Chapter Nine
The Dark Ring
What Severus had planned to talk to Jennifer about during conference was quickly abandoned as he found himself spending the entire hour helping her with the grueling task of testing each new item to make certain that nothing could have set the ring off.
"I'd rather you not get the ring itself out right now, because we're going to want time to look into that without rushing," Severus sighed. "Also, I think I'll wander by the Transfiguration Room to have a word with Andrew. I would feel much better with another Craw blood acting point when we do get that thing out."
Jennifer readily agreed, reluctantly returning to her last two classes. Well, at least the items from the pawnshop got a thorough check, Jennifer thought dryly, glancing at the bag she had put them in so she could drop them off in Francis' office. But the fact that they still had no idea what exactly had caused the ring to go off made her feel quite uncomfortable having to go back and teach potion formulas and the properties of Feistyweed. Without even a thought about food, she hurried up to the Headmaster's Study at dinner, meeting Andrew halfway up the stairs and walking in together.
"He isn't here," Andrew said thoughtfully, but Jennifer went over to his appointment book.
"Oh, that's right, board meeting tonight. He should be back soon, though, I think all he really needed to do was report on budget specifics for the year," Jennifer said, getting in the case to get her Puzzlebox out while Andrew went straight over to a tray of sandwiches, watching as she opened it. "I just can't figure out what could have possibly set this thing off through a Puzzlebox. I haven't had anything happen like that since…"
"Since?" Andrew prompted when Jennifer stood up and became lost in thought.
"Since the night the ghost of Mallus Craw woke up in the mirror painting," Jennifer finished after a moment.
"I've heard you say that before…you mentioned that painting last year," Andrew commented. "Just what happened that night? And how did the ghost get stuck in the painting in the first place?"
"Oh, well, there's an ancient technique for that…started out as a curse, really, some sort of cult ritual to try and 'entrap the demons' of the soul so that the evildoings of a man can stay and just the 'good parts' would ascend," Jennifer snorted. "Well that was the theory at any rate. It was an exorcist cult based on early Christianity, I think, although if you want anything more specific than that you'd have to ask your father about it, since it's not my area. But basically, it involved bonding a cord that ties one's corporeal and incorporeal selves together when we're alive to an inanimate object…nearly always a mirror…to try and capture the soul upon one's death. Of course it really didn't separate anything but the corpse from its ghost, so the only real benefit to it was that if the person who died had a ghost, he wasn't tied to his remains, he was tied to the object instead. In this particular case, Mallus Craw also put a possession curse on the mirror and had it painted on top of, so that he could later attempt to come back by possessing someone of his bloodline so he could reap havoc on the world again. He very nearly succeeded at that," Jennifer admitted thoughtfully. "If it hadn't been the fact that we were here in this office that night, not to mention Severus' quick thinking as well as the fact that the curse triggered the protections on this room and got Dumbledore here in a hurry…well, I wouldn't be around, honestly. That's why we don't allow séances here on Halloween anymore by the way," she added dryly. "That's how he got woken up in the first place. Apparently Puzzleboxes don't account for trying to summon dead spirits."
"Really…" Andrew said thoughtfully, gazing at the box. "How very interesting. I don't suppose there could be anything like that causing this right now?"
"I don't see how. Dumbledore got rid of the ghost, and I am quite certain it was in a manner that it won't be coming back," Jennifer said.
"Maybe it's some other sort of summons," Andrew said. "Or maybe it's memory sealed."
"Memory sealed?" Jennifer repeated, putting on her gloves before bringing the ring out to look at it. It wasn't glowing now, but that same foreboding feeling she had gotten since the very first time she had taken it still lingered as strong as ever. "You know, now that you mention that, I would be very surprised if it wasn't memory sealed or memory imprinted in some way. It'd definitely explain the dark aura around it, to be sure, and perhaps it also explains why it was left in his tomb. His son took the dagger. He took the wand. But he left this."
"For some reason that doesn't make me feel much better about the fact that you now have it, Mum," Andrew said.
Just then, the door opened and Severus swept in wearing his best robes, his eyes darting between the two of them before he noticed the ring was in Jennifer's hand and he scowled at her.
"Couldn't it have waited?" he asked, going over to his desk for a moment.
"We haven't started without you, Severus, I simply drew it out to look at it because it doesn't seem to be active at the moment," Jennifer explained. "How was the meeting?"
"Aggravating as always. They barely glanced at my budget concerns at all in favor of attempting to uncover 'whatever it was that possessed me' to enroll a centaur student," Severus snarled. Jennifer smiled sympathetically at him. "But never mind that. Regardless of whether or not the ring is now active, I am concerned that it became active at all, considering the strange occurrences lately."
