Fusion of Destinies II: Day of Reckoning
a Harry Potter/Metroid crossover
Chapter 26: Level Two
9-11-2009
by Grey-X
Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series and all of its characters are the creation and property of J. K. Rowling. Samus Aran and the Metroid series are the creation and property of Nintendo, and was originally masterminded by Gunpei Yokoi (1941-1997).
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Their rocketing cage was coming up upon the flat underbelly of some metallic structure, one that had a dark, bronze sheen. It was slightly convex, and Harry saw what looked like a circular hatch open in the middle. The eagle statues relinquished their hold and flew away, leaving their cage to keep shooting up on momentum alone. Harry's mind was in a panic when the cage began to slow down, but then, creaking mechanical arms grabbed onto the cage's rim and hoisted it up into the hatch. As darkness and silence engulfed them, the cage slowly rose. Harry could do nothing but lie there and wait, too flabbergasted and still in too much pain to act. When it finally occurred to him to cast some light, another hatch opened up above them, blinding them all.
When their vision cleared, they found the wires had retracted, and the cage's platform was now fixed into the floor. A large domed chamber stretched out all around them, lined with standing Chozo statues that held fluorescent orbs, illuminating everything with a pale blue glow. Harry got the curious sensation of being watched by all those statues. Everything else, from the floorboards to the support beams lining the domed ceiling, looked like it was made of bronze...one of Ravenclaw's signature colors. But where Slytherin's sanctum had an ancient, storied feel to it, this whole place looked like something out of science-fiction, though Harry felt he could sense the slight twinge of magic around him...
The only thing the two sanctums had in common was that both had those bubble doors...such as the one Harry spotted across the chamber, dozens of yards away.
After carefully looking around, they all decided there was nothing else noteworthy in there, and made their way to the door. As soon as Samus blasted it open, a gust of wind forced them back. It soon died down, but now everyone was hesitant to go forward, sensing something was very wrong.
Sighing, Ron bravely ventured onward. Harry watched him go, noting how it looked like some sort of wide bridge awaited him. Ron only took a few steps before stopping cold, looking around. Harry had no idea if it was in terror or in awe...or both. Then he walked to the right, out of sight. Eventually, he called out to them. "Everyone, come get a look at this!" he cried excitedly.
Harry was the first to follow him out, and immediately gasped in shock. A bridge indeed stretched out before them, one that wouldn't look out of place in any sci-fi movie, suspended by beams and thick cables. All along the bridge, there were poles on which more of those fluorescent orbs were nestled, but perched atop them were bronze statues of eagles, wings outstretched, a stern gaze coming from each and every one. And stretched out above them was nothing but open sky. Harry stared up stupidly, too confused to even gasp, but then Hermione called out to him. "Oh my God, Harry, Samus...look over here!" Harry obediently trudged over to the bridge's side, still casting confused glances at the starry sky above. When he reached it, he saw the faint traces of sunlight peering over the horizon to the east...and the horizon looked curved. He started to realize they were that high up.
"I don't believe this...it's just like Skytown on Elysia!" exclaimed Samus breathlessly.
"Come again?" asked Voldemort curtly.
"The machine city the Chozo built and suspended in the upper atmosphere of that planet," Samus said quickly. "This is incredible...this must've been a prototype of that city built for Ravenclaw, and what they couldn't accomplish back then, her magic made up for it!" She stared around in wonder, marvlling at the historic find, this solemn testament to the Chozo's legacy hidden all this time on her species' homeworld.
"Amazing how it's been magically hidden all this time, in this age of satellites and radar," said Hermione. "And I bet there's an impossibly powerful charm around this entire place, keeping everything inside pressurized, and hotter than the surrounding atmosphere."
"What makes you say that?" asked Harry.
"Because we can still hear each other without screaming, Voldemort can still breathe, and you and Samus haven't keeled over from extreme cold," replied Hermione matter-of-factly.
"Oh," was all Harry could say. Ron walked up to the edge, removed his helmet, and spit over the side. Hermione let out a snort of disgust.
Sighing, Harry looked back where they came from. Above the domed ceiling, spire-like towers were nestled onto it, and there seemed to be a flat platform among them, dozens of feet up. There was a ledge with a bubble door high above, but it was far too high to reach...at least, not without somehow flying. Ahead of them was an even larger structure, with dozens of off-putting spire-towers. As futuristic as it looked, it did somewhat resemble the center of a castle, one made of bronze rather than stone and wood...except for the central tower. That one resembled the architecture back at Hogwarts, and rose so high, they couldn't quite see the top.
Two other large bridges branched off from either side, and Harry suspected another one was behind the sanctum's center. "Looks like there's no place to go but that big structure up ahead. Let's get moving," declared Harry. Samus pulled herself from the view over the bridge and ran ahead, while a disgruntled, grumbling Voldemort brought up the rear.
Their footsteps clanged loudly as they ran on, but over the din, Samus evidently heard something. She skidded to a halt and held out her hand, urging them to be quiet. Samus's gaze darted all around. Harry had no idea what she was looking for, until Samus suddenly took aim at one of the suspension beams. She fired a missile, blowing part of it off.
"Confound it woman, what do you think you're doing!?" Voldemort demanded, not quite able to keep his anxiety out of his voice. Voldemort got his answer when the smoke cleared, revealing a missile expansion nestled deep within the fractured segment. Samus jumped up, grabbed hold of the mangled segment, and rolled herself in to claim it.
