Merope's might
This night Tom dreamt about Merope again. She wore a flowing black dress and a dark purple cape. She stood on a cliff, in front of a massive storm cloud, that wiggled through the air like a massive snake. The woman had her arms raised to the cloudy sky, lightning illuminating her gaunt face and winds letting her long hair fly behind her. It was longer then Tom remembered. She was chanting something but her words were swallowed by the wind. Tom was floating by her side, struggling but unable to move.
He did not know what was going on, but he knew that he had to stop it. “No! Don’t!”, he called, but the wind ripped away his voice too. The cloud snake opened it’s eyes now, which glowed bright red. They cast an eerie blood like glow on Merope’s pale face. Her chanting got faster. “NO!”, Tom screamed. She turned her head towards him, still chanting. “Aayaa ethaa hasseey ssss haa ayaahath ssssehhh haaaaaah hass seethaaa haa aayaa seyythaa ssssaytha” I break my chains the same thing, she had said in his last dream. Her eyes glowed in the same red as the cloud snake’s. Red like cold, watery blood. Tom felt sick. “Aayaa ethaa hasseey ssss haa ayaahath ssssehhh haaaaaah hass seethaaa haa aayaa seyythaa ssssaytha” “No! Stop it! Please stop!”, he screamed.
The snake opened its mouth. Merope raised her bony hands over her head and her voice got louder, the hissed words more clearly pronounced. The cloud snake shot down from the sky, accompanied by lightning, and swallowed them both. Tom screamed. Merope laughed. Then the gray mist dissolved. They were standing inside a fortress of some kind. The walls, the floor, the bars in front of the doors, they all had the same dark, worn, gray. He could hear the ocean crashing against the old walls from outside. And it was cold. Terribly cold. Tom thought he could hear distant screams and labored, rattling breathing.
Merope marched forward and her son was forced to follow. “No stop it!”; he called and his voice echoed from the cold stone walls. Merope paid him no mind. She walked through the long hallways up a rusty, creaking staircase and stopped in front of one of the barred doors. What or whoever was behind the door was hidden from Tom’s view. Merope pulled out her crooked wand and pointed it through the bars whispering something under her breath. A bright green light filled the hallway and something heavy dropped behind the door. “Aayaa ethaa hasseey ssss haa ayaahath ssssehhh haaaaaah hass seethaaa haa aayaa seyythaa ssssaytha”, Merope hissed and her special necklace began to glow. A terribly ringing cut through the dream.
Tom’s eyes flew open. He was covered in sweat. His knuckles were blood-caked and ached. His alarm clock was ringing and he stretched his hand out of the curtains and turned it off. Miss Noodles had draped her heavy body over Tom’s chest and he had to shove her off to get up. She didn’t even wake. Well, she had fought a knife swinging idiot the day before, she deserved the rest. He grabbed his robes and went to the bathroom, brushing his hair and washing his face and aching hands. The warm water turned red. Damn, he must have gotten more hurt, than he had thought. Had he only worn his boxing gloves last night!
Tom grabbed his robes with numb fingers, only to notice that the insides had turned green. The same thing was true for his hat. He put the uniform on with a grin. At least his clothes seemed to recognize him as a worthy Slytherin. And surely the nice professor Slughorn would too. When he left the bathroom again, he had almost forgotten about the nightmare and Merope’s weird behavior in it.
Malfoy was the next one to use the bathroom and he looked, as if he had been hit by a truck. His chin was blue and swollen, he had his arms wrapped around his stomach and he limped. He didn’t even look at Tom, as he waddled past. Avery was already gone. Otto, the only one in their dorm who hadn’t talked to Tom yet, packed his school bag before he had dressed himself. Likely to save time. Alphard’s curtains were still closed. “Good morning, Otto”, Tom greeted cheerily. Seeing Malfoy wobble around their dorm sure had made his morning better! Otto flinched. “I don’t talk to mudb... muggleborns. That’s social suicide. I have it bad enough already with the dishonour grandfather brought the family when he married a squib.”, Underground stammered and shoved a pair of golden glasses onto his nose. Tom rolled his eyes. “All right” And he was off to breakfest.