Hall.
ϟ ϟ ϟ ϟ
Tessa waited for him in their closet that night, but he didn't show up. She waited until it was almost one in the morning, but he never came in. Then she remembered — there was one other place he goes to clear his thoughts when it's not raining outside. She yanked open the closet door and opened another one to the Astronomy Tower.
She found him sitting alone under the starry skies that expanded throughout the horizon. The breeze was chilly, and Tessa slightly shivered as she approached him.
"I didn't think you'd come looking for me today," Draco mumbled as she went to sit next to him. He kept his gaze toward the twinkling lights far above.
Tessa waited for him to look at her, but she didn't. Sighing, she reached a hand over to cup his face and make him gently look at her. His eyes widened slightly at the contact, his breath hitching as he said nothing. "Why didn't you have this checked?" Tessa muttered softly, using the pad of her thumb to lightly graze the blossoming bruise on his cheek. "It must've hurt a lot — I'm sorry I couldn't stop it."
Draco's silver eyes burned into hers as she pulled out a tin of cooling cream she asked from Madam Pomfrey earlier when she skipped dinner. She made sure to be discreet and avoided her mother who she knew would pellet her with questions about it.
"This might be a bit cold, but stay still," she said as she applied the medicine on his face. She could feel him staring at her, not even flinching at the cream that was magically as cold as ice. "Does it feel better now?"
Draco said nothing for a moment, those gray eyes so clear and vulnerable for her. "Why?" his voice was so soft, the wind carried it away. "Why are you still right next to me even after what I've done to them?"
"I know you regret it." Her throat bobbed as she turned to shift her attention to the sky. "I know you've been up here all night and beating yourself up for what you've said. You've punished yourself enough, that's why I'm not going to lecture you about it. I'm not going to scold you for doing what you did and saying those things — what right do I have anyways? You have your reasons, and I already know of them. Everyone makes mistakes, Draco. Some more than others. But nobody has the right to invalidate them because of it — not until we learn their reasons and intentions. And besides," she turned to give him a sidelong glance, "if I'm not here with you, then who would be?"
Silver lined his eyes, and he looked as though he might just break down then and there.
She added, "It's a terrible feeling to go become someone you were forced to be your whole life. But it's an even greater tragedy to go through it alone."
The air between them was palpable, and the tension was incredibly high. But with what Tessa had just said to him — Draco was at a loss of words. He didn't have to speak for her to see the gratefulness in his eyes as his actions spoke volumes. Wordlessly, he fixed his gaze back to the sky as the two continued to watch the stars enveloped in rich midnight blue.
Tessa didn't even put up a fuss as she let him reach over for her hand and weave their fingers together. For a moment — neither of them said anything as they simply basked in the silence of each other's company.
ϟ ϟ ϟ ϟ
Two days have passed since the Draco-ferret incident, and it was finally their first Defense Against the Dark Arts class with Professor Moody. Tessa waited unenthusiastically for the professor as she sat behind Harry and Ron who'd insisted on coming to class early with Hermione.
Soon, they heard Moody clunking in the room with his wooden foot protruding under his robes. "You can put those away," he growled, stumping over to his desk, "those books. You won't need them." He pulled out a paper and began calling out names for attendance.
Tessa had made sure to change her name before this year started, and that all her classes had her listed as Teressa Potter.
"Right then," he said, "I've had a letter from Professor Lupin about this class. Seems you've had a pretty thorough grounding in tackling Dark creatures — you've covered boggarts, Red Caps, hinkypunks, grindylows, Kappas, and werewolves, is that right?"
Everyone murmured their agreement.
"But you're behind — very behind — on dealing with curses," Moody said. "So I'm here to bring you up to scratch on what wizards can do to each other. I've got one year to teach you how to deal with Dark —"
"What, aren't you staying?" Ron blurted out.
