Disclaimer: I do not own anything from either Harry Potter or Charmed and I am not making a profit from this story.
Chapter Seven: Reconnaissance in Hell
"It makes no sense," Cole started to say, "Why would she just let me off that easily?"
"Perhaps now she believes she recruited powerful and very connected member of my staff," Dumbledore replied. The two were sitting in Cole's office after his third-year class had left. "She thinks that you owe her. And I can guarantee that she will call in your debt at some point, but let's discuss this further when that point comes. Until then, how fairs your moderations to the blood to blood spell? Do you think it's worded correctly so that you may find your son's exact whereabouts?"
"I don't know and I don't want to try it until I do. If Phoebe was here she would know the right words."
Dumbledore looked at Cole expectantly, but said nothing. Cole stared down at his page and continued, hastily changing the subject.
"Anyway, I should be able to fix it and soon, I hope."
"Well if you need any help with that, I'm sure I could rustle up my old spell-writing skills."
Dumbledore smiled and left the young man alone in his office to prepare for his fourth-year class.
oOo
"So, to conclude this lesson, I want to see who has been paying attention to me," Cole said with a smile on his face. It was the last lesson on a Friday afternoon, so keeping their attention was not an easy feat. Most students were obsessed with the Quidditch game the following morning between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Tell to the truth, Cole was also hanging out to see it.
"Who can tell me how you would effectively vanquish a strong, upper-level warlock?"
"Oh I know," piped up Colin Creevey, "A potion made with his own flesh."
Cole looked at him with mixed emotions. He was glad that Creevey remembered something from his class, but crestfallen that it was the wrong something.
"No," Cole replied simply, "That's for upper-level demons, remember?"
"Oh, Sir," Ginny Weasley started to say, "Didn't you say a powerful vanquishing spell, like a Power of Three spell, would do the trick?"
"Correct," Cole chuckled with a smile on his face, "Well done, Miss Weasley. Ten points to Gryffindor. I actually have a Power of Three spell here that the Charmed Ones used about a year and a half ago to vanquish a warlock by the name of Devlin, who was capturing muses."
His class didn't even bother to ask what a muse was. They were all anxious to hear the spell.
'Evil is a faithful foe,
But good does battle best,
We witches will,
With these words,
Waste the warlock's evil zest.'
The students cheered.
"Well I didn't write the spell," Cole began, blushing a little, "I wasn't even present when it was written."
"Who wrote it, Sir?" Ginny asked.
At that moment Cole's attention was drawn away to a woman waving at him from his classroom door. He looked at the clock.
"Ok guys," Cole said quickly, "I will see you next week and since I'm so nice, no homework for the weekend." The students cheered again.
"Have fun at the game tomorrow," he told them as they shuffled passed him. The woman entered the room as they left.
"Paige," Cole said, slightly startled, "What on Earth are you doing here?"
"I thought you ought to know that Lord Voldemort is increasing demonic activity in San Francisco. Since Wyatt was born, we have been attacked on more than a dozen different occasions and not just by demons. I did not want to ask you this, but is there anything you can do?"
Cole looked at her for a moment without saying anything. Then he asked, "Who's Wyatt?"
"Wyatt Matthew Halliwell, he was born a fortnight ago."
"I thought that Piper was expecting a girl."
"So did we until he came out. I did not want to come here and ask for your help, Cole. I want nothing more than to vanquish you right here, right now. But I'm thinking about my nephew and my sisters. We can't keep the evil forces of this dark lord at bay forever. We need a better plan. We need to find out what they're planning."
"So you're sending me into hell?"
"I know Phoebe would appreciate this... When she finds out you're still alive."
"I wish everybody would stop using her to convince me to do their bidding. Wait, she doesn't know I'm alive? I assumed that by you being here meant that you three knew."
"No, Leo sent me here. Piper and Phoebe don't think you're dead, but they're not sure that you're alive. They will find out eventually, but there is too much going on at the moment that we haven't had time to tell them yet."
"Fine, I miss demon fighting anyway. I will let you know what I learn one way or another."
"Thank-you. And Cole," he looked up at her, "you didn't do that Power of Three spell justice."
He chuckled as he closed the door behind her. As soon as she had left, he quickly replaced his black teaching robe with a long black coat and walked out the door, heading towards the Forbidden Forest.
oOo
Ginny was in the Gryffindor common room, telling Ron, Harry and Hermione about the mysterious American red-haired woman that she passed on her way out of Turner's classroom.
"She must be from the Galeic world," said Ron, "Do you think she was a Charmed One? I mean, he did say that he worked with them in the past."
