Chapter three: Teenagers
They all three woke up late the next morning. Albus gaped at the clock, which read 12:44.
"I haven't slept this long in one hundred years," he said, throwing the covers off with slight disgust at himself.
"Don't worry about it, Albus," said Harry, who was sitting in the floor and still looking tired. "You're sixteen now. You know, I heard Aunt Petunia saying that teenagers need more sleep than younger children."
Tom snorted. "Babies?"
"Did I say babies?" snapped Harry. "Younger children, Tom."
He gathered up his blankets and pillows, took Tom's away from him roughly, and threw them all in a corner.
"Are we going to eat breakfast?" asked Tom.
"Yeah, come on downstairs," said Harry to both of them.
Albus hesitated.
"What's wrong?" asked Harry skeptically.
"He let his full name slip out downstairs at dinner last night," grinned Tom. "And your Aunt...what's her name....Penguin?"
"Petunia," corrected Harry. "Honestly, Tom, I swear. Your stupidity simply amazes me. Who would name their child 'Penguin'?" he said, looking at Tom like he was much more stupid than he is.
Tom looked thoughtful. "It would certainly be an unusual name--"
"Nobody would name their kid 'Penguin'."
"Yeah, well, anyway. Petunia. She recognized it. Could you imagine her face if I told her I was Lord Voldemort?"
He gave a short bark of laughter.
Harry's eyes narrowed. "Haha--shut up. Get downstairs or you get nothing to eat."
Tom grumbled and began his journey down the staircase.
"Come on, Albus," whispered Harry.
Albus stood from the bed and looked at Harry. "I don't want to bring up questions."
"If questions are brought up," said Harry, ushering Albus out of the doorframe, "then I'll provide safe answers, okay?"
"Like what?"
"Like 'He doesn't know what you're talking about' and kind of look at her like she's mad."
Albus wasn't completely convinced, but he was hungry, so he went downstairs, Harry following.
"What are you cooking?" asked Tom, rubbing his hands together and grinning.
"Who said I was the only one cooking it? Get over here."
"What?"
"You're helping. Now get over here and help with the toast and eggs. Albus, you can sit down and watch."
Albus and Harry exchanged a glance and they both grinned.
"This is utterly ridiculous," snarled Tom.
"Well, I utterly don't care what you think. Put the toast in the toaster," Harry snapped.
Tom glared at him (he used to be really good at glaring, but he obviously had lost his touch, because no one was qualling under his stares anymore) and stuck the toast irritably in the toaster, pushing them down.
Tom made to sit down, but Harry grabbed him by the arm and pulled him over by the stove.
"I don't think so," laughed Harry. "Eggs. Break them."
"You enjoy forcing me to do things, don't you?" growled Tom.
"Sure do! Now hurry up, or you'll get lunch prepared too."
"I'm Lord Voldemort. You cannot force me--"
Harry stood and stared at him face-to-face, his eyes firey, and he just so happened to be an inch or two taller than Tom.
After a few moment's staring, Tom ended up breaking the eggs after all, cursing Harry under his breath.
"Oh, stop mumbling," Harry said impatiently after a while to Tom. "If you don't I'll get Dudley to sit on you."
Tom said nothing for the rest of breakfast.
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After breakfast, Tom had requested they go outside and get out of the "abnormally bright and clean" house, and so the three of them made their way outside. Tom was looking around, and Harry fell behind a few steps beside Albus.
"Albus," he whispered very quietly, anxiously glancing at Tom. "Are there still Order members tailing me?"
At this thought, Albus stopped walking and looked at Harry. "Yes," he whispered back. "When we get back to the house, I'm going to write a letter to them. There is a certain....way...they can tell it is me writing the letter. Only I and the Order know it, so I will write them to let them know what is going on. I will need to ask you a few questions, though--"
"What are you doing?" shouted Tom, from way down at the end of the road.
"Nothing!" Harry shouted back. "Why don't you come back some? No need for us to walk that far!" He turned back to Albus as Tom let out a frustrated sigh and started walking back.
"Who's tailing me right now?" he asked, looking around him.