"You think there might be some connection between what happened with the Spear and this?" Jennifer asked dubiously.
"Considering how little information we have about either event at the moment, we certainly can't rule it out, can we?" Severus said, using his wand to slide a few tables and move a few pieces of delicate equipment out of the way and clearing off a pedestal for Jennifer to use. "Let's set it up in the middle of the room. What have you checked it for in the past?"
"Well, I know that there is a complex charm and a blood curse in the silver band of the ring," Jennifer began, carefully inspecting it. "The charm seems to be a combination of two sound charms…one of magnification and one of protection…more than likely, based on the spells that the Resonius Charm and Sonorous Shield are based upon. The blood curse, of course, is the family loyalty one, although I must say it reads more like his old wand and less like I see on other family items. There could even be a strand or two of banshee hair set into the silver before the ring was formed."
"That wouldn't be all that surprising considering the charms upon the ring and who it was that owned it, would it?" Severus mused, Jennifer simply nodding in response and then gazed at the green stone. "What of the stone set into it?"
"That part is what inspired me to put the thing away for a later date to begin with," Jennifer admitted dryly. "The stone seems to have been added later, but cursed so it can't be removed. There are numerous layered curses on them all entangled together within it and if I'm not mistaken embedded or focused through the gem, and I never found time to try and dissect them all. Should I start by looking for memory imprints?" she asked, glancing at Andrew.
"How about we look for possession curses first?" Severus said dryly. Jennifer grinned at him.
"Well, that would be a bit unusual in this sort of jewelry, but I suppose you're right, better safe than sorry. Again," she added mischievously before setting the ring on the pedestal.
"Very well, Andrew, why don't you triangulate from her side and I'll do it from the rear in case anything blood related is triggered," Severus suggested, getting on the opposite side of the pedestal from Jennifer. "Jennifer, if anything questionable happens, yell and I'll attempt to use the temporal area spell to contain it long enough we can get out of range."
"All right," Jennifer said, murmuring a few basic protection cantrips before turning her attention to the ring, making certain the others were ready before casting a spell. The area around the ring grew dark, and a thick black aura with black tendrils developed around it, seemly stretching out to test the area around it.
"No possession curse," Jennifer murmured. "But definitely something that attaches to the mind of the wearer. I'm going to go ahead and check for memory content now." Severus simply nodded, too busy keeping a close eye on the spell on the ring to verbalize it. Jennifer raised her wand again and murmured another spell, the tendrils becoming even more erratic for a moment until she noticed that something was happening across the facets of the ring…images, she realized, not unlike a crystal ball or even a pensive, and a great many of them, many more than she might have expected for such a small vessel.
"Andrew, could you hold this spell for a moment?" Jennifer asked and Andrew stepped over. Carefully, Jennifer let her part of the spell fade as Andrew's took its place, Severus still holding point in case anything happened in the transfer. Andrew's ability with dark detection wasn't quite as strong as hers, but it was still strong enough that the images still played along the surface, if a little faded. Cautiously she took a few steps closer to get a view of the images within the crystal.
"I take it that it's definitely memory bound," Severus prompted, watching Jennifer's actions carefully.
"More than that, I think," Jennifer said after studying it for awhile. "If I'm not mistaken, the stone itself was literally grown from memories…almost like crystallized stands out of a Pensieve."
"But I thought there needs to be a specific sort of vessel involved to maintain that," Andrew frowned. Jennifer nodded.
"Yes, I think I've figured that part out too, because there seems to be an entire web of spells holding it together…the main one, if I'm not mistaken, is a Quest Curse," Jennifer explained. Severus frowned deeply, while Andrew shook his head, not understanding. "Basically, it means that anyone whoever puts on the ring is bound to do a particular task. You won't be able to get the ring off unless you either complete the task or die in the attempt. Even attempted amputation won't work on something like this; I suppose the fringe benefit is nothing can take your arm off while wearing it," Jennifer grinned. "I imagine the memory is there to give the wearer the knowledge they need to complete whatever its purpose is. More than likely, the thing was recording Mallus Craw's memories from the moment he put it on."
"That explains why Vindious didn't want it then. I certainly wouldn't want that man's memories in my head," Andrew said, gazing at it even more warily than he had been before.
"No way, I doubt anyone in his right mind would," Jennifer agreed, looking up at Severus. "The problem is, it also has a great many curses on attempting to destroy it too; typical of Quest Jewelry, really. It really can't be destroyed until the quest is either completed or its no longer a valid quest."
