Idiosyncrasy |Harry Potter

Chapter Twelve

Franklin sat in the Headmaster's office with a blank expression on his face after Professor Dumbledore had delved into the subject of the Crow a bit further.

"You mean to tell me that Zakari's father is..is a Death Eater?" Franklin asked as his eyes filled with bewilderment. "But how can that be? How could Liz and Zakari be associated with...with such..."

Dumbledore cleared his throat to stop the man from going any further to insult Roderick Lestrange's name.

"Mr. Lestrange-" Dumbledore began but could see Franklin shudder at the mere mentioning of the surname as if the headmaster had just yelled out Voldemort in front of him. The Lestrange name had been dragged through the mud due to it's affiliation with the Dark Arts. Due to the fact that the Lestranges and had been the ones responsible for attacking the Aurors Alice and Frank Longbottom and driving them to insanity using the Cruciatus Curse.

However, Dumbledore insisted on getting his point across.

"Mr. Lestrange was not the typical Death Eater as you may suspect him to be.  He was a still a student in Hogwarts at the time when he was given the Dark Mark, only a fifth year at the time. He did so to appease his family as the majority of those raised in pureblooded families did. They are born into a much different world than what you grew up in, Mr. Roman. Independent choices were not easily made. They didn't even have a say into who they married."

"So it was arranged between him and Liz?"

"Yes, but unlike many of the arranged marriages, the two did care greatly for one another. It was not like the two wished to be apart of the Dark Arts, but as the younger siblings and the youngest of their families, many things were out of their control. Defying their families could result in great harm for the two of them and there was always the possibility of facing death. As the Crow, Mr. Lestrange was a very important asset to Voldemort. He was used to spy and-"

"Why couldn't they just run away? I've heard of others doing it and-'

"Others did not hold the importance that Mr. Lestrange held, if he were to diverge from the Dark Arts, he would find himself facing far bigger consequences. After all, he held plenty of information that could be harmful to the other side."

Franklin continued to shake his head at the man's words.

"So if this man wasn't so bad, why is he in Azkaban then?"

"I did not claim that he was innocent." Dumbledore said. "He knew he had committed crimes and after Voldemort was destroyed on the night he attacked the Potter Household, he among other Death Eaters were captured and placed on trial. However, rather than trying to falsely claim that he was under the acts of the Imperius  curse or trying to justify his actions, he owned up to his mistakes and was placed on trial."

"Was he involved in any of the murders?" Franklin asked.

"No, he was not. He was charged for espionage and becoming an unregistered animagus."

"How long has he been sentenced to be in Azkaban?"

"A decade." Dumbledore answered calmly.

"A decade..." Franklin repeated as he did the math in his head. "But that means...it's been a decade."

He glanced up at the Headmaster for confirmation.

Dumbledore offered the man a small smile. 

"It seems that someone is due home shortly then."

The first night away from home was harder than Zakari cared to admit, especially to his mother while writing his first letter home. However, he wasn't going to tell her how he had spent the majority of his first night at Hogwarts completely wide awake. He found it hard to fall asleep in his bed, despite Duncan cuddling beside him. Whenever someone moved in the room and a shadow was cast about, Zakari would be become startled. He certainly couldn't get up and go to his mother either, and just the thought of running to his mother in the middle of the night came across as pathetic in his mind.

The next morning, Zakari was just terribly exhausted but the idea of starting his first classes seemed to motivate him enough to push himself out of bed. He had woken to Duncan pulling at the sleeve of his shirt as he alerted the boy that all the other children were up and about, getting ready for the day.

Zakari entered the showers with his uniform to get ready, while Duncan sat guard outside of the boy's shower. Other boys eyed the dog, but if they even attempted to give the boy or him a look, he would bare his teeth in their direction.

When the boy was finished with his shower, he dressed himself, his hair still pretty damp as his dark curls began to form ringlets as they air dried. 

Grabbing his bag full of his books and other supplies he would need for his first day of his classes, Zakari headed out of the boy's dorms with Duncan walking beside him.

He was just about to leave the Slytherin Common Room, when Duncan grabbed a hold of the bottom of his robes and yanked on them strongly. When he turned around to see what the dog wanted, he caught sight of Eve who had been calling after him, before realizing her mistake and blushing in embarrassment. 

Greeting her with a smile and a small wave, Zakari waited until the older girl caught up with him. She seemed at a lost of how to communicate with him as she looked to her hands, unable to sign.

Zakari stared at her for a moment before coming up with a solution. Reaching into his bag, he ripped a piece of parchment paper and one of his quills, motioning her to write.

She smiled and nodded her head before motioning him to follow her outside of the dorm. Unable to write until they were in the Great Hall, Zakari waited until they sat beside one another in the Hall for breakfast. 

It wasn't long before Franklin joined the two at the table after greeting them. Eve was able to write what she wanted to tell Zakari, cutting out the need for interpreting, however it was much easier and faster for Zakari to sign his response to her, using Franklin's skills.

Suddenly, the boy watched as both Eve and Franklin's attention was jerked in another direction. Following their gaze, he looked across the way to the Gryffindor table, he wasn't able to hear what was going on but he saw a boy turning as red as his hair. Beside him, a boy with jet black hair and round rimmed glasses sat wide eyed.

Zakari didn't have the slightest clue as to what was going on, but he couldn't help but giggle at the sight of their faces for some reason.

Franklin and Eve peered down at the small boy confused as to what he found so amusing, but they couldn't help but smile either to see him having a good time.

However, Zakari's giggling didn't last very long as the boy with the glasses peered over in his direction, bringing his laughter to an abrupt end as he quickly looked down at the table shyly.

Still not bringing himself to look up, he signed to Franklin.

"Pass me a bagel."