Sins of the Father

Sins of the Fathers

By Maria Szabo

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and supporting characters are all properties of J.K. Rowling and her publishers. This work is a piece of fanfiction, and no profit is being made save that of enjoyment. The Quotes from Dumbledore are taken from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Spoilers present for all four books.

It was going to be his year, thought Evan Rosier as he sat down at the Slytherin table in the dining hall. He´d finally have a shot at the house Quidditch team. Marcus Flint, who´d ruled the Slytherin team with an iron hand, had graduated the previous year, along with a good percentage of the team. There would never be a better time for an ambitious player to step in and shine. And this was his third year at Hogwarts--he´d paid his dues as a second stringer on Flint´s ever-changing roster. He HAD to make the team this year.

He brushed some beads of water off his school robes impatiently. The weather had been atrocious as the students had come in from the Hogwarts Express. Fortunately, Peeves had chosen to lob his silly water balloons at the Gryffindorks. The poltergeist knew better than to mess with Slytherin students. Evan wasn´t quite sure what the Bloody Baron could do to Peeves, exactly, but whatever it was seemed to be effective.

Leighton, Garrett and Russell were already waiting at the table for him, having caught an earlier carriage. As usual, he himself had been held up by his annoying elder sister, who always insisted on having the luggage arranged just so, which meant that it took three times longer to disentangle the trucks than it should have. Last year, there had been some embarrassment when some of Edwina´s things were delivered to his room, including her knickers. He´d been teased unmercifully the rest of the term. He swore then and there it would never happen again. So he´d stayed back to make sure the trucks were properly sorted.

"What was all that noise out there?" Wayne Leighton asked, peering through the mass of bodies coming in from the corridor. He was a handsome fellow, tall, with wavy chestnut-colored hair that he wore fairly short. He was Evan´s best friend.

"Nothing. Peeves acting up." Evan shrugged. "The usual chaos."

"Your sister´s looking good," Jack Garrett leaned over, trying to get a better look down the table where Edwina was just taking her place. "Nice form."

"Filled out a bit, she has," agreed Jason Russell, his hazel eyes glinting behind his glasses.

"Shut up." Evan replied, shortly.

"Just saying." Jack raised his hands in surrender. "So, who´s up for the team this year?"

He didn´t have to say what team, of course. There was only one House Team that really mattered, after all, and that was the Quidditchteam. Like all the students at Hogwarts (well, except his mutant sister and some of the more bookish of the Ravenclaw set), Evan and his friends were completely wild about the sport. And unfortunately, none of them had been able to get on the Slytherin Team as yet.

"Malfoy, of course," Jason predicted. "Warrington´s back, he´s in seventh year. Montague, probably, he´s good. We lost Flint, Derrick and Bole, though."

"What about Nott?" asked Evan. "He´s back this year."

Wayne´s face glowed with excitement. "Nope, won´t happen, Nott was injured during that riot at the World Cup. He won´t be flying for awhile."

"You´re sure?"

"Absolutely. I ran into him the other day when Mother and I went into town to get the school supplies." He punched Evan´s arm playfully. "That means one of the Chaser spots is open. You´ve got a shot."

"He wasn´t that good, anyway," agreed Jack. "Jason and I thought we´d try for the open Beater positions."

"And I´m going for Keeper," finished Wayne. "So we just need to make sure you get in as Chaser."

Evan nodded grimly. Chaser and Seeker were the "glory" positions of Quidditch, and there was always a lot of competition for those roles. Malfoy had been Seeker for the past two years, and would use every considerable influence he had to keep the position. It was expected. This was Slytherin, after all.

He had a bit of a disadvantage to overcome. Wayne´s father was a well-known and respected Wizarding Doctor. Jason´s family was highly involved in the Ministry. Jack came from a humbler background (there was even talk of a Muggle marrying into the family on his mother´s side), but he was so vicious on the field that putting him as a Beater just made good sense. The Rosier family, however...

His father had been killed by an Auror, not long before Evan had been born. His mother had been interned in Azkaban, for her support of the Dark Lord, although they´d held off long enough for her to give birth before they locked her up. His sister wasn´t quite right in the head. Their once-prominent family had withdrawn from political life, although financially they were still fairly well-off. The name Rosier no longer commanded the fear and respect it once had. He would change that, though.

The room fell silent as the new first-years, dripping and soaking wet from the storm outside, made their way past the tables to the front of the hall. There was something about the Sorting Ceremony that commanded the attention. Maybe it was the memory of uncertainty. Even he remembered having a twinge of fear, although it was fairly certain he´d be put in Slytherin´s House. After all, his whole family had been Slytherin, even Edwina, although Merlin only knew how she had managed that one.

He glanced down the table towards her, where she sat watching the sorting, her fingers working with those ever-present knitting needles. His sister couldn´t bear to have her hands still. To be fair, she wasn´t bad to look at. They had the same grey eyes and light brown hair, although she wore hers long and usually tied behind her in a ponytail with whispy bangs around her face. She was thin, handsome rather than pretty and always dressed modestly, even at home during the summer. That was probably their grandmother´s doing--Edwina was very close to her.