"Which means the quest is probably not tied to murdering a specific wizard or the like, since most of those in his time period or dead," Severus nodded.
"Well, there's always Albus or Pyther, I suppose, but Albus didn't know him at that point, and Mallus had no motive to go after Pyther," Jennifer said. "No, it has to be something longer lasting than that, or it wouldn't still be reacting at all now. You can release the spell, Andrew," Jennifer added.
"Is it possible that something having direct ties to whatever the quest is may have activated it, then?" Severus asked.
"It is possible, of course, but right now anything is considering we don't know what quest it holds," Jennifer said thoughtfully. "Still, if any part of the quest involved having to find or carry a particular item, I'd think it makes sense that the ring probably has some sort of detection charm on it to try and locate it. Want me to check for that?"
"As long as there's no danger in setting off any of those memories," Severus said.
"Trust me, I don't want to see in that man's head either, especially considering what we all know he did in the last twenty-four hours of his life," Jennifer said, both Severus and Andrew looking grim at the reminder. "That's why I'm not going to try to figure out what the quest is directly, it's too tied to the memories. But perhaps if there's a detection it'll give us a clue," she explained, raising her wand again. Severus nodded and Jennifer murmured another spell, this time the ring simply glowing softly instead of letting off the dark mass they had seen before. It faded the moment that Jennifer let up, and she looked thoughtful.
"There does appear to be some sort of detection charm on the band of the ring itself, post creation, I think," Jennifer mused, glancing on its effect on the stone. "I can't tell if it was put on at the same time or before the memory stone was started, though. Pretty sure it wasn't after. Considering the fact that it is centered on the ring itself, it more likely has to do with the ring's original function."
"Meaning?" Severus prompted impatiently.
"If I'm not mistaken, it's tailored to detect certain sounds," Jennifer said thoughtfully. "Perhaps even a very specific sound."
"Don't we have potions and charms these days that do the same thing?" Andrew mused.
"Well, yes, but not continuously, and also consider this was made six hundred years ago, so they wouldn't have the same potions. Most of our spells are also simply designed to heighten awareness. They don't account for the hundreds of sound waves the normal human ear doesn't pick up, or it could be made to work at a longer distance as well," Jennifer explained. Severus got a strange look on his face.
"Didn't you say you heard a strange sound that day in Villahexa when we got that odd feeling, Jennifer?" he asked.
"Yes, high pitched and a bit irritating, as a matter of fact…" she began.
"Cover, Andrew," Severus said then walked over to the desk and began opening drawers, searching the bottom one until he took out a tiny bronze whistle.
Jennifer cringed slightly but nodded and readied her wand as he blew the training whistle. She tried not to wince when he blew on it, focusing on the ring, but the ring didn't react at all.
"Hm. Did it even go off?" Severus asked. Jennifer turned and gave him a dirty look. Severus regarded her expression thoughtfully before shrugging. "Well, it was worth a try. You did mention at the time it sounded similar to Descartes whistle." Descartes let out a questioning call at the mention of his name, and Severus looked back to see him perched on the window beside the Observatory wondering if it was dinnertime. "Sorry, give me a moment," he sighed, putting the whistle on his desk and slipping into the sitting room long enough to take the lid off the Stymphalian's fish barrel. But the lull gave Jennifer a chance to think about it, trying to remember what she had experienced that day. She picked up the whistle thoughtfully and was still inspecting it when Severus came back in. "What is it?"
"I think you may be onto something," Jennifer said; glancing at Severus then at Andrew and then back at the whistle. "I think it's just the wrong pitch. The sound I heard was higher, and a lot clearer in tone. I might be able to use this to try and duplicate it though," she said, inspecting it thoughtfully again.
She allowed her mind to wander back to that day, thinking about it for a moment before muttering a charm of the whistle, watching as it glowed briefly and subsided before she blew it again, watching the ring. The moment she heard the tone, she knew it wouldn't react; that it still wasn't quite right. In fact, she was positive in that moment she couldn't get it precisely. But perhaps she could get it close enough, she mused, trying a second time and blowing it again, knowing she was getting closer. She waved it one last time, clarifying the tone, pretty sure she wasn't going to get any better from the small whistle than that.
"It's now or never," she admitted to the two wizards watching her carefully, blowing a third time.
That was when the room seemed to grow dim and the air heavy, and she found herself wondering where the whistle had gone. She glanced down at her hand without really meaning to, and watched as she…or was it he…slipped on the cursed ring. The gem sitting on a mount of what looked like eight spider legs turned on its back was quite tiny, but glowing brightly in the dark cavern.
