A/N: Hey there everyone! Here with another chapter and a few days earlier than I thought. Just want to send a huge thank you to everyone who reviewed/favorite/alerted the last chapter! Thank you all for your continued support!
Just a brief warning, this chapter moves pretty fast but I hope that you all enjoy it none the less. Also, quick warning for language. Starting to try and earn that 'M' rating I've given this story.
Please leave a review! I welcome just about all of them. My only caveat is that if you feel the need to put in criticism, please make it constructive (meaning put suggestions in). Other than that, hope that you all enjoy!
Chapter 14
After their confrontation in the girl's bathroom, and after making sure that the Chamber was once again sealed, Harry led his inner circle and a magical bound Lockhart back to the defense against the dark arts classroom where they managed to find Ginny and Luna. Both were alive but unconscious and locked within magical trunk in Lockhart's office. Their good fortune ended there however, as the moment they stepped foot out of the classroom Murphy's Law had to come into effect as they ran head first into both Professor McGonagall and Flitwick.
Although in hindsight, it was far better that they ran into those two rather than anyone else. Both McGonagall and Flitwick where at least willing to hear their explanation as to why they had Lockhart magically bound and two unconscious girls with them. Which was why they now all found themselves in the Headmaster's office with all of the staff, their parent's save for Ms. Wealesy and Mr. Lovegood who'd gone down to the hospital wing to check on their girls. There were also three Aurors that'd been summoned by Madam Bones and surprisingly enough Dumbledore was back as well.
"-and then we found Ginny and Luna locked in one of Lockhart's chests in his office. We were just about to try and find one of the staff or contact Madam Bones when Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick found us. And that's all." Harry said finishing his explanation of the night's events to all of the adults in the room while Lockhart was trying frantically to fight against the spells that were holding him in place.
"That is quite the tale young Harry." Dumbledore said, breaking the stunned silence that'd settled over his office after Harry had finished speaking.
"But how do we know that he is even telling the truth?" Snape countered his voice surprisingly neutral.
"My son doesn't lie Mr. Snape." His mother growled defensively as she placed her hands on either of his shoulders. "Unlike some others that I can think of."
"All of our children are verifying his story Professor." Cyrus said sharply, to which all of the other parents in the room nodded. "Are you accusing my daughter, all of our children for that matter, of being liar's as well?"
"Personally I will take the word of my niece and her friend over this man any day of the week." Amelia added nodding towards Lockhart, who'd been magical bound and gagged by the Aurors. "However from a legal sense my personal feelings are meaningless. But we do have a way of verifying what happened tonight. Shacklebolt, please give Mr. Lockhart here three drops of veritaserum."
"Madam Bones!" Dumbledore cried standing from his desk. "Perhaps this would be a matter better left for a time when there are not so many children around."
"These children were his intended victims Headmaster." Amelia countered harshly. "If anyone has a right to hear this man's confession, it's them. Shacklebolt, administer the veritaserum. In fact…make it four drops instead of the standard three."
"Ma'am?"
"Apparently he's a Master of mind magic Shacklebolt." Amelia countered. "Whether it's true or not I'm not about to take any chances with him. Four drops."
The large dark-skinned man nodded before pulling out a small vial from his robes. Lockhart, upon seeing the vial and hearing what it was, began fighting against his bonds violently. But all of his struggles were in vain as one of the Auror's renewed the magical restraints and the other forcibly opened his jaw allowing Shacklebolt to place four drops of the potion into his mouth.
Lockhart's slowly stopped struggling as his eyes glassed over. "I'll do the questioning." Amelia said, stepping forward so she was standing directly in front of Lockhart. "Shacklebolt take the notes. Now, state your name and your role here at Hogwarts."
"Gilderoy Lockhart. I am the current defense against the dark arts professor."
"Are you qualified to teach such a position?"
Lockhart's face twitched ever so slightly. "No."
"Why not? The tales of your exploits makes you almost legendary in status. But if you say that you are not qualified then how did you obtain the position?"
Again Lockhart's face twitched as he was obviously trying to fight against the effects of the potion. "I never did any of the acts that I wrote in my books." All of the adults, save for the Professors who'd already figured it out, his mother, and Madam Bones gasped at the revelation. "And I got this position because I bypassed the Headmaster, who'd turned me down, and went to the Board of Governors. After only ten minutes with them they were practically begging me to take this job."
Harry threw a glance towards the Headmaster. 'Dumbledore must've realized he was a fraud well before he ever stepped foot in here. But then…why didn't he do anything to correct his complete incompetence?'
"I think it's safe to assume that he is indeed under the effects of the potion." Amelia nodded. "Now then, were you, Gilderoy Lockhart, the one who organized the attacks on the children this semester?"
"…Yes."
"Did you actually open the Chamber of Secrets?"
"No. I didn't even know where it actually was until Harry Potter and his friends discovered it."
"Then how did you attack the students?"
"I would oblivate a student and while their mind was still recovering from the shock of the oblivation I would cast several compulsion and confundus charms on them." Lockhart explained completely straight faced. "I then gave the students a target and instructions. They were to stun their intended target once the two of them were alone and isolated from any ghost or portraits. They would then place a single drop of the Draught of Stone onto their tongues."
"Draught of Stone?" Hannah's father asked. "I've never heard of that potion and I received an Outstand on my potion's NEWT."
"Not surprising. It's not a very well-known potion." Everyone turned and stared at Hogwart's residence potion's master. "It takes months of meticulous attention to even brew a single batch. Not to mention it also costs a small fortune to obtain all of the raw ingredients needed."
"What does it do?" Madam Bones asked.
"Exactly what the name implies Madam Bones," Snape huffed. "The primary ingredient is powdered basilisk eye, which is why it is so difficult and expensive to make. It's completely odorless and colorless and is totally inert unit it comes into direct contact with the tongue. Once it does, the potion will petrify the victim immediately."
"Is there a cure?"
"Yes." Snape nodded. "The same that is used to cure a basilisk petrification. But it is almost as difficult to make as the petrifying potion itself."
"But now that we know what was used on the students, Severus and Poppy will be able to brew a batch of the counter potion within a week. Two at the most as we have a batch of mandrakes almost ready to be harvested." Dumbledore added. "Now then, if that is all you have to ask Madam Bones might I suggest that-"
The fire place came to life as green flames erupted from its depths. As the flames died, Lucius Malfoy stepped out from the fireplace. "Lucius Malfoy." Amelia greeted, her eyes narrowing. "Might I ask why you are here?"
Lucius opened his mouth to answer, but once his eyes landed on Dumbledore he froze. "I heard about what happened Madam Bones and came to offer my services. However I can't help but wonder why the Headmaster is here. The Governors dismissed you from your positon some time ago."
"Yes they did." Dumbledore nodded. "But when they heard of another attack just a few hours ago, they contacted me and asked me to return with all haste."
"Did they now?" Lucius growled.
Harry nearly had to do a double take at the look Dumbledore was giving Lucius. It was one of a person who had someone backed into a corner and was relishing it. He should know. He was used to seeing it on his mother's face. "Yes they did…in fact, they asked me to give you something Lucius." Opening one of the drawers within his desk, Dumbledore pulled out a piece of rolled parchment.
Looking at the note curiously, Lucius crossed the small space between them and snatched it out of the Headmaster's hand. Unrolling the parchment Lucius read its contents. Frowned. Then read the note again. And again. His face turning steadily redder with each successive reading. "What is the meaning of this!?"
"I believe it is quite self-explanatory Lucius." Dumbledore smiled. "The Board does not feel comfortable with your continued presence amongst their ranks. I believe it the Board's decision has something to do with the meeting you called just before my subsequent removal as Headmaster."
Lucius looked positively murderous. That is until Madam Bones stepped in-between the two, forcing Lucius to look at her. "I'll ask again Lucius. What are you doing here?"
