Misfortune
Loki saw the memories of his clone once he woke up. His clone successfully found the troll, had a little fun teasing the dumb thing and killed it in cold blood. He made it so that the troll was in pain when he died a slow, horrible death.
Prior to the brain of this monster dying, Loki dug through its memories, trying to find how Tom managed to controll it like that, it was very interesting to him.
Sadly, he couldn't find anything good. Loki didn't even understand a thing inside this stupid things head. The troll couldn't understand a thing anyone said, so all the words uttered by other are heard like nonsense.
In the end, his clone gave up and dissipated after finishing the job.
The grand hall resonated with more noise than Harry had ever experienced during his time at Hogwarts. Everyone was talking about the troll and how terrible it felt to have a blood thirsty monster inside the castle.
Somehow, the news had spread among the students about Harry being miraculously rescued by two Gryffindors.
The voices eventually died down when the headmaster spoke. "Silence."
Their gaze shifted to the elderly man, his demeanor serious as he stood up from where he had been sitting. "As you all know the gates of Hogwarts have been breached by a creature yesterday." The teachers all had their eyes fixed on the white bearded man.
"This has never happened in the history of Hogwarts. This place is the safest for a reason. I don't know how this troll snuck in without the anti-magic working on it, but one thing is for certain... it managed to break in and hurt a Gryffindor student who was protecting a first year."
All eyes in the hall shifted to Harry, making him the center of attention. He continued eating his meal with grace. Having grown accustomed to people scrutinizing and judging him, he stood his ground without faltering.
Fred had already left the hospital wing and was seated beside George. They waved at him and he did the same.
The quiet murmurs of certain students were disrupted by Snape. "We found the troll dead on the second floor, there were signs of unknown magic involved." The lack of surprise among the teachers suggests they likely had a discussion beforehand.
Dumbledore nodded towards the potions professor and turned back to face the students. "We will investigate this case thoroughly to keep all of you safe." The young ones cheered and continued eating.
Fortunately, because the students had gone without food the other day, all the sweets were unchanged from yesterday. Blaise and Draco kept Harry busy with accusatory questions about not telling them that he had encountered a troll. Before the heads of the students began turning into pumpkins, the three were fortunate enough to avoid consuming any sweets. Most of them were Gryffindors and first years.
There were a few students from the Slytherin house who fell for it.
Harry noticed the defence against the dark arts teacher enter the hall. At this moment, he seemed perfectly healthy, showing no traces of resembling a corpse from the day before. Quirrel, or Tom glanced at him too.
It came as a surprise that the professors promptly singled out the Weasley twins as suspects for the prank.
Given their suspicious behavior of wandering the halls during the meal just the day before, they were found guilty. Their punishment was two weeks worth of detention with Filch.
Loki had this weird feeling that he had forgotten something, but he didn't know what that something was. He stayed on high alert, being jumpy over the slightest noise or touch.
Harry, Draco, Blaise and Pancy attended morning classes like usual. Draco has been talking nonstop about the upcoming quidditch tournament. The blond wanted to bring all his friends to watch it with him, but Harry declined. Surprisingly, so did Pancy.
Harry suggested going to the library, she didn't have anything better to do, so she followed.
Hermione was sitting in her spot as usual, reading the book on that table. They greeted each other, with Pancys exception. She was very rude to Hermione, Harry knew it was because of the blood purity, but he still didn't really enjoy seeing his friend being insulted for no reason.
He was about to start talking when Neville greeted Harry and Hermione. The Hufflepuff told Harry, "can I talk to you?" When Harry gave a affirmative nod, the shy boy lead him to a different part of the library.
Even there, he was very quiet. "So, I wanted to tell you that there's a boy walking around the castle, looking for you." He sounded sort of worried. Loki raiser an eyebrow and adopted a crossed arm posture. "There's students talking about it and I wanted to let you know."
"Thank you, my friend. But really, you don't need to worry, I'll be fine." Then he asked. "Neville, are you busy at the moment?" Neville thought about it and answered. "No, why do you ask?"
"Wanna be in the library and prevent a possible fight between two girls?" He asked. Neville agreed, so they went back, only to find themselves shocked later.
Pansy and Hermione engaged in casual interaction, exchanging smiles. "What happened while we were gone?" He asked, awed.
Pancy looked at Hermione and shrugged. "We talked it out I guess. Turns out we share the same interests." To Harrys surprise, she even looked serious.
