I couldn't believe my luck. Malfoy willingly handed over the horcrux to me, probably in an attempt to see me dead in no time.
Technically, I had some hope that he would give the diary to me ever since our first clash outside that Magical Etiquette class where he told me he was untouchable, and I told him I'd tattle on him to the now late Lord Arcturus Black. I was in Diagon Alley a few times over the summer, and through my fame, I knew people were aware of my location... but he didn't come for me.
Maybe I hadn't yet pissed him off enough, and me stealing something from the dark lord in Bellatrix' vault somehow made him... well, did he think I wanted a complete set of 'dark lord memoribilia' to open up a museum?
I chalked it up to him not truly understanding what Voldemort gave him. After all, now that I looked at it, it was just an unassuming leatherbound booklet with a faint sinister aura.
As the earliest horcrux of Tom Riddle, it was likely the weakest. Not just in terms of magical potency but also in the knowledge held by the soul shard. Horcruxes needed to be bound to items with special meaning.
The diary Tom used in his early school years was probably very special to the orphan who didn't own much at the time... but it was by no means a magical item crafted by a Piece of Eden at the hand of a Hogwarts founder.
Naturally, I had also already decided what to do with the soul shard. Still not done with his N.E.W.T.s, the soul shard inside the diary was not particularly knowledgeable about magic outside of the curriculum. So, the warding and enchanting knowledge I wanted to steal would not come from the diary's soul piece.
Curses were also out of the question. After all, I wanted something to ideally combat whatever wicked spell Voldemort put on that Gaunt lordship ring that almost did in Dumbledore in canon. School boy Riddle probably didn't know that spell yet.
That left me with two options I considered: magical foundation, as in how magic works and Tom's thoughts on intent and spell crafting, and Parseltongue.
I knew I wouldn't learn Parseltongue by merely robbing the soul shard of its knowledge, and I wasn't even sure if I wanted to gain the ability by using the locket's special ability... but if I did, the knowledge Tom gained early for Parseltongue could help.
Naturally, neither of the choices was ideal. Tom was still a student, after all. Anything I took from this shard would be better if taken from one of the horcruxes the dark lord crafted later in life. But I could count this as a test run.
So, after finding a hedgehog just outside the castle that I could only apologize to in my mind, I brought both it and the diary up to the Room of Requirement, made it choose the Room of Lost Things configuration and set up the same spell circle I used for the diadem.
With Urd, one of my trusted new elves, looking over me with the instruction to snap me out of my thoughts if something looked wrong, I laid down the diary and decided to humor the soul shard for a short moment as I looked for the anchor point binding the soul piece to it.
'Hello? Is this the diary of Tom Marvolo Riddle? The infamous Slytherin head boy who lied about his blood status?' I wrote with a shit-eating grin.
The ink vanished, the book trembled a little, and new text appeared as Tom's specter answered, 'You know of me and still dare mock me?'
I felt the diary try and reach out to my mind, but I shut it out hard with my Occlumency defenses.
'You're just a weak little turd. A small part of the greater droppings of a lesser dark lord,' I wrote. 'How dare you try and enter my mind?'
The ink vanished and appeared back in red.
'Your folly knows no bounds, lesser cur. Know that your end will be anything but swift and merciful.'
This horcrux was truly different from the diadem. By this point, the soul shard of Voldemort had already appeared outside of the magical item to talk to me. Yet diary Riddle was still writing to me like a school girl passing notes.
"Anima Dimitii," I said out loud as I pressed my wand into the horcrux' soul anchor point I found relatively quickly with the experience from last time.
Once again, my wand heated up, but I was prepared this time. Once again, the black cloud billowed out of the horcrux, ready to poison my mind once more, but I was prepared this time. Once again, the soul shard tried to curse me verbally as it formed into the ethereal form of a young Tom Riddle, hoping that looks could kill, but I was prepared.