Moody's magical eye whirled and whizzed before fixing on Ron. Tessa did everything in her power not to balk or make a face at it. Then — Moody smiled, his face contorting. "You'll be Arthur Weasley's son, eh? Your father got me out of a very tight corner a few days ago . . . Yeah, I'm staying just the one year. Special favor to Dumbledore . . . One year, and then back to my quiet retirement." He laughed harshly and clapped his hands together. "So — straight into it. Curses. They come in many strengths and forms. Now, according to the Ministry of Magic, I'm supposed to teach you countercurses and leave it at that. I'm not supposed to show you what illegal Dark curses look like until you're in the sixth year. You're not supposed to be old enough to deal with it till then. But Professor Dumbledore's got a higher opinion of your nerves, he reckons you can cope, and I say, the sooner you know what you're up against, the better. How are you supposed to defend yourself against something you've never seen? A wizard who's about to put an illegal curse on you isn't going to tell you what he's about to do. He's not going to do it nice and polite to your face. You need to be prepared. You need to be alert and watchful. You need to put that away, Miss Brown, when I'm talking."
Tessa whipped around to see Lavender jump and blush profusely. She was showing Parvati and Rhea her completed horoscope under the desk.
"So . . . do any of you know which curses are most heavily punished by wizarding law?"
A large amount of hands rose into the air and Moody pointed at Ron. "Er, my dad told me about one . . . Is it called the Imperius Curse, or something?"
"Ah, yes. Your father would know that one. Gave the Ministry a lot of trouble at one time, the Imperius Curse."
Moody got up and shuffled to his desk drawer, pulling out a glass jar with three large spiders inside. Ron recoiled in front of Tessa who shuddered at the sight of the arachnids. Moody reached inside and took one of them out before pointing his wand at it.
"Imperio!"
The spider leapt down, hanging on a thread as it swung back and forth then proceeded to cartwheel on the desk. Everyone was laughing except for Tessa who was still slightly iffy from his punishment on Draco, and that this lesson wasn't entirely what she expected.
"Think it's funny, do you?" Moody growled. "You'd like it, would you, if I did it to you?"
All laughter disappeared instantly.
"Total control. I could make it jump out of the window, drown itself, throw itself down one of your throats . . ."
Tessa winced at the memory of her being thrown into the Black Lake by Blaise Zabini last year. She'd nearly drowned that day were it not for Draco who pulled her out of the water and Theo who made her drink plenty of clean water.
"Years back, there were a lot of witches and wizards being controlled by the Imperius Curse," Moody explained. "Some job for the Ministry, trying to sort out who was being forced to act, and who was acting of their own free will. The Imperius Curse can be fought, and I'll be teaching you how, but it takes real strength of character, and not everyone's got it. Better avoid being hit with it if you can. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" he barked, and everyone jumped.
The class was silent and observant as Moody picked up the spider and threw it back into the jar.
"Anyone else know one? Another illegal curse?"
It was no surprise for Hermione's hand to be up in the air. But it was a rather shocking sight for Neville's hand to be up.
"Yes?" Moody asked, his whizzing blue eye focusing on Neville.
"There's one — the Cruciatus Curse."
"Your name's Longbottom?"
Neville nodded nervously as Moody turned around and reached into the jar for another spider. He placed it on the desk where it stayed still, too afraid to move.
"The Cruciatus Curse," Moody said. "Needs to be a bit bigger for you to get the idea. Engorgio!"
The spider swelled larger than a tarantula, and Ron jerked backwards from his seat and smacking against Tessa's desk behind him.
Moody raised his wand again. "Crucio!"
Suddenly — Tessa couldn't understand why there was a flaming sensation on her inner wrist where her scar had once been. She gasped and hunched over to hide behind Ron, gritting her teeth as she forced herself not to cry. She brought her arm up close to her chest, eyes dropping down to look through the charm bracelet on her wrist. There was an angry red burn in a shape of a lightning bolt — a ghost of her scar.
Another wave of searing pain enveloped her body, making her gasp and squeeze her eyes shut. As soon as her eyelids fluttered close, there was an image that flickered in her mind. It was one of pain, horror, and anguish.
It was of her mother under the spell of the Cruciatus Curse as her screams echoed in Tessa's head.