"Right now? Nymphadora. But we mustn't talk about anything Order-related around Tom. Okay?"
"Right," he said, as Tom came back, looking halfway-angry.
"You two are so lazy," he snapped. "How the Light side--"
Harry stepped on his foot, hard, and he cursed.
"What the ruddy hell did you do that for?"
"Come on, we have to get back inside. Right now, Tom," added Harry hurriedly, looking around him.
The three of them went inside and Harry herded them up to his room, and locked the door behind him.
"Albus," said Harry seriously, yet quietly. "Was there any...guard duty...taking place yesterday morning?"
"Probably not," said Albus, shaking his head quickly and frowning. "Dung would have been doing it, and he has a...err...short attention span, shall we say?"
Normally, Albus wouldn't have used Mundungus Fletcher's nickname, but around Tom....
"What are you talking about?" asked Tom.
Harry shook his head. "Nothing to worry about," he lied.
"You're lying," said Tom flatly.
"Yes, I am," Harry said shortly as he pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill. "Albus?"
Albus walked over to the desk. "Thank you."
With that, he started writing a letter. Tom kept trying to look at it, but Albus would look at him dangerously, and he finally gave up and sat on the bed.
Albus wrote:
62442--not needed.
15152016,
I'm assuming you're very confused as to why my writing has suddenly changed and as to why I am unable to magically seal the envelope.
It's a very complicated thing, but I must let you know that I need your help, because I am no longer my old age. Let me explain.
Voldemort came to the park near Magnolia Crescent and Wisteria Walk to attack Harry, who was there at the time. I got the call that he was there back at my office in Hogwarts, and so I was able to arrive there. Voldemort and I dueled, and when Voldemort sent a hex at Harry, Harry made to defend himself.
He paused right here to look at Harry. "Now, tell me. Do you have any idea what you were trying to send at Tom?"
"I wasn't trying to send anything particular. Somehow a bunch of words escaped from my mouth," shrugged Harry.
"What color was the ray of light again? Silver?"
"Yeah. And you remember that it hit Tom first then hit you."
"Right, thank you, that's really all I need I think."
He returned to the letter:
Harry is not sure what exactly he yelled when he sent the spell at Voldemort, but the ray of light from his wand was silver, and it managed to hit Voldemort, then it ricocheted from him and hit me.
Yes, all three of us are fine right now. There is no need for immediate and hasty action. It just seems that the spell Harry sent was some kind of Aging Spell. Myself and Voldemort (Tom) are now sixteen years old, but we still have the mind our our much older selves. I expected the spell to wear off by the next day, but we are still sixteen. That is abnormal- most Aging Spells wear off after a complete twenty-four hours.
Do not inform the Ministry of Magic, nor tell anyone outside of the Order. We are staying at Number 4, Privet Drive, with Harry. Since the three of us, that is to say Tom, Harry, and I, are "underage" right now, I do not want the Ministry to detect our magic and risk possibly getting Harry into further trouble. We cannot take the Knight Bus, for the fear that someone might recognize us (even if we are currently sixteen).
Please do not panic, it will only make the situation worse. If need be, send any information I need to see to Harry's house, and please send Fawkes here as well with his food. Also, please research this spell so that Tom and I can return to normal. No, Tom is not murderous at the moment, thankfully. As to he and Harry being in the same house, Harry has tried to suffocate him once, they've both argued and threatened the whole entire time, and I'm the one responsible for calming each of them down. Otherwise, we are fine.
Thank you,
Lo15
He rolled up the piece of parchment, tied it, and Harry called Hedwig down from her cage.
She hooted and affectionately nipped Harry's finger as he took the parchment from Albus and tied it to her leg while she hopped around, eager to deliver a letter.
"Hedwig," said Harry, gaining her attention. "Take this to the Order, it is very urgent, so try to fly fast." Hedwig hooted again. Harry gave her an owl treat and she took off out the window.
Harry turned around and looked at Tom. "Need to send your Death Eaters a letter?" he said roughly.