The problem was that she rarely said anything. Anything at all. She was quite capable of speech when she felt like it, but those times were few and far between. Loud noises also bothered her, so she avoided things like Quidditch matches and usually stayed in the Great Hall just long enough to eat. Her absence had been remarked upon, but no one seemed to bother her about it. She was two years older than Evan, so he hadn´t been at Hogwarts when she started, although he had heard rumors about how she managed to hex various clothing items of anyone who had tormented her that first year. Edwina was very fond of hexes and curses. Maybe that´s what got her in Slytherin, he thought. Professor Snape was said to be really gifted in that area.

Unfortunately, while Edwina seemed to be quite satisfied with the way she was, it was highly embarrassing for him to have such a strange sister. Evan tried to avoid her whenever possible, and for the most part, she respected that and stayed away. But he still had her reputation to contend with in his quest for the role of SlytherinChaser and a lot of that would depend on whoever was going to be Captain this year.

He put the question to his friends after the feast was underway. "So, what do you think? Who´s up for Captain this year?"

"Malfoy?" suggested Jason, sarcastically.

"That git!" Jack sneered, "Can´t fly, can´t catch, what were they thinking?"

"New brooms," Evan pointed out. "You take the bad with the good."

"I´d bet, Warrington. Montague´s a better player, but Warrington is Seventh year and this is his last chance to be Captain." Wayne took another slice of kidney and poured some gravy over it. "Professor Snapewill probably announce it this week. He´ll be fair."

There were nods all around. While the Potions Master wasn´t at all liked by the rest of the school, the Slytherins knew him to be extremely fair. Whenever there was a problem, the Professor was ready with good advice. He knew the system and knew how to work it for their benefit, which was evident in the fact that, until the arrival of the famous Harry Potter, Slytherin had won the House Cup many years in a row.

"We´ll get the Cup this year." Wayne continued, "Wood´s graduated, and even having Potter around isn´t going to save Gryffindor this time."

"What about Hufflepuff?"

"Oh, please," Jack frowned at Jason. "Diggory´s got to rebuild this year, most of his team graduated."

Evan let the conversation run as he turned to look over at the Gryffindor table. There was the Famous Harry Potter, deep in conversation with whatever Weasley it was that tagged along his heels and the bushy-haired mudblood girl that was always with them. He hadn´t met Potter, of course. He was a year behind him and for the most part, people didn´t mix much outside their Houses. He knew Weasley´ssister, Ginny, from class--Flitwick had sat him next to her because he and Wayne had been talking too much. He didn´t mind. She was a pretty little thing and it was whispered that she had actually had contact with the Dark Lord during the strange events with the Heir of Slytherin two years ago. He wanted to ask her about it, but knew that the chances were small that she´d say anything to him besides "Excuse me" and "Move over, please."

Things suddenly fell silent when Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster, stood and clinked gently on his glass for attention.

"So!" he said, with that odd, vacuous smile that always made Evan wonder if the good Professor hadn´t finally crossed the line into senility, "Now that we are all fed and watered, I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices."

"So what deadly menace will be coming to school this year?" Wayne muttered. Jack choked, spitting out pumpkin juice.

"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has this year been extended to include Screaming Yo-yos..."

"No!" Jason fingered his pocket absently.

"Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing boomerangs. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty-seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr. Filch´s office, if anybody would like to check it."

"Oh, I´m up for that!" whispered Evan. The boys stifled their laughter.

"As ever, I would like to remind you all that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year. It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."

Evan sat up straight. Wayne´s face registered pure disbelief. Jack and Jason were also in shock. He glanced down the table to where Warrington was seated, and caught a look of irritated resignation. Montague and Malfoy didn´t look surprised, either.

"This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers´ time and energy..." the Headmaster gestured at the staff, some of whom nodded in agreement.

"But I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts..."

A huge rumble of thunder echoed through the hall, and the doors flew open with a loud crash. Evan turned to look.

A man stood there, leaning on a long staff, his black traveling cloak wrapped around him, concealing his face. A flash of lightening rent the ceiling as the man threw back his hood and shook out his mass of grey hair.

He was hideously ugly, his face a grotesque configuration of scars, his eyes mismatched, with one wildly rolling about in its socket. He limped up the aisle, with the distinct clunk of a wooden leg breaking the silence.

Everyone in the room watched as the strange man shook Dumbledore´s hand, exchanging a brief word with him before taking the empty seat at the Head table. The man seemed not to care. He sat down, brushed his hair impatiently out of his face, and pulled a plate of sausages towards him, examining them suspiciously before taking a bite.

"May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" Dumbledore smiled at the students, as if nothing untoward had just happened. "Professor Moody."

Evan felt the world go out from underneath him. Moody. Alastor Moody. "Mad-Eye" Moody. Professor Moody. The man who had killed his father was going to be his teacher.