Categories > Books > Harry Potter > An American Wizard in Hogwarts
That First Step's a Doozie
1 reviewThe school get's a rude awakening that no one will soon forget...
2Original
Disclaimer: Some people put 2 and 2 together and get 4. Others put 2 and 2 together and get 22. If you are a member of this second group, I assure you, I did not create the Harry Potter universe, or the characters there-in--except for the Robertsons and Lucy, who appear only in my story--and therefore make no money off of what I write. If you are a member of the first group, you probably assume this to begin with.
A/N: The implication is that not everybody screamed when they heard the music--it was mainly the younger students.
Chapter 13: That First Step's aDoozie
The first day of class began with a scream.
Rather, it would be more precise to say that it began with 256 screams, and five belly laughs.
The minute Matt tapped the CD player with his wand, the walls shook with the untamed fury of Sepultura's "Arise." Rumors spread later that half the faculty ducked for cover, the other half curling in the fetal position, before realizing that it was supposed to be music.
"Excellent find, mate," Fred exclaimed as the screams echoed down the spiral staircases and into the Gryffindor common room.
George nodded. "Yeah, we've never caused--"
"--this much mayhem--" Fred interrupted.
"--before!" they finished in unison
"Probably never will," George said, mock sorrowful.
"Never hurts to try though," Fred added cheerfully as he and George headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast.
As Harry, Matt, and Hermione walked to the Great Hall themselves, the music was almost drowned out by the wailings of the paintings. One of the suits of armor appeared to have impaled itself on its own sword, for some reason.
They reached the Great Hall without further incident. The first thing Matt did upon sitting down was grab the pitcher of orange juice and pour himself a goblet of it. Unfortunately, all that came out was a viscous yellow liquid--scrambled eggs, extra, extra runny. He switched cups with the plate next to him and found a pitcher containing an actual drinkable liquid before settling down to eat, saying, "I think that's the last time we wake the school with death metal."
Ten minutes later, a bleary-eyed Ron staggered in and sat at his usual place to Matt's right. Upon seeing the full goblet, he turned to Matt, muttered, "Thanks, mate," and drained the goblet in one gulp.
When Matt looked up, he noticed the goblet with the raw egg had been moved, and a little dribble was running down the side where it had spilled from the sides of Ron's mouth. "You didn't just drink that did y--" he was cut off by the sound of retching and the splattering of liquid on the stone floor behind him.
"Clean-up on aisle three!" Harry exclaimed dryly.
Professor McGonagall vanished the vomit mid-stride as she walked up to her seat at the staff table.
Five minutes later Lucy trudged unto the Great Hall, followed closely by Ginny Weasley. Matt thought the Weasley girl was rather odd, but her soul was pure--as pure as anyone's soul could be, anyway, despite being tinged with longing that she knew would never be fulfilled--and, oddly enough, a very near match to Harry's. If Matt had never seen Hermione's soul, he could quite possibly have mistaken this girl's soul for a perfect match, it was so close. He wondered if this girl actually had a soul mate, or if she would go through her life pining for the thing that could not be, or settling for one who could never complete her. He surmised that if the events of twelve years ago--or even Halloween 1981--had gone differently, things would be very different indeed.
He was shaken from his musings by Lucy plopping down next to him, closer than someone you just met the day before would normally sit. For a split second Matt was uncomfortable, until he remembered what the Sorting Hat had told Lucy last night and he allowed himself to relax, though he wondered if the girl had figured it out yet.
He noticed her reaching for the pitcher containing the egg. He gently laid a hand on her arm. You don't want to drink that, he sent.
"Why?" she asked out loud.
"Egg," he grunted, sending her the memory of pouring the goblet of raw egg.
She shuddered. "That's disgusting."
"Could you please not do that?" Hermione asked exasperatedly.
"What are you talking about?" Lucy asked.
"The mind-to-mind thing. It's very annoying to hear half a conversation," Matt's cousin said.
We need to talk later, Lucy sent.
"What about?" Matt said to Lucy before giving Hermione a mischievous grin. Hermione, in return shook her fist threateningly at him.
Quit antagonizing her, Lucy said. /And you know /exactlywhat about.
Just then the doors to the Great Hall opened and a figure, dressed all in black with white-blond hair and gray eyes swept into the Great Hall.
Oh, no, Lucy thought, her shields slipping, not now!
Who is that?Matt sent.
Father, she returned, and that one word explained volumes. On the train yesterday Lucy had explained that no Malfoy had ever been in any Hogwarts house but Slytherin, something that certain members of the family were all too proud to point out, her father among them.
The man strode up to the headmaster's chair and exchanged a hushed, but intense, conversation. Finally, seeming to tire of the conversation, the man drew himself to his full, considerable height and said clearly, at a volume that everyone in the hall could hear, "I demand that my daughter be resorted immediately!"
"As I was explaining, Mr. Malfoy, normally such a request would be granted," Dumbledore said tiredly."Unfortunately the Sorting Hat made itself very clear when it said that it /couldn't/--not wouldn't, Lucius, /couldn't/--resort her, citing traditions dating back to the founding of Hogwarts; traditions so deeply ingrained into its consciousness that to force a resorting would physically destroy the hat, as the magic holding it together would dissipate and allow the hat to crumble as it would have years ago, had the very same magicks that allow it to sort students into the different houses not also sustained the physical structure of the hat itself."
