The Hogwarts Mole, Yr6Chp45
Under the cut for spoilers
do you hear that? It’s the sound of ‘I TOLD YOU SO’ being screamed in the distance
you should have told me you were leaving Merula, I would have packed your bags for you
OH SHIT SHE’S THE HANDLER :O
because she... helped to access the Final Vault? helped get rid of Rakepick? exactly how did she prove herself worthy, and what is the truth she knows?
ah yes, power. as always.
Merula I didn’t like you anyway, how tf do you plan to get me to join R? still, getting MC on board has to be a new term in this deal, considering that Merula tried killing them in year 1. maybe she felt her chances of joining R were threatened by them back then?
well have fun with that, now please never come back.
Is it just me, or was there WAY more content in the chapter than there was for the fucking FINAL VAULT?????????? R wanting to know about MC’s wand and reading habits... They’re trying to get a feel for MC’s personality, their character, how they’ve been approaching the Vaults, or at least that’s my impression.
I’m still not sold that the ‘Final Vault’ wasn’t a dud or something. Maybe it’s actually a trial or test that R concocted for potential candidates? That would actually be an interesting plot twist - badly executed because that chapter fucking sucked - and could really show how ingrained R’s history is with the Cursed Vaults. If the group was formed by the Vault’s Protector’s, creating a phony Vault as a trial for initiates before they attempt to reach the real Final Vault could be a good process for weeding out those who aren’t capable of handling the Final Vault.
Which... does not bode well for MC considering that they got very much stuck in the loop before she pulled them out. Merula must have had some preparation, therefore explaining how she escaped the curse, and she needed to make sure MC made it out too because that’s the deal. MC joins R and she gets the power they’ve promised her. Question is, why would R want a leader who can’t overcome their trial? Because they need MC specifically because of their bloodline? That would make MC more of a figurehead than a leader, but I guess it makes no difference to R. They need MC for a reason, and if that means breaking their own rules, so be it.
Now... Rakepick. As always we come to Rakepick. And maybe I’m once again wandering into my own hc land, but I’ve got Thoughts okay.
Merula was suspicious of Rakepick when she first showed up and never trusted her until that sudden turnabout at the end of Year 5. And with Merula working for R, it adds a layer of new context to her mistrust. Initially, Rakepick’s loyalties are to herself, and she could end up intefering with R’s operation in her search for the Vaults. She’s a threat to R, and thus Merula’s chances of joining them. But then, one day, Merula is told that Rakepick has joined R, and that they will have to work together in the Portrait Vault to set up a chain of events - namely Vault!Jacob’s release, and give MC a reason to go after R and continue pursuing the Vaults.
Merula is livid over this development because Rakepick Can’t Be Trusted and Hasn’t Proven Herself Worthy Yet. She, Merula, has been working hard to get in with R, and Rakepick just has to rock up and she’s in??? Don’t tell me that Merula wouldn’t be furious over that.
Anyways, the Portrait Vault. Merula is in on the Betrayal and knew she was going to be hit with the Cruciatus Curse... but it just further compounds her already existing grudge towards Rakepick, turning it into full-blown hatred. So Merula’s grudge is real, but it’s not because Rakepick ‘betrayed’ the group. It’s all that anger and distrust and jealousy finally reaching their peak, and it makes it real easy for Merula to sell her anger to the others. It’s real, she’s just lying about the precise reason behind it.
The ‘Final’ *cough*Trial*cough* Vault Confrontation? Merula tries to kill Rakepick, even after she’s already been subdued. Why? Maybe to prove herself worthy, maybe to tie a loose end, maybe because Rakepick’s defeat proves her unworthy, maybe to keep the others from becoming suspicious of her. Or maybe Merula just wanted to prove that she was deserving of joining R while Rakepick was not. The fact that Jacob stops her from casting the Killing Curse means that R probably doesn’t want Rakepick dead, and whether she’s trapped in the Final/Trial Vault or sent to Azkaban, they’ll be coming to get her. For good or ill.
Anyway I am dying to hear thoughts on this chapter if only to see what other folks took away from this. Seriously though, please let that lameass Final Vault be a decoy created by R as a means of testing potential recruits and the real Final Vault is in the Black Lake or smth. Pleeeeeeeeeease.
