AN:Sorry about the long update. I've not written anything in a few days and it worries me that I'm running out of pre written stuff. I'll try and pull my head out this week. The fact that I've added a chapter into a place where there wasn't one and not written it complicates things, but we'll see.
Hopefully this chapter meets people's expectations. I've completely re-written this 3 times now and edited it to the point that I'm sick of it.
Let me know…
Chapter 14 – Horcrux
(Saturday, November 25th, 2004)
Having finally decided that he wanted to begin his animagus transformation, Harry decided he need to visit the magical district of New York in search of what he needed, knowing he couldn't make the necessary potion on his own. The location of the magical society was too far a distance to Apparate to so he travelled to Metropolis and lightning travelled from Kansas to New York.
As soon as he appeared he felt himself falling again. Despite the temptation to freefall for a few seconds, Harry restrained himself. Stopping a free fall, that didn't result in hitting the ground, was more difficult depending on the speed. Apparating whilst travelling fast speeds was also frowned upon. When he'd been learning to Apparate he'd been shown a photograph of a wizard who had tried to Apparate whilst flying a broom. It hadn't been pretty and Harry had never forgotten the story of Humphrey the Splinched, although the muggle raised had named him Humpty Dumpty, due to the healers never being able to put him back together again.
Having steady himself, he Disapparated, appearing at the Apparition point in Greenwich Village. With the wizarding area just a dozen yards away from 14th St. Harry could see the muggle New Yorkers walk past the entrance without a glance. He walked in and instantly felt the wards as he passed them. The place was packed.
The inside was closed off from the elements, being designed to look like a standard shopping mall in the muggle section of the city, taking up five floors worth of stores. It was quite a sight. Harry had been here once before when he'd received his Omni-lenses. He glanced at all the stores as he past, looking for something that would be a potioneers.
As he walked through he had keep himself away from the multiple broom stores. Here, instead of just selling all the brooms and flying sport equipment stored in one place, each manufacturing company had their own exclusive products, competing against each other. It reminded Harry of mobile phone provider shops he'd seen in London.
He continued walking through, in no hurry to find the right store, but just take in the sights and remembering what stores this place had. He did note that people were giving him odd glances
It wasn't until he reached the top floor that he found what he was looking for. Apparently America magic users had more common sense than the British as Harry could see multi-coloured fumes coming from several buildings and up into ventilation in the roof. He could image that having the potion shops on the ground floor in an enclosed area to be a problem.
Now, all he had to decide was which shop to enter. From what he'd seen there were four stores selling potions ingredients, three selling pre made potions, and two selling both. One of the pre-made potion stores was far quieter than the rest for Harry decided to start there. He walked in to 'Pioneering Potions', pleased to note that the air smelt fresh and not of potion ingredients.
The walls were lined with multi coloured vials. Not sure where to start looking, Harry approached the counter. A man of about 40 greeted Harry with a smile. His hair was long and brown, tied back in a pony tail, "Good mornin'. How can I help?" His accent was most definitely British.
"Uh, hi." Harry said, slightly uncomfortably now that he was speaking with someone from Britain again. He cleared his throat, "I'm looking for a revealing potion for the animagus transformation." Harry said.
The man smiled, "You're a Brit?"
Harry nodded, "Something like that."
The man's smile widened, "Always good to see another Brit around here." He tapped his fingers on the counter in front of him. "Animagus transformation you say?" Without waiting for an answer he turned and walked into a back room. Harry turned and looked around the shop. With all the colours it looked like a sweet store.
It only took a moment for the man to come back through with two vials in his hands, "You new to America?" he asked.
Harry nodded, "Been here for a few months. You?"
"Been here since I was 20. Couldn't wait to get out of that pureblood cesspool." He said pleasantly. "What'd made you escape?"
"The war." Harry said simply, not wanting this conversation to continue for much longer anymore.
The man didn't seem to notice, "Didn't seem that bad from what I heard." He said idly.
Harry looked the slightly shorter man in the eyes, "It was." He answered a bit coldly.
The man looked at Harry's face, his eye's taking in both scars and gulped. "Right, so these potions," he said, moving along with the conversation. He tapped a bright blue vial in front of him, "This is the one you're looking for. It'll knock you out for about 20 minutes and you'll wake up knowing what your form is." He placed in closer to Harry. "That ones the same recipe that's used all round the world."
He picked up the second vial, containing a dark blue swirling substance, "This one has been banned by the European Ministries, but is perfectly legal here." He passed it to Harry. "This one only works an hour after the first potion is taken and forcibly changes you into your form, leaves you for 5 minutes and then changes you back. It's quite painful." The man rolled his eyes, "Them lot back in Europe called this 'Dark', but all it does is speed up the change."
"How so?" Harry asked as he took a close look at the hypnotic potion.
"I've taken this one, so I know. The problem most people have with transforming is that their body needs to adapt to the change. This forces it to, giving the drinker a better chance of being able to transform."
Harry looked closely at the bottle. Did he want to try this as well? He frowned, whilst he didn't want it take two years to learn the transformation, he felt as though he could do it in only a few months. He'd also felt enough pain in his life to not want to experience more, just for the sake of a cool bit of magic. No, he wouldn't take it. He placed in back on the counter.