"I will not have my daughter consorting with filth," Mr. Malfoy shouted.
"There's nothing that can be done about it now, Lucius. If indeed there was ever anything you could have done. No one knows the nature of souls, Lucius," the headmaster said cryptically."/No one/," he added, though it was emphasized oddly, in Matt's opinion, as if Dumbledore was referring to a very specific individual when he said it, though he didn't want to identify the person. "And may I remind you, Lucius, that your position among the board of governors is already tenuous as it is. There is no need to make it worse with such poor choice of words. One almost gets the sense that you're prejudiced when you say that."
"You're wrong when you say there's nothing that can be done about it, Headmaster," Mr. Malfoy said, ignoring Dumbledore's warning about his language. He turned to Lucilla and said loud enough that anyone in the hall would be able to hear, "Don't bother coming home at Christmas--or summer either, for that matter--it will never be /your/home again." With that he swept out of the Hall, past a stunned looking Draco Malfoy.
Lucy appeared to cheer up, but Matt could tell it was just a brave face. He could feel the sorrow rolling off her as Professor McGonagall came by with their schedules.
"Double History first thing! You gotta be kidding!" Harry exclaimed.
"Could be worse," Neville said from the other side of Ron. "It could be double potions," He shuddered as he said that. Matt wholeheartedly agreed.
The day passed quickly. As the second year Gryffindors filed out of the potions classroom--which still had the words"Abandon hope, all ye who enter here," written above the door--Matt was startled by Lucy's voice in his head. Meet me in front of the first floor girl's toilet, she sent. Matt had forgotten all about the link during aparticularly rigorous Potions class, where the potion they'd brewed was required to be kept at a very high heat the whole time it was brewing.
Why there?Matt replied, lowering his shields slightly.
I heard one of the upper year girls talking about how no one uses it anymore, Lucy answered. Something about a ghost that never stops crying. It should give us enough privacy for what we need to talk about.
I know a better place. Meet me on the fourth floor, south hallway, Matt responded through the link
But there aren't any doors in that corridor,Lucy responded, puzzled.
Trust me,he returned.
He turned to his friends and said, "I'll catch you later," and strode off.
A moment later what she said had sunk in. How do you know there aren't any doors on the south hallway?
I got lost on the way to the library earlier, Lucy sent.
Lost would be an understatement, Matt responded.
Twenty minutes later, Matt rounded the corner where the west and south hallways met. Lucy was at the other end. He motioned her over to him as he searched for a specific portrait. By the time Lucy reached him, he was standing in front of a portrait with a bronze plaque next to it. The plaque read...
Kelben "Blackstaff" Arundsen. 1306-1495 Notable as the second most powerful wizard in history after Merlin, Blackstaff is most famous for being the first to cross over into another plane of existence, which he did so in 1332. He wrote several tomes about his experiences in the demonic Abyss. Later in life, he taught Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, from 1357 until the day he died.
"Seasons in the Abyss," Matt said to the portrait.
"The Abyss remains closed," the portrait responded before swinging open.
Matt stepped in first, and after Lucy entered he closed the portal.
"What is this place?" Lucy asked, looking around. Two of the walls were lined by bookshelves, upon which were books written in various languages, many of them not pronounceable by human mouths. In one corner rested a cage, the floor of which was littered with bones. The bones were obviously not from anything native to this plane. Next to the cage, about four feet to the right, was an alchemical workbench, much of the equipment cracked or shattered. In the middle and slightly to the side, was adesk, oriented perpendicular to the wall where the doorway was located.
"This is Blackstaff's personal laboratory," Matt said.
Lucy's eyes widened. "How did you find it?"
"Even a blind sow finds an acorn now and then. Me, Harry and Hermione were exploring the castle one weekend last October, debating the artistic merits of Slayer albums. Hermione and Harry kept trying to convince me that 'Reign in Blood' was better than 'Seasons in the Abyss,' while I insisted that the reverse was true," He paused, taking a deep breath.
"Anyway, we were still debating when we passed the portrait. When the portrait opened we did the only logical thing--we scrambled in before it closed again. We looked around a little before we left, swearing not to tell anyone else," Matt said. He noticed her look of surprise, combined with worry. "Don't worry, it wasn't a wizard's oath, just a regular one."
"Good, I'd hate to be the reason you lost your magic," Lucy said.
"Anyway, what's on your mind?" Matt said, motioning for her to take a seat in a moldy old armchair, while he took aseat on a rickety looking stool
"Quite a bit, I assure you. I don't know where to begin," she moaned.
"Well, the beginning is usually the best place to start from," Matt said, grinning.
"Oh, shut up," Lucy said, though there was no anger in her words. "I guess it would be easiest to start with what I wanted to talk about before the whole deal with--"
"--breakfast," Matt said. "I mean, I like my eggs a little runny, but when you have to put them in a pitcher, that's just ridiculous!" Matt said, flashing her another grin.
"Yes, that's right, breakfast," Lucy said, giving Matt a halfhearted smile. "Anyway, what I wanted to talk about is the mind-to-mind communication we've developed. The Sorting Hat told me last night that I was already bonded to my soul mate. When I asked it what it meant, it said, 'The soul reader. He's the one.' I kept thinking about what it meant until I fell asleep. This morning, when I woke up, and I was the only one in the dorm not screaming, I experienced one of those moments of total clarity. I knew what the Hat meant. You and I, we're--"
"--soul mates," Matt said. "I figured it out loud last night. I heard what the Hat told you."
