Chapter 277: Dark Spiders
If you want to support me check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr
I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
I would like to thank my beta, Awdyr, for his help in this chapter.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
17 November 1994, Rome, Italy
A woman melted out of the shadows. To say she was beautiful would have been an understatement. However, what truly captivated Harry was how familiar she looked. It was almost eery, "Hello, Harry Potter. My name is Isabella Zabini and I wish to talk to you about my son."
Well, that was certainly surprising. For all the years Harry had known him, Blaise rarely ever mentioned his mother. He could understand why he didn't talk about her since the woman was an infamous serial killer that the authorities had given up even trying to catch. She had even earned the infamous monicker as the Black Widow, having married and killed around half a dozen men.
Harry could see why so many men ignored the rumours about the woman and married her. She was extremely beautiful, exotic in a way. Isabella Zabini carried herself with an enigmatic grace that was almost mesmerizing. Her deep, dark eyes could be described as enticing and unsettling. Her voice was soft yet resonant and alluring. Her presence was so commanding, so intoxicating, that it was easy to see how she could ensnare those around her.
He could sense that there also had to be some kind of magical component to it. If he had to guess, she had some sort of allure that was more subtle than that of Veelas, probably a charm, a family trait, or a non-human ancestry.
Honestly, it didn't really bother him, since he could hear her very soul thanks to the combination of the Resurrection Stone and his Arcane Hearing. Isabella Zabini did a good job of hiding her intentions and expressions, but her soul was loud and bare… She was a broken woman in so many ways… Huh, it was honestly surprising that Blaise had turned out as well as he did if he was raised by her…
The woman's smirk widened, "Oh, you've been staring at me for a while now. What would poor Daphne say if she knew…."
Harry simply shrugged, "You look like your son."
It was a good tactic to stop people from gaining the upper hand in a conversation. A random comment to take people off-guard. It wasn't even a false statement, just a random anecdote. To be fair, she did look like Blaise. They had the same cheekbones, the same nose and skin tone.
His tactic must have worked since she stiffened for a moment before regaining her previous expression, "Well, no one has ever made the comparison before…"
"You said that you wanted to talk about Blaise?"
"Ah, yes. I was disappointed that he didn't even try to join your delegation. I'm becoming a little worried about his lack of ambition, especially with him following around his little girlfriend like a puppy."
Harry raised an eyebrow, "Blaise said that there was a risk of him being abducted so that people could steal the Zabini crest…"
The woman snorted, "Is that what he said? I suppose there is some truth to it, but none of the old Familias would risk angering the ICW by attacking any members of a delegation. He was most likely trying to avoid me as much as possible…"
Harry turned towards the unconscious team of mercenaries and then gave the woman a dry look. She chuckled nervously, "Well, you see, you're a different issue entirely. The ICW would actually be happy with you gone, and since Dumbledore is around everyone is going to blame him either way. And, well, blaming Dumbledore and acting on it are two very different things… You're free real estate, kiddo. No one is going to care if you end up hurt because no one is going to be able to conduct a proper investigation. It's actually impressive how you somehow managed to do that. You're lucky you're powerful enough to deal with ambushes and the like."
The last Potter gave her another dry look before shaking his head, "I'm special like that. Again, you're changing the subject. Why did you come here?"
"Well, I was planning on doing a very dramatic reveal of myself and protecting you from your attackers, but you seemed to have that handled easily enough."
Very interesting. Was she planning on getting himself indebted to her by 'saving him'. She might have even been the one to hire the mercenaries. To be perfectly honest, both possibilities meant that she knew about the attack beforehand, and that meant that she was most likely a manipulative bitch…
Thankfully, Harry knew how to deal with those, "I don't know what to say to that?"
"Say, did you use Alchemy to attack them? Flamel's journal must have been very helpful for you to manage this level of transmutation in just a few days."
Harry simply shrugged, "I was always interested in Alchemy. Unfortunately, I happen to have sold the diary since I couldn't open it… It was quite the offer, I assure you."
"Oh, come on," the woman replied while pouting, "Considering how my son has been describing you, a pesky little enchantment wouldn't have stopped someone like you. You know you can tell me anything, don't you, Harry?"
Harry felt some kind of mental compulsion to trust the woman, which he immediately dispelled. Still, he decided to play along with her ruse, "I couldn't open it so I sold it to Dumbledore."
The woman looked put out, "A shame… I shudder to think what all the knowledge inside might have been worth. Hell, it could have even had instructions on creating a philosopher's stone."
"Why did you come here? I will not ask this question again. If your next sentence isn't a clear description of what you want, then I'll go back to the castle. You're already ruining a perfectly nice evening with the way you keep circling around the issue."
That took the Black Widow off-guard, and she looked slightly panicked. She must have realized that the compulsion hadn't worked on Harry, "I need your help."
"And why should I help you? You're a serial killer who essentially engineered a situation to make me grateful to you…"
"If you don't help, Blaise might end up in danger," she retorted.
"Explain."
"What do you know about the ruling body of Magical Italy?"
