Harry Potter & The Heirs of the Damned-Chapter 3

Everyone gathered at the Great Hall during the end of semester feast. Instead of the happy and gay getting-ready-for-school-holidays mood, the atmosphere was replaced with a solemn, quiet air lingering about the Hall. A few banners with the sign of Hufflepuff were put up along the ceiling, signifying the house in which Cedric Diggory was in. Everyone sat at their places with revered silence as Headmaster Albus Dumbledore made a short tribute speech to the late Cedric Diggory, talking about his glorious days as a fine young student of Hogwarts, and ending it with the hope that everyone in the Hall would remember Cedric as long as they live. Jude looked around and noticed something missing.

“Cho’s not here,” Jude whispered. “Where is she?”

“She’s too devastated to join the feast,” Hermione whispered back. “She wanted to go home early and Dumbledore had just gave her permission to leave. She couldn’t bear the pain.”

“I guess I can understand that.”

“Poor girl…” Ron sighed. “Hope she doesn’t do anything silly.”

After the speech, Albus was about to leave to the head table when he spotted Aaron among the Gryffindors at the table.

“Ah, I see we have a guest in our midst. Aaron Turunen, how nice to meet you!”

Aaron smiled and went up to the head table to shake hands with Albus, “Professor Dumbledore. It’s been a while.”

Everyone caught their breath seeing the famous Muggle-born prodigy Aaron Turunen in the school shaking hands with the Headmaster. Mutters and whispers of admiration echoed through the Hall. Jude was not impressed, especially when she was still sore about him getting undivided attention from Prof. Snape.

“Hmph! Mr. Popularity again, aren’t we?”

“Yes, yes, of course, Mr. Turunen,” Albus grinned in his old twinkling way. “It’s been a while since you graduated. How are you doing so far?”

“Good. Very good.”

“Well, well, if it isn’t Mr. Turunen.”

Aaron turned to see Draco standing in front of him with his arms folded across his chest, looking at him with a I’m-not-impressed sign on his face, his fat henchmen forever following at his wake. His smug and tone really reminded him of Lucius Malfoy, but he also reminded himself that not all children are chips off the old block.

“Hey, Draco,” Aaron tried to greet him as friendly as possible.

“I see you know Mr. Turunen, Mr. Malfoy,” Albus noted.

“Are you kidding?” Draco smirked. “It’s rare to have a Mudblood celebrity these days.”

“Watch it, Malfoy!” Ron stood up immediately, angered at the fact that Draco was showing disrespect to his idol.

“Don’t worry, I’m used to it,” Aaron said, then gave Draco a stare so dark that even his father would be scared off. Draco backed away at the stare.

“I…uh…I guess I’ll be going…”

“Woah! He must be scared shitless!” Ron whispered to Harry, who in turn nodded in admiration.

While he took his leave, Draco spotted Jude sitting beside Hermione enjoying a chocolate chip cookie. He walked over to her and said, “Hey, little Miss I’m-in-Love-with-Snape.”

“Hey, that was years ago!” Jude protested. “You little Mister Daddy’s-Little-Boy!”

“Whatever,” Draco scoffed, then nods at Aaron’s direction and sneered, “Besides, you have a thing for Mudbloods, haven’t you? What with you always sitting at the Gryffindors table instead of hanging out with your real friends.”

“Shut it!” Aaron suddenly came in between Draco and Jude, pointing his wand at Draco’s face. Everyone tensed at the sight of Aaron the Muggle-born prodigy having a face-off with Draco the son of a member of the Ministry.

“No, Aaron, it’s not worth it,” Harry tried to coax him out of this situation. The last thing they needed is a fight to ruin the tribute dinner.

“Mudblood lover,” Draco made a face at Jude, not wanting to let up.

“Leave me alone, Malfoy!”

