From that tearful day on, Ophelia decided she would like to keep everything as it was. She didn't need a redecoration and the house seemed content with its recent condition. Cerberus was funnily enough a good guardian, always coming for lunch and dinner just so they could eat together. It was still curious what exactly his job was but with Dumbledore coming around once at a few weeks, she knew it was related to Hogwarts.
June passed with the deaths of three important figures in her life and July passed with a lot of amusement from Cerberus. No one came around, except Mr. Potter now and then just to check up on Cerberus' adult skills. But nothing else happened and Tom didn't reach Ophelia at all; not until August.
She was in the garden, looking at the fountain fondly when she saw a cloaked figure in the forest behind the house. Actually, the forest was everywhere and the next muggle house was approximately 100 km away. The old lady that Spinnard talked about before was an old hag that lived up on the hill and even if it was around 50 km to her house, she could see everything from her window.
"You can't step on the land, can you?" She asked before anything else, even before a polite greeting. The cloaked figure smirked but nodded nonetheless. "Does that make you a dark wizard?"
"Aren't you one as well? You are my daughter." He spoke, sending a shiver down her spine. "Come with me. You need a proper place to study." He added, already walking further into the forest.
Ophelia looked at the fountain then glanced at the house over her shoulder. To be able to live on, she needed to be able to protect her inheritance and for that, she had to learn from the best.
Tom didn't lead her far but once she caught up to him, he grabbed her wrist harshly and disapparated. The place that they went to was emptier than any room she had seen, with little elves running around, arranging and dusting off. They looked worse than slaves and their conditions were very strict. She could see that one of them had been hit by something very hard against his face.
Following her father, he gave away his cloak and led her into a room with one table in the middle and a fireplace on the side. If there was any more furniture, she couldn't see it with how dimly lit it was. At the table were seated a number of vile looking men. She could see the resemblance in Malfoy Sr. and maybe a bit in Mulciber Sr, and Rodolphus was there as well.
"My friends, I'm glad you could all make it. We will begin our discussion right away but first, I need to ask your son, Aeron, to accompany me upstairs."
Rodolphus got on his feet faster than his father could respond. Tom smiled contently and nodded at Ophelia before he walked back into the corridor and up the stairs. They didn't enter a room because Tom turned to Lestrange and nudged Ophelia forward.
"This is a task of utmost importance. I need you to teach Ophelia everything you have been taught. No! No questions, just do as I say." Tom hissed, his eyes dangerously staring at the young Lestrange.
Rodolphus nodded but that didn't mean he liked the idea. Probably that was the main reason he tortured Ophelia numerous times all throughout August.
"Do you have everything?" Cerberus asked, pacing in front of the chimney nervously.
"I do," she said, coming down the stairs with her trunk and cage.
Willy seemed extremely content with the new arrangements. He loved flying around at dawn and he suddenly became interested in delivering her correspondance.
"Alright, so everything is done so now...well, yeah. You should go first." He rambled, eventually turning to her with a smile.
"How?"
"Right! Right, where did I put the Floo Powder. Agh, I should teach you how to apparate instead."
"Why don't I accompany you when you apparate?" She asked watching him search the library for the small sack of powder.
Cerberus blushed, hiding his face behind his shoulder.
"I can't do it right. I always get splinched," he mumbled, his ears growing red too.
In the end, Ophelia did reach Platform 9 3/4 ten minutes before the deadline. She hurried inside and searched for a place to sit by herself but every single compartment was occupied. She was ready to go and stay with some first years when a door slid open and out walked James Potter, smiling to himself.
Ophelia froze, thinking if she should turn around and run away or face him, because they were going to meet every day anyway.
"Badge! How has you summer been?" Potter yelled after her before she could take a decision.
"Not as bright as yours, I'm sure." She mumbled, trying her best to look for an escape route.
"Ah right, my dad told me about you know...I'm sorry for your loss." He said looking genuinely sorrowful.
"It's not like our relationship was great," she replied, looking to the side.
"With your parents? No one has great relationships with family...or Hogwarts professors."
Ophelia's eyes narrowed, only now realizing that Potter was talking about her adoptive parents not Spinnard. Well, he talked too much and didn't see the signs that would give her away so it was alright.