"Stop it!" Hermione was screaming, but her voice sounded as though Tessa was underwater.
Then the pain stopped. Tessa was left rasping for air, her forehead pressed against the desk. Her vision cleared, and her mother's screams subsided.
"Reducio," Moody muttered, shrinking the spider. "Pain. You don't need thumbscrews or knives to torture someone if you can perform the Cruciatus Curse . . . That one was very popular once too." There was a pause before — "Miss Potter?"
Tessa was still greedily gulping in air to calm down the roaring fire in her veins. She roughly shot to her feet, vertigo threatening her to stumble but she kept steady. "I — I can't — I'm sorry, I have to go." Ignoring Harry's beginning protest, she snatched her bag and took off running out the class, opening a door that led her to the hospital wing.
Tessa was sobbing by the time she burst in the infirmary to a relatively surprised Madam Pomfrey. She was hiccuping, her shirt stained with tears as she fell to her knees. The school's matron sputtered out: "I-Isolde!"
Catherine burst out of the office, eyes going straight to Tessa who was breaking down on the floor. "Tessa? What's wrong?" Her arms were around her in an instant, pulling her closer as Madam Pomfrey left to give them space. "Talk to me," she begged, holding her face and wiping the tears away.
Tessa was still gasping between her sobs, a wreck as she whispered, "I saw you. I saw you under the Cruciatus Curse, and I felt you."
Catherine stilled, barely breathing as she searched her daughter's eyes. "What do you mean?"
Tessa brought her arm between them, pushing the bracelet down to reveal the smooth skin of her inner wrist. "For as long as I can remember, I had a scar in my wrist the shape of a lightning bolt. Ever since I brought you back — that day in the Shrieking Shack — it disappeared. Today, during Professor Moody's class, it came back again when he performed the curse on a spider."
Catherine screwed her eyes shut for a moment as though remembering something painful. When she opened them again, her jade green eyes were glassy with unshed tears. "When I was sixteen, Voldemort knew of my powers. He wanted to use me in creating a more powerful army to attack the rest of the world. There were two of his most loyal servants who had taken me and brought me somewhere they could torture me."
Tessa's cries had diminished as she absorbed every single word her mother was saying. She watched the way Catherine flinched as though she felt all those pain again.
"One of them performed the Cruciatus Curse on me," Catherine continued, her voice cracking. She shrugged off her jacket and turned her back to Tessa. "Once I could barely handle anymore pain — she did this to me." Wordlessly, Catherine reached behind her to slide her shirt up her back to reveal words scarred jaggedly on her back: BLOOD TRAITOR.
Tessa felt the energy drain out of her body as she slumped down. "Mum," her voice trailed off in the end, unable to say anything as Catherine silently fixed her shirt and turned back to face her.
"Before I sacrificed myself and deny Voldemort the satisfaction of using me against my will, I left a part of me with you." Catherine took Tessa's hand in hers, running a finger over her inner wrist. "It was the only way I could protect you and keep you safe. Now that I'm here — the scar disappeared, along with that part of me."
Realization dawned on Tessa. "It was what triggered the Merlin magic that night I brought you back. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to do so."
Catherine nodded, a grim smile on her face as she brought her daughter into an embrace once again. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, her lips pressed atop her head. "I'm sorry for being so selfish and leaving you behind instead of doing everything I can to fight with you and your father. It's my greatest sin in my life — but if that had helped in saving thousands of lives, then I don't regret it at all."
Tessa hugged her back just as fiercely. "Don't worry — I understand. I'll always understand."
ϟ ϟ ϟ ϟ
Later that night, Tessa ate dinner with her mother in the hospital wing. There weren't any patients the whole day, so Tessa sneaked some food inside her bag and rushed back to the infirmary through opening doors. After a few more hours, Catherine shooed her away by saying Tessa should stop procrastinating and go do her homework.
That's how she ended up suffering through Divinations homework with Harry and Ron in the common room until Hermione showed up with a sheaf of parchment in one hand and a box in the other. "Hello," she said, "I've just finished!"