"Do you realize what this means?" Lucy asked.
"That we were destined to be together? That we can communicate without speaking?" Matt asked, somewhere between puzzled and amused.
"It means that according to magical traditions we're either married already, or every time we communicate mind-to-mind we're fornicating. It depends on the traditions of each magical administration. I just gave you a couple of examples; the first example is how it works in the United States, and the second is how it works in Britain," Lucy said. "I skipped lunch and looked it up in the library," she added upon seeing his unconcerned grin of amusement.
"Fortunately for us, neither of those apply to our situation," Matt said, catching on to what she was getting at."Since we're from countries where traditions regarding soul mates differ, neither law applies to us." He suppressed a grin at her startled expression. "What? I ran across that information last year when I was reading everything I could find on souls. You wouldn't believe some of the traditions relating to soul mates that I've read. The early Ottomans would actually kill any bonded pair that wasn't married--even if they were betrothed."
"Why?" Lucy asked.
"Didn't your reading say anything about the common ways that soul mates bond?" Matt asked.
"No."
"Soul mates bond by exposing their soul's to each other. This is usually accomplished by the soul mates either telling each other their deepest, darkest secrets, or by them being...intimate," Matt said this last word very carefully.
"Intimate how? Romantic dinner?Cuddling?" Lucy asked.
"Biblical knowledge," Matt said.
"Oh," Lucy said, then blushed,"OH!"
There was silence for almost half of a minute."But we didn't do any of that," Lucy said plaintively, her cheeks flaring again.
Matt nodded solemnly, just a quick bob of his head. "You're right, we didn't. But in my reading I did come across some mentions of soul readers, including accounts of them bonding with their soul mates the first time they made eye contact. There were no descriptions in any of the books of what a soul bond entails, and I initially thought that Luna was my soul mate, but towards the end of the school year I did find a passage describing soul bonds, and I knew I didn't have one."
He paused. "Funny how you can memorize the most obscure trivia and spout it at will when it is of no use, but the moment it becomes relevant, you can't even remember that you read it." He shook his head.
The silence stretched for nearly a minute."Why did you think Luna was your soul mate?" Lucy asked, finally."If you don't mind me asking, that is."
"The first time I met her she saw my soul even as I looked into hers. I dunno. Maybe she was just a close match, or maybe there was some other reason," he shrugged.
After another short silence, he snorted and said,"This is by far the most I've ever said in a single conversation, and to think I only met you yesterday," he chuckled again.
After yet another silence, Matt said, "So how are you holding up?"
She shrugged. "Maybe it hasn't sunk in yet," she said.
"Do you have any idea what you're going to do?" Matt asked.
"Not really," Lucy said. "The only people who knew that I even existed were Mother, Father, and Draco. Oh, and Vincent Crabbe and his family, they knew."
"Why did they know?" Matt asked.
"Because I was betrothed to Vincent. I can't thank you enough for saving me from that fat goon," she said.
"I really had no control over it," Matt said.
He thought for a moment, then remembered something he'd been told over summer break. "Wasn't your mother a Black before she married your father?"
Lucy nodded, "I think so. It doesn't matter though. Aunt Bella is in Azkaban for attempting to kill the Longbottoms, and her other sister was disowned."
Matt didn't say any more as he didn't want to get her hopes up. He looked at his watch and said, "Dinner's about to start. Why don't you go on ahead. I'll meet up with you later."
She exited the chamber and Matt spent the next five minutes looking through a lab journal detailing Blackstaff's attempts to block any further travel between the material plane and The Abyss. He'd finally succeeded around seven years before his death, though he'd kept an imp as afamiliar/lab assistant in the cage in the corner.
------
"I'll catch you later," Matt said, as he walked off.
"I wonder what he's up to..." Hermione muttered.
"Who knows," Harry shrugged. "It's really none of our business, Hermione."
"I know," Hermione sighed.
"But..." Harry said.
"I didn't say 'but,'" Hermione protested.
"I heard 'but,' I sensed 'but,'" Harry replied.
"Oh, alright. It's just that I've always thought of Matt as my little brother, and I feel a little protective of him, sometimes," Hermione replied.
"You know, Matt once said the exact same thing to me about you. Though he did say sister instead of brother, he didn't specify 'big sister' or 'little sister,'" Harry said thoughtfully.
"It's good to know the ill-tempered midget's got my back, I guess," Hermione smiled.
Harry had noticed that more than just thinking of each other as the sibling they never had, the two cousins actually /treated/each other like siblings. I guess that's what happens when you grow up in afamily like theirs, Harry thought. Jenny Robertson and Candace Granger were much closer than you would expect sisters living on opposite sides of the Atlantic to be. Harry chalked this up to the fact that Mr. and Mrs. Monaghan, Jenny and Candace's parents, were killed in a car accident in the winter of 1969. The driver of the other car was only sixteen, but his blood alcohol level was very near alcohol poisoning. He had apparently been celebrating getting his driver's license. Their parents' deaths left a nineteen-year-old Jenny Monaghan to take care of her nine-year-old sister, Candace.