My wand was wrapped in heat-resistant silk to shield me from another pesky burn. The dark cloud bursting out of the horcrux that was actually part of Voldemort's soul was contained in a small ward - something I worked out with Helena Ravenclaw's help after dealing with the diadem's soul shard. And I didn't bother listening to the verbal garbage that the immature soul shard was hurling my way because I already heard all the threats coming from a lesser part of Voldemort.
As such, I still stepped back once the anchor point was thoroughly broken and I saw the dark lord jump inside the hedgehog, his only option of a living being that could sustain him so he wouldn't dissipate. Because both Urd and I were far behind the shielding ward I put up.
"Urd. I would like to bother you looking after this hedgehog. They eat pesky little insects and a bit of fresh grass. Keep it in that glass box, catch a few mice or rats to put in the other boxes I'll set up in case it decides to kill itself and dissipate instead of staying here, and make sure it stays alive. Inform me of any changes, no matter how little, immediately," I instructed solemnly as I kneeled down to look the elf directly in the eyes.
It was important that this would go without any hiccups.
"Yes Master Tata," the elf solemnly acknowledged with as much bravado as the toddler-like voice of the still childish elf could convey as she called me 'Tata' instead of Talion.
"If you need any help, ask your sisters. If you ever feel unsure, ask me instead of fretting over the consequences. This is a very important task, and I'm trusting you to fulfill it even if you need my assistance to do so," I reiterated and earned myself a tearful nod from the little creature.
"Good. Make me proud, little Urd. And try not to stay too close to it for long," I praised as I gently patted the creatures head and stood back up.
One last look at the hedgehog that was glaring at me to confirm it was a deep red in my Eagle Vision, I walked out and down towards the infirmary.
Better save than sorry, I wanted to get the all-clear from Pomfrey instead of having my mind influenced once more.
"This curse is beyond me, Mister Pucey. You will either have to continue wearing the headband or grow out your hair. I have told you more than once that you need not seek my assistance. I have tried all I could," I heard the medi-witch sternly state as I reached the hospital wing.
"You're useless, then. I will have my father invite the head healer of St Mungo's," Adrian Pucey, the older of the two Pucey brothers in Slytherin, one of the three boys who attacked me and Isobel on that Hogsmeade weekend, and star player of their Quidditch team, spat angrily.
Patiently waiting at the door, I saw the wizard storm out with a deep scowl as he tied a band over his forehead, and he didn't even seem to see me as he ran away.
"Can you really not do anything against those scars, Madam Pomfrey?" I asked with a happy grin on my face as I walked into the infirmary.
"Talion? Are you here to gloat or just to see me? Regardless - come, drink a tea with me," the medi-witch invited and brought me over to her office instead of sitting me down on a sickbed.
I noticed Dilys Derwent, the headmistress who founded St Mungo's, in her portrait frame and greeted her silently before sitting down. "So?"
"What are you asking again?" Pomfrey asked while pretending not to remember while filling a cup for me.
I pointed to my forehead and asked, "The branded scars. Are they labeled as rapists forever?"
"Of course you would know," Pomfrey pointed out with an exasperated sigh.
"I mean, headbands didn't suddenly enter the fashion market. When a few of the older guys in all the houses suddenly wear them, it is bound to raise suspicion. Plus, you know I'm good friends with two heads of houses. Flitwick filled me in."
"Of course he would," Pomfrey uttered with another sigh, and I rolled my eyes since she changed the topic again.
"Okay, don't answer me then. Can you tell me who did it? I'd like to claim it as my own doing. But sadly, I'm not yet that powerful. Plus, I'm not omnipresent either," I asked as I changed the question.
"Filius has no idea either?" Pomfrey asked me in surprise.
"Okay, no answer here either. Professor Flitwick suspects a ward, and I can only assume he is right since it hit over a dozen people in all four houses at different times and different locations. But the headmaster didn't even expel those rapists who attacked Penelope last year except for that one guy who was sent to Azkaban for owning those illegal mermen aphrodisiacs... so I don't peck him as someone who would add such a thing to the school wards," I pondered out loud.
"Can't this be his answer to the problem?" Pomfrey countered with a wry smile.
Giving the portrait of the headmistress Derwent a short look, I shook my head.
"Not his style. After all, he even shielded those Slytherin students from mere investigation after my attack. Someone who does that doesn't suddenly change the wards decades into his tenure as headmaster."
Pomfrey gently flicked my forehead as she smacked her lips and scolded, "It is never too late for change. Don't just write off anybody because you know something to be true."
Valid advice, but I'd still not take it to heart when thinking about Dumbledore.
"So, did you come just to inquire about those brands, or are you here for a different purpose? Maybe you got hexed or influenced by dark magics once more?" The medi-witch asked after taking a sip from her tea.
I nodded with a blinding smile, "Truly insightful. I might have gotten my mind cursed indeed. I'd like you to check!"
Pomfrey's smile froze, and with a growing scowl, she took out her wand after setting down her cup, and she began casting diagnostic spells on me.
When she was done, her scowl turned into knitted brows and a helpless smile, "You appear to be largely fine."
"Largely?"
"You might want to relax a little and instead just read books. You strained your magic earlier?"
"Oh... yeah. It's why I decided to come over," I confirmed.
"That is prudent. But your mind is your own, in case you feared the same outcome as last time. I just hope you're not risking anything with whatever it is you're doing," Pomfrey reminded, but it sounded more like she chided as she would a toddler with no real measure of how dangerous it is to run with scissors.
"Well, I learned from the last time, didn't I? Plus, without risks, I couldn't hope to get better rewards," I countered and drank my tea with a calm smile.
Indeed, I did learn from last time and was quite proud of that achievement.
-----
A day before the dueling event, I stood outside the castle confines near the Whomping Willow with Penelope, Lara, and Hermione. In my hands was an elaborate, expensive looking box.
All four of us looked at the dark skies with varying degrees of excitement.
It was finally time for all of our hard work to pay off.
"I'm so excited," Lara whispered under her breath.
I saw Penelope nodding with a wide grin.
"I wish you all the best," Hermione offered with a slightly distraught smile as she held Lara's hand.
There could still be complications, after all. We could still mess it up and be permanently stuck in our animal forms... but my research and that rare book on African magical wisdom from the Tarzan author had me quite certain that it would not happen to us.
"I wonder if flying for real is as freeing as it is when I'm with my inner animal," Penelope said to nobody in particular before her head shot in my direction. For the hundredth time, she taunted, "I bet you 10 galleons that I'll be faster than you in the air."
And for the hundredth time, I rolled my eyes. "If you truly need money so much, just ask. Who would bet whether or not a Merlin be damned falcon is faster than a raven? Why don't we both bet with Lara who will have more feathers in their animal form?"
"Pah, spoilsport," she countered with a happy grin and looked back at the clouds.
*Boom!*
Loud thunder suddenly reveberated through the air on the clearing we stood. The clouds turned darker. It was starting to rain a little.
*Bo-boo-booom!*
The echo from the thunder lulled us into more and more excitement.
*Crack! BOOM!*
Lightning struck a random tree in the Forbidden Forest not far from us.
"Yes!" I shouted as I got swept up in the moment just like the girls. "Okay! It's time! Everybody, take your potions, take your positions, and remember the chant! See you in the air!"
Handing over the labeled potion bottles with our spit-drenched mandrake leaves inside them going back to their respective owners, I sat down cross-legged facing the Forbidden Forest.
I no longer paid attention to anything else as I pointed my wand at my heart and waited for the next lightning strike.
If the storm stopped before we finished the change, we would have done it all for nothing and would need to start again in the best case, or I'd get permanent bird brain in the worst case.
*CRACK!*
Another lightning bolt struck one of the bigger boulders near the lake, and I immediately gulped down the potion as I stared at the sky and continued the chant.
My heartbeat suddenly sounded as loud as the echoing thunder in my ears as I finished the tenth 'Amato Animo Animato Animagus' in my mind. My hands began to feel numb. My face started to hurt. The skin all over my body was itching all over.
In a sudden burst of magic, the whole world changed for me. It was bigger. It looked different. It felt different. I was different.
"Caw!" I cried out in pure elation and started to beat my new wings.
