"YOU FOOL!" A shrill voice broke what was usually a quiet dreary landscape. A large almost dog like creature dressed in complete black armor cowered in the corner of what looked like an altar. The altar was in the center of a huge circular room surrounded by many pillars. Everything was painted in a deep black with a certain symbol in certain key places on the pillars. The altar itself was sitting on a painting of this symbol as well. It was the symbol of the heartless.
The owner of the voice was a tall sinister looking witch. She had a very pale looking complection and was covered in a black cape. She gripped onto a very large oak staff. On top of the staff the heartless symbol was present again. "I give you one simple job to find us a new castle and it has already taken ages. And now you come back to me with no news and you want more time!?"
"B...but Maleficent. It isn't exactly what you would call a err buyer's market out there..."
"Silence your excuses you give me a headache."
The witch walked over to the edge of the circular area and looked over the edge. What looked like a black sea was a few hundred feet under her. The sea seemed to have an infinite number of yellow dots. However close up this wasn't a sea at all. It was the army of darkness. The Heartless. Each was swarming the tower that the witch was on top of. Their antennae moving rapidly about the air trying to sense their next victims. More hearts to steal. More heartless to create.
The witch turned around and was shocked to see a new figure standing before her. "What!? How did you get here??? PETE!"
Pete the dog like person who used the opportunity before the new figure arrived to hide behind a pillar. "Yes your wickedness?" Pete then saw their new guest. "Hey who is this chump? I don't like his style."
"Can't say I like yours either." The figure said.
"Why I outta!!!" Pete said enraged. "Heartless front and center!!!"
A small group of heartless emerged on two sides of Pete. Unlike the creatures below the tower there ones were covered in a bluish grey armor. They had the same heartless symbol on their chests that appeared on the towers pillars. "Don't just stand there! Attack!" Pete yelled.
Obediently the heartless jumped at the intruder at once. As they inches from him Maleficent and Pete both were temporarily blinded by a bright red flash. When their sight finally returned to them they saw a large pile of useless armor on the ground in front of them. The pile quickly disappeared in a wisp of black smoke.
Maleficent was stunned and had dropped her staff momentarily. "That...power. Who are you!?"
The person laughed and let down the hood he was wearing.
"Argh what is that...it looks like a human snake." Pete said without thinking (his specialty). Seconds later Pete was knocked unconscious by both a well placed stunner and a smack on the head with a staff.
Maleficent sighed. "Idiot. So, I ask again who you are."
Voldermort smiled and gave a mock bow. "That was rude of me. My name is Lord Voldermort and I believe we can help each other. You are interested in real estate I overheard."
Millicent narrowed her eyes. "Wait a minute how did you get here?"
Voldermort smirked. "That is my secret do you want my help or not?"
She looked him up and down quickly. "And what help could you possibly give me?"
Voldermort took out his wand and waved it in the air. An image of Hogwarts castle appeared floating in mid air. "I have found a place that would fit your needs perfectly. Just a small matter of current tenants and a bit of an aggressive forest to deal with. Shouldn't be a problem for us."
Maleficent frowned. "What do you mean by us? And what is in it for you exactly?"
"As powerful as I seem my dear witch I feel I am too limited in my current power. I heard that you know of a way to true power. Power that could mean anything. Show me the way to that power and I shall help you acquire this castle and all of the secrets it has hidden within it."
Her eyebrow raised slightly. "Why should I feel like you will not betray me?"
Voldermort chuckled. "If I do what would I have to gain?"
Maleficent turned her back on him. "I will give your proposal some thought...until then you are to stay here under my watch. If you try to escape...well let's just say Pete is a mere flea compared to others I command." She carelessly waved her hand over the army surrounding the tower.
Voldermort grinned and bowed again. "As you wish Lady Maleficent. I will patiently await your decision."
Harry Potter and Kingsley Shacklebot were sitting in the living room of Harry's house. Ron and Hermione were also in the room with them. Ginny had arrived a while ago but after a rather vicious albeit awkward fight between her and Harry she had decided to lock herself in Ron's room. Needless to say Ron was ecstatic about this.
"So Mr. Shacklebolt..." Harry began to say.
"Harry you don't have to be so formal. You're no longer a student I feel better if equals call me Kingsley."
"Err alright what did you need to talk about Kingsley?"
Kingsley sat back. "Well I thought first off you would like to know we found Severus Snape in one of Voldermort's suspected hiding places."
Harry felt a strong surge of hatred. "Feed It" He thought her heard a voice say.
"Harry are you alright." Hermione said a little worried.
Harry waved his hand. "Yea don't worry about it. Just spaced out a bit. So did he just give up...or did you have to..."
Kingsley had a sudden serious look on his face. "He is in a coma. It's a mystery. We found his body perfectly intact. Vitals were good and everything. It was like he lost his soul or something like that."