Harry admired his godmother for having made it through college, graduating with honors, all while taking care of her little sister. Shortly after graduating from college, Jenny married her college sweetheart, Theon Robertson, who had graduated two years before her and was at the time earning his reputation as one of the scariest linebackers of the '70s.
Due to the circumstances, Candace Monaghan looked up to her sister and brother-in-law as surrogate parents. They even helped her to pay her tuition for Washington University, where she met and quickly fell in love with Clive Granger. Clive had grown up in foster care, and considered himself lucky to have made it as far as he did. When Candace got pregnant in early 1979, Clive immediately asked her to marry him. The rest, as they say, is history, Harry thought.
All this added up to a very close-knit clan that the Potters had gradually been admitted into. Try as he might though, Harry could not bring him to think of Hermione as a sister, or cousin, or anything like that. He could easily think of Matt as his brother, but Hermione has always remained separate from thoughts of family.
"Earth to Harry, come in Harry!" Hermione was saying, pulling Harry from his thoughts. She had apparently led him to the library while he was lost within himself.
"Why are we here? We haven't been assigned any essays yet," Harry said.
"I know, but Matt's been acting strange lately," Hermione said. She paused, thoughtful look on her face."Actually, it's just since we met Lucy that he's been acting strange, come to think of it," she added after a moment's thought.
"Face it, Hermione, he's not your little robotic minion. He never was," Harry said. "Just because he suddenly walks off to do something on his own doesn't mean he's acting strange," Harry said exasperatedly.
"It's just that he seems so comfortable around Lucy, and he only met her yesterday. He still acted a little on edge around me until we were seven!" Hermione said.
"Huh," Harry grunted thoughtfully."Maybe you're on to something, but I doubt there's anything in here that will help you in this case. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get some fresh air before dinner," Harry said as he strode off towards the Entrance Hall.
------
By taking a shorter route, Matt actually entered the Hall just as Lucy was sitting down with some of the other Gryffindor first years.
Matt took his usual seat across from his cousin."Where have you been?" she asked.
"Around," Matt grunted.
"So which broom cupboard were you in, and who with?" Lee Jordan asked as he walked by. Lee was a tall black boy with dreadlocks that reached the middle of his shoulder blades, and he was the Weasley twins' best friend.
Matt shook his head, but he could feel a faint blush rise in his cheeks. Luckily, no one seemed to notice it. When he looked up, Hermione had a strange expression on her face, but she didn't say anything further to Matt.
Your cousin keeps giving me strange looks, Lucy's voice said in Matt's head ten minutes later.
Really?Matt asked in return.
Yes, Lucy returned. It's driving me crazy!
Just ignore her, Matt sent. That's what I do.
As dinner progressed, Matt would occasionally experience unusual, faint twinges. He couldn't really explain what they felt like, not even to himself--except that he felt them in the deepest parts of his sinuses. He filed this away for a later date.
------
The next day, Hermione confronted Matt about what was going on between him and Lucy.
"All we did was talk, Hermione," Matt said to Hermione after she asked him what he'd been doing with Lucy the previous day.
"But you two are bonded soul-mates!" Hermione exclaimed.
"And your point is?" Matt said, apparently not surprised that Hermione had figured it out.
"But surely you didn't...I mean you're only twelve!" Hermione sputtered.
"No! Of course not! That's not the only way, you know!" Matt managed to respond.
"But it is the most common way," Hermione reminded him.
"Yes, but I don't remember doing anything like that on the train, Hermione--certainly not in front of /you/," Matt responded.
"The train?" Hermione repeated, puzzled. Then she remembered how one minute the two were acting normally, and the next they started acting funny. "Oh, right. Sorry. So how /did/you bond, anyway?"
"I think it happened when I looked her in the eyes. I didn't tell you everything about what I saw. I kind of left out a small detail. When we made eye contact, she saw my soul, and our souls sort of slotted together like puzzle pieces," Matt said. "Are you satisfied?" Hermione nodded.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I was just off to send a letter," Matt said, turning to the door to Blackstaff's lab.
"Harry's already sent a letter to Sirius," Hermione said.
"What's that got to do with the price of tea in China?" asked Matt.
"You can be so slow sometimes, you know," Hermione quipped. "Yesterday while I was in the library and you were wherever you were, Harry wrote a letter to Sirius about Lucy's predicament."
"Oh, right," Matt said.
While Sirius could not claim the nobility associated with the title, since he'd become an American citizen a few years previously, he still remained the Head of House Black--technically his title was Steward, but it amounted to the same thing. The day before Hermione had also looked into information relating to disowned individuals. Apparently, if the mother of the individual can claim membership to a noble house, the head of said house has the option of adopting said individual into the root family of the house if they've been disowned from the their father's family.
"I mean, it's a long shot, but maybe he'll take her in, y'know?" Matt muttered.
"It may not be as long a shot as you think," Hermione said.
Matt shrugged and left.
Hermione stood up and thought over the events of the past three days.
Just another year at Hogwarts, Hermione thought dryly. Giving the scattered bones in the corner a final glance, she walked out the door herself. By reflex she looked down at her watch, remembering as she saw the blank display that digital watches didn't work in Hogwarts.
I really need to get a different watch.
------
A/N: Another chapter down. The name Kelben'Blackstaff' Arundsen was taken from Forgotten Realms lore. Similarly, the Abyss is also taken from D&D sources. Whether they will play a role (no pun intended) later on is as yet undecided.