"Just the first one." Harry said.
The shop keeper glanced at Harry's scar again for a second before nodding and putting the dark blue vial behind the counter. "So you just want this one then?" he asked, pointing to the light blue vial.
Harry nodded. "You wanting something to carry that?" he asked.
"No. It'll be fine. How much?"
"$95." Harry raised a surprised eyebrow, expecting it to have been a lot more. Seeing Harry's surprised look the man continued, "This potion tends to be fairly popular around here. Even if the folk can't change, they like knowing what their animal is. All good potioneers have this on stock."
Nodding, Harry paid the man and left the store. He walked over to the railing and looked down at all the shoppers, trying to work out what to do now. Caught in his own thoughts he jumped slightly as his phone rang, set on vibrate. Rolling his eyes at himself he answered the phone, seeing from the caller display that it was Lois. "Lois, what's up?"
"Hey Evans. You hanging around with Smallville?" Lois asked.
"No. Not in Smallville just now. What's up?"
"Where are you?" Lois asked.
"I'm in Metropolis." Harry answered, knowing that she'd been in Smallville just now, or least on her way, to set up for Chloe's 18th birthday. "What's up Lois?" Harry asked slightly more forceful.
"Geez, I was just asking. I wanted to know if you were coming over to Clark's to help me set up for Chloe's party, but obviously you can't as you're in Metropolis." Her tone was disappointed and Harry knew she was trying to make him guilty for not being there. Her try didn't work.
"Wait," Harry said with a smile. "You're setting up the party at Clark's?"
"Of course I am," Lois said as if it were obvious. "Where else where else would I set it up?"
Harry laughed quietly, "Didn't Clark forbid you from having the party at his when he asked?"
"He might have said something to that regard," Lois said. "But there isn't anywhere else big enough and his parents are away, so his place is perfect."
"And when you turn up at Clark's with the decorations?"
"I'll just dazzle him with my feminine charms and he'll agree." Lois answered quite happily.
Harry rolled his eyes at Lois. Clark seemed to get confused beyond measure around Lois. The budding attraction was obvious to Harry due to having spent so long around Ron and Hermione. They were both clueless and Lois took pleasure in confusing, irritating and winding up Clark, just as an 8 year old would pulling a girls hair to get their attention.
It was endlessly amusing for Harry.
"He will agree, right after you guilt him into it. Keep in mind that he has that guy coming round from where ever it was to interview him tonight. You'll try to keep the party down to 80 Decibels and keep his barn intact?" Harry said, amused.
"It'll be fine. No one will even know there's a party going on." Lois said confidently.
Having been to a few of Lois's parties of choice in Metropolis, Harry doubted this somewhat. Whilst he was looking forward to the party he felt slightly bad for Clark.
"Chloe suspicious yet?" Harry asked, changing the subject.
"Not that I can tell." Lois said after a moment. "I've set her up to go shopping with Lana later so I can finish off things for the party."
Harry smirked, despite to what Lois thought, Chloe had known about the party for just under 3 weeks, having heard no less than 4 conversations about it.
Harry had worked out that she'd known a few days after she worked it out and walked in on a conversation that Clark had been having over the phone with Lois about the location of the party. Clark had stopped the conversation dead when Chloe had walked in and Harry had caught her amused look as she completely ignored Clark's awkward pause. Harry had asked her about it and she admitted to knowing for a few days. For the last three weeks it had been a bit of game for Chloe to try and keep it secret that she'd known about it.
"Nicely done." Harry said, trying hard, yet succeeding to keep the sarcasm from his voice.
"Yeah, well." Lois said, not doubting her genius mind. "Right, I'm at Smallville's now. Catch you later."
"Bye Lois." Harry said and hung up his phone. He put it back in his pocket. "Well," Harry muttered to himself. "Lois thinks you're in Metropolis so you've got to stay here for a while. What to do… what to do." He caught a glimpse of a bright advert for a new Nimbus a floor below, "Well, maybe I could have a quick look."
OoOoOoOoO
Four hours later Harry found himself back at home. What had been a quick glimpse at a new broom turned into multiple glances at multiple brooms and stopping back at the potions court to pick up a few potions that he guessed would be useful sometime in the future. He'd only just been able to stop himself from buying a new top of the line seeker broom, relenting due to still having a Firebolt and not being in a magical society, even if flying over Kansas would be quite enjoyable.
After deciding that there was no sense in buying a new broom, he'd visited a car show room in Metropolis. While he loved his bike, it wasn't good for transporting items or people and society practicality dictated that he needed a car. He'd spent an hour looking but eventually just left after almost buying a Ferrari. That really wasn't the practical type of car he needed.
He appeared back home and after dropping off his magical items into his house's closed off room. After leaving the room Harry immediately Apparated to the Kent farm and checked out the barn where Lois would be hosting Chloe's party. The decorations were spectacular and Lois had completely changed the image of the barn's interior. Lights covered the walls and trellises, brightening the place considerably despite it being dark outside. Banners reading 'Happy Birthday Chloe' sat just above head height on the bottom floor. After a quick look and noting that everything had been done he approached the house and knocked on the door.
