Chapter 11
I dozed off a little bit, but when I woke up, I noticed Fleur had too.
When I figure out what time it is, I know we should probably head back.
"I guess we should get back soon," I tell her quietly as she begins to stir.
"I suppose you are right," she smiles but it does not meet her mood as I start to pack things up.
The picnic basket should preserve everything until I can store it in a more permanent location.
"I ad much more fun with you today than I would ave ever expected. It almost makes our loss worth it," she jokes.
"Really?" I smirk.
"I said 'almost', Arry," she smirks right back as we finish packing up before I walk her back in comfortable silence.
I also add a notice me not charm to ourselves, so we can get back without any more looks as she keeps a firm hold on my arm, every now and then resting her head on it until we make it back to the Beauxbatons carriage.
"Thank you for letting me take you out," I tell her as she detaches herself from me.
"Thank you for making that bet. I ad a surprisingly great time," she replies.
"Always with the surprised looks, and statements, from you," I tease her.
"What can I say? You are just so full of zee surprises," she responds, immune to my banter, "If I would ave known it was going to zis enjoyable, I would ave done more on my end," she tells me and I can tell she is directing her statement to her appearance.
"You know I don't care-" I start before she cuts me off.
"I know you don't, Cheri," she replies caringly. "Zat just makes zings even better," she smiles as I meet her halfway for a hug as she gives me another peck on the cheek again.
"Have a great night, Fleur," I tell her before we reluctantly break away.
"You too, Arry," she replies before I turn around to head back to the castle.
As I am about to make my first step forward, I think I hear her mumble something like "Je m'en fous,” or something close to it.
Before I know it, she spins me around and I am met with a blazing look in her eyes. Words don't need to be said when I acknowledge her eyes and lean down to meet her incoming lips with mine.
***
My female contact is already viewing a memory when I walk in the room and watch the memory with her.
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I was working with many different blades and throwing knives as dummy after dummy came to attack me in the training room of my home. I was practicing what Master Ronan had taught me.
A dummy fired a blasting curse at me as I bent backward to dodge, while still throwing two knives at it. The knives connected and exploded as they hit the dummy's chest but two more automatically replaced it. From my bend, I did a backward spring and fired another two daggers, one at each opponent, this time striking the dummies' heads as they exploded.
I had been brought out of my battle with a familiar presence and a clapping of hands. I didn't need to turn around to know it was Bellatrix. Instead of greeting her, I decided to spin and throw a dagger at her, knowing she was prepared to duel. The talented duelist easily flicked it away and laughed until another two came at her.
The former prisoner’s senses had not dulled from her time at Azkaban. She had felt that they had magical attributes and instead sidestepped my attack. That's when I vanished from my spot and appeared where the daggers were. I grabbed the two daggers from mid-air and launched myself at her at my top speed. However, Lady Bella was the Dark Lord’s favorite for a reason. She quickly turned the ground to sand, which I barely hit, unable to fully stop in time.
However, that's all she needed as she turned the sand to solid marble, locking me in place. She was being gracious when she only sent a stunner at me. Luckily I was fast enough to throw a dagger to intercept the stunner and, at the same time, throw my other dagger behind me. My dueling partner caught on that the daggers had a transportation rune on them, but she figured it out too late as I vanished to the one I threw behind me.
Again I threw the dagger back at the smiling female, except this time it had an invisible chain attached to it. When she flicked it away I tugged on the chain, from a distance, and was able to control the weapon that circled around her. It looked like she cast something on her cloak for protection purposes, but my plan still worked as the invisible chain wrapped around her body.
"Impressive…but not quite enough, my little snake," Bellatrix laughed before her cloak glowed blue, vibrated, and then she was gone.
She reappeared behind me, with her wand at the back of my jet-black hair. It was impressive that she made her cloak into a type of portkey and made the location behind me. However, she was still surprised when my head twisted around, causing my opponent some alarm, until she could see my body morph into a dummy.
Said dummy then exploded into black smoke.
Bellatrix was still unfazed as she blocked the explosion with a spherical shield, but she could not see or sense anything as the black smoke consumed the area. To my disappointment, at the last second, she sensed me come soaring down from the ceiling, disillusioned, and casting a volley of stunners as I zoomed down.
She was barely able to hit the floor and roll away at the last instant before quickly bouncing back up to fire what I thought was a rope at me. I was not quick enough from my fall to stop it from wrapping around my neck. That is also when I realized the rope, that was still attached to the tip of her wand, was also an animated snake. When it fully wrapped around my neck, it hissed at me before trying to hypnotize me with its eyes.
I countered this by unleashing my magical eyesight as my own eyes turned completely green.
"My, my, my little snake. Your training has made you even better than I expected. It looks like I can no longer take it easy on you during these entertaining training duels of ours," she hissed with a wicked smile before dismissing her snake whip.
I was then released before I tried to control my breathing, as sweat seeped down my head, but I still managed to smile.
"You have good defenses, but I need to teach you to be more relentless," she smiled almost wickedly.
“Go get washed up and changed. I will be escorting you on your next mission," she had told me, knowing exactly how to motivate me.
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After that duel, we went back to Hogwarts to find a first-year student named Colin in the Chamber of Secrets.
I was supposed to keep my distance from the school from a prior mission, but when I got wind that students were getting petrified at my biological parents’ alma mater…I wanted to investigate, and Bella offered to go with me since she was a master ‘snakewoman’ or so she said.
"You were impressed with after that, weren’t you?" I chuckle at the long dark-haired female with messy cascading locks, who was waiting for me in the Library of the Lestrange Estate, as she finished reviewing my memories.