"So have I!" Ron proclaimed loudly, setting down his quill firmly.
Hermione glanced at his chart and tutted, "Not going to have a very good month, are you?"
"Ah well, at least I'm forewarned."
"You seem to be drowning twice," Tessa said, peering over Ron's shoulder.
"Oh am I? I'd better change one of them to getting trampled by a rampaging hippogriff."
Tessa snorted as Hermione said, "Don't you think it's a bit obvious you've made these up?"
"How dare you!" Ron cried out in mock outrage. "We've been working like house-elves here! It's just an expression," he hastily added upon seeing Hermione raise her eyebrows.
"What's in the box?" Harry finally asked as Tessa checked his homework to make sure he didn't have anything similar with hers.
"Funny you should ask," Hermione said as she slid the cover off. Inside were about fifty badges, all of different colors, but all bearing the same letters: S.P.E.W.
"'Spew'?" Harry repeated, picking up a badge.
Tessa propped her cheek against her hand. "What's this about?"
"Not spew," Hermione said impatiently. "It's S-P-E-W. Stands for the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare."
"Never heard of it," Ron said with a shrug.
"Well, of course you haven't. I've only just started it."
"Yeah? How many members have you got?"
"Well — if you three join — four."
Ron scoffed. "And you think we want to walk around wearing badges saying 'spew,' do you?"
Tessa raised a hand. "I would if it makes Mione happy." Ron put her hand back down instantly to defy Hermione.
"S-P-E-W!" Hermione said hotly to Ron. "I was going to put Stop the Outrageous Abuse of Our Fellow Magical Creatures and Campaign for a Change in Their Legal Status — but it wouldn't fit. So that's the heading of our manifesto. I've been researching it thoroughly in the library. Elf enslavement goes back centuries. I can't believe no one's done anything about it before now."
"Hermione — open your ears," Ron said loudly. "They. Like. It. They like being enslaved!"
"Our short-term aims," Hermione raised her voice over Ron's, "are to secure house-elves fair wages and working conditions. Our long-term aims include changing the law about non-wand use, and trying to get an elf into the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, because they're shockingly underrepresented."
"And how do we do all this?" Harry asked.
"We start by recruiting members. I thought two Sickles to join — that buys a badge — and the proceeds can fund our leaflet campaign. You're treasurer, Ron — I've got you a collecting tin upstairs — and Harry, you're secretary, so you might want to write down everything I'm saying now, as a record of our first meeting. You're Vice-President, Tessa, so you're in charge of spreading the campaign and recruiting people." Hermione paused to think for a moment. "If you wear the badge and talk about S.P.E.W. there's a great chance Malfoy might be interested in joining — "
Tessa laughed and shook her head. "We're not bringing Draco into this."
Hermione didn't get the chance to say anything else because there was a tap-tap against the window, and they all swiveled around to see a snowy owl.
"Hedwig!" Harry shouted in delight as he darted over to swing open the window. Hedwig soared inside and landed on top of Tessa's pile of homework. "About time!" Harry said happily.
"She's got an answer!" Ron said excitedly, pointing at the piece of parchment tied to Hedwig's leg.
"What does it say?" Hermione asked as Harry unraveled the paper.
Harry cleared his throat and read aloud:
Harry —
I'm flying north immediately. This news about your scar is the latest in a series of strange rumors that have reached me here. If it hurts again, go straight to Dumbledore and Cathy — they're saying he's got Mad-Eye out of retirement, which means he's reading the signs, even if no one else is.
I'll be in touch soon. My best to Tessa, Ron, and Hermione. Keep your eyes open, Harry.
Tessa blinked. "He's flying north?"
Hermione whispered. "He's coming back?"
"Dumbledore's reading what signs?" Ron asked, perplexed. "Harry — what's up?"
Harry suddenly hit his fist against his forehead. "I shouldn't've told him!"
"What are you on about?" Tessa asked, taking Harry's hands away from his face to keep him from hitting himself again.