Questions? Comments? Plotholes? Just type them up in a review and I'll try to get back to you--but please, try to make it more substantial than 'great job, update soon' or 'that sucked so bad it made my eyes bleed.'
A/N: The implication is that not everybody screamed when they heard the music--it was mainly the younger students.
Chapter 13: That First Step's aDoozie
The first day of class began with a scream.
Rather, it would be more precise to say that it began with 256 screams, and five belly laughs.
The minute Matt tapped the CD player with his wand, the walls shook with the untamed fury of Sepultura's "Arise." Rumors spread later that half the faculty ducked for cover, the other half curling in the fetal position, before realizing that it was supposed to be music.
"Excellent find, mate," Fred exclaimed as the screams echoed down the spiral staircases and into the Gryffindor common room.
George nodded. "Yeah, we've never caused--"
"--this much mayhem--" Fred interrupted.
"--before!" they finished in unison
"Probably never will," George said, mock sorrowful.
"Never hurts to try though," Fred added cheerfully as he and George headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast.
As Harry, Matt, and Hermione walked to the Great Hall themselves, the music was almost drowned out by the wailings of the paintings. One of the suits of armor appeared to have impaled itself on its own sword, for some reason.
They reached the Great Hall without further incident. The first thing Matt did upon sitting down was grab the pitcher of orange juice and pour himself a goblet of it. Unfortunately, all that came out was a viscous yellow liquid--scrambled eggs, extra, extra runny. He switched cups with the plate next to him and found a pitcher containing an actual drinkable liquid before settling down to eat, saying, "I think that's the last time we wake the school with death metal."
Ten minutes later, a bleary-eyed Ron staggered in and sat at his usual place to Matt's right. Upon seeing the full goblet, he turned to Matt, muttered, "Thanks, mate," and drained the goblet in one gulp.
When Matt looked up, he noticed the goblet with the raw egg had been moved, and a little dribble was running down the side where it had spilled from the sides of Ron's mouth. "You didn't just drink that did y--" he was cut off by the sound of retching and the splattering of liquid on the stone floor behind him.
"Clean-up on aisle three!" Harry exclaimed dryly.
Professor McGonagall vanished the vomit mid-stride as she walked up to her seat at the staff table.
Five minutes later Lucy trudged unto the Great Hall, followed closely by Ginny Weasley. Matt thought the Weasley girl was rather odd, but her soul was pure--as pure as anyone's soul could be, anyway, despite being tinged with longing that she knew would never be fulfilled--and, oddly enough, a very near match to Harry's. If Matt had never seen Hermione's soul, he could quite possibly have mistaken this girl's soul for a perfect match, it was so close. He wondered if this girl actually had a soul mate, or if she would go through her life pining for the thing that could not be, or settling for one who could never complete her. He surmised that if the events of twelve years ago--or even Halloween 1981--had gone differently, things would be very different indeed.
He was shaken from his musings by Lucy plopping down next to him, closer than someone you just met the day before would normally sit. For a split second Matt was uncomfortable, until he remembered what the Sorting Hat had told Lucy last night and he allowed himself to relax, though he wondered if the girl had figured it out yet.
He noticed her reaching for the pitcher containing the egg. He gently laid a hand on her arm. You don't want to drink that, he sent.
"Why?" she asked out loud.
"Egg," he grunted, sending her the memory of pouring the goblet of raw egg.
She shuddered. "That's disgusting."
"Could you please not do that?" Hermione asked exasperatedly.
"What are you talking about?" Lucy asked.
"The mind-to-mind thing. It's very annoying to hear half a conversation," Matt's cousin said.
We need to talk later, Lucy sent.
"What about?" Matt said to Lucy before giving Hermione a mischievous grin. Hermione, in return shook her fist threateningly at him.
Quit antagonizing her, Lucy said. /And you know /exactlywhat about.
Just then the doors to the Great Hall opened and a figure, dressed all in black with white-blond hair and gray eyes swept into the Great Hall.
Oh, no, Lucy thought, her shields slipping, not now!
Who is that?Matt sent.
Father, she returned, and that one word explained volumes. On the train yesterday Lucy had explained that no Malfoy had ever been in any Hogwarts house but Slytherin, something that certain members of the family were all too proud to point out, her father among them.
The man strode up to the headmaster's chair and exchanged a hushed, but intense, conversation. Finally, seeming to tire of the conversation, the man drew himself to his full, considerable height and said clearly, at a volume that everyone in the hall could hear, "I demand that my daughter be resorted immediately!"
"As I was explaining, Mr. Malfoy, normally such a request would be granted," Dumbledore said tiredly."Unfortunately the Sorting Hat made itself very clear when it said that it /couldn't/--not wouldn't, Lucius, /couldn't/--resort her, citing traditions dating back to the founding of Hogwarts; traditions so deeply ingrained into its consciousness that to force a resorting would physically destroy the hat, as the magic holding it together would dissipate and allow the hat to crumble as it would have years ago, had the very same magicks that allow it to sort students into the different houses not also sustained the physical structure of the hat itself."
"I will not have my daughter consorting with filth," Mr. Malfoy shouted.