Clark, tidying up wrapping paper in kitchen, looked up, "Come in Harry."
Harry came in and caught a glimpse of Chloe's present from Clark on the table. He tilted his head and looked at it oddly, "Super powers doesn't extend to wrapping presents, does it?" he asked Clark with a smile.
Clark winced slightly at the reminder of the present. It looked as though it had been wrapped by a ten year old. A drunk ten year old. The parcel was in bright blue paper but Clark had obviously struggled with the mechanics of wrapping a present and whilst the identity of the present was hidden, large pieces of tape covered the box and there were large areas where he could see the cardboard box the present had been placed in. Large pieces of wrapping paper were littered all over the kitchen from failed attempts. A big red bow sat on top, indicating that Clark was done with his attempt. "It's not something I'm use to doing." Clark said.
Harry just laughed, "I'm sure Chloe will enjoy it more than she would were it wrapped properly." Harry laughed, picturing, "She'll appreciate effort," He paused for a beat. "And find it hilarious."
Clark smiled sheepishly, "Lana said something similar."
Harry raised an eyebrow, sure that Lana knew nothing of Clark's powers. Seeing Harry's questioning look Clark corrected himself, "She said I needed a woman's touch." Clark said a bit meekly.
Harry laughed, picking up the present an examining it from all directions, "I don't know about a woman's touch, but it sure as hell needs something." He put it back on the table, resisting the urge to fix the present. His Aunt Petunia had taught him how to wrap presents at an early age and he could now do it blindfolded. Clark opened the fridge pulling out a jug of Martha's home made lemonade. "You want a drink Harry?" Clark asked. Harry nodded in agreement.
Clark sat back down, handing Harry a glass, "Lana was here?" Harry asked.
Clark nodded, "She left just before you arrived." He frowned slightly, "I'm surprised you didn't pass her."
"I took a… shortcut, to get here." Harry said.
Clark nodded, guessing what Harry meant by shortcut. "She wasn't here for long. She just, just wanted a lock of hair for a scrapbook she's making for Chloe."
Harry nodded. Whilst he sensed there was something more about Lana's visit than Clark said, getting in between the tangle of a relationship between Clark and Lana was something most, including Clark and Lana, tried to avoid. Harry decided changing the subject was for the best, "Barn looks good." He said as he took a drink.
Clark sighed in frustration, "Lois steamrolled in and took control. She promised she wouldn't destroy the barn."
Harry laughed again, "It'll be fine. It's not like she'll burn the barn to the ground or anything." Clark shot him a look that said that he clearly doubted that, causing Harry to laugh again. "She's knows you have that guy coming later from… where was it?"
"Princeton." Clark said.
"Right, she knows that guys coming and she wouldn't mess that up."
"I suppose." Clark conceded. "Hey, you put any thought into what University you want to go to?"
Harry shook his head, having no desire to further his education after high school. With what he'd received in Pensieve Learning he already had an extra two years education. That added with Marauder Industries, he had no need or desire to learn for 2 more years. He'd still not told his friends though. It surprised him that Chloe hadn't found out, especially due to MI being newsworthy these days as it continued to slowly rise.
He was self educating himself though in the world of business during the long nights that he spent sitting with nothing to do. He was hopeful that by the time the year ended he would be caught up to date on the four years business education he could get at Met U.
"Not much," Harry answered vaguely. "But I'm looking."
"Any idea what you want to do yet?" Clark asked. "If anything." He amended, remembering Harry's earlier statement.
"Not really." Harry said. "But I know I'll find something."
Clark nodded. Harry knew that Clark intended to take care of the farm and was looking to do a course in history or something similar just to get a further education. With that as well as the football scholarship he was almost guaranteed to get, he knew what he wanted. Clark just nodded, expecting Harry's answer. They spent the next few hours just chatting, waiting for the girls to turn up for the party.
OoOoOoOoO
Several hours later Harry stood around in Clark's barn waiting for the very late guest of honour to arrive. Clark's barn was now packed with people, but true to her word, Lois had kept everything low-key, despite the fact that she was missing as well. The guests continued to mingle, shooting looks at the doors every so often, getting slightly impatient but entertaining themselves by eating the mountain of food that had been laid out.
Harry had now been pacing backwards and forwards for 20 minutes, resisting the urge to try track them down. In his experience, people being this late usually meant an attack or that they were dead. The only think stopping him from tracking down Lois, Lana and Chloe was him constantly reminding himself that these people were not in the middle of a civil war and that he had no reason to worry.
It wasn't an especially comforting though.
Harry watched this evenings host, Clark, wander around, keeping the peace between the large group of people. The way he shot glances at the door every so often showed he was getting worried as well. Harry watched him try to call Lois' mobile phone again. She wasn't answering.
"Hey, Jason," Clark said to his coach and Lana's boyfriend. "Do you know where the girls are? They were supposed to be here an hour ago."