Lucius, regaining a small measure of his composure, squared off with the head of the DMLE. "As I said Madam Bones, I came here to offer my services after hearing of yet another attack. However, seeing as how you are all here I assume that it is safe to say that the culprit has been caught?"
'More like you came to see Ginny get carted off to Azkaban you bastard.' Harry thought, his anger steadily rising before his mother placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Calm yourself my son." She said just low enough for the two of them to hear. "And enjoy the show. It's rare to find such good entertainment for free."
"And how did you hear about the attack Lucius?" Mr. Davies asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "The attack happened only a few hours ago and we were all summoned here less than an hour ago. So how did you learn about it?"
Lucius glared at Mr. Davies, who to his credit just stared right back. "How I learned of it is irrelevant." Lucius spat. "I only care about the well-being of this school. And as a parent of a student currently in attendance, I reserve the right to now that the perpetrator behind these attacks is punished. So…where are they?"
Smirking, Amelia pointed towards the still blankly staring Lockhart. "He's right there."
"Lockhart?" Lucius blinked.
"Yes." Amelia smirked. Harry's mother had informed Madam Bones of everything she'd regarding the diary, including how they came into possession of the artifact. No doubt Amelia was taking no small amount of pleasure in watching one of Lucius schemes fall apart, despite the fact that she wasn't able to put him in Azkaban.
"And it's thanks to my son and his friends that he was caught." Harry's mother said, her amusement with the whole situation clear in her voice. "I dare say that everything student and their parents owes these brave children thanks for their efforts. Don't you Lucius?"
"Quite so." Lucius growled, glaring at Harry and Nox. "Well…let us hope that your son and his friends will be around to end any other threats."
"Don't worry Mr. Malfoy." Harry grinned. "We will be."
Lucius continued to glare at Harry for a few seconds before turning his attention back to Dumbledore and Amelia. "Very well then…I can see that this situation is well in hand. And unlike some…I know when I've over stayed my welcome. Headmaster. Madam Bones."
And without waiting for a reply, Lucius turned tail and almost ran back into the floo.
"Good Merlin…I thought he would never leave." Hannah's mother sighed before turning her nose up and taking a deep breath. "The air smells better in here already."
"Quite so." Amelia smirked before turning back to Lockhart. "I believe we have everything we need. Shacklebolt, escort Mr. Lockhart to the Ministry holding cells to await trial. And while you're there be sure to release Mr. Hagrid with our apologies."
"Of course ma'am." Shacklebolt nodded before roughly hauling Lockhart up to his feet and escorting him through the floo with the other two Aurors.
"Well then," Dumbledore said rising to his feet. "All's well that ends well. I thank you all for coming here so late at night-"
"We're not done Headmaster." Nox said cutting Dumbledore off. "We still have to discuss what to do with the Chamber."
"Madam Nox is right Headmaster." Cyrus agreed, placing his hands on Daphne's shoulders. "The Chamber has already been opened once before, who's to say that it can't be again. And I for one am not willing to have my daughter's attend a school that has a thousand year old basilisk sealed beneath it."
Dumbledore's face gradually fell as the other parents began agreeing with Cyrus. "I can assure you all that-"
"I afraid Dumbledore that this is no longer your decision." Amelia said. "Despite the fact that this is Hogwarts, a basilisk falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Magic. Some creatures are just too dangerous to be allowed to roam free. And a thousand year old basilisk certainly falls under that category. By the end of the week I will have a team assembled to deal with the creature. You are welcome to join us as a representative of Hogwarts, but you impeding this will be violation of the law. A law which you yourself signed into effect Headmaster."
"Harry and I will be joining you as well Madam Bones."
You could've heard a pin drop after his mother's announcement. "Madam Nox…" Dumbledore said slowly. "While I cannot condone what the Ministry is doing I will not allow one of my students to be-"
"Unless you've suddenly gained the ability to speak parseltongue Headmaster, or know someone who does. Then my son is needed to even open the entrance to the Chamber." His mother countered. "And at the moment we don't know if there are any other doors that will require his unique skill set in order to open. So, and trust me I do not say this easily, he is needed. And as his mother and guardian I will be accompanying him every step of the way."
"She's right Dumbledore," Amelia said before Dumbledore could say anything. "Young Mr. Potter here is probably the only known parseltongue in all of Europe at the moment."
Dumbledore looked like he wanted to argue further, but after a moment he sighed and dropped down heavily into his chair in defeat. "Very well. But I will be accompanying this expedition if for no other reason than to ensure Mr. Potter's safety."
Harry tuned out the as the rest of the adults continued speaking. He would be going to down into the Chamber of Secrets…to hunt a basilisk. 'Force…what the hell have I gotten myself into this time?'
The week following Lockhart's capture had, amazingly enough, been relatively peaceful for Hogwarts. Dumbledore, to his credit, had tried to head off the famous rumor mill of Hogwarts by explaining to the school that it'd been Lockhart who'd been responsible for the attacks and not the Chamber of Secrets. But of course that didn't stop the rumors from circulating. At best it only curbed the more vicious rumors.
But now Harry was sure that those rumors were about to gear right back up considering that over half the school had just witnessed the Headmaster escorting the Head of the DMLE, the Head of House Black, Harry, his mother, and fifteen other witches and wizards through the halls of Hogwarts and into the girl's bathroom.
With a slight squeeze of encouragement from his mother, Harry stepped up to the sink in the bathroom and formed the image of a snake in his mind. "Openss."
"Amazing." Dumbledore marveled as the sinks separated from one another revealing the entrance to the Chamber. "For a thousand years, hundreds of scholars have been searching for this. And to think that it's been here all this time…simply amazing."
"And it took a muggleborn to find it. I'm sure those pureblood idiots are turning over in their graves." Sirius scoffed before taking a step forward and peered down into the pit. "Okay…who wants to slide down the dark creepy hole first?"
"Are you volunteering Sirius?" Nox joked as she stepped up towards the edge of the pit and peered down. "Dumbledore…Slytherin was a rather refined man was he not?"
"Yes he was." Dumbledore answered. "He was known as quite the aristocrat despite the time period."
"Yeah yeah, everyone knows he was the pinnacle of pureblood bull shite." Sirius said looking at Nox. "So what's your point?"
Stepping back from the pit, Nox motioned for Harry to take stand next to her. "My point is, that I doubt he would've created this chamber so that he would have to slide down on his ass every time he wanted to visit it. Harry, see if you asking for stairs will do anything."
Nodding, Harry stepped to the edge of the pit. The only way down that he could see was a slide that wound around the edges of the wall. "Ssstairsss."
A loud crack came from the slide as it separated into separated pieces, each of which turned slightly to create a winding staircase leading down. "Bravo my boy." Dumbledore clapped, drawing his wand and creating a small wisp of light that slowly floated down the tunnel.
"Johnson, Newert. You two are on point." Amelia said, to which two wizards nodded before drawing their wands and making their way down the winding stairs. Once they had disappeared from sight, Amelia turned to the witch and wizard that'd been standing near the door. "Smith, Jones. You two are on guard duty. No one comes into this room until we come back up. Madam Nox, Harry. After you."
Drawing his wand, Harry took a calming breath before stepping down onto the first step leading down behind an already descending Dumbledore. 'Passion, yet peace. Serenity, yet emotion. Chaos, yet order. I am the wielder of the flame, the protector of balance.'
Near the bottom of the stairs the tunnel widened into a large cavern and Harry saw that the two Aurors that'd gone down first were standing side by side staring and poking at a strange rock formation. As he stepped off of the last step, he realized with a start that the two Aurors weren't looking at rocks. They were examine a snake skin that was nearly as tall as Harry.
"Merlin's bloody balls!" One of the Aurors gasped as he stepped off the stairs and took notice of the giant snake skin.
"I guess that answers the question about whether or not their actually is a basilisk down here." Amelia swallowed, her face turning slightly pale as she walked up to the snake skin.
"I fear you are correct Madam Bones." Dumbledore agreed as he walked down the length of the snake skin while holding his now glowing wand above his head. "Mr. Potter, I believe we are in need of your talents once more."
Walking around the snake skin with his mother at his side, Harry found Dumbledore standing before a large circular door that had nearly a dozen silver snakes spreading out from the center. "Opensss."
A new snake emerged from large door hinge, circling around the door and pushing back the other snakes that were stretched across the door. Once all of the snakes were pushed back, the door hissed and the sound of metal against metal echoed throughout the cavern as the door slowly slid open.
Small little fires began springing to life inside the new room. As their intensity grew, a large chamber with a single ten foot wide pathway with water on either sides became visible. On the far end from the entrance there was a large statue of, what Harry could only assume, was Salazar Slytherin head.
With his wand held aloft, Dumbledore took a few tentative steps into the chamber. "Remarkable. Simply remarkable."
Slowly the other Aurors began filling into the room, walking along the narrow pathway until they were standing before the large statue of Slytherin's head. Harry took a few steps in after the Aurors, but came to a stop as his mother placed her hands on his shoulders.
"It's behind the statue." His mother said in a low voice so only the two of them could hear. "Reach out with your senses and tell me what you feel."
Nodding, Harry closed his eyes and reached out with the Force trying to feel for the presence behind the statue. Locating some sort of consciousness, he reached out and tried to form a connection. And immediately physically recoiled. "Force." He breathed. The presence was…vile.
"You felt it." His mother said placing a hand on his back.
"Yes." He felt physically sick just from touching the mind of the basilisk. "It was…Force I don't know. All it knows is…anger. And hunger."
Rubbing his back, his mother turned to watch as the Aurors continued searching around the Chamber. "It's been alone for nearly a thousand years. No companionship. No freedom. And now its mind has been twisted into what you felt."
"But then…how did Riddle control it before?"
His mother shrugged. "Who knows. Maybe Slytherin somehow managed to bind the snake to himself and his descendants. Either way…the snake is useless to us now."
"-behind the statue. It has to be."
Turning his attention back to the others, Harry saw that Amelia was standing with Dumbledore and a few of her Aurors in front of the large stone head of Slytherin. "But how exactly are we supposed to get it out?"
"A few good blasting charms should do the trick."
Letting out a long sigh, Dumbledore drew his wand and lazily waved it towards the statue. The spell that he cast was stopped by an invisible wall well before it could ever reach the statue. "Salazar was one of the Four Founders for a reason ladies and gentlemen. He pretty much created his own branch of magic in the Dark Arts."
"So, how are we supposed to get to the bloody thing then?"
"I believe that we must once again ask for Mr. Potter's assistance."
Swallowing hard, Harry forced his feet to move forward until he was standing beside Dumbledore with his mother right behind him. "Wh – what do I say? I've just been saying 'open' so far."
Dumbledore looked pensive for a moment. "Slytherin was…arrogant. As was his descendents. Try saying something that will impress upon Slytherin's greatness."
Nodding, Harry took another step towards the statue as the dozen plus Aurors took up flanking positions all around him. "By the willsss of Ssslytherin. Opensss." Nothing. "Comesss forth, sssnake of Ssslytherin. Greatessst of the Founderssss."
"Whosss are youssss?"
Biting his lip, Harry risked a quick glance at the Aurors on either side of him. And judging by the fact that all of them were currently holding onto their wands so tightly their knuckles were turning white, it was a far bet that they'd all heard the hissing from within the statue. "I am a Ssspeaker."
"I knowssss. But yousss are notsss my masssster. You are notss the heirsss of my creator! Yousss are an imposssiter! And yousss…all of yousss mussst diesss!"
"Shit." Harry cursed aloud, taking a step back and drawing his wand. "It's coming…and it's not happy."
The mouth of the statue slid open, revealing a dark passageway within. Without hesitation the dozen Aurors, as well as Sirius, Amelia, his mother, and Dumbledore all fired spells into the open mouth. Time seemed to almost stand still as everyone kept a firm eye on the entrance within the statue. Without warning the snake shot out like a bullet from the mouth of the statue.
All of the witches and wizards in the chamber started throwing dozens of different spells at the speeding blur that began coiling in on itself just in front of the statue. A few of the spells managed to impact the snake, drawing out several angry hisses from the months. But most simply bounced off of its hide.
With a spell on the tip of his tongue, Harry pointed his wand towards the basilisk only to have it move nearly faster than his eye could follow. The basilisk lashed out from its coiled position towards the line of witches and wizards. Diving to his side, Harry could feel the air whoosh past him as the basilisk flew by. The witch who'd been standing near him wasn't as lucky. The Auror screamed in agony as the snake tore off her arm as it passed her by before sinking into the watery basin within the Chamber.
"Bloody hell!" Amelia screamed running over to the now shaking Auror.
The Auror stared up at Amelia, gasping desperately for air. Harry felt he was going to be physically sick as he watched the veins in her neck and face become visible as they blackened beneath her skin. The woman, who Harry didn't even know, managed to gasp twice more before still completely in Amelia's arms.
"Get away from the water!"
His mother's scream broke Harry out his shock from watching the young woman die. Holding his wand tightly, Harry moved back in line with everyone else, including Amelia who'd left the young woman's side after closing her eyes. "Did you see that bloody thing? Our spells did absolutely nothing to it! We might as well be throwing bloody stones at the thing!" One of the male Aurors cried.
"Then stop pussyfooting around!" Harry had to blink as he turned to his mother. He'd rarely ever heard her use such language before. And apparently neither had many of the Aurors. "Fucking idiots! Stop looking at me and pay attention to the damn water! I'm not about to die because of your ineptitude. The next time that thing gives you a clear shot don't fucking use stunning spells!"
"She's right." Amelia said, a determined look set on her face. "As Head of the DMLE I'm authorizing temporary immunity from prosecution. When that thing comes up you're all clear to use the Killing Curse."
"Madam Bones!" Dumbledore gasped, while several of the Aurors turned pale. "There is no-"
"That creature just killed one of my Aurors Headmaster." Amelia hissed, her hard eyes focusing in on Dumbledore. "I'm not about to lose more. If you don't want to use it then fine. Everyone who actually has the balls to use it, then do so at will."
"Will it actually kill the thing?" His mother asked, her eyes firmly locked on the water. "That hide seems to be remarkable resilient to magic. Even more so than what I've read."
"It might not." Amelia admitted. "But at the very least it will do more damage than a stunner or a cutting curse."
No one said anything further as all eyes turned to watch the water's surface for any sign of the snake. After nearly five full minutes of nothing, Sirius spoke up. "Okay…should we try some cheese or something?"
"It's hunting us." Harry's mother spoke up, her wand remaining firmly pointed at the water. "Right now the only way out is that path across the water. The moment we try and leave it'll attack. If we all try and run I doubt even half of us would make it across alive."
"So what do we do?" A witch asked, her wand shaking more than slightly.
"We freeze the water." Amelia said firmly. "Jones, Higgins. Each of you take a side and start casting. Everyone else cover them. The moment that bastard raises its head fire at will."
The two Aurors that she'd named cautiously inched their way towards the water. Once they were close enough both pointed their wands at the water as a blue stream of what looked like snow left their wands. Inch by inch the water began to ice over.
The ice on Harry's right side shattered as the basilisk forced its way up through it. The Auror that'd been freezing the water didn't even have time to look away as the basilisk looked at the man right in the eye. The snake's eyes glowed ever so briefly and the Auror was stone dead before he even hit the ground.
A dozen jets of green light that reeked of the dark side shot out from all around him. Each hitting the basilisk right in the chest. But despite the onslaught, the basilisk simply retreated back beneath the water's surface. "To hell with this!" One of the male Auror's shouted as he took off at a sprint across the path.
"Simons!" Amelia shouted after the man. "You fool get back here before-"
But it was far too late for the man. Before he even managed to cross half the distance to the door the basilisk broke through the ice right in front of him. Simons managed to cry out once before the basilisk swallowed half of him in one go, leaving only his severed legs to teeter on the pathway.