It was then that he at last looked up and knew for a fact where he was; for he was Mallus Craw, and he was standing by the sarcophagus in the main chamber of Salazar's Tomb.
"Is it adequate, my lord?" came a voice from beside him. Mallus looked down at a thin, hunched, white-haired wizard that was wringing his hands nervously beside him. He looked small; insignificant…but even if Mallus' height hadn't been staggering, the smith would have still appeared that way. Groveling fool.
"I feel its influences tugging at me," Mallus murmured. Even at a murmur, his deep baritone voice carried through the cavern.
"Ah, that is good, it means the charms are working properly, my lord. The sensation should ease momentarily," the smith said, allowing himself a moment to be pleased with himself. Mallus mused over his reaction as he glanced at the ring, but decided after looking at it that indeed the wandsmith did deserve a moment to be pleased with himself.
He glanced at the sarcophagus and at the withering form inside, partially mummified from the limestone cavern, clutching a staff that Mallus knew would be death if he tried to remove it. Fine, let the dead wizard have his prize. It wasn't as if Mallus had either the desire or the inclination towards snakes to use it. It was much more useful as bait.
"Finish your curses upon the grave, Clemmons. There is no more to learn from here," Mallus said with certainty, the smith instantly moving in response and taking out his wand, murmuring a spell before closing the sarcophagus. A strange green ooze suddenly appeared as he did so, covering the cracks and hinges before fading away.
As he began to chant a different spell, Mallus walked over to the wall where all the known spells of darkness were transcribed, gazing over it carefully for a long time. At the last moment…at what seemed to be a whim…he swept his wand at one of the spells at the end and erased it, leaving only a chiseled surface.
"I am done, Lord Mallus," Clemmons said, and Mallus nodded sharply, pointing him towards the exit and snuffing out the torches around the Tomb.
They walked in silence through the passages with only Clemmons torch lighting the way, their footsteps the only sound to be heard; the dead, heavy weight of darkness dampening their path. A strange foreign echo…almost like the sound of someone calling a name…penetrated the black caverns through the back of Mallus' mind, but so evident it was that it didn't belong there that he quickly discounted it as they began to ascent up to a stone archway. Just beyond it stood a pair of hooded monks, waiting for them.
"What are you doing in here? Why aren't you with the others?" Mallus snapped, gesturing to them.
The Priestess Awaits. She has quieted the Matron, one of the monks signed back. Clemmons let out a soft cry of dismay, while Mallus simply sighed in annoyance.
"Oh no! What are we going to do? It'll be our deaths for sure!" Clemmons said, the terror evident in his eyes while Mallus simply pushed him towards the arch.
"Yours perhaps. She cannot kill me or she already would have," Mallus said simply. "Move."
"But my Lord, we are safer here. The Oracle has sent priestesses after me before, warning me that if I assisted you again that I would die a horrible death. Please, sir, I beg you, spare me from her!" Clemmons begged as Mallus pushed the sniveling coward through the arch and followed, letting out a short sigh at the inconvenience of it all.
"Very well, if you insist," Mallus said, taking out his wand. As Mallus pointed the wand at the smith, his panicked expression changed to one of pure terror as Mallus unleashed the Shrieking Death upon his servant, preferring to do it himself rather than to give his rivals such a satisfaction. The ring glowed brightly as he held the spell on the man, and in the shadows of the Tomb it proved to pack even more punch than Mallus expected as the man began to shriek and his ears began to bleed. Strange words began to form out of the shriek as the man started to writhe, and Mallus could almost hear a name within them.
Jennifer!
Out of seemingly nowhere, a glowing sword sliced though the path of Mallus's spell, and Jennifer suddenly cried out in relief at the fact that someone had gotten there to save the poor smith. But no…no he had died, she was sure of it. But then…where had that sword come from? In the darkness it was all she could see now…and even when she opened her eyes she could see it. An instant later, she realized there were three others in the room and she dazedly found herself looking up into a pair of black eyes.
"She's coming out of it," Severus said with certainty. "Andrew, secure that ring!"
"Can somebody please tell me what's going on?" Harry Potter asked from where he stood with the sword of Gryffindor in hand between Jennifer and the ring.
"One thing at a time, if you don't mind!" Severus said curtly, helping Jennifer get to a chair. "Are you all right?"
"I…I think so," Jennifer said at least, looking around. "I got stuck in one of Mallus Craw's memories. What are you doing here, Harry?"