"Good." Muttered Harry and Ron at the same time.
Hermione gave them a stern look but silently agreed all the same.
"Sounds likes a dementors or but he is lucky one of them got him before we did." Harry said darkly.
Kingsley shook his head. "But the dementors were under Voldermort's control..." His voice trailed off and he seemed to blank out for a bit. Harry cleared his throat and Kingsley snapped back into mindset. "Oh sorry. Anyway I also came here to ask for a sort of favor. As you know they are going ahead with an opening of Hogwarts in a couple weeks. They decided not to close it even given...recent events..."
Everyone was silent after Kingsley said this.
"I am not going back to being a student. I have matters to research." Harry said adamantly.
Kingsley shook his head again. "No Harry listen to the rest of what I got to say first. I have been chosen as the new Defense Against the Dark teacher."
"Nice knowing ya." Ron said and was quickly hit upside the head by Hermione.
"Yes yes I know that curse that has been happening lately. It would have to be one hell of a curse to try and affect me though." Kingsley said brightly. "Anyway Harry what I came to ask you for is some help. You see I want you to be my student teacher of sorts."
A little surprised by this request Harry quickly remember the 'extra attention' the Ministry of Magic had been giving him lately. Trying to use him as a symbol after betraying him for so long. "Let me guess your boss thinks I will be a good puppet."
Kingsley laughed. "I serve a different boss now Harry. I quit the ministry a month ago. This actually comes as a request from Headmaster McGonagall. You would be a great symbol for all the students. You were seen as a hero in their hearts. And it would show that the school can face any from anyone. You would of course be allowed to every resource we have on Horocruxes, and trust me I know of libraries that even put the ones we had in the Ministry to shame. So what do you say?"
Harry thought it over. "If it is for the students and the school...then I can't say no."
Kingsley smiled. "I thought you would say that Harry. Oh and Hermione and Ron will also be able to come back too. I imagine they want to get their NEWTS underway as soon as possible."
Hermione was basically overcome with excitement when she heard that news. "You mean we don't have to skip our last year after all!!! I mean no offense Harry we would follow you to the end of the world but...Oh this is so great I have to get ready. Ron we have to got to Diagon Ally right away!!! We only have a few weeks left. Oh I have to tell Ginny!!" And without another word Hermione dissapeared upstairs.
Ron on the other hand...
"Oh joy...cause the chance for no homework or tests would probably have been the end of me..."
He slumped after Hermione kinda hoping that maybe this had all been a well placed nightmare and he would just wake up.
Kingsley nodded and stood up. "Well Harry I must be going. A few handpicked Aurors were giving the castle a walkthrough. Nothing to worry about just making sure all of the blocks and other spells were still going strong after Albas was murdered."
Awkward Pause
"Err anyway I have to get back to them for a quick debriefing. We will see you at the castle in a week, and Harry...Thanks for this. You probably just gave hope to every student who walks in the doors this year." Harry shook Kingsley's hand. "It was no problem at all. You take care of yourself Kingsley."
Kingsley walked over to the fireplace. "Oh and Harry just so you know we still haven't found any traces of Lord Voldermort. It is kind of like he just disappeared or something like that, so just in case be on your guard as always." And with that he entered the fireplace and disappeared in a flash of colors.
How long have I been here anyway...it's like time has stopped.
You are basically correct.
Huh hey what was that? Who are you!?
I am not a nobody or a heartless if that is what you mean.
Uh huh sure whatever. Where are you? I can't see anything.
Let the light be your guide. It will lead you right to me.
Right...the light...what is he talking about. Hey is that a doorway...
Sora promptly fell onto a cold floor. "Ouch...well that definitely was a doorway then."
He looked around. He seemed to be in a gigantic library. Around him were thousands maybe millions of books. Struggling a bit he found his way onto his feet. "Ok I am here I guess now show yourself." He summoned the keyblade just for good measure.
"You can put that away. You couldn't hurt me anymore then I could hurt you. Pain does not exist in this world."
Sora made no attempt to put his keyblade away. "Yea sure and I should listen to you why"
A person stepped from beyond one of the bookcases. He was wearing a trench coat similar to the members of Organization XIII. However his was stripped with black and white. Sora was painfully reminded of his finally confrontation with Xemnas who had worn a very similar outfit. His hood was up making it impossible to make any kind of identification.
"Sora your journey is not yet over. I know you had no choice to be here but let me be the first to welcome you." He rose up his hands and the entire library lit up showing even more books. Maybe billions at this point. "To the World In-between."
Yea I am taking my sweet time between these chapters trust me I know haha. But I don't want to just throw something together and I keep coming up with new ideas as I go along. Keep reviewing and thanks for those who took the time to write me some so far.
