Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

Chapter Twenty Five

Spirit World

Ron Weasley felt very odd. One minute he had been fighting Bellatrix Lestrange in the Minister for Magic's office with Harry. Now, he didn't have a clue where he was.

Where he was, he didn't have a clue. It was a very strange place. Things looked just the same as before. Except they were now all grey. How odd. Ron couldn't see Harry, or Bella. He left the Minister's office. Heading up the stairs, he saw that he too, was grey, in fact a more pearly white. He felt strangely weightless, like there was no gravity in the world. Emerging into the Atrium, he saw several of the Ministry Aurors, and more importantly Madame Maxime and Percy. Ron rushed to them. Maybe they knew what had happened.

"Madame Maxime! Percy!"

Percy turned, and his white complexion went grey.

"Ron! They didn't get you too?"

Ron looked at his brother in confusion.

"What do you mean?" he asked nervously.

"Are you dead?" Maxime asked.

"I hope not." Ron said sincerely.

Then, something dawned on him.

"This is the Dead Realm?"

"No. This, little bro, is the dividing line between living and death. This is where you come before you go into the Afterlife."

"Meaning you two are dead?" Ron asked in dread.

"Yes. We're waiting to pass on." Percy explained.

"Then I'm dead too." Ron moaned.

"I do not theenk so." Maxime said.

Ron looked at them in confusion.

"I'm not dead, but everyone else in this realm is?"

"I think so. This is what they study in the Department of Mysteries. This is the key of how some people become ghosts and some don't." Percy explained.

"Meaning?"

"People who are ghosts, spirits, ghouls and poltergeists normally have unfinished business. For most ghosts that unfinished business is life. So, they struggle through the Spirit Realm, to where they wish to wander as ghosts, and then try to leave." Percy explained.

"How do you know this?" Ron asked in amazement.

"Comes as part of the package when you get here. As you were blasted here by a spell rather than actually dying, you didn't get it, meaning your body is still alive. It's all very confusing." Percy said.

Ron sat down and sighed.

"Tell me about it. So, basically, I've been blown here by Bella, and I'm not dead, it's just my spirit that's here and I'm not waiting to be processed into the Afterlife?"

Maxime nodded.

"So, zere is steel a chance zat you can eescape ze spirit realm."

Excitement coursed through Ron. He would be able to go back to Hermione…

"How do I do it?"

"Haven't ze foggiest." Maxime said lamely.

Percy grinned.

"The answer is in the Department of Mysteries."

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The three went to the Department of Mysteries, floating through everything as if nothing was there. They had no idea of what was going on in the wider world. They had no idea of how the battle was going, and they hadn't found anyone to ask yet. It was the strangest thing that had ever happened to Ron. He didn't have the faintest idea of how to get out of this situation.

"So, they study this in here?" Ron asked his brother.

"Yes. They dedicate themselves to finding out the mysteries that surround death itself."

"Do they look for ways to stop it?" Ron asked.

"I theenk not. To be immortal goes against nature. Eet ees an abomination of life if you leeve past your sell by date. To be immortal creates echoes, and zey damage magic by it's fluctuations." Maxime said.

"So, you're saying that if Voldemort, god forbid, finds a way to become immortal, he'll eventually destroy magic?" Rona asked in awe.

"Yes. Eet ees most unnatural to continue existence after ze time of your death. Eef, as you are trying to do, are stuck in leembo, eet does not create an echo. You are trying to get back to your body, which, een it's state, is creating echoes, spreading outwards, harming mageec."

Ron shook his head. They entered the Death Chamber. Hermione should be in here somewhere…

"In this form, you can't see the people still in the Life realm. You can't communicate them. So, the only way you'll be able to see Hermione is if she dies."

Ron shuddered, but his gaze was drawn to the dais in the centre of the room, to the veil where Sirius had disappeared through. It wasn't a veil any longer. Now, it was a massive portal, glowing white, with a sinister hooded figure guarding the entrance. He had long, rattling breaths, and was admitting people into the vortex one by one.

"That's the guy we need to see." Percy said, though he looked apprehensive.

The figure admitted another person, and turned to them all.

"Name?" he rattled.

Ron shuddered. His voice was like death itself.

"Who are you?" Percy asked.

"I am the Gatekeeper. I decide who goes on into the Afterlife."

Percy and Maxime nodded.

"Well, we're dead, but my brother Ron here isn't. He just got blown here by a spell." Percy explained.

The Gatekeeper looked at Ron, who trembled.

"He is not dead." The Gatekeeper stated.

"We know. We're wondering how you get him from the Spirit World back to the Life Realm." Percy said.

The Gatekeeper struggled with the question, then sat down to think. He muttered to himself, in a language that sounded heavily like Greek.

"There is a way. You must go to where your body will be laid to rest. Your journey will not be easy. You will need to deal with the Kath Hounds, the servants of the Dahaka to get out and to your destination."

"What's the Dahaka?" Ron asked nervously.

"A monstrous creature, that guards the Spirit World. It will not leave you alone. You must get past it to escape."

"Can it kill me?" Ron asked.

"No. But, it can blow you through the vortex, and then you will be gone from existence, and your body will die."

Ron paled.

"But, ee can get out?" Maxime asked.

"Yes. If he hurries. The Dahaka and his Kath Hounds are not to be trifled with. You must be deadly serious in this undertaking, and must never stop. If you do, you will be brought back here."

"Why are you willing to help me?" Ron asked curiously.

"Because I am doomed to this miserable existence, passing people through the portal to the Afterlife by the Dahaka. It's the most boring job in existence and it drives me mad. The Dahaka controls this World, and I would dearly love to see him brought low."

