A Young Slytherin: A Barnaby Lee Story -Hogwarts Mystery

No Place like Home

Barnaby walked back with with Merula to the Slytherin common room. When they stepped through the opening into the dimly lit room, Ismelda Murke accosted them.

"What kept you?" she asked Merula.

"Got held up by some prissy Gryffindors," she said. She led them to a secluded corner of the room and they sat down.

"What's he doing here?" Ismelda spat, throwing him a scathing look.

"Lee was helpful in taking down Emily Tyler and her gang. I decided he would make a useful ally."

"What were you doing messing with Tyler, anyway?" asked Ismelda.

"I managed to swipe what I thought was Spellman's bag. I went through it in the hopes of taking whatever she got out of the ice vault, but turns out I grabbed Tyler's bag instead."

She leaned closer to them and spoke in a fierce whisper. The greenish light from the lake gave her a skin a sickly glow. "But that doesn't matter now. Spellman has found one curse vault already, so we've gotta make up a lot of ground next year. That's why I've formed this team."

She straightened and placed a hand on her chest importantly. "I am the leader. I call the shots and you do exactly as I say. Nobody here stands a chance of entering a vault without me, so you listen up.

"Ismelda, your primary task is recon. You'll use your sneaking talents to get information from Spellman and anyone else about the vaults and report back to me. You'll also be a lookout whenever I need.

"Lee, you're my bodyguard. Your job is to threaten anyone that might try to stop me and destroy anyone that challenges me. Especially Sarah Spellman."

"Why her?" he asked.

Merula made a fist. "Sarah Spellman is pure evil. She only wants to find the vaults to free her cursed brother and make a fool out of me. She'd do anything to stop me from getting to the vaults, just because she likes the attention she gets as 'the cursed one.' I want you to terrify her so badly, she'll never step near another vault."

Barnaby nodded. He could easily manage that.

"Okay. First thing we need to do is figure out what was inside the first vault," said Merula. 

Barnaby zoned in an out of the rest of the conversation, but the other two either didn't notice or didn't care. It felt good to have a goal. He already wanted next year to begin so he could begin searching for the next vault and the power it would give him.

Exams came and went. Barnaby's marks were abysmal, but he barely glanced at them before chucking them in the bin. At the end of term feast, he sat with Merula and Ismelda in the hall that was once again bedecked in Gryffindor's colors.

His Gran seemed pleased when she picked him up at Platform nine and three-quarters, because she'd seen him with Merula. Her attitude soon changed when she asked to see his exams report.

"Lost it," he said.

Her eyes flashed. "That bad, was it? Well, I'll just write to Dumbledore and get another copy."

However, it turned out Barnaby's grades really had been lost. Dumbledore responded to Gran's letter that he regretted to inform her that all of Barnaby's records had been destroyed. Apparently, Dumbledore had been reviewing them when he'd left to use the bathroom. When he'd returned, his Phoenix had burst into flames on his desk, leaving a pile of ashes and the exams missing. Dumbledore suspected they were accidentally incinerated. But, he told Mrs. Lee not to worry, he was sure Barnaby's marks had been fine, and he apologized for the inconvenience.

Gran was forced to admit defeat. Still, she resumed the practice she began last summer, waking him up at dawn to berate him while he did his homework. Soon, he'd had enough of it.

"Why don't you just shut up and leave me alone," he told her after she'd called him an idiot for confusing a wide-eyed potion with a wiggenweld potion.

"What did you just say to me?"

"I said shut up and leave me alone."

"How dare you?!"

She strode forward and slapped him across the face. The jeweled ring on her hand left a stinging cut on his cheek. Barnaby sprang to his feet, his chair banging on the stone floor. He grabbed his Gran by her raised arm as she attempted to hit him again. He forced her back, pushing her against the wall.

Their eyes met, and in an instant they were both thinking the same thing. Barnaby was nearly as tall as her now, and twice as strong. He saw the same fear that he'd seen in Merula and Emily Tyler flash in her eyes before she swung her wand at him.

Bang! He was blasted off his feet. He flew out of the dinning room and into the hall, landing hard on his back. Bang! Again, he flew like rag doll, landing in a crumpled heap near the front door. Bang! He flew so hard against the door, the wood around the handle splintered and the door sprang open, tossing him into the front garden.

Before he could clamber dizzily to his feet,  his Gran magically repaired the door and locked it.

She didn't let him back in the house for two days.

After that, they came to an unspoken agreement. Barnaby remained out of doors as long as possible, coming back to the house only to eat, use the bathroom, and sleep. His Gran did all his homework, and the two stayed out of each other's way. At the start of the next term, she dropped him off at the platform and left without a word.

They hadn't spoken to each other since the first day of the summer holidays.

Barnaby found Merula and Ismelda in a compartment by themselves.

"Ready to find the cursed vaults?" Merula asked as he flung himself down on a seat.

"Yeah." There was a pause, then he said, "Stupid old hag."

"What?"

"My Gran."

"Oh yeah." She rolled her eyes. "Families suck."

Ismelda leaned in. "Mine only care about my oh-so-perfect sister," she said.

"My Gran only cares about me being just like my father," said Barnaby.

"My parents only care about getting out of Azkaban," said Merula.

They sat in silence for a while, brooding.

The compartment door slid open and a first year poked her head in. "Excuse me, are there any free seats in here?"

Barnaby stood and stared at her with his arms folded. Terrified, the girl ran off at once. 

"This partnership is going to work out great," said Merula.