CHAPTER 20

Verena opened one eye to look at Albus, then closed it again as a light breeze began to blow through her hair. With his palms facing down on the ground, Albus began to suddenly feel a warmth underneath his hands. It was a comforting warmth, not to cold and not to hot. Then suddenly, something strange happened. He began to hear various voices speaking a strange lanuage in his head quietly.

He wanted to open his eyes to see what was happening, but for some reason, he could not open his eyes. At that moment, all he seemed to want to do is listen to the voices and feel the warmth under his hands. Albus then heard Verena speaking in his head, "Can you speak with your mind yet, Mr. Potter? Concentrate and tell me if you can."

Albus, of course, did what Verena told him to do, and concentrated, "Can you hear me?" he asked, trying to speak with his mind as Verena did. He waited to hear whether Verena's response would be encouraging or one telling him that he hadn't done it right.

Verena soon responded, "You're doing well, Mr. Potter. I hear you. Now, you must keep your eyes closed, Mr. Potter. If you don't, you will break the connection we are now trying to forge with the circle. I'm going to need your help in clearing out the damage that was left here by Morfyrath. The opening to the Spirit World which lies here is blocked by horrible memories and bad remnants of what happened here. What do you hear now, Mr. Potter?"

"I can hear voices." he said, listening once again to the voices, "Is this a good thing or a bad thing?"

"The language you are hearing is Aeyuel. The spirits of those Death Eaters who had died here know that we are here now. They will help us clear out the bad memories with our help. Can you feel the energy of the Auranan flowing within you? Concentrate. Feel the energy of the world around you, hear its sound. The low, bubbling sound of the earth, like flowing lava. Feel it's warmth and comfort in you. Can you feel it like I can, Mr. Potter?"

"Yes, I can feel it." he said, listening very closely and feeling the flow of power inside himself as well as the flow of energy in the earth.

Albus could hear the voices of those Death Eaters who had died here. He could even hear some chanting and singing. He felt like he was drifting between the Spirit World and the Physical World. It was a peace like he had never felt before and it was comforting to the point where he just wanted to loose himself within it.

Suddenly, the voices began to change, sounding more violent and the singing turned into screaming. He could hear what sounded like a battle. An epic struggle between the forces of light and dark. As this was going on, the rocks and the symbols on them began to slowly glow brighter, until they shined as bright as the moon. Particles of blue light began to appear around him, fly around him, like sparkling stars in the night sky. But he could not open his eyes to see this. Then the fire began to react, turning from orange-red to blue. The hippogriffs then reacted. They began stomping around and making noise, as the battle sounds in Albus's head got louder.

Verena spoke through the sounds, "Hold on, Mr. Potter. Just a little bit longer! Do not be scared by these sounds, they are only a shadow of what was once here! Concentrate on feeling the power of the Auranan within you. Focus!"

He almost lost focus and opened his eyes, but he did what Verena told him. He could feel the power of the Auranan; he could sort of even hear it; and he refrained from opening his eyes. He wondered when it would be all right to open his eyes. Then suddenly, the battle sounds became lesser and lesser, until there was nothing but silence.

Verena then slowly opened her eyes and spoke, "It's alright to open your eyes now, Mr. Potter. Look around you."

Albus opened his eyes and was astonished by what he saw. The dark dead soil was covered in moss and green grass. The dead vines on the rocks were green and blooming with flowers. Patches of small white flowers were blooming and glowing with an eerie blue light. Everything within the circle was shimmering with blue light. Albus was in awe.

Verena soon spoke, "We did it, Mr. Potter. The gateway to the Spirit World that is here is now open and free of bad energy. The Auranan will flow freely through here from now on."

Suddenly, Albus could feel a hippogriff come up next to him. Albus quickly got up and began petting it as other hippogriffs began to enter the circle and graze on the grass within it. Verena smirked, "That's just hippogriffs for you. They always like young grass to feed on. The younger the better."

Verena's eyes were then suddenly drawn to something. She looked over to the right of her, opened her mouth a moment, then closed it again without saying anything. Verena then nodded towards the direction she was looking at. Albus looked over and suddenly noticed several balls of blue light suddenly appear and transform into the shapes of people. Though he could not see their faces, he could tell that they were human looking. The one closest to him then spoke as it transformed into a woman. Albus could recognize the woman almost instantly.

Verena spoke, "Auradinthia, my dear. I am so glad you came. I have the Potter boy here with me."

"Yes, I know. I could feel the powers of both of you through clearing out the bad energy left here by Morfyrath. Thank-you." said Aurdinthia, looking at Verena and Albus.

Verena then looked over at Albus and spoke, "Mr. Potter. Have you anything to say or ask Auradinthia before she leaves?"

"Do you have any advice for me?" he asked, thinking that Auradinthia might have some wisdom that would be able to help him, "If there was something that would help me in the future," - Verena's gaze snapped to him rather sharply - "it might help increase our chances."

Auradinthia smiled and spoke, "Oh my dear boy. I see that you have the very same weakness that I had while I was learning and wielding the Auranan. The power of the Auranan you see is attracted to the courageous and the spirited. But those who wield the power are so easily broken when fear and doubt invade them. I was once courageous and spirited like you are now and used those strengths to my advantege to defeat Moryrath and Dianphor.

But when my jealousy and anger overtook me, I lost the ability to send Morfyrath and Dianphor back to where they belonged. So I was forced to trap Morfyrath's soul within the Book Of Resurrections. My son Morispho used my anger and jealousy against me, causing me to loose my ability to forgive my husband for cheating on me as well as the ability to forgive Morfyrath and Dianphor for all that they had done to the Wizarding World and those who lived within it.

