𝐊𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐍 | 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘞𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘺

Chapter 23 - The House of Gaunt and a Rogue Bludger

______________________________________________________________________________

"Training for the ballet, Potter?"

______________________________________________________________________________

The letter Betelgeuse received had spiked her curiosity greatly.

A week later the discovery of the crimson message, Betelgeuse found herself more frequently visiting the Hogwarts library. She went there with Alicia and Angelina, rarely with the twins, but she lingered even long after her companions had left. She sought information about one of the Founders of Hogwarts, his roots, his deeds, and his moral principles, many a time.

So far, she did find a lot of anecdotes and accounts of dubious credibility.

Betelgeuse was currently reading an encyclopaedia about the Sacred Twenty-eight. Cantankerus Nott, a member of the pureblooded Nott Family, had penned the Pure-Blood Directory in the early 1930s. She could not recollect how she got hold of that sort of book and why. She was leafing through it listlessly when her eyes caught a name that made her frown, Salazar Slytherin.

The book listed the 'Twenty-eight truly pure-blood families' with 'the aim of helping such families maintain the purity of their bloodlines', as Nott stated.

She scanned through the pages, looking for the title of the paragraph.

The Gaunt Family

She frowned. She identified all the old pureblood Families still in existence; this one brought back to her mind a passage she read in a book at Grimmauld Place. Her frown deepened, remembering the likelihood for the House of Gaunt of being extinguished.

Betelgeuse returned her attention to the paragraph as she read with attention.

"The House of Gaunt was a pure-blood family, and one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight.

Up until the 20th century, the Gaunt family has preserved the purest of blood. This esteemed Ancient Family claim to be the last known descendants of Salazar Slytherin and the Peverells.

The Gaunts inherited their Ancestor's talent to speak Parseltongue [...]."

Her breath itched, Parseltongue.

Betelgeuse then understood what he had meant with 'Death will only follow.' She hastily closed the book, collected her things, and ran to the Gryffindor Common Room.

☆☆☆

The attack on Mrs Norris was all Hogwarts could talk about. Betelgeuse heard Professor Binns, the ghost who taught History of Magic, had even had an outburst of exasperation one day because of all the questions he had been asked about the Chamber of Secrets.

He was not used to attentive students.

Betelgeuse woke early on Saturday morning with a newfound determination on beating the Slytherins.

Brainless snakes with the fastest racing brooms gold could buy.

She quickly dressed and went downstairs to meet the twins. They found the rest of the Gryffindor team gathered at the long, empty table, all looking troubled and not chatting much. Adrenaline roared in Betelgeuse's veins, but she did not have the energy to utter a word to the twins. As eleven o'clock neared, the entire school began to make its way down to the Quidditch pitch. It was a wet sort of day with a taste of thunder in the air.