A dozen jets of sickly green light that reeked of the dark side sped by him on all sides as the remaining Aurors all cast the killing curse at the same time. The basilisk hissed in pain as the spells struck it, but otherwise seemed unharmed. The basilisk reared up, its head swiveling towards the group. "Everyone cover your eyes!"
But before the basilisk could get its head around, a flame erupted just above the snakes head and a…a bird appeared amidst the flame before landing on the basilisk's head. "Wretched! Burning! Pain! It hurtsss!" The basilisk hissed and cried out in agony as the bird pecked at its eyes.
"Fawkes has taken its eyes!" Dumbledore shouted as the basilisk finally managed to shake off the red bird, blood now freely flowing down from where its eyes used to be.
"Good."
A blur of black sped past him. His mother had moved down the path, her wand held off to her side as the snake twisted and turned in agony. All of the remaining Aurors as well as Dumbledore and Sirius were shouting at her to get back, but his mother wasn't paying attention.
Harry couldn't move as he watched his mother walk straight towards what was considered to be the most dangerous creature in the world. Once she'd closed more than half the distance between them, the basilisk stopped flailing about and cocked its head off to the side. "I hearsssss you little onessss!"
"Mother!"
Harry began sprinting towards his mother, his hand outstretched as he tried to reach her even as the basilisk gapping maw descended towards her.
Harry wasn't quite sure what happened next. One second he was running as fast as he could towards his mother and the basilisk that was about to devour her. And the next he was flat on his back.
Pushing himself up onto his elbows he could hardly believe what he was looking at. The basilisk was dead. The top half of its head blown out from the inside. But it wasn't the dead snake that left him awestruck. It was his mother. She was positively rating power. Black wisps of smoke with fringes of white, the physical manifestations of the dark and light side of the Force, were surrounding her body like a cocoon. And she was floating a full foot off of the ground!
Gradually, the wisps of black and white smoke dissolved from around her as she settled gracefully back onto the ground. "Good Merlin…"
Twisting his head around, he saw that all of the surviving Aurors were staring gab smacked at his mother. Even Dumbledore seemed slightly paler than usual.
Climbing back to his feet, Harry dusted himself off and had to resist the urge to run full force into his mother. Instead he settle for what he hoped was dignified, if somewhat hurried, pace. "Mother?"
His mother had her eyes closed and he could just barely feel her using the Force to search for something. "Damn it." She muttered opening her eyes. "It's not down here."
Harry wanted to ask what she was looking for, but he knew better than to ask such a question in such an open area. "Well done Madam Nox." His mother turned around, and Harry peered over his shoulder to watch as Dumbledore, Sirius, and Amelia walked up towards the two of them. "I must say Madam Nox…I haven't witness that level of magical control in years. I am most curious to learn where you mastered how to manipulate pure magical energy like that."
His mother merely smirked at Dumbledore. "Trade secret Headmaster." Casting a quick glance over her shoulder, she stared at the basilisk before facing the trio again. "I'm claiming its hide and its fangs."
Dumbledore blinked. "I beg your pardon?"
"The basilisk." His mother said, pointing over her shoulder with her thumb. "If I remember the law correctly, as the one who killed the beast I am entitled to claim a prize from it. I'm claiming its hide, in its entirety, and the fangs. The rest can be dissected for ingredients. But a portion of the proceeds should go to the families of the ones who died here today."
Harry had to repress smirking as he watched Dumbledore try to piece together what had just happened. 'When dealing with an opponent that you will have to interact with publicly, create one image for yourself only to change it later. It will keep your opposition guessing as to what your true objectives are. And if you're good…you can even get your opponents to do your work for you.'
"Yes…a fine idea Madam Nox." Dumbledore nodded. "I will see to it that it is done. Now if you will all please excuse an old man…I fear this was far too much excitement for these old bones today. Madam Bones. Madam Nox. Lord Black. Harry."
"Headmaster."
"Chief Warlock."
"Headmaster."
"Headmaster Dumbledore."
Standing close to one another, the four watched as Dumbledore slowly made his way out of the Chamber. Once he was out of sight Amelia drew her wand and cast several spells, which Harry recognized as privacy wards, around them. "Alright Nox. Where is it?"
At this, his mother scowled. "It's not here."
"Are you sure?" Sirius asked looking around. "This is a pretty big place."
"I'm sure." Nox nodded. "After destroying three of his shards I've become quite adapt at sensing his presence. Even fractured. And I can say with certainty that there is nothing here."
"I'll take your word for it Nox." Amelia nodded. "But perhaps once we've completed our excavation of this place perhaps you wouldn't mind taking another look."
His mother pursed her lips before nodding once. "Excellent." Sirius clapped. "Well, now that we've got all of that out of the way perhaps we can move away from the sixty-foot big arse dead snake that is right behind you?"
The rest of the school year went by relatively quietly, much to Harry's upmost relief. Most of his peace was due to the fact that a week after his mother killed the basilisk in the Chamber Madam Pomfrey and Snape managed to finish brewing the potion that would un-petrify the students. And because of that, any attention that was on him was refocused from to the victims who'd lost nearly a month or two of their lives.
Hermione had been in a right state when she was brought out of her petrification. It'd pretty much taken the combined efforts of the entire group to calm her down. And in true Hermione fashion, pretty much the second question after 'what happened?' was 'how much homework did I miss?'
No substitute was hired for the post of Defense teacher, which made sense seeing as how there was only two months of school left. So the position fell to Dumbledore. And despite any misgivings Harry might've had about the man, there was one thing for sure. He could teach. Harry was pretty sure that he'd learned more about defense in those two months than he had the past year and a half of defense classes.
With their secret study group pretty much out in the open, Daphne and Tracey abandoned their act and started publicly spending time with Harry and the others. At first Harry had been concerned for their safety, but that ended after two sixth year Slytherins were admitted to the hospital wing under mysterious circumstances that both refused to talk about. Harry still wasn't sure how or where the two girls learned the spell to make all of one's hair, and he meant every hair, suddenly become completely ingrown but he never questioned their safety again.
Quickly enough the school year came to a close with Harry and his circle of friends receiving praise for once again obtaining the highest scores in the school. The only exception was Ron, but he still managed to score within the top fifteen students of the year.
The day after their exams were completed Dumbledore announced to the school that Lockhart had been found guilty of all charges and had been sentenced to life in Azkaban for his crimes. Just about every student in the school cheered at the announcement, but part of Harry still couldn't help but feel that the bastard had gotten of light.
On their last day at Hogwarts Hedwig delivered a special edition of the Daily Prophet that had nearly all of the Weasley's dancing in the middle of the Great Hall. Their father's muggle protection bill pass almost unanimously in the Wizenagmot. And even better, after it had passed their father had won the Daily Prophets Grand Prize Draw of a thousand galleons. Barely an hour later the Weasley children received a letter from their parents saying that they were going to go on a vacation to Egypt to visit their older brother William 'Bill'. And as a show of thanks, Arthur had invite Harry and his mother as well. His mother had quickly accepted the invitation as it gave her a chance to do what she'd been wanting to do for a long time. Study the pyramids.
Which was why Harry was currently walking with his mother and the rest of the Weasley's through an old pyramid as the eldest Weasley child guided them. "-luck that we even found this place." Bill was saying as he led the group of them down the main corridor within the pyramid while pointing towards the wall. "The carvings on the walls are unlike anything we've ever seen before. And because of that we haven't been able to translate even a single panel within the pyramid despite having our best people on the task."
"Tell me William. How is it that you and your coworkers even discovered this pyramid in the first place?"
As Bill turned his most charming smile on his mother, Harry had to restrain himself from knocking his teeth out. While admittedly Bill seemed fairly cool with his long hair, earning, and somewhat cocky attitude…he was no longer cool when he tried to put the moves on his mother! Especially because she was already involved with someone else! And she was his mother for Force sake!