"No, I've not been able to reach Lana all day," Jason said. Thankfully, after Harry's talk with Lana about not instantly blaming Clark for Jason losing his job she had listened and now believed Clark to be innocent.
Harry heard the doors to the barn open and he and the rest of the crowd turned. When he saw the three people standing in the doorway he relaxed. Lois, Chloe and Lana had finally arrived and they were fine.
Harry moved towards the front of the group only to stop and stare oddly. All three of them looked different beyond belief than they had when he last saw them. First of all, whilst all three girls were all physically attractive in a day to day basis, now, they were stunning. Secondly, they'd seem to have taken a leaf from his book as apart from Lana's red skirt, they were all completely dressed in black.
Chloe had her hair pinned up, wearing a corset style top with knee length skirt and long black leather high heeled boots. She wore a jumper that only covered her back and arms. A large gold necklace hung round her neck. The look was completely different from her usual 'cute' attire, but it worked for her.
He glanced at Lois, who was standing to the right of the group of three. Continuing the gothic like dress theme, she wore a tight strapless back top with a thigh length skirt and boots that reached past her knees. A long black necklace hung round her neck, stopping just before touching her cleavage.
He tore his eyes off of her and looked to Lana. As he looked her up and down he felt the temperature in the room rise. She looked incredible. She was dressed in a single strap top that covered her entire left shoulder, a knee length red skirt and boots to match Lois's. Had Harry slept and thus had dreams, she would more than likely now be what he saw.
He most definitely approved.
In perfect unison they strode forward into the room, showing a confidence and strength he had never seen in the usually strong, confident women. The three reached near the group and stopped. The crowd applauded the birthday girl. She smiled brightly at the group.
"Surprise!" They yelled as one. Clark and Jason remained silent, staring at the girls oddly. The three girls turned towards each other, talking quietly. It was then Harry caught eyes with the Chloe and felt his blood run cold.
Her mind was completely sealed.
He glanced quickly in Lois's direction, feeling his heart rate increase. Her mind was the same. He went to catch Lana's eye, just make sure she was under… whatever this was. He stopped. Something felt odd, yet very, very familiar.
He closed his eyes and concentrated his mind on the three girls and realised what the familiarity was.
Magic.
The three of them were emitting magic, and if his guess was anything to go by, extremely high levels.
Voldemort-high levels.
He took a step back instinctively. This wasn't good. He ran his mind through several different scenarios, trying to work out what had happened. Lana turned, flashing the tattoo on her back and he realised what had happened.
The tattoo meant Transference.
She'd been possessed.
All three of the girls had been possessed.
Harry felt dread set in. He knew from his times in the magical world of two different types of possession, having seen them during his first and second years at Hogwarts. The first kind was the type used by Voldemort to possess Quirrel. For that, it required a willing host and a spirit to possess them. That method traditionally meant that if the being in control of the host left the body, the host died of shock.
The second type was the method used by Voldemort, or more accurately, Tom Riddle, using a Horcrux, or soul piece trapped inside a diary. That method didn't need a willing host and could be stopped by destroying the object that once held the soul.
For the sakes of the lives of the three girls, Harry prayed to whichever deity that seemed to personally watch over him that it was the second method and thus fixable.
Having no idea what to do Harry stepped to the back of the crowd and out of sight, not wanting to engage in a fire fight with three obviously powerful witches. It also wouldn't do for them to detect that he was magical as well. He wouldn't harm them. He refused to.
Chloe split off from the group leaving Lana and Lois standing in front of the still applauding crowd. Clark walked over to Lois and pulled her aside as Lana approached her still shell-shocked boyfriend.
He stood and watched as Lois looked at Clark seductively and Lana turn her back on Jason. Harry felt himself beginning to sweat, having no idea what to do without attacking and harming three of his friends. He knew he had to find the Horcrux, if that was the cause of the problem and destroy it. The problem was that the item could be anything and if the witches possessed any intelligence, they'd hide their Horcrux immediately. The three possessed girls walked over to the refreshment table. Harry ran a hand through his hair and ran through his occlumency exercises, trying to clear his mind and calm himself.
The exercises worked somewhat, but that only lasted seconds as the three girls turned towards the crowd with mischievous smiles. Harry braced himself, ready to start defending innocents.
They each held out their hands towards the crowd, pointing at them with their pinkie and index fingers in the traditional sign of the Devil. Pink light began to glow between the fingers. "Liberate Bestia!" Lana called loudly.
And then Harry felt pain.
He felt pain easily on par with a mental duel with Voldemort as he fought the effects of their magic. He fought the control, trying his hardest to dispel the magic with his mind. He felt blood run down from his nose. He bit his lip hard, trying to stop the scream. Unfortunately the magic was too strong and pain reached such levels that Harry knew he had to get out of there now.
Drawing as much concentration as he could Harry Apparated himself, careful to avoid splinching, back home. He landed on one knee before falling forward and collapsing unconscious on the floor, blood slowly dripping on to the carpet.
