Where was this coming from? He had to leave. This was becoming too much, although every bone in his body wanted their pain to continue. He just needed to -
"Crucio!" It tore out of his throat against his will, thick like syrup and just as sweet. Another girl, the one who had cut Luna's hair bowled over in a keening whimper, twitching and drooling through the pain. She was much quieter than the last girl had been, her lungs seizing up and preventing any sounds from escaping. It was awful, not nearly as exhilarating or satisfying as the first girl's torture. Frustrated, he cast it again without thinking.
The girl went stiff, then after a moment, began to convulse and choke. She bit her tongue and her face began to turn blue as air could not get through the thick mucus and blood clogging her airway. Her limbs contorted and slapped against the floor. When the girl finally stopped twitching after a couple of minutes, she was curled in a tight ball surrounded by tears, urine, blood, and phlegm. She did not regain consciousness.
Harry was losing control. It was hard to think rationally over the urge to cast the Cruciatus again and again and again. He had a plan! He was supposed to be doing this logically, and it was all slipping between his fingers. With shaking hands, he cast the strongest healing spells he could on the girls, and whisked them all away to the edge of the castle grounds. He collapsed against the door, barely able to breathe through his intense emotions.
How he managed to get back to his dorm, he had no idea, but he got there eventually, long after dark. Ron took one look at him and ushered him into bed with a troubled expression. Harry could not stop giggling.
His dreams were wracked with abstract nightmares and when he woke up, the bed was soaked with sweat.
"You look like shite," Ron said immediately. "I dunno if you're sick or Dark magic-y, but you can't go to classes looking like this." Harry's eyes were dilated and bloodshot and he giggled uncontrollably at random moments. "What the hell did you get up to last night?"
"'M fine."
"No you are not! Should I fetch your mum?"
Harry wasn't sure if his mama would help him or yell at him if he said anything. He felt sick.
"If I don't feel better by dinner we'll tell her," he decided. He did feel tired, perhaps more sleep would help fix things. Although he desperately wanted to go to breakfast to see if the Ravenclaws were behaving appropriately. If he was lucky, then he'd need to curse them a few more times for the message to stick. Cursing someone sounded really nice right about now. He groaned at the migraine he felt pounding behind his eyes.
"Back into bed," Ron ordered. "You look worse than you do at Yule. Anyone takes one look at you like this, and they'll run off screaming. I'll bring you some toast before class. Maybe take a shower if you feel up to it, you smell like death too."
Harry let himself be corralled back into bed. His sleep was still haunted by nightmares and ghostly figures, and he spent all day in a haze. He woke up around four, his grogginess slowly ebbing away as he had the strength to take a very hot shower and down some headache potions. By the time he had done all that, he felt well enough to go to dinner.
But when he got down to the Great Hall, he found Ron and Hermione, both of whom had the color drained from their faces.
"Did you hear the rumors?" Hermione asked, wringing her hands in anxiety.
"No?" Harry said. "What's up?"
"It's Luna! Professor Flitwick pulled her away at lunch and she hasn't returned yet. Some of the Ravenclaws were gossiping during Defense and they said that the second-year Ravenclaws came back late last night and were accusing Luna of casting the Cruciatus on them!"
"Shit," Harry said. "Surely no one thinks Luna would actually do that?" His heart started to beat erratically. He would have to show them the error of their ways. In a very particular, very painful way.
No! It was the intoxicating effects of the Cruciatus that had made him mess up in the first place. He had to stay calm. He could still fix this.
"Harry!" They were interrupted by his mama, an angry scowl affixed on her face. "Follow me, now." He hung his head and went to follow, his minions trailing behind for a second before Alabasandria shooed them away firmly.
"Explain yourself. Two of Luna's dormmates cursed and the lot of them sobbing about shadows and invisible figures and Dark magic."
"They were bullying Luna. I thought I tortured them enough that they wouldn't be stupid enough to say anything."
She put her head in her hands and sighed deeply.
"Are you serious?"
"I think Sirius is serious -"
"Now is not the time for jokes!" She yelled. "The Cruciatus leaves a particular effect, you cannot hide that the curse was used - they will both suffer from seizures for months. All of the professors are hellbent on catching the culprit."
"But they don't think it's Luna, do they?" Harry asked. He would not forgive himself if Luna ended up expelled and arrested because of him.
"No, I had to intervene on her behalf. I forced the children to admit they accused Luna because they did not like her. But we must give them someone to crucify for this. Dumbledore will not let it go."
"I had a plan - I'm not done yet - I just, well -"
"Got a little carried away?" She put her hand over his forehead. "You're burning up. How many times did you cast it?"
"Three."
.....
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