The Trials
It was the last Knights of Walpurgis meeting of the year, only a couple of days before the Summer holidays, the night which, since Tom’s Third Year, he had used to recruit new followers into the ranks, the initiates this year being Silvia Mulciber and the Lovegood twins, Anthony and Declan. For some reason, Haddy found the boys’ names hilarious, his Haddy-isms most prominent when around them, he always greeted the duo in a Newcastle accent (a bad Newcastle accent) and whenever either of them lost the war games the Knights play, Haddy will chime in, “The public have voted, it’s time for you to leave the jungle.”
It was a rather odd cohort of initiates this year, two Ravenclaws and a girl, all three of them were breaking the mould on who was allowed to be a Knight. But that’s Haddy for you, always picking up strays and convincing Tom they could be adequate members of the Knights of Walpurgis. Although, Tom is almost one-hundred-percent certain that the only reason Haddy wanted the twins to be part of the Knights in the first place, was so he could blackmail them into constantly performing the choreography for that infernal song Haddy sings, ‘Let’s get ready to Rhumble’.
These three students have been training since the start of their Second Year after being scouted in their First and were now ready to take the tests that will make them fully fledged members of the Knights, if they pass that is. If they don’t pass, they will lose all social standing among the Slytherins, they will be Obliviated of all knowledge of the Knights, training and members. They will have no idea why they are suddenly so despised; it has driven at least one failed initiate to madness.
The Grandfather clock in the corner of the Room of Requirement chimes ominously, signalling to Tom, Haddy and the rest of the Knight’s gathered, that it was midnight and the new recruits will soon be here to face their trials. Tom’s followers had gathered in a semi-circle with Tom and his boy at the epicentre, they were all facing the entrance to the room, showing a united and intimidating front. They used to be more intimidating, wearing floor length hooded cloaks, the only light in the room emanating from the candles they each held in their hands, that was the tradition, until Haddy couldn’t withhold his giggles long enough to get through the ceremony, finding the stereotypically cultish behaviour absolutely hilarious. So now they leave the dress code at smart-casual.
The three initiates enter on the final chime, Mulciber striding forward confidently, the twins on either side of her, as resolute in their convictions to go through with the trials as Mulciber is, if slightly more nervous.
“Initiates.” Tom begins in a low and intimidating tone, “This is your last chance to bow out, there is no shame in needing another year to prepare, but if you fail your Trials, there are no second chances.” Tom waits expectantly, staring at each of the new recruits in turn, looking for any sign of cowardice, there is none, only nervous determination.
“We shall begin with the Trial of Skill.”
At that announcement, the established Knights take their places around the room, leaving the middle of the room empty except for the initiates and Tom.
“Over the past year you have each been tasked to learn the three Unforgivables plus a powerful Dark Spell specific to your own abilities and strengths, you will perform these spells now.”
As Tom conjures three rats for the initiates to perform their new skills on and prove their power to the assembled Knights, Tom absentmindedly hopes that these initiates pass the Trials, the individualised spells he had assigned to this year’s batch would be especially helpful to have in his arsenal. This Trial has not changed since Tom had held the first Initiation Night. By tasking all of his followers to learn and be able to perform the Unforgivables, they prove that they have the magical core and conscious compatible with casting dark magic, by giving them each a specialised dark spell, Tom ensures that his followers each become proficient in one particular area of magic, making them hard to defeat individually and a highly intimidating force when combined. Each of Tom’s followers are adept at at least one dark curse, Orion can control Fiendfire as easy as breathing, Abraxas’ cutting curse can decapitate ten people at once, Corvus can summon lightning wordlessly and wandlessly.
Tom, Haddy and the surrounding Knights watch as the trio of Second Years successfully complete each of the Unforgivables, Tom having to restrain Haddy from jumping in front of the rats when the recruits were casting the Crucio, that boy has a concerning attachment to the pain curse.
Each of the Second Years step forward to perform their fourth and final spell after successfully completing the three Unforgivables. The twins begin reciting their spell in rapid Latin.
When Haddy had brought forward the twins as potential initiates, Tom had been sceptical initially, he had never recruited outside of Slytherin house before, however he soon became ecstatic at the opportunity of having magical twins in his ranks. Magical twins are different from twins who just happen to be magical, magical twins are able to communicate telepathically over great distance, they can transfer magic between each other, there are even certain spells that can only be performed by magical twins. One of these spells, Tom had tasked the duo to learn as their speciality, it is a dark defensive spell, twenty times stronger than Protego Maxima and able to shield against two of the three Unforgivables, Tom hopes to Merlin these two pass this trial.
The sigh of relief Tom exhales when the twins’ shield holds up against Cygnus’ Crucio is almost audible.