Harry watched her roll in, then looked over the bridge's edge again. Those bronze eagles, with their cold glares, unnerved him even more than the slivery, water-spewing snake heads. Harry knew he shouldn't be surprised, after learning there was more to Slytherin than met the eye, and a despot far worse than his descendent hailed from Ravenclaw. But then, another rude surprise came. Another eagle statue, magically animated, rose and hovered between two poles, then darted at Harry, who barely ducked in time. Harry turned around, wand ready, only to spot more rising from the other side. They hovered in place and flapped their wings. Razor-sharp metal feathers shot out at them like shuriken. Harry tried to dash aside, but some still slammed into his right arm, draining a good deal of energy. He heard Ron grunt in pain as well.
Luckily, Samus had long since rolled out of the support beam, and sprang into action. Her wisp whip ensnared an eagle, and she spun around before hurling it at another one. After smashing together, both birds lifelessly dropped down to the island tens of thousands of feet below. Voldemort spun around, creating a wide arc of bluish flame that melted any eagle daring to draw near. Hermione polished off the last few with missiles.
But just when it looked like they were in the clear, cawing came from the direction they were heading in. More eagles swooped in, but this time, each one was airlifting some sort of attack robot. Their bottom halves were essentially a set of tank treads, while their upper halves resembles a man's, though horribly thin and ungainly. Their arms looked like laser blasters, which was bad enough, but what looked like missile launchers were mounted onto their shoulders. They eagles dropped them onto the bridge and flew off. Once they landed with loud, crashing thuds, the battle robots opened fire.
Thankfully, everyone had time to ready themselves. Hermione and Ron cast Shield Charms to block the deadly lasers, while Harry took a page from his aunt's book and Banished the missiles back at them. For whatever reason, Voldemort couldn't seem to transfigure or vanish the robots, so he settled for Glacius and Blasting Curses. Samus followed suit, using her ice beam and missiles. Soon enough, the way forward was clear again.
"Dear God, someone please explain to me what ROBOTS are doing here on Rowena Ravenclaw's pad!" demanded Ron.
"Is it any weirder than seeing alien bugs in Slytherin's sanctum?" asked Hermione delicately.
"They certainly resembled the security robots I encountered in Skytown," mused Samus. "I suppose Ravenclaw would have no problem with them being used. Certainly, Slytherin wanted his to have a more ancient look, but I bet Ravenclaw would've been ecstatic to toy with the Chozo's advanced technology."
"So any hopes of this being as easy as the last one just went out the window," grumbled Harry. "Forget it...let's just keep moving." After Samus transferred the missile expansion to Harry and his friends, the five of them kept running along the bridge, and thankfully they met no more resistance. Soon, they reached the central structure, and only a red door barred the way in.
"Be ready for anything," Samus warned as she blasted the ceramic shielding off the door. They all ran in after her, wands drawn.
Slytherin's sanctum had been bustling with activity, with so many devices powered by moving water...but it had all seemed orderly and even serene. Ravenclaw's was a different story.
They found themselves at the very bottom of a vertical, cylindrical chamber. All around the walls, pistons were furiously pumping, and bronze gears were spinning far faster than the ones back in Slytherin's sanctum. Electricity periodically arced all over, making frightening cracking noises. Within the chamber was an array of stone staircases lined with bronze rails. At first glance, they looked positively mazelike, but after further inspection, Harry realized their job would be even harder. It looked like several parts of the stairs were missing, and he guessed it was their job to figure out how to shift around pieces of the stairwell to advance. Ravenclaw designed the moving staircases back at Hogwarts, and made a far more twisted version here.
xxxxxx
"This is going to be harder than I thought," said Samus, carefully surveying the ground level. The floorboards they stood on only covered half the chamber; a quick glance over the edge revealed an uninviting array of spinning gears and arcing electricity should they slip up as they tried to ascend. And for the moment, it looked like the only way up was a single staircase, at the far edge of the chamber.
"We have no place to go except up, so let's not waste any more time admiring the scenery," said Voldemort shortly, clearly not as enthralled as he was with Slytherin's domain. Shaking her head and sighing, Samus and her friends ran after him. Voldemort briskly ran up the staircase; Samus was still a bit amazed at how athletic Voldemort proved to be. It certainly came in handy now, since he had no power suit of his own...and she fervently hoped he would never find the one meant for him.
However, Voldemort soon ran into trouble. From out of nowhere, war wasps and doxies closed in. Luckily for him, he wasn't one caught unawares so easily. With a few waves of his wand, he knocked back their poison attacks and unleashed gusts of freezing mist, causing most to shatter to pieces.
More doxies and war wasps were flying up from somewhere below, coming at them from the rear. Not only that, Reos were swooping down as well. Ron and Hermione fired missiles at the Reos, leaving Samus and Harry free to deal with the doxies and war wasps. Harry used Aguamenti to propel a gaggle of them into the far wall; she could hear the sizzling of flesh and exoskeletons against the electrified walls. A few ice beam shots from her dispatched the rest.
Once they were in the clear, the four of them ran after Voldemort, who had stopped at a circular platform about twenty meters up. In the center, there was a glowing orb, and flitting over and around it were runic symbols, but definitely not Chozo in origin. Samus bit back a sigh of frustration when she saw Voldemort's eyes keenly follow the runes, realizing he could decipher them.
But evidently, not fast enough for Hermione's liking. She strode over and rudely nudged Voldemort aside, wanting a good look. Voldemort, predictably, looked ready to lash out, but Ron cut him off, snidely saying, "Here's an idea, let the one who figured out the location of BOTH sanctums in five seconds have a go at it."