"Will you be playing Quidditch this year too? Will Wood let you?" She changed the subject to something she knew would keep him talking.
"Of course! Well, I don't know because Wood is a giant troll at times but I'd like to get that position. Blimey, badge, there is no better feeling than the squirming golden snitch in your hand."
His eyes were sparkling with enthusiasm, which was a sight she helped create. It was nice to see Potter happy; it was nice to see people in general happy after a month of torture.
"Come on badge, stay with us,"
She wanted to politely deny but he already wrapped a hand around her neck and more or less forced her along.
His cabin only had Sirius and Remus inside and one was reading while the other was munching his nails anxiously.
"Gah, why did he choose to stay with those pricks! There is no reason to look up to them, imbecile Slytherins," Sirius exploded verbally, continuing his rant no matter who entered his compartment.
"Look who I found in the corridor!" Potter interrupted, barging in with a very skeptical girl.
Remus put the book down when he noticed it wasn't another boy and smiled. Sirius only shut up and sat back down with a pout.
"Hello, Ophelia. I hope you didn't drag her here from her friends, James." Remus scolded his friend, his tone more like a parent than a real parent.
"She was in the corridor, searching for friends. Luckily, I could feel a Gryffindor was in need of help." Potter reasoned but Remus only rolled his eyes knowingly.
"It happened before," the smart boy added to himself, making Potter gasp.
"It was different back then! You were listening to McGriever talk about-"
Ophelia blocked him out, seeing how they weren't going to stop anytime soon. In the end, she sat next to a still very anxious Sirius Black. Her gaze was a lot heavier than she believed because the boy turned to her with a frown.
"What?" He asked eventually.
"You look worried. Something happened with your dark wizard family?"
"Why? You'll rub it in my face if it had?" He barked at her, without a real reason except her being perceptive.
"My parents died at the beginning of the summer. I am the last person to rub anything in your face."
It wasn't the news as it was the nonchalance she said it with. Her parents died and even if two months passed, she looked well.
"I'm sorry," Sirius said, the frown falling off his face. "It's not my family, not yet. It's Reg."
"Your younger brother,"
It was quite a surprise she remembered that but Sirius shrugged it off.
"It's his first year and instead of staying with me or other first years, he went along with my cousin." He stopped, just to cringe at the sole idea someone could do that, and continued, "Who would even step in the vicinity of Narcissa. She's been all lovely with Malfoy..."
"Isn't this her final year? They'll be gone before you know it." Remus pitched in, finally ending his argument with Potter.
"They will but let's not forget there are still a lot of Slytherins that belong in Azkaban." Potter interfered too with a sneer.
"What's Azkaban?" Ophelia asked, curiously glancing from Sirius to Remus.
"A highly protected prison for wizards that go against the law." Remus explained. "You know how muggle prisons have guards, in Azkaban they are called Dementors."
Oh. Oh! Dementors, like the cloaked creature with a hole instead of mouth that atttacked her in the Forbidden Forest.
"Are Dementors used for all types of guarding? Can a wizard hire them to, let's say, guard an object."
The three boys seemed extremely intrigued by how curious she was when it came to dark magic, dark creatures, dark anything.
"I don't know but I have never read about a Dementor being hired. Their existance is to guard Azkaban." Remus answered, really thinking back on what he read about that subject.
"Have you ever seen one, badge? I heard that when a Dementor is near, you feel like you will never be happy again." Potter mumbled, saying what he heard from his father most probably.
"It feels like everything you loved has been an illusion and reality is cold and empty." She added, remembering what she felt, "I met one before and it was horrible."
"As long as one listens to the lessons at school, there is a way to protect yourself against anything." Remus stated in a smart ass tone, making the two other boys scoff.
The rest of the train ride passed relatively fun with Potter telling everyone how interesting has been his summer with his parents. On the other side, Remus had very few things to say while Sirius had a lot to complain about.
"And Malfoy came over for dinner because why in Merlin's beard would they dine in their own house?! And that infuriating Lucius Twoface was so gallant with my cousin that everyone believed it! But you know what? After he finished he asked if he could use the loo which was fine by me but I found him snooping around! That bloody idiot!"
"Don't overreact," Ophelia said rolling her eyes.
