Previous chapter: https://theowlhouse.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000193708
Chapter one to get started: https://theowlhouse.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000189445
He was angry. Actually, he wasn’t just angry, he was furious! He was destined to cleanse the world! Make it pure! And yet he had been bested by a child, a child! How could he be beaten so easily? All of his attempts to extend his life were for naught, all the pain he had caused did nothing to save him when it mattered most! No, this would not be the end, he refused to allow this to be the end. He would have his revenge! He had heard from his spies that a tournament was being held, and he had formed a plan. He shall come back! Not now, but in a few months, he will come back. Then he will have his revenge.
Philip Whittebane will have his revenge. Luz Noceda will not survive this tournament.
“Edalyn, are you sure this is a good idea?” Lilith asked her enthusiastic sister.
“Of course it is!” Edalyn beamed, “Why are you so hesitant Lily?”
“Because it seems stupid, and it’s not going to work! That’s why!” Lilith defended.
“Not with that attitude!” Edalyn countered optimistically.
Lilith groaned, Edalyn was just impossible sometimes.
“Do you even have a plan?” Raine asked.
“Of course, I have a plan!” Edalyn quickly defended, “Would I really call you two here if I didn’t?”
“Yes,” Raine and Lilith said in unison.
“So, what is your plan?” Lilith inquired.
“So, I was talking to the old guy who’s in charge of the Human magic school, Bumbledore, or whatever his name is.” Edalyn explained, “And I eventually mentioned the curse. And he said that sounded like an ancient curse from his world that he knew of; and that he could maybe cure it,”
“And I’m just supposed to trust that kooky old man?” Lilith asked, “He’s a wizard! He wears casual drapery! Edalyn! I thought you were smarter than this!”
“Lily,” Edalyn reassured, “Just because wizards here in the Demon Realm are like that, doesn’t mean that the Human wizards are.”
“You need to check your biases,” King added unhelpfully, popping out of Edalyn’s hair.
Her sister stood up, “Well, we don’t want to dilly-dally!”
Raine and Lilith followed Edalyn through the portal door, and into the Human Realm.
“Oh, so this is the Human Realm I keep hearing so much about,” Raine said, fascinated by the differences between the two worlds, such as green grass and a blue sky.
“Oh, yeah,” Edalyn said, “I keep forgetting that you haven’t been over here. Welcome to the Human Realm!”
“I know you said things were different colors over here, but I wasn’t quite expecting this!” They said, “The sky is such a beautiful blue!”
A sudden gust of wind knocked them over.
“Rainestorm!” Edalyn cried, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine, thanks, Eda.” Raine said, getting up, “Guess the weather is annoying in every realm,”
The three witches made their way to the front entrance of the castle, which Lilith found fascinating.
“Ooh! Are those real Human Realm gargoyles?” She squealed, “They look so much better than Luz described them as!” Lilith really wished she had brought her journal to write all of this down in, Flora Desplora could never compete with these genuine tenth-century human feats of stone.
“Lily, don’t get too excited yet,” Edalyn told her.
“Too late!” She cried, summoning her scroll to take pictures of the fascinating architecture the Human Witches had made.
“Well, while you’re doing that, I’m going to get my magic back!” Eda cried, entering the castle.
Lilith followed her sister, mostly to make sure she didn’t try to steal everything that wasn’t nailed down. Raine might be with her, but Lilith still figured her sister would find a way to steal at least some stuff.
Lilith, Edalyn, and Raine all made their way to the second floor of the castle (Lilith was completely enthralled by the balusters on the marble staircase). They eventually reached a large eagle-like gargoyle. Edalyn stopped, at a loss for what to do.
“Hmm, the old guy said this was the right place, but I don’t know what to do here,” Eda muttered.
“Maybe try saying the password,” The gargoyle whispered.
“There’s a password?” Eda said, surprised.
Before anyone had time to stop and try to think of a password, the gargoyle got out of the way, and an old man with white hair and a white beard, both so long they could easily be tucked into his belt, greeted them. He was clad in vibrant green, white, and blue robes, and they seemed to wave like a flag in the ancient corridor.
“Ah!” He beamed, his blue eyes twinkling behind his half-moon glasses, “There you are, Miss Clawthorne. And you must be her sister, Lilith. And if I’m not mistaken, you are Edalyn’s enbyfriend, Mx. Raine Whispers, is that correct?”
“Well, if you put it like that…” Raine said bashfully, their cheeks turning bright red. Lilith can never understand how people get like that.
“Now, if I’ve heard correctly, you were cursed by Lilith, correct?” He asked Eda.
“Yes,” Eda answered, “But don’t be mad at her!” She quickly added.
“I wasn’t planning on it, we all make mistakes in the heat of the moment, and sometimes our loved ones get caught in the crossfire. I know that pain all too well.” The old man said, seeming like he was thinking back to when his hair had as much color as his robes.
“What was the name of the curse, the full name,” He asked Lilith as the four of them climbed a staircase into his office.
“The Curse of the Owl Beast,” Lilith responded, feeling guilty.
