The Whispering Witch's Treasure

A/N

The idea of writing these was raised with me by a few readers. This is a companion piece to 'Stepping Back' telling the story of some of the adventures Harry had leading up to the epilogue from the book he found within Dumbledore's collection. (See the epilogue for clarity).

I have another few of these planned out and ready to be written by those interested.

Anyway, it has been a while and I thank you all for continuing to follow my work.

There is an extended A/N at the end of this. Please do read it and apologies to those who have already seen it on my latest TGITG post.

TBR

It was a good a place as any to begin his foray into the world of magical archaeology, somewhere familiar, somewhere local and a task that seemed to be somewhat simple. Harry had his doubts of the latter. If it were so easy as the author in his book described, then why did they themselves not retrieve the treasure? There were too many questions and not enough answers for his liking. As such, he had talked both James and Sirius into sharing this excursion with him. Both were capable in their own right, and he trusted them implicitly.

"Are we almost there?" Sirius whined as the trio struggled through the thick undergrowth.

"If you're going to keep moaning, bugger off home," James bit back.

"My feet hurt," Sirius grumbled.

"It shouldn't be far," Harry comforted. "Bloody hell, I'm glad I didn't decide to go to Egypt first. If you moan this much about being in Wales, how bad would you be there?"

Sirius scowled but said nothing in return. Mostly, he was impatient to find the ruin they were in search of. He didn't like waiting, especially when all three could apparate to where they needed to be.

They pressed on and the forest around them thickened the further in they went. Thankfully, Sirius only uttered the occasional curse word when he snagged himself on a protruding branch or almost tripped on a log he did not see. To his relief, