MARKED
Raising his bloodied and dirty hands gingerly,
Ron spoke in a faint voice, "I'm gonna go out on a limb, and say
that I don't like soulless dead things." TEN: Fear
All three of them stood rooted to the spot, staring straight into the gaping opaque hole in the wall that they had just made. It looked incredibly dark inside and they instinctively lit their wands, thereby casting a faint and eerie yellow glow between them.
"But …" Hermione spluttered. "But … it's – it's too simple … it can't be here …"
"Well we can't leave it, can we?" said Harry strongly. Now more than ever he could feel the magical vibes emitting from the dark space in front of him, so much so that it made him shiver. They were like ripples, invisible ripples in water which he could feel all the time.
He turned to them both seriously. "Listen. Once we're inside, you have to remember that it's Voldemort who is trying to protect this thing. If it was easy to find, you can bet anything that it won't be easy to get. I need both of you to swear that you'll do what I say, even if it sounds stupid."
"Course we will," said Ron immediately. "Wouldn't enter somewhere like this with anyone but you, mate."
Hermione nodded. "No, neither would I … but, Harry … if we're up against Voldemort's enchantments … we probably won't be able to get it at all … he'll have made it impossible …"
"It can't be impossible," Harry answered, recalling Dumbledore's words as they had entered the cave all those months ago. "Because Voldemort would have needed to make sure that he could get to it if he needed to, like if he wanted to check on it, or take it some place else."
And with that, he took a deep breath and turned to enter the dark hole in front of him, feeling, rather than hearing, Ron and Hermione behind him.
The air was instantly freezing, so much so that Harry breathed in sharply in shock, the cold atmosphere piercing his lungs.
Harry was aware that the space into which he was walking was very narrow, but was careful not to touch the walls for what ever reason.
After they were all within the darkness, there was a sudden loud crash behind them. Hermione let out a little yelp of surprise and Ron leapt a foot in the air … the stone wall had slammed shut behind them. Hermione ran to it swiftly.
"We're trapped!" she moaned, pushing at the wall. "Ouvert! Ouvert!" But nothing happened even as she hammered on it harder.
Ron looked oddly pale in his wand light. "What now?" he said to Harry.
"I've got an idea how to open it," Harry said slowly, a thought occurring to him. But he didn't want to divulge this thought to Ron and Hermione. Yet.
"What?" said Hermione hurriedly.
"It doesn't matter right now," said Harry. "If we're going on. Just trust me," and they fell silent, following him.
The passageway wound round to left and right, up and considerably down, until Harry was sure that they must now be in some underground cavern, possibly underneath the cellar of the house. The ground became earthier, until it was distinctly muddy and their feet stuck a good two inches into the muck.
After what felt like half an hour of struggling in the slippery conditions, they came to their first barrier. It appeared that there was a wall of solid earth directly in front of them, firmly blocked, impassable.
"Reducto, d'you reckon?" suggested Ron.
Harry looked doubtfully at the earthy wall and put his hands to it. It was moist with condensation, but nonetheless unyielding.
"You could try it," he concurred.
Ron rolled up his sleeves dramatically and cleared his throat.
"Reducto!" he shouted loudly and clearly.
A beam of orange light burst forth from his wand and hit the earthy wall and ricocheted off onto a nearby stone wall, denting it, but leaving no imprint on the earthen wall whatsoever.
"Well, it was worth a try," said Hermione. "But I suppose that this kind of enchantment's impermeable to spells like that."
"Maybe there's a password or something," said Ron. "Something only You Know Who would know."
"No," said Harry immediately. "It's not a door, it's an obstacle."
This did nothing to lighten the mood.
"There might be one spell that could work …" Hermione said quietly. "It's supposed to return solid objects into a different property, so this solid earth would just become liquid mud, and we could get through it."
Harry though that he had heard of this spell before; they had covered it in Charms when they had turned water into ice and vice versa. Even so, he thought that it was more than likely that Voldemort would have obviously thought of that. However he didn't have any other current ideas, so he heeded Hermione.
"Go on then. Be careful."
Hermione pointed her wand towards the barrier. "Liquefy!"
There was an electric blue beam of light, a squelching noise and the earthly wall began to crumble into a soggy, disgusting paste, opening up the way before them.
"Well done, Hermione!" said Ron excitedly. "See? Didn't think of everything, did he?"