“Ah, I remember that one,” He said, stroking his magnificent beard, “But if my memory serves me correctly, which it tends to do,” He seemed to glance in one of the corners of his office when he said that, “It only lasts for a day, so why has your curse lasted for twenty years?”
“I-I don’t know, professor,” Lilith mumbled.
“Perhaps it affects Witches more heavily than it affects us Humans, or perhaps it’s due to an error in casting,” He started to hypothesize, “Regardless, I do believe I can help you two witches in healing your affliction,”
“Oh, yes, please do,” Edalyn said, “I’ve been dying to get my magic back.”
Dumbledore got out a training wand, (Can’t Humans do magic innately? She wondered) and he waved it in the air, muttering a word that Lilith didn’t catch.
“There, that should do the trick,” He said, putting the training wand back down.
“What, just like that?” Lilith asked, thinking it was some sort of joke.
“Yes, just like that,” He answered lightly.
Eda drew a spell circle in the air, and a ball of pure, white light emerged from the circle.
“Aw yeah!” Eda yelled, standing on her chair “I am so f**king back!!”
“Edalyn!” Lilith said, “Watch your language!”
“Oh, sorry, sir,” Edalyn mumbled, sitting back down.
“I have gone temporarily deaf and haven’t any idea what you said,” Dumbledore said, placing the training wand back into his colorful robes.
Edalyn cast another spell and another. Lilith soon joined her, equally excited at the return of her magic. Soon enough, the room was filled with all sorts of magical creations. Lilith, getting a bit too carried away, accidentally shot a fireball at one of the portraits that hung on the wall.
“Watch it! You nearly hit me!” A voice shouted, seeming to come from the portrait itself. Do paintings talk in this world? Lilith wondered.
Raine embraced Edalyn in a hug, sharing every bit of her enthusiasm.
“Hold on, let me try something,” Lilith said, wondering if…
YES! It worked! She could still fly with her raven wings.
“Huh, so we get the upside still?” Edalyn said, “That’s great! I was just starting to get used to having wings,”
“I’m not,” Raine muttered, “But I still think it looks great on you,”
“Not nearly as great as those scars Belos left on you. They make your face so much more beautiful,” Edalyn replied, which got a blush from Raine.
Why do they have to flirt with each other all the time? Lilith wondered.
“Well, if the two love-griffins don’t mind, I’m going to go explore this castle,” Lilith said, more checking if Dumbledore was okay with that than if her sister or (probably) future sibling-in-law were.
Dumbledore gave her a nod, and his eye twinkled like a star. Lilith took that as an okay from the headmaster, so she left to go geek out about balusters in peace.
“Flora can go eat it, I found all sorts of cool historical treasures from the Human Realm. That’s right, me! Bad Girl Historian Lilith Clawthorne did!” She said to herself after exiting the office.
“Good for you, we all should acknowledge the importance of learning history,” An extremely dry and tired voice said. Lilith turned and saw a ghost floating before her.
“Oh, hello,” Lilith said, “Sorry, I didn’t see you there,”
“I often get that from my students,” The ghost said, “Say, I’ve never seen you around. And I’ve never, in all my years at this school, seen anyone nearly as interested in history as you seem to be.”
“Well, you’ve never seen me because I’m not a student or faculty member here, I’m a visitor from Hexside,”
“Ah, so you’re here for that dumb tournament thing,” The ghost sighed, seeming to find the entire thing a waste of time, “Did you know? The first Triwizard Tournament was held in the year eleven-thirty-two. It was held here at Hogwarts. I remember that tournament very vividly, yes, a Ravenclaw student by the name of-”
“Bah!” A new voice interrupted, “Who gives a darn about some dumb history? That stuff is for nerds!”
Another figure materialized, he seemed much like a ghost, but instead of being pale like the other ghosts of Hogwarts (or even the Demon Realm, for that matter), this new figure was dressed in loud, obnoxious colors that seemed ripped straight out of the nineteen-eighties. “Then again, you would probably talk to a rock about history and think it was worthwhile, wouldn’t you, Binnsy? A rock might even listen to you more than your students do!”
The poltergeist (that’s what Lilith assumed he must be) erupted into a huge fit of laughter, as though his joke was the funniest thing ever.
“Hey!” Lilith shouted at it, “I was listening to him! I found it rather interesting!”
“Peeves! Will ya shut up for five minutes!” A completely new voice shouted, the source of which seemed to be an old, hunchbacked man who had seemingly come out of nowhere, “I already have to clean up the mess those Weasleys made with their Demon friends, so can you not get on my nerves for once in your goddamn life!”
“Oh, but Filchy-poo, what’s the fun in that?” The poltergeist, apparently named Peeves, replied condescendingly.
Peeves then went on to bully “Filchy-poo”, leaving Lilith alone with the history professor, who seemed eager to continue his lecture.
Sirius waited patiently for his Godson to arrive. He hoped the boy remembered the food, he was basically starving. Rats and the occasional scraps from the Three Broomsticks are not enough to sustain a grown adult.
“Hello, Sirius,” Harry said upon arrival.
Oh, Sirius could smell the food, it made his mouth water. Sirius’s tail wagged, and he led the way from Hogsmeade to the cave he had been calling home for the past few months.