Next, Mulciber steps up to perform her spell, due to Silvia’s mother being a Black, the Metamorphmagus trait lies dormant in her blood, or it did. Through use of an obscure and extremely dark ritual which required the caster to sacrifice ‘half their lifeblood’, draining their body of half of its blood until the spell was satisfied with the casters sacrifice, the dormant Metamorphmagus gene becomes active. Since her sacrifice halfway through the year, the girl has been able to changer her appearance at will, a highly useful skill especially for future undercover operations.
Mulciber is a stern girl, since her First Year, she has been tiny in stature, she has olive toned skin and dark brown almost black eyes, she is pixyish and doll-like, or she was before she learnt the dark spell. Now, she is one of the tallest in her year, her waist length chestnut hair is now cut closer to her scalp than her shoulders and she has put on over ten pounds of solid muscle since she began experimenting with her appearance.
Observing these rather extreme changes, changes that occurred rather rapidly, Haddy became concerned. Often pulling away during their ‘intimate’ times to remark to Tom over his worries for the girl and her mental health, stating his fears that ‘her being part of such a male dominated group might cause her to subconsciously reject her femininity in order to fit in’, Tom hates that he heard that sentence often enough he can remember it off by heart. Unfortunately, Haddy isn’t known for his tact and instead of the well thought out and politely put worries Haddy had often espoused to Tom, when Haddy had asked her about the changes she had permanently made to her body during a Knight’s training months ago, he came out with, “I just want you to know Silvia, just because your joining a cult, doesn’t mean you can’t be feminine, girls can murder too yanno!”
She became nervous and upset at the well-meant statement, desperately trying to prevent the tears in her eyes escaping down her cheeks, Haddy looked on horrified at the effect his words had on the girl and quickly used the sleeve of his robes to mop the falling tears of off her face.
Voice hitching, she responds, “I like the way I look now, it feels… right. Like I was always meant to look this way, but my body didn’t get the message… Do you not like it?” She almost whispered the question, obviously worried about Haddy’s reaction.
At her broken-hearted expression Haddy rapidly tries to reassure her, “Oh sweetie no! You look incredible, like Miley Cyrus during her Wrecking Ball era!” Confusion replaces the girls dejected expression, Haddy continues, “It doesn’t matter what I think, what Tom thinks, what anyone else thinks, as long as your happy with how you look, that’s all that should matter!”
After a final sniffle Mulciber smiles tentatively, leaning her face into Haddy’s palm for another few seconds before returning to training, the rest of the Knights surreptitiously look towards the baffling sight of Haddy being kind and comforting, unbeknownst to Mulciber, Haddy sends a glare around the room, gnashing his teeth at Corvus who had joked about Silvia’s appearance in the past. Tom is reluctantly charmed at his boy’s protective fury, kissing him on the forehead when Haddy makes his way over to him.
Mulciber continued to practise and perfect her skill over the next couple of months but any subsequent changes were only temporary and when she shows of her skill to the assembled Knights on Initiation Night changing into a near perfect reflection of Haddy (the only characteristic she could not replicate being Haddy’s luminous green eyes), she passes the trial with flying colours. Onto trial number two, the Trial of Devotion.
The Trial of Devotion is physically the easiest of the Trials, its purpose is to gage the loyalty and dedication of the initiate and to add to Tom’s collection of valuables of course. Initiates are required to gift Tom an item of either great value or unmeasurable personal significance. In the past, this has taken the form of enchanted jewellery which had been in the recruit’s family for generation, or an extremely rare book that would be impossible to find anywhere else.
The trio gave their gifts which included an extremely rare Parseltongue tome created by a descendent of Salazar Slytherin (from Mulciber) and three Occamy eggshells from the twins. After inspecting the gifts and finding them satisfactory, Tom nods towards Orion and Corvus who, as the masterminds behind the third Trial, have the honour of monitoring it, a task they derive some sort of sick pleasure from.
The Trial of Daring had only been introduced two years prior, it had originally begun not as a Trial, but as a way for the older Knights to haze the new initiates. Unfortunately, it all got out of hand one year, every single one of that year’s initiates had to be taken to Madam Pomfrey, each spending a week on bed rest. Suffice to say, Tom thought it would be safer for him to oversee the Trial personally, make sure they didn’t bite of more than they could chew.
“It is time for the final Trial”, Orion gleefully announces, making his way to the middle of the room, “The Trial that will test all of your limits, bring you to your knees so that our Lord may remake you into better, stronger Wixen”, Tom rolls his eyes at his followers dramatic antics, Haddy raises an eyebrow at him as if it say ‘You’re really judging someone else for being dramatic?’.
