Chapter 6
Blaise Zabini, as a half-vampire, half-siren, didn't need sleep, it just required a different type of resting. This involved lying down and relaxing every muscle, which put you in a sort of trance. But since he was only half-vampire, he was still aware of everything going on around him.
So, when he heard Harlequin and Harrison Potter-Black talking quietly a few feet away, he listened shamelessly.
Except they weren't speaking English. They were hissing.
They can speak Parseltongue?! Blaise thought in surprise.
And then Harlequin Potter-Black's voice and scent disappeared, leaving only Harrison Potter-Black, Ronald Weasley, and the snake.
What the fuck?
As soon as the boy had disappeared, his twin cast something. Blaise didn't hear him say anything, but he felt the magic. It was so bloody powerful it made his magic squirm in uncomfortable delight. From what he could tell, it was a Muffling Charm.
He knew the redhead couldn't be gone for long, because they all needed proper sleep (except Blaise, of course). Sure enough, a few moments later, the boy's scent returned just as suddenly as it had disappeared.
He heard Harlequin Potter-Black shout something, but it sounded like it was coming from far away. He still heard every word, though.
"There's a bloody Cerberus in the third-floor corridor! It's bigger than Number Four, Privet Drive!"
Harrison gave a quiet snarl of anger. "Who dares leave such a dangerous creature in a ssssschool?"
"That's not the worst shit there! Under the dog's a trapdoor, there's some weird plant under it that tried to EAT ME."
"Eat you?"
"Yeah, I set it on fire, couldn't figure out how to get past it without a trace. There's a hallway after that with a life-size chess board, the prices moved on their bloody own. I beat it because that was the only way to get to the door after it. The room there had a huge, ugly troll or ogre, I knocked it out. I had to Apparate out of the next room 'cause it had potions and colored fire I couldn't get past."
"You couldn't Apparate past the potions?"
"Tried, couldn't. There's some weird barrier. I think I can only get past if I solve the riddle."
"Tell me the riddle."
"Aw, yis!"
"Harley."
"Okay, fine!
Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,
Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,
One among us seven will let you move ahead,
Another will transport the drinker back instead,
Two among our number hold only nettle wine,
Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line.
Choose, unless you wish to stay here for evermore,
To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:
First, however slyly the poison tries to hide
You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;
Second, different are those who stand at either end,
But if you would move onwards neither is your friend;
Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,
Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;
Fourth, the second left and the second on the right
Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight."
Harrison Potter-Black was quiet for several moments. Then he said, "Do you remember the order of the bottles and their sizes?"
"From left to right there's: a small-ish clear bottle with clear gold liquid filled halfway; a tall, thin red bottle that you can't see the the potion inside; a really small, square bottle with a clear liquid inside, also filled halfway; another tall, thin bottle that's a little taller than the red one, with ochre(?) coloring and a clear potion filled halfway; a green sorta pyramid bottle that you can't see inside, same size as the first bottle; the tallest bottle there, a square-ish black bottle that you can't see inside; and finally a purple orb bottle the same size as the green one and the clear one, that you also can't see inside."
Harrison Potter-Black was quiet again for a longer moment before saying, "From left to right, the bottles contain as follows: poison, nettle wine, the potion that would let you forward, poison, poison, nettle wine, the potion that would let you go back."
"Be right back!"
"No nettle wine!"
"Aw!"
Harlequin Potter-Black disappeared again for a few moments before coming back. "All that's there is this weird mirror. It doesn't show my reflection, just us standing together with a bunch of chaos and death happening around us."
Death? What?
"Interesting. What did the mirror look like?"
"Super old and brown-ish with a weird inscription on the top. Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi."
"'I show not your face, but your heart's desire.' It can't mean just any desire, otherwise there would be more than one meaning. So it shows your greatest desire."
"Cool."
"Why on Earth would the headmaster put something like that down there?" Harrison Potter-Black said softly.
"I dunno."
"You can study the mirror tomorrow, we need to sleep."
"Can't. Can you do that thing?"
"Yes, but only for tonight. You need to learn a way to fall asleep without getting addicted to this spell."
Blaise heard the redhead flopping dramatically onto his bed, followed by Harrison Potter-Black murmuring something. He felt the boy's magic fill the room again, this time soothing and relaxing. He heard Harlequin Potter-Black snore behind the Muffling Charm a moment later.
He sensed Harrison Potter-Black appear by Blaise's bed, and he jerked out of his sleep-trance.
The boy was standing over him, expression blank. "How much did you hear?" he asked calmly.