Within moments, I was up in the air, pretending to dodge lightning bolts and other obstacles.
My first flight! I managed to succeed in the animagus transformation!
If I had a face, it would have split in a stupendous smile by now.
Minutes later, the lightning storm didn't slow down in the slightest, and despite my excitement, reason began to win in my bird-brained mind.
I didn't want to become known as the prodigy who became an animagus in his second year at Hogwarts, who died by being struck by lightning on his first flight.
Looking back down at the clearing, I saw Hermione casting the umbrella charm for herself and the cutest, tiniest cat I had ever seen.
As soft as I could manage, which wasn't very soft, I landed on Hermione's shoulder.
"Eeekk!" Hermione squeaked out as I did because she was completely mesmerized by Lara's form and didn't pay attention to anything else in this stormy night.
"Caw," I offered with a laugh in my mind to console the brunette muggleborn witch and earned myself an embarrassed glare.
"Talion! Can't you, I don't know, land in a tree or something? Barely a few minutes in your transformation, and you're already as mischievous as a crow," Hermione scolded to hide the awkwardness she felt over having made such a high-pitched squeal before.
With another caw, I jumped down to stand at eye-level with Lara's cat form.
"Caw!"
"Mrrow!"
"Caw!?"
"Meow!!"
"Caw~!"
As I spread my wings in all its glory, Lara suddenly swiped a paw at me, and I toppled over.
"Caw!" I shouted indignantly as I awkwardly stood back up with the help of my beak.
"Kaaaak~!" Suddenly, a different bird sound pierced through the air as a gorgeous yet small falcon landed near us with a little difficulty.
Penelope and I had done a little research, the grey and white falcon form with slightly brown or teal-blue feathers depending on the light that she had seen in her trance was a falcon species called 'Merlin'. I could admit that I was a little envious of her animal form having such a cool name.
Waddling over with my still inexperienced bird legs, I stood in front of her to answer a question that had been in my mind all along.
By comparing bill and tail shapes, I was certain I was a raven and not a crow. But I had the feather pattern of a hooded crow with slightly lighter colored charcoal grey feathers instead of the pitch black featers on my head, wings, and tails. Yet, there was no such thing as a 'hooded raven'.
The difference between common raven and common crows was their sizes. Ravens were significantly taller... a tad bit taller than a Merlin falcon. The relatively small falcon species was still bigger than a crow, though.
And so, I proudly stood in front of Penelope's bird form and swelled my chest. She did the same, and we were... roughly the same height.
So I was a slightly different raven, not too weird. After all, some characteristics were copied over from the human form, like McGonagall's reading glasses.
I didn't know where this hood came from, but I'd find out eventually.
With that mystery illuminated sufficiently, I waddled back over to Hermione.
It was time for another plan, another promise of mine to be completed.
Rowena Ravenclaw's hologram had not lied. Now that I was a raven, I indeed instinctively knew what a 'heart feather' was. Awkwardly angling my head down, I plucked one out with my beak and placed it in Hermione's hand for safekeeping.
She already knew I had something like that planned.
And then the true test came. I wanted to change back into my human form.
Chanting the appropriate chant to transform back, my heartbeat once more drowned out everything else. And then, in another flash of magic, I was once more human, with my wand still clutched in my fist.
"Congratulations!" Hermione enthusiastically offered as she stood up with shining eyes. She gave me a celebratory hug before she quickly stepped back and eagerly looked at our two friends after handing me my feather.
In no time, Lara was back in human form, and I somehow got the impression that she was much faster in changing forms than me.
Both Hermione and I celebrated with her before we all looked at Penelope.
Another shrill 'Kaaak~' came from her before she slowly started to change.
My impression wasn't wrong, Lara could change in a ridiculously short time compared to the blonde prefect.
But eventually, she, too, was back in her human form.
"I did it!!!" Penelope shouted at the top of her lungs with both arms held high up in the air.
Immediately, Lara and I joined her as we shouted our excitement in a fruitless effort to drown out the deafening thunder ringing through the night sky.