"I felt a strong impulse…like the sword was calling out to me, and I ran here to find out what was going on," Harry explained. "Next thing I know, I come in here to find Andrew trying to dispel that ring and Severus over you shouting at me to grab the Sword which was floating in air and destroy the whistle on the floor with it. Why was the Sword of Nuatha floating in air?"
"Dumbledore must have rigged it to the security system at some point," Severus explained. "Something similar happened when Mallus' ghost showed up…letting Dumbledore know we were in trouble, more than likely."
"Just as well he did that then. I don't think I could have contained that thing on my own," Andrew admitted.
"I couldn't seem to reach her either," Severus sighed, frowning at Jennifer with concern.
"No I…it was too distant, somehow," Jennifer murmured, gazing at him. "I did feel something a couple of times, though. Can I have something to clear my head?" Severus immediately went over to his cloak. "I did hear something, but the memory was really to strong for it to break through. It was the memory of when the stone was first put in the ring," she explained, Severus glancing at her thoughtfully as he handed her a cup of laced tea. "They were in the Forbidden Tomb at the time." Severus, Harry, and Andrew all exchanged looks.
"Who are they?" Harry asked.
"Mallus Craw and Clemmons… He…well, he didn't make it out alive," Jennifer said with a troubled expression before concentrating on her tea. Andrew blinked at the name.
"Clemmons?" he repeated, wondering if that was a coincidence.
"That was the wandsmith who made Mallus Craw's wand, right?" Harry prompted. Jennifer nodded. Andrew gazed at Harry curiously.
"Apparently he had crafted the ring as well, or at the very least crafted the memory stone and all the curses around it."
"Did they mention what the quest itself was?" Severus asked, frowning when Jennifer shook her head.
"No, they seemed more intent with securing the Tomb at that point. They laid down a bunch of curses on the room and then Mallus decided to erase one of the spells on the wall…I don't know what it was for, I didn't really recognize it," Jennifer admitted.
"Wait…being the Keeper of Dark Magic, weren't you responsible for knowing all of them?" Andrew asked.
"Yes, well…you see, sometimes there are spells that…well, honestly, for one reason or another really shouldn't have been created at all, Andrew," Jennifer explained carefully. "So there are occasions where certain spells that have already fallen out of books and common knowledge sort of get…intentionally lost…by the current Keeper. Personally I find the method of simply altering the spell slightly is more effective, just in case someone does happen to stumble across one and misuse it. Because the slightly altered ones are usually close enough to key in specialists on how to counter the bad one it was changed from. In fact, I did that to one of the spells I passed down," she admitted.
"Plague?" Andrew asked. Jennifer shook her head.
"We're getting off the subject," Severus warned with a frown. "Jennifer, why don't you start from the beginning?"
Jennifer nodded and finished her tea while Harry put the sword back in place and everyone got settled, listening intently to what she experienced. Severus squinted suspiciously when she got to the part where she explained what the deaf monks had signed and their reactions but didn't say anything, his eyes turning his attention back to the ring sitting on the pedestal as she finished.
"Strange, isn't it?" Harry commented when everyone had gone quiet after she finished. "I suppose those priestesses Clemmons spoke of were right, though. He did die a horrible death."
"So it would seem," Severus said distantly.
"At least the ring has gone dormant again," Andrew commented, following his father's gaze. "Although I'm not sure we should consider the Puzzlebox a safe place to keep it considering it doesn't seem to protect from sound."
"Well, now that we know for certain how it's triggered, I am quite certain I can make a special container that would block even magic driven sounds, although it might take me a day or two," Jennifer admitted. "Until then I can put a Sonorous Shield around it."
"Let's leave it in here for now then," Severus decided, Jennifer nodding and getting up.
"Need any help?" Harry asked.
"I'd be more than a little afraid of having anyone other than a Craw try to cast on that thing right now, Harry, there is still quite a deal we don't know about it," Jennifer admitted. "It really is too bad that he wasn't thinking of that quest at all. If we knew that I'm sure we could unravel the rest. The only thing I am certain of is I don't want any member of this family finding out what it is the hard way."
"Well, hopefully there won't be any real reason for us to have to try," Andrew said, offering his hand and getting out his wand to help her seal it.
Watching thoughtfully from where he floated invisible in the back of the room, Icarus Ravenclaw somberly watched as they encased the ring in a shield, watching as another of his mortal memories began to unfold in front of him. Feeling quite disconcerted, Icarus wandered back towards the Divination Tower to brood until his classes the next day.
