Of Monsters, Of Men

Chapter 9

Summer 1939

The drab, cracked ceiling of Wool's Orphanage was a stark contrast to the green and silver dormitory. It was only the ninth day of leaving Hogwarts, but Harry wished he was already back.

Their summer was rocky at first. Other orphans had grown antsy in their nine-month-long disappearance. They had attempted to disrupt Tom and Harry's iron fist the second day back with petty fights or pranks, making for a very disappointing birthday. Although they were explicitly dissuaded from using magic by Dumbledore, they realized that their wandless magic was not regulated, a great boon to them.

Tom and Harry dealt with these nuisances swiftly, but the mere fact that any attempts to displace their rule over the orphans was unsettling. They realized that this would be the set precedent for the following years. The attacks to their iron fisted rule were only going to become brasher as the years passed.

On July 9th, Harry convinced Tom to visit Victoria's Park. Tom hadn't wanted to return to the place of Medusa's death on her anniversary, but Harry refused to not go.

When Harry approached the Elder tree, he walked around and found a small, rectangular patch of grassy turf dotted by countless daisies and dandelions. It must be her grave, Harry thought.

While Tom remained unmoving, standing tall and stiff, Harry crouched down to finger a daisy, the white petals smooth and delicate against his fingers. He curled them, crushing the flower between his fingers.

It seemed it was only yesterday as Medusa was beaten to death in front of him. When Medusa's fragile body was slapped against the rock. Her unmoving, limp body.

Harry swallowed and let go of the daisy. I miss you.

Harry turned around. Tom was observing a daisy that he twirled mindlessly in an outstretched hand.

Tom began, "After Anne's funeral service, I asked Mrs. Cole why there were daisies on her grave. She told me that when a child died, God would sprinkle their grave with daisies to cheer up the parents."

"And you believed it. You didn't think that Mrs. Cole, heartless as she was, would put the daisies there herself," Harry finished.

"I was four years old."

Harry plucked the crushed daisy and held it out to Tom.

"Do you believe that God would have put daisies here for us?"

Tom stiffly took the daisy and replied, "I don't believe in God at all. Medusa wouldn't have died otherwise." He tucked the daisy into his breast pocket, the crumpled white petals peeking out miserably.

A brighter matter was that their end of year exam results were finally mailed to them. Tom had snatched them discreetly from the owl in the front yard to prevent any others from catching sight of the strange act. Safely inside their dormitory, Harry smiled at the results. Tom had gotten a score that could only mean he had gotten the top spot, while Harry predicted he was in the top ten percent of first year students.

However, the issue of the war never abated in the slightest. The imminent threat of violence hung over London like a miasma. The city was resigned to its fate, its citizens gearing for a war many were unwilling to fight. Weeks passed under this sickness afflicting the city. Harry and Tom were wary yet lethargic, tired from the constant rush of adrenaline that came with the false warnings and fears of bombs and thought of death.

In late August, many children were evacuated to the countryside. However, this did not apply to Wool's. They remained stuck in London, ever fearing the threat of war while their richer counterparts escaped to safety.