Summary: Harry has been challenged in a wizard's duel by Malfoy, but Ron accepts it on Harry's behalf. After making it clear that he wasn't happy with how Ron failed to consider Harry's feelings on the matter, Y/N accompanies them to the duel but Malfoy didn't show up. They ran into a Cerberus and somehow managed to befriend it thanks to Y/N.
It was nearing the end of the second week of school. Y/N had more or less taken on the role of being the motherly figure for the boys in the quintet while being like an elder brother to Hermione.
He woke the boys up to ensure they went to the Great Hall in time for breakfast. Perhaps Ron was now one of the easiest to wake up as Y/N only had to mention food to get the redhead to get up and start running for the shower.
He and Hermione often took down notes in class and explained in a simplified way to Harry, Ron and Neville. Harry still wasn't getting stellar grades, but was better than Ron and Neville.
Y/N had also more or less gotten an idea about each of their favourite subjects. Harry and Ron liked Flying lessons the most with Potions being their most dreaded or rather, hated. Not that Y/N could blame them since he had to say that Professor Snape was always mocking them.
Harry was relatively alright with History of Magic but he showed little to no interest in it.
Neville only liked Herbology the best and feared Potions the most. But otherwise he wasn't exactly passing his subjects.
Hermione did her best to excel in all the subjects and often prided herself in her knowledge and intelligence. She and Y/N always did their homework first before anything else.
As for Ron, he was always either delaying his homework or never doing it at all. If there was anything that he was interested in, it was flying and chess. He barely touched on his homework and got slightly better grades than Neville. But nonetheless, they were still abysmal grades.
Thankfully, Y/N was there to help the boys with their homework and remind them about their deadline for work submission. Hermione also reminded them about having to do their homework almost endlessly to the point that Ron complained about it.
Y/N and Harry happened to stumble upon the kitchens while they were exploring the castle during the first week. The house elves were overjoyed to see them and gave both of them plenty of food to the point that Y/N had to maximize the space in his lunchbox to accommodate the amount.
Harry had reluctantly told Y/N that he had been starving back in the Muggle world and that his family was struggling financially only after Y/N confronted him. Internally, Y/N didn't believe Harry about his family's financial issue but he promised Harry that he would do what he could to help him to return to a normal diet. And that was how Y/N started formulating a meal plan for Harry to follow with the help of Hermione.
"Y/N, were you the one who shrunk my clothes down? And... and my clothes are all mended...!" Harry exclaimed in awe as he held up his clothes. Harry had discovered that his oversized hand-me-down clothes shrunk down to fit his figure whenever he put them on and that the holes in them were all gone. It was almost as good as new if not for the fact that they used to belong to that greedy pig of a cousin.
Harry turned to Y/N, who only shrugged nonchalantly and gave a cryptic smile. To Y/N's surprise, Harry started crying as he launched into a hug. Y/N couldn't help but smile as he spent the next 15 minutes patting Harry's back to calm him down.
Y/N was very patient, but his patience was certainly dwindling whenever their group bumped into Malfoy and his goons along the corridors. Having to constantly tell the boys not to react to the jeers as well as trying to dissuade Malfoy from provoking them was tough, seeing that Malfoy was willing to do and say anything to get Harry and Ron to strike first before getting the chance to retaliate in the name of self-defense.
So far, Y/N and Hermione were the only ones in the entire first year cohort who were getting almost perfect scores for their work in both class practical exercises and homework. With Hermione being in first place, Y/N in second and Malfoy in third. Harry was roughly among the average scores while Ron and Neville were further behind.
However, Y/N wasn't quite adept when it came to Astronomy and History of Magic. Even though he managed to stay awake throughout the entire droning of Professor Binns, he still couldn't really excel at it. He got many dates and events mixed up and there were many other details that he couldn't recall despite reading through Hermione's notes frequently.
As for Astronomy, he did pass but not the best in the entire cohort. The first place was taken by Hermione followed by Malfoy, then Harry and Y/N. But Y/N got the positions of Pollux and Castor in the Gemini constellation swapped and was always confused between the Sirius, Polaris, Canopus and Vega stars. Lastly, he got the constellations of Cepheus, Cassiopeia and Andromeda switched. This did result in Y/N being teased by Malfoy who suggested that he study the names of the members of the Black Family since majority of them were named after the stars anyway.
