When she returned to Hogwarts, Ophelia went straight into the Great Hall for dinner. She spent most of the day with Snape, either chatting or searching for new books in Tomes and Scrolls. It was entertaining even if it may not sound so, because she could be around him and not mention her father or the Death Eaters.

That was the main reason she was still smiling when she sat at a random table, not caring who was around. She was ready to take a bite from a sumptuous-looking chicken leg when somebody sat next to her.

"Had fun today?" Rabastan's voice came too close to her ear. "I think my ears bleed after hearing Potter whine and complain about how you abandoned him for Snape," He added genuinely sounding and looking tired of the stag.

"Is that so?" was her apathetic reply, making him roll his eyes. 

"Lucius came to Hogsmeade for a date," Rabastan changed the subject. "He was quite sure that if he stays still, you'll find him,"

"I did," she said before taking another bite.

"And?" Rabastan pressed.

"Why so curious? It has nothing to do with you or school," Ophelia said turning to him with an amused expression. "Do you think that I'm going to take Lucius and run into trouble?"

"Precisely,"

"If you were better at controlling your mind, you could have found all the information you need in my memories," she commented in a cold tone, knowing he understood what she meant. 

"You say that but what about disapparating? Are you able to do it?" he asked narrowing his eyes at the Gryffindor. She bit her lip, knowing that he caught her.

She pouted and looked to the side when she saw Dumbledore from the corner of her eye. He was speaking to McGonagall but she had this feeling that he was also very much aware of what was happening in the Great Hall. 

"Lucius said that you and he had cleaned the cottage of darkness," she changed the subject.

"The premises around the house, yes. Your father had dementors all around the forest and I think some gnomes tried to make themselves at home in the garden. But the house repelled them, as well as dark wizards who tried to enter and search for valuable stuff to steal." Rabastan replied, probably talking about Dolohov. 

"Is there any painting of an adult Spinnard?" She asked looking straight into his eyes.

"Not in the cottage as far as I know. Maybe his parents have one, though I doubt it." He answered before he raised an eyebrow and leaned in, "Why?" 

"I want to speak to him about certain aspects of my life. My childhood, to be exact. It seems that someone might have tempered with some of my memories," 

"And you think it was him?" 

"He killed a woman and kidnapped her child straight from her womb, so yes. I think he can do anything," 

"I can ask around but there are slim chances. Besides, Spinnard was not a likable person, he didn't have any friends." 

Ophelia sighed and looked down at her plate.

"Why don't you use a Time Turner? You can go back in time and ask him yourself. Just avoid meeting your past version and it should be alright. He hasn't been dead for such a long time,"

"It's been 5 years," she said knowing that he didn't die a few weeks ago. But Rabastan shrugged innocently, not finding that to be a problem. "Where can I get a Time Turner from?"

"I'll find you one." 

The rest of the evening passed with no troubles. Ophelia seemed to be in a trance and several times Potter tried to 'lift the curse of Snape' off her, which only brought him a strong push eventually. 

When night came, she couldn't sleep and couldn't stand being in the room with the girls. The noise made her even more anxious and all she wanted was a long vacation away from everything.

She sat there, with her knees close to her chest, staring at the fire with eyes full of questions. It was at such times that she understood how much of a difference family could make. She missed Gloria and her cheekiness, and she missed Richard and his little chats about criminal activity and evidence. And it wasn't just them, it was what they brought along, all the aunts and uncles and cousins and second cousins that no one spoke with. She sighed and rubbed her eyes, trying not to miss something that she had experienced only briefly. 

"Meow?" Was heard and Ophelia looked up immediately. 

Vernon Peverell was there, watching her with warm blue eyes. He seemed to know what she was thinking because he almost looked like he would have liked to hug her. 

"You wanted to show me something, right? I believe this is the perfect moment to try again. Tom cannot interfere this time, so show me what happened on the day I got lost in the forest." Ophelia said, already making her mind up. She had to know what was changed in her memory.

The black kitten tilted its head to the side and pondered on the next move. Ophelia remained looking into his eyes and slowly she started to feel as if she was being transported back in time, when she was just an orphan. 

As the image of Rothiemurchus Forest became clearer, she realized she was in her little body at a significant moment in her life. She could remember that she had gotten lost when searching for another kid from the orphanage and when she found him, it felt like she was led to his spot. It looked like an odd, fantastic place when she was young but now, after witnessing everything at Hogwarts and Spinnard's Cottage, it seemed more like the forest was enchanted with real magic. 

And then she heard the first scream and the anxiety that it brought along. While taking a quick look around, more and more screams filled the air, and following her memory, she started to search for the cause. Ophelia noticed something a few feet obliquely to where they were. She took a few steps and moved the branches aside, aware she might come face to face with something dangerous. She walked into a clearing that looked pretty much dead. The vegetation was dead and the leaves were rotten, giving off a nasty smell.

Another scream filled the air but it was coming from another side completely. She turned around, ready to run back but something appeared in front of her. 

The dementor, she thought. She stood there, expecting the cloaked creature to appear and- 

“Ophelia!”

Paul’s voice was faint as the creature flew closer to her and opened a mouth that looked like a hole. Only...her eyes burned, causing her to rub them a few times, and when she looked up she realized that there was never a dementor that attacked them.