Miraculously, Voldemort bit his lip. Several long, agonizing minutes passed before she popped her wand back out. "I heard Ravenclaw was always fond of logic puzzles, but this is just..." she began, eyeing the runes cautiously. Sighing impatiently, Samus looked around some more. A few meters away, she noticed the bottom of another stairway was attached to their platform. But before she could run for it, Hermione spoke up. "OK everybody, I think I've got part of this puzzle figured out!" With that, she drew the tip of her wand across the orb, dragging several glowing runes to new positions.
At once, everything began to shift around. Their platform spun and moved to the left, while the stairway that would have led up suddenly began to flip around in midair as it flew away. Up and down the chamber, platforms and stairs were shifting about in all directions. Parts of the walls were even pulled out as stairways flew around. After a few moments, another stairway attached itself to their platform, one that led straight up to a bubble door nestled into the wall.
"Goes without saying we should try this door first," said Ron simply. Samus tailed Ron as they ran up the stairs. He opened the door with a single charm, and heedless of any possible danger, he ran in.
Which at once proved to be a costly mistake. As soon as they stepped in, a biting, freezing wind assailed them from all sides, rooting Samus to the spot. Over the howling wind, Samus could hear the sound of her suit's energy ticking away. She tried to look around, find a safe spot, but Samus could only make out a few pipe-like pillars covered in rime and a few distant stairwells before fog and ice covered her visor.
"Ack! Samus, let's get out of here!" she heard Ron yell over the wind. She felt him grab her wrist forcefully and pull her back toward the door. She followed as best she could, but every step made her muscles scream in agony. Luckily, they hadn't ventured in too far, and Ron was able to pull her back out. Once safely on the other side, both of them collapsed onto their knees. Samus knew that the subzero temperatures had taken a toll on Ron as well.
"Just what happened in there?" demanded Voldemort. He, Harry and Hermione were near the top of the stairs.
"The e-environment in there is several degrees centigrade below zero...i-it's impossible for us to get through," stammered Samus, fighting to keep her teeth from chattering. This was a painful reminder of how vulnerable she was to extreme cold without a varia suit.
"Oh that's just great...how much energy did you lose?" asked Harry nervously.
Samus quickly glanced at her HUD. "A-Almost two whole tanks," she replied glumly.
"Same here," added Ron dryly. "Looks like we've got no choice but to let Hermione have another go at that orb and find another route."
"You disappoint me, giving up so quickly," sneered Voldemort. "I'm certain I can whip up a protective charm to..."
"To what? We've seen what happens when we try using spells to get past certain obstacles. And we have no idea how many rooms past that one are iceboxes, and if there's a whole string of them, I doubt you can keep such a charm up around all five of us for long enough," fumed Hermione. When Voldemort glared back at her, she added, "But tell you what. This time, YOU can try your hand at Ravenclaw's puzzle."
They went back, and Voldemort quickly got to work moving around runes. Stairways and platforms rearranged themselves again. But as they moved around, the stairway that had part of a wall mounted onto the side caught Samus's eye, as did an alcove about twenty or thirty meters above.
Once it was done, a different stairway latched itself onto the opposite end of their platform. Samus eyed it carefully, then looked back to Voldemort. "Here's hoping Dumbledore wasn't exaggerating about your brainpower," she said roughly before running on ahead.
Soon, Samus came upon a fork, with two separate stairways to choose from. "Take the left path!" she heard Voldemort cry out below. Resigning herself to how it was no advantage to Voldemort to lie or mislead them, Samus did as he said. It led up to another platform, also with an orb with runes. Samus stared at it for a moment, furious at how even though she could use a wand to a degree, she couldn't use it. With such limited knowledge of the Wizarding world's ancient languages, she had no hope of solving Ravenclaw's logic puzzles.
When the others caught up to her, Voldemort got right to work, deftly shifting about runes. More stairways and platforms shifted about, and again, that one particular stairway caught her eye as it zoomed horizontally across the chamber. She also noticed a platform fly across the chamber and attach itself to the top of the right stairway from the previous fork. "There, the next part of the path to the next highest door has been forged," said Voldemort. "We best keep on moving..."
"Hold on a minute, Riddle," said Samus. "There's something I need to check out. Let me run up to that next platform, then have everything revert to their previous positions."
"What's this all about?" demanded Voldemort. "I was to understand that we were to move forward together as a team, no? What's with this sudden urge to run off on a tangent alone?"
"Just trust me on this," said Samus shortly. "This thing I want to check out shouldn't take long...assuming you stop complaining and do it."
"I'll do it. I watched Voldemort move the runes, so I think I can put everything in reverse," said Hermione, nodding. When Samus reached the next platform, it immediately moved back to its last position, as did the stairway with a piece of the wall attached to the side. It nestled itself next to another stairway piece so that it was a few meters directly above her, and the wall piece mounted onto it was spaced a few meters from a vertical array of pipes.
Just as I thought, Samus thought, realizing her hunch was dead-on. She watched the electric current visibly run up the pipes, and when it died away, she leapt up toward it. Samus kicked off the pipes, going into a spinning jump as she was launched back toward the bronze plating. She kicked off that, back toward the pipes, and on and on it went. Just when she heard the electric current about to travel back up the pipes, she kicked off the very edge of the top of the bronze plating. Once she did, she soared back toward the wall...and into the small alcove she spotted earlier. Waiting for her was an energy tank.
Samus was still smiling to herself as her suit assimilated the tank, then turned back and dropped straight down. She looked over to where she left the others, giving Hermione a thumbs-up as the young witch rearranged the runes again. Once everything was finishing moving back, Hermione eagerly asked, "What did you find up there?"
