Note: This tittle is from the song 'Let's kill tonight' by Panic! at the disco.
Chapter 12
Show them all you're not the ordinary type
Harlene opened her eyes to find herself in the familiar empty space, where she first met Death. This is the second time she had come here but to her it felt like a home.
She got up from where she was lying on her back, she was in the same white spaghetti strap white dress as the first time. She looked around to find Death, as only IT can bring her here. But Death was nowhere to be seen. Harlene opened her mouth to call out to it, but no voice came out of her mouth. She tried to calm down and tried to remember why she was here, the last time she came here she was struck by Tom—no Voldemort's killing curse. But then why now? Why was she here now? Did someone tried to kill her?
Then it suddenly hit her. She was attacked by Gellert Grindelwald and most of all Catalina helped him. She was working with him from the very beginning. She tried to harm her over and over again and pretended that she was her friend. Harlene's blood boiled by anger at that thought. At that moment only one thought came to her mind.
I am going to make them regret ever messing with me.
'Mistress', at that very moment Harlene heard the all too familiar metallic voice of Death from behind her. She turned around to face the entity; it was as she remembered, with its black hooded cloak and skeletal hand holding the scythe as it stared down at her. Harlene had a vengeful look on her face as she looked up at her faithful servant.
'For a very long time this person has boasted of being the 'master of Death' as he wield the Death stick. Are you ready to show the one false 'master of Death' who the real master is?' Death asked in its monotonous metallic voice. Harlene could very much understand who this 'false master of Death' was. So she gave the only answer that Death wanted.
"Yes."
Gellert Grindelwald was more than happy to acquire the last descendant of the long lost line of Peverell family, he was glowing with pride. He had done right to his tittle of the 'Master of Death'. After all who else beside him can claim the last blood line of the family who had a close encounter to Death itself? He and only he alone can do it. No one else had the right but him, not Dumbledore not anyone.
He laughed manically by himself as he sat alone in the throne room of the Grindelwald manor nearby Godric's Hollow. This place brings back memory to him, some are good and some are bad. But he always liked to return to this place as this place is where the Peverell brothers used to live and also the grave of the third brother Ignotus's was here.
I wonder which brother she is descended from. She is probably descendant of the second or third brother as the first brother never got married.
He thought about all of these while he waited patiently for the said person to gain consciousness from where she was kept in the manor.
While Grindelwald was feeling triumphant about his victory (for the time being) by himself, Albus Dumbledore was sitting in front of Headmaster Dippet along with Horace Slughorn and one student, Tom Marvolo Riddle. It was well past midnight, which indicated that it has been a few hours since one of the student of Hogwarts was abducted right from the school grounds.
Everyone had a grim look on their face. Slughorn was pale, as it was his party from where the new transfer student Harlene Peverell was abducted. Dumbledore was silent, every gear in his mind was whirling to find out where Harlene Peverell might have been taken. Headmaster Dippet didn't want to inform the Aurors about the matter, because he didn't want to tarnish the name of the school.
"Albus I want you to find Ms. Peverell, if anyone can find her without the Ministry's help it's you. I don't wish to inform the Aurors about this. So do whatever you can to find the culprit, but do it silently." Headmaster Dippet addressed Dumbledore.
"Yes, of course Headmaster. I shall find Ms. Peverell before the term begins." Dumbledore told him assuringly.
While discussing the matter nobody noticed Tom's face. Even if they noticed they wouldn't have been able to see the rage as he kept his face void of any emotion. But his eyes kept flashing because of anger-anger towards the person who took Harlene Peverell from him, the person who had hurt her. He was still holding the pearls that he had found on the ground. He stared at them before suddenly looking up and addressed the Headmaster. His face was just as passive as before as he spoke.
"Professor, please find Ms. Peverell as fast as you can. We wouldn't want anything to happen to her."