They stepped back slightly as the wet mud cascaded along the passage way a little further towards their feet, but stopped just short as the barrier was almost completely gone.
"Right then," said Ron, obviously enlightened by their success and, pulling up his trouser legs, waded through the now gooey passageway. Hermione wrinkled her nose before doing the same; but hoisting up trouser legs made little difference as they were still covered in mud when they emerged onto drier flooring.
Harry waited a second, still wholly unconvinced that it would be that simple, and then followed Hermione a little way through … but no sooner had he stepped into the viscous sludge he felt the reassuringly solid ground beneath the mud disappear beneath his feet.
There was an awful squelching, sucking sound, and Harry could feel himself descending further into the mud, as though he were being sucked down into a giant plughole.
Hermione screamed and Ron whirled around on the spot where they were both safe. Surging forwards, they reached out desperately to grab Harry's hands, but he was now waist deep in the newly made mire. It suddenly became horribly clear to all of them that this was no ordinary quicksand.
"Harry!"
Harry kicked his legs as forcibly as he could but it became harder and harder to move them as the mud around him closed in like cement.
"Get back!" he yelled at Ron, who had just stepped closer to try and reach him. "STAY BACK!"
Through a haze of foggy terror, Harry thought desperately … there must be a failsafe … there must be some way to reverse it … it can't be impossible … it can't be … Ashis brain worked wildly the mud came up to his ribs, freezing his arms painfully… reverse it …
"REVERSE IT! REVERSE THE SPELL!" he gasped at Hermione, straining to keep his head above the mud, his muscles screaming out at their forced use against the smothering bog.
Hermione, who had been wringing her hands in despair with wide terrified eyes, grabbed her wand in white-knuckled hands and pointed it at the bubbling mud …
…Harry was up to his neck …
"RECTIFY!" she bellowed …
… It would surely suffocate him … any second now …
And, as quickly as it had happened, the mud became earth … hard, crumbly earth. Harry's head was just above the level of suffocation and he wrenched his arms upwards in a shower of dirt, looking gratefully at Ron and Hermione's anguished faces.
"That was lucky –"
But no sooner had Ron said this, Harry felt something grab his ankle in a vice-like clasp from directly underneath him and he sunk a little deeper back into the earth … but even as this happened he knew what it was … what it could only be that chilled his whole body to the bone… Inferi.
In his own whirl of panic, Harry knew that Hermione reversing the spell had been the failsafe he had been searching for, but, as had happened in the cave … the only way to survive was to perform it … and in so doing they had activated the tortured souls waiting patiently beneath their feet … because Voldemort had planned it so …
Harry groped for the earth in front of him, trying to wrench himself free of the fleshless soggy, icy grip that had hold of his ankle, but even as he kicked out hard, two Inferi burst out of the no longer dormant earth.
Hermione shrieked very loudly so that it echoed around the passageway. Abandoning all inhibition, Ron flung himself forwards to where Harry was still trapped and grabbed both his arms. In one almighty wrench, Harry slowly came free, the grasp on his ankle relenting as they both toppled over further back into the passageway.
"What are they?" Hermione cried, trying to Stupefy more figures emerging from the earth.
"Inferi!" Harry bellowed, straightening up. As though from a previous life, distant memories of how to defeat them came into his brain … like many creatures that dwell in cold and darkness they fear light and warmth …
"Fire!" he yelled, throat hoarse having inhaled a lot of dry earth. "They hate fire!"
Ron and Hermione raised their wands. "Incendio!" they yelled, simultaneously, jets of blue flame emerging from their wand tips and keeping the Inferi at bay for a few precious moments.
But even as he regained his breath, Harry knew that Ron and Hermione's spells would not hold any Inferius at bay for long. Mustering all his strength and concentrating all the particles of his being on the spell he must perform, Harry raised his wand high above his head.
"Incendio Máximo!"
Feeling its heat pass over him as the white hot flame erupted from the tip of his wand with a force of a high speed train, Harry was forced to step backwards as the fast growing fire he had created hurtled over Ron and Hermione's heads and encircled the Inferi, binding them within their own earth prison.
In spite of themselves, Ron and Hermione looked back at Harry in disbelief.
"Move!" he yelled at them. "Move back!"