"Everything," Blaise admitted, knowing lying wouldn't do anything. "I didn't understand what you were saying before your brother Apparated down to the corridor, though. I don't speak Parseltongue."
"Are you going to tell anyone, Marchese Zabini?"
"I'd be really stupid if I did," Blaise deadpanned. "Being your ally/friend would be a lot safer for me."
Harrison Potter-Black studied him for a long moment. Finally, a flicker of amusement passed over his face. He stuck out his hand. "Harrison."
Blaise shook it. "Blaise."
"Someday, you'll tell me how you can sound asleep and yet still hear past a Muffling Charm," Harrison said sleekly.
"I'm half vampire, half siren," Blaise stated after a pause. "Because I don't have any human blood in me, I was born with my creature sides and powers. Beyond that, I'll let you research on your own."
He couldn't give Harrison all his secrets, that would be too easy.
Harrison's lips twitched. "I think you will be an interesting ally."
"I can do basically the same thing your brother can," Blaise added, "and I can blend into the shadows; it's a vampire thing. You can ask me to find any information your brother can't."
"I will think about it," Harrison said slowly. "Thank you for the offer.
"Good night, Blaise."
Prime woke up earlier than usual, as he wanted to speak with Harrison Potter-Black before classes. He could tell the child had a better sleep schedule than most Slytherins, so he would be up earlier as well.
He was reading over his Potions book when the Potter-Black twins came down the stairs, followed by Marchese Zabini and Heir Malfoy. The redheaded twin looked much less energetic than he had the night before, almost to the point of being asleep on his feet. He made some sort of greeting when he passed Prime, face-planting on the couch next to him.
"Harley," his brother said calmly.
Groaning, the boy sat up, eyes still shut.
"Heir Slytherin-Ravenclaw-Prince-Black," Prime said, after greeting the four boys. "Do you mind having a word with me before heading to breakfast?"
"We were going to wait for Ron, anyway," Harrison Potter-Black agreed. "You may call me Harrison, if you wish, your majesty."
Prime nodded. "In certain circumstances, which I will inform you of, you may call me Prime."
The Malfoy boy looked awed but not surprised. Zabini smirked as he said, "We can look over our books over there." He gestured to the other side of the common room.
Prime nodded, but he noticed that the two boys waited for Harrison to agree before moving. Interesting; it seems Zabini and Malfoy already recognized Harrison's potential to be a Dark Lord.
"Harley can stay there, he won't hear anything, anyway," Harrison said dryly, before casting a wandless, wordless Muffling Charm.
Prime stared at him. "You just performed a Charm that most seventh years can't perform, even with words and a wand."
Harrison blinked at him, expression blank. "Interesting."
"You don't know how powerful you are, do you?" Prime said quietly.
"I don't understand how powerful I am, yet," Harrison corrected. He didn't elaborate. "What was it you wanted to talk about?"
Prime got more comfortable in his armchair. "I'm aware that, eventually, you will become Slytherin's king."
Harrison nodded slowly, eyes calculating.
"And most Slytherins will vote for you -- not just because you're one of the Boys Who Lived," Prime added, "but because you have the potential to be a very careful, cunning, and wise king."
The boy nodded again.
"However, you know very little about the wixen world," Prime stated. Harrison was clearly not insulted, because he looked irritated (at himself) and resigned. "And while you might be powerful in magic, you most likely haven't dueled with magic."
"No," Harrison agreed.
"I would like to offer you tutoring," Prime explained. "Not from myself, I am quite busy this year, given this is N.E.W.T.s year. But those in the Court are well-trained, and they respect you."
Harrison was quiet for a moment. Then he said, "I would like to get to know them before I trust them enough to let them teach me."
"I was going to suggest that," Prime said wryly; he had noticed Harrison's distrust of everyone except his brother. "On Saturday and Sunday, they will approach you one at a time to introduce themselves. You can tell me on Monday which ones you would like to learn from." When the boy nodded in agreement, Prime added, "Of course, this will only be this year, as next year a new king will be voted, and they might not be as trusting or respectful of you as I am."
"Then they won't be a true king of Slytherin," Harrison pointed out. "A true Slytherin doesn't jump to conclusions, especially others' conclusions. They make careful, informed decisions. And a king needs to trust, to some extent, all of his subjects, and treat them with respect."
"Most people don't recognize that there's more than one type of respect," Prime said with interest. "If you weren't so young and so inexperienced, I'd say you could be king next year."
Harrison's lips twitched. He glanced at the watch on his arm, then asked, "How does Slytherin choose their king or queen?"
