Chapter 223: DA Files: Familys Black Sheep (1/2)
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December arrived, bringing with it more snow and a positive avalanche of homework for the students of Hogwarts. The new normal for the Room of Requirements was the DA members practicing their spells in the DA meetings, with Quinn in the lead as he wandered around the summoned room, taking note of the progress while providing guidance to anyone who seemed to be having a tough time and to those who were just a tweak or two away from pushing their casting to the next level.
”Listen well, people. Today's going to be the last session before Christmas, so please ask about any problems or doubts you have regarding any spells we have covered in our meets — it can be the Disarming spell we learned at the very beginning or the Severing charm we learned today. I will front any doubt right now, so you don't go home feeling unsure about what we have learned.”
It was already nearing Christmas, and Hogwarts would enter a winter break of roughly a week while DA would be suspended to rest for two weeks. The progress had been coming along pretty well, and the ones who weren't proficient in a given spell were improving, while those who were good at them were moving onto spell variations to solidify their repertoire.
A hand was raised from the crowd.
”I've been meaning to ask, but why's he a part of DA?” said the person pointing to another person from the group.
The hand was pointing to Theodore Nott, fifth-year Slytherin. Theodore Nott was a dirty blonde with amber eyes with classic pureblood aristocratic features. From Quinn's interactions with Theodore Nott as an AID client and Legilimency screenings, he had observed him be a taciturn guy who was keenly observant of his surroundings. Of course, not many got past the obvious to know the guy.
”His father is a Death Eater; shouldn't he be the last person to be here?” said the person who had raised his hand. ”We never know if he's working with Umbridge. I suggest that we get rid of him before he betrays us to Umbridge.” There was a scathing cut in his voice as if he was talking about the worst scum of the earth.
Quinn pursed his lips as if holding himself from screaming. ”You know, I was asking more of a magic question, but alright, let's take care of this,” he looked at the rest of the listening group, ”who else has this same problem?”
No one raised their hands, but Quinn noticed a few shifts in eyes and shuffle of feet. He didn't call out any of those people.
”Alright then, Harry Potter and Theodore Nott come forward,” he said, ”Ivy, you approached the Slytherin students and invited them, so you take this up and tell them why Nott is here.”
The three fifth-years old stepped out from the group to the front as Quinn stepped back to the side with his arms crossed.
Ivy took a look at both her brother and Nott before turning to the group.
”Like every Slytherin student here, Theodore Nott was invited based on Quinn's recommendation. We ourselves did some checking on him, and he, for the most part, came out clean,” no one was perfect, ”when we ensured that Nott would keep the secret, we approached him to see if he was interested and the answer as you can see it is obvious.”
She turned to Harry and asked, ”Do you have any problems with Nott being part of DA?”
”Not really,” said Harry, ”we never had any bad blood between us, so I had nothing against him joining DA.. . and well, I did ask him the question straight up.”
Ivy, once again, turned to Nott, ”What was the question, and what did you answer?”
”What do I think about You-Know-Who?” said Nott, ”My answer.. . I am not my father.”
It had surprised him when Harry Potter had suddenly, out of nowhere, for the first time since both had come to Hogwarts had spoken to him, but the question, on the other hand, didn't surprise him.
”Taking that answer with Quinn's recommendation, we thought that was enough to induct him into DA.. . What do you think about Umbitch?” Ivy added the question to not at the end.
”She is annoying.. . to say the least,” said Nott shortly to the point.
”Well, there you go, he and I are of the same mind,” said Harry, ”if I don't have a problem with him, then I don't think anyone should.”
Ivy turned to the person who had initially raised the question, ”If you're still unsatisfied with our selection criteria, then we're sorry because we don't have anything better than this, and Nott hasn't done anything for us to dismiss him out from the group.
”Also, I don't want to see house discrimination in here. The sole reason for the creation of this group is to learn magic with no other agenda. There's no Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, only Hogwarts when you come into his room. So if I hear any reports of daft petty arguments based on house differences, there'll be recuperations, and I will give out punishments.”
As this was going on, Quinn silently stepped beside Marcus and whispered, ”Why did he suddenly call Nott out after so many classes?”