"Okay then..." Harry said, blinking. Moving to the other side of the table and grabbing a book for himself. Neville sits down next to him and attempts a conversation about plants, which actually works and there's a hushed conversation of three students while Harry stays silent.
The day flew away in a blink of an eye. Now it was time for the two Slytherins to go back to their dormitories.
On the way, Pancy said this with a thoughtful expression. "Maybe she isn't so bad after all." And they parted ways.
Quirrels body has been on it's edge, there's absolutely no way it can last long enough. At this point the dark lord would die all because of not taking any action.
Just this morning, he could barely sit up from the bed and take a step out, it physically exhausted him.
If only he had the philosopher's stone. Voldemort wouldn't have to even remotely think about doing such a thing as drinking a unicorns blood. But he had to, or he'd die.
When he arrived at the great hall, there was a commotion. He felt someone watching Quirrel. Searching for that person with his eyes, he found the culprit, Harry Potter. He was probably looking at all the professors.
Voldemort shook off that odd feeling.
When he sat in his usual seat, he noticed that some of the students had pumpkins for heads and the teachers–including Quirrel himself– thought the fault lied with Fred and George Weasley.
Just in case, he scanned his food for any weird substances and when he didn't find anything odd, he ate a small portion of what he'd usually eat.
The possessor watched through Quirrels eyes as he handled all his classes the same: making himself look weak, defenseless, pathetic. He did a good job at it. If he wasn't inside his head, he'd likely be fooled as well.
Another boring class.
There were three types of students: those who were always busy doing anything else than listening to a professor explain a lesson; those who were whispering to one another about Quirrel and making fun of him; those who were trying to answer a question and get a good mark.
Finally, Quirrel finished talking to himself about the new topic in front of the class and the last tiresome lecture of the day, he took a rest in his office for some time.
When he was on the move to the forbidden forest, he came across Dumbledore.
Obviously, the dark lord couldn't take over now, it would be too risky for him to be found out, so he let Quirrel interact with the man.
After the old oaf asked him about how his classes were going and this tiresome interaction was over, they went their separate ways.
It was already getting dark outside. Voldemort couldn't waste any more time, he was forced to the only solution, drinking unicorn blood. Today was the day it had to happen. The longer he procrastinated, the sicker Quirrell became. Controlling him was harder every day.
There is no other choice.
The forest was the same as always: dark, cold, creepy, full of all sorts of beings.
Voldemort walked around in a dark cape that hid his face. He couldn't risk having someone know who he was, or else he'd be in trouble.
He looked for traces, searched everywhere, but he didn't sight a unicorn anywhere.
After a few minutes of exploration, he came across one. It was standing, unmoving.
This was his chance to act before it became aware of his presence and fled.
He raised his wand and used a stunner spell to knock the unicorn unconscious.
Then, he quickly took action.
For a moment everything seemed okay, until then...
It was dark, the atmosphere of this place changed.
Loki was gasping, clinging to air, his hands shaking. He couldn't breathe. He was panicking, heavy breaths breaking the silence.
Why did this happen?
There was no way. This couldn't possibly have happened.
No no no no no.
Then there was light.
Harry was woken up by Blaise, who told him that he was talking in his sleep. "How was the quidditch tournament?" He asked.
That's when Draco showed up to enlighten him about how his favourite team won. How he heared his question from outside the door when Harry said that in such a quiet voice, was a mystery.
Harry was the last one to get ready for the following classes. He forced himself to attend them, all the teachers were paying attention to him being distracted. When they asked questions or called his name, he didn't respond right away. He got a detention in potions because of that. When Draco tried to help him, Snape gifted the blond a detention as well. Ron Weasley got a detention for yelling at Snape after he failed to answer a single question and ruined a cauldron.
Thankfully, Harry answered the tricky questions Snape threw his way and ended up giving his house a few points.
The whole day he had this feeling that he had forgotten something important. It was bugging him. What was that dream? Ever since he woke up he hasn't been himself.
After potions, Draco blamed Harry for his newly earned detention with Filch. And because their head of house knew how much the two Slytherins liked hanging out with the ginger, he told them that they would spend this one together. He called it "bonding."
Pleased and amused, Blaise watched the events play out, and Pansy only reacted when Draco got dragged into trouble.
The classes are over, his energy used up. He was thinking about skipping detention when Draco told him that they'd be following Filch. The man had already caught Ron Weasley before he made an escape.
Filch was reminiscing about the old time punishments for children. What a sadist, was all Loki thought.