"Throughout this year, as it's Patricia's and my last," Prime explained, "those in fourth, fifth, and sixth year will sign up to be king and queen. People can also sign their friends up, even the younger years, but the current Court will veto any names if they think they're too young. The youngest king was a fourth year, Tom Marvolo Riddle."
He could tell that Harrison noticed the great reverence in Prime's voice at the name. "Is that the Dark Lord Voldemort's real name?" Harrison guessed, a note of respect in his voice, but it was the sort of respect one would show a talented equal.
So, Harrison knew he was a Dark Lord.
"Yes," Prime agreed reluctantly. "I must ask you not to tell anyone."
"I won't even tell Harley, although he won't care either way," Harrison promised.
"The Court doesn't usually let anyone younger than fourth year enter their names," Prime continued after a nod. "A week before the end of the year, after all the tests are over, a tournament is set up. The king and queen need to be talented in four areas: strategy, dueling, problem-solving, and to some extent, healing -- though you only need basic knowledge in healing, because usually the king and queen will pick one or two students for their Court that are skilled in that area.
"Before the tournament, which consists of multiple challenges, the Slytherins who aren't in the current Court or in the running for king or queen will vote four people -- two people running for king, two people running for queen -- to participate in the tournament. They are encouraged to pick people they think would do well in all four sections, and not just vote for their friends.
"The tournament will have four challenges, each one representing strategy, dueling, problem-solving, and healing. The tests rotate every seven years so people don't already know the answers. The current Court judges each challenge, and anyone who loses any challenge is disqualified. If more than one person running for king or queen beats the challenges, the Sytherins will vote again to determine the new king and queen.
"Once the new king and queen are established, they can pick up to eight people to be in the new Court. They can pick their friends, but it's usually encouraged to pick one or two people who are good at strategy, one or two people good at dueling, etc. Usually the people who are picked were in the old Court, unless they're seventh years already."
"Smart, they would already have experience in a Court," Harrison hummed. "Two more things before my allies and I head to breakfast."
Prime nodded.
"You spoke as if any gender could run for either title," Harrison stated.
"Yes," Prime agreed. "The king and queen usually end up being either honorary siblings or in a relationship. Their duties are the same, but the king is a little higher in status than the queen, but the king doesn't necessarily have to be male and the queen doesn't necessarily need to be female. They can be male, female, or even non-binary or gender-fluid. They can also use the title 'Consort' if they don't like being a king or queen. Usually only trans wixen have that issue, though."
Harrison looked thoughtful. After a pause, he said, "My other question is: can a student from another House be named an honorary Slytherin?"
Prime smirked. "Yes, although it's rare. Which students did you have in mind?"
"Fred and George Weasley," Harrison said promptly.
"I'm going to tell you a little secret," Prime grinned. Harrison's eyes glittered. "They already are, although only the Court and a few select Slytherins know."
"It might need to be that way for a while," Harrison agreed. "Do they know?"
"Most likely, although they've never been told," Prime replied. "Why?"
"Two reasons: we'll need them to keep an eye on the Gryffindors, and... can honorary Slytherins be part of a Court?"
"It's never been done before," Prime said slowly, "but in the Demons' case, I might make an exception. They'd have to be at least fifteen, though, and the whole of Slytherin would have to know about them."
"Not necessarily," Harrison pointed out, eyes glittering. "They can watch and protect from the shadows. And the king and queen pick the Court members, anyway, not Slytherin House."
Prime chuckled. "Secret Court members," he mused. "That's a very clever idea. I wish I'd thought of it when I became king."
Harrison glanced at his watch again. "I need to go. This has been a very interesting conversation, and I'd like to have more."
"When I find time," Prime said. He watched Harrison remove the Charm and drag his half-conscious brother out of the common room, followed by Mr. Ron Weasley, Malfoy, and Zabini.
Patricia came out of the shadows. "I wish I could have heard that," she lamented. "That kid is powerful." She sat down beside Prime.
"He might become a Dark Lord," Prime said quietly, eyes on the door.
Her eyes widened. "Merlin's bloody trousers." Prime snorted. "No wonder he could defeat the current Dark Lord."
"He brought up a couple of ideas that I'd like to implement for our last year," Prime said.
"What?" Patricia asked with interest.
"Well, first, I want to have something that's adjacent to the Court, but not the actual Court...."
Dear Mr. Harrison Potter-Black,
I was hoping I could speak to you and your brother in my office after dinner today, around seven o'clock. There are a few things I'd like to clear up. I admit, I'm also quite interested in meeting you, given I knew your parents.
Sincerely,
Albus Percival Wolfric Brian Dumbledore
Headmaster of Hogwarts
P.S. I rather like Pop Tarts.