Well, it was meant as a joke or something but Y/N took it seriously and intended to look up on the Black family anyway. After his last class for the day, Y/N made his way to the library when he saw Hermione walking ahead of him.
"Hermione!" Y/N called out to the bushy-haired first year, whose face brightened up upon seeing him.
"Y/N? What is it?"
Y/N then noticed the number of books stacked up in the girl's arms and internally smiled. Of course, Hermione never went anywhere without a book with her. Even if it was just a notebook to write down notes from the books she read or filled with reminders.
"I'm going to the library, do you want to come with me?"
"What a coincidence! I was on my way there as well! I mean, to return these books." Hermione added in as an afterthought after noticing Y/N's amused glance at the books in her arms.
"Come on, I'll carry some as well." Y/N took half the stack from Hermione, ignoring her protests that she could manage on her own.
"I'm planning to do my homework after returning these books, so do you want to share notes?" Hermione asked.
"Why not?" Y/N smiled.
The two talked as they went to the library, unaware of five pairs of eyes glaring at the duo from the shadows. Specifically at Y/N Liebert.
After spending about an hour and a half in the library doing her homework, Hermione started packing up and putting her things into her schoolbag. She turned to look at Y/N who was still writing his 10-inch long Potions essay.
"Y/N? Are you going to finish soon? Shall I wait for you?"
Y/N looked up and shook his head.
"No, it's alright. I think I'll stay here for a while longer."
"I'll see you back at the Common room, Y/N." Hermione waved and hurried on ahead back to the Gryffindor tower. Y/N spent a few more minutes finishing up his Potions homework before heading around the shelves to look for information on pureblood families. To his disappointment, there weren't any books on them. He approached Madam Pince, the librarian who gave him the gimlet eye.
"Madam Pince, do you happen to have a book on the Ancient and Noble House of Black?" He whispered softly at the grouchy and still-glaring librarian.
Madam Pince continued to glare at him before taking out an old book with worn out black covers and thrusted it at Y/N's face, nearly hitting him on the nose which Y/N barely dodged in time.
"Thank you."
Y/N went back to his table and sat down. He looked down at the old black book in his hands. The cover was worn out but one could see the fine gold letters embossed on the cover, 'History of The Most Ancient and Noble House of Black'. There was a large coat of arms of the House of Black, which depicted a skull, an arm holding a wand and three crows. Last but not least, a motto at the bottom with the words 'Toujours Pur'.
Upon opening the book, Y/N started reading but was somewhat taken aback by the repetitive use of the word 'Mudblood' that was often accompanied with words like filthy and dirt-ridden. 'Filthy, dirty mudbloods and those dirt-ridden halfbreeds unworthy of wielding magic' were often repeated, which Y/N soon learned to ignore. From what he was reading, Y/N could safely assume that the term 'Mudblood' was meant to insult all muggleborn wizards and witches.
He started reading up on the family history and names of the various family members. Well, Malfoy was right. Many of the names of the members of the Black family were named after the stars. Arcturus, Regulus, Sirius, Orion, Cassiopeia, Alphard, Pollux, Cygnus, Andromeda, Bellatrix and etc. If anything, the Black family seemed to really love giving repeated names to their descendants. Seeing how there was Arcturus III, Sirius III, Cygnus III and etc.
Of course, there were other names that weren't associated with stars or constellations. Lucretia, Dorea, Callidora, Cedrella, Alexia, Iola and etc. The Black family was traced back to Middle Ages but there were no records beyond Phineas Nigellus Black, which Y/N assumed due to the lack of information.
Phineas Nigellus Black? That name sounded strangely familiar but Y/N just couldn't place it. Where had he heard that name? Looks like he would have to do some research later or maybe one or two years in the near future. Or maybe Hogwarts' history books might contain information on the man.
Y/N returned the book to Madam Pince, having some mixed thoughts on what he'd just read. What made him feel a little unsettled was the fact that Walbuga and Orion of the Black family were first cousins who married each other. The Black family married their relatives and cousins to stay true to their family motto, 'Toujour Purs' or 'Always Pure'.
