The Midnight's melody
Chapter 2
The Midnight's melody
Harry was distraught. His heart was beating like a drum. He, Ron, and Hermione were running straight for the Gryffindor common room. They had to stop several times for Neville, who was stumbling and successfully slowing them down.
Usually, they would have scolded him slightly, but now they couldn't blame him. This giant three-headed dog was still haunting their thoughts, and Neville was the most affected.
Suddenly, this little trans of fear was broken by the most surprising thing ever. They could hear music echoing in the dark corridors of the castle. The tune invoked sadness in Harry as if the musician was voicing his sorrow in the melody.
At first, they were scared, nobody played music in Hogwarts after curfew, but after a few seconds, they managed to shake the fear off. Harry was looking to find the source of the music, and from what he could gather, Ron was doing the same thing.
"No, how do you even want to do this? It is Midnight, and Filch is already following us. Why are you so eager to lose so many points?" Hermione stated with shock.
"Take Neville to the common room. We will be right behind you." Answered Harry, to Hermione's dismay.
He and Ron didn't even wait for her retort and started to run straight toward the source of the music. They passed the long dark corridor and climbed up on one very narrow stairway, which probably had been forgotten at least a decade ago. It was full of spiderwebs, and the cold stone stairs were covered in dust. They started to walk while crouching because Ron was afraid not to entangle himself in the plethora of webs.
They were so close! They could hear the music coming from behind one crooked wooden door. He looked at Ron, and even before he could ask the question, the enthusiastic redhead was nodding as a sign of approval. Together they forced the door open and were sunned from what they saw.
Wednesday Addams was in the middle of an empty classroom illuminated by the moonlight. Her wand was moving like the baton of a compositor, commanding three cellos to play the haunting music. They waited a few fantastic seconds until she finished, and her hands went still.
"Wednesday?" Harry asked quietly.
The little girl made a rapid turn to face them. She looked like she had awoken from a happy dream and felt grumpy about it. She pointed her wand towards Harry, preparing herself to confront the invaders. Her form, from wand position to footwork, was pure perfection, something that was almost unimaginable for a first-year.
"Easy!" Said Ron immediately, raising his hands in the air. "We just heard your music and came to investigate."
Her dark eyes were locked on them. She wasn't blinking, and her gaze was cold and uncompromising, like a cornered beast. Only now, Harry noticed how… small she was compared to them. Wednesday looked too young and tiny even for first-year, and without her black clothes and with her hair loose, at first glance, she seemed pretty harmless. However, everything about the girl's behavior screamed danger. Her movements were rare but swift, and her facial expressions rarely betrayed any emotion.
"Why?" Wednesday asked with a steel-cold voice.
"It was haunting. Especially at such a late hour. Never heard anything like it." Answered honestly, Harry.
That seemed to calm her down enough that she slowly lowered her wand. A stream of moonlight from the window pierced her thin white shirt, and Harry caught a good look at her hands. He could distinguish small but clearly defined muscles, which puzzled him even more. He thought she was skinny as him, but it was another cleverly hidden illusion.
A real snake.
He mentally commented.
"If you are so interested in some good music on these graceful nights, search for Nothing else matters by Apocalyptica. I hope this answer satisfies your curiosity." She said with a slight sign of annoyance.
Ron couldn't hold it in and started to laugh, and Harry joined him. But, unfortunately, this night was anything but graceful for them. This time it was Wednesday, who looked puzzled, which looked even more unnatural and creepy.
"Sorry for this. It was just a long day." Ron said, trying to stop laughing.
"Let me guess. You managed to put Malfoy and his cronies in their rightful place." Wednesday assumed.
"You knew about the duel?" Ron asked with surprise.
"I was an unfortunate spectator to that pitiful attempt at a challenge." Stated Wednesday as a matter of fact.
"We didn't see you." Said, Harry.
"That was the point. So how did it go?" Boredly inquired Wednesday. Ron quietly gulped.
"It didn't go anywhere. Malfoy called Filch on us in the trophy room, and we almost got eaten by a three-headed dog." Harry answered with disappointment before being shoved by Ron, who whispered to him Slytherin.
Wednesday looked intrigued; somehow, she looked at them even more thoroughly. It made Harry feel uneasy. Her raven-black eyes looked like they were absorbing the precious little light in the room.
"Coward." She finally commented. "Malfoy is another spoiled brat, unfortunately. However, I expected him actually to try to back his words with some action. As for the Cerberus on the third floor, the school should have put more security measures except for one lock, which could be opened with simple alohomora. Fortunately, it looks like the headmaster is more inviting than protecting."
Ron and Harry looked at her with shock. She sounded like the black mirror image of Hermione. He knew that the Gryffindor girl had started quite an unfriendly academic spat with the small creepy Slytherin. However, he hadn't paid attention to it, although Wednesday's retorts were funny to listen to. He wasn't surprised at all that she had already checked the locked door on the third floor. From what he had gathered about her character, which wasn't much, he confessed, he was sure that Wednesday would first go to the place that promised certain doom.
"So, I take it that you also don't like Malfoy," Harry stated.
"He reminds me of the people responsible for me being here."
"Wait, isn't the Addams family living in America? Why are you even in Hogwarts and not in Ilvermorny or Castelobruxo?" Asked Ron.
"Reputation and bias. Also, a certain amount of family betrayal." She quickly added. Too quickly.