"It's made him think he's got to come back! Coming back, because he thinks I'm in trouble! And there's nothing wrong with me! And I haven't got anything for you," Harry snapped at Hedwig, who was clicking her beak expectantly, "you'll have to go up to the Owlery if you want food."
Hedwig gave him an extremely offended look before flying out of the window.
"Harry," Hermione began.
"I'm going to bed," Harry cut her shortly. "See you in the morning."
As he left the common room, Tessa shared a worried look with the other two before murmuring good-night to one another. The next morning as Tessa quietly sipped her coffee to wake her up, Harry was telling them how he sent Hedwig off with a letter saying he was fine.
"That was a lie, Harry," Hermione said sharply. "You didn't imagine your scar hurting and you know it."
"So what? He's not going back to Azkaban because of me."
"Drop it," Ron snapped at Hermione who looked as though he wanted to argue some more. It was too early for Tessa to deal with all this — she drank the rest of her coffee before popping some mints in her mouth to ease up on the strong scent.
Defense Against the Dark Arts class became harder and harder for them — Moody announced he would be putting the Imperius Curse on them to demonstrate its power. Tessa was slightly against this, but she felt it less triggering than the Cruciatus Curse, so it's fine with her. She made a mental note to herself to talk to Draco about Moody's absurd lessons. Perhaps he'd enjoy ranting his own thoughts about it as well.
"But — but you said it's illegal, Professor," Hermione stammered. "You said — to use it against another human was —"
"Dumbledore wants you taught what it feels like," Moody interrupted gruffly. "If you'd rather learn the hard way — when someone's putting it on you so they can control you completely — fine by me. You're excused. Off you go."
Hermione flushed but stayed put, sharing a frown with Tessa. Moody began class soon, letting students go up one by one and do random things like hop three times, imitate a squirrel, and many more.
"Potter," Moody called out as both Tessa and Harry glanced at each other with a pause. "Tessa," Moody confirmed.
Tessa walked over and held in her breath, calming her thundering heartbeat. She pushed aside the fear as Moody raised his wand to her. "Imperio!" And just like that — Tessa was swept into an odd sensation of hot and cold.
In the distance, she heard someone's voice forcing its way in her mind — Moody. He spoke like ice frosting over her souls, spiderwebbing throughout her skin. Clap your hands three times. Moody's command urged her to raise her arms and put her hands together but —
Tessa's fingers twitched as her arms stuck to her sides like solid iron. It was as though there was something that threatened to unleash from within her — a beast that overshadowed the Imperius Curse and enveloped her body with a sense of protection.
Clap your hands, Potter. Do it now.
Tessa gritted her teeth, her eyes squeezing shut as she fought the raging battle inside of her.
And then something inside her snapped.
ϟ ϟ ϟ ϟ
Harry watched his sister with baited breath — at the way she was refusing to open her eyes and balling her hands tightly into fists. Moody was looking more and more intrigued by the second, and Harry was a little confused on what was happening. Why wasn't Tessa doing anything?
There was a hushed murmur that passed through the class, and even Ron was whispering to Hermione. Harry sucked on his teeth and stared hard at his sister's stiff posture — something didn't seem right.
That's when he saw it happened.
At the exact moment the class had turned to each other and started whispering, Tessa had opened her eyes — and Harry and Moody were the only ones who witnessed it. Fire flickered in those hazel eyes of hers as her lip curled back in a vicious manner. A snarl left her lips — one that was low, deadly, and not entirely human.
It compelled the Imperius Curse away, and shielded Tessa from Moody's command.
Just as quickly as it had happened, it was gone. Tessa blinked again, and everything was back to normal — and she looked oblivious to what had happened.
Harry pondered at this for a moment, thinking on how there was something so familiar with this scene. Then he remembered the way she had smoothly lashed out at Barty Crouch that night at the World Cup with that killing calm of hers.
How strange.
ϟ ϟ ϟ ϟ
Tessa blinked in confusion. "Did I clap?" she blurted out to Moody as the class swiveled back to shift their attention to her. "I can't remember what just happened — did I clap?"
