In Renascentia Azkaban

by chicadoodle

When Harry is thrown in Azkaban following the events of the Tri-Wizard tournament, he discovers just how far the Wizarding World will go to protect the status quo - and that there is more to Azkaban Prison than meets the eye. The True History of the Wizarding World waits for him in the lowest levels of Azkaban - a truth that only the Dementor's may reveal.

4. A Library Can Be A Dangerous Place

The Library of the Clayr was unlike any other. A vast archive of magical materials, both written and physical, it extends far below the glacier that the Clayr call home. The library is shaped in a large downward shrinking spiral, reaching from the top of the mountains and reaching down into the bowels of the earth.

The Clayr who called that same glacier home had long been blessed with the gift of foresight; the ability to peer into the future. But the Clayr were more than just their ability to catch glimpses of possible futures - for no future was truly set in stone, no destiny irrevocable or unchangeable. The Clayr were traders, collectors of lost lore and guardians of some of the most dangerous secrets the Old Kingdom had to offer.

It was in the Library of the Clayr that these secrets were guarded, this lore preserved. To call it a library, then, was often misleading; much of what was collected had nothing to do with books, and went even beyond the collection of artefacts. Living, breathing creatures lay trapped in the lower depths of these halls.

It was said that the great spiral of the Library ended abruptly at the face of a pale green rock. This was an accepted fact, though it had been years since any had dared to wander so far down into the depths. The lower one wandered, the more dangerous and ancient the collection of artefacts and creatures one might find - though all were held behind powerful wards and enchantments to keep them hidden away. But even the most powerful of wards withered away with time.

How long had it been since any had made their way into the lowest depths of the Library? Longer than any could recollect, certainly. None in the history of the Clayr had visited those depths in centuries, perhaps even longer. Was it so surprising, then, that the Clayr might have lost count of the many rooms and chambers which existed?

Due to the precognitive gift that the Clayr shared in their bloodline, many of the chambers of the Library had been created, not to hold anything captive, but to await the coming of another; should a Clayr foresee a chamber existing where none currently did, such a chamber would often be created to facilitate in this vision.

All in all, the Library of the Clayr was a dangerous place; a place of secrets, even from the Clayr themselves. Entire chambers had been forgotten, hidden away from human eyes for centuries - and longer. Wards had fallen, never to be replaced; ancient protections breaking under the unstoppable force of time.

But at the base of the Library, where no feet had traveled in thousands of years - here lay the greatest secret of the Library of the Clayr.

Here lay Azkaban.