OoOoOoOoO
(Sunday, November 28th, 2004)
Harry woke slowly and opened his eyes, instantly regretting it as sunlight streamed through the windows and onto his face. 'What has Voldemort done now?' was Harry's first though as he tried to sit up. He rubbed his head and looked around, memories of the previous night hitting him, 'No, not Voldemort,' he told himself. 'Three of my friends possessed by powerful witches who managed to knock me out for,' he glanced at his watch and almost gasped, "14 hours?!" he exclaimed. That was not good.
He pushed himself to his feet massaging his head and hissing a parsel spell to rid his headache. He Apparated immediately to just outside the Kent farm and cautiously approached the barn. Hearing silence Harry glanced in. Clothes, including underwear, were littered everywhere and several people were still asleep, most coupled up together in various states of undress. Having expected a slaughter of sorts, he was relived to see that the only thing that appeared to have happened was a wild party.
Odd.
He walked through the barn, looking for any signs of Chloe, Lana or Lois. As he expected, none of the girls were still there. Not having seen Clark either he quickly made his way towards the yellow house. Not even knocking Harry walked into the house, "Clark!" He called, hoping he was around. Receiving no answer he Apparated himself to the alley behind the Talon.
He quickly made his way to the street, pleased to see no damage and no one panicking. Making sure he wasn't seen he Apparated back home and immediately made his way to his magically sealed room.
On his way there he was going over information he had about the possession. Lana had to have been the catalyst, receiving a tattoo from a tome in France. The tome held the same symbol that was imprinted on her back. He searched the room finding a small scrap of paper.
'Countess Margerite Isobel Theroux?'
He'd written it down a few months ago after recognising the name of the countess Lana visited. The name rang a bell from his early magical education, but he had no idea who she was or what she had done. Well, he was going to find out now. In the corner of the room was a large book case, holding around 300 books that Harry had taken from his vault or had in his possession before raiding his vaults.
He pulled his history of magic textbooks, from 1st to 5th year from the shelf and sat down crossed legged on the floor and began to read.
OoOoOoOoO
After almost two hours of painstaking reading through old dusty, barely touched and frustrating large books, Harry finally found what he was looking for in a third year text book, one on the witch trials.
He read the small profile about noticeable witches and wizards from the time
'Margerite Isobel Theroux, known more commonly as Countess Theroux was born in the village of Castelnois de Montmiral in the year of 1582. She was one of the few witches actually caught during the witch trials of the early 1600's. How she was caught or why she didn't seek to escape from being burnt at the stake are currently unknown.
She was known as an extremely powerful magic user and aspiring dark witch. Reports of the time state that she was unrivalled in her ability in wandless magic, although due to Ratling's Theory of the Use of Magic stating magic without a wand focused magic is impossible, reports of her abilities are believed to be inaccurate.
During her rise to power the Countess was believed to be in search of three powerful magical objects of unknown origin or power but was stopped before her goal could be accomplished.
Before she and two others were burnt, she was said to have prophesised her return by her heir and that she would have revenge on those who wronged her.'
Harry dropped the book and leaned against the wall behind him. "A prophecy?" he muttered miserably. He hated prophecies. Whilst the information hadn't been particularly useful, at least he had something on the witch now.
"She was prophesised to return and has," Harry muttered to himself. "She was said to be searching for three items of power and Clark had one of those stones in his after the prison incident that had the Water symbol. Those stones have to be why she's back now." He stood up and began pacing.
"The book say's she's powerful and that much was obvious, but her friends are as well. What to do, what to do…" Harry continued to pace for another 10 minutes, trying and failing to work out a solution.
Finding nothing he decided on just trying to find the Countess again and just winging it. He seemed to work best in those situations. Leaving the protection of the room, Harry noticed it had now gotten dark outside. Having no idea where to go Harry just Apparate to the centre of town. He closed his eyes and concentrate hard, letting his magic search for anything nearby that held magic.
He stood still, eyes closed for five minutes, constantly searching. Eventually he felt a flare of magic from just down the street. Knowing the Talon was there, Harry took an educated guess and Apparated to the coffee shop. Seeing nothing inside Harry Apparate again to just outside the door to Lana's upstairs apartment and opened the door.
Harry burst through the door to see Lana holding her hand towards Jason who was being levitated into the air, his neck bent at a dangerous angle against the ceiling.
"Countess!" Harry yelled, hoping to catch her off guard and drop Jason. Her concentration reminded however. She turned towards Harry, smirked and thrust her hand towards the window leading out to the street. Jason was launched through the air towards the glass. Acting quickly, Harry cast a strong protection spell on the window, causing Jason to hit it hard but just bounce of and hit the floor unconscious.
Unfortunately for Harry, his spell to save Jason distracted him enough for the Countess to immediatelycast a spell at Harry, flinging him in a similar manner to Jason, her hand aiming at the second window to the street.
Harry flew through the air, unable to act quickly enough to stop himself or protect himself from the fall. He crashed through the glass, feeling the ripping sensation of the glass cutting and piercing his skin before he hit the paved ground hard. The wind was knocked out of Harry and he chocked and gasped, trying to get air back in his lungs.
