บท 51: In the Presence of Bellatrix Black
"Blimey, professor Knowingall is far better than Spinnard. Did you see Mulciber's face when his arse was handed back to him? I felt like hugging Knowingall!" Sirius exclaimed during dinner, a happy expression residing on his face.
Ophelia glanced over her shoulder at the Slyhterin table and chuckled. Mulciber was still angry and Sirius' loud voice was not helping at all.
[Flashback]
Going back a few hours, everyone met at lunch and spoke about the fun in Muggle Studies. The girls were incredibly happy and the boys were impartial. Lily and Remus seemed to be the only people that actually took notes.
"How was Occlumency?" Cissney asked, everyone turning towards her with interest.
Ophelia placed her muffin down and opened her mouth but couldn't find the right words to describe it. She hummed and took a peek at the staff table before she finally gave them an answer.
"Eventless."
That one word was not enough to satisfy the curiosity of James Potter so he leaned forward and took a long look at her face.
"You look fine. I'll believe you for now."
"You do realize it's not just her and Mulciber in that class. Professor Knowingall wouldn't let anyone fight during his lesson." Lily commented from her seat between Frank and Alice.
"Spinnard did," Peter mumbled, getting a quick glare from Lily. "Just saying."
"There's three Ravenclaws and three Hufflepuffs and I'm sure they would take my side in a fight. But I don't think they'll attack me." Ophelia added, remembering Nott's blushing face. She was not going to forget that moment anytime soon, instead she'll use it later for selfish purposes.
"Oh, by the way, I heard professor Knowingall teaches all of you at the same time. Isn't that exhausting? He's using a lot of energy to enter everyone's mind." Remus asked Ophelia, leaning towards her. "What if he makes a mistake and-" the boy stopped, thinking of the worst case possible.
"Blimey, Remus, take a break from being paranoid. She'll be fine." Sirius grumbled, eating without listening to the rest. He was almost sure Ophelia was fine as long as there was a professor in the room.
"Cissney, there is this boy in Occlumency with blond hair and blue eyes. He's a Ravenclaw and he seems to be a bundle of self confidence and joy."
"Say no more. It's Goldstein. He's in the student council as well and he's really good at chess."
Everyone gave Cissney a incredulous and confusing look.
"How do you even know that?" Potter asked, baffled by Cissney's skills.
"Why does it matter? I just know."The brunette pureblood defended herself before stuffing her face.
After lunch they had to move into the DADA classroom and unfortunately, Slytherins finished at the same time and they met on the way. It was an odd sight, especially with the two houses glaring at each other for half of the way. The other half was spent whispering to each other so that the other house won't hear. That wasn't working well.
"Don't go closer, Snape! You'll get gooey mud-blood on your pride," started Nott, laughing with Avery and the girl Ophelia knew now as Katie Rosier.
"Don't bother with them," started Ophelia, her eyes staring into Nott's yet not looking at him with any type of rudeness. The boy glared at her but she wasn't scared at all, she was amused. In the end, she smirked at the boy and he blushed, moving away.
Severus stayed behind, speechless, before he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back too.
"Did you just enter his mind?" Severus asked, blinking owlishly. "You should teach me how to do it too."
"Greedy, aren't you, Severus? But you did teach me how to create a patronus form so I guess we can practice together."
Her eyes were sparkling at the arrangement and she was really happy, Severus could see it. He was flattered that she wanted to repair their friendship so much but also guilty because he told her a lot of hurtful things before and Ophelia was not the type to forget easily.
Once they entered the classroom, they found Cerberus trying to keep something from coming out of a very familiar piece of furniture.
"That's the shoe cupboard from my house." Ophelia told the person sitting next to her, which to her relief was Severus.
"Ah, you're here! Come closer, don't be afraid!" Cerberus encouraged his students but the cupboard shook and the girls took a step back. "This year you'll learn about dangerous creatures and I'll make sure you'll experience them not just read about them in books. Starting with this guy here,"
"What's in there, professor?" Cissney asked before swallowing nervously.
"The Boogyman, as many muggles call him. It's actually a Boggart, a creature that loves dark and intimate spaces like this cupboard. It can take any shape but most of them become the object of your fear." Cerberus smiled expectantly at the kids but no one seemed to understand what he wanted.
"How can we protect ourselves against a Boggart?" Ophelia asked eventually.
"Glad you asked, Molley! Well, there is a spell you use, Ridiculous, but it won't work until you think of something funny. Let's try it, shall we?" Cerberus asked with excitement.
"This is stupid," Mulciber whispered to his housemates.
"Do you want to give it a try, Lucas?" Cerberus asked, his eyes glinting mischeviously.
