Wisdom and Victory {Fred Weasley}

Chapter 4

Happy reading! :)

Victoria was still rather bitter about the whole not-being-able-to-join-the-Order scenario. She was seventeen! She wanted to help! Why in Merlin's name wouldn't they let her? Surely they needed all hands on deck?

It was constantly on her mind whenever she patrolled the halls, whenever she walked the grounds, when she daydreamed in lectures and when she was trying to complete essays. She didn't even care that Umbridge was the worst teacher she'd ever had. There was a war happening and there was nothing she could do.

But it seemed like her answer still lied in Harry Potter, despite his reluctance in the first place. It was for this reason that she sat close to him and his friends in the common room one October evening, listening to what they had to say.

It seemed as though Ron and Hermione were bickering, but Merlin knew what about. Eventually, Hermione huffed up the steps to the dormitories, and Ron started muttering angrily to himself. The whole time, Harry was practically silent, his mind occupied by something else. "Bloody McGonagall!" Ron exclaimed.

"Yes?" asked Victoria, turning around. She watched as his ears turned maroon and Harry looked very nervous. "I'm kidding," she said with a warm smile, drawing up a chair. "She gets on my nerves too, sometimes." She pulled Ron's essay towards her and began to skim through it.

"That's wrong," she said to an astonished Weasley, pushing it back. "That's switching potions you're talking about. I've got a good book I can recommend..." She trailed off, flicking her wand, and opening the window, reaching out. The next moment the book from her trunk had found its way to her hand. "Here you go," she said, handing it to them. "Chapter six."

"Er, thanks," said Harry, glancing round. The common room was almost empty now, save for Fred, George, and Lee, and a crowd of first years. "Did you speak to Dumbledore?" he added, leaning forward.

"No luck," said Victoria with a shrug. "I was wondering if you could tell me some things though? About You-Know-Who?"

Harry frowned at her and Ron looked up, dripping ink on his parchment. Victoria quickly cleaned it up for him. "What do you want to know?" asked Harry, somewhat weakly.

"Personal details," she prompted.

"Personal details about You-Know-Who? Aside from the fact that he's best mates with Lucius Malfoy?" asked Ron, raising his eyebrows.

"I can take my book back," she said crossing her arms.

"No!" said Ron quickly, snatching it towards him.

"Well..." said Harry, looking uncertainly towards Ron who shrugged. "His real name's Tom Riddle. Tom Marvolo Riddle. And he can possess people - before he was back, I mean."

"Is that how he opened the Chamber of Secrets?" Victoria pushed, narrowing her eyes. "By possessing someone?"

"Er, yeah," said Harry, now looking thoroughly confused.

"Thanks, Harry," she said warmly. "Let me know when you're done with the book. And if you need any more help, don't be afraid to ask." The pair of them nodded, somewhat dumbfounded as Victoria followed in Hermione's footsteps, heading upstairs.

*****

Tom Marvolo Riddle had done a very poor job of erasing himself from the Hogwarts history books. He was Head Boy, on three different trophy cabinets, there were even newspaper articles about him! But it seemed very few had made the connection between him and Voldemort. Having been a long-standing, reliable student, Madame Pince had happily allowed Victoria into the library archives, and it was here that she found a very dusty, rather thick school file stamped confidential.

"Oh, it's fine," Madame Pince had said with a wave of her hand. "He's probably dead by now anyway. Just don't tell anyone."

His permanent place of residence had been a place called Wool's Orphanage. He'd only ever filled out one incident report, regarding one Rubeus Hagrid, an acromantula, and somebody that had died. Victoria couldn't help but think that it had really been him that had been responsible. There was a long list of books that he had withdrawn over his seven years, and towards the end of his sixth year these titles grew darker, with some of them even written in latin.

So now Victoria had rather more information on him than she'd had this time yesterday. He could possess people, he was an orphan, he grew up at Wool's Orphanage, and, as Ron Weasley had so eloquently put it, he was best mates with Lucius Malfoy.

But she had nothing that warranted her admission to the Order. Her research was not yet so far gone. She needed a way to end him. A way to kill him. And that meant looking in the restricted section.

She sat herself down next to the library index and began flicking through the 'A's, noting down anything that might be of interest. She wasn't sure which professor she might ask for these. Surely any of them except Snape, Umbridge, Dumbledore and her mother? Certainly Flitwick would be eager to help.

A sudden thought jumped to mind, followed by another. Maybe she could keep tabs on Harry for the Order? Hadn't Harry said he was being kept in the dark? She and her mother could arrange for her to tutor him or something!

And if that failed...well, surely there was another certain group that would want that information? And it might do good to get in their inside circle.