son of night II (Harry Potter/Game of Thrones)
297 AC
Theo’s first vivid memory did not belong to him. His father, Theophrastus Nott believed in the virtues of applying visual aids in teaching, and therefore made extensive use of the family pensieve to show little Theo the glory days of muggle baiting during the reign of the Dark Lord.
The lesson didn’t quite have the intended effect, though Theo was never stupid enough to say so out loud.
What Theo really learnt that day, was to lie.
Violence is so exciting, Father.
I understand why you miss those days, Father.
I can't wait for the Dark Lord to come back, Father.
Hah.
As if.
Father didn't need subtlety, he just liked to hear someone agreeing with him. And Mother was in no position to do so, fragile as she was. He hadn't married her for her mental fortitude, after all. He was more interested in adding the powers of her bloodline to his pedigree. Nonetheless, Theo learnt the value of a good lie at his father's knee, hiding the trembling of his hands as he watched memories of the atrocities the man committed. To Theo, dishonesty was survival. He improved as he grew older, and living among snakes perfected his craft.
Every Slytherin worth their salt knew the best lies were simple twists of the truth.
"I left my homeland, Albion, because my father swore allegiance to a child slayer," he said when the Lord Paramount and his party asked him where he came from.
No need to tell them where Albion was located.
"He kissed the feet of a madman who thought the best way to cleanse our rotten government was to bathe the streets in blood. Lord Voldemort's," — and wasn't saying his name without fear of repercussion a thrill? He understood Potter so much better now, — "latest obsession was to murder the child king who was forced in the role of figurehead, puppeted by a manipulative old regent and malicious ministers. My father was caught fomenting rebellion and arrested while he tried to assist in the assassination of said child."
There, that sounded suitably dramatic, and more comprehensible to mediaeval nobility than the actual clusterfuck that was wizarding politics. It was even accurate. More or less.
"His sentence was barely passed when his Lord turned his eye on me. He thought to make me serve him as my father did. I had no intention to do so. I thought about joining the child king's army, but."
He shrugged.
How would he go about explaining how little he wanted to be another Severus Snape in Albus Dumbledore's collection?
"I decided that the only thing worth saving in that godforsaken land was myself, and here I am."
"And what of the child king?" asked Jon Snow, leaning forward with wide eyes in a show of eager curiosity that contrasted greatly with his father's rapidly paling face.
Ah, right. Didn't Jeyne say something about a mad king, dead babies and a rebellion? Presumably, something in his little tale sounded familiar to the Lord or his reaction wouldn't have been that strong.
Awkward.
"If he's lucky, he'll live old enough to get rid of Lord Voldemort and his Order of Death Eaters," — keeping a straight face through all this would be hard, he could already tell, — "and maybe do something about the corruption in Albion. If he isn't… well. The kingdom is doomed. I don't care. There's nothing for me there."
Jon Snow looked like he disapproved. Theo's lips twitched. He was not surprised. The guy had Gryffindor written all over his face.
"And you believe there is something for you in the North?" asked Lord Stark. The man looked more understanding, which, seeing as he had actually lived through two wars, wasn't all that surprising. While he showed some rather strong Gryffindor tendencies too, Theo pegged him as either Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. With not a single Slytherin bone in his body.
"My mother was born a Trelawney. The scions of this House are known to have prophetic abilities."
She was from the main branch, unlike that quack distant cousin who drank herself into a stupor while muttering prophecies that nobody listened to because she liked making herself sound like a lunatic too much to allow people to take her seriously.
"She was tormented by nightmares of terrible events happening in distant lands. Shortly before she died, she told me I would be needed here," he admitted, "and that I should seek out the land of winter when the Dark came for the House of Nott. I figured now was as good a time as ever. But I didn't think my own kingdom was worth saving, you can imagine the thought of being needed by a kingdom of flayers doesn't thrill me."