Harry wasn't listening. He was looking out the window, watching Cole walk towards the Forest. Making the split-second decision to follow him, Harry ran up to his dorm and stuffed his Invisibility Cloak under his robes and ran out the Gryffindor portrait door.
"Where are you going?" Ron shouted after him.
"Gotta grab some stuff for Quidditch tomorrow. Be back soon," Harry yelled back as he dashed down the staircase.
Harry was glad that Cole was only walking; otherwise he wouldn't have caught up. As Harry approached Cole, he slipped his Cloak on silently, trying hard not to alert Cole of his presence.
Cole did not hear Harry. He was caught up in thoughts of Phoebe. The lesson with the fourth-years today had brought him back to a time where they used to work together. 'When Phoebe and I were in love,' he thought to himself. Begrudgingly, he continued further into the forest and out of the grounds so he could shimmer out.
Harry realised, just in time, that as soon as they were about they were out of the Hogwarts boundaries, Cole was going to shimmer away.
With less than a second of time on his side, Harry ran and launched himself at Cole, just as he was shimmering to the Underworld.
oOo
"What the hell?" Cole questioned quietly. He did not wish to bring any unwanted guests down upon him so soon.
"HARRY!" he whispered loudly as Harry removed his Invisibility Cloak, "What the hell are you doing here?!" he continued to whisper as he grabbed Harry by the arm.
"I'm sorry, Sir, but I thought you could use my help. I'm very effective in the battle against Lord Voldemort."
Cole scowled to himself. He had no idea how he was going to explain this to Dumbledore, but he couldn't Harry back now. No doubt that someone had sensed his entrance back into the Underworld, so he did not have long to discover which demon Voldemort had put in charge of attacking the Charmed Ones.
"Put that Cloak of yours back on and don't say a word."
"What is this place?" Harry asked quietly.
"The Underworld, now be quiet, I need to find a demon."
Harry followed Cole through several empty caverns, not seeing so much as one demon. Then suddenly, three shimmered in and through Cole against a wall.
He replied by throwing an energy ball at the nearest one, but it missed. The demons had Cole pinned against the wall of the cavern. Harry saw one more demon arrive a charge Cole. Without thinking, Harry threw off his cloak and yelled, "IMPEDIMENTA!" at the charging demon.
The force of Harry's jinx threw the demon off his feet. The shock of Harry's attack took the other three demons by surprise, and Cole, using this to his advantage, threw three energy balls at them, vanquishing them instantly. Harry then shouted "CONFRINGO!" pointing his wand at the roof of the cavern, causing rocks to fall from above and trap the demon.
"What was that?" Cole asked jumping to his feet.
"Blasting Curse," Harry replied. Cole shrugged, amazed by the boy's magical abilities and knowledge.
"Who is the demon that the Dark Lord from the Hekabeic world sent after the Charmed Ones?" Cole demanded of the upper-level demon trapped under the rock. "Tell me and I will ease your passing into the Wasteland."
"Incarcerous," Harry muttered, noticing that the demon was beginning to free himself from the rock, so he bound him by ropes as well.
He then noticed something in the pocket of the demon's jacket. It was a piece of paper, which he took and handed to Cole.
Cole opened the crinkled paper to reveal a list of all the demons that had been sent after the Charmed Ones in the past two weeks.
"You're the demon after them," he spat out.
"And I won't be the last. You're precious witch will die Belthazor."
Cole angrily released the demon from the rocks, and as the he ran towards Cole and Harry, Cole produced an athame, which he stabbed into the demon's chest.
Together, he and Harry watched the demon leave this plane in flames.
"Alright there, Harry?" Cole asked, regathering his composure.
Harry nodded, as he picked up his Cloak. Cole grabbed him and shimmered them back to school.
"Best not to mention, this to anyone else, Harry," Cole started to say, "I will let Professor Dumbledore know."
"Can I tell Ron and Hermione? Please, Sir? They are my best friends and I don't like to keep secrets from them."
Cole hesitated for a minute, but then realised the magnitude of what he was asking Harry to do.
"Okay," he replied, "But we cannot let Umbridge find out what we were up to, or else...?"
Cole didn't need to finish that sentence. They both know the consequences of Umbridge learning about the demon-vanquish adventure.
"Sir? I want you again. Can you teach me more than what we learn in class? I wanna be able to defend myself better against demons and warlocks."
"I will think about it, but I am much too busy at the moment, Harry. I'll let you know."
They walked their separate ways as they entered the castle.
Harry quickly ran to his common room, anxious to share the events of the evening with his best friends.