"An extra energy tank," Samus said, touching each of them on the shoulder for the transfer. The five then climbed the stairs above them. At last, one stairway was linked to a ledge with another bubble door. Hermione volunteered to open it and go through. Once it was clear no subzero temperatures awaited them, Hermione waved for them to get moving.
What came next was a seemingly neverending series of long hallways, all illuminated by more of those poles seen on the bridge, complete with bronze eagles perched on top. In most of those hallways, Side-Hoppers typically assaulted them, and now Wavers as well. Some doors in those hallways led to large caverns. Some could be crossed with her grapple beam and Carpe Retractum, while others had no grapple points for swinging over arrays of crushing gears, and bronze eagle statues idly perched all over dissuaded Voldemort from flying.
Other doors led to more of those vertical chambers with runic orbs. Thankfully they were nowhere near as tall as the first, but these were patrolled by the same type of security droids she encountered on SR388: the Gunzoo and Shirk drones. Worse, instead of stairways, many had only small platforms to cling to. Some doors, however, were completely impassible, colored orange-yellow...
It seemed like they were wandering aimlessly for at least an hour. It was not a total waste of time, however, as Harry had sniffed out two more missile expansions. Just as Samus felt they were getting nowhere, she rushed through one door and was greeted with the sight of clouds over a curved horizon. They were back outside. The five of them walked out onto a wide, spacious outcropping. Everything looked to be cast in shadow, so Samus guessed they were on the side opposite the rising sun.
"Samus, look up there!" Harry cried, pointing up. High above them was another long bridge, and it led to a structure similar to where the rocketing eagle statues brought them in.
"I say we go check it out," said Ron eagerly, though he sounded a little nervous. "Any idea how we can get up on that bridge?"
"There's how," said Hermione flatly, pointing at something off to their right. Samus's heart sank when she saw a series of metal platforms leading up, shaped like eagle talons, which periodically retracted into the sanctum walls with a noisy scrape. One careless mistake could lead to someone falling to their death.
"Just lovely. Everyone, watch those platforms carefully, get their timing town. And should someone slip up...be ready to yank them back up with a charm," instructed Samus sternly, as she tried to decipher the pattern. Confident she had it down, she ran for the first one just as it jutted back out. Higher and higher she ascended, oftentimes jumping just as the platform she was standing on retracted, or jumping a second before the next one shot out. Samus's heart beat furiously, and catching glimpses of her friends making the same ascent only fueled her dread of someone slipping up even more.
But none of them erred, not even Voldemort. No one needed a magical lifeline. They regrouped at the front of the bridge, and after Harry, Ron and Hermione spared a moment to do some measured breathing, they began their run across it.
As Samus predicted, more enchanted eagle statues rose up, swiftly closing in. Unfortunately, these proved to be more tenacious and durable than the previous flock. They sent out their razor-sharp feathers far more often, and now spat out balls of electric energy. They would often dive, spinning while electricity arced all over them.
Chaos quickly erupted along the bridge, the five of them desperate to get out of harm's way. Even Voldemort had trouble fending them all off. Samus found herself torn between focusing on the eagles going after her, and watching out for Harry and his friends. In only a few minutes, the eagles had drained two of her tanks, and she had a nasty feeling that the trio, lacking her experience and prowess, had taken far more hits.
"Wasn't there a Muggle movie about this sort of thing?" Ron quipped as he tried Valkyrie's poison water spell on a trio of incoming eagles. Miraculously, it worked. The metal birds quickly tensed up and clattered onto the bridge. It looks like the magical solution swiftly oxidized their outer layers, thought Samus. She didn't have long to dwell on it, however, for a divebombing eagle came at her from behind while she was distracted, flooring and paralyzing her.
"Honestly, Aran, I expected better from you," jeered Voldemort as he stepped over her, slashing his wand. The eagle seemed to dissolve into a mass of molten metal, as did a few other birds closing in. Samus swore under her breath as feeling returned. She slowly rose, but as she did, she realized the others had finally driven off most of the eagles. However, she spotted another flock near the sanctum's hub, coming right for them.
"Forget this...everyone across the bridge! We'll deal with them once we've got whatever's hidden inside!" Samus quickly shouted. No one seemed eager to argue with her. They all ran as fast as they could across the bridge, with Samus and Voldemort occasionally turning to aim backwards, hoping to ward off the eagles just long enough to get across.
"Only thirty or so meters left," Samus thought aloud as they ran, but she could hear angry cawing behind her. A bubble door finally in view, Samus shot it open, but her keen eye took note of an eagle relief right above it, wings spread wide. And the shimmering lore tapestry right above it.
However, there was no time to stop and read it. Voldemort and Harry ducked inside first, while Ron and Hermione turned to fire a few missiles, driving the flock back just a little longer, buying Samus more time. But she was still several meters away, and she heard them closing in.
Wait a minute, what a fool I've been! Samus thought furiously, mentally chiding herself. She lost most of her upgrades, but the screw roll was still hers! She curled up and propelled herself forward, just as feathers and electric blasts rained down. Samus barreled through the open hatch; her four comrades barely jumped back in time as her blazing body spun by, plus it was hard to stop. She ended up crashing into something rock solid.
Muttering dejectedly, Samus unrolled and gingerly stood up. Once her vision cleared, she was suddenly overcome with surprise and awe. This chamber looked almost exactly like the one they started out in, only in the center, there was now a magnificent Chozo statue. Samus raised her arm cannon to shoot the orb it held, but Voldemort's commanding voice rang out. "Aran...WAIT! At least scan it to make sure that statue will not come to life, not to mention ensure no traps will spring!"