Sirius was used to the long climb up the mountain by now, but Harry, Ron, and Hermione were lagging behind.
Finally, they reached the narrow fissure in the rock that led to his humble abode. Buckbeak sat in wait for him. His orange eye flashed upon seeing the teenagers. The trio all bowed toward the magnificent beast. Hermione began to stroke Buckbeak’s neck when he returned the bow, but Harry was focusing on Sirius, who had just transformed from a dog into his human form.
“Chicken!” Sirius managed hoarsely, obtaining Harry’s generous gifts, a dozen or so chicken legs, a loaf of bread, and a flask of pumpkin juice.
“Thanks,” Sirius said after practically inhaling one of the legs, “I’ve been living off of rats mostly, can’t steal too much from town, I’d draw attention to myself.”
Sirius grinned at his godson, who seemed hesitant to return it.
“What are you doing here, Sirius?” The boy asked.
“Fulfilling my duty as your godfather,” Sirius said, gnawing on another chicken leg. “Don’t worry about me, I’m doing very well at pretending to be just a lovable stray,”
Sirius noticed Harry’s face still being filled with anxiety, so he replied more seriously, “I want to be as close as possible. Your last letter… well, let’s just say things aren’t getting any less suspicious. I’ve been stealing the paper every chance I get, and I’m not the only one getting worried.”
Sirius nodded at the countless yellowing pages of The Daily Prophet littering the floor of the cave.
Harry still wasn’t relieved, “What if they catch you? What if you’re seen?”
“You three and Dumbledore are the only ones around here who know I’m an Animagus, and the only others are Moony and the bit-I mean Wormtail” Sirius told his godson.
Ron and Harry examined the papers, news of Crouch’s disappearance, and another on Bertha Jorkins still being missing. Harry seemed particularly troubled by the one on Mr. Crouch.
“They’re making it seem like he’s dying,” Harry said, “But he can’t be that ill if he managed to get up here. Then again, he did look ill last time I saw him on the night my name came out of the Goblet,”
“Getting his comeuppance for sacking Winky, isn’t he?” Hermione interjected coldly. She was stroking Buckbeak, who was crunching up Sirius’ chicken bones.
“Crouch sacked his house-elf?” Sirius asked.
“Yeah, at the World Cup,” Harry explained, launching into a story of what happened that night, the Dark Mark making an appearance, and Winky being found with Harry’s wand in her hand. And Mr. Crouch’s fury.
When Harry finished, Sirius stood up, grabbed a fourth chicken leg, and started pacing the cave.
“Let me get this straight,” He said after a while, “You first saw the elf in the Top Box. She was saving a seat for Crouch, but he never showed up?”
“No,” Harry said, “I think he said he was too busy or something,”
“Harry,” Sirius said after a pause, “Did you check your pockets for your wand when you left the Top Box?”
Harry admitted he had not, he had only checked when he was in the forest, where it had turned up missing.
“Are you saying whoever conjured the Mark stole my wand in the Top Box?” He asked.
“It’s possible,” Sirius replied.
“Winky didn’t steal that wand!” Hermione defended shrilly
“I’m pretty sure the elf wasn’t the only one in the box with you,” Sirius replied, “Who else was sitting behind you?”
“Loads of people,” Harry told, “Some Bulgarian ministers, Cornelius Fudge, the Malfoys, and Ludo Bagman,”
“I don’t know much about Ludo Bagman, other than that he used to play Quidditch,” Sirius admitted, “What’s he like?”
“He’s okay,” Harry said, “He keeps trying to help me with the tournament,”
“Does he, now?” Sirius said, frowning deeply, “I wonder why,”
“We saw him in the forest just before the mark appeared,” Hermione added.
“What?” Ron asked incredulously, “Do you really think Bagman conjured the Dark Mark?”
“He’s more likely to have done it than Winky!”
“Will you give it a rest with the elf?”
Sirius put up a hand to silence Ron, “She’s got a better measure of Crouch than you do, Ron. If you want to know what a man’s like, see how he treats his inferiors, not his equals,”
Sirius stroked his beard, “All of these absences, it’s all very unlike him. If he’s ever taken a day off work before this, I’ll eat Buckbeak.”
“You know him, then?” Harry asked.
“I don’t just know him, he’s the one who sent me to Azkaban without a trial,” Sirius said quietly. He explained to the confused teenagers that he had been very strongly against Dark magic at a time when doing so would often get you killed. That he had authorized new powers for aurors, and that he fought violence with violence. But eventually, Crouch’s son ended up in Azkaban and later died.
By the time his explanation was finished, it was three thirty, so Harry, Ron, and Hermione needed to get back to school.
But before they left, Sirius caught his godson, “Listen, Harry.” he said, “I don’t want you sneaking out of school to see me, just send me notes here. I still want to know if anything odd is happening. And don’t forget, when you’re talking amongst yourselves, call me Snuffles,”
Sirius did his best to smile at the boy he was looking at. He resembled his father almost perfectly, but he still had his mother’s emerald eyes.
Sirius transformed back into a dog and walked back to Hogsmeade with them.