"Yes, Tom. Don't worry we will find Ms. Peverell as fast as we can." Professor Dippet said to the younger man. "Also it is late you should retire to bed."
"Alright professor" Tom said with a nod and left the office not noticing the eyes of Albus Dumbledore watching him, even if he did he didn't care about it. He was far too angry at that moment. He could feel his magic lashing out inside of him in anger.
For that reason, rather than going to the common room he went straight to Room of Requirement to vent out his anger.
He went inside of the dueling room and put the pearls on a table nearby. He teared opened his coat and his ascot tie from his neck. He unbuttoned one of the upper button; he stared down at the ground for a few minutes then suddenly summoning his wand and aiming a blasting curse at one of the dummies. He kept on blasting the dummies to pieces but it still didn't calm him. He kept remembering Harlene's smile when they danced at the party. How beautiful she looked in that dress. The more he thought about it the angrier he became.
After a couple of hours of sending curses, he realized what he needed to calm down. He needed the one who kidnapped Harlene Peverell. Only when he hears the screams of that person would he calm down. Not before that. And the only time he'll truly calm down is when he sees Harlene.
Harlene woke from her slumber to find herself in an elegant looking room. She was lying on a king sized canopy bed, the room was dark. She got up into a sitting position and looked around the room. She could see that the bed was in exactly middle of the room against the wall; there was a door on the opposite wall of the bed, there were windows on both side of the wall behind the bed. There was only a reading table in front of a window on the right side of the bed, there was another door on the left wall but it smaller than the first one.
Harlene got down from the bed and noticed that she was wearing different cloths from before. She had the same white dress on, the one she wore in her inner world*. Shaking her she walked at the door of the room and tried to open it but just as she thought it didn't open.
Well, that was a long shot anyway.
She then tried to find her wand but it wasn't there either. She searched the whole room but there wasn't anything that could help her get out of this room. She could feel her magic fluctuating inside of her because of all the anger she was feeling. She tried to suppress her magic before she destroyed everything.
"Do not suppress your magic, Mistress. Let it flow."
Harlene was startled to suddenly hear the metallic voice of Death, but she decided to pay heed to it and let loose her restrains over her magic. She raised her hands towards the door and slowly started to release her magic. she could feel her magic coming out. Everything in the room started to fly. After a while she slowly reeled her magic back in.
"What is the matter, Mistress? Why aren't you using your magic to free yourself?"
I am waiting for the right moment. After all I have to punish the one who is the false Master of Death, so it's better to wait for them. Let them think of me as a damsel.
Harlene thought as she sat back on the bed, she had a mischievous smirk on her face.
"Alright, whatever Mistress thinks."
Harlene waited for someone to come to her. But nobody came to get her; the only person that came into her was a house elf who brought food for her. She tried to talk with her but the elf always left the room hurriedly. Hralene guessed that it had been three days since she had been kidnapped.
By the third day her patience was thinning. She didn't want to stay locked inside a room any longer. That was when the door of her room opened up revealing the very person who helped kidnap her. She looked at the person who came bursting through the door. Harlene watched as the person walked into the room with cloths in her hands, without an ounce of regret to what she had done.
"Harlene", the person said with a smug voice, a smirk was on her face.
"McMillan", Harlene addressed her with an emotionless voice. She had no business in dealing with rats like her. She had others to handle. At the moment she will pretend like a damsel, so when the time comes she could catch them off guard.
"Please, enlighten me. What is the your motive for doing all this?" Harlene asked her in the same emotionless voice.
"Isn't it obvious? I wish my family to be at the top of the food chain." Catalina said as she put the clothes on her bed. Harlene quirked an eyebrow at her.
"When Grindelwald takes over the world, we will be there beside him. We, who are most loyal to him. We shall be there when he creates a new world, a better world." Catalina told her with a look that could put Bellatrix's madness to shame.