"Hate to admit it, Samus, but he's got a point," Ron added dryly.
Sighing with annoyance, Samus switched visors and scanned the statue, but nothing seemed amiss. A quick check of their surroundings revealed no hidden traps either. "There's nothing my visor can detect, and unless any of Voldemort's charms have turned up anything..." Samus shot the statue's orb, revealing a power bomb module.
"Hold it...Samus, is that what I think it is?" Harry asked, unable to keep the eagerness out of his voice.
Samus nodded. "It probably is. We'll get past those yellow doors we saw before," said Samus as she reached for the module. It was instantly assimilated by her suit's systems. Her HUD then flickered for a moment. Once the static cleared, Samus saw the indicator for power bomb data had been restored, though she only had a maximum of ten...for now.
Her friends walked up to her and placed a hand on her back. A dull, lackluster glow reflecting off the Chozo surface let Samus know the upgrade was successfully transferred.
"Well, if that's all there was to get in here, we'd better double back," said Ron tentatively, not sounding quite eager to face the eagles swarming outside.
"Hold on a sec, Ron," said Harry suddenly. "The floorboards around this statue look...someone tell Voldemort to get clear." Harry then went into morph ball mode, and after wobbling around for a few seconds, deployed a power bomb. The wave of thermonuclear energy caused some of the circular floor panels to fly apart. When it subsided, Harry was nowhere to be seen, but they could hear him rolling around underneath the floor. A moment later, he bounded up from a hole he made and reverted to normal. He was smiling to himself. "Extra power bomb down there," he explained as he walked over to touch the others, granting them all two extra power bombs.
"OK, NOW there's no point staying in here, but what do we do about those birds outside?" Ron asked uneasily.
Samus looked back to the Chozo statue, then turned back with an evil smirk. "I think I know," she said slyly.
xxxxxx
The bubble door opened again, and Ron and Hermione rushed out. As they expected, dozens of bronze eagles were circling the structure, patiently waiting for them to emerge, and swiftly moved in for the kill. But Ron and Hermione were carrying Harry and Samus while they were in morph ball mode, and threw them up into the flock of eagles.
Harry and Samus both dropped power bombs in the middle of the swarm. As they felt themselves fall, they unrolled and aimed up as they fell to the bridge, but most of the eagles had been incinerated. Ron, Hermione and Voldemort were swiftly mopping up the rest. They drew in any leachable energy, but from the way the others were complaining, they all had at least two tanks empty and were still short many missiles. Harry fared no better.
Still, it was a relief to finally have those eagles dealt with. Sighing heavily, Harry turned to run back across the bridge, but Samus called out to him. "Harry, wait! With the eagles gone, we can take the time to read Ravenclaw's message," she said. Suddenly remembering the shimmering mural, Harry turned and walked back with her, scanning it. Seconds later, the translated text popped up on his HUD.
Across my domain, you shall find four towers spread out.
Within each and every one, a vital tool waits to be found.
But not only do these house the weapons and gear to get about.
Atop each is the means for your final target to be ground.
The five of them repeated Ravenclaw's riddle amongst themselves. Eventually, Hermione made a suggestion. "The way Ravenclaw said 'to be ground'...it almost sounds like something to do with electrical engineering."
"After seeing a good chunk of her place, I'm not surprised," said Ron.
"Anyway, if she's referring to all the structures surrounding that hub, linked by bridges...we just have no way to get on top of them and see what she means," said Harry.
"Not with this sanctum liable to punish any of my attempts to fly, at any rate," Voldemort added irritably.
"I'm sure we'll find a way to get on top of them later," Samus cut in. "Now that we've got the power bombs, we should double back and open those yellow doors." Seeing no better choice, they all followed Samus back across the bridge. Harry kept an eye out for more eagle statues, certain more would move in any second. Luckily, they crossed the bridge without incident.
On the other side, there was a yellow door they failed to notice earlier. Ron opened it, revealing a hallway crawling with Side-Hoppers that led to another yellow door, this one turning out to be the last yellow door they were forced to pass up. Once they were back inside the heart of the sanctum, they immediately got to work, opening all the yellow doors they could find. Unfortunately, more than once they ran into a subzero room, forcing them to turn back. But they soon came across many useful things as well. They sniffed out a couple more missile and power bomb expansions, for one thing. More importantly, behind one yellow door was the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw that granted them map data.
Just as Ravenclaw said, four towers surrounded the floating, metal castle, connected by long bridges forming perfect right angles. Three glowing dots on the map projected on his HUD marked them as points of interest, no doubt having vital upgrades they needed. But the absurdly tall tower in the center of the hub castle...the image of a blue eagle rested on top of it, and the map revealed no rooms leading to the top.
All this puzzled Harry more and more, but Samus seemed more concerned with the immediate problem of getting the gear in the remaining three towers. She told him to worry about it later, saying that for now, it was better to use the map data to chart a possible path to another tower.
After several long, nerve-racking minutes of navigating more twisting hallways and treacherous vertical chambers, Samus declared they had finally reached a door that would lead to another bridge. But when they ran through it, all they found was a small room with another power bomb.
"What in the...I don't get it, the map data said that another bridge was beyond that hatch!" cried Samus, staring blankly at the wall. As Harry watched Samus's eyes through her visor, he saw a look of realization in them as she stared at the far wall. "Everyone, go back through that door and come back in after ten seconds," she suddenly said. None of them moved...until Samus went into morph ball mode. Realization dawning of them, they scrambled back through the hatch, hearing the rush of thermonuclear fire behind them before it shut.. After waiting a few seconds, they ran back in. Samus was standing by the door, waiting, reaching out to transfer the latest ammo expansion to the trio, and behind her was nothing but open sky, the morning sun shining behind another tower. She had vaporized the wall to reveal the next bridge.