There was mild intrigue in Moody's face before he simply said, "Harry Potter, you next."
As Tessa walked back to her seat, she asked one more time, "Did I clap? Did anyone see me clap?" But they all shook their heads and shrugged at her. She grumbled in annoyance under her breath before taking her seat behind Ron.
Tessa barely paid any attention throughout the rest of the week. Classes began to get harder and busier, along with tons of homework piling up on her desk. She had loudly voiced her opinions on boycotting classes one day, but her mother had called her a 'dramatic baby' and pushed her out of the hospital wing to do her school work.
News arrived that the delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving at 6 o'clock on Friday the thirtieth of October, and lessons would be ending half an hour early that day. That was definitely good news, to which Tessa had whooped endlessly with Ron.
Her birthday had flashed by without much special celebration. Everyone was too busy with school work, and Tessa didn't want to take up anyone's time and inconvenience them just for her. She was more than delighted to have received presents from her mother, her three best friends, Theo, Uncle Kasi, and Fred. Once again — there was a sunflower from the person who claims to not matter, along with a note.
Thank you for being not just the sun — but the moon and stars in my life. Happy Birthday.
From: doesn't matter
She even got a necklace from her grandparents who saw it at a Muggle store in London, and thought of her. It was a gold chain with a sleeping dragon pendant, which her grandfather had thought was cleverly related to the Hogwarts' motto: Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus. Her Grandpa Edward always had an odd sense of humor.
She was slightly upset at the fact that Philip hasn't replied to her letter or anything. It's been a while since she heard from him, and she was getting worried.
Draco had wished her a happy birthday when he passed her in the Great Hall, along with a sneaky note telling her to meet him in the Astronomy Tower later at night. She was mildly surprised to find him already waiting for her with a box of fudge. She could instantly tell that he had personally attempted to do the icing on it with how shaky the lettering was.
They didn't do much that night, just talking and eating fudge together as they watched the starry sky. Eventually, it was getting really late that Draco had to walk Tessa back to her common room and wished her a happy birthday one last time.
Days turned to weeks — until it was finally the thirtieth of October. The Great Hall was decorated with silk banners representing the four Hogwarts Houses. Tessa sat between Ron and the Weasley twins who were hunched together and whispering in low voices.
"It's a bummer, all right," George said to Fred. "But if he won't talk to us in person, we'll have to send him the letter after all. Or we'll stuff it into his hand. He can't avoid us forever."
"Who's avoiding you?" Ron asked nosily.
"Wish you would," Fred said in slight irritation.
"What's a bummer?"
"Having a nosy git like you for a brother," sniped George.
"You two got any ideas on the Triwizard Tournament yet?" Harry asked. "Thought any more about trying to enter?"
"I asked McGonagall how the champions are chosen but she wasn't telling," George said bitterly. "She just told me to shut up and get on with transfiguring my raccoon."
"Wonder what the tasks are going to be?" Tessa hummed in mild interest, continuing to eat her breakfast.
Ron piped up thoughtfully, "You know, I bet we could do them, Harry. We've done dangerous stuff before . . . "
"Not in front of a panel of judges, you haven't," Fred intervened. "McGonagall says the champions get awarded points according to how well they've done the tasks."
"Who are the judges?" Harry asked.
"Well, the Heads of the participating schools are always on the panel," Hermione said in her matter-of-fact voice, "because all three of them were injured during the Tournament of 1792, when a cockatrice the champions were supposed to be catching went on the rampage. It's all in Hogwarts, A History. Though, of course, that book's not entirely reliable. A Revised History of Hogwarts would be a more accurate title. Or A Highly Biased and Selective History of Hogwarts, Which Glosses Over the Nastier Aspects of the School."
"What are you on about?" Ron asked dumbly as Tessa started to shake her head profusely at him, but it was too late — Hermione had started to rant.
"House-elves! Not once, in over a thousand pages, does Hogwarts, A History mention that we are all colluding in the oppression of a hundred slaves!"
George leaned toward Hermione. "Listen, have you ever been down in the kitchens, Hermione?"