"You'll be serving detention with Hagrid. He probably has lots of interesting places to explore inside the forest." Draco wasn't particularly happy about this new discovery.
"We'll be going in the forest? We can't do that. The students aren't allowed there. There are werewolves."
Loki knew that the other Slytherin was afraid, but he couldn't do anything about the detention except go along with it. Everything had already been decided.
Their guide took the kids at Hagrids hut, letting the giant man in on the detention and then leaving.
"Alright then." Said Hagrid with his accent. "Follow me." So they all did.
Engaging in relentless chatter, the ginger boy was doing his utmost to talk himself out of both the forest predicament and the ensuing detention. Despite his efforts, Hagrid remained unswayed. He must be experienced with students who tey to avoid taking responsibility for their actions.
Harry asked about why they were wandering the forbidden forest even thought, as the headmaster said, student trespassers aren't allowed.
"The forest beings around here have been moving to different places, the atmosphere of the environment seems more different and the organisms feel something new. This must mean only one thing. I think there's a newbie in the forest and I've been trying to find it for days now."
Draco asked what that had anything to do with them, the tall man told him that they'd help him find this new forest entity. "By the way, I've heard from some friends around, that this new creature is a snake, so it'll be eye-catching, since there are no snakes in here."
Ron was now even more against this whole thing. Then Hagrid offered them a solution. "We'll have to split up in pairs, this way we'll have more chances of finding it."
Immediately, Weasley volunteered as Hagrids companion, not that anyone else wanted to do the same thing. For instance, if Draco chose to pair up with the groundkeeper, Harry would have to go with Ron and that would be a catastrophic idea. Draco knew how his friend felt about annoyances.
That's why, the two of them paired up without hesitation to go and find this snake–which they would never find because Harry was right there and he wasn't willing to use up his seidr to make another clone of himself for that clone to use even more of his energy to transform. He'd rather be wasting time in the forest and eventually leaving with his friend.
Chilled air swept through the forest, accompanied by the rustlings and noises of creatures. "Did you hear that?" Draco asked, looking around. Harry couldn't help grinning at his friend.
While deep in the forest, sensed a familiar presence, accompanied by an unsettling feeling that it was time to go.
That's when they heard some sort of noise. Draco froze when he saw something in the darkness, his eyes wide.
Harry followed his example of looking in the same direction. There, he saw a shadowy figure on the ground, holding down a presumably dead unicorn and sucking its blood.
The cloaked person must've felt their presence, because he stood up looked their way. Harry shouted for Draco to run, to get away from there, but the blond wasn't moving, just watching this with wide eyes.
Harry was too distracted, coming up with a plan to get the other Slythering out of there safe.
The blood-sucker moved towards Harry, looming over him. The green-eyed boy could care less about the tricks this mortal used to "harm" him, he didn't pay attention with what it was trying to do. With some object in hand, prepared to attack, the situation changed as Draco quickly came to Harry's side, pushing him away and taking the blow intended for him.
Thud.
Immediately, Harry rose from the ground, prepared to confront the individual before a surge of pain pierced through his lightning scar, forcing him to briefly shut his eyes. When he managed to crack one open, he saw the mans face, only for a second.
He couldn't make it out in the darkness, so trying to recognize him was futile.
It was in that moment that the assailant struck. Harry's eyes closed once more, and he collapsed to the ground, this time without rising again.
While Voldemort was drinking unicorn blood, he felt Quirrel becoming more alive than ever, but at the same time, he was losing the little amount of sanity he had left.
In that instance, he felt someone near him, prompting him to stand up and see who it was.
To his surprise and delight, his witnesses were first years. Not only that, one of them was Harry Potter, the source of his every problem.
That's why, he moved to hurt, to kill.
Walking up to the boy, he raised his wand to use a lethal spell–he wouldn't make the same mistake as underestimating this child and using the killing curse again.
Voldemort used a spell he had created long ago, but it hit the wrong target–most likely a Malfoy.
Darn it.
He fell to the ground, the spell taking effect on the pale kid.
Creating the curse was an accident on his part. Because if he hadn't used it back then, he'd likely be dead.
Now, he had to do something about Harry Potter. While the child was distracted by pain, he used a stunner on him, making the small figure collapse. That would buy him some time to think about what to do now.
He banned the idea of using the killing curse on Harry Potter again, even thought the voices inside his head were telling him to do it, use the curse and get rid of the golden boy once and for all.