He rolled to his side, spitting blood onto the pavement and slowly pushing himself to his feet, magic and adrenalin giving him strength to fight through the pain. He saw the Countess looking down on him. She vanished in a swirl of violet light. Purple fire burst into life outside the apartment, causing Harry to duck and wince at the action as glass dug further into his skin. Looking at the fire still burning, Harry read the message,
'THE BARN MIDNIGHT
Knowing the likelihood that he would find the three witches before that time, he waved his arm, vanishing the fire from the wall and removing the damage the fire caused. He gritted his teeth and Apparated back into the Talon where Jason was still unconscious. Harry moved towards him, removing the protective spell from the window. He knelt down neck to Jason, "Enervate." Harry muttered, not having the strength to cast silently.
Jason moaned as he woke up, "Lana?" he asked the room.
"It's Harry. What happened?"
Still not fully cognizant Jason continued speaking, "Lana, she's been possessed."
"Did you see what happened to her?" Harry asked, hoping he'd been there when it began.
"She bought a book," he said, trying to sit up. Harry slowly helped him. "She was researching a 17th century witch She tracked down her spell book, and when she touched her hand to the page…"
"She has a book?" Harry asked quickly. This was sounding more and more like his second year.
"Yeah, bought it off eBay. We need to destroy that book Harry."
"Stupefy," Harry muttered, stunning the man. He obliviated the last few minutes from his mind and set him down carefully. He had the information he needed.
The Countess had definitely made a Horcrux.
Harry shivered at the word, hoping he'd seen the last of them after destroying Voldemort's third and final soul cage.
Knowing he had to wait a few hours. He called an ambulance for Jason and Apparated home.
OoOoOoOoO
Harry Apparated to the Kent barn at 5 minutes to midnight and walked in slowly, wincing from the pain of being thrown out a second story window. He had tried to remove the glass by summoning, only to discover that doing so hurt considerably more than leaving it where it was and that the glass did more damage coming out than it did going in. As much as he loathed himself to admit it, getting medical help after this sounded good. He clutched his side, the most painful part of him, due to his attempted summoning of an especially large piece of glass.
He'd thought about calling Clark and securing his help, but this was a matter of magic, and his alone to deal with. Whilst he had somewhat agreed to an alliance with Clark, this was his specialty.
He walked into the barn looking around for any sign of the witches. He turned a corner and saw the three of them standing waiting for him, Lana had the front of the group with Lois and Chloe flanking her. "You're just in time." The Countess said pleasantly as she caught sight of Harry.
"What have you done to them?" Harry asked, having no patience for pleasantries.
The three witches smiled. The one possessing Lois pointed her hand at him, using the sign of the Devil again, "Surgite!" She called. A wagon wheel lifted off the ground and slammed hard into Harry's chest. Harry had thankfully been able to cast a quick spell that absorbed some of the wheels strength but he was still thrown backwards by the force. He slammed into a support beam behind him and screamed. He'd been injured enough to know that he had at least two broken ribs. He hoped the internal damage was kept minimal. Having managed to slow the wagon wheel down slightly and weakening the impact he pulled himself to his feet.
The three witches took a few steps towards him. "Release them." Harry told the Countess, not backing down, despite the pain he felt.
The three of them laughed, "So you still have more, sorcerer?" Harry glared at her. She smiled back, "This is quite exciting."
The witch possessing Chloe smiled and stepped forward. She held out both hands and brought them together, "Incede!" she called.
Several farm tools rose into the air and threw themselves at Harry. Knowing that should these items hit him they'd probably kill him Harry reacted quickly. With a sweep of his left hand Harry banished a pair of pliers, an electric saw blade and a wrench to his left, sending them crashing through the barn wall.
They all looked impressed, "You know of wandless magics?" The Countess asked. "Impressive."
"I don't want to have hurt you. Leave them!" Harry shouted, doubting his ability to stop them. He'd been trained to hurt and kill the enemy, not just incapacitate. There was still he could do here. He looked for the book Jason spoke of, but saw nothing.
"Stupefy! Stupefy! Stupefy!" Harry called, channelling as much magic as he could into the quickly fired spells.
"Defensor!" The Countess called just as fast and the stunner dissipated against the amethyst shield that appeared in front of her.
The Countess appeared to have had enough games, "Evertere!" She called. This time, no object was thrown to defend against. Instead, Harry again felt pain and was lifted of the ground, unable to move. "But mine are more so!"
The pain continued and Harry struggled to remain conscious, "We have travelled through the ages to complete our quest, outwitting death itself! We will not be outdone by a lone wizard!"
Harry blacked out.
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Harry blearily opened his eyes in confusion noticing sunlight outside and wandering what happened. That was when he felt the pain return. He tried to move his arms, but he could feel the cold touched of chains around his wrists. He looked up and saw his arms tied above his head. He blinked a few times, focusing his vision and looking at the three women standing in front of him.
"He awakens." The Countess remarked.
Harry struggled with the chains, but they were too tight. He tried Apparating but something was blocking it. The thought of vanishing in a bolt of lightning was also out. The girls were too close and would most likely die during his escape attempt.
"What are you?" The Countess asked with a frown.
Harry gritted his teeth against the pain, "You answered that before."