"No, of course not," Hermione replied curtly, "I hardly think students are supposed to — "
"Well, we have, loads of times, to nick food. And we've met them, and they're happy. They think they've got the best job in the world —"
"That's because they're uneducated and brainwashed!" Hermione didn't get to talk more about the house-elves because Hedwig had soared into the Great Hall to Harry. Tessa pushed aside her plate upon seeing Tommy fly in as well with a letter, but realized it wasn't for her when the owl flew straight to Catherine.
Harry read out Sirius's letter in a whisper to them.
Nice try, Harry.
I'm back in the country and well hidden. I want you to keep me posted on everything that's going on at Hogwarts. Don't use Hedwig, keep changing owls, and don't worry about me, just watch out for yourself. Don't forget what I said about your scar.
"Why d'you have to keep changing owls?" Ron asked in a low voice.
"Hedwig'll attract too much attention," Hermione explained. "She stands out. A snowy owl that keeps returning to wherever he's hiding . . . I mean, they're not native birds, are they?"
Harry was still deep in thought as he rolled up Sirius's letter. "Thanks, Hedwig," he said, stroking her. She hooted sleepily, then took off flying to the Owlery with Tommy soaring close by.
Nobody listened to their lessons that day — everyone was too eager for the arrival of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. Tessa could care less — she was still so worried from the lack of communication from Philip. As soon as the early bell rang, they all hurried up to Gryffindor Tower, left their bags behind, pulled on their cloaks, and rushed back downstairs into the entrance hall.
"Weasley, straighten your hat," Professor McGonagall snapped at Ron. "Miss Patil, take that ridiculous thing out of your hair." Parvati scowled and removed a large ornamental butterfly from the end of her plait. "Follow me, please. First years in front . . . no pushing . . . "
They filed down the steps and lined up in front of the castle. Tessa was standing with the other three in the fourth row from the front.
"Nearly six," Ron said after glancing at his watch. "How d'you reckon they're coming? The train?"
"I doubt it," Hermione said.
"How, then? Broomsticks?" Harry suggested.
"I don't think so . . . not from that far away . . . "
"A Portkey?" Ron piped in. "Or they could Apparate — maybe you're allowed to do it under seventeen wherever they come from?"
"You can't Apparate inside the Hogwarts grounds, how often do I have to tell you?"
Harry turned to Tessa. "What about your friend? Did you get to talk to him about Durmstrang and how they might arrive?"
Tessa shook her head. "No, I haven't heard from Philip since last month . . . it's scaring me. I was planning on opening a door to go straight to Durmstrang — but it doesn't work that way. I can't open doors to places I've never been to before."
Dumbledore called out from the back row where he stood with the other teachers, "Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"
"Where?" Many students were eagerly whipping their heads around trying to look for them.
"There!" a sixth year Hufflepuff yelled, pointing off at the distance.
Tessa squinted to get a better look. There was something large flying across the dark sky, hurtling toward the castle at immense speed.
"It's a dragon!" a first year shrieked.
"Don't be stupid . . . it's a flying house!" Dennis Creevey proclaimed proudly.
As the large shape grew closer, Tessa could now see that it was an enormous carriage the size of a house, pulled by a dozen winged palomino horses the size of elephants. The horses were the first to land on the ground, followed by the carriage. A boy in pale blue robes jumped down from the carriage and unfolded a set of golden steps. A large woman emerged, reminding Tessa of Hagrid's height. She had a handsome, olive-skinned face, big eyes, and a beaky nose.
Dumbledore started to clap, urging the students to follow as well. The woman smiled and walked toward Dumbledore who took her hand and kissed it. "My dear Madame Maxime," he said. "Welcome to Hogwarts."
"Dumbly-dorr," Madame Maxime said in a deep voice. "I 'ope I find you well?"
"In excellent form, I thank you."
"My pupils," she said, waving a hand behind her to a dozen boys and girls in their late teens who'd exited the carriage. They were wearing robes of fine silk, some in scarves and shawls. " 'As Karkaroff arrived yet?"