Y/N had read extensively back at the orphanage and learnt that marrying their own relatives and cousins was essentially incest, which would lead to all sorts of genetic disorders and physical deformities in the future generations. Y/N was in fact the one who asked Kelly about this but she refused to tell him anymore than the consequences of incest. She told him that he was too young to understand intermarriage and that he would come to understand when he was of age.
This worried him. His family wasn't like that, right? Honestly, Y/N was somewhat worried about this, but right now his studies held the number one spot in his list of priorities. Y/N let out a sigh as he packed up his belongings and left the library and headed for the Gryffindor tower.
On his way back to the Gryffindor tower, he remained deep in thought about what he'd read on the Black family. Well, one thing for sure was the fact that he could certainly count on the Black family to help him remember the names of stars and constellations.
But as he was thinking, Y/N failed to notice a hand sneaking up to him from behind, ready to pounce on him.
"Maybe I should-- mphh!" Y/N was barely able to let out a cry of shock when he was roughly pulled into a dark enclosed space with a hand clamped over his mouth. His schoolbag dropped to the ground with a dull thud as Y/N himself disappeared from sight.
Within a dark and enclosed space, Y/N felt himself being tossed aside like a sack of potatoes and his back hit a solid wall.
"What the...!" He looked up to five looming figures. One look at them and could tell that they were either in their third year or four. One of them lifted his leg and it came stomped hard on Y/N's left hand.
"Look who have here. The spawn of that bloody bitch of a Death Eater." One of the boys sneered and was now pressing his full body weight on Y/N's left hand, clearly intending to crush it somehow.
"Ugh..." Y/N struggled to muffle his groans of pain as the pressure and weight on his hand increased.
"Immobulus!" One of the boys threw a binding spell at Y/N before he could draw his wand. Y/N immediately fell to the ground, helpless and unable to move. Another boy summoned his wand which went flying into the boy's hands, earning him a smug grin.
"I haven't perfected this one yet, but I think this should be a good starter. Expulso!"
"Diffindo!"
""
The boys fired jinxes, hexes and curses at Y/N who wasn't able to do anything to stop them. But rather, he had been immobilized, so that he wouldn't be able to do anything other than let out choked sobs or muffled cries of pain.
"Ferveret Sanguis!" One of them shouted truimphantly as Y/N thrashed about wildly while tears streamed down his face and sweat poured down from every part of him. His blood boiled furiously, as though it were trying to burn him alive from inside his body. His left hand was hurting even more as it aggravated the pain. At this point, Y/N was struggling not to give in to the urge to scream. He refused to give the boys the satisfaction of hearing him plead for mercy or for them to stop.
The boys finally stopped firing curses and one of them lifted the Blood Boiling curse, only for another to fire it again at him. This repeated several more times until the boys got bored of not hearing Y/N scream for mercy.
As Y/N lay there shivering uncontrollably and letting out shaky breaths while in severe pain, one of the more burly third years grabbed him by his front robes and looked at Y/N's face then his slender build.
"You know what, you actually do have a pretty face. Not to mention a pretty nice body as well. Maybe there's something you can do..." The boy's face twisted into a sick leer. The other boys' faces also twisted into sick grins as their eyes started trailing up and down Y/N's frame, to which Y/N shuddered in disgust.
"Y-you're... you're sick..." Y/N barely managed to level out a glare at the boys, who only laughed before the boy holding his front robes tore his clothes apart effortlessly, exposing Y/N's pale and smooth skin underneath.
"Pretty good, great for cutting into." He grinned madly and dug his nails roughly into the flesh as he dragged it down, leaving five long deep red trails in the process.
"Hold on, I've got an idea." A fourth year sneered as he drew out a dagger. Y/N's heart lurged in trepidation as soon as he saw the fourth year raising the dagger above his head. Without warning, the dagger was plunged right into his stomach. For a moment, there was nothing before an intensely excruciating pain sent out a sudden shock throughout his entire nervous system. This time, Y/N couldn't help but let out a scream of pain as he coughed up blood. It was worse when the dagger was crudely taken out and plunged into his right arm.
"Now that's more like it." One of them jeered mockingly.
"Do that again! But preferably elsewhere..." Another egged him on.