Harry simply shrugged, "Not much…"
"Well, it's similar to your ministry. Instead of the Wizengamot, we have the Senate, which is comprised of the oldest Familias in the country. We also have the ministry and everything. The thing is that our Senate is far more powerful than it has any right to be, and the seats are fully inherited. The Zabinis are one of the founding families of the ministry and there have been some very serious discussions about kicking us out of the Senate since Blaise hasn't been taught here in Rome, and I don't have the leverage to stop something like this…"
"I still don't understand how that has anything to do with me. It's your country and your son. He doesn't even care about his seat in the Senate."
The dark-skinned woman growled, "Don't remind me. I've done everything I could to safeguard his position here. I sent him to England to protect him from the vultures while I made allies here to protect him. The deal was to have him stay in Hogwarts for a few years before returning here to finish his education. I would have stabilized everything by then. Imagine my surprise when the brat said that he wasn't returning to Italy, to the birthplace of his father, to the place his ancestors built from the ground up! And for what, some teenage romance with a girl that has him entirely by the balls… He's risking losing his legacy, something that anyone in Rome would salivate over, for some gold digger that he met in school."
And there it was, the madness and coldness hidden beneath the careful façade that the woman put in place. Harry was almost disappointed that it came out so quickly. Ever since the woman started her rant, he could hear the faint cracks in her psyche, how broken she truly was. She must have loved Blaise's father very much for this to happen, but that also meant that she'd always been broken a little even before the man's loss.
Harry decided not to push things even further, "I can understand why you would be frustrated with his decision. After all, you've done so much for him, ensuring his future, only for him to essentially spit in your face."
"Exactly," the serial killer agreed, "But, because of his little girlfriend, Blaise refused to return and the allies I made just kept fading away. If he had joined the tournament and impressed people with his use of the Zabini crest, then I'd have had more time, but I'm losing allies by the minute. And when I do lose enough of them, then the Zabini seat will be removed from the senate."
"And where exactly do I come in?"
"As you probably know, the European tournament tasks aren't exactly fair. They're designed to be advantageous to the hosting schools. My political opponents have put up their children for the second task and have trained them extensively for it. They're confident about the win and are more than willing to bet on their certainty. The only obstacle they have is you… What you did in the first task showed that you were an unforeseen obstacle, which is why they sent these idiots to attack you."
Harry didn't exactly believe the woman but went along with what she was saying for the time being, "They don't want me to compete in the task. You do know that I don't have any plans on doing so, right?"
"That's even better. If you win, then people will just call you a freak of nature who ruined the task. No, what I need is something more embarrassing, which makes an even better statement. I want Hogwarts to win without you participating. I want everyone to understand that Blaise being in Hogwarts is an advantage, not him spitting on his heritage."
"So, let me get this straight, you want me to somehow get Hogwarts to win the task, without participating or showing that I had a hand in it. Do you realize just how unreasonable that sounds?"
The woman's eyes turned even darker, "Perhaps, but that's the best option. You see, if you don't stop the momentum of the other families, then I would be forced to take him out of Hogwarts. And if somehow that little hussy convinces him to defy me, then who knows what might happen? People around us, Zabinis, tend to die from mysterious reasons… However, I'd rather not resort to such extreme measures... Blaise will not lose this seat, whether he wants it or not."
Harry could see the madness in the woman's eyes. Yes, she was more than able to kill her son's girlfriend out of a misplaced sense of love. In fact, she was looking forward to it… What was it with insane mothers all appearing at once? First Lily and the bounty she put on his head, and now Blaise's mother threatening to kill Tracy, who also happened to be Harry's friend.
Of course, Harry wasn't going to allow anyone to threaten Tracy so brazenly. Having people threatening her so brazenly made him furious. He suppressed the urge to attack the woman and decided to take some time to analyse the situation a bit more.
Until then, he would humour the mad serial killer, "Fine. You want Hogwarts to win without me having anything to do with it… I'll think of something."
"Such a good boy, helping out your friend's mother. Why couldn't Blaise be more like you? Anyway, here's a list of the seven magical creatures that will be in the tournament. I think this should make your task a little easier."
Harry wanted to get as far away from the nutjob as he could. So far, he would play her game until he figured out what her real motive was… There was obviously a lot she wasn't telling him. It was hard to discern her motives or emotions because of how broken she was. It was honestly a miracle that she was still a member of society.
He turned towards the woman one last time, "Let me get something straight. You will not touch Tracy Davis. If you so much as cause her to have a papercut, I will come for you, and you will not like the consequences. What I did in the first task was me messing around… You wouldn't want to know what I am capable of if I'm properly motivated. Goodbye, Isabella Zabini."
Harry felt the woman shiver in fear. So far, the only reason he hadn't reacted violently was because he didn't know how it would impact Blaise. He really needed to speak to the dark-skinned boy and investigate his mother's claims.
He couldn't help but suppress a groan. Why did things always have to be so complicated? Thankfully, the blueprints of a plan started to form in his head. Oh, he was going to have fun with this…
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
AN: I'm not sure about my portrayal of Blaise's mother, to be perfectly honest. There is a lot to it, and the situation is a bit more complicated than she is showing in this chapter... I rewrote this chapter two times while trying not to give away too much of her plan, before settling on this since it felt the most natural. Please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
If you want to support me check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr
I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.