Tom looked completely unconcerned. "No, they know what they're supposed to be doing. And if I'm gone they know to feed my precious Nagini--"
Harry snorted and laughed.
Tom sat up from lying on the bed and glared at him. "Nothing is funny."
Harry shook his head and continued grinning, much to Tom's irritation.
Albus sighed. "Harry, where are your school books? And all other magical books you have?"
Harry stopped grinning and walked over to end of his bed where his trunk lay. "In here," he said, rummaging through it. He pulled out all of his school books that he had ever had and piled them beside his bed. He also pulled out the ones Remus and Sirius gave him last year, and the books Hermione had given him over the years.
Tom reached over and picked up the first one. "A Divination book?" he said, grinning.
"Yeah, that's what it says," said Harry.
"And what do you know about Divination?"
"That it's a very strange subject, taught by an equally strange teacher."
Thinking of Professor Trelawney made him think about the prophecy.
Albus was not paying much attention. He was picking up books and flipping through them.
"Funny, you know. Divination actually did do something. That prophecy--"
Albus slammed his book shut and looked at Harry.
Tom noticed this gesture and raise an eyebrow. "My, my. Is there something you two know that I don't?"
"Even if I did know something," snarled Harry. "You wouldn't figure it out. I can resist the Imperius Curse, remember? And I'm sure Albus can too."
"I know you can," Tom snapped. "And I don't have enough time for Veritaserum. But I wonder every day what that prophecy said....I know you two know..."
Harry was shaking slightly. "Congratulations on your achievement," he said sarcastically. "Now research and do something useful."
Warily, Albus returned to his book with a sigh. It took a few hours of looking through the books and Tom was whining. "I'm hungry..."
"You sound like Dudley."
This time it was Albus that had replied instead of the usual remark from Harry, and Harry grinned. Tom tapped his foot impatiently on the floor and got back to the books, mumbling.
"Nothing," muttered Albus as they went through every single book. "There are things about Aging Spells, but nothing I didn't already know."
"Well, well. It seems Hogwarts doesn't provide sufficient education--" smirked Tom.
Albus glared sharply at him. "Err...yeah....nevermind," Tom trailed off, looking down and slamming his book.
"Can we go get something to eat now?"
Harry slammed his book with a loud, frustrated sigh and threw it on the floor, standing. "Come on, Tom, I'll get you something to eat, you obnoxious complainer..."
"Brilliant!" said Tom, standing enthusiastically. Albus decided he'd follow so that they wouldn't try to kill each other on the way downstairs. Even though they all knew they needed each other alive to figure out this spell, Albus and Harry still hated Tom and vice versa.
Dudley was downstairs at the table, eating a whole six-pack of yogurt, watching the three of them. Tom rolled his eyes in disgust, Harry ignored him, and Albus only glanced at him.
"What are you doing down here for?" grumbled Dudley, yogurt flying from his mouth and spraying their faces.
"Getting something to eat, if you've left anything," growled Harry, wiping his face with disgust. "And by the way--even though you've convenientally spit it all over our faces-- no one asked for any yogurt."
Tom couldn't help it, he laughed. Albus tried hard not to crack a smile, but failed.
Dudley flushed and gathered his yogurt, leaving the room and dropping his spoon on the way out.
After a bite to eat, Tom requested they go back outside (much to Harry's irritation, for he had felt like going back upstairs) and they walked down the road in silence, coming around a corner and all three stopping.
A group of girls were giggling- a group of extremely nice looking girls in the boy's eyes. They turned and looked at them, giggled again, and started walking toward them. Tom grinned. "Excellent, Potter--err..Harry, you have a nice access to girls here.."
Then he suddenly frowned. "Why did I just say that?"
"Because you're sixteen, and you're sixteen year old hormones are beginning to go to your head," answered Albus calmly. And with that, he turned and began to walk away, many feet away where he suddenly stopped and started talking.
Harry glanced over at him and his brow furrowed. Who was he talking to?
Tom hadn't noticed, he was grinning as a girl in front approached him.
"What's your name, cutie?" she giggled.
Harry suddenly burst out in a fit of laughter. That girl had just called Lord Voldemort a cutie....Lord Voldemort!