"You miss them. You miss your family." Harry realized. Nobody spoke like that when they were angry at someone. Dudley had taught him how to spot a lie like that since he was a little child. His cousin was not smart, but that didn't stop him from being an exceptional liar.
Wednesday looked like somebody had blown a firecracker in front of her face. She started to move her lips as if trying to deny it, but her words stopped in her throat.
She was confused, Harry realized. All behind the scary demeanor, black eyes, and stony expression stood one confused girl.
His thoughts were interrupted by loud screaming accompanied by curses and … cat screeching!? Filch!
"After me," Wednesday ordered. Then, with one quick wand movement, the portrait of one long-bearded wizard opened like a door revealing a narrow dark passage.
He and Ron didn't question her and followed her in complete darkness. They walked in complete silence for a few seconds, their hearths beating like battle drums.
"Right," Wednesday ordered.
Ron and Harry took the right turn, and soon after, they came out of the exit that was close to the main staircase next to the astronomy tower.
"Where is Addams?" Ron asked.
"She must have taken the other turn. Are there secret corridors all around this school?"
"Yeah, Fred and George know all about them. However, they normally don't share their knowledge for free. Anyways, we must get back before the fat lady decides it is a great idea to chat with the other portraits in the middle of the night."
Harry couldn't really object to his line of thought and concentrated on the complex task of finding their way back to Gryffindor tower.
Early the following day, Ron and Harry decided that last night's adventure was glorious. Neville didn't even want to discuss it, and Hermione looked at them with extreme disappointment. So only, Ron was the only one with that Harry could share his excitement about the mysterious object that the dog was guarding.
"Wednesday seemed to have visited it before us." When Harry uttered this, Ron's face grew concerned." Come on, she could be Slytherin, but she knows something. Just think about it, Ron."
"It is not wise to trust Addams, Harry. She is dangerous. There is a reason why they forbid them to carry wands in America. All of them were dark wizards until the American ministry banished them from the magical world."
"And still, they let the Malfoys roam free!"
"The Malfoys are prats, but they are not insane like the Addams. I am pretty sure that one of Wednesday's grandparents was a vampire, and another one was a werewolf. Look, Harry, I know that Addams seems like a harmless girl, but there is a reason why she is in Slytherin right now. Bloody Merlyn, do you even remember the sorting ceremony! She even gave McGonagall the creeps."
Harry was ready to retort, but he and Ron were both startled when the Weasley twins sneaked behind them and simultaneously placed their hands on Harry and Ron's shoulders. Harry screamed, but Ron just groaned.
"Ronnikins, you should cheer up a little bit." So stated Fred with a wide smile.
"And you should get more original." Retorted Ron.
"You have asked, and we shall deliver." Said, George.
"Filch is the hospital wing, so nobody can stop us now. Prepare for the terror!" Howled Fred trying to imitate a werewolf.
"Filch got injured? "Asked Harry with surprise.
"Got injured?" George started to laugh.
"He got sliced up like a Spanish sausage and then somehow smashed himself into smithereens on some long-forgotten staircase. The man must be getting old, or somebody got very tired of him. I am putting my money on Snape." Fred explained.
"It was Addams. The webs weren't webs at all. They were strings, tripwires!" Ron exclaimed. "She was laying a trap for someone."
"Addams? As that demon-possessed girl?" George hummed.
"We have competition! Tripwires in a web? How we didn't think of that. It is basic transfiguration. We have to step up our game, Fred."
"You are all barny!" Ron exclaimed. "Mom will kick you out of the house!"
"She will not if we don't get caught. So let's go, George. If Snape gives us detention again, we will have less time for the dungbombs. Enjoy your classes, Ronnkins."
The twins made their thunderous exit out of the common room, waking up the few remaining sleeping portraits in the hall.
"Let's go. We have transfiguration with McGonagall. It will take some time to get to class even if we don't get lost again." Harry said, and Ron begrudgingly agreed.
Harry forgot about Wednesday. The school day was challenging as it was, even without the ever-changing nature of Hogwarts. However, like a bad nightmare, she found a way to remind him about her existence.
He was returning from class in the late evening. He lost Ron when the redheaded boy decided to search for a toilet and left Harry alone to find his way to Gryffindor tower. Harry, of course, got himself lost again and now found himself in an empty corridor in which the paintings were asleep. Few of the steel armor sets were jovially whistling. He cursed for not listening to Ron again. He should have waited for him. At least they would be lost together.
"Don't make a sound." Her voice was calm and collected.
Harry felt the cold touch of a steel blade pressing against his throat.
"Turn around."
He did as she ordered. The knife was still pressed against his throat, but he didn't whimper. Dudley had put him through situations that were way more desperate, and he had managed to run away and avoid any serious injury.
He saw Wednesday in her pitch-black school uniform. Her raven-black hair was braided in her iconic pigtails, which completely contrasted with her pale skin.
"I hope that I am not interrupting something again?" Harry asked, trying his luck and praying to Merlin that he would not be gutted like a fish in the next few seconds.
He did as she ordered. The knife was still pressed as against his throat, but he didn’t whimper. Dudley had put him through situations that were way more desperate, and he had managed to run away and avoid any serious injury.
He saw Wednesday in her pitch-black school uniform. Her raven-black hair was braided in her iconic pigtails, which stood in complete contrast to her pale skin.
“I hope that I am not interrupting something again?” Harry asked, trying his luck and praying to Merlin that he was not going to be gutted like a fish in the next few seconds.