"I can answer that with a question of my own Madam Nox. By a raise of hands, how many can feel that light tingling feeling on your skin?" Bill's eyebrows rose as Nox's, Arthur's, Molly's, Harry's and Ginny's hands all went up into the air. Ron started to raise his hand, but then lowered it with a sigh. "Well…this is umm…I was expecting mum, dad, and Madam Nox but…Harry and Ginny? You two can feel it?"
"Yes." Harry said while Ginny nodded. "It's ambient magic."
Bill actually had to shake his head. "Good Merlin…I've heard things about you and your mother from the goblins…but I never thought they were true until now. But you're right. What you're feeling right now is ambient magic. This place is saturated in it. Which leads into how we found it because one of our curse breakers found this nice local girl and brought her behind what he thought was an isolated rock area so the two of them could have a quick sha-"
"I don't think we need all the details Bill!" Mrs. Weasley shouted, her hands covering both of Ginny's ears.
Harry's mother chuckled as she ran a hand along the carvings. "And no one has had any luck in deciphering these carvings?"
"No." Bill shook his head. "We've had the best that Gringotts could afford out here trying to translate these ruins. But so far nothing. And without a point of reference for the translations, I fear we'll never figure them out. Now if you'll follow me out we'll head to back to the camp for dinner."
With Bill in the lead the group started to head back towards the entrance, save for Nox who remained standing before one of the wall panels. "Mother?"
Breaking her gaze away from the wall, his mother discreetly drew her wand before casting a silencing charm around the two of them. "Force this spell is useful." She muttered before withdrawing her wand.
"What is it mother?" Harry asked looking back and forth between the wall and his mother. "Do you…do you recognize these markings?"
"Yes." His mother said, surprising Harry more than slightly. "The last time I saw markings like these was back on Yavin 4. They're Jedi in origin. Perhaps even dating back to the beginnings of their order. But from what I can read on this wall…it's pure gibberish. It's as if someone used the writing for decoration rather than for instructions."
"So…what does it mean mother?"
Pulling away from the wall, his mother wrapped an arm around his shoulders before leading him towards the Weasley's. "It means Harry…that we are going to come back here after nightfall to better investigate this tomb."
Excitement swelled within Harry. 'Finally! I'm going to be putting my training to use with mother!' "Yes mother." He said, unable to keep the grin off of his face as they rejoined the Weasley's.
Ginny wasn't quite sure why she woke up, but for some reason her eyes snapped opened in the middle of the night and simply refused to close once more. After several minutes of tossing and turning in her cot, she huffed and got up. 'Maybe a drink of water will help.'
Walking into the small kitchen area within the tent, Ginny grabbed a glass and filled it with water before downing it all in one go. As she started to fill the glass again, she felt a…pull. 'What is that?' The pulls had been happening ever since she started training with Harry. And as the year had progressed they'd become…stronger.
Biting her lip, she cast a quick glance towards her parent's bedroom before heading over to the tent flap. She might not know exactly what this feeling was…but one thing that she was sure of was that it concerned Harry in some manner. The last time she'd felt a pull this strong was back near the end of the school year. She'd been sound asleep before being awoken just like now. And just like now, she'd walked out of her bedroom just in time to watch as Harry left the common room. Not an odd occurrence in and of itself, but the fact that he was leaving at one in the morning did make her curious.
Poking her head out the tent, she frowned as she looked over at Harry and his mother's tent. Just as she was about to try and go back to bed, the tent flap rustled and Harry and his mother exited their tent. Both were wearing black robes that she'd never seen before. Peeking out from the slight gap in the tent, she watched as the two spoke softly to one another before pulling their hoods up and heading off in the direction of the pyramid that they'd visited early that day.
Ginny watched as the two slowly started to distance themselves from the camp, their black cloaks making them nearly impossible to see in the darkness of the night. Pulling herself away from the tent flap she made it two steps back towards her bed before stopping. 'Oh…this is so stupid Ginny.'
Before she could second guess herself, Ginny went over to the coat rack and pulled her cloak down before swinging it around her shoulders and heading out after Harry and his mother. She tried her best to keep her distance from the two, although that wasn't the hard part. The hard part was actually trying to keep within eye shot of them. 'Good Merlin!' Ginny thought as she started to breathe harder. 'I knew that Harry was in good shape…but Merlin's beard! They're both walking and I nearly need to run just to keep them in sight!'
Less than a few minutes after leaving their tents, Ginny watched as the duo passed briefly outside the entrance to the pyramid before heading inside. 'What are they up too?' Ginny wondered as she reached the entrance to the pyramid.
Peering down the main stair case leading down from the entrance, she frowned. Both Harry and his mother had disappeared. 'They're fast.' Ginny thought as she slowly started descending the stairs. 'But they're not that –' Suddenly her body tensed as she felt something invisible grab hold of her. She couldn't even scream as she was lifted into the air.
"She's good Harry. Not only did she manage to keep up with us, I couldn't hear or see her the entire trip here and could only barely sense her presence. And her mental barriers are quite impressive. You've trained her well. I think that she'll make a fine apprentice for you."
If Ginny could've yelped in surprise, she would've as Harry and his mother stepped out from behind the pillar that they'd been hiding behind. Slowly, Ginny was lowered to the ground and the moment her feet touched the stone surface she felt her legs go out from under her as she flopped down onto her backside.
As she tried to discreetly rub her backside, what Harry's mother just said finally registered. "Wh – Harry…what's going on? What does your mother mean by 'apprentice'?"
For the first time ever, Ginny was privy to a Harry that was suddenly very unsure of himself. "Well…I um…"
"You haven't told her yet, have you son?" His mother asked raising an eyebrow at him.
"Umm, no."
Harry's mother sighed before looking at Ginny. "It appears that you and my son have much to talk about young lady. But now is neither the time nor the place for such a discussion." She looked off to the side and seemed to be having an internal debate for a moment before focusing in on her again. "You may stay with us tonight. But you must do exactly as I say when I say it. If you don't there is a good chance that you will die. Or I might just be tempted to kill you myself. Understand?"
Ginny gulped as she felt the heavy presence of Harry's mother baring down on her. 'Good Merlin…it's like she looking right into my soul!' "Yes."
"Good." Harry's mother said as the heavy presence suddenly evaporated. "Oh, and I shouldn't have to say this. But should you mention anything you see tonight to either your parents, brothers, or friends I will erase your memories. Understand?"
Again, Ginny was helpless to do little more than nod. "Yes…ma'am."
"Good." Madam Nox said turning to Harry. "She's your responsibility son."
"Yes mother." Harry responded as he bowed, actually bowed, to his mother before holding out his hand towards her. "Are you alright Ginny? Sometimes my mother can be…a little intense."
"A little?" Ginny shot back, taking his offered hand and pulling herself up. Dusting her clothes off she saw that Harry had already started to move down the corridor after his mother. "Hey! Wait for me!"
Harry didn't stop, but he did slow down enough so that she could catch up. Together the three of them made their way through the labyrinth of halls that her brother had led them through earlier in the day. "So…what are we doing in here?" Ginny asked as her curiosity finally began too much to bare.
"We're going to examine the tomb that is beneath this pyramid." Madam Nox answered without looking back.
"But – but there isn't one!" Ginny exclaimed, looking back and forth between Harry and the back of his mother. "My borther said that they haven't been able to find one!"
"That's because he doesn't know where to look." Harry answered. "Listen Ginny…what I'm about to tell is something that I haven't told anyone, not even Ron or Hermione, yet. And while it would take too long to explain everything…I can at least start."
"Okay…then start talking."
"Alright, the abridged version is…well my mother belongs to a recluse sect of magical users that are well outside the norm you could say." Harry said, his face scrunching up as he was obviously trying to figure out how to explain it to her. "Her people call magic the 'Force'. But when you boil it all down, it's not too terribly different from magic. Well it is but…then again it isn't. And she's been training me how to use the Force ever since I could walk."