Corvus begins his part of the pre-prepared speech, “Behold! The Trial of the Chocolate-Chip-Cookie!”
Haddy stands up from his reclined position against Tom’s shoulder and begins walking towards the slightly trembling initiates. Swaying his hips and with a dramatic flourish, Haddy pulls a cloche out of nowhere, opening it and presenting the trio of recruits with three flawless, golden brown, gooey yet crispy, perfectly sized cookies.
They are doomed.
The initiates look around in horror, hoping and praying that this is a joke, Haddy’s baking is infamous among the Knights and the wider Slytherin community and not for any good reasons.
Orion dramatically ends his speech, “One bite… One bite to become a Knight!”
Mulciber, brave Mulciber, is the first to reach out and pluck one of the perfect looking baked goods from the plate, the other two swiftly following in her footsteps, they look to each other for moral support, purposefully ignoring Haddy’s expression of gleeful expectation, ecstatic to have more people enjoy his baking.
They each take a bite of their cookie simultaneously, and the reactions were almost instantaneous. Declan gags and projectile vomits all over Cygnus’ shoes, Anthony’s eyes roll to the back of his head and he drops in a dead faint. Mulciber stays stony faced but the Power of the Cookie™ brings her to her knees, she stares Tom straight in his eyes before audibly swallowing the bite of cookie in her mouth.
The Knights let out an exuberant cheer at the girl’s unprecedented success, someone rouses the twins, helping them to their feet.
When the green tint in the trio’s faces had diminishes slightly Tom calls for silence, beckoning the three to stand in front of him.
“Congratulations initiates, you have passed your Trials, come forward to receive your mark and forever be known as a Knight of Walpurgis, a follower of Lord Voldemort!”
When Tom first came up with the idea of branding his followers, it was a way for him to keep an eye on and ensure the loyalty of, those members who were leaving Hogwarts. For months, Tom tried to come up with a design that was equally menacing and dignified, he never would have thought that he’d find that second requirement in one of Haddy’s doodles. During one of the Hufflepuff sessions, where Tom’s boy was supposed to be memorising how to create a shrinking solution, Haddy had instead spent the time drawing a skull, enchanting a drawing of a snake to slither in and out of its mouth, it was also bright pink, dramatically large eyelashes sprouting from the eye sockets. Tom saw it and knew it would be perfect as his brand, after a few changes of course. When Tom was making adjustments to the design so that it was fit to be his Mark, Haddy became offended that the skull no longer had eyelashes, “Just you wait Tommy, fake eyelashes are gonna be the height of fashion in the twenty-first century and everyone’s gonna think your tattoos are totally boomer!” This comment leaves Tom pondering, once again, on the validity of Haddy’s rambling about the future, it has already been proven that Haddy’s absurd belief that his father is Death is not absurd at all, what other truths has Tom disregarded as merely being Haddy’s overactive imagination? A query for another time, for now, Tom will focus on ‘correcting’ Haddy’s doodle enough that teenage boys wouldn’t be ashamed to have it permanently scarred onto their body.
Tom finishes etching the Dark Mark onto Declan’s forearm, he takes a step back before reclining on the loveseat behind him. He looks around and watches his new followers admire their brands, the sign of an eternal connection to their Lord.
Tom turns towards Haddy who had huddled under Tom’s arm as soon as the Slytherin had finished the brand, to be fair to the younger boy, it was way past his bedtime.
Haddy yawns, before looking up at Tom quizzically, “Why have you never offered me the Dark Mark Tommy?”
Tom gives Haddy his full attention, trying to gage whether his boy is upset or not, “I’d never brand you sweetheart, I couldn’t live with myself to ever change you perfect body, you aren’t a simple follower either, you are my equal, I trust you implicitly, I don’t need to brand you to know you are mine!”
Haddy hums in thought before smiling shyly at Tom and leaning up to kiss the Slytherin’s cheek. Whilst Haddy snuggles back into Tom, the Sixth Year asks his own question, “Would you want to be marked by me? I won’t do you the disservice of giving you the generic Dark Mark, but I’m sure we could come up with something if you really want to.”
Haddy hums again before replying, “Nah, if I get a tattoo I can’t be buried in a Jewish cemetery.”
Tom frowns in confusion, “I didn’t know you were Jewish?”
Haddy had begun dozing off, just before sleep claims him he answers, “I’m not.” The boy lets out another cute yawn then falls asleep, face buried in Tom’s shoulder.
As the Knight’s revelry carries on around him, Tom hides a smile full of affection in Haddy’s hair, casting a noise muffling charm and barely moving a muscle for the next hour or so, ensuring his boy has a restful sleep.