"Yeah, I probably should!" The boy grinned maniacally and raised his dagger up above his head again, preparing to strike. This, unfortunately went on a few times with Y/N's body being marred with stab wounds and knife slashes before he was close to losing his consciousness.
"How dare you." came two familiar yet cold voices. Y/N would have cried in relief if not for the fact that he was in such pain that he could barely move. Not to mention about to pass out as well.
The boys froze in their actions. They slowly looked up to see the familiar faces of Fred and George glaring at them with wands pointed at their faces.
"What the hell were you trying to do to Y/N?" Fred and George asked, not a single gleam of amusement in their eyes as they glared at the boys.
"Y/N!" Hermione cried as she rushed to his side. She gasped at the sight of a bloody Y/N, who shuddered as winced in pain she tried to help him up. This time, Harry, Ron and Neville rushed in and they all gasped at the extent of injuries on Y/N.
"Y/N! Are you alright?"
"Ugh... k-kind of--" Y/N cut himself short as he coughed up blood, shocking everyone (except for the five perpetrators) on site. He subsequently passed out despite Hermione's pleas for him to stay awake.
"H-how did you... um... find us anyway...?" The boy who was about to take another stab at Y/Nlaughed nervously. He quickly tossed the bloodstained dagger and kicking it away.
"Y/N's bag was lying outside, while the owner was nowhere to be found. Isn't that natural to assume that Y/N had been taken elsewhere? After all, Y/N isn't careless enough to leave his things lying about."
"I'm asking you one last time. What the hell were you trying to do to Y/N?" Fred's voice was getting sharper.
"O-oh hey, Fred, George... relax man. We were just having some fun..." The same boy was now starting o look quite uncomfortable.
"Oh? I never knew that having 'some fun' also includes an attempt to kill another." Hermione's eyes widened in fear and horror as she heard George speaking coldly.
"Shall we also have 'some fun' with you lot too?" Another voice seethed with fury.
"Here they are, Professor McGonagall." Fred and George moved aside, revealing more people behind them.
"P-professor McGonagall...! A-and... Professor Snape..." The five boys blanched and shook when they saw the furious witch glaring at them but they paled even further when they saw the familiar stance of the least popular teacher glowering at them in outmost disdain.
"In all my years here at Hogwarts, I've never seen such atrocity among my Gryffindors before...! Such behaviour is simply unforgivable! 80 points from each of you, no Hogsmeade weekends for the rest of your time here at Hogwarts and detention with Severus for the whole of this year!"
"Wha-- Professor McGonagall! That's too unfair! How could you ban us from going to Hogsmeade for the rest of our time here at Hogwarts? That's--"
The boys were cut off when Professor McGonagall whipped around and glared at them with pure fury.
"Even I feel that's being far too lenient! Ganging up on a first-year and hurting him to such an extent! You're lucky that you're not being expelled because in all honesty, I'm very tempted to expel all five of you and erase all your records here!" She snapped.
"And to think that you're part of Gryffindor where the brave are nown to dwell! What you've done is no better than a coward! I truly wonder how in Merlin's name did you convince the Sorting Hat to place you in Gryffindor!" She fumed as she personally escorted the pale and ashen-faced boys to the Headmaster's office with three prefects and a stone-faced but internally smirking Professor Snape.
Meanwhile, Hermione, Harry, Ron and Neville were rushing to the infirmary with Hermione carrying Y/N on her back. Harry quickly took over the carrying and they barged into the infirmary, not caring that there was another student sleeping in there. Madam Pomfrey quickly stood up and whipped her wand out, ready to fire a hex at the intruder until she saw the familiar face of Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville. Her eyes widened when she saw a trail of blood on the floor, followed by her eyes focusing on the person lying limply on Harry's back.
"Goodness! What happened this time?" Madam Pomfrey's instincts kicked in and immediately motioned for Harry to lay the injured party on one of the spare beds.
"Y/N... Y/N... He was...!" Hermione was too shaken up to speak properly, before bursting into tears. Madam Pomfrey turned to Harry, who quickly got Y/N off his back and laid him on one of the hospital beds.
"Y/N was hurt very badly! He coughed up blood! He was... he was stabbed with a dagger! And most likely cursed many times before that..."