"I found him in my room, Molley. He was searching for something."
But Ophelia could still not feel any empathy for his matter because in the end, there was no proof that Malfoy wasn't just curious more than searching for something. If he needed something, that was tact which he obviously didn't have.
"How was your summer, Ophelia? Except the loss of your parents, of course. Everyone was really sorry to hear about it." Remus interfered after such a long hour of Sirius' rambling on and on.
"How did you find out?"
"It was in the Daily Prophet. There have been more muggle deaths in the past year than in the past decade. The Ministry's being extra careful and placed Aurors everywhere." Potter informed the rest.
"Aurors are like the head detectives from the Scotland Yard." Remus explained when he noticed the frown on Ophelia's face.
"Right. I had to move to a different place and since I am underage, I got a guardian that's going to look after me." She replied sincerely but avoiding details. "I spend more time at Hogwarts than at home so it's alright." She assured them with a smile. The witch really looked too happy for someone who should be at least nostalgic.
By the time they arrived at the station it was already night. As soon as she hopped off the train, the girls found her and they took the carriage together. Cissney had a lot to say and everyone repeated the same I'm sorry for your loss sentence on the way to the Great Hall. It was so repetitive that Ophelia didn't reply anymore to her fellow Gryffindors.
The entry song by the Hat was as much of a riddle as everything coming out that ragged hole of a mouth and the ceremony begun with great delight for the Hufflepuffs. But then Sirius became really interested in the next kid.
"Black, Regulus," McGonagall called out and Ophelia saw a skinny boy with dark locks and a pointy nose go up and sit on the chair.
"Slytherin!" The hat screamed and Sirius' face fell into a poker face.
"They will take good care of him, Sirius. I'm sure they won't bully one of their own." Frank was only trying to comfort his friend but both Sirius and Ophelia scoffed.
"We all know what kind of care that will be." Ophelia muttered, getting a harsh nudge from the person standing next to her, which was actually Lily.
With the Sorting Ceremony done and the feast filling Ophelia's stomach like never before, Dumbledore rose and silenced the Hall.
"Welcome, welcome everyone to another year at Hogwarts. I am sad to inform you that Luce Spinnard has stepped down from his position as professor of Defence against the Dark Arts."
A sudden wave of anger flooded the green eyed witch, the truth about Spinnard being far from such a petty reason.
"Luckily, we have found a replacement that I assure you, will be as great as your former professor. Let me introduce you to Cerberus Knowingall." Dumbledore announced with a smile.
A man that looked younger than he truly was raised on his feet and waved nervously at the students, many rumors already zooming through the hall.
"How old is he? He looks inexperienced." Alice started, looking at the others before glancing at Cerberus again.
"He was a friend of Spinnard's." Ophelia informed the others, "Their skills are pretty much the same but Cerberus is fun."
"How can you know for sure?" Lily asked curiously.
"I met him before." She answered trying her best not to say the truth.
"I've seen him before too. He was in the dungeons at the end of last year, right? He wanted to speak to Spinnard." Remus added, making her lie sound more believable. "You said he is a family friend."
"Yeah. Family friend."
Dinner ended with the same announcements, don't enter the forbidden places, don't anger Filtch, don't lose points by being foolish. With everything done, the students retreated to their common rooms and the Gryffindors followed their Prefect, which was Zachary, up to the tower. It was a silent night, with everyone unpacking and talking about their lives.
"So, Pheli, where do you live now? I heard from bubble mouth Potter that you moved." Cissney started, turning to Ophelia and sitting on her bed.
"I'm not sure what's the address but it's pretty much in the middle of the forest. Our only neighbor is an old hag that likes to eavesdrop." The brunette witch replied, concentrating on unpacking.
At the mention of the old hag and the forest, Ophelia noticed how silent it got in the room and looked at the girls only to see all three of them imagining the sight.
Chuckling, Ophelia grabbed her wand and whispered Legilimens, curious what they were seeing. It really depended on each of their perspectives: for example, Lily was a muggle born so her mind went immediately to the house of the bad witch in Hansel and Gretel, situated in the middle of a thick forest with crows all around. Alice was quite close to Lily's image,only it looked like a cottage from ancient times. Grown into a pureblooded family, Cissney's image was more of an all enchanted house with the chores done by themselves and a lot of wizarding equipement.