”Apparently, Nott and that guy were pitched against each other quite a few numbers of times during mock-duels and paired as practice partners.. . And well, it's, to say the least, but that guys and Nott aren't on the same level,” said Marcus, whispering back.
”Ah, so this was out of frustration, huh,” said Quinn, ”hmm, alright, I'll put in more effort for the pairings, hmm, that'll take some thinking to do — well, I'll put Eddie against Harry; that'll be really fun.”
”They will try to tear each other apart,” said Marcus.
”Hmm, that's a genuine possibility,” but then Quinn waving it off, ”Nah, it'll be fine, they'll be fine.. . what's the worst they could do, a couple of broken bones — I can fix that in a jiffy.”
”There's going to be a lot of blood,” said Marcus sighing.
”Oh, absolutely. That's without a doubt,” said Quinn smiling.
After the DA meeting ended and everyone was leaving for their common room, Quinn was stopped by Theodore Nott.
”Quinn, can we talk?” he said.
”Sure, what do you want to talk about?” said Quinn, and both the boys stayed in the Room of Requirements after everyone left.
”Thank you for standing up for me,” said Nott.
”Uhm, I don't know if you were paying attention or not, but I stood by the side and let the three of you do the talking.”
”Yes, I know that. I'm talking about your recommendation that allowed me to be a part of DA,” said Nott, ”when I was invited, I was visited by both the Potter twins, and I don't think they liked me for DA, and neither did they try to hide the fact they didn't like me. If it wasn't for your recommendation, I wouldn't have been considered for being a part of DA.”
”Well, you're welcome,” said Quinn, and usually the talk would end here, but Quinn noticed the tension on Nott's face. He sighed silently, and two chairs manifested in the room.
”Sit down,” he said when Nott looked at him in confusion, ”Now the niceties are out of the way — you thanked me, and I accepted, let's come to the point. Tell me what do you actually want to talk about?”
Nott followed Quinn's instruction and sat down on the comfy chair but didn't start speaking immediately. Quinn watched as Nott seemed to struggle and looked he was building up the courage to speak up.
”The Dark Lord is back,” said Nott after the silence.
”Yes, I realize that,” said Quinn, ”his return, if it's true or a hoax, is all people can talk about these days.”
”No, I'm telling you that he's back. My father.. . he told me that the Dark Lord is alive.. . and in the summer he went out to gatherings in his Death Eaters, he even talked about the Dark Lord to some guests.. . who were all Death Eaters.”
Quinn observed Nott, and the guy had his hands clutched with; there was a bead of sweat dripping from his forehead.
”You seem to be stressed,” said Quinn, ”do you fear that your father will induct you into Death Eaters when the time comes?”
”I don't fear it. I know it will happen!” said Nott raising his voice, ”he'll present me to the Dark Lord even if it means to cast Imperious on his own son! That man hadn't talked about You-Know-Who at home before last year, but now he can't stop talking about him.. . I — I.. .” by the end, he was all but wheezing.
”You wish to escape the fate of being forcibly drafted as a Junior Death Eater,” said Quinn.
Theodore Nott nodded deeply.
”Can you help me?” asked Nott, ”I'll do anything if you help me, please.. .”
Quinn stayed silent for a moment before speaking up.
”I can't make your father disappear,” well he could, but that wasn't the point, ”neither can I change him from a devout flavor of the Dark Lord to a saint with the Father of the Year award.. . but I can provide you with freedom, to be specific financial freedom.”
”What do you mean?”
”You're a fifth-year, and I'm pretty sure your father won't have you marked at least before you're of age, which will be before your seventh year. Hell, I bet, if things go well, you'll not get marked until you have graduated from Hogwarts because your father won't want the risk of his son marked and then sending him to study under Dumbledore.”
That made sense to Theodore Nott, and he had never thought he would be marked with the Dark Mark before he graduated.
”So, you're probably safe till you exit Hogwarts,” said Quinn. ”Your grades here at Hogwarts are decent, and you look fairly competent with magic.. . so what I can offer you is a job.”
”A job?” asked Nott confused.
”Yes, a simple, honest-to-magic job,” said Quinn, ”a job that'll earn you money and allow you to start a life of your own. I can even reallocate you far away from here so that your father can't just whisk you away back to continue the family legacy.