Harlene gave her a deadpan look and after a while said with a smirk, "Huh, I have heard that one before." Harlene put her hands on her hips and leaned towards Catalina and said, "But believe me. Just like all those idiots that followed people like Grindelwald, you too shall face the same fate. The fate of defeat."
The smile on Catalina's face disappeared and anger replaced it. She tried to say something in return but Harlene had already turned away from her and walked towards the smaller door that leads to a luxurious bathroom with the clothes to change.
The cloth which was provided by Catalina was a high collared dark-blue long-sleeved robe with black embroidery done around the neck and on the breasts, a black corset to wear around the waist on top of the robe. The robe had slit in the middle so a similar blue skirt was provided to wear under it.
Harlene walked out of the bathroom wearing the dress and found that Catalina was sitting on the bed with an angry expression on her face. Harlene smirked at her expression which made her even angrier. Catalina got down from the bed and stomped towards the door. Without even looking back she told Harlene to follow her which she did without any fuss.
Grindelwald sat on the throne majestically, waiting for his prize to arrive. He had a glass full of Europe's finest wine, which was rich in taste and colour. Beside him Lord McMillan was standing like an adviser of a king. There were at least hundred more people in the room but all of their faces were hidden in hooded cloaks. They were all gathered inside a huge ball room, there was huge widows around the room and a beautiful chandelier was hanging down from the ceiling.
Catalina walked into the room with Harlene right behind her. She had a poker face on, no one could understand what was going through her mind.
She walked into the room with determined thoughts. She will flatten them all if it's necessary, otherwise she will wait till Dumbledore could get to Grindelwald.
Grindelwald looked up from where he was sitting when Catalina brought Harlene into the room.
"My Lord, your prize is here." Catalina said in a sweet voice to Grindelwald, which almost made Harlene gag.
Harlene raised an eyebrow at her comment, but kept her mouth shut.
"Welcome, welcome Ms. Peverell, the last descendant of one of the most Ancient Houses of Magical Britain! Welcome to my humble home." Grindelwald said with a crazy smile on his face.
Okay! This guy's head is a bag full of cats!No surprise there.
"I am thrilled to have you in my possession. After all this time the Master of Death finally got the last descendant of the family who came into contact with Death itself. This calls for a celeb-"
Grindelwald stopped in mid-sentence when he noticed the trembling figure of Harlene, her face was downcast. At first Grindelwald thought that she was trembling in fear. But his thought soon changed when Harlene no longer could keep her laughter in control.
"Hahahah…hahah….ahaha…!"
Grindelwald and Lord McMillan looked at her with shocked expressions, while Catalina hissed at her. But Harlene didn't care about others thought as she could hardly contain her laughter. At last she stopped laughing and looked at Grindelwald with a smirk.
"You are funny Grindelwald. I expected better from you." Harlene shook her head in mock disapproval. "But then again I have too much of a high standard with Dark Lords for you to match up with."
"What?!" Grindelwald growled at her, his face had a confused look.
Harlene looked at him with innocent eyes and said "Oh! You didn't get it? Let me clear it out for you." She gave him a smirk and said, "Firstly, I am not the only descendant of the Peverell's, there are others out there. They don't go by the name Peverell, but they are descendants of them. For example,the Gaunts."
Harlene looked at him with a smug face and saw no recognition on his face on that name, so she went on mocking him, "Oh! You don't know them? Dont worry I am sure Lord McMillan will recognize the next one."
Harlene looked at Lord McMillan and slowly said, "The Potters?"
A look of surprise crossed his face, but only for fraction of a second. But it was enough for Harlene to see. She gave a toothy grin at him, her smile got even bigger when she heard a sharp inhale from Catalina.
She turned to Grindelwald to find his face contorted in rage. Harlene's smile turned into a smirk.
"Secondly," Harlene smirk vanished and irritation replaced it. "I am not your prize, nor your possession. You can"t afford me. I mean, I am after all the richest person in all magical Britain and muggle Britain."
