AN: The 4th chapter or rather a small text piece is ready. 5th chapter is on the way. I'll try to update soon.
satyr-oh, thanks I'll try not to disappoint in the future.
miss quirky bookworm, yeah, I know I am a bad person, especially updating in such a long while… Convenient? Do you mean Remus' enlightening letter? It is strangely convenient, isn't it? I am still trying to figure out what is wrong with it. Hm-m... I have a few ideas, we'll see. ;)
SeulWolfe, not exactly. More is explained in this chapter and the following one. I have not yet decided about Ron and Hermione. I admit that I don't like them much, but I also won't make them into these evil Dumbledore minions who betray their friend for money, fame etc.
Immortal Sailor Cosmos, yeah, there is not much yet to make a judgment. ) But keep in touch, I look forward to your opinion.
Chapter 4
The wand briefly lighted a cavern-type round hall and the next second warmed and melted… Harry cried out in pain. Great, just fucking great. Now he would have bloody wounds from the owl, burns on his hand… Holy Merlin, he was stuck with no wand in bloody nowhere! No light, no food, no company…
A distant hoot from above reached his ears. Ok, so the aggressive owl got in the same predicament as him. Great companion.
With heart beating frantically, Harry crawled through the unidentifiable cloth to the wall, all the while coughing and sneezing. He hoped that if there was a way down then there should be a way up. Probably. The boy walked in a circle touching the wall with the hands. No openings, carved ladder or the like.
He sighed and tried not to panic again. Maybe he missed it. Perhaps, a more thorough search was needed…
Nothing, just rough stone all the way up to his not that impressive height… And round we go again…
Suddenly, a fresh stab of pain hit his already injured hands. Harry could feel the blood flow from the deep cut on his palm. The boy's eyes became teary. His pain tolerance was pretty high, but if he went on adding injuries at this rate, he would be bawling like a baby in no time… Harry carefully, as not to wound himself again, traced the space surrounding the sharp object. He felt a smooth round stone with a sharp short stake in the middle.
Hwaup!
Harry tried to distance himself from the disturbing sound and utterly failed. His hand was now stuck to the stone. What the fuck? The frigging stone was sucking up his blood!
The teen jerked the glued hand with his left numerous times to no avail. He even tried to push with his legs off the wall… The only way to dislodge the hand from the trap was, as it seemed, to cut the mentioned hand off. Ha! Even if he had the guts and the tools, he would just die from blood loss in this anti-sanitary environment.
So the young wizard numbly stood and felt the life draining from him at an alarming rate. He already felt light-headed. That was so unfair! His suffering couldn't be all for naught. He wanted to live!..
The already black world faded into nothingness…
The first thing Harry understood as he became conscious was that he was still very much alive and feeling like crap. He decided not to dwell on his physical state too much; it was counterproductive and just led to self-pity.
He carefully took in the surroundings. Wait… Was there really the light at the end of the tunnel?
Leaning heavily on the cold wall, Harry traveled through the passageway that had opened in the wall in the place of the blood-sucking stone. Light… He was drawn to it like a moth to a flame.
Soon he was entering another empty cavern. A large orb of ethereal light was suspended in the air exactly in the middle of the room, erasing any doubts about its magical origin. Harry gazed at the unknown object, nonplussed. Now what?..
As if sensing his thoughts the orb glowed brighter and a low voice boomed:
"Name!"
Is it an automatic system or actually intelligent? Well, it couldn't hurt to check it out.
"And yours?"
"You don't have the honor to know my name yet, but you may call me Master. Now, what is your name?"
Harry weakly snorted.
"Harry Potter."
"Never heard of Potters… Must be a new line…" – the orb gave a good impression of muttering under his breath. "Nevermind… Harry Potter, henceforth, you have no name and will be called Apprentice. Your past memories will be blocked till such a time that you earn a Calling."
Greatly alarmed by the words of the orb, Harry hastily backed to the entrance… which conveniently disappeared. In desperation the teen banged his fist against the stone. Even if it was an illusion, it was a solid one.
Meanwhile the tendrils of golden mist were slowly but inevitably approaching him. Harry gulped.
"Hey, orb, there is no need to be hasty… I don't remember giving permission to touch my memories or becoming an Apprentice. And I must warn you that I am abysmal at studying. You would be disappointed…" his pleas didn't affect the progress of the mist, which already reached his feet and was creeping upwards to his face. "Stop, I…"
The last thought, before he inhaled the sickenly sweet aroma of the mist, was that he should have been more careful with his wishes. He did wish to acquire knowledge to defeat Voldermort, but not in such a way.