Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 357: Anger
"I don't believe you," said Professor Snape.
"No one cares if you believe it or not," Harry answered.
"Victoria?..." Daphne sat by her side.
The girl had a massive freakout when she woke up inside the Headmaster's office. She thought she had been tricked and kidnapped.
After calming her down a bit, they explained everything that had happened, and now she wasn't saying a word.
Victoria was sitting on a couch, looking down at the floor with an empty expression.
"Victoria… can you say something to us?" Daphne tried her best to be reassuring and calm.
"If you have any questions, you can ask all you want," Harry said.
"I have a lot of questions," Snape added.
"Severus… let us answer Miss Black first," Dumbledore said.
Victoria's head moved, and her eyes snapped.
"It is Lady Black!" She spat the words while glaring directly at Dumbledore "This is just another one of your schemes, isn't it? What is it that you want this time?!"
"Lady Black, please calm down," Dumbledore said in a placating manner."This is no such thing. I know you are very confused right now, but if you give us some time… we c—"
"I won't give anything else! You took my inheritance, you sent me to live with those monsters, and then… when I was finally happy… you had to take them too." Her eyes grew cold as she stared at the Headmaster.
"No more..." She raised her right hand. The silver band on her wrist transformed into a runic weapon, like the one she used against the dragon, but much smaller.
This one was more like a handgun and was aimed at Dumbledore's chest.
"No more!" she screamed.
Harry moved in front of her before she could shoot, pushing the gun away with one hand while his other hand touched the girl's neck.
"Hypnos." As Harry said the word, Victoria felt the uncontrollable urge to sleep.
She tried to fight it, but Harry had put a lot of power into that spell, knowing about her mental defenses. Her mind gave up, and her eyes closed.
He secured her body before it could fall, as well as the gun.
"That went well..."
"She wants to kill us," Daphne said.
"Not all of us...just one." Harry put her back on the couch and held up the gun to examine it.
Snape glanced back at Dumbledore.
"She wants to kill me," the Headmaster said. "That's quite the relief."
"It seems like taking away her wand wasn't enough of a precaution," Snape said, staring at the weapon in Harry's hands. "Is that a Muggle pistol?"
"It has a similar design," Harry put it on the table. "But this one works with magic. It has a small arkstone on the top part. It must shoot some type of spell, like a piercing charm."
"This is like what she used to kill that dragon?" Daphne asked.
"It looks like a smaller version of that," Dumbledore said.
"Merlin!" Daphne exclaimed. That one took off half of the dragon's head. Even though this one was much smaller, she'd rather not think about what it would have done to the Headmaster if she'd pulled that trigger.
"I would recommend taking away all of her jewelry. She may have more of these ready to use," Harry advised.
Daphne looked at the sleeping Victoria. She appeared so peaceful now.
"What are we going to do with her? We can't keep her asleep forever. There must be someone she will listen to."
"Are there any remaining members of the Black family?" Harry asked.
Dumbledore shook his head.
"Walburga Black died a few years ago. She was the last proper member of the family. The others, like Narcissa Malfoy, no longer carry the name. And we don't even know where she is or if she's alive."
"Yes, I remember hearing Draco Malfoy bragging a few times about how he was going to take over that family and become the next Lord Black," Daphne said.
"I suppose we could call my parents," Harry said, although he wasn't sure how Victoria was going to react to that encounter either.
From the few bits and pieces of information he had gotten from her comments, it seemed likely she had been sent to live with the Dursleys and was later rescued by some members of the Black family.
That meant the Potters must have all been dead in her world.
"You think that's a good idea? What if she gets violent again?" Daphne asked.
"I'll be there to stop her," Harry said.
"I'll call them." Dumbledore glanced at Snape next.
"Severus, why don't you take her to your office? I don't think it would be wise for her to wake up in here again. And I also believe it would be better if I'm not present in that meeting."
"Very well… I'll keep an eye on her," Snape said. There was no way he was leaving her alone in his office.
After he left, Dumbledore sat back in his chair and let out a long sigh.
"Could I really have been that bad in her world to warrant that reaction?"
"I mean… it wasn't you, though. Just a different version of you," Daphne said.
"Yes, but… can we be that different after all? She accused me of stealing her inheritance and killing someone important to her… I cannot imagine myself doing something like that."
"Don't beat yourself up over it. Alternative versions can be extremely different from ourselves. I mean, today I learned that at least two versions of myself are in love with Draco Malfoy," Harry commented.
"Wait… what did you say?" Daphne asked.
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