"There's nothing that can be done about it now, Lucius. If indeed there was ever anything you could have done. No one knows the nature of souls, Lucius," the headmaster said cryptically."/No one/," he added, though it was emphasized oddly, in Matt's opinion, as if Dumbledore was referring to a very specific individual when he said it, though he didn't want to identify the person. "And may I remind you, Lucius, that your position among the board of governors is already tenuous as it is. There is no need to make it worse with such poor choice of words. One almost gets the sense that you're prejudiced when you say that."
"You're wrong when you say there's nothing that can be done about it, Headmaster," Mr. Malfoy said, ignoring Dumbledore's warning about his language. He turned to Lucilla and said loud enough that anyone in the hall would be able to hear, "Don't bother coming home at Christmas--or summer either, for that matter--it will never be /your/home again." With that he swept out of the Hall, past a stunned looking Draco Malfoy.
Lucy appeared to cheer up, but Matt could tell it was just a brave face. He could feel the sorrow rolling off her as Professor McGonagall came by with their schedules.
"Double History first thing! You gotta be kidding!" Harry exclaimed.
"Could be worse," Neville said from the other side of Ron. "It could be double potions," He shuddered as he said that. Matt wholeheartedly agreed.
The day passed quickly. As the second year Gryffindors filed out of the potions classroom--which still had the words"Abandon hope, all ye who enter here," written above the door--Matt was startled by Lucy's voice in his head. Meet me in front of the first floor girl's toilet, she sent. Matt had forgotten all about the link during aparticularly rigorous Potions class, where the potion they'd brewed was required to be kept at a very high heat the whole time it was brewing.
Why there?Matt replied, lowering his shields slightly.
I heard one of the upper year girls talking about how no one uses it anymore, Lucy answered. Something about a ghost that never stops crying. It should give us enough privacy for what we need to talk about.
I know a better place. Meet me on the fourth floor, south hallway, Matt responded through the link
But there aren't any doors in that corridor,Lucy responded, puzzled.
Trust me,he returned.
He turned to his friends and said, "I'll catch you later," and strode off.
A moment later what she said had sunk in. How do you know there aren't any doors on the south hallway?
I got lost on the way to the library earlier, Lucy sent.
Lost would be an understatement, Matt responded.
Twenty minutes later, Matt rounded the corner where the west and south hallways met. Lucy was at the other end. He motioned her over to him as he searched for a specific portrait. By the time Lucy reached him, he was standing in front of a portrait with a bronze plaque next to it. The plaque read...
Kelben "Blackstaff" Arundsen. 1306-1495 Notable as the second most powerful wizard in history after Merlin, Blackstaff is most famous for being the first to cross over into another plane of existence, which he did so in 1332. He wrote several tomes about his experiences in the demonic Abyss. Later in life, he taught Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, from 1357 until the day he died.
"Seasons in the Abyss," Matt said to the portrait.
"The Abyss remains closed," the portrait responded before swinging open.
Matt stepped in first, and after Lucy entered he closed the portal.
"What is this place?" Lucy asked, looking around. Two of the walls were lined by bookshelves, upon which were books written in various languages, many of them not pronounceable by human mouths. In one corner rested a cage, the floor of which was littered with bones. The bones were obviously not from anything native to this plane. Next to the cage, about four feet to the right, was an alchemical workbench, much of the equipment cracked or shattered. In the middle and slightly to the side, was adesk, oriented perpendicular to the wall where the doorway was located.
"This is Blackstaff's personal laboratory," Matt said.
Lucy's eyes widened. "How did you find it?"
"Even a blind sow finds an acorn now and then. Me, Harry and Hermione were exploring the castle one weekend last October, debating the artistic merits of Slayer albums. Hermione and Harry kept trying to convince me that 'Reign in Blood' was better than 'Seasons in the Abyss,' while I insisted that the reverse was true," He paused, taking a deep breath.
"Anyway, we were still debating when we passed the portrait. When the portrait opened we did the only logical thing--we scrambled in before it closed again. We looked around a little before we left, swearing not to tell anyone else," Matt said. He noticed her look of surprise, combined with worry. "Don't worry, it wasn't a wizard's oath, just a regular one."
"Good, I'd hate to be the reason you lost your magic," Lucy said.
"Anyway, what's on your mind?" Matt said, motioning for her to take a seat in a moldy old armchair, while he took aseat on a rickety looking stool
"Quite a bit, I assure you. I don't know where to begin," she moaned.
"Well, the beginning is usually the best place to start from," Matt said, grinning.
"Oh, shut up," Lucy said, though there was no anger in her words. "I guess it would be easiest to start with what I wanted to talk about before the whole deal with--"
"--breakfast," Matt said. "I mean, I like my eggs a little runny, but when you have to put them in a pitcher, that's just ridiculous!" Matt said, flashing her another grin.
"Yes, that's right, breakfast," Lucy said, giving Matt a halfhearted smile. "Anyway, what I wanted to talk about is the mind-to-mind communication we've developed. The Sorting Hat told me last night that I was already bonded to my soul mate. When I asked it what it meant, it said, 'The soul reader. He's the one.' I kept thinking about what it meant until I fell asleep. This morning, when I woke up, and I was the only one in the dorm not screaming, I experienced one of those moments of total clarity. I knew what the Hat meant. You and I, we're--"
"--soul mates," Matt said. "I figured it out loud last night. I heard what the Hat told you."
"Do you realize what this means?" Lucy asked.