"And now you're teaching us right?" Ginny asked as she thought back on the lesson's that Harry, Susan, and Daphne had been giving her and the others. "You're teaching us all how to use this…the Force?"
"Yes." Harry nodded. "And the tomb that we're going to…well we think that it's a tomb belonging to a Force user. Which is why your brother and his coworkers haven't been able to find it."
Ginny blinked as she tried to put everything together. There were obvious quite a few things that he was leaving out, having grown up with six brother's she'd learned early how to spot half and quarter truths. "So…what about this whole 'apprentice' thing your mother was talking about?"
At this, Harry awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. "Well, my mother's people, their magic, relies heavily on a Master-Apprentice relationship. The Master teaches and the Apprentice learns. And umm…well when I promised to teach you what I knew and you promised to learn…that umm…created a Master-Apprentice bond between the two of us. I think."
Ginny stared at Harry as the two continued to follow after his mother while simultaneously trying not to hyperventilate. 'I'm bonded to Harry Potter…I'm bonded to bloody Harry Potter! Granter it's just this…Master-Apprentice bond but…but I'm bloody well bonded to Harry Potter!'
"Please…don't' be so loud."
"What?"
Harry once again scratched behind his head. "One thing about Force user's, and you'll get better at this as we go, but we can umm…well sense emotions. Daphne is actually extremely gifted with the ability, in fact mother thinks that she has a rare ability that allows her to see people's true nature. But umm, yeah I can sense what you're feeling. And the bond only amplifies it."
'Wait…he can…oh Merlin! No blushing Ginny! Stop it right now!' "So umm…yeah…" 'Real elegant Ginny!' "I – umm take it that there is a lot more than you haven't told me yet."
"You would be correct Ginny." Madam Nox said aloud, startling Ginny. In all honesty, she'd actually forgotten that Harry's mother was even with them. "But that is a discussion for another time. As for now…we're at the entrance to the tomb. So I need both of you to be quiet and remember what I said."
With a start, Ginny realized that they'd actually managed to traverse the entirety of the pyramid and were at the dead end that her brother had led them too. Then, remembering what Madam Nox had said about dying, promptly kept her mouth shut as the older woman started examining the different sections of writings that littered the walls.
After making a full circle of the room, she stopped at a seemingly random section of wall and raised her hand. Ginny winced as the sound of stone grinding against stone echoed throughout the pyramid. But her discomfort was quickly overridden by her shock as the section of wall that Madam Nox was standing before slowly moved backwards before separating in two to reveal a dark passageway.
"Remember what I said Harry, Ginny." Madam Nox said, flicking her wand and creating a wisp of light that sped off down the new passageway. "Don't touch anything."
Swallowing deeply, and summoning every ounce of her Gryffindor courage, Ginny held her head up high and followed Harry and his mother down the newly discovered passage. The first thing that she truly noticed about the passage way was the smell. It was…absolutely revolting. Worse than even a failed potion! The second was the dust. There was so much of it that each of them were leaving clear foot prints almost like they were walking on sand.
The stairs were seemingly endless. And the fact that the stair's kept turning back and forth ensured that they were never given a proper view of the end. By the time the base of the stairs finally came into view Ginny could've sworn that they were nearly half a kilometer or more underground!
Harry's mother flicked her wand twice more, sending out another wisp of light with each flick so that the room before them was fully illuminated. And as the room became more visibly, Ginny felt her jaw drop again. Given the layer of dust that'd been covering the stairs, she only truly expected to find some unidentifiable ruins down here. But instead…the room before them was immaculate! There wasn't even a speck of dust on the floor! There was a pristine statue of some sort of warrior in each corner, their hands outstretch as if to hold onto something. The center of the room had a raised dais of sorts. The walls were decorated with intricate carvings that were so life-like that she almost wanted to reach out and touch them. But as she was looking around the room she noticed something. There was no exit. Just the stair's that they'd descend down.
"Oh Force. It has to be one of these locks…just wonderful." Madam Nox's sigh snapped Ginny back to attention just as she turned around to address Harry and herself. "No matter what you see or hear, both of you are not to take a single step off of the stairs. Understand?"
"Yes mother."
"Yes Madam Nox."
Without another word Harry's mother marched into the center of the room. When she reached the center she thrusted her hands out to either side of her body. Ginny's eyes widened as she watched swords that were embedded in the wall murals came loose and floated one at a time into the waiting hands of the soldiers in the corners of the room.
Once all four warriors were holding a sword, a fifth sword floated out from the wall and stopped in front of Nox. Once the tip of the sword was pointing towards her feet, Nox brought her hand down and the sword slammed home point first into the floor.
What happened next was far beyond Ginny's ability to comprehend. Lightning shot out from the four statues in each corner and headed right for Madam Nox. But instead of trying to move…Harry's mother just sat there and let the lightning hit her! Ginny made to help Madam Nox, but Harry's hand on her arm held her back.
She turned around more than ready to give Harry a piece of her mind, but the words died on her lips. Harry's face was strained. And the hand that was on her arm was shaking almost violently. "She'll be okay." It almost sounded as if Harry was trying to convince himself as much as her.
Turning back around, Ginny blinked in astonishment as Nox raised her hands above her head. The lightning that'd been steadily assaulting her body rose with her hands before collecting above her head. And then without warning the lightning shot out from where it'd been collecting above her head and hit the wall directly across from herself and Harry.
For a moment nothing happened as the wall withstood the assault. But after nearly a full minute the wall…moved. Ginny's jaw dropped as a creased formed in the wall before it opened like a door. Once a path had been opened enough for a single person to walkthrough, the lightning ended and Madam Nox dropped her hands. "Force…I hate that kind of lock. Someone has a real sick sense of humor."
Ginny was left staring completely gob smacked at the woman, who just merely shrugged off whatever had just happened before walking forward and examine the new path. "Bloody hell!" Ginny finally managed to get out. "That was bloody fantastic! How did you do that? Do you think that I can do that next?"
"You can try." Madam Nox said turning back around and throwing her a grin. "But you'll more than likely be fried to a crisp young lady."
"Oh…okay. Never mind then."
"I thought as much." Nox chuckled before turning back to the new path. "I want you two to stay here for now."
"Mother?" Harry asked, walking forward so that he was standing side by side with Nox.
"There are runes along the edge of the passageway here." Looking to where Nox was pointing, Ginny saw that there were intricate markings lining the inside of the doorway. "Something is being held within this chamber…and I can't focus fully on whatever it is if I'm protecting you two. So I want you both to stay back here no matter what. Understand?"
Ginny bit her lip, and she could see that Harry desperately wanted to argue. But one look from Nox was enough to break both of their rebellious thoughts. "Yes mother."
"Yes Madam Nox."
"Good." Madam Nox said taking a step towards the entry way before stopping. "I may not be back for some time children. Harry, I believe this will be a good time to answer any questions Ginny might have. Just remember the limitations."
"Yes mother." Harry nodded.
Madam Nox gave the two of them a reassuring smile before turning her back on them, summoning another wisp of light, and marching off into the darkness. "So…" Harry sighed once his mother had disappeared from their sight. "I take it you have questions."
"Just a bloody few."
Nodding, Harry moved back to the center dais and sat down. "Well then…make yourself comfortable. We're probably going to be here for a while."
With the wisp of light hanging just out in front of her, Nox traversed the darkened path within the tomb. Unlike the stairwell of the previous chamber, this room was a pit. A giant pit that she could not see the bottom of. And as far as she could see, the only path available was the one that she was currently walking down. Whoever had built this tomb did not want to be found again. 'But who was it?' She wondered as she followed bridge. 'The markings within the pyramid were Jedi in origin. And the locking mechanism leading to the stair's Jedi in origin. But the second locking mechanism…that was a Sith test without a doubt. But then…who did this? Who had the knowledge to place both a Jedi and a Sith seal on this place?'