Madam Pomfrey snapped into action. She got a small basin of warm water with a towel soaked in it, disinfectants, bandages and vials of potions. Pale, tight-lipped and grim, she did a quick diagnose with a wave of her wand. A parchment appeared with a list of injuries.
This included near-fatal stab wounds near the heart and solar plexis, a pierced left lung by one of the broken ribs, clear exposure to the blood-boiling curse several times and other hexes and jinxes rained on Y/N when he was rendered immobile.
The quartet tried to help her as much as possible, anything to speed up the healing process. They changed the basin of water several times as they tried to stop the bleeding. Ron and Neville were pale as they got new towels to soak up the blood. The once pristine white bedsheets of the hospital bed were now drenched in blood. Everyone was worried that the bleeding would not stop.
Thankfully, the bleeding stopped quickly but right now Y/N would be suffering from hypothermia from such extreme blood loss. Madam Pomfrey got two vials of blood replenishing potions and managed to get Y/N to swallow them after disinfecting the stab wounds. She got a vial of Skele-Gro to repair the two broken ribs and did what she could to repair the gashes. Finally, she wrapped the bandages around the wounded areas and covered Y/N up with the blanket.
She heaved a sigh of relief before turning to the quartet who was now looking at Y/N's still form with worry.
"Mr Liebert's condition is stable for now. But he's definitely bound to come down with a fever tonight so tonight is very crucial. So if you don't mind, kindly return to your dorms and let Mr Liebert rest." She turned to the quartet as she spoke in a clipped tone.
"O-oh..." Hermione trailed off, clearly not used to Madam Pomfrey's somewhat brusque manner. Madam Pomfrey's facial features softened when she saw the look on Hermione's face.
"You can come back tomorrow to visit him for a few minutes instead." Hermione smiled a little before following the boys back to the Gryffindor tower. But not before casting a worried and longing look at Y/N.
"Ugh, I forgot about those bloodstains." Madam Pomfrey sighed as she spotted the now messy trail of blood. Taking out her wand, she vanished the bloodstains on the floor and went to check on the student sleeping next to Y/N's bed.
The next day, there were fervent whispers among the student body. Apparently, the incident involving Y/N made its way through gossip and it simply shocked the entire school. Who would have thought that there would be a group of five students consisting of third and four years ganging up on a first year, which resulted in a near-death situation. Not to mention that they were from Gryffindor, the same House as Y/N.
Apparently, Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil were the first two to witness the incident. They saw Harry carrying Y/N to the infirmary, followed by five boys who were led away by both Professor McGonagall and Snape. Rumours then spreaded about how Y/N Liebert was ambushed by five older boys and that Y/N was now in a coma.
Most of the Gryffindors looked away uncomfortably from the gazes from the other Houses. The Hufflepuffs were shocked at how anyone from their own House could attack their own. The Ravenclaws demanded evidence of the attack. The Slytherins didn't seem to have much of a reaction with the exception of Zabini and Malfoy looking slightly worried?
Sure, quite a lot of them didn't like Y/N Liebert for his mother's identity as a Death Eater and they simply brushed it off as an unfortunate accident. But there were others who were worried about him.
Some of them having witnessed his kind nature first hand when he helped them with simple things. Cedric could easily vouch for Y/N's kindness when he witnessed the first year student helping Susan Bones when she got caught in the crossfire between a upper year Gryffindor and Slytherin. She got hit by a stray spell, which so happened to be a cutting curse. Y/N had brought her to the infirmary and got her treated by Madam Pomfrey.
Ernie Macmillan, Hannah Abbott and Zacharias Smith had more or less (reluctantly) agreed that Y/N Liebert wasn't anything like his crazy mother and clearly inherited his father's nature. Cedric had visited Y/N that afternoon, which spoke volumes. Ernie, Hannah and Zacharias visited after Cedric was gone and left a get well soon card before scurrying out of the infirmary like scared mice or as though they were expecting Y/N to suddenly rise up from his bed like a vampire rising from his coffin.
Of course, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville visited Y/N regularly. Hermione continued to tutor the boys on their homework but clearly it wasn't enough as Harry and Ron continued to barely scrape a pass from Snape during Potions while Neville consistently failed in his Potions and Transfiguration. She also kept a list of the things that were covered during lessons and the homework that needed to be done, which Ron rolled his eyes at.