When Quirrels hand moved to point the wand at the unconscious boy. "You shall die at my hands, Harry Potter."
Blocking his path was a Centaur, who intervened to protect Potter, launching a momentary assault on him.
He backed away and quickly fled the scene.
Locking the professors door, he took off the cloak, burning it to get rid of any evidence. Quirrel cleaned his body and his clothes.
Everything was perfect.
The amount of unicorn blood he drunk would be enough to have him live for at least a month.
Now all that was left to steal the philosopher's stone at an appropriate timing.
Harry woke up, body aching, head hurting. There were these buzzing noises in his ears.
He pushed himself up, just barely standing.
What happened?
Then he remembered the events that took place right before losing his consciousness.
He had a clear view of the perpetrators face right before the attack.
His head buzzed with pain once more.
No use... I can't picture it.
He looked around, searching for his friend who had been attacked by a dark wizard.
In the darkness of the forest, his friend lay motionless on the cold ground.
Harry rushed to him, falling on his knees right beside Dracos body. When he saw what the blond looked like, he gaped, his breath hitching.
Dracos face was covered in his own blood. Blood had dripped from his eyes, his nose, his mouth, his ears. He looked paler than ever before.
Straight away, his hand reached for Dracos arm, checking his pulse.
...
No.
His friend wasn't dead, he couldn't be.
No matter what powerful spell he used, Dracos heart wasn't beating, it had stopped permanently.
No no no no no.
Harry couldn't get any air in his lungs. The breaths he took were fast, his hands were shaking, his body in the same situation as them.
No way.
This isn't real, Loki was just dreaming.
It must be a dream.
"Hey, this isn't funny." He said.
"Stop joking around." No answer.
"Open your eyes. Draco?"
Harry only heard silence.
Please...
He didn't know how much time had passed, but he didn't care. Harry had to be here for his friend.
He didn't know that he was crying until he started letting out sobs, his voice cracking.
This was his fault. He should have paid attention to that man, he should've done something, anything.
He wouldn't be in this situation if not for his own uselessness.
Harry's legs had gone numb from putting his body weight on them and because of the cold.
Harry was still searching for Dracos pulse, signs of life.
Nothing.
Fairy tales aren't real.
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry Draco."
It's his fault. He should have died, not his friend.
Draco should've run, but he didn't.
By the time he hears some footsteps and felt someone touch his shoulder, his face was a crying mess.
Although, he felt presence of not one, but two people, he didn't turn from the face of his friend. What kind of expression was that? Of pain Disappointment? Betrayal?
Weasley and Hagrid arrived. They saw Dracos body, the giant man tried to get close to Draco, only for Harry to tug the body to him, hugging it.
Hagrid asked if he could check the pulse, so Harry–with much doubt, let go of his dead friend. The tall man checked the pulse, then returning the blond to his original position.
Seeking details, Hagrid asked Harry about what had happened. When he got no answers, he suggested they go to the safety of Hogwarts castle.
Harry didn't meet their peering eyes, he repeated no" over and over.
Even Ronald Weasley wasn't being annoying, he was silent.
However, Harry didn't care much. There was nothing they could do to make him feel better about this situation, himself, about everything.
Loki should've just stayed dead, maybe then Draco Malfoy would still he alive.
Why did he have to choose this life? Even if he chose a different universe in a different body, misfortune would follow him wherever he went.
The groundkeeper and Weasley left.
So they finally accepted the fact that I should be left alone to die...
Minutes after they left, Snape arrived, looking tired, worried.
What was he worried about? Loki couldn't get it.
Harry could tell, Snape was looking at all this scene, watching his head student and a stupid boy wheeping next to that student.
"Harry..." he said. The boy looked up to meet his eyes, only to quickly look away from the professor, who was clearly pitying him.
Snape was carrying some sort of potion, which he held out to Harry. "Drink this, it's a calming draught."
Shaking his head, Harry glanced back to his friends corpse.
The potions teacher requested Harry to drink it again. When he got multiple refusals from the boy, he took a hold of Harry's chin after muttering an apology, moving the potion to the youths mouth.
The smaller of the two resisted. He didn't want to calm down, he needed his friend, Draco back, alive.
Still, the potion master made Harry drink the draught in the end, and the younger of the two became calmer, or that's what Snape could see anyway.
"Let's get away from here, Harry."
In a hushed tone, he informed Snape that his legs felt numb, rendering him unable to walk. To Harry's astonishment, Snape picked him up and carried him away.