Wasting no time on words, they started their mad dash across the bridge. More eagles descended upon them, but this time they were ready. Harry and Samus rolled up and let Ron lob them up at the flock. They dropped their power bombs in midair again, reducing every eagle in their blast radius to globs of molten metal. When they fell back down and unrolled, Harry looked back to see Voldemort aim his wand at Hermione while she was in morph ball mode. She shot straight up, and deployed a power bomb that incinerated the eagles dropping straight down.
They finished crossing the bridge with no further incident, opening up the tower's door with yet another power bomb. They rushed inside, finding a chamber that looked almost identical to the previous one, with the exception of there being no Chozo statue with an item.
"What trickery is this?" Voldemort demanded. "Ravenclaw's riddle said a vital artifact was in each of these four towers! I see nothing of the sort!"
"Maybe this whole room is a decoy," suggested Ron. "Better get back outside...maybe there's some platforms that'll lead up top and..." But Ron's voice trailed off when he looked back to the hatch.
Harry looked over to it as well and froze. The power had been drained, leaving the bubble door with a dull, metal sheen. "Never mind. Something tells me we're in the right place," muttered Harry dejectedly.
"Harry, above you!" screamed Hermione. Deciding to duck first and ask questions later, Harry shoved into Ron, tackling both of them to the ground. Even through his suit, Harry felt something fast and powerful rush by, and heard the slash of a blade. Harry looked up, wand out and blast charging, to see what it was. What stared down at him resembled a human woman, only made of bronze and clad in some sort of ancient warrior's garb, also made of bronze, complete with breast plate, shoulder pads, helmet, knee-high boots and some sort of skirt. The only things on it that were non-metal were a plume of blue feathers on its helmet and huge, blue feathery wings. It held a long, double-ended spear, the ends razor-sharp, and scowled at them before diving again.
Ron and Harry ducked aside. Harry fired his ice blast as it flew away but missed. He also saw more of those enchanted bronze statues descend into the chamber, double-ended spears at the ready, but now they also crackled with electricity. Lightning bolts lanced out from the tips; Hermione dodged the one meant for her, but the ones aimed at Samus and Voldemort found their mark, sending them flying into the far wall. Hearing that same crackling nearby, Harry whirled about, locking onto the closing enemy and firing missiles. But it batted them away with its spear, then fired a bolt he and Ron barely dodged. A small but growing feeling of dread rose. They still hadn't gotten enough energy to recover from their previous beatings.
The creature charged up its spear, diving at Harry and Ron yet again. But Samus jumped right at it, ensnaring its neck with her wisp whip and dragged it to the floor. She swung it around a few times and slammed it against one of the Chozo statues holding an illuminating orb. The statue broke apart, and before the bronze warrior could untangle itself from the debris, Samus rushed over and blew its head off with a charged blast.
But more were closing in, firing electric bolts. Harry and Ron couldn't duck in time and were hit by several in rapid succession. They hopped back to give themselves breathing room, and Ron tried Aguavenenumenti again. The bronze warriors' movements became slower and stiff, but didn't stop completely. But with them so sluggish, Harry seized on the opportunity and fired missiles at one, and Ron followed suit.
It couldn't deflect them in time. It took quite a few hits, but the flying statue eventually went down. Tthe other tried to fly away, but Harry jumped on its back and slammed it face-first onto the floor. Harry grabbed its wings and, after furiously pulling for a few seconds, ripped them clean off. The statue screamed in agony, but Harry ignored it and kicked it onto its back. He aimed his wand down at it, firing one icy blast after another until its head blew off.
Harry flexed his right hand to ward off the numbness, breathing heavily, his heart hammering in his chest. He saw Voldemort magically lob the spear from one statue through the torso of another, pinning it to the far wall. And that seemed to be the last one. A moment later, a small circular panel opened up in the center of the chamber. A metallic, clawed hand slowly rose, tightly clutching a blood-red sphere with gold wiring crisscrossing it.
"Well, there's what we came for, whatever it is," said Ron breathlessly, sounding as battered as Harry felt. "But just what the hell were those things supposed to be?"
Hermione looked to be contemplated his question. "Well, judging from their armor, it's almost like the design was inspired by..."
"Don't tell me, ancient Nordic mythology," Harry cut in acidly. "Talk about supreme ironies."
"At any rate, if this is what I think it is, more of Ravenclaw's sanctum will be open to us," said Samus, reaching out to touch the strange sphere. The moment her fingers brushed against it, her entire suit glowed with blinding radiance, forcing the rest of them to cover their eyes. When the light dimmed, Harry saw the teal membrane of Samus's suit had changed to a dark blue, and the golden, metallic armor had become a bright orange. Not only that, the membraney part of her suit now seemed thicker, more resilient...
"That's the varia suit, isn't it?" asked Harry. Samus nodded, and he and his friends walked over to lay a hand on her shoulder. Light flooded the chamber again. When it died down and Harry looked down at himself, he noticed his armor looked a little thicker, the metallic shade was a little lighter, but there wasn't much change beyond that. If it wasn't for the message on his HUD, telling him the varia suit was assimilated into his suit's systems, he'd be hard pressed to guess he got any armor upgrade. But when he looked over to Hermione, it was a different story. Many parts of her armor now had a lime-green tint to them...