Seeing how everyone was wrong, Ophelia altered their minds so that the image was exactly how the exterior of the house looked. They all gasped and awed before Cissney sat on Ophelia's bed and sighed.
"Not bad, Pheli. But there is a lot of place for improvements. The wizarding kind." She said before she rolled on her back, "By the way, doesn't professor Knowingall looks so dreamy?"
Ophelia tried not to laugh which instead sounded like a snort.
"What? He is handsome, we can give him that. He looks young too," Cissney added.
"But Pheli said he and Spinnard are friends. Isn't Spinnard like super old or something?" Alice asked, giving her honest opinion.
"He's probably in his forties. I'm more surprised Spinnard left so easily after two years. There were rumors that Dumbledore bribed him to come and teach at Hogwarts for another year and now he just stepped down..."
Lily was a smart girl and could sense something was odd about the whole situation and Ophelia couldn't blame her. Actually, even if the whole school would hear the truth, there was no real sympathy for the dark professor. The whole school hated him and he hated students as much as he hated Lillian.
"I'm not going to cry but I do feel a tear of happiness coming out," Cissney joked, easing the atmosphere and making everyone laugh.
The girls talked for the whole night and went to sleep sometime near 3 in the morning. Ophelia took a glance at her serpent ring before she closed her eyes with a smile on her face.
The next time she opened her eyes was early in the morning, maybe 7-ish. Lily woke up everyone with sparkling eyes.
"Come on, wake up lazies. Today we'll find what subjects all of us chose. Besides, I heard there will be clubs representers waiting for us in the Entrance Hall." She said everything too fast for three girls that just woke up.
"What clubs? Why are you such a morning person?" Ophelia asked, having a difficult time understanding how someone could be so active already.
"It's going to be fun," Lily encouraged them before taking her pillow and hitting Ophelia straight in the face, only making her lay back down.
Aproximately half an hour later, the girls realized what the excitement was about: extracurricular activities begun in the third year and there were a lot to choose from.
"Oi, girls come here!" That was Wood and he was showing off a miniature of a Quidditch player that looked a lot like a figurine made of clay. "Tryouts are in a month and we'd be delighted to have you try for any position you fancy! We may even create a support team!" He said laughing bemusedly but the girls were not amused at all.
Another club that seemed to have a line formed in front was choir, there was also one about magical creatures, another one about plants and health, even for potions and how you could use them in your day to day life. Overall, it was intense. But there were also more muggle-ish clubs like the chess club, the student council, the art club, the music club and so on. It was unexpectedly crowded and a lot of third years were running around like ants.
"Quite a party, isn't it?" Sirius surprised the girls, followed by the rest of the boys.
"Where's your other half?" Cissney asked curious if he was sleeping still. But Sirius pointed at the Quidditch club and there was Potter, visibly annoying Wood with his excitement.
"Should have expected it," literally everyone said that.
"So, I guess we should venture into the wilderness, huh?" Lily asked with a sour face, to which everyone agreed.
Ophelia went straight to the dueling club,as soon as she laid eyes on it. The person at the stand was showing an example of a defensive stance. No one had their robes on yet so Ophelia couldn't be sure it was a Slytherin or a Hufflepuff.
"We should open up our own dueling club with everything Spinnard taught us during detention." Sirius, again, found her into the mess but it looked like he was trying to get his mind off his troubles.
"Spinnard didn't know how to duel smartly. He only taught us how to attack before being attacked." She explained, having Mr. Potter as a much better example. "I was also thinking about the divination club. I'd like a glimpse into the future."
"Pff, that's rubbish. No one believes a word from those guys. Better concentrate on what you already know so you can sharpen your skill."
"Says the boy who knows dark arts." Ophelia mumbled, her eye catching sight of Severus. He was looking at the potions club. He must have sensed someone was staring at him because he looked up and their eyes met. He didn't turn his head so Ophelia took that as a good sign.
"Are you listening to me, Molley?" Sirius' voice came back into the front but Ophelia already had other matters to solve.
"Sorry, I've gotta run," she said quickly and walked towards the muggle stuff club which was right next to the potions club.