Tom, however, raised his eyebrows at Harry. "Anything funny?" he said, in a much more mature voice, undoubtedly trying to impress the girl.
Harry stopped laughing and had a thoroughly annoyed look on his face. "Oh stop your impressive voice, Tom, come on."
He grabbed Tom by the arm and started dragging him away.
"Where are you two going?" squealed the girl. "I'm not done with either of you!"
"Well we're done with you!" snapped Harry loudly.
The girl blew Tom a kiss and Tom turned around and grinned, about to return it with his hand to his lips, when Harry grabbed his arm and pushed him forward.
"Don't look at me like that," said Harry as the girls disappeared and Tom watched them, giving Harry a roll of his eyes.
"You're just mad you don't have a girlfriend," taunted Tom.
"That would be your fault," said Harry bluntly. "Because if I did, you'd kill her."
"You've got a point there, I admit," sighed Tom.
Albus had returned from talking to some invisible person who Harry shrewdly guessed was Tonks, and was acting as if nothing happened.
"So you had to drag Tom away from the girls?" asked Albus.
"Yes," said Harry. "He was infatuated with staring at them."
"I wasn't infatuated--"
"Shut up," interrupted Harry. "We're going back to the house."
And that they did, both sensing Harry was very angry at the moment for some reason, so they followed without another word, not quite sure why Harry was so mad. When they reached Harry's bedroom again, Harry sat on the bed, fuming.
The door opened exposing Dudley and his smirking face, obviously looking for an argument. Before he could say anything, Harry said in a dangerously angry voice, "I'd get out if I were you, right now."
"Why?" laughed Dudley.
Harry picked up a book while he was laughing, and chucked it straight at Dudley's head, hitting him smack on the forehead.
"OUCH!"
He slammed the door shut, rubbing his head furiously. Dudley wasn't the only one rubbing his head, Harry was holding a hand over his scar, wincing.
Albus suddenly realized why Harry was so annoyed; his scar was hurting. Tom, however, raised an eyebrow.
"Somebody's crabby."
Harry opened an eye and glared at him. "Seems your Death Eaters are having some fun, no doubt."
"Ahh..I see...that scar I plastered on your head hurts."
"Yeah, and I always know what emotion you're feeling. Funny, eh? Well, I dunno why, I just know that sometimes I feel an emotion completely unrelated to what's going on around me."
"Oh really?" said Tom. "That's almost as funny as you sometimes popping into my head and knowing what I'm doing."
He scowled considerably.
Harry didn't answer, he merely leaned back on the bed, Albus flipping through the books again, Tom deep in thought on the floor.
And as Harry mused on the bed, he realized Tom was about as obnoxious as a sixteen-year-old than he was in the form of Lord Voldemort.
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A/N: Wondering what those weird numbers meant in Albus's letter? Here's what they are:
The numbers, they actually stand for letters. As you know, there's 26 letters in the alphabet, so each of the letters are a number, if you know what I mean. I typed them all crammed together because the Order would have recognized the code numbers anyway. So here is what they stand for:
"62442- not needed"--that number is actually not really a letter code that I made up. They are the numbers required to enter the visitor's entrance in the Ministry of Magic. What Albus meant was that "Ministry of Magic help is not needed", signifying that the situation didn't need Ministry assistance. If he had put 'needed' beside the number, that would have meant that he needed the Ministry's help.
"15152016,"--is actually (15-15-20-16) this was who the letter was addressed to. Counting the alphabet, the letters would be OOTP, and I know you all know what that stands for.
"Lo15." --the signature part of the letter. 'Lo' stands for 'Leader of' and when you count the alphabet, 15 is O. Putting it together would be 'Leader of O', and the O stands for Order, so the 'Leader of Order' is, of course, Albus Dumbledore. He could have put the numbers for 'L' and 'o', but the letters and the numbers combined would have made it more confusing to an outsider's point of view. (In my opinion, anyway...)
By the way, in case you are afraid, Tom will NOT turn good in this story. LOL
Thanks! :D