"That we were destined to be together? That we can communicate without speaking?" Matt asked, somewhere between puzzled and amused.
"It means that according to magical traditions we're either married already, or every time we communicate mind-to-mind we're fornicating. It depends on the traditions of each magical administration. I just gave you a couple of examples; the first example is how it works in the United States, and the second is how it works in Britain," Lucy said. "I skipped lunch and looked it up in the library," she added upon seeing his unconcerned grin of amusement.
"Fortunately for us, neither of those apply to our situation," Matt said, catching on to what she was getting at."Since we're from countries where traditions regarding soul mates differ, neither law applies to us." He suppressed a grin at her startled expression. "What? I ran across that information last year when I was reading everything I could find on souls. You wouldn't believe some of the traditions relating to soul mates that I've read. The early Ottomans would actually kill any bonded pair that wasn't married--even if they were betrothed."
"Why?" Lucy asked.
"Didn't your reading say anything about the common ways that soul mates bond?" Matt asked.
"No."
"Soul mates bond by exposing their soul's to each other. This is usually accomplished by the soul mates either telling each other their deepest, darkest secrets, or by them being...intimate," Matt said this last word very carefully.
"Intimate how? Romantic dinner?Cuddling?" Lucy asked.
"Biblical knowledge," Matt said.
"Oh," Lucy said, then blushed,"OH!"
There was silence for almost half of a minute."But we didn't do any of that," Lucy said plaintively, her cheeks flaring again.
Matt nodded solemnly, just a quick bob of his head. "You're right, we didn't. But in my reading I did come across some mentions of soul readers, including accounts of them bonding with their soul mates the first time they made eye contact. There were no descriptions in any of the books of what a soul bond entails, and I initially thought that Luna was my soul mate, but towards the end of the school year I did find a passage describing soul bonds, and I knew I didn't have one."
He paused. "Funny how you can memorize the most obscure trivia and spout it at will when it is of no use, but the moment it becomes relevant, you can't even remember that you read it." He shook his head.
The silence stretched for nearly a minute."Why did you think Luna was your soul mate?" Lucy asked, finally."If you don't mind me asking, that is."
"The first time I met her she saw my soul even as I looked into hers. I dunno. Maybe she was just a close match, or maybe there was some other reason," he shrugged.
After another short silence, he snorted and said,"This is by far the most I've ever said in a single conversation, and to think I only met you yesterday," he chuckled again.
After yet another silence, Matt said, "So how are you holding up?"
She shrugged. "Maybe it hasn't sunk in yet," she said.
"Do you have any idea what you're going to do?" Matt asked.
"Not really," Lucy said. "The only people who knew that I even existed were Mother, Father, and Draco. Oh, and Vincent Crabbe and his family, they knew."
"Why did they know?" Matt asked.
"Because I was betrothed to Vincent. I can't thank you enough for saving me from that fat goon," she said.
"I really had no control over it," Matt said.
He thought for a moment, then remembered something he'd been told over summer break. "Wasn't your mother a Black before she married your father?"
Lucy nodded, "I think so. It doesn't matter though. Aunt Bella is in Azkaban for attempting to kill the Longbottoms, and her other sister was disowned."
Matt didn't say any more as he didn't want to get her hopes up. He looked at his watch and said, "Dinner's about to start. Why don't you go on ahead. I'll meet up with you later."
She exited the chamber and Matt spent the next five minutes looking through a lab journal detailing Blackstaff's attempts to block any further travel between the material plane and The Abyss. He'd finally succeeded around seven years before his death, though he'd kept an imp as afamiliar/lab assistant in the cage in the corner.
------
"I'll catch you later," Matt said, as he walked off.
"I wonder what he's up to..." Hermione muttered.
"Who knows," Harry shrugged. "It's really none of our business, Hermione."
"I know," Hermione sighed.
"But..." Harry said.
"I didn't say 'but,'" Hermione protested.
"I heard 'but,' I sensed 'but,'" Harry replied.
"Oh, alright. It's just that I've always thought of Matt as my little brother, and I feel a little protective of him, sometimes," Hermione replied.
"You know, Matt once said the exact same thing to me about you. Though he did say sister instead of brother, he didn't specify 'big sister' or 'little sister,'" Harry said thoughtfully.
"It's good to know the ill-tempered midget's got my back, I guess," Hermione smiled.
Harry had noticed that more than just thinking of each other as the sibling they never had, the two cousins actually /treated/each other like siblings. I guess that's what happens when you grow up in afamily like theirs, Harry thought. Jenny Robertson and Candace Granger were much closer than you would expect sisters living on opposite sides of the Atlantic to be. Harry chalked this up to the fact that Mr. and Mrs. Monaghan, Jenny and Candace's parents, were killed in a car accident in the winter of 1969. The driver of the other car was only sixteen, but his blood alcohol level was very near alcohol poisoning. He had apparently been celebrating getting his driver's license. Their parents' deaths left a nineteen-year-old Jenny Monaghan to take care of her nine-year-old sister, Candace.
Harry admired his godmother for having made it through college, graduating with honors, all while taking care of her little sister. Shortly after graduating from college, Jenny married her college sweetheart, Theon Robertson, who had graduated two years before her and was at the time earning his reputation as one of the scariest linebackers of the '70s.