"He should be here any moment," Dumbledore assured. "Would you like to wait here and greet him or would you prefer to step inside and warm up a trifle?"
"Warm up, I think. But ze 'orses — "
"Our Care of Magical Creatures teacher will be delighted to take care of them the moment he has returned from dealing with a slight situation that has arisen with some of his other — er — charges."
"Skrewts," Ron muttered to Tessa and they laughed under their breaths.
"My steeds require — er — forceful 'andling," Madame Maxime added. "Zey are very strong . . . "
"I assure you that Hagrid will be well up to the job," Dumbledore said with a hint of a knowing smile.
"Very well," Madame Maxime said, bowing slightly. "Will you please inform zis 'Agrid zat ze 'orses drink only single-malt whiskey?"
"It will be attended to."
"Come," Madame Maxime said to her students as Hogwarts students parted to make way for them.
Tessa watched them all walk up daintily despite their bodies shivering greatly. Her eyes caught sight of one girl who had stumbled slightly and bumped into Draco who swiftly steadied her. He let go once she was stable and gave her a polite incline of his head. Tessa's eyes narrowed ever so slightly at the Beauxbatons girl who looked starstruck at how handsome Draco was as she hurried after her friends.
Draco locked gazes with her at the distance and he cocked his head at her, a mischievous glint in those silver eyes. Don't tell me you're jealous?
She stuck her tongue out at him. Never — I don't see any reason as to why I should be.
This only seemed to make him grin even wider. Of course, Braveheart. Whatever you say.
"How big d'you reckon Durmstrang's horses are going to be?" Seamus leaned over to ask them.
"Well, if they're any bigger than this lot, even Hagrid won't be able to handle them," Harry said thoughtfully. "That's if he hasn't been attacked by his skrewts. Wonder what's up with them?"
"Maybe they've escaped," Ron said hopefully.
"Oh don't say that," Hermione murmured with a shudder. "Imagine that lot loose on the grounds . . . "
They continued to wait for a few more minutes for Durmstrang. Tessa began to shiver with how cold it was getting, and she wished she had worn Draco's warm jacket instead of this old cloak.
"Can you hear something?" Ron said suddenly as the people around him hushed down to listen.
"The lake!" Lee Jordan yelled. "Look at the lake!"
They all turned to the Black Lake, bubbles forming on the surface before ripples turned to waves as though a whirlpool began to take place. Slowly, something began to emerge from the water.
"It's a mast!" Harry said excitedly to them.
Tessa watched in awe and amazement as a ship rose out of the water and began to glide to the bank. An anchor had been thrown, and they could see silhouettes of people leaving the ship and making their way to the entrance hall. They drew nearer, and Tessa saw they were all wearing cloaks of shaggy fur.
"Dumbledore!" the man leading them called heartily as he walked up the slope. "How are you, my dear fellow, how are you?"
"Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff," Dumbledore replied.
Karkaroff was tall and thin like Dumbledore, but his white hair was short. He shook hands with Dumbledore upon approaching. "Dear old Hogwarts," he said, smiling at the castle and flashing yellow teeth. "How good it is to be here, how good . . . Viktor, come along, into the warmth . . . you don't mind, Dumbledore? Viktor has a slight head cold . . . " Karkaroff beckoned forward one of his students.
Ron let out a strangled noise as he tugged on hers and Harry's arms. "It's Krum!"
But Tessa wasn't listening, she was too busy trying to catch her breath after seeing the second boy who had stepped into the light after Krum. As the last row of Hogwarts students began to make their way inside the castle after Dumbledore and Karkaroff, Tessa pushed her way through the crowd and made a run to him. He was already grinning at her, arms wide open as she jumped into them, embracing him tightly. "Philip!"
A/N
YAY FOR PHILIP! What do you guys want to see happen in the next chapter? A moment between all three boys—Fred, Philip, and Draco? Something else?
Tessa found out about Cat's scar on her back !!!
What did you think of this chapter? Any favorite scenes? Favorite TACO scenes?