But Hermione didn't dwell on it, asking, "Samus, this lets us survive extreme temperatures, right?" Samus simply nodded. "B-But...what about Voldemort? How are we supposed to get him past those freezing areas?"
Samus looked over at Voldemort, whose face was totally impassive. After a moment, she said, "He'd better hope his initial idea of a protective barrier for himself will work, and the sanctuary will let him use it. If it won't...he'd better stick close to one of us, just like how his misty form had to cling to me in morph ball mode."
xxxxxx
The five of them doubled back across the bridge, once again making short work of the eagle statues with power bombs. Some dropped sentry drones again, but were easily taken care off. The energy and ammunition all of them dropped replenished a good chunk of what they used up. Once back inside, they again got to work, returning to the rooms with subzero environments. This time, however, Harry and Samus ventured into them alone, considering Voldemort would hold them back. Most lead to areas where it was impossible to advance...icy ledges high above and out of reach, wide chasms that led to an icy death below. Aside from an energy tank nestled into the iced-over ceiling in a hallway, they found nothing useful.
Eventually, they all realized the last subzero room to check was the first one found upon entering the hub castle. As Samus guessed, Voldemort had to erect a barrier around himself to keep from freezing, and even his power was taxed by the biting winds and bitter cold inside. In addition, Samus had been right about Voldemort needing to stay close to one of them. Hermione grudgingly volunteered to 'hold his hand', something that no doubt infuriated Voldemort to no end.
A bad situation was made even worse when they found a whole string of subzero rooms awaited them, and most were populated by ravenous baby Sheegoths. It took what seemed like forever, but the five of them outwitted each pack and made it through. They soon reached the outside again, but no bridge awaited them. Instead, there was a wide oval platform, from which Harry had a breathtaking view of the morning sun and the cloudy sky beyond. He couldn't dwell on it, however, because of a far less inviting sight. All over the platform were four orb-pillars with eagle statues, only these were much bigger. Their wings were folded, and their heads moved to follow their movements.
They carefully searched for bombable walls or other hidden paths, but several minutes of fruitless searching yielded nothing. Harry looked up and around their big platform for any clues, noticing what looked like huge, grated fan units furiously spinning and pumping air for some reason. It looked like they could pivot and move, but Harry didn't see how that could help them. Just as despair and frustration threatened to settle in, however, Harry saw Samus's gaze focus on something on the floor. Before he could ask what it was, Samus rolled up and dropped bombs on the floor. Some panel was blown clean off, and another one of those runic orbs rose from that spot.
Hermione and Voldemort rushed over to inspect it. After a few moments, Hermione excitedly declared, "I think we've got something! From what I can tell, these eagles are supposed to help us get around the sanctum by flying, but here's the trick: they can only glide on powerful wind currents.
Harry looked up at the fans again, the truth quickly dawning on him. "So...the orb moves the fans around, and the magic currents they generate, so we can get where we need to?" he asked hopefully.
Hermione nodded happily before turning back to Voldemort. "Alright, you move around the runes while I bring up the map data, try to figure out where these birds should drop us off." Voldemort shot back with a stern look, but made no other protest as Hermione called out instructions while her eyes squinted to focus on her HUD. Loud groans of protest from the fans could be heard as they shifted about. Soon afterward, the statues unfolded their wings and began to hover, still clutching those blue, glowing orbs.
"So...do we ride these things or what?" Ron asked dubiously.
Hermione shook her head. "No, we have to latch onto those orbs with the Carpe Retractum charm, and Samus's grapple beam should work too. They'll airlift us to another part of the sanctuary." She then turned to Voldemort. "But since there's only four, looks like you and I are buddying up again," she said, a hint of mocking derision in her voice.
Voldemort snorted but made no retort, resigning himself to casting Carpe Retractum on the nearest eagle's orb. Hermione did the same. Both charms connected onto the same orb. The eagle dove up into the fan's magical wind current, taking them with it. Not wanting to be left behind, or leave Hermione alone with Voldemort, Harry quickly cast the charm on another orb, and the eagle clutching it carried him off as well.
The current carried the eagle on a swerving, looping path, a good distance away from the hub castle. Harry forced himself not to look down, certain that if he saw Madagascar below him, his concentration would waver and break the charm. He did spare a quick glance behind him, relieved to see Ron and Samus were not far behind, dragged along by their eagle statues. Doing his best to stay calm, Harry looked back to the central castle. The magical current's path curved back toward it, taking them over some of the spires, sometimes only a few feet over them. The sun was to their backs, and the reflective glint off one spire blinded Harry for a moment. But once his vision cleared, he saw something that nearly made him panic all over again.
More of those flying bronze statues were closing in, spears charged and at the ready. "Oh no...SAMUS!" he cried out fearfully.
"I see them. Get ready!" replied Samus.
"B-B-But how!? We can't use our wands and you can't use your arm cannon! How do we beat them!?" As he shouted, one statue was diving right for Samus.
Samus calmly said, "Simple. Like this." She swung forward and wrapped her legs around the bronze statue's neck. It dropped its spear out of shock, desperately trying to pry Samus's legs off. Samus then extended one fin and drove it down into its head. Its metal body instantly went limp, and Samus let it fall. Meanwhile, Ron was just swinging back and forth, clumsily kicking at the statue coming for him. Luckily, it worked. It dropped its spear, and then nothing could keep Ron from pelting it with missiles.