After several long minutes the bridge started to expand revealing a large circular platform. This was obviously the burial chamber. But unlike the dozens of tombs that she'd explored before, this tomb lacked a casket of any form. Instead there were three skeletons covered with highly aged robes laying on the floor side by side.
Approaching the three cautiously, Nox felt as if Khem had wound up and punched her in the gut. The bodies may have been unidentifiable. But the lightsabers resting just above their heads were anything buy. 'Lana Beniko. Kira Carsen. And Aedan…the Hero of Tython and Battlemaster of the Jedi Order. What are you three doing –'
Nox had only a moments warning from the Force to throw up her mental barriers before something slammed into her hard enough to make her take a step back. "Impressive Darth Nox. As is expected of one of the Dark Council."
Nox narrowed her eyes as a ghost of an older man wearing a high class suit of ceremonial armor materialized before her. "A new voice. A new face. But there is no mistaking your presence. Vitiate."
The former Sith Emperor smiled. "I prefer the name Valkorion now. And I must say Darth Nox…you are perhaps the last person I expected to ever see in the mortal realm again."
"Vitiate. Valkorion. It doesn't matter. You're still the same creature that you were before." Nox growled. "And as for how I'm here…that is need to know. And you don't need to know."
"Creature? Now that is just rude Darth Nox." Vitiate…Valkorion chuckled. "And just to think…there is so much that I am willing to offer you. But, you had to go and reject my son's offer, cripple Arcann, and supposedly die. And now…here you are. How did you manage to not only escape death at my son's hands, but stay alive for three and half millennia?"
Narrowing her eyes, she glared at the ghost. "You're 'son's'? The two boys I fought on Korriban were your sons. Hmm. I guess that explains why they were both assholes. And as for how I got here…that is for me to know and for you to wonder about."
If Vitiate was put off by her words, he didn't show it. "Yes…well I cannot argue with you regarding my son's. In the end…they were both failures. But they are the past. I would speak to you of the future."
"The future?" Nox questioned, folding her arms over her chest. "Speak plainly ghost. I have neither the time nor the patience to play your games."
Vitiate nodded. "That is one thing that I've always admired about you Darth Nox. You were always quick and to the point. Very well, quite simply I wish for you to allow me in to your mind. And in return…I will give you unlimited access to my power and my knowledge."
Nox blinked before looking down at the three corpses and then back towards the door. It started out slowly. A low rumble in the back of her throat. But soon enough she was bent over and laughing out loud. "Oh Force…this is priceless! They sealed you in here! You…the Great Immortal Emperor of the Sith. Sealed in a tomb for eternity, unable to join with the Force or escape, by a Jedi Master, one of your failed Children, and a fellow Sith. Oh…this is utterly priceless."
Vitiate didn't appear to agree with her. "Are you quite through Darth Nox? If so we have much to do."
Fighting of the last remnants of her laughter, Nox smirked at the one time Emperor. "Oh? Pray tell what is it that 'we' have to do Vitiate?"
"The conquering of this world Darth Nox." Vitiate answered, putting his hands behind his back and pacing in front of her. "I came to this world because I sensed the power it contained. Unfortunately, despite their incredible abilities with the Force, the humans of this world lacked any form of useful technology to make them useful. But now that several millennia have past…they should be ready for us to create a new Sith Empire."
Nox stared at Vitiate as he finished his speech. "So that's it then. You want to create a new Empire using this world and myself as the foundation."
"Of course." Vitiate nodded, a slow smile spreading across his face. "You will be my Voice in this realm. You will have control of everything. My power. My knowledge. Everything. All you need to do is kneel to your rightful Emperor."
Staring down at the three bodies laid out before her, Nox allowed her mind to drift. His offer was…tempting. All of the knowledge that he possessed…and his power. At her fingertips. But…it would be a lie. "I bent knee to you once Emperor…but I will never bow to you again."
Vitiates face contorted in anger. "You know my power Darth Nox. I've destroyed entire planets. Do not make me destroy you child."
"You can't. Your power is nothing more than a fleeting memory." Nox smirked taking a step towards Vitiate. "I can sense your power. Despite the barriers in this tomb, you still had to use your power to prevent your spirit from dying. The effort involved in keeping your spirit bound to this plane for over three and a half millennia has completely drained your power. That first attack you launched against me was your last ditch effort. And now…you have no power over me."
To prove her point, Nox delved into the Force Walking Ritual and used it to grab hold of Vitiates spirit. "Do not get ahead of yourself child!" Vitiate yelled, struggling against her hold to no avail. "I am older, wiser, and far more powerful than you can possibly imagine!"
"I've heard that before." Nox smirked, tightening her hold on the ghost. "Darth Thanaton…he said the same exact words to me. Twice. The first time he thought he killed me but he only wounded me. The second time…he ended up as a corpse."
Panic started seeping out of the fallen Emperor as he struggled against her hold. "Think of what I can offer you Darth Nox! I can complete your training! I can show you the true power of the Force!"
"I don't need your help Vitiate."
Vitiate continued to glare at her. "You can't beat me Nox. Should you use your Force Walking Ritual, I will become a part of you and eventually take over. But should you choose to leave me in this accursed place…then one day I will break free and you will only be able to beg for death!"
Tilting her head to the side, Nox tightened her hold on Vitiate even further. "Letting me tell you a little story Vitiate. After the destruction of Ziost Darth Marr assigned me two tasks. The first was to create a time dilation field around Korriban. Your son's interfered with that and corrupted my ritual, which is how I ended up here. But the second task…was to find a way to destroy you." Raising both of her hands, she pulled deeply on both sides of the Force creating a sphere or gold and black between her hands. "It's ironic. I never found out how to destroy a spirit no matter how many Sith holocron or texts I searched through. But one day I had an epiphany…and I started researching the Jedi holocrons. And it was within those artifacts of the light that I found my answer."
Pushing her hands outwards, tendrils of gold and black crept out from the sphere and began winding themselves around Vitiate. "It was the Jedi noetikons, as annoying as they were, that helped me develop this technique. Usage of the Jedi plague shielding ritual combined with the Sith Force Walking Ritual. The Force Walking Ritual will destroy your spirit. And the shielding ritual will cut you off completely from the living Force. And with nowhere to go…you will simply disappear."
Vitiates face contorted into one of pure unaltered hatred as he fought against the tendrils that were slowly encompassing him. "No! I won't let it end like this!"
Nox staggered as she felt Vitiate lash out at her. 'Force! He still has that much pow – stop it Nox! Stay focused!' Pouring everything she had into her attack, Nox gritted her teeth as Vitiate tried desperately to free himself. Slowly the tendrils covered his body until just his face was still visible. "You cannot win Nox." He said as the tendrils slowly started to cover his face. "I am eternal…and you will die by my hand."
"No." Nox hissed, placing every last drop of power she could muster into her attack. "This is where you die! This is where I break my chains!"
"Your chains…" Vitiate said as the tendrils closed in over his mouth. "…will never be broken. The darkness will always win."
With a blinding flash of light, the being that was once Vitiate was compressed into nothing by the light and dark that was encompassing him. 'It's done.' Nox breathed, dropping down onto her hands and knees as the last remnants of her strength left her. 'He's finally gone.'
Raising her head, she stared at the three that she'd fought and bled beside nearly four millennia ago. "You three did it." She said, gathering what little strength she had left so could rise to her feet and shuffle over towards them. "You three trapped him here long enough that his power faded to the point where he could be killed. You don't deserve to lay here…forgotten for all eternity. You legacies will be remembered…I swear it."
Holding out her hand, she summoned the three lightsaber's to her before clipping them onto her belt. More than likely Ginny would receive one due to her position as Harry's apprentice. And she would allow Harry to choose who within his inner circle received the other two. She vaguely noticed that a small symbol had been carved into the stone beneath Lana's lightsaber, but in her current state of exhaustion Nox didn't really care to speculate on what it meant.