On that day, my weakness was not only my jealousy and anger, but also my loss of hope, hope that I would defeat Morfyrath and Dianphor and save the Wizarding World. This broke my spirit and weakened me. I had lost all courage and confidence in myself and I felt that Morfyrath would soon consume me and my powers of the Auranan. But at the very last moment, my hope was restored and I was able to defeat Morfyrath and Dianphor.

After I had killed Morfyrath and weakened Dianphor, Dianphor's followers felt betrayed by Dianphor for not having given them the guiding eye stone that would ensure their survival. Dianphor's followers turned on Dianphor and finished him off soon after. The first time I defeated Morfyrath and Dianphor, Dianphor fled into The Fringes, the dark place that borders both the Spirit World and the Physical World, the place between the worlds, stuck in limbo between the worlds, hiding and waiting, while I was able to trap Morfyrath inside an enchanted chamber which lied underneath a volcano.

But Dianphor soon returned 300 years later, this time with much more followers then before and freed Morfyrath from his prison. I knew that this second time, I had to defeat Morfyrath and Dianphor once and for all. But it took most of my power and inner strength to do so. I unfortunately died some years after this event since I did not take another dose of the Resurrection Potion, thus leaving my followers and my descendants with a burden that I was unable to lighten or finish. Luckily I was able to leave my followers and descendants with the task of protecting the Book Of Resurrections as well as the guiding eye stones.

I felt it best to separate the guiding eye stones, giving one of each to the seven families of my descendants, while my remaining followers were left with protecting The Book Of Resurrections. It has been safe these past 1100 years until now. The Potter Family is one of the 7 families of my descendants, therefore it is no surprise to me that you would be gifted with The Auranan, Mr. Potter, since I myself had once had it."

"Thank you." Albus said, thinking about what she had said. He looked up at Verena who had an unsurprised expression on her face, "I appreciate it."

Verena sneered and spoke, "Do not thank me, Mr. Potter. It is Auradinthia you should be thanking. But there is still more that we must discover about your weak point and we must find out quickly."

Auradinthia then spoke once more, "I do not know of what else haunts Mr. Potter, but I can sense it. It may be best if you go and meet The Old Divin. He is a friend of mine and he should be able to reveal the rest of what weakness Albus has. Once you know everything, Verena and Severus can help shield it from my son and Mapheria. I must go now and join the rest of my kin. Good luck, Mr. Potter and learn well the powers that have been given to you from me."

And with that, Auradinthia turned away and walked off, following the rest of the blue humanoid figures, which soon faded into a blue glowing mist and vanished without a trace. Albus then looked back at Verena and spoke coldly, "I was thanking her."

Verena narrowed her eyes and scowled as Albus stood up, picked up his broom and headed towards the edge of the Black Lake. He sat down on a boulder near the edge of the water and looked up at Verena as she herself stood up and walked over to him, "Anything else we need to do while we're here? Or are we going to start on our way to the Old Divin?" he asked, running his hand over his broomstick.

Verena narrowed her eyes and then looked over the water of the lake as she turned and walked off a little bit, not looking at Albus, "There is nothing else we need to do right now, since we need Severus to come along with us when we do see the Old Divin. I suppose your wondering who or what The Old Divin is, Mr. Potter."

"I thought he was just a Seer, who was quite old, quite talented and a shady sort of character. You mean to say he's not...not even human?" Albus said slowly.

Verena smiled mischievously, then spoke as she continued to look over the water, not looking at Albus, "Let's just say that you don't want to be standing in front of him when he gets angry, Mr. Potter...or behind him for that matter."

"What do you mean by that?" Albus asked, gazing over the water and watching the hippogriffs now and again, choosing his words carefully, "I remember the first time you mentioned him, Professor Snape said that he might rather capture me than help me. And then you said you knew something about him that would stop him from doing so. It's not really my business, but can I ask what it is you know?"

Verena smiled mischievously again, keeping her eyes on the water, "Oh, The Old Divin has a weak point just like every living being in this world. Mine and Severus's weak point is the fear of loosing each other and our children. But that is the most obvious of weak points when compared to others. The Old Divin's weak point is something that is hidden in plain sight, something that you see around him. And if his weakness is exposed, it is easy to manipulate him. With knowing The Old Divin's weak point, we will be able to give him second thoughts about capturing you and taking you to Mapheria, the one who he is currently loyal to. And as for what I meant just now, let's just say the energy he possesses comes out of both ends of his body. A rather hot energy if you get my meaning."

"Wait, He's loyal to Mapheria?" Albus asked, keeping his voice even. He thought it would still be quite risky to walk straight to the Old Divin when he was loyal to Mapheria. Then he thought about the other thing Verena had said, "Is he...a dragon? What type?" Albus said, going red as he realized how awkward his words sounded.

Verena continued to look away as she continued, "Oh, he's not just any kind of dragon, Mr. Potter. He is an Ouroborus, a very greedy, very hoard-loving Ouroborus, a two-headed species of dragon with a head on each end of its body. Both heads are able to breath and shoot fire, a nice bright reddish-purple fire if I'm not mistaken. He also has front limbs and large leathery wings. He's scaly like a snake and hisses just like one. We'll have to be careful with him though, cause he has a rather short temper and will stop at nothing to..."

Verena then looked and noticed that she was alone. Albus had vanished without a trace, right from under her nose. Verena looked around, but all she could see were the hippogriffs quietly grazing. It seemed as though what ever had happened Albus did not alert the hippogriffs.

"Mr. Potter? Mr. Potter, where are you?" said Verena, looking around.

...CONCLUDED...CHAPTER 21/EPILOGUE...