I am meeting her here for privacy reasons, although Master Ronan is aware since he was the one to get her back into the country. Bellatrix is wearing all black, her favorite color, but her robes are stylish and form-fitting thanks to Lady Esmerelda. For having gone through as much as she has, she still has a youthful spirit and a well-maintained physique.
She had been forced into an abusive marriage arranged by her own parents. She also had a magical obedience collar put on her by her ruthless husband, who would force her into taking care of his brutal brother as well. Becoming Tom Riddle’s favorite pet was the only thing that put an end to that torture, but it made her mentally unstable. It also led to her becoming an expert in the dark arts and allowed her to become possibly the most formidable witch in all of Great Britain.
"I saw that you had some talent...you also have improved since then as well...nothing as great as my own accomplishments...but still," she grins coolly as her mischievous eyes meet my emeralds.
"Come on, Bella. Give me a tad bit more credit. Let's view the next one, shall we?" I tell the voluptuous lady who returns my questing look with a wicked smile before we watch another one of her favorite memories of me again.
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One of my first missions alone was to sneak into Hogwarts and retrieve a Sorcerer’s Stone.
It was also the first mission my whole family had protested my request to go alone. I didn’t care though, because the information we found out about Hogwarts’ staff gave me an opportunity I had been waiting a long time for. We had missed the chance to get the rat, who was hiding Merlin knew where, but I had gotten the chance to get the snake. Thanks to my uncles, I had managed to make it in through a secret passage.
I was walking through the halls late at night when I met Quirinus Quirrell, who had shivered and shaken at the sight of me before a new voice became present from behind his head.
"Harry Potter, I recognize your aura from long ago… we meet at last," came the dark and powerful voice that I knew to be Lord Voldemort's.
"Lord Voldemort…Good to finally meet you…No hard feelings, you did kill both my parents but, in your defense, they were both manipulated by Dumbledore…They were meant to be so much bigger and better in this world," I told him upfront, shocking the dark presence before me.
"This is most unexpected. I thought you would have a sense of hate and ill-will towards me," countered the dark lord.
"My parents should have chosen the more powerful side seeing as they were one of the most powerful families in our society. It is in their honor that I will not make the same mistakes they did. I assume that you need the Sorcerer’s Stone to return to the world of the living? Would you like me to retrieve it for you?" I asked with no fear or emotion whatsoever.
My teachers taught me all about the past and exactly what happened. They let me form my own opinions on the matter. Then I matured and came up with my own plan. My destiny was my own and I would do whatever it took to make my dreams come true. I would bring back the Potter name to its rightful place in the world.
"You remind me of myself at a young age. My parents also made quite a number of mistakes, but I lived to my fullest potential…I do acquire a Sorcerer’s Stone to obtain a new body…If you get it for me, I will grant you power beyond your dreams," haggled Voldemort.
"I dream big, so you better live up to your end of the deal," I replied.
It was only a short while later that I came panting back in.
My magical eyesight let me bypass all the professor’s clever traps. However, they never could have predicted someone had the power to see the pathway made for the headmaster to skip all the rooms or go directly to the source. It was fortunate that I didn’t have an interest in the stone, which got the mirror to slip into my pocket before making my way back to the awaiting possessed Quirrell.
"Sorry for the delay, but that was harder than I expected. I also figured I'd get a cup of water…you are making the Elixir of Life, are you not?" I asked, holding a cup of clear liquid and the Sorcerer's Stone.
"I must admit, I was not expecting this but, you…Harry Potter, will become a valued asset. I will make it my duty to make sure you live up to your full potential," Voldemort complimented me, about to take both gifts.
That’s when I flung the liquid from the cup into Quirrell’s eyes before he shrieked in pain, allowing me to pull my sword from my cloak. I didn’t hesitate before thrusting my patronus sword into Quirrell’s gut.
“You fool! I Will end you!” the dark spirit cursed before it forced the dying body to try and choke me.
“Expecto Patronum,” I cast quickly before dozens of Thunderbird patroni burst out of the blade, before grabbing the dark specter and ripping Voldemort’s spirit out from the possessed professor.
“Why!?” Voldemort shrieked in pain as my flock of patroni carry the spirit away while the extra ones ate at his pitiful spiritual remains.
“Because you killed Mom and Dad, and so many others…your punishment must be as severe as possible. So severe that you will want to pass into the other side willingly. I will let you suffer for now and use the time to come up with your next punishment. I look forward to torturing you again,” I laugh as I watch the spirit scream before my patroni removes his evil spirit from the school.
Luckily my initial hack into the portrait network worked and the magical paintings cannot see this area. With that confirmed, I dropped a talisman on the corpse of the former professor. In the next moment, his body has vanished, and I cleaned up the remaining mess before getting ready to move on.
“I deserve a prize for a mission well done…I wonder if Snivelus’s mind is sleeping right now?” I asked myself before using my magical eyesight to scan for my next target.
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“You certainly never have had any issues with dealing with your own problems, so what can I offer my favorite snake now?” she asks with a smile, although, she is always happy at the memory of me taking care of Tom, or the Lestrange Brothers for that matter.
“I am afraid I am getting a little too attached to people at school…I need help,” I mumble, almost embarrassed as a giant grin appears on Bellatrix’s face.
“And only I can help?” she almost giggles with excitement. “Tell me all your problems and I’ll give you all the solutions,” she ends before taking my hand to lead me out of the old library as my body tenses, but I still eagerly go along with her.