Third Year, Hopefully Lucky

From that tearful day on, Ophelia decided she would like to keep everything as it was. She didn't need a redecoration and the house seemed content with its recent condition. Cerberus was funnily enough a good guardian, always coming for lunch and dinner just so they could eat together. It was still curious what exactly his job was but with Dumbledore coming around once at a few weeks, she knew it was related to Hogwarts.

June passed with the deaths of three important figures in her life and July passed with a lot of amusement from Cerberus. No one came around, except Mr. Potter now and then just to check up on Cerberus' adult skills. But nothing else happened and Tom didn't reach Ophelia at all; not until August.

She was in the garden, looking at the fountain fondly when she saw a cloaked figure in the forest behind the house. Actually, the forest was everywhere and the next muggle house was approximately 100 km away. The old lady that Spinnard talked about before was an old hag that lived up on the hill and even if it was around 50 km to her house, she could see everything from her window.

"You can't step on the land, can you?" She asked before anything else, even before a polite greeting. The cloaked figure smirked but nodded nonetheless. "Does that make you a dark wizard?"

"Aren't you one as well? You are my daughter." He spoke, sending a shiver down her spine. "Come with me. You need a proper place to study." He added, already walking further into the forest.

Ophelia looked at the fountain then glanced at the house over her shoulder. To be able to live on, she needed to be able to protect her inheritance and for that, she had to learn from the best.

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Tom didn't lead her far but once she caught up to him, he grabbed her wrist harshly and disapparated. The place that they went to was emptier than any room she had seen, with little elves running around, arranging and dusting off. They looked worse than slaves and their conditions were very strict. She could see that one of them had been hit by something very hard against his face.

Following her father, he gave away his cloak and led her into a room with one table in the middle and a fireplace on the side. If there was any more furniture, she couldn't see it with how dimly lit it was. At the table were seated a number of vile looking men. She could see the resemblance in Malfoy Sr. and maybe a bit in Mulciber Sr, and Rodolphus was there as well.

"My friends, I'm glad you could all make it. We will begin our discussion right away but first, I need to ask your son, Aeron, to accompany me upstairs."

Rodolphus got on his feet faster than his father could respond. Tom smiled contently and nodded at Ophelia before he walked back into the corridor and up the stairs. They didn't enter a room because Tom turned to Lestrange and nudged Ophelia forward.

"This is a task of utmost importance. I need you to teach Ophelia everything you have been taught. No! No questions, just do as I say." Tom hissed, his eyes dangerously staring at the young Lestrange.

Rodolphus nodded but that didn't mean he liked the idea. Probably that was the main reason he tortured Ophelia numerous times all throughout August.

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"Do you have everything?" Cerberus asked, pacing in front of the chimney nervously.

"I do," she said, coming down the stairs with her trunk and cage.

Willy seemed extremely content with the new arrangements. He loved flying around at dawn and he suddenly became interested in delivering her correspondence.

"Alright, so everything is done so now...well, yeah. You should go first." He rambled, eventually turning to her with a smile.

"How?"

"Right! Right, where did I put the Floo Powder. Agh, I should teach you how to apparate instead."

"Why don't I accompany you when you apparate?" She asked watching him search the library for the small sack of powder.

Cerberus blushed, hiding his face behind his shoulder.

"I can't do it right. I always get splinched," he mumbled, his ears growing red too.

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In the end, Ophelia did reach Platform 9 3/4 ten minutes before the deadline. She hurried inside and searched for a place to sit by herself but every single compartment was occupied. She was ready to go and stay with some first years when a door slid open and out walked James Potter, smiling to himself.

Ophelia froze, thinking if she should turn around and run away or face him, because they were going to meet every day anyway.

"Badge! How has you summer been?" Potter yelled after her before she could take a decision.

"Not as bright as yours, I'm sure." She mumbled, trying her best to look for an escape route.

"Ah right, my dad told me about you know...I'm sorry for your loss." He said looking genuinely sorrowful.

"It's not like our relationship was great," she replied, looking to the side.

"With your parents? No one has great relationships with family...or Hogwarts professors."

Ophelia's eyes narrowed, only now realizing that Potter was talking about her adoptive parents not Spinnard. Well, he talked too much and didn't see the signs that would give her away so it was alright.

"Will you be playing Quidditch this year too? Will Wood let you?" She changed the subject to something she knew would keep him talking.

"Of course! Well, I don't know because Wood is a giant troll at times but I'd like to get that position. Blimey, badge, there is no better feeling than the squirming golden snitch in your hand."

His eyes were sparkling with enthusiasm, which was a sight she helped create. It was nice to see Potter happy; it was nice to see people in general happy after a month of torture.

"Come on badge, stay with us,"

She wanted to politely deny but he already wrapped a hand around her neck and more or less forced her along.

His cabin only had Sirius and Remus inside and one was reading while the other was munching his nails anxiously.

"Gah, why did he choose to stay with those pricks! There is no reason to look up to them, imbecile Slytherins," Sirius exploded verbally, continuing his rant no matter who entered his compartment.

"Look who I found in the corridor!" Potter interrupted, barging in with a very skeptical girl.

Remus put the book down when he noticed it wasn't another boy and smiled. Sirius only shut up and sat back down with a pout.

"Hello, Ophelia. I hope you didn't drag her here from her friends, James." Remus scolded his friend, his tone more like a parent than a real parent.

"She was in the corridor, searching for friends. Luckily, I could feel a Gryffindor was in need of help." Potter reasoned but Remus only rolled his eyes knowingly.

"It happened before," the smart boy added to himself, making Potter gasp.

"It was different back then! You were listening to McGriever talk about-"

Ophelia blocked him out, seeing how they weren't going to stop anytime soon. In the end, she sat next to a still very anxious Sirius Black. Her gaze was a lot heavier than she believed because the boy turned to her with a frown.