Every Gryffindor in the room turned to the Slytherin with wide eyes. No one has heard Mulciber's first name before and now they knew why. For a Slytherin such as himself, a name so common was not up to the expectations.
"Yeah, Lucas, why don't you try? Everyone is curious what you fear the most," Sirius couldn't help and had to add fuel to the fire.
"Why don't you try, Black?" Avery pitched in, helping his friend.
"Maybe I will. But after Lucas!"
Slytherins were growing angry and control was slipping out of Cerberus' hands. Seeing how there had to be order for him to continue his lesson without cursing or hexing anyone, he turned to the more mature kids in the room.
"Longbottom, come closer. You'll be first. The rest better decide on your turn or else you'll get your punishment with my friend here." The professor threatened, patting the cupboard.
Frank walked forward confidently and drew his wand out. Cerberus smiled and moved behind the cupboard.
"The Boggart will take the form of your worst fear so be prepared. Think of something funny and then the spell. Are you ready?" The professor asked to which Frank nodded, "Very well,"
Once Cerberus opened the cupboard, a form like a shadow jumped out of it before it landed straight in front of Frank but this time, it had a clearer form. It was a figure, the figure of an older woman that looked very much like Frank.
"Is that his mum?" Potter asked, an expression of confusion on his face.
"Funny thoughts and Ridiculous, Longbottom," Cerberus said calmly from his spot. Frank nodded and closed his eyes before he screamed, Ridikulous! and his mother's attire changed into a straitjacket and her face was covered by a clown mask.
"What in Merlin's beard did he watch this summer?" Potter added, still not grasping what Frank was thinking of.
"Great work, Frank! Who's next? Sirius, would you like to try?"
The boy nodded and walked in front of the Boggart with a brave face. That changed once the creature turned into a perfect image of himself, yet something was different. James took a step forward but Remus stopped him, shaking his head.
"Look at that...afraid of himself. Ha!" Mulciber commented loudly, "If only he'd embrace that darker side of his, he wouldn't be such a disappointment to purebloods anymore." He continued, folding his arms in front of his chest cockily.
Sirius stared at his image, everything looking the same as the original yet the way the Boggart was looking back at him was the same as his mother's. Then, while thoughts were swirling in his mind, a new fear creeped up his back and the Boggart sensed it right away. The copy of Sirius turned into his younger brother, who started to laugh like a maniac. Cerberus frowned and moved slowly towards Sirius.
"Don't get caught into this illusion, Sirius. It's only a Boggart," Cerberus whispered but it didn't seem like Sirius could hear him. Instead, the image of Regulus suddenly stopped laughing and glared at his brother.
"Wait a minute, I've seen him before. Is that his brother?" Ophelia asked, taking a step towards Severus.
"Regulus Black. He's a first year and he's a Slytherin." Katie Rosier explained from behind Snape. "I wonder just how badly it would affect him if he knew little Regulus is being bullied by his dorm mates." She added, chuckling.
Ophelia glanced at Sirius and sighed. So that boy was running from his own house mates.
In the end, Cerberus had to move in front of Sirius for the Boggart to change into a serpent. Ridiculous! he said and the serpent changed into a snake balloon.
"Great job, Black."Mulciber commented sarcastically and started applauding.
"Next? We have more than an hour left so each of you can get a chance at this boy here," The owl man said, keeping the Boggart into a balloon form.
Everyone tried, at one point or another, and it was funny to see the fears of Slytherins, which were mostly their parents. On the other hand, when Remus' turn came up, he fidgeted before the creature morphed into a full moon.
"Is that a globe?" Cissney asked because that's what it looked like. But after saying the spell, the moon dropped into a ball and Remus returned to his house mates.
"That wasn't a globe, was it?" Ophelia asked the boy, subtly as not to grab anyone's attention. Remus didn't respond but that could also mean something.
"Well, why don't you try, Lucas? We can't wait to see how scared you are of your mommy and daddy," Potter taunted the Slytherin, which had an immediate response.
Mulciber walked in front of the Boggart and took a deep breath in before letting it out slowly. He closed his eyes and opened them to meet a form he had recently seen and frightened him.
"That's...what the-" Sirius couldn't believe what he was seeing. He couldn't help but laugh. Mulciber glared at Black but once he lost his concentration, the Boggart moved really close to him.
Cerberus tilted his head to the side, confused yet also intrigued.
"That's Bellatrix Black. I know she's a bit crazy but-"
Mulciber scoffed, "If only you'd see her, you'd know she doesn't have any boundaries!"
"True," answered Sirius who shrugged at the memories.
"Is that what Slytherins are scared of these days?" Ophelia asked Severus who shrugged. Mulciber was one of the weirdest wizards he had met and not in a good way.
"Ridikulous!" The Slytherin screamed out and Bellatrix fell on her back after tripping on her own legs.