Severus had an overall usual summer, except maybe now the end of it was more meaningful. He met Lily regularly and since they weren't allowed to use magic, they spoke about it. And then came July and the front page had the minister speaking, the column below explaining how two more muggles died in their home, Molley was their name. That struck Severus more than he thought and all he could think about afterwards was how lonely Ophelia must feel.
"Severus,"
The boy with owl eyes stopped walking and turned to her. She was staring at him with not enough melancholy and saddness after such an event in her life.
"Let's meet again to study. Our usual cursed desk in the library." Ophelia added, hoping he will agree. He didn't say yes but didn't refuse either; he just left.
"I'd say you should try harder. Put more effort in showing your genuinity." Cerberus commented from the side, having students zoom past him quicker than he could run at his age.
"You didn't tell me you will take Spinnard's job," the green eyed witch started, shrugging his advice off.
"Yeah, well, I wasn't so sure about it either. And Dumbledore asked me to teach Occlumency too. That's really a lot compared to how much he pays me." Cerberus complained right away.
"You'll make an interesting professor." Ophelia said with a sarcastic smile and walked back into the crowd.
Cerberus watched her leave with one question bugging him.
"Was she being sarcastic?" He asked himself, already feeling like his new job got harder. He couldn't even think much on the matter because a bulky boy walked past him, slightly hitting him on shoulder.
The bulky boy walked straight to the blond Slytherin Prefect and ignored everyone on the way, including the new professor. Lucius was surprised when Rabastan appeared next to him but played it cool.
"The Dark Lord put my brother in charge of Ophelia's dark arts training. Let's just say I heard many screams all through August." Rabastan started in a whisper.
"The lessons for this year have alreay been prepared. As long as Rodolphus is busy, we'll take care of her." Lucius answered in a cool manner, lookig lile everything was fine.
But Rabastan knew his brother best and it was better to curse him rather than coming to a solution with him.
In the end, Ophelia returned to the dueling club and signed up to that. Walking into the Great Hall, she felt like she could finally breathe. Only Remus and Frank were there, eating silently while commenting here and there. When she sat down, the boys turned to her with sympathetic faces.
"It's savage out there," Ophelia informed the two.
"It will pass. Anyway, McGonagall already gave us our timetables. You can thank us later." Frank informed her right before he handed hers.
It was really interesting how most of her free time was now gone. She had the normal lessons like Potions, DADA, Transfiguration, etc but she also had Occlumency, Care of Magical Creatures and Runes.
"I was so sure I wrote Muggle Studies not Runes," the witch muttered to herself. "What about the rest?"
"I believe everyone's taking Care of Magical Creatures but I'm not sure about the others." Frank answered, "For example, I have Muggle Studies, Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures."
"Muggle Studies seems like an easy exam, to be sincere. Probably every muggle born and half blood's taking it." Remus added using logic. "Why did you choose Occlumency?"
"Because I'm good at it," she replied quickly before changing the subject, "What club did you sign up for?"
"Dueling," was Frank's answer, "Spinnard made me realize it's quite helpful at times."
Ophelia smiled before both of them turned to Remus.
"None. I prefer to study for what will help me for real in the future." The boy said in that same parental tone.
"Look at him, Frank. Growing so fast. He'll make a good husband in the future." Ophelia joked, her tone sounding very familiar.
"I'm starving! Oh, Remus, Frank and badge, the studious trio. How wonderful, you're starting early in the year. I'll count on you during exams." Potter spoke all the way to the table.
"I thought you said you don't need help. That you are gifted." Frank commented when he saw that James sat next to him, "I'm not giving you my notes, Mr. Gifted."
"I will." Ophelia pitched in, surprising the bookworm standing next to her.
Wasn't that a strange turn of events...Potter really got under Ophelia's skin.
As soon as breakfast ended and they fetched their books, everyone walked groggily to the first class of the day which was History of Magic.
"We're going to die of boredom," James whined before he even reached the classroom.
"Not if we think about something else or catch up on sleep." Was Black's answer which got instead a few scoffs from the more responsible colleagues.
But that gave Ophelia a great idea. Legilimency was definitely going to be helpful during boring classes.
That was how she sat in the back behind Potter and placed her head on her desk with a smirk. She closed her eyes and barely touched her wand before entering his mind.