And still holding his wand aloft, amazed at what he had achieved, they stumbled backwards as the glowing fire and the ghostly Inferi became fainter and fainter. As soon as they had all completely crossed the threshold of where the earth barrier had stood minutes before, there was a loud bang like a gunshot and the barrier was newly reinstated to its original place. The only difference was that Harry, Ron and Hermione were now on the other side.
- - - - -
None of them bothered to light their wands immediately as they were plunged into darkness the moment the fire was shut off from view. They simply leant against the wall and panted.
Harry eventually lit his wand and looked into the faces of his two best friends. Dirt spattered and completely out of breath, they looked terrified, bruised, but nevertheless unhurt.
"Are you OK?" he asked shakily, still flexing his limbs and relishing the use of them again.
Raising his bloodied and dirty hands gingerly, Ron spoke in a faint voice, "I'm gonna go out on a limb, and say that I don't like soulless dead things."
Hermione let out a reluctant laugh whilst straightening up and dusting herself off.
"Why did that not happen when we crossed?" she asked, pulling Ron shakily to his feet.
Harry thought that he already knew the answer, but knew that telling them would not raise their morale in the slightest.
"I think it's got something to do with magical power …"
They looked at him quizzically and he confided what was in his head.
"When I was in the cave with Dumbledore, and we had to get into a small boat, I asked him if it would take two of us, and he said that it wouldn't measure weight but magical power. Because I was underage at the time, it didn't register mine at all … so we were OK."
"But … I'm overage now …" said Ron. "It didn't register mine."
"So am I," said Hermione, flexing her elbow. "The Dark Forces in this place must have seen you as the threat, Harry … even though we're qualified; our powers didn't register because we're young …"
"That must mean your powers are huge," said Ron, looking half impressed, half worried. "It didn't even notice us," he added in a slight undertone.
"That doesn't matter," said Harry having felt as equally useless that night in the cave. "That's Voldemort's mistake. He wouldn't have expected you to get this far. More fool him."
Both Ron and Hermione looked as though they felt slightly happier as he said this. Harry raised himself off the ground and tried to siphon off some of the muck with his wand. He felt a sudden pain in his ankle, remembering that he had shaken of the Inferius with some considerable force.
He pulled off his trainer, still thick with mud, and his equally black sock to reveal a purplish blue and rapidly swelling ankle.
"Ouch!" said Hermione. "That looks really painful!"
Harry stuffed his shoe on and tried not to grimace. "Nah, it's just bruised."
He tested his weight; it was painful, but that didn't matter. They couldn't turn back now.
A few minutes later, they were all on their feet again and moving down the darkened passageway, Harry doing his best not to limp. The air was, if possible, even colder here and their breath rose in a misty fog in front of them. The passageway too was wider now; so wide in fact that it appeared to be more like a really long chamber with no apparent end in sight.
As they had been walking for so long, they were tired, sweaty and dirty and thus did not notice the ceiling becoming lower as the chamber narrowed once more.
Harry flung out his arm.
"Something's different," he said.
"What?" Hermione asked anxiously. "Can you feel something?"
Harry moved tentatively forwards. There was definitely something different here, he could feel it, some kind of a trace – it was making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and he didn't like it one bit.
"Blimey! Look!" said Ron suddenly, pointing a little further down the passageway. "It's the cup!" he said excitedly.
They all strained their eyes. Sure enough, there was definitely something twinkling innocently down the other end of the passageway and as their eyes adjusted, they could see that the passageway ended.
Harry's heart began to beat very quickly. What now?
Ron made to run forwards but Hermione grabbed the back of his collar.
"Wait."
Sure that the danger was by no means over, Harry looked at his feet and saw that there was a single loan rat scurrying along the edge of the passageway. It was a common black rat with mean little eyes and a scavenging look about it, but it had given Harry a sudden idea.
Lighting his wand so it shone with a faint willowy light, he shone the beam at the unsuspecting vermin, which turned tail the moment it realised that it had been discovered and scurried off in the opposite direction, away from them, and towards the Cup.
"What are you – ?"
But Harry held up a hand to silence them.
They waited a few seconds on tenterhooks before the rat was really out in the open, and then suddenly Harry clapped his hands loudly.
The rat leapt into the air … and was immediately speared by a huge sword which apparently had come out of the low ceiling above them, but then was gone.
Hermione raised a hand to her mouth and Ron cursed under his breath. Harry had been ready for something like this and so said nothing.
"What on earth do we do now?" Hermione asked, her hand still shaking.
"There's got to be a way," Harry said quietly, almost to himself.