"So you're afraid of my cousin? How interesting. I thought she's been teaching you all the secrets of the dark arts," Sirius commented, narrowing his eyes at the Slytherin.
"I'm not afraid of her. That Boggart is stupid,"
"Boggarts aren't smart nor stupid. They are non-beings and just like Dementors, they live off of human emotions. You can't lie to a Boggart, Mr. Mulciber." Cerberus explained, taking the Gryffindors' side. "If you'd be the smart one, you wouldn't know who Bellatrix is or have any type of interaction with her." The owl man couldn't help himself and give his own input.
If looks could kill, Mulciber would be in Azkaban by now.
[End of Flashback]
"It was amusing but as a professor, Knowingall shouldn't interfere in between students' vendettas." Lily said, almost sounding like she didn't enjoy that comment. "But it was different seeing Mulciber speechless. The rest of the year will be eventful, at least in DADA." Added the redhead, smiling at her house mates.
Ophelia glanced at Mulciber once again and saw him whispering something to Avery. Going down the table, she saw Nott and Severus, talking about something or another, Katie Rosier adding to the conversation. Going over the table, Ophelia noticed that Rodolphus and Lucius weren't there and Rabastan was not with his Ravenclaw girlfriend anymore. The brunette witch sighed happily, the year starting with a lot of potential.
----------
It was a month later, during the Gryffindor Quidditch tryouts that Lucius approached Ophelia in the halls. Her studies were going well and for the first time in her academic life, she was exceeding in Transfiguration, DADA and Occlumency. Even McGonagall was surprised how well Ophelia was doing and how in control she was of her magic. Of course, that last subject was arguable. Thus, when Lucius called her aside, she was hopeful that she could finally learn even more in a way that wasn't torturous.
"Every Friday and Saturday night, in the dungeons. We'll be working either in a class room or the Room of Requirement. You'll see what I mean." The blond started in a hurry.
"Today is Saturday." Ophelia stated the obvious, annoying the Prefect.
"I'm aware. Come in the dungeons after curfew and do it silently."
Which she did. Ophelia sneaked out of the common room and dimly enlightened her way down the stairs. It was very important not to draw attention of anything and anyone and she did so graciously until she stepped in the dungeon. It was really cold and there was a particular smell that reminded her of Gloria's perfume. She walked for a few minutes until someone finally showed up.
"Nott?"
"What are you doing down here, Molley?" The boy hissed.
"I'm here for the same reason you are here. I want to learn dark arts." She answered as if that was obvious.
"You're a half blood Gryffindor witch. Why do you need to learn dark arts for? You want to show something new to your friends? Because what we do here is not fun, Molley. It's responsability."
Ophelia listened to the boy, watching how he got riled up for this so called responsability that he had.
"I heard rumors that there is a Dark Lord involved. I'd like to meet him too."
Nott's eyes widened at the words she was throwing at him.
"You!? Only the best and most loyal wizards can get to meet him! You're not even a pure blood!" Nott exclaimed, his face growing red.
"What's all this fuss here?" Lucius trotted towards the two students, an older woman walking next to him, her gaze falling over the Gryffindor right away.
"Who are you?" The older girl asked, her appearance very familiar.
Lucius sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, his nerves playing tricks on him thanks to a third year.
"Ophelia Molley. She's allowed to come." The blond answered in her place.
"Who are you? You look like you should have graduated already." Ophelia asked, getting a scowl in return.
"Fine. I needed a pet anyway," The girl commented before she gave a very sinister smile, "I'll have to find you a name, poxy."
"Bella-"
Lucius tried to interfere but the elder stepped closer to Ophelia and grabbed her by the back of her head. This Bella pulled on her black hair so that the kid could look closer at her wicked face.
"Bellatrix, let's not make foolish mistakes." Lucius muttered again.
So she was the woman that scared Mulciber; Bellatrix Black. By looks, she was definitely Sirius' family but taking a look into her eyes and the evil was far more accentuated than Ophelia had seen in Rodolphus. It was chilling and with the actual person standing so close, Ophelia had to give Mulciber some credit.
"Having this poxy believe that she can be a part of the Death Eaters is a foolish mistake. Why not show her just what she will face every time she comes down here?" The vile woman snickered, tightening her grip.
Nott was watching calmly, his expression the less agressive but still supporting version of Bellatrix.
"Let's enter the Room of Requierment and see just how much time you can spend on your feet." Bellatrix said and turned towards the wall that was supposed to open up the door.
Ophelia was still in a very unfortunate position but witnessing a door appearing from literally nothing took her mind off what could possibly happen next. As soon as Bellatrix opened the door and threw the Gryffindor in, Lucius Malfoy knew there was going to be punishment involved.
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