Oh that's right! Us three can still use missiles! Harry realized. He spotted two statues ahead, flying right at Hermione and Voldemort. They deflected Hermione's missiles with their spears. On pure instinct, Harry desperately unloaded missiles at them, praying they wouldn't react in time. His ploy worked. They dropped their spears upon the first hit, and a few more missiles made them combust. Harry breathed a sigh of relief, but got a rude awakening when one of Hermione's missiles streaked past his head, catching an armor statue behind him unawares. Wanting to finish it himself, Harry whirled around, swung forward, and delivered a missile to its face at point-blank range, shattering its head completely.
Harry watched the headless figure fall, leaving a trail of blue feathers in its wake. He then noticed that their eagles were dropping back down toward the side of the hub castle. A small platform on top of one of the non-spire towers, with a curved metal ceiling covering most of it, looked to be their dropoff point. There was a tunnel leading from it to another tower, and Harry could make out a bubble door worked into the floor. The eagles hovered next to the small niche, obviously meaning for them to swing into it. The five of them did so, and the eagle statues promptly flew off.
"Well, let's hope Hermione and Voldemort were right about where those things led us, because there's no going back now," said Harry, watching the eagles fly off.
"Hate to break it to you, Harry, but you reached the point of no return long before this," came a cackling voice from high above.
Samus raised her arm cannon, her gaze sweeping across what sky was visible to them. Harry halfheartedly raised his wand. He recognized that voice…
His worst fears were confirmed when Myrtle Maxwell suddenly dropped down into view, hovering near the alcove. Harry dropped his wand arm, knowing it was useless to try anything. Only Samus had any hope of fending her off.
"TESLA!? What're you doing here!?" demanded Samus vehemently. No doubt the torture at Tesla's hands was still fresh in her mind.
Tesla laughed. ""Hate to break it to you, oh noble bounty hunter, but your little secret's out! Silly little Tunes might've been gutsy enough to try and take you all out on her own, but she still had the presence of mind to get a message out to us. Doctor A knows why you're here, and what you're after!"
"And you think you're gonna stop us?" spat Ron, slowly strafing to stand in front of Hermione. Harry understood why. If Tesla got a good look at Hermione, she might suspect Slytherin's weapon piece was on her. "Hate to break it to you, but there's five of us and one of you!"
Tesla smirked evilly. "Oh, I'd've brought plenty more for this party. Once we were able to track down your ship, Doctor A ordered a whole battalion to pursue. But then...turns out this next weapon piece is somewhere up here, and none of our aircraft can get through the charms barricading the place. Well, unless you count me," she said. Then she laughed again. "But as for the odds supposedly in your favor, ever hear the phrase 'divide and conquer'?"
The electricity crackling around her picked up in intensity. Harry knew Tesla would try something any second. But he heard something else: Voldemort whispering to himself. "That's it, keep her distracted a bit longer..."
Harry risked looking over his shoulder. Voldemort pulled out that flask of clear blue liquid and magically hurled it at Tesla. Tesla's jaw dropped from surprise, and couldn't keep it from shattering against her face. It swiftly vaporized. Judging from Tesla's coughing and hacking, she accidently breathed it in. Samus tried to use that opening, but a few bolts of electricity fired blindly forced her to back off.
"What exactly was that potion you doused her with?" asked Samus, turning to Voldemort.
"A special little brew meant to deal with troublesome spirits," said Voldemort, pointing at Tesla. "It will ensure her ghost will remain bound to that body, so once it perishes, she cannot flee and inhabit a new one. Oh, and thanks to the basilisk venom needed as an ingredient, that will happen sooner rather than later."
Harry looked back to Tesla, once again disgusted with how he was working with Voldemort. As much as he despised Tesla, she didn't deserve eternity trapped inside a rotting corpse. But when Tesla's hacking turned into insane laughter, Harry mentality kicked himself for being so soft.
"Nice try, Tommy, but I'm betting that basilisk venom had to be diluted for your potion to work! Good thing we Reformers get excellent medical benefits, such as specially-prepared bezoars! You may have sealed me in this body, but it's still ticking! So much for using your pet snake to do me in again!" Tesla taunted. Harry's heart sank, but a sudden realization filled him with revulsion. His aunt must have had one of those bezoars. If it weren't for that, they may have ended up killing her.
But Harry wasn't given long to dwell on that, for Tesla spoke up again. "Anyway, as the only one here ever sorted into Rowena Ravenclaw's House, I humbly welcome you all to her sanctum...TO DIE!"
Tesla reached out with both arms, fingers outstretched. Harry braced himself for a barrage of lightning bolts, but none came. Instead, Harry heard a strange groaning sound...as if the metal all around their niche was screaming in protest.
Once Harry realized what was going on, it was too late. The very floorboards began pulling themselves apart, and the sloping roof above them came apart as well, separating into what seemed like long, living, thrashing metal tendrils. "Did you all really think this metal was just bronze, that simple copper and tin would suffice for a technological powerhouse built in Ravenclaw's honor!?" came Tesla's shrill voice over the sound of twisting metal. "Oh no, plenty of iron mixed in, for the durability of what Val might call 'that ol' Detroit steel'!"
In desperation, Ron, Hermione and Samus fired off curses and missiles, but Tesla effortlessly deflected the missiles with her bare hands, and the curses dissipated a few feet from her. Then the destruction only got worse. Something had been pulled out or loosened underneath them, and the platform tilted. Voldemort and Harry were closest to the edge, and they slid off. His mind blank, unable to act, Harry hopelessly looked back up. He saw Samus rush forward, ready to send out her grapple beam. But the tendrils made from the mangled roof swung down, whipping Samus back to form a cage. It trapped her, Ron and Hermione. Tesla laughed with sadistic delight, knowing there was no one to help him or Voldemort as they slid off the edge.