Professor Snape secretly dropped by after curfew and checked up on Y/N before quickly exiting a minute or two later, thankful that nobody saw him. The stone-faced professor was all about keeping appearances and it was no secret that he hated Gryffindors. As much as he hated to admit, he did have somewhat of a soft spot for Y/N. Unfortunately, he hated Harry with every fibre in his body.
Draco visited Y/N and this shocked the four Gryffindors who were at the entrance of the infirmary. Ron was the first to rush at him with his wand out. But he was thankfully, held back by Harry and Hermione. Draco simply sneered at Ron before making his way out, leaving a fuming redhead and the other three confused.
Y/N spent five days asleep in the infirmary before he finally awoke, much to the pleasant surprise and relief of Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville and Madam Pomfrey.
"Y/N! You're finally awake!"
"I'm fine.... Hermione..." Y/N just smiled gently while stroking Hermione's wild curls soothingly. While his voice was hoarse, his smile was truly breathtaking and Hermione could spend the entire day admiring it if not for the fact that Y/N had barely regained consciousness after being in a coma for five days. Hermione quickly shook off her thoughts when she felt her cheeks burning up ever so slightly.
"Wow..." Upon hearing this, Hermione whipped around, only to see Ron and Neville looking quite... captivated?
"Um... hello? Earth to you two?" She waved her hand in front of their faces.
"Huh? Uh... what?" Ron stuttered as he snapped out of it. A light blush decorated his cheeks. He and Neville blinked several times before shaking their heads to get rd of whatever thoughts they had about Y/N. Y/N may have a beautiful face, but they're not gay dammit! Goddammit! What was Y/N doing to them?!
Harry approached Y/N and sat at the edge of the bed carefully.
"Are you alright now?"
"I'm alright, Harry." Harry felt nothing but relief when Y/N caressed his inky black curls with that same serene smile.
"Harry..." He murmured before falling back into his sleep, unaware of Ron and Neville's whirlpool of thoughts.
"Alright, all of you! Out! Now!" Madam Pomfrey wasted no time chasing the four friends out of the infirmary to let Y/N rest properly. After all, she was very protective of her patients.
For the next four days, Y/N stayed in the infirmary while Hermione updated him on the homework and lessons that went on without him.
"For Transfiguration, we learnt how to turn mice into snuffboxes. Points were awarded depending on the aesthetics of your snuffbox. For homework, write a brief summary on the theory for changing mice to snuffboxes.
"For Potions, we brewed a Sleeping Draught in class. For homework, write a 5-foot essay on the properties of aconite, asphodel and dittany as well as the potions that can be brewed using the above mentioned ingredients.
"For Charms, we learnt how to cast the wand-lighting charm and unlocking charm. The unlocking charm is something that I already knew how to do because of that incident with the Cerberus, remember? There isn't any homework for Charms.
"For Astronomy, revise through the constellations of Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Virgo and Orion. Draw the constellations of Leo and Ursa Minor and name the brightest stars of each. For your reference, the constellation of Ursa Minor is also known as the Little Dipper.
"For DADA, we learnt about vampires for theory. For spellwork, we learnt to cast the Knockback Jinx. For homework, write a 5-inch essay on the summary of a vampire's senses and the uses of the Knockback Jinx.
"For Herbology, we replanted the mandrakes and took a look at the Devil's Snare. As for homework, write a 3-inch essay on the properties of mandrake and the consequences of insufficient and excessive uses.
"For History of Magic, write a 12-inch essay about the goblin wars that took place during the 16th century.
"And last but not least, for Flying, we learnt how to guide our brooms to do sharp turns." Hermione finally closed her notebook that contained her written notes and list of homework and assignments for each subject. She heaved a sigh of relief after speaking for so long while Y/N looked a little dazed.
"Oh wow, that's quite a lot." Y/N chuckled as he looked through his Transfiguration textbook and found three pages that covered transfiguring mice to snuffboxes. Five pages worth of theory and one page on the instructions for practical.
Well, at least he had some time to do his homework while waiting for himself to fully recover. Perhaps it was great that Madam Pomfrey insisted that he stay at the infirmary just in case.