"Father," she gasped, freezing in her place. There he was, dressed in a dark cloak but with beautiful sparkling blue eyes and a charming smile that could fool anyone.  

"Let's go for a walk, little girl," he said, grabbing her hand.

"But my friend! Something bad is here!" Ophelia answered by reflex, turning to look for Paul, the orphan for whom she entered the forest to begin with.

"He'll be alright," he said, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Don't you want to spend time with your father, Ophelia?" 

Her eyes widened and without hearing her answer, Tom disapparated with her. The feeling was awful and she felt nauseous once they arrived. She couldn't even see where she was, because she had to rush and throw up. Tom pointed at a random door, which Ophelia believed was just another room for her to vomit in. Unlike what she expected, her 7-year-old memory left her teenage version alone, which gave Ophelia a better view of what was happening around her. A knock interrupted her mind, followed by a familiar angry face walking in, straight to her father.

Spinnard approached Tom with his usual scoffing expression. He looked the same as she remembered him at school, not even his clothes were different although he was younger.

"I told you I won't do it so you went on and did it yourself!" Spinnard exclaimed, sounding exasperated. "You can't just go and kidnap a child, Riddle,"

It was such an odd sight, seeing the two interact. It always seemed to Ophelia that Spinnard was incredibly afraid of her father, but maybe she was wrong.

"She's my child, in case you forgot. She has Lillian's pure blood and my magic. She will grow up to do amazing things, Luce. She will finally bring me what I need,"

"That's not a way to think about your daughter! What do you expect her to do, to be? A murderer?" Spinnard asked, his voice getting louder.

Ophelia raised an eyebrow, amazed by these two men. 

"Lillian was a natural legilimence, I am a parseltongue, such talents do not come often in the same package. Her mind contains secrets that only Lillian knew, secrets that will help me obtain immortality," Tom underlined his needs.

Spinnard sighed so loudly that it felt so unlike him.

"What do you expect her to do? Become a Horcrux? Give her life up for a piece of your soul? Do you expect her to be another Nagini?" Spinnard pressed on, realizing little Ophelia was just outside the room. "Let her be a child, Tom. Let her enjoy her life at school, have friends, and be a normal kid. Wait until she is an adult, at least, and then ask her for help rather than just forcefully manipulate her into it."

Teenager Ophelia was rather impressed. Luce Spinnard, the man who always acted like she was his greatest enemy, was defending her. 

Tom glared at the Ravenclaw and scoffed at his preposterous words. She was right there, in his hands, so willing to help if only he could push her a little, and yet his classmate was pleading to let her go. 

"She's not an asset for you right now. She needs to go to school, learn, become a good witch, and then-" Spinnard stopped, knowing that his idea wasn't the brightest either. "I'll keep an eye on her, don't worry," he added, glancing at her from the corner of his eye. "Ophelia is not her mother, Hogwarts will make her stronger. She's your daughter, she will have the same desire for knowledge, so eventually, she will come to you for it," he said, his words cutting deep into her.

He was right, she did reach out to him because he made her feel empowered, but it also turned her life upside down. 

"I'll take her back. Don't look for her anymore, be patient," Spinnard said and approached Ophelia with a kind smile, which was even more of a shock. "Your father is indisposed, Ophelia. Let's get you back to Mrs. Glenmore,"

How does he know about Mrs. Glenmore? Ophelia thought, watching him with a frown.  

Spinnard apparated back into the same spot she was in the forest. Paul was there, unconscious, leaning against a tree. 

"Is he alright?" she asked the adult, to which he only sighed and nodded.

"He just needs sleep. You too," he replied and turned to her. He looked deep into her green eyes and couldn't help but worry. "Your father is not a good man, Ophelia. If you can, stay away from him. Your mother gave in to his charm and when she decided to run away, it was too late, so don't make the same mistake as her."

"My mother died," little Ophelia said, although there was no real emotion at the mention of the traumatic event.

"Exactly. Being around your father means death. Follow Dumbledore's advice and forget about him, forget about your mother, and live your life. If the opportunity arises, go with a new family."

Ophelia's eyes widened at all the information thrown at her by Spinnard. Follow Dumbledore's advice? How did he know about that? And go with a new family? Did he know she was going to be adopted soon after the incident? If so, then, has he been watching me all my childhood?

Spinnard caressed her head softly before he whispered Obliviate, and Ophelia fell unconscious. The next time she opened her eyes was in Stirling.

She suddenly woke up with a jolt, breathing harshly as she came back to her senses. Her eyes were wide and suddenly she felt a heavy burden fall onto her shoulders. Spinnard died because of her, but did he care at all or was it all for Peverell? There were so many questions but the one she hated the most was: if he hadn't interfered, what would Tom have done back then? Would he have killed her? Turned her into a copy of her mother? Kept her away from the world and transformed her into his perfect host? She shuddered at the thought of not having met her friends.

"Hey! Ophelia! Do you hear me?"

In all that mess inside her mind, she didn't notice she scared someone when she woke up. When she finally saw him, she frowned.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him.

"Are you serious? Blimey, I've come down for a bit of fresh air and noticed you were sleeping on the sofa. But it looked like you were having a nightmare so I tried to wake you up. When you did, you almost hit my forehead!" Sirius explained, "What happened to you?"

"...I really want to have a chat with Spinnard," she said out of nowhere.