"So, I can get out, if I go quick enough?" Ron checked, excitement running through him.

"Indeed."

Ron smiled at the Gatekeeper, who nodded in return.

"Cant these two come with me?" Ron asked.

Maxime answered before the Gatekeeper.

"No, we cannot. We are dead. Ve must move on, you see? Eet ees our time. We will go on to ze Afterlife and see vat awaits us."

Ron frowned. Percy ruffled his hair.

"Good luck bro."

Ron smiled at his brother.

"You weren't so bad in the end." He said sadly.

Percy shrugged.

"I could have been good from the off. I wasn't, and now I've reaped my reward."

Ron hugged his brother and Maxime. The Gatekeeper sniffed audibly.

"I'll be seeing you." Ron said.

"Don't come and see us too soon." Percy said.

Ron grinned, and ran away from the portal. Percy and Maxime turned to the Gatekeeper, who was sobbing.

"Touching. Get in wi' ye!"

The two stepped into the vortex, as Ron dashed, spirit like, from the Ministry and begun his long walk north.

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Ron went on for days. He didn't need to eat, sleep or do anything else in this state, so made good time. It was definitely his weirdest adventure ever. He didn't see many souls over the days, only a couple. He knew that to reach Hogwarts, he would need to deal with the Dahaka. And in this form, he couldn't do magic. He would worry about that when he came to it. The spirit world was an exact replica of the Life Realm, but all was grey, and nothing was there apart from the spirits that occasionally sauntered past on their way to the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry. He reached somewhere, he estimated Manchester, when he heard barking. Turning, he saw several dogs bearing towards him. These were unlike any dogs he had ever seen. They were long and lanky, their teeth oversized, and had long flowing manes. They looked exactly like a cross between a dog and a lion. Except for one difference. Their eyes were terrible. Gouged out, all that was there was a small, red jewel. These had to be the Dahaka's Kath Hounds. The Dahaka must know that someone was trying to escape his world, and he didn't like it. Ron knew he had no chance of defeating them, unable to do magic and unsure what would happened if he tried to fight them hand to hand. He didn't want a shrivelled and dismembered soul. Inhaling, he ran on, his pace furious. He crossed the country at tremendous speeds. The entire run, the Kath Hounds were snapping at his heels.

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He reached Hogwarts four spirit days after the Battle of the Ministry. Spirit days were just the same as normal days, so there was little difference. He was exhausted. He had been running for hours. He didn't need the normal human requirements, but he still felt pain, despite the form he was in. He resumed his race to the castle. He needed to find out all that had happened. What was going on? He burst into the Entrance Hall, ghostlike though it was, and hurtled up to the first floor and the hospital wing. Hermione would surely have wanted to move him there. Or, he dreaded the thought, had she went to Krum, convinced he would never wake up? Emerging into the Hospital Wing, the barking of the Kath Hounds close behind him, Ron saw his body, grey like himself, even the hair. He assumed this would change when he entered his body. He charged towards his body, when a massive invisible wall sent him crashing to the ground. The Kath Hounds surrounded Ron, snapping their teeth and growling. Then, Ron heard heavy footsteps. Turning to the door, he saw a nightmarish creature. This had to be the Dahaka. Ten foot tall, pitch black, glowing, crimson eyes, jagged spikes running down it's back, a wolfish face, a mauled, doglike nose, massive, dripping fangs, foot long claws and a nasty attitude summed the creature up nicely.

Ron quaked with fear.

Did you think I was going to let someone leave my world, the world I command, without trying to stop him?

The creature's mouth did not move, so Ron assumed the creature was thinking these words at him.

"I'm just trying to get back to my body." Ron said.

Boo hoo. You will not proceed further than this.

Ron glared at the Dahaka.

"Yes I will. I'm going back into my body, whether you like it or not."

The Dahaka laughed, a deep, grating, booming thing that made Ron's hair stand up on end.

You cannot escape me. I am the Dahaka, ruler of the Spirit World! My power in this realm is infinite! And I will not allow anyone out of my realm. If you go back to the portal now, I will forget this and let you move on peacefully.

Ron snorted.

"Listen. It's not a question of want. It's need. I need to get back into my body. I need to find out how the war's going. I need Hermione."

How touching. Do you think I care what you want or need? What is it to me if a war is raging in your realm? Just means more business for me. I look forward to meeting this Lord Voldemort.

Ron snarled.

"I'm getting out of here." Ron promised.

The Dahaka laughed again.

Your chances are less than zero. However, I am willing to compromise.

Ron paled.

"What?" he asked suspiciously.

I challenge you to a duel. Spirit weapons. If you defeat me, you go back into your body, no questions asked. If I defeat you, you go to the vortex, no questions asked.

"So, you want a fight?" Ron asked nervously.

Certainly. If you are willing.

Ron grimaced.

"Fine. I'll fight you."

Excellent! It's so long since I've had a duel. The last time must have been when dear Grindewald was wrecking your world. Bloke called Dumbledore got blasted through. He beat me, so I honoured my agreement. Pick three weapons, bar a wand. No wands here. Magic doesn't work in the same way anyway.

Ron thought for a moment.

"A sword, a gun and an axe."

The Dahaka obliged, and created his own weapons.

Shall we begin?

Picking up the sword, Ron dashed at his opponent, and the fight for Ron's spirit and life begun.

Ron is traped in the Spirit Realm and is fighting the Dahaka, the ruler of the realm, which cant be good. The Dahaka is based off the thing of the same name from Prince of Persia II, which I still havent completed I might add. An invincibility cheat would not go amiss.

Will Ron escape from the Dahaka? Keep reading!