"I don't think-" Grndelwald tried to retort something back to her but with a snap of her finger he was silenced.
"I am not done talking yet." Harlene growled at him with a furious expression. Grindelwald's eyes widened at the wandless silencing charm.
"Now, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted. The third reason why you are not in a high enough standard to be a Dark Lord" Harlene tilted her head, a dangerous smile tugging at her lips. She could feel her magic swelling inside of her. "You have a false title. What I mean is that you are not the Master of Death."
Suddenly the whole room burst into shouts. Every one of Grindelwald's minions were screaming at her. She heard Catalina screech at her, "How dare you disrespect the Master!" But Harlene wasn't fazed by them; her eyes were fixed on Grindelwald.
Grindelwald broke the silencing spell with a wave of his wand. The wand caught Harlene's eyes, she could feel the magic vibrating inside of it, waiting to be claimed by the true Master of Death.
Grindelwald suddenly started to laugh loudly, making Harlene frown at him. Everyone in the room looked at him with shocked expression.
He stopped laughing at last and looked at Harlene with amused expression, "You are brave Ms. Peverell. I will give you credit for that, not many people can show such bravery in front of me. I am impressed."
Harlene scoffed at him. Which made Grindelwald more amused. He stood up from the throne like chair and walked toward her. He stopped in front of her and looked at her in the eyes which she returned without a hint of fear.
"I understand few of the things you said was true. Like how you were not the only descendant of the Peverell's. True. Or how we can't afford you. Also true. But here is where you're wrong. I am the Master of Death."
Harlene smirked and raised her eyebrows at him and asked in an amused voice, "Really? And how did you know that? Did Death come and tell you personally?"
Even though the last question sounded like a mocking question it really wasn't.
"Silly girl, when I wielded the Death stick for the first time, I became the Master of Death." Grindelwald told her. "Do you really think I would need to find other Hallows to be the Master of Death?"
"Actually, yes, you do." Harlene said in a matter of fact tone. "You see, you need much more than the strength to be the Master of Death. You also need resurrection and invisibility."
"Oh you seem to know a lot about these things. Mind if I ask how you know all of this?" Grindelwald said to her in an amused voice.
"Of course not, but before I answer your question, I would suggest you look around you."
Grindelwald frowned at her and looked around. He hadn't even noticed that the whole room was silent. He looked at Harlene and quirked an eyebrow in question.
She raised a finger at him, in a motion to tell him to give her a moment. She looked at Catalina who was standing few feet away from and stretched her hand at her palm raised, slowly she released only a small part of magic and-
BOOM!
Catalina went flying across the room with the huge amount of force from the stunning spell, she crashed onto the opposite wall and fell to the floor with a thudding noise.
A shock expression crossed Gridelwald's face as he watched the sheer amount of power the wand less curse held. Everyone in the room raised their wand at her, ready to fire spell at first command.
"Looks like the kitten needs to learn how to behave" Grindelwald told in a monotone voice with a slight hint of anger. He raised his hands at his minions to stop at their track. He will handle this.
Harlene quirked an eyebrow at him. Suddenly without any warning Grindelwald took out the Elder wand and hissed, "Crucio."
Harlene was not ready for the sudden attack, but braced herself for the pain to come. But the pain never came. There was a stinging sensation on her skin, but it was not as severe as the actual impact of the torture curse.
She looked at Grindelwald with a smirk, the Elder wand at any time line will not harm the Master of death, whether it was claimed by the master or not. Grindelwald stared at her with a horrified expression on his face.
Harlene, with a smirk, raised her hand and summoned her wand, "Accio Phoenix wand."
The Phoenix wand came whirling from Lord McMillan's robe pocket which Harlene caught with great reflex. "Now" she smirked, "it's my turn."
At once she shot a disarming spell at him which he deflected but the sheer amount of power sent him sliding back a few feet.
