Chapter Fifty-Four: An Inside Look

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Voldemort was becoming an Auror.

Great.

As if I needed any more indication of my immense failure in life...Tom freaking Marvolo Riddle, the darkest wizard of all time, was becoming an Auror....because of me.

Amazing.

Fantastic.

Simply Superb.

I was really doing such an astonishing job at this, saving the world thing.

I was going to go insane. I'm calling it from now.

I stroll into the Great Hall, ignoring the silence the erupts the second I walk in there like I'm Jesus freaking Christ or some shit.

I groan, marching over to Claude and Chris, who sat at the Gryffindor table. I sit in front of them and grab a chicken leg, just diving straight in.

"Val?" Claude asks, an amused smile on his lips. His hazel eyes stare at me, cautiously.

"I'm not going to explode Claude. Although I have to say, your parents are intense." I state, munching on my chicken leg.

He grins nodding. "They're amazing, aren't they?" He asks, and I raise a brow, forcing a smile. Yeah, so fabulous, all four of us had to make freaking unbreakable vows because of our arrogance and stupidity.

"Yeah, they are." I agree with him.

"They are such badasses." Chris agrees, his green eyes lighting up. "They've told me how they both single-handedly duelled a small army of Grindelwald's followers and managed to keep the muggles from finding out they almost died via magical means." He exclaims, handing me a goblet of juice with a concerned look at the chicken I was biting into like some werewolf in my anger.

"You alright, Val?" Chris asks, his voice kind. "You kind of looked like you got possessed." He winces at the term, and I look up at him, taking the goblet.

Ha. The irony.

"I'm fine," I reply after swallowing and gulping done the glass of water. "It was painful when I was rocking the flames, but I'm alright now," I state.

"What did my parents want with Riddle?" Claude asks. "The Aurors came in during class and took him away."

"They were questioning his testimony on what happened because he was on the front lines when the Fiendfyre attacked." I lie breezily.

"Do you think my moms will tell me about their investigation?" Claude asks, excited at the aspect, and I shrug, smiling.

"You should ask them. Might uncover something interesting." I state.

"Are you excited for summer?" Chris asks me, and I nod feverishly.

"Exceedingly. I just want to stay at home and not open any more books for months. Not bothering to do anything at all except eat and watch television." I groan, but Chris shakes his head.

"My moms intend on training me this summer." He whispers. "They say the war is growing, and they want me to be able to defend myself if anything happens." He says. I raise a brow.

"We aren't allowed to do magic outside of Hogwarts, though," Chris voices my thoughts.

Claude's voice becomes even more hushed. "They're going to cast spells over our backyard, mimicking Hogwarts, so the Ministry won't be able to detect any underage magic." He tells us, and my brows raise even more.

"Can I join?" I ask, and Claude blinks in surprise.

"You? You're one of the top students here, Val. You don't need extra training." Claude crinkles his nose in thought, and I shrug.

"I need all the training I can get," I state, making Chris nod too.

"Me as well!! Please, Claude!!" He begs and Claude nods.

"I'll ask my parents. Maybe they'll let the whole gang come over." He suggests, and I nod.

"That'd be amazing." I grin at him, and he smiles back, as kind as always.

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I walk over to the infirmary and sit by Nagini's bed. She was asleep. Breaking the Maledictus curse on her had taken a ton of her energy. According to Madame Strout, she just needed a ton of sleep.

I grab my Transfiguration book from my bag and read by the side of her bed. Abby and Avery had been released a couple days ago, all healed up.

I study for an hour or so before Nagini opens her eyes and stares at me. "V-Val?" She croaks out, and my eyes flit over to her.

A kind smile spreads on my lips, and I grin at her. "Hey, Nagini." I greet her and hand her a glass of water from her bedside. "How are you feeling?" I ask her, and she smiles, utter glee in her eyes.

"Magnificent!" She beams. "I'm free!" She was almost in tears as she sits up to grab my hand. "Thank you." She cries in delight. "I'll forever be in your debt. You saved me." She says, and I smile at her.

"Anytime. Let's just not get lit on fire next time, Okay?" I joke, and she laughs.

"That'd be for the best. I agree." She grins.

"So, you can still turn into a snake?" I ask, and she nods excitedly.

"YES!! But I can control it now!! Dumbledore says that I won't become trapped. The shifts were becoming more and more hard to control with every passing month, and I knew that the irreversible change would happen soon. I woke up every day, retransforming from my snake form only to burst into tears in relief at getting another day as a human." She whispers, her amber eyes shining in despair.

"Now, you can live to your fullest. With an extra perk at becoming an Animagus," I smile sadly at her, and she nods grinning.

"If you ever need a huge ass venomous snake, I'll be there. Anytime. Anywhere. I owe you my life." She announces, eyeing me protectively.

"Just be the older sister I never had, yeah?" I ask, hopefully. "I'll be there for you and you for me. Nothing forcing us to be friends with each other. You like me because of your own free will." I grin at her and tears form in Nagini's eyes.

"Thank you, Val." She sniffles and grips my hand harder. "I lost one of my closest friends and-" She pauses, sighing. "I lost my best friend to Grindelwald." She snarls, eyes flashing in anger. "Everything I ever knew was abuse, insecurity and pain." She slumps back into her pillow. "I never made my own choices." She snarls.

"You can now. I know it's hard to forget a past a pain....believe me, I know." I smile at her sadly, feeling my chest ache. "But you have a second chance now."

"I can fight Grindelwald now. Better than before. I can get him back." She says, eyes glistening in realization at her new purpose in life. I stare at the shy, benevolent and kind woman in front of me and grin.

"I'll help you any way I can. I, myself, am fighting against Grindelwald." I state, crossing my legs and leaning back in my chair. She gazes at me in surprise.

"Really?"

I nod, closing my Transfiguration book and placing it on my lap.

"I've faced him twice now and escaped. A little bitch he is." I scoff, making Nagini burst out laughing.

"Oh, yes. I completely agree." She grins at me. "I like you, Valentine Dumbledore." She smiles at me.

"I like you too."Β 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Third Pov~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Well?" Theseus Scamander asks his younger sister and sister in law. "Did you find anything?" He demands, staring at the best Aurors in his department.

"What the hell happened in that tomb that blew up one of the damn pyramids?" He demands from behind his desk.

"Valentine Dumbledore. Tom Riddle." Waiona says the names with a cringe.

"Yes, sister. What about the two third-years?" He asks, and the two of them shook their heads.

Sabra grits her teeth, mostly in embarrassment. "Unbreakable vow." She admits, and Theseus is stunned into silence. She says the words quickly full of fear. Just saying the words wouldn't mean anything unless she spelt it out to her brother-in-law in full. She didn't have to because Theseus Scamander was an impeccably intelligent man. He didn't need things spelt out in front of him.

"What!?" He snaps, and the two of them cringe. "What did they do?!" He asks, becoming exceedingly protective. They two women stay silent. "They cornered you into an unbreakable vow." He breathes in realization and then goes through his files.

"There is nothing here about either of them! Both orphans!" He snaps in anger. "How did the girl manage to control Fiendfyre?" He ponders, but his two best Aurors were rendered silent by the intelligence of both Tom Riddle and Valentine Dumbledore.

"What did Albus say?" He sighs, turning the topic away from the two kids.

That was a topic they were free to talk about, and Sabra speaks up. "The two of them are his top students. He says they could most definitely beat any seventh year without breaking a sweat. Albus tasked his cousin with destroying the last copy of Secrets of the Darkest Evil. She did that." Sabra explains, and her brother in law nods slowly.

"And they are both the same kids who were facing against Grindelwald last time. They saved a child from him, according to Albus." He ponders and then holds up a hand, glaring at the women. "Don't speak else you might end up on the floor dead." He snaps. The women look away sheepish.

"I want agents watching them." He announces. "At least one person on each of them at all times. That's an officially stated order."

"That should be easy. Claude is friends with the girl. He asked if she and his friends could stay over at our place for the summer." Waiona admits, and her brother nods eagerly.

"Agree. And please, for god's sake, train my nephew better in the dark arts. Honestly, if he ends up dead because of his association with us. It won't go well." Theseus says, worried about his only nephew.

"We'll train all of them." His sister smiles. "You could come over for a visit. Just to check up on your sister, you know." She smirks, and Theseus grins.

"What about the boy?" He asks, and Sabra shrugs.

"The two of them are exceedingly close. Wherever Valentine is, Tom shouldn't be too far away." She states.

"There is something very wrong with that boy," Waiona states in a hush, making her brother turn to look at his sister in curious worry.

"Hmmm?" He asks.

"Albus says he doesn't listen to anyone. Doesn't care about anyone. Dumbledore says its trailing on psychotic behaviour. He only listens to one person.... only cares-" She said the word with a confused sneer. "-about one person." She admits.

Theseus sighs, realizing where this was going. "The girl... Valentine. He only cares about her." He realizes.

"I wouldn't say care." Sabra states. "More of a fondness. Like she's his favourite toy or something." She analyzes with a cringe.

"So if we capture her....we'll have him as well." Theseus thinks out loud, and Waiona nods.

"In a way.... yes. If she's on our side... he will be too."Β 

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