Due to the circumstances, Candace Monaghan looked up to her sister and brother-in-law as surrogate parents. They even helped her to pay her tuition for Washington University, where she met and quickly fell in love with Clive Granger. Clive had grown up in foster care, and considered himself lucky to have made it as far as he did. When Candace got pregnant in early 1979, Clive immediately asked her to marry him. The rest, as they say, is history, Harry thought.
All this added up to a very close-knit clan that the Potters had gradually been admitted into. Try as he might though, Harry could not bring him to think of Hermione as a sister, or cousin, or anything like that. He could easily think of Matt as his brother, but Hermione has always remained separate from thoughts of family.
"Earth to Harry, come in Harry!" Hermione was saying, pulling Harry from his thoughts. She had apparently led him to the library while he was lost within himself.
"Why are we here? We haven't been assigned any essays yet," Harry said.
"I know, but Matt's been acting strange lately," Hermione said. She paused, thoughtful look on her face."Actually, it's just since we met Lucy that he's been acting strange, come to think of it," she added after a moment's thought.
"Face it, Hermione, he's not your little robotic minion. He never was," Harry said. "Just because he suddenly walks off to do something on his own doesn't mean he's acting strange," Harry said exasperatedly.
"It's just that he seems so comfortable around Lucy, and he only met her yesterday. He still acted a little on edge around me until we were seven!" Hermione said.
"Huh," Harry grunted thoughtfully."Maybe you're on to something, but I doubt there's anything in here that will help you in this case. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get some fresh air before dinner," Harry said as he strode off towards the Entrance Hall.
------
By taking a shorter route, Matt actually entered the Hall just as Lucy was sitting down with some of the other Gryffindor first years.
Matt took his usual seat across from his cousin."Where have you been?" she asked.
"Around," Matt grunted.
"So which broom cupboard were you in, and who with?" Lee Jordan asked as he walked by. Lee was a tall black boy with dreadlocks that reached the middle of his shoulder blades, and he was the Weasley twins' best friend.
Matt shook his head, but he could feel a faint blush rise in his cheeks. Luckily, no one seemed to notice it. When he looked up, Hermione had a strange expression on her face, but she didn't say anything further to Matt.
Your cousin keeps giving me strange looks, Lucy's voice said in Matt's head ten minutes later.
Really?Matt asked in return.
Yes, Lucy returned. It's driving me crazy!
Just ignore her, Matt sent. That's what I do.
As dinner progressed, Matt would occasionally experience unusual, faint twinges. He couldn't really explain what they felt like, not even to himself--except that he felt them in the deepest parts of his sinuses. He filed this away for a later date.
------
The next day, Hermione confronted Matt about what was going on between him and Lucy.
"All we did was talk, Hermione," Matt said to Hermione after she asked him what he'd been doing with Lucy the previous day.
"But you two are bonded soul-mates!" Hermione exclaimed.
"And your point is?" Matt said, apparently not surprised that Hermione had figured it out.
"But surely you didn't...I mean you're only twelve!" Hermione sputtered.
"No! Of course not! That's not the only way, you know!" Matt managed to respond.
"But it is the most common way," Hermione reminded him.
"Yes, but I don't remember doing anything like that on the train, Hermione--certainly not in front of /you/," Matt responded.
"The train?" Hermione repeated, puzzled. Then she remembered how one minute the two were acting normally, and the next they started acting funny. "Oh, right. Sorry. So how /did/you bond, anyway?"
"I think it happened when I looked her in the eyes. I didn't tell you everything about what I saw. I kind of left out a small detail. When we made eye contact, she saw my soul, and our souls sort of slotted together like puzzle pieces," Matt said. "Are you satisfied?" Hermione nodded.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I was just off to send a letter," Matt said, turning to the door to Blackstaff's lab.
"Harry's already sent a letter to Sirius," Hermione said.
"What's that got to do with the price of tea in China?" asked Matt.
"You can be so slow sometimes, you know," Hermione quipped. "Yesterday while I was in the library and you were wherever you were, Harry wrote a letter to Sirius about Lucy's predicament."
"Oh, right," Matt said.
While Sirius could not claim the nobility associated with the title, since he'd become an American citizen a few years previously, he still remained the Head of House Black--technically his title was Steward, but it amounted to the same thing. The day before Hermione had also looked into information relating to disowned individuals. Apparently, if the mother of the individual can claim membership to a noble house, the head of said house has the option of adopting said individual into the root family of the house if they've been disowned from the their father's family.
"I mean, it's a long shot, but maybe he'll take her in, y'know?" Matt muttered.
"It may not be as long a shot as you think," Hermione said.
Matt shrugged and left.
Hermione stood up and thought over the events of the past three days.
Just another year at Hogwarts, Hermione thought dryly. Giving the scattered bones in the corner a final glance, she walked out the door herself. By reflex she looked down at her watch, remembering as she saw the blank display that digital watches didn't work in Hogwarts.
I really need to get a different watch.
------
A/N: Another chapter down. The name Kelben'Blackstaff' Arundsen was taken from Forgotten Realms lore. Similarly, the Abyss is also taken from D&D sources. Whether they will play a role (no pun intended) later on is as yet undecided.
Questions? Comments? Plotholes? Just type them up in a review and I'll try to get back to you--but please, try to make it more substantial than 'great job, update soon' or 'that sucked so bad it made my eyes bleed.'
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