She shook her head and stepped towards him, "No. You have the powers of a sorcerer, but you are more. What are you?" she asked again.
Harry didn't answer, not knowing the answer to the question. He looked Lana in the eye, trying his only option. He pushed, hard, into her mind trying to find Lana's presence and wake her. He felt a brush back against his mind and the Countess looked away sharply.
She took another step closer to him, "You are skilled in mind magics, sorcerer, but should you try that again I will rip out your eyes." She said dangerously, running a fingernail down his cheek, cutting deeply into his face and brushing the side of his left eye as she did. Harry managed not to scream but he could feel the blood running down his face. He looked down at her, noticing his shirt had been ripped open, displaying the hideous wounds he'd suffered at the hand of Voldemort and that Lana had a scorch mark on her chest. Her skin was healed perfectly, but the top was singed, showing her stomach.
"We tried stripping you of you power sorcerer but something stopped us. What was it?" The Countess asked dangerously. Harry had the feeling very few people refused to answer her back during her days. It made him seriously wonder how she ever got caught.
"I don't know." Harry said with difficulty.
He was thankful that she seemed to believe him. She changed subjects quickly, "The three stones of power. You know of them, don't you?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Harry lied, having a pretty good idea what they were. He tried to pull himself free of the chains again. He could feel three minds probing at his and the pain he was in, mixed with their combined powers was slowly wearing down his shields. They'd be able to tell when he lied to them.
The witch possessing Chloe stepped forward, "You've done more than hear of them. You've touched one."
"We can feel it." The third witch said through Lois.
"Who are you two then?" Harry asked Chloe and Lois, hoping to stall for time. He was on the Kent's property, hopefully Clark would turn up.
"You know of me?" The Countess asked.
"Countess Margaret Isobel Theroux, burnt at the stake in 1604." Harry answered. "On a very far part of my family tree your name is there."
The three looked surprised. Isobel moved towards him, looking into his eyes. She didn't seem as murderous as before, "We are kin?" she asked him.
Harry shrugged, "Strictly, no. We both come from a family called the Potter's. I'm the direct branch, you and Lana are centuries off." Harry felt his adrenalin begin to lower and the pain began increase. He would do what he could to stall for time.
"I know from Lana's memories that you are not called 'Potter.'" Isobel said with a frown.
"Change my name," Harry said. "European magical government isn't too happy with me there. France has me pegged as a Dark Lord you know." He hoped by mentioning how her home country was after him would endear him to her, stalling for time. He was beginning to wish he'd brought Clark.
She looked amused, "Yet for a Dark Lord you did not fight back when we attacked you." Isobel stated. She ran a hand down his chest and the pain vanished. Harry knew enough about medicinal magic to know that she hadn't fixed the damage, merely removed the pain and probably put his body in a temporary stasis.
"The girls you've possessed are my friends," Harry said through gritted teeth. "I wouldn't hurt them."
Isobel laughed, "How noble. I know you especially wouldn't want to harm me."
"Why's that?" Harry asked, trying to Apparate again.
She laughed, "Lana knows you have feelings for her. She sees how you look at her. You wouldn't harm her and so you won't harm me."
Harry gritted his teeth but said nothing.
She looked even more amused, "I can see why she likes you." Isobel ran a finger down the side of his face that she hadn't marked. The touch was softer now; seductive. "Will you tell us what we want to know?"
"I don't know where the stone is." Harry answered, trying to shake off the warm feeling of her finger on his cheek.
"Perhaps not, but you have your suspicions." Isobel said again.
Whilst Harry did have a very vague idea where the stones might be, he wasn't going tell her. Unknown artefacts in the hands of people like the Countess were never good. He'd only just finished destroying one person who thought they were immortal; he didn't want to have to add to that list.
Harry remained silent, staring at her defiantly again to her amusement. Trying to push the subject away from the stones Harry looked past her and towards Chloe and Lois, or at least the girls in control on them. "And you girls are?"
The one possessing Chloe answered first, "I am Madelyn."
The one possessing Lois smiled seductively at him, "And I am Brianna."
"Harry," Isobel said bringing his attention back to her. She was standing closer to him now. "We will find out what we want." With that, she took another step towards him and kissed him softly. Harry only just stopped himself from licking his lips as she moved back slightly
"Demonstra," Isobel whispered and leaned in to kiss him again, tilting her head to the right in order to get a better lock on his lips. The kiss was soft but more passionate than the first. He kissed her back, only slightly aware that no spell had been cast to force him to do this. He leant into the kiss as much as his chains would allow.
Harry felt her tongue run across his lips and he opened his mouth without a second thought. As her tongue brushed the inside of his mouth he moaned, no longer caring that Lana was possessed, or the fact that he was likely bleeding internally and dying slowly. After only a few seconds she slowly pulled away and Harry moaned slightly in disappointment, his eyes still closed. He'd kissed a few girls before but he'd never enjoyed it that much before. Isobel took several steps back and licked her lips having clearly enjoyed the kiss as well.
He felt his back straighten and against his will his mouth opened and a purple mist slowly flowed out. Realising this was part of the spell she cast after the first kiss he braced himself. The mist rose up into the air and he heard is voice as if flowing with the winds whisper, "The cave."