Standing straight, she bowed deeply. "May you find peace in the Force my comrades…my friends. Farewell."
"So let me get this straight…you can use the Force to make it so you can jump twenty meters into the air?"
"And then some." Harry nodded, trying hard to keep himself focused on Ginny and her many questions.
His mother had been gone for nearly twenty minutes now and he was finding it harder and harder not to get up from his spot across from Ginny and chase after her. Luckily Ginny had been nearly relentless in her questions. And while Harry was answering everything as truthfully as he could, there were several subjects which he was still avoiding. Most notably was his lightsaber, his mother's planned coup of the Ministry and most importantly, his mother's true origins.
"You can also use the Force to strengthen your body."
"How?" Ginny asked leaning forward slightly.
"Basically you channel raw power into your muscles, joints and bones." Harry answered, and then to demonstrate he raised his fist and punched the stone ground hard enough to leave a slight crack in the stone. "Most witches and wizards already do this subconsciously. Which is why they don't get injured nearly as often as those without magic."
Leaning back in her seat, Ginny bit her lip. "From what you're saying…it sounds like anyone who has magic can learn this Force stuff too."
"Not necessarily." Harry countered. "If someone's magical core has stabilized, basically if they're too old, then they can't learn to use the Force in the fullest. Just like Sirius and Amelia. They can't learn to do what my mother can, but they have learned a few little tricks that've helped them both."
Ginny looked at him curiously for a second before her eyes lit up in understanding. "My brother…his core is stabilized then hasn't it? That's why he can't do some of the things the rest of us can!"
Nodding, Harry cast a quick glance towards the darkened corridor again. Still nothing. "I think so. And…and I don't really know how to tell him that he'll never be able to learn what the rest of us are. I – I don't want to lose him…but I'm afraid that once I tell him that he'll run."
"You're probably right on that." Ginny agreed with a slow nod. "Ron has…well he's always been the…underachiever of the family I guess. Bill was Head Boy and all around ladies' man when he was in school. Charlie was the quidditch captain. Percy, the git that he is, is still a Prefect with perfect grades. And even the twins, despite their poor school records, are mild geniuses when it comes to potions and charms. And then there's Ron…well he's had nothing that was his own and he's always been compared to our brothers. You and this study group were the first thing that he's had over his brothers. Suddenly learning that he can't do what the rest of us…it'll destroy him."
"So what do I do?" Harry pressed. Despite the rocky start they had, Ron was slowly turning into a decent friend and Harry would miss having another boy his age to hang around with. That and, while not knowing everything, Ron still knew a few things that neither Harry or his mother wanted out in the open yet.
"Just…do what you're doing." Ginny grimaced. "I've noticed that you've slowly been changing what Ron does during training. Like actually learning occulmency instead of this…mental barrier that you have. That's good. If you want to keep Ron around you need to show him that he still has value to you. The moment you take that away from him, or if he thinks he has no value to you, he'll bolt."
Rubbing his chin, Harry opened his mouth to ask another question of her when he heard the steady sound of heels tapping on stone. He briefly wondered why he hadn't felt his mother's presence, but those thoughts went by the wayside as he turned around and saw her. His mother looked completely and utterly drained.
No longer caring about what he'd been told, Harry sprinted forward and reached for his mother just as she stared stumbling forward. "I thought…I told you to stay…put." His mother breathed heavy as Harry wrapped her arm around his shoulders.
"You can yell at me later." He said guiding the two of them towards the exit to the chamber where an anxious Ginny was waiting just beyond the chamber's boundary for them. "What…what happened mother? You feel…lighter."
"I broke my chains my son." His mother smiled at him but didn't elaborate further.
Once they crossed the threshold of the chamber, Ginny was instantly on his mother's other side. It was a testament to his mother's exhaustion when even Ginny's petite frame was able to off her some level of support. "Are you alright Madam Nox?"
"Yes child." Nox nodded, straightening slightly while still keeping an arm around the both of them.
"What…what was in there?"
Turning her head, Nox's eyes lingered on the chamber for a second before turning back to the two of them. "A piece of the past that needed to be destroyed. And that is all that I'll say on the matter."
Ginny looked like she wanted to ask more, but a quick look from Harry thankfully silenced her. At least for the moment. Together the three of them slowly made their way up the stairs leading back to the surface. "Ginny, you will be making some sort of excuse to your parents so that you can spend at least eight to ten hours a day at Grimmuald Place."
Her comment was so sudden that both Harry and Ginny stopped mid step. "Madam Nox?"
"You're my son's apprentice Ginny." She said, squeezing Harry's shoulders slightly. "And while my son is a prodigy…I will not allow him to half train his first apprentice. So for the rest of the summer you shall be training alongside my son, Susan and Daphne."
Ginny's face lit up with excitement. "Yes ma'am! I think I can make up some excuse that my parents will buy. I can't wait to learn from you!"
Harry couldn't' help but laugh. "Oh Ginny…you are seriously going to regret saying that soon enough."
Prisoner 1134-56. That was what they called him now. Again and again. The guards of this hell on Earth known as Azkaban took an almost childlike delight in calling him that. A constant reminder of what he was. A meaningless number that had been condemned to rot in this frozen hell. The worst though was the dementors. The demon guards of the prison almost seemed to enjoy torturing him as they constantly stayed just beyond the bars of his cell for hours on end.
He already lost track of how long he'd even been in here. A month. A year. Five…or maybe ten. It didn't matter. There was no light to judge the passing of time. And the guards and dementors constantly changed their schedule to avoid any type of routine that he could catch onto. In short…he was well and truly buggered…screwed…fucked.
Hearing a door open in the distance, 1134-56 sunk further into the darkness of his cell. 'Probably a guard come to remind me how worthless I am…or worse a dementor.'
Huddling back into the deepest part of his cell, he wrapped his only blanket around his shoulders in preparation for the bone chilling coldness that was about to descend upon him. When none came he looked up and found himself staring at a guard that he didn't know.
The guard stared down at him for a full minute without saying anything. Finally the guard drew his wand and pointed it towards the lock on his cell. "I don't know who you know you piece of shit." The guard hissed taking a step into his cell and holding his wand towards him. "But you had better tell them to leave my fucking family alone. I'm done with them."
1134-56 stared at the guard, then at the wand, then back up to the guard. "I don't-"
"Are you that fucking slow?" The guard hissed, throwing a cloak at him and pushing his wand into his hand. "The cloak will hide you from the guards and make you mostly invisible to the dementors. Now take my Merlin damned wand and oblivate me already! There's a small boat waiting on the northeastern end of the island. Once you leave this cell you take a right. Then at the first intersection a left. Go down the stairs at the end of the hall two flights and go out the door that'll lead you outside. You'll have five minutes after you cast the spell before the dementor's arrive and ten until the guards do. So you'd better run. Now what are you waiting for! Do it already! And tell whoever the hell it was that arranged for your little escape that we're done."
The prisoner didn't need to be told twice. It was probably a trick. He would even take false hope than nothing. Throwing the cloak over his shoulders he took the wand from the guard before casting a stunner followed quickly by an oblivate.
All around him the walls started screaming at an ear splitting volume. Casting a muffling spell around his ears, the prisoner bolted out of his cell following the directions the guard had given him. The guard definitely overestimated the reaction time of the guards as he was nearly caught twice by the guards before he managed to get to the door leading outside. And then, anchored against the shore was a small boat barely big enough to hold two people sitting side by side.
Stumbling down the rocky path, 1134-56 splashed into the water, pushing the boat out away from the shore before jumping into it. A quick wave of his wand and the boat was disillusioned and quickly moving away from the island at a decent rate.
Once the island was finally out of sight, prisoner 1134-56 sat up in the boat and let out a roar of triumph. He, Gilderoy Lockhart, had successfully broken out of Azkaban prison! But in his exuberance, he failed to notice the small rat that climbed out of the cloak the guard had given him.