Chapter 71: Lie Exposed
"Is she alright?" Daphne asked as soon as she entered the room and noticed how pale Penelope looked.
Then she looked at the room which at this point, didn't really resemble a classroom anymore, though she did notice the clever use of an extension charm being used to make the room longer than it should have been.
"I don't think so." Hermione replied and ran up to the older girl, leaving Daphne behind to study the room.
And frankly, she had no idea what she was even looking at.
Transparent pipes? Rats? Cages?
What was going on here?
Wasn't this supposed to be some kind of secret place where Hermione and Harry came in order to study some kind of obscure magic?
The only thing she could relate to after studying the room was the muggle horse races that she heard about from Tracy who seemed to have gone to one of those things.
Was this some form of entertainment for them?
Some kind of way to blow off steam after studying for a long time.
But still, rat racing.
She couldn't understand it.
And suddenly there was a person in front of her and she almost squeaked in fear at his sudden appearance.
"Harry. Don't scare her like that." Hermione's chiding voice came from the other end of the room where she was talking with the older girl whose complexion seemed to have returned by now.
"Sorry." Harry replied in a voice that clearly indicated how he didn't really felt very sorry at all.
Then he looked at her and she suddenly froze at the curious expression in his face.
The same expression that a child held when looking at a particularly interesting toy.
"And who are you?" He said with an easy smile though she could still feel the caution he held toward her with the slight tension in his posture.
"I'm Daphne. Daphne Greengrass." She said, trying the hide the nervousness she felt under his scrutiny with a smile and raised her hand for a handshake, or a hand kiss or whatever he wanted to do that would stop him from look at her like that.
He looked away from her for a moment with a faraway look on his face, as if trying to remember something and she was about to thank the gods for getting her away from his scrutiny when he started staring at her once again, this time his eyes on the scarf on her neck, her hand forgotten.
"You're a SSsssslytherin are you?" he asked in an amused manner and the fear in her heart rose another level at the hissing sound that he made and the snake that was now wrapped around his shoulders.
Was the snake always there?
If so, then how come she didn't notice it until now.
And now, the snake was staring at her as well. Judging her.
"Yes." She mumbled and the fear in her voice must be quite apparent to him as his smirk turned even more predatory.
"Tell me Daphne." He said and then came close to her in order to whisper in her ears "Wasss your father a Death eater?"
She gulped in fear at his question and thanked the gods that her father had remained neutral in the last war.
She didn't knew why she feeling so afraid of him. She was not even that afraid of her own father but for some reason, she couldn't help but shiver in fear in his presence.
"N… no." She replied and then suddenly, the fear vanished into thin air, as if it was never there in the first place and he gave her a soft and fake smile before leaning away from her.
Now he was looking at her once again but the fear was not present anymore.
Why?
Why was she so afraid of him just a moment ago?
What did he do to her?
Did he use some kind of mind art on her without her knowing?
But her Occlumency shield… they were in place, thankfully.
But then how?
He smirked at her confused expression and she had a feeling that he was able to read her despite her Occlumency shields.
She quickly removed her confused expression from off her face and tried to regain the cold mask that she was known for, though it was bit hard for her to try to salvage her dignity at this point.
"Good." He replied after a long silence "They are a bunch of idiots anyway." He said with a scoff "Trying to preach pureblood values while following a halfblood maniac."
"What are you talking about?" she asked before she could control herself and then berated herself for her lack of control. Her mouth had the habit of running away on it's own whenever she feel unsettled.
And saw was feeling very unsettled right now.
"You didn't know." He said with a raised eyebrow "I guess it is understandable that you don't."
"What do you mean?" she asked once again. Now that she had shot herself in the foot once, she might as well do it twice in order to know what he was talking about.
He had said that the purebloods, the death eaters, were following a halfblood but that can't be the truth, right?
The purebloods followed Voldemort and Voldemort was a…
He was a pureblood wasn't he?
Everyone called him Lord Voldemort so he must be a lord of some ancient house right?
He had the gift of Parseltongue and everyone said that he was the descendant of Salazar Slytherin and what not so he must be a pureblood right?
Then she looked at Harry and realized how stupid that sounded.
Harry Potter was a Parselmouth as well and he would be the lord of an ancient and noble house when he comes of age but that didn't mean that he was a pureblood.
Everyone knew that his mother was a muggleborn wizard so that makes him a halfblood.
So did that mean that Lord Voldemort was a…
She lost her pattern of thoughts as Harry Potter smiled at her and answered "That's not something that you need to worry about right now."
"Tell me, why are you here Daphne?"
The question was asked in a nonchalant manner but she could hear the sharpness in it and knew that whatever she said next could either make or break her future relationship with Harry.
So she took a deep breath, donned on a confident expression and said "Because I want to be your friend."
The smile was gone from his face before she could blink.
And the very next moment, he was inside her mind.
She didn't even know when he Occlumency shields fell or if they fell at all but she knew that he was inside her mind now.
Sorting through her memories rapidly with the ease of an experienced Legilimens and nothing she tried could put a halt to his progress at al.
The memories passed through her mind as he went though them one by one.
The memory of her trying to search for him and failing time and time again.
The memory of going after Hermione and talking her into letting her join their group.
The memory of her kissing her little sister goodbye at the train station along with her father who gave her a meaningful look as she left for Hogwarts.
She tried to look away from him but her head was stuck in it's place and her whole body was frozen shut. She could only stay in her place and hope that this horrible experience who end quickly.
She noticed that he was not even using his wand to get inside her mind. Gods, was she really that weak.
She felt a tear falling down her cheek as he went through memory after memory before at last, he found the one in which her father told her to get close to Harry Potter.
The reason why she was truly here. And realized at that moment that he had caught her lie.
And then he was out of her mind before she could think. At his absence, she felt the whole world swimming around her and fell on her knees weakly.
"Harry." She heard Hermione's panicked voice from somewhere across the room but felt too sick and too weak to care. "Harry. What did you do?" the voice was coming closer now.
Harry said something in return but she felt too woozy to understand what they were talking about anymore.
She felt the world around the edge of eye go black as the floor came to meet her.
And then the darkness claimed her.
Author's Note:- I didn't like the fact that he forcefully used Legilimiency on the girl but he is ruthless in such matters and in the end, using mind arts was a wise decision on his part because he wouldn't have found Daphne's lies otherwise.
Just my two cents.
Hope you guys like the chapter.
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