What he was thinking about had no connection to history but to Quidditch; he was imagining flying around Hogwarts before suddenly flying by himself without a broom. Then it changed quickly to Potter hitting Wood and sending him through the huge circle.
It was so funny that she started to laugh to herself without realizing.
"Molley, is the Revolution of Giants funny to you?" The professor asked, scowling at the student.
"No, sir. Sorry," she apologized before choosing her next victim: Longbottom.
Next class was Herbology before lunch and then two hours of Runes. Afterwards was the meeting for the dueling club that could literally take the whole afternoon. Yep, busy third year.
When they got in the green house, Ophelia was snatched aside by Remus and Frank. It was a lot nicer working with them than anyone else.
"Tomorrow's the first Occlumency lesson. I heard half of the Slytherin house chose it so be careful."
Ophelia frowned before she turned to Frank.
"Did not even one Gryffindor apply for Occlumency? No one except me?" She asked and both boys nodded, "Great. Mulciber's face for an entire hour..."
"At least Snape's there. I overhead Lily saying he tried to convince her to take it with him but she chose Muggle Studies. Everything for the team I guess." Frank added, making Remus glance at the girl in their team warily. She didn't say anything but she looked like she took that comment to heart.
"I'm sure Occlumency is fun too. It's just complicated. I heard people can get stuck in their own minds if they aren't well taught. Professor Knowingall, he seems-" Remus didn't know what to say.
"I didn't choose Occlumency randomly. If that means handling a few Slytherins, fine by me. What can go wrong?" She mumbled, keeping positive for now. The boys glanced at each other with worry but didn't word their thoughts out.
"Welcome third years to the Dueling Club! I'm super excited already, as you can see, because a lot of you came this year. My name is Da Fu and I'm a proud Hufflepuff! I'm also the head of this club as of this year."
He might have been waiting for applause in encouragement but no one moved an inch. Frank glanced at Ophelia who looked bemused by the Hufflepuff. Sirius, James, Lily and Alice were there as well but none looked as excited as the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. There was literally no Slytherin.
"Anyway, let's grab a partner and stick with him or her for the rest of the term. We'll switch every term so that you'll get to duel with different styles. I'm sure by the end of this year, you'll improve quite a lot."
"He has no idea," Potter mumbled, nudging Sirius. Surprisingly, the person that came to the glasses boy was the girl that no one expected. "Is there something wrong, badge?" He asked, having no idea what she was expecting from him.
"Let's be partners this term, James."
Lily's eyes widened and she remained speechless which could also be said for Frank and Alice. On the other hand, Sirius couldn't believe the genuine glint in Ophelia's green eyes. There was something she was planning and somehow part of her scheme was to get closer to his best friend as of yet.
Potter stood there, many thoughts swirling through his mind, most of them questions. It was so odd how she took the initiative and asked him-no, she boldly informed him of her choice.
"Is there a problem? Should I choose someone else?" Ophelia asked, her eyes widening a bit and slightly looking hurt. Potter swallowed nervously before he shook his head and went along with Ophelia's one sided choice.
"This is very suspicious. Tell me I'm not the only one who finds this perturbing in a way." Frank muttered once Potter and Ophelia walked aside among the rest of the teams. "I guess that leaves-" He turned towards the partner he wanted which was Lily but she already moved aside with Alice. That left the two boys by themselves, both grunting at how unfortunate was their first dueling day.
Da Fu proved to be very passionate and gave detailed instrictions to his members. It was fun how the five Gryffindors were taking everything in at a very quick pace. On the other hand, every time a particularly messy Ravenclaw pair missed, the ones near them got the blast, which were Frank and Sirius.
"I don't like this arrangement. Give me my partner back, Molley," Sirius started grumpily as soon as they walked out the door.
"I don't want to."
Lily and Alice glanced at each other but didn't say anything for the time being.
"Come on, let's not fight over Potter." Frank interfered, literally moving between the two. "I never thought I'd say that. Anyway, let's enjoy ourselves. We're third years now!"
Dinner was spent with Potter making up to his friend and Ophelia asking Cissney about the other members of the club. It was a lot of chatting that after-noon but it seemed lively compared to the last two years.
ns 108.162.216.24da2
and then Add to home screen.