Unexpectedly, It Happened

Those uncorrelated faces of Vernon Peverell ended up haunting Ophelia for the next weeks. Nightmares transformed into dreams about Cerberus and Spinnard's memories and not even those were correlated. Vernon Peverell was a man with many faces and she had no one to ask directly but Dumbledore.

That was how right after Transfiguration on Tuesday, she fled from the classroom as if she had done something. Potter raised an eyebrow and hummed to himself, nodding to Pettigrew and Longbottom. The two boys nodded right back and walked the same direction as Ophelia.

"Those two won't be subtle." Black mumbled, feeling like taking a nap.

"A sudden friendship between you and her is not believable." Potter replied, turning towards the Great Hall, hungry and in mood to mess around. Also, he wouldn't say no if a redhead would sit near him at the table.

"She doesn't even speak to Peter. At least we fought before,"

Potter raised an eyebrow, smirking bemusedly at his friend, "D'you fancy her, Sirius?"

"No! Ew, no!" The dark haired boy exclaimed appalled, making Potter laugh loudly scaring a few nearby Ravenclaw girls.

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Seeing two young and healthy boys stalk a equally young and healthy girl was quite disturbing in theory. In practice, the unnamed black kitten tilted its head to the side, confused yet curious how far they would go. They were Gryffindors based on their robes but not very good at keeping themselves hidden.

"Isn't this the way towards the headmaster's office?" The bulkier one asked the thin one. The kitten couldn't really bother with names since there were so many students in Hogwarts.

"Why would she go to the headmaster? Is she reporting the bullying herself?" The thin one asked back, no reply coming from the other one, "Maybe we should go back. It doesn't look like any Slytherin is targeting her for the moment."

The kitten's eyes widened, those innocent blue eyes turning towards the headmaster's office. Dumbledore was not in, he knew that much, so he might as well satisfy a little curiosity that he had ever since Cerberus arrived.

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Thus, when Ophelia arrived in front of the gargoyle, the 'butterbeer' password didn't work. She huffed and paced around for a few minutes before he tried another one. It didn't work either.

The black kitten felt like chuckling, which came out more like a purr. He hurried in front of the gargoyle and with one swift look, the statue moved aside. Ophelia's eyes widened and she started to look around but the kitten already entered.

When the witch opened the door to the office, she felt her heartbeats quicken. There wasn't a reason to be nervous yet she couldn't control her body, especially her heart. Actually, it wasn't really nervousness as it was the feeling of anticipation.

But Dumbledore was not inside. Her eyes wandered every suspicious shelf and crest in the wall but it didn't seem like he was hiding either.

"I thought children these days are smarter. Can't you see Dumbledore is not in?"

A second year at Hogwarts and she should have expected that even portraits of older headmasters and headmistresses could speak.

"Are you not going to respond to me? At least show some respect and turn to look me in the eye!" The man continued, waking up other portraits as well.

"I'm sorry…" She had to squint in order to read his name, which was so small that she could barely make it up, "Phineas Nigellus Black. I'm sorry sir," She added, looking up at the man.

"You! Have I seen you before?" The former headmaster asked, leaning slightly on his knee, "You look incredibly familiar. If only you wouldn't be so-" He scrunched his nose, stopping himself before saying something that would make the others complain.

"Now, Phineas, is that how you greet a student of Hogwarts?" Another portrait interfered, this one looking slightly older than the first.

Phineas' portrait scoffed and kept a scowl for the rest of the time. Unfortunately, with the headmaster gone on duty, Ophelia didn't have anyone to ask about Peverell. She turned towards the door, disappointed and with no expectations left until she met those same blue eyes, standing in front of the door as if telling her to stay.

"You again," Ophelia mumbled walking towards the fur ball. She patted him fondly with a soft smile on her face, especially when the kitten purred in delight.

"Ha! How can you pat that. A man of his age, tsk!" Phineas added before being shushed by the rest.

Ophelia stopped her actions and and stared into those small eyes. The kitten meowed innocently and walked towards her, rubbing against her leg while purring happily. She heard Phineas mumble grumpily to himself as he walked away from his portrait, leaving behind only empty space.

