Disclaimer: See Prologue
Author's Note: Hey, I know that I'm updating the story later then I usually do but I went to get a needle this morning and it HURT. Man I hate needles, please read and review or just read or just review I don't mind. I don't even care if you flame me, I like fire, it's sooo pretty ciao!
Chapter Nine: Ash
The truth about Ash finally comes to light...
Harry awoke slowly, not really willing to open his eyes and face what had happened. In fact he was half hopeful that he'd had the worst nightmare ever, but he knew that that was highly unlikely. So he kept his eyes closed and continued to lie where he was and as he did this he realized that Ash's memories were no longer seeping into his own. He could still remember, though, all the thoughts, feelings and memories of Ash's that had seeped through.
Slowly Harry became aware of the sound of hushed conversation happening around him and he realized that there were those who were waiting for him to awaken. So with a weary sigh he opened his eyes and when he did he found himself lying in a bed in the hospital wing.
When Harry opened his eyes he found himself looking at the ceiling of the hospital wing, which wasn't all that surprising considering that he was lying on his back in a hospital bed. So with another sigh Harry suddenly sat up, causing those in the room to stop what they were doing in shock, thus allowing Harry the time to see who was in the room with him. Looking around him Harry took in the fact that the Headmaster was standing a few feet from him and had been quietly talking with Professor's McGonagall, Snape and Slughorn. Ron and Hermione were off to his left, along with Ginny, Neville, Seamus and Luna Lovegood. Remus, Tonks, Hagrid and a few other Order members were standing not far from the Headmaster and other three Professors'. Looking to his right, Harry was surprised to find Draco Malfoy sitting on the bed closest to his own.
"Harry!?" exclaimed Hermione and she and Ron moved slightly closer to Harry's bedside.
"Hey 'Mione, Ron" said Harry with a weak smile.
"Is it really you mate?" asked Ron uncertainly and he and Hermione took another step closer.
"Yeah, it's me, Ash is... sleeping would be the best word for it, I suppose."
"Oh, Harry" exclaimed Hermione tearfully and she threw herself at Harry and embraced him in a tight hug.
"It's okay, 'Mione," said Harry returning the hug and then, looking over Hermione's shoulder he said to Ginny, "Gin, I'm so sorry for what I said to you, but you have to understand that I didn't want too, Ash made me say those words. None of you can know how powerful he truly is."
"That is what we are here for, Harry" said Dumbledore, stepping forward to the foot of Harry's bed.
"You want to know everything that I know about Ash, don't you?" said Harry with resignation, releasing Hermione who stepped back to Ron's side.
"That is correct and we would also like to know what Draco has to do with all of this" said Dumbledore, nodding his head in Malfoy's direction.
Harry looked at Malfoy curiously, wondering how Malfoy could've agreed to the things that he did. For Harry had quite a few of Ash's memories now and thus he knew what it was that Malfoy had agreed too but he didn't have access to Ash's earliest memories. The memories that explained where Ash came from and how he had become the way he was. Harry probably stayed staring at Malfoy too long, for when he came back to himself he found that Malfoy was smiling at him in amusement.
"Okay," said Harry looking back at Dumbledore, "I'll tell you what I know, but... if we are going to talk about my life, then I should be the one to tell it, do you not agree Harry Potter?" interrupted Ash, causing Harry to clamp his left hand over his mouth.
"That was Ash, I presume?" said Dumbledore, looking at Harry who kept his hand where it was and nodded warily.
"If he wishes to tell us his own story and will tell it truthfully then, perhaps, we should let him tell it" suggested Dumbledore.
"If that's what you want then I won't fight it, but... I don't like fading, as I don't know what it is that Ash does and it must be kept in mind that Ash is extremely dangerous. That is something that I am absolutely certain about" said Harry and he had gone quite pale at the thought of letting Ash take control.
"The choice is yours Harry, if you don't want to let Ash take control then we will respect that choice but if you do decide to let Ash take over then we will be wary" said Dumbledore.
"Okay," said Harry softly and he slowly allowed himself to fade but as he did he heard Ash whisper to him *Do not fear Harry Potter, I will keep you close enough to the surface that you will be able to know everything it is that I say and do.*
All those in the hospital wing watched Harry anxiously, unsure as to what was happening, for Harry's head had lowered and it was hard to tell what was happening without being able to see the eyes. There was one in the room who could sense what was happening, though, and the first thing that the others in the room knew about it was when Draco suddenly sat up straight, leant towards Harry's bed and breathed, "Ash."
"Draco" purred Ash, turning his head so that he could look at Draco through his pearl coloured eyes.
"So you're Ash?" said Dumbledore.
"Yes and you are Albus Dumbledore" replied Ash tearing his gaze off of Draco and looking at Dumbledore, so that everyone else in the room could see the perfection that was Ash.
"You know of me?" asked Dumbledore surprised.
"Of course, I know all that Harry Potter knows."
"That makes sense I suppose," mumbled Dumbledore before adding, "Now, will you truthfully tell us your story?"
"Of course, I said I would and so I shall. I and the others like, yet different, to me call ourselves The Forgotten, though I am sure that there are those who would call us something different. We were created long ago by our Lord, he who you all know as Salazar Slytherin...,"
"What!?" came the shocked voices of all in the room bar two.
"You now know what it is you are facing, do you not Albus Dumbledore? And it fills you with fear." said Ash mockingly, never removing his pearl eyed gaze from Dumbledore's.
"Yes, you're correct there, I do know who you are now and the knowledge does indeed fill me with fear but there are those here who do not know your story and should. Also there are some things that I am unclear about" said Dumbledore and those who knew him were shocked to see that he really was afraid.