He frowned, that had been the place he was sure the stones would be. Every time he'd been in there he sensed a powerful force hidden in the walls although he'd never been able to pin point the exact point of origin.
The three girls smiled at the voice, "The cave. Of course." She walked up to Harry again, "You have been most helpful." She kissed him once again. "We could kill you now but I have enjoyed our time together. We shall return once we have the stone and we shall see if you are any more cooperative."
She moved over to her friends and flicked her hand up, "Abige!" She incanted and they disappeared in a flash of purple light. Immediately the pain returned and Harry screamed. His chest felt as though a dozen knives had simultaneously driven themselves into him. He felt the glass that was imbedded deeply into his back again. He bit his lip and managed to silence himself, surprised that he hadn't passed out. Breathing heavily Harry looked upwards and called for lightning to fall on him, destroying everything near him, not to transport. The bolt of lightning cut through the barn roof and struck the ground where he stood.
The support beam holding him cracked and Harry fell to the ground as his chains were released. He screamed again as he fell to the floor, the glass shredding his back. He slowly pushed himself to his feet, struggling to breathe. He knew he needed to contact Clark now, but the fact that this was magic in nature stopped him. This was his fight, not Clark's. He knew what he had to do. If he could get near the book Jason said Isobel carried he could stop this.
He slowly walked outside using anything he could reach to support himself. He made it into open air, still clutching his ribs. He knew he'd punctured a lung. He knew he was in trouble. He called upon his power again. Thunder cracked and he disappeared in a bolt of lightning.
He stumbled and fell as he landed in a small black crater. He screamed again, biting his lip to try and silence himself. He coughed up more blood. He barely noticed that the amount of blood that came out each time was increasing. Seeing the entrance to the cave he pushed himself up and slowly walked in. His side was bleeding quite badly now.
He pushed his way through the cave to where he knew the 'Water' symbol was painted. As he neared it his attention was immediately brought to the fact that one part of the wall was glowing white. He neared it and noticed that part of the wall was gone, leaving an entrance to another part of the cave, a part that hadn't been there before.
He took a deep breathe and walked towards the light, silencing his feet as he went. Harry stepped towards it and after a flash of light reappeared in another room, obviously a hidden part of the cave system. Immediately he heard soft voices. "Take it, Isobel. Lead us to glory." A voice belonging to Chloe said excitedly.
Harry cast a weak disillusionment charm on himself, the best he could do in his current state. It would barely hide him but it might give him the seconds he would need if Isobel was carrying her book. "Two of the stones," Isobel whispered in reverence. "How I have dreamed of this moment."
Harry walked slowly round a corner in the cave and entered a room with a large stone altar in the centre. The three witches were standing on the far side to him and were staring at the centre of it eagerly. They hadn't sensed his approach.
Harry felt his vision blacken for a second and he realised that he was losing consciousness. Thankfully Isobel was carrying an open leather bound book in her hands. He knew he only had one chance and prayed the book she was carrying was her Horcrux. He resisted the urge to scan it with his Omni-lenses to make sure, fearful of being caught.
He took a deep breathe, concentrating as much as he could. He took a step forward and thrust his right arm forward before pulling it back sharply. In her surprised Isobel let the book slip from her grasp as it soared towards Harry. She looked up at the distorted pattern of Harry but she couldn't act fast enough. Thrusting his hand forward again he fired a concentrated bolt of lightning towards the book, the same type he had used against Voldemort. He knew Horcruxes were notoriously difficult to destroy; only basilisk venom and fiendfyre were known to work, but he was confident he had a third method.
Lightning struck the book and the cave lit up, both from the lightning and the spell book as it was burnt to ashes. "No!" Isobel screamed. Harry knew he'd succeeded. There was a second flash of light and Harry found himself and the girls back in the known part of the cave. The entrance to the altar room was closed. He saw the girls beginning to regain consciousness and carefully approached.
They looked around in confusion. "Why are we lying in the dirt?" Lois asked the room, not noticing Harry.
Chloe looked down at her clothes and her eyes almost bulged from her head, "And what the hell are we wearing?"
Lana turned to the sound of footsteps and saw a badly injured Harry, "Harry?" Lana asked worriedly.
"Lana?" Harry managed to say. He looked her in the eyes and smiled. Her mind was open again. He opened his mouth to speak but he began to cough again, blood splattering his hands. He fell to one knee, relief setting in and the adrenalin quickly leaving his system. The three girls got up quickly, rushing to his side.
"Harry, what happened?" Lana asked panicking as she knelt beside him.
"You were… possessed." Harry coughed again, his eye's losing focus. "Hurts." Harry managed before the blackness took him.
"Harry!" Was the last thing he heard before he hit the ground, unsure of who was calling for him.
AN: And Voila! Hope that was fun. So people know, I have a reason for Harry getting his arse handed to him here for those that are opposed to it. Should he encounter the Countess again… well, that'll be more an even fight.
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Thanks to everyone that voted in my poll.
Review and suggest things… I look forward to that.