The people present would’ve just dismissed her outburst as the usual teenage spat if it wasn’t for the sudden scene where Jude’s eyes started to glow red and her canine teeth grew into fangs without her even realizing it. Everyone, including Draco who was face to face with her, and the professors, were shocked to see Jude hissing like a snake as she shoved Aaron aside and glared intently at Draco with an anger that undermined the phrase ‘Hell hath no fury like a woman scorn’, her eyes glowing as if there was a fire burning within her soul. Draco doubled back and quickly made a run for it while Ron couldn’t contain his shock the moment he saw her reaction.

“Bloody hell!”

“What the…?” Aaron was equally shocked. The aura she was giving was familiar. Very familiar. It was as if he was reliving something he wished had never happened in the first place.

Soon Jude was broken out from her anger trance and everything on her face shrunk back to normal. The first thing she saw after recovering was an entire Great Hall of people staring at her in horror. The silence was so thick, you could hear a rice drop.

“Huh? What? Did I miss something?”

There was definitely something familiar that Aaron had sensed from her. He excused himself and grabbed her by the hand, taking her out of the Great Hall to a nearby corridor, closing the door on the way out.

“Wha…Wait! Wait! What is going on?! Where the hell are you taking me?!” Jude demanded as she found herself dragged and pinned against the wall.

“Stay still.”

Jude instinctively did so at the authoritative voice of Aaron. She knew better than to retaliate when he started using that tone on her. He began to examine her with his wand and chanted spells she had never heard before.

“Umm…What are you doing?”

“I sense a great evil power in you.”

“Wha…Me? You’re kidding, right?”

“It seems…familiar.”

“Umm…How familiar? Why was everyone looking at me at the Great Hall just now?” Jude asked, but was met with the silent concentration on Aaron’s face as he continued to examine her. She demanded, “Aaron, you got to be honest with me. What is going on? What just happened?”

“You were displaying powers of evil,” Aaron finally replied. “I sense the Dark Lord in you.”

“Wha…What?! No, that’s impossible! You’re lying!”

“I don’t lie, ever,” Aaron said as he called forth for his broom Firebolt.

“Why are you calling your broom?” Jude asked suspiciously.

“I’m gonna take you back to my place so that we can be alone.”

Jude quickly backed away, feeling a sense of wary, “I feels something’s not right here. I won’t…I’m not going with you.”

“You want everyone to get you here?!” Aaron asked as he held out his hand for her to take.

“No…No! I can’t be associated to the Dark Lord! That’s impossible!” Jude said fearfully as she backed away even further. “I have nothing to do with the Dark Lord! I’m not from the Dark Lord! I’m not! I’M NOT!!!”

Her screams of denial suddenly broke every glass and everything else breakable within her proximity: from the vases along the corridor to the stained window panes and even to the glass of every framed portraits and picture frames (causing the people inside it to flee for their lives). Aaron covered his ears, his hands getting cut by the shards of glass that flew at every direction. By the time she realized what had just happened, Jude was overwhelmed at the mess she made, with more glass fragments falling like rain all over her and people starting to come out to see what the commotion was about. Jude trembled in fear at the velocity of the situation. Was she really a relation to evil? Did she really possess the power of evil? Was she…the spawn of evil…?

“H…Help me…” Jude pleaded, her knees buckling.

“Come on!” Aaron exclaimed as he grabbed her and flew off on his broom. “Hang on! We’ll be safe at my place.”

Jude nodded and grabbed on tight to Aaron. Somehow at this moment, she felt as if he was the only one in the whole world she could count on.

Aaron winced as he felt the sting from his cut wounds piercing him like knives. Jude noticed this and saw the cuts. She couldn’t help feeling guilty.

“Sorry…for that…”

“It’s OK…”

“How can this be? How could I have the Dark Lord’s powers? I know nothing of him except what you told me. I’ve been raised a Muggle all my life…I…”

Jude couldn’t hold back her tears. She couldn’t understand why that not only she was no longer normal, but she was also possibly evil. She couldn’t figure out why everything bad had to happen to her ever since the day she set foot into the world of magic. She couldn’t understand her fate at all.

As they went on their way to their apartment, Jude buried her face into Aaron’s back and cried pools of tears, denial at her ill-gotten luck in store for her in the future.