"As I was saying," continued Ash, "The others and I were created by our Lord and how this was done was, our Lord acquired children, no older than five, and mixed our genetic makeup with that of the many magical creatures that inhabit our world. I was created different to the others though, for I was created to Lead them and so I have been turned into what you would call a monster."
"We do not see it that way though, for the others are only loyal to me and our Lord. He who I would never betray, for when I turned eighteen our Lord told me his greatest kept secret. It was also during my eighteenth year that things in fact changed forever. It all occurred a couple of weeks after the day of my birth."
"You see, the others who had founded Hogwarts alongside our Lord finally found out about us and they were not happy, especially with my creation. So they waited for a time when the students had all gone home and set out to capture me. Which they succeeded in doing and I was taken inside the castle while the others were locked outside, for without me or our Lord to give them an order the others did not know what to do. While they waited outside, I was 'trapped' inside a bubble like spell. Now when I say I was trapped I do not mean that I could not escape, for I could if I had wanted too but my Lord had forbidden me from attacking anyone without his say so. I would never disobey my Lord so I stayed within the spell. Godric, Helga and Rowena were lucky that they never tried to harm my Lord within my presence, for if they had I would have disobeyed and I would have ripped them apart. That is the only time I would ever disobey, when my Lord's life was in danger of being lost."
"So the other three Founders decided it would be best if I was killed. My Lord on the other hand had other ideas, knowing that I am a very powerful mind reader; he dropped his mind shields and showed me what it was he wanted me to do. I was told to allow the other three to kill my body but I was to cast my own spell that would trap my soul within the dead flesh until such a time as a new home could be found for it."
"I was incredibly lucky that the other three did not decide to kill the others, instead they led them deep into the forest where they buried me twelve feet down. Then they trapped the other Forgotten in a new dimension that they created, a new dimension that became increasingly unstable as time went by. It took a fair amount of time for my powers to return and strengthen enough for me to be able to contact the others. It was before I was strong enough that a James Potter accidently stumbled into our prison. I had only been able to contact the others once before this time, to tell them what it was we were to do. So they told James Potter a made up story about something-or-other, which he believed for there is an innocence about them that I do not have. James Potter agreed to help us but begged that first he be allowed to say goodbye to his friends and family. The others, not having me around to tell them otherwise, said he could and so he left and never came back. We knew his soul signature now though, so when my power came back we searched for it and instead found Harry Potter's."
"Harry Potter may not be the one we were looking for but we could use him just as easily as we could have used his father before him. So we called him to the forest and there a ritual was performed that transferred my soul into this body. You see, there is one thing above everything else that we want to do and that is we wish to utterly destroy all the descendants of those who turned against our Lord, as well as those who just chose to follow the traitor's. We are nearly at the stage now when that shall be possible" finished Ash with a vicious smile.
There was a shocked silence throughout the hospital wing when Ash finished speaking, a silence that was broken by Dumbledore clearing his throat and asking, "What has Draco got to do with any of this?"
"Draco is a descendent of a child who was born amongst us and who was sent away before we were trapped. He is also my tie, the one who has truly allowed me to take over this body and as long as he stays mine, I will never fade" explained Ash calmly but his words caused everyone else to look at Draco in disbelief.
"So Draco is one of you?" asked Snape incredulous.
"Yes, though his powers did not awaken until recently, when he agreed to help us."
"Malfoy's defection doesn't really surprise me, what I want to know is why Ash wants to kill us all, his Lord is long dead after all and it's not like we had anything to do with it. I mean, so what if we're in Gryffindor house or Hufflepuff, why does it affect Ash so badly that he will not leave well enough alone?" asked Hermione waspishly.
"The answer to that question is the hidden secret that my Lord told me when I turned eighteen."
"Really? And what's that?" snapped Ron.
"It is quite simple really, I am the first born son of Salazar Slytherin" replied Ash without emotion.
"You're joking!?" said everyone, bar one, in the room incredulous.
"No, I am not and now there are two things that need to happen."
"And what's that, destroy the world?" asked Ron sarcastically.
"Not quite," said Ash calmly, then, turning to Draco he said, "Draco you must leave the castle and join the others, now."
For a moment it looked like Draco was going to argue but then he realized that Ash wouldn't send him away unless it was really necessary. So with a nod Draco got up and left and those who might have tried to stop him found, to their dismay that they couldn't move.
"You did not believe I would allow you to stop him, did you?" said Ash with a wicked smile.
"You must be powerful indeed to be able to hold us all here" said Dumbledore calmly, showing none of the anxiety he felt at being unable to break Ash's spell.
"You have no idea of the full extent of my powers and if I am the one to win full control of this body then my powers will increase exceptionally."
"What do you mean by win?" asked Hermione suspiciously.
"My father created a spell and left it within my soul so that when Harry Potter and I reached a certain stage we would be drawn within it. So when I activate the spell Harry Potter and I will be drawn into the deep recesses of this mind where we will face each other in a Labyrinth like arena and the winner gets to keep this body while the loser disappears."
"You can't be serious!" exclaimed Hermione.
"And why not?" asked Ash curiously.
"Because you can't seriously believe that we would let you, do you? All we have to do is remove you and Harry will remain as himself!" said Ron triumphantly.
"I am afraid it is too late for that, I have already activated the spell" said Ash wickedly and he released his hold on Harry's body and sunk into the spell.
Everybody stood frozen in shock as Ash faded and Harry returned but Harry only had enough time to whisper, "Help me!" before he too was dragged into the spell. Without a sound Ash and Harry's shared body closed its eyes and slumped backwards onto the bed, waiting for whoever it was who would return to claim it fully as their own.