"What?" He asked eventually.

"You look worried. Something happened with your dark wizard family?"

"Why? You'll rub it in my face if it had?" He barked at her, without a real reason except her being perceptive.

"My parents died at the beginning of the summer. I am the last person to rub anything in your face."

It wasn't the news as it was the nonchalance she said it with. Her parents died and even if two months passed, she looked well.

"I'm sorry," Sirius said, the frown falling off his face. "It's not my family, not yet. It's Reg."

"Your younger brother,"

It was quite a surprise she remembered that but Sirius shrugged it off.

"It's his first year and instead of staying with me or other first years, he went along with my cousin." He stopped, just to cringe at the sole idea someone could do that, and continued, "Who would even step in the vicinity of Narcissa. She's been all lovely with Malfoy..."

"Isn't this her final year? They'll be gone before you know it." Remus pitched in, finally ending his argument with Potter.

"They will but let's not forget there are still a lot of Slytherins that belong in Azkaban." Potter interfered too with a sneer.

"What's Azkaban?" Ophelia asked, curiously glancing from Sirius to Remus.

"A highly protected prison for wizards that go against the law." Remus explained. "You know how muggle prisons have guards, in Azkaban they are called Dementors."

Oh. Oh! Dementors, like the cloaked creature with a hole instead of mouth that attacked her in the Forbidden Forest.

"Are Dementors used for all types of guarding? Can a wizard hire them to, let's say, guard an object."

The three boys seemed extremely intrigued by how curious she was when it came to dark magic, dark creatures, dark anything.

"I don't know but I have never read about a Dementor being hired. Their existence is to guard Azkaban." Remus answered, really thinking back on what he read about that subject.

"Have you ever seen one, badge? I heard that when a Dementor is near, you feel like you will never be happy again." Potter mumbled, saying what he heard from his father most probably.

"It feels like everything you loved has been an illusion and reality is cold and empty." She added, remembering what she felt, "I met one before and it was horrible."

"As long as one listens to the lessons at school, there is a way to protect yourself against anything." Remus stated in a smart ass tone, making the two other boys scoff.

The rest of the train ride passed relatively fun with Potter telling everyone how interesting has been his summer with his parents. On the other side, Remus had very few things to say while Sirius had a lot to complain about.

"And Malfoy came over for dinner because why in Merlin's beard would they dine in their own house?! And that infuriating Lucius Twoface was so gallant with my cousin that everyone believed it! But you know what? After he finished he asked if he could use the loo which was fine by me but I found him snooping around! That bloody idiot!"

"Don't overreact," Ophelia said rolling her eyes.

"I found him in my room, Molley. He was searching for something."

But Ophelia could still not feel any empathy for his matter because in the end, there was no proof that Malfoy wasn't just curious more than searching for something. If he needed something, that was tact which he obviously didn't have.

"How was your summer, Ophelia? Except the loss of your parents, of course. Everyone was really sorry to hear about it." Remus interfered after such a long hour of Sirius' rambling on and on.

"How did you find out?"

"It was in the Daily Prophet. There have been more muggle deaths in the past year than in the past decade. The Ministry's being extra careful and placed Aurors everywhere." Potter informed the rest.

"Aurors are like the head detectives from the Scotland Yard." Remus explained when he noticed the frown on Ophelia's face.

"Right. I had to move to a different place and since I am underage, I got a guardian that's going to look after me." She replied sincerely but avoiding details. "I spend more time at Hogwarts than at home so it's alright." She assured them with a smile. The witch really looked too happy for someone who should be at least nostalgic.

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By the time they arrived at the station it was already night. As soon as she hopped off the train, the girls found her and they took the carriage together. Cissney had a lot to say and everyone repeated the same I'm sorry for your loss sentence on the way to the Great Hall. It was so repetitive that Ophelia didn't reply anymore to her fellow Gryffindors.

The entry song by the Hat was as much of a riddle as everything coming out that ragged hole of a mouth and the ceremony begun with great delight for the Hufflepuffs. But then Sirius became really interested in the next kid.

"Black, Regulus," McGonagall called out and Ophelia saw a skinny boy with dark locks and a pointy nose go up and sit on the chair.

"Slytherin!" The hat screamed and Sirius' face fell into a poker face.

"They will take good care of him, Sirius. I'm sure they won't bully one of their own." Frank was only trying to comfort his friend but both Sirius and Ophelia scoffed.

"We all know what kind of care that will be." Ophelia muttered, getting a harsh nudge from the person standing next to her, which was actually Lily.

With the Sorting Ceremony done and the feast filling Ophelia's stomach like never before, Dumbledore rose and silenced the Hall.

"Welcome, welcome everyone to another year at Hogwarts. I am sad to inform you that Luce Spinnard has stepped down from his position as professor of Defence against the Dark Arts."

A sudden wave of anger flooded the green eyed witch, the truth about Spinnard being far from such a petty reason.

"Luckily, we have found a replacement that I assure you, will be as great as your former professor. Let me introduce you to Cerberus Knowingall." Dumbledore announced with a smile.

A man that looked younger than he truly was raised on his feet and waved nervously at the students, many rumors already zooming through the hall.

"How old is he? He looks inexperienced." Alice started, looking at the others before glancing at Cerberus again.

"He was a friend of Spinnard's." Ophelia informed the others, "Their skills are pretty much the same but Cerberus is fun."

"How can you know for sure?" Lily asked curiously.

"I met him before." She answered trying her best not to say the truth.

"I've seen him before too. He was in the dungeons at the end of last year, right? He wanted to speak to Spinnard." Remus added, making her lie sound more believable. "You said he is a family friend."

"Yeah. Family friend."