"Yeah," Ron began. "A way that doesn't involve one of us becoming a kebab on a stick like that poor bugger!"
Harry began to pace up and down the safe part of the passageway.
"He had to get in … he had to be able to get in …"
"Maybe some kind of spell – ?"
Harry shook his head. "No … no this is different … this is the end of the test … it's not a spell …"
Ron looked at the dead rat with revulsion. "Well if it's not a spell, it's got to be something you do yourself, like a test of character or something."
Harry looked at him. "A test of character … yeah, maybe …"
Hermione also looked at the rat, but it wasn't with the distaste that Ron had; more like she pondering an Arithmancy problem.
"The rat wasn't killed until you clapped your hands like that … why? Why did it not happen until then?"
They all paused, deep in thought but lost in their own fear; they could all hear each other's hearts hammering within their chests.
Ron put his own hand to his chest and then opened his mouth. "Fear …" he whispered.
"What?" said Hermione.
Ron's eyes were wide and he looked like he had just been hit by a bolt of inspirational lightening.
"Harry frightened it when he clapped his hands! It was only stabbed when the magic surrounding the Horcrux realised that the rat was afraid … so it couldn't have been Voldemort … that's it! It's all to do with fear!"
How appropriate, thought Harry. Voldemort trying to pretend that he wasn't afraid of death or darkness … when Harry knew he secretly feared both.
Amazed with his own brilliance, Ron couldn't help but beam with superiority. Hermione was looking at him proudly, but Harry, whose mind had been made up in that instant, strode towards the Horcrux.
"Harry, no! What it it's not right?" Hermione gasped, trying to grab his arm.
Harry stopped and looked at her. "Then we'll find out."
He knew that it had to be him … Ron had been right and he couldn't ask either of them to do it … it was always going to be him.
Clenching his fists as he walked, he tried to think of the one thing that would take his mind away from the terrible fear that was making his very bones shake … Ginny.
As he walked, as though in slow motion, he could distantly hear Ron and Hermione shouting and screaming at him to come back, but they became more and more distant until he could here them no more. Even the pain in his ankle was gone.
He remembered that moment when he had realised how he had felt, that moment when the monster within his chest had risen unexpectedly and erupted with jealousy when she had been kissing Dean … and then the moment when they had won the Quidditch cup and she had run up to him with that look upon her face … how he had kissed her without fear, without trepidation. How, for once, it had been wonderful to have been gossiped about for something that was making him happier than he could remember for a long time … for when he was with Ginny; the whole world seemed to disappear and nothing else entered his head … when he was with Ginny, they spoke about stupid things he had never talked to anyone about, even Ron and Hermione, she had really cared for him … as more than just a friend … how he knew that she still did …
"Harry! You did it!"
Hermione's oddly distorted voice ringing through the chamber brought him out of his daydream and he realised that he had nearly walked into the Cup, which was sitting on top of a stone ledge at the end of the passage.
It was exactly as he had remembered it from the Pensive; still as shiny and gold as it had been back then, the large badger embossed on its side in gold filigree; it was a magnificent piece of treasure.
He looked back at where Ron and Hermione stood – they were oddly hazy, as though a sheen-like mirage hung between them and him.
Harry looked at the Cup … if it was a Horcrux … something would undoubtedly happen when he took it … and so he braced himself. It would only be a matter of time before the magic within the room realised that he was not Voldemort.
He shouted back at Ron and Hermione as loud as he could, not sure whether or not they could hear him.
"Get ready to run … fast, OK?"
Ron waved his arms, apparently to indicate that they could hear him, and so Harry held his breath.
He grasped the handle of the Cup … and for a moment, nothing happened. The handle was oddly warm to touch; he had expected it to be cold. And then it started.
Where his hand had been moments before, a huge spear-like sword came from above him and impaled the stone ledge that the Cup had been standing on. Rock and stone fractured in an instant with the force of the blow, showering Harry with great chunks of granite and leaving deep cuts in his hands and on his arms.
He turned sharply and ran for his life, ran as fast as his legs could carry him. Behind him he could hear the ground-shaking and deafeningly loud clunking of swords hitting the ground, inches behind him. As he sped up, a non-existent wind whipped at his hair and he actually thought that he felt one of the spears catch his hair before it plummeted into the ground behind him, desecrating the floor. Even though his ankle felt like it was going to explode from the throbbing pain, he paid it no attention and ran faster.