But before he could recover, a blasting hex hit him and sent him flying across the room. Harlene listened to what Tom had said about her lack in offence, and worked on her offensive skills. Although she liked defense more than offence. Today was the day when she showed that she could very well play the part of the offensive party in a battle as well.
Grindelwald got up from where he had landed and looked at her with poisonous eyes and snarled, "Kill her."
And all of a suddeen chaos erupted inside the room, all of Grindelwald's minions charged at Harlene. Without any hesitation, Harlene shot spell after spell at them, but soon the sheer number of them was overpowering her. But she fought with them with clenched jaw.
Shit! I won't be able to hold them much longer!
At one point of the battle, Harlene was surrounded by the remaining minions, she had taken down few dozen people but there were at least fifty people surrounding her.
Harlene was trapped in the middle of the circle, she had her wand raised but she couldn't tell who will attack first or will they attack all at once. Harlene realized that they were waiting for Grindelwald's command to finish her.
Grindelwald was again back at the throne chair and had a bored look on his handsome face, he assessed the situation and came to decision, and "Do it."
He no longer had any use of such a troublesome pet. All those pets who couldn't obey their masters should be dead after all.
All at once, the killing curse was shot at her from all around; she at once put up a strong shield around her. But they continuously shot jets of green light at her. If it was one or two she would have been able to hold them off easily but all of these killing curses were turning out to be too much to handle.
The sheer amount of the curse made her get on her knees. Soon the killing curses overwhelmed the whole place and made a green sphere around her.
I can't hold on anymore.
"Mistress"
Suddenly the metallic voice of Death came to Harlene's ears. She all but screamed for help in her mind.
"Mistress, let go of your restrains and accept the power of the Hallows, then you shall be able to do the impossible."
How? How can I do that?
"Try to reach for the Hallows in your soul; they are waiting for you to be claimed inside of you."
The concept of the Hallows being inside of her wasn't very exciting to Harlene but she closed her eyes and calmed down and tried to call for the Hallows in her mind.
Soon she could feel a warm feeling spread inside of her and heal the exhaustion of her magical core. She could feel her magic being enhance and being channeled by her hand to her wand. She could feel a shift in her wand, as if it was reforming.
The minions had closed around her shooting the killing curse constantly, they could see the sphere of the shield shrinking down. They thought that she was overpowered and the shield were losing its power. But they couldn't anticipate this.
They took another step toward her to break the shield down when they suddenly hard,
"EXPELLIARMUS !"
Suddenly the shield exploded in blinding white light. Grindelwald covered his eyes from the blinding light, when the light reduced he finally could see the room.
There stood Harlene Peverell, in all her glory, holding her wand and around her lay all of his men, arms spread like eagle without any wand in their hands.
Fear became clear in his eyes as he looked at the witch, for the first time in his life the fear of life consumed him. He could feel the raw power emitting from her, a power so that send chills down his spine.
What is this power? How could she be this powerful? She is only seventeen!
Harlene finally looked at Grindelwald with cold eyes, "That, Grindelwald," she said as if she had heard his thoughts "was the true power of the Master of Death, which you will never obtain."
She walked toward him and looked at him like she was seeing something very dirty and spoke with heat,
"You will never be the Master of Death, Grindelwald." Grindelwald watched in horror as a silhouette of a ten feet tall winged being appeared behind Harlene, it stood behind her in a protecting manner. In that very moment he realized that whatever he had learned about her was not true. It couldn't even describe one tenth of the magic she held.
Suddenly the door of the throne room burst opened and the silhouette behind Harlene disappeared at once. She looked at the door and found herself looking at a pair of icy blue eyes and that was when exhaustion caught up to her and she finally lost her consciousness.
* imagine the shinigami's inner world from Bleach. It is how they communicate with their Zanpakto's.
This is the beta-ed chapter. My beta sent it to me this afternoon. So very thanks to Teshigahara Terumi my beta. She said that it was birthday present for me from her. Thank a lot. ^_^ ^_^ ^_^