They arrived at Hogwarts. Snape took Harry to the headmasters office.
Harry saw the surprise of everyone on the way, staring at the display in front of them. He didn't care what these children thought about it.
The two Slytherins entered Dumbledores office.
The old man looked almost as shocked as the students in the corridors, but he quickly masked it away.
"Severus, what brings you and Harry here?"
Snape explained the situation to the white bearded man, Harry watched with an uninterested face. He felt tired.
"I see." Dumbledore responded.
The headmaster asked Snape as to why he was still holding Harry in his arms.
"I have to take him to Pomfrey later."
The other man nodded.
"Harry, my boy, tell us what happened in the forbidden forest." He requested, to which Harry didn't reply, only shook his head.
"What happened to young Draco?"
Harry shook his head, refusing to answer.
"Did you see the attackers face?"
Harry's face didn't change, it still looked just as exhausted and locked off from others to witness.
Yes, but I can't even identify it. If I did, I would've made him go through the pain he made Draco suffer. He thought to himself, his eyes wandering the office itself to get them distracted.
"Answer my questions, my boy." The old man demanded with a friendly tone that was obviously fake.
Snape felt anger for the headmaster, but he didn't dare to speak out of turn to the greatest wizard. But then he noticed how tense Harry was in his arms, so he sighed and told Dumbledore that he'd better take the boy to the mediwitch.
Finally, Snape left the office with a quiet Harry Potter in his arms, clinging to him.
When they arrived and Snape told madam Pomfrey about what had occurred, the woman used an injury detection spell.
There weren't any newly acquired scars, only the old ones were showing.
Pomfrey told Snape to take a look at the results of the charm.
Age 1_A cursed scar to the forehead;
Age 4_ A sprained ankle;
Age 6_ A broken finger;
Age 7_ A fractured hand; broken nose:
Age 8_ A fractured arm and leg, head injury;
Age 9_ Damaged spine, fractured ribs;
Age 10_ An injury to the head, severe blood loss.
Except for age 1, everything else had malnutrition and dehydration at the end. This was horrible.
Once they were finished discussing about the malnutrition potions Snape had to brew for the boy from now on and how often he'd have to take it, Snape glanced over to the bed Harry was in.
The boy had fallen asleep, his head a pile of mess.
Pomfrey told Snape they should leave the boy to rest. Snape left the hospital wing, Pomphrey went to a different room.
Loki drifted into the endless void, watching stars, planets, the darkness surrounding him, swallowing him whole.
It felt peacefull.
Before letting go of Thors hammer, he though maybe they would try to catch him, save him from falling. He had the slightest hope that Odin would look hurt or say something in his last moments.
He didn't.
At the back of his head he had the opposite thought.
He had wanted this. He needed it.
Freedom at last.
Then Thanos rescued him. He saved Loki, only to break him later.
The physical torture was bearable, it healed fast, the emotional torture on the other hand wasn't quite as easy to heal from...
Even after getting away, he was scared that Thanos would find him again, this time torturing him endlessly.
Loki was locked up in his cell, exhausted, hungry.
Suddenly, the place changed.
There he was, standing in the forbidden forest, watching from the sidelines as Draco protected Harry and the other Slytherin not doing anything.
This time, Loki could see how the blood started spilling from his friends mouth, ears, nose, eyes.
Draco looked like he was in so much pain.
His eyes never leaving Harry, who was still not moving to help, to do something.
The blond reached out.
He extended his arm to Harry. But then, it dropped to the ground and his eyes shut close.
Loki just stood there, unable to move.
His attention was caught by a Centaur that attacked the killer.
Loki felt his heart shrink, there was a hint of hurt, which he wanted to get rid of.
The person who murdered Draco was Tom, his companion...
"Human?" Loki had to wipe this habit of revealing his weaknesses to everybody. Because not everyone was kind and truthful in this world. Who wouldn't betray an ally for the winning side or even kill the friend of the one you cooperate with for some purpose?
Lokis fists clenched.
He threw me away. How dare this mortal?
How could be kill a child? How dare he kill his friend?
What did he expect from a desperate Midgardian?
Loki held his emotions at halt to continue watching his hopelessness continue.
After Harry fell, he saw as a Centaur fend off the dark wizard and left.
Again, the scenario changed.
This time, he was holding a wand, striking Draco with that spell and killing him. And he died, slowly.
There was that light again.
There's no denying it. This is all Lokis fault.