"RUN!" he yelled at Ron and Hermione, but they didn't need telling twice. "RUN!"
So they ran – they ran until the stitches within their sides became so severely painful that their bodies were screaming for them to stop, and yet they did not. They ran and ran until they came to the earthy wall.
Harry aimed his wand at the barrier as he was running … the quicksand would not pull them under on the way back … it didn't matter now.
"Liquefy!"
The wall disappeared.
It was only then that they realised the spears had stopped – but they had forgotten about the Inferi.
Dead and yet wholly mobile, they staggered towards the wheezing three who could not catch their breath.
Ron sent jets of fire over his shoulder to keep them at bay for as long as it took to reach the end of the passageway … it must be soon … it must …
And there it was … the sealed doorway.
"But it's shut!" Hermione wailed frantically.
"Don't worry …" Harry panted in sharp stabs. "I know what to do …"
He turned to Hermione … and received a shock that almost drove him to his knees … an Inferius that had broken free of the others was on top of her.
"HERMIONE!" Ron yelled, surging forwards into it, but it wouldn't budge an inch and began to drag Hermione, who was screaming in terror, backwards towards the thickening mud …
Harry reached out frantically towards the wall and wiped his bloodied hands on the doorway … please work … please …
And a thankful sliding noise told him that it had … as before, Voldemort demanded a blood payment to exit this time, rather than enter …
And still Hermione was grappling with the Inferius. Harry knew that if they didn't get it off her soon, there would be no escape. Somehow, Ron had managed to throw it off of her with a mixture of brute force and anger, but now it appeared to have him around the neck, trying to drag him back into the muddy depths instead.
Harry threw a curse at it, realising it had gotten used to the fire.
"Sectumsepmra!"
He knew it wouldn't harm it, but it had the desired effect … although gashes appeared in the already dead flesh and though the lost soul had no blood to spill, the Inferius was momentarily stunned, and dropped Ron.
This was all he needed, and he grabbed Hermione and raced with Harry towards the already closing door … metres from it, they flung themselves into a sideways roll … scraping under the doorway as it shut behind them.
The Inferius's whole body didn't make it, but its hand did. It moved grotesquely and wildly despite having been almost severed. However it appeared however that the doorway was no less forgiving and snapped the rotting limb off with one final push before slamming completely shut.
Too exhausted to even be disgusted, the three of them remained where they lay on their backs in the total darkness of the seemingly innocent house, next to the now invisible doorway, breathing hard. Harry had the Cup clasped tightly in his hand.
Ron spoke finally, still clutching Hermione to his chest.
"You know … I reckon they realised … you weren't Voldemort."
- - - - -
A/N: Oh, the excitement! I got so excited when I wrote that, and I visualised it all in my head! He he! So if you like … please review!
Elmire - Can't believe I forgot to ask your help with the French! Lol, it's cos your english is so good, you see, I forget! (Begs for forgiveness.) Hope you got your laundry done.
Madame-S-Butterfly - Yes, we will see some more of Ginny at some point, but you will have to wait! lol.
Mrs Sakura Potter - Doh! Did I really have Hermione spelling it wrong? (oops.) Oh well never mind. Also, let's relish in the thought that Hermione was in fact wrong for one and that the house wasn't unplottable! Hurah!
VoidArts - Glad you're enjoying it, but like you said youself, this IS fanfiction, and anyway, who says that Harry is the heir of Gryffindor? Heir or not, this is based on the books, and there may be a few intentional/unitentional potholes here or there, but like I've said to a few others, it is sometimes necessary to tweak the circumstances for purposes for MY plotline to work. As for the Snape thing - well spotted. That is, as I said, one of my unintentional potholes.
SammyLynn - yes, correct, they are searching for the Cup ... but you probably know that after this chapter lol. I'm off to read your new chapter right now!
mthukral - Thanku very much, that's very sweet.
kessemm - I think Harry may have answered your Q here - Voldie is not aware anyone knows about his Horcrux's and so there wouldn't be anywhere 'obvious' to hide them. Also, even if someone found the place, he would certainly not expect them to be able to retrieve it. But yes, I hope that JKR doesn't write something like this ... else I might actually go to prison lol.Blizzard Phoenix - Don't worry, I won't abandon, but updates may be a little slower, seeing as I'm off to uni on Sunday and things might take a little longer than I wish!