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"So, she went to see the headmaster and no one's been following her?" Black asked suspiciously, not certain he should trust Longbottom and Pettigrew. The boys nodded and Black turned to Potter in confusion. "Maybe not the Slytherins are the problem? Maybe you overreacted, mate."

"No. I'm sure something's happening. I can feel it." The glasses boy mumbled.

Unfortunately, once Ophelia's face has been seen enter the Hall, the group spread and Remus moved aside for his house mate to sit in her usual spot. She didn't seem troubled at all, if anything she was just herself.

But once Ophelia sat down, she could feel eyes boring into the back of her head. She only glanced a bit over her shoulder and noticed it wasn't Malfoy but another boy that looked to be the same age. Down the table was Snape, sitting between Avery and Nott and looking... not as uncomfortable as Ophelia expected.

"So, badge, I was thinking maybe you could help Peter with something?" Potter started surprising both the subject and pretty much everyone around him.

Ophelia's eyes moved from him to the boy that looked around with big wide eyes. Compared to Potter, Pettigrew was shorter and slightly chubby with less bravery and need to affirm himself in the world. He was what Ophelia's father would see as a great asset to her friend group. There was nothing suspicious about him, overall.

"With what subject?" She asked in the end.

Potter's eyes brightened and a wide smile spread on his lips.

"I-maybe History of Magic?"

"More like DADA. You suck at it, mate," Black pitched in making the poor boy's blush deepen.

"That too..." Peter added, "But it's alright. You don't have to-" His eyes widened when he felt a sudden kick him under the table, "I mean I am in great need of tutoring on both of them." He changed his mind swallowing his pain silently.

"You know, I have been studying a lot these days."

Ophelia started on the way back to the common room. She was walking alongside her most peculiar acquaintance.

"I noticed," Black answered, surprised that she grabbed him aside and more or less forced him to walk beside her. "You have a surprisingly strong grip, I'll give you that." 

Truthfully, the plan worked better inside her mind than it proved to work in reality. It was easy; after she heard the news about Potter's ways of interfering into her life, she wanted to speak to either Remus or Black to stop it. Black seemed to be the best choice at that point and she pulled him back, motivating Potter to walk with Remus and Pettigrew. Charlie Wood helped too when he started to talk about Quidditch.

"I want to ask you a favor." 

"I didn't know we were such close friends," He whispered leaning towards her, "What do I get out of it?" 

"Free time. I want you to stop Potter from getting more involved than he is in my school life. Even if Slytherins have been bullying me, it is my problem not his." 

"So it is true then," Black trailed thinking carefully what he should reply, "He's not an easy lad to convince. I think I need more than free time for the effort I have to put in this." 

"Fine. What do you want?" She asked ready to sacrifice a bit of her pride just to keep Potter away.

"I need a partner for certain assignments."

"Don't you have Potter for that?" 

"He's my partner alright but not for what I've got in mind. I need your pretty handwriting and your owl for these assignments." He explained with a sly smile.

Whatever he was scheming it didn't seem too bad yet she could see in his eyes that she was walking on a minefield.

"Deal." She stated firmly, shaking his hand hoping Black won't throw her in bigger troubles than she had already.

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Later that night, Ophelia sneaked out of the common room with her DADA book in hand. The library was empty during these late hours and she enjoyed it quite a bit. There was no perturbation and no glare to avoid. It was just her and her thoughts and of course, the homework. 

She was copying every detail she could find about werewolves. It seemed that Spinnard wanted her to write an essay of five pages which was easy compared to other assignments on spells or even curses.

It must have been sometime during the last of her books that she heard whispers. At first she dismissed them as sounds made by the wind blowing through trees, especially that gigantic willow. But the whispers continued, faint but loud enough to grab her attention. 

The witch put her quill down and took a long look around her: books and nothing else. It was dark but not enough for her to get scared. It was strange, that's what it was.

Feeling like she couldn't concentrate anymore with that noise, she got up and let herself be led by hearing only. Sensing that she might meet someone or something dangerous, she drew her wand out.

The whispers seemed to have vanished as she took a turn and light brightened from the tip of one's wand, blinding her. The anonymous person moved it aside and came closer to her so she could see him clearly.

Her green eyes widened in surprise but also in astonishment and a bit of fear. He was there standing tall and proud and he seemed different yet still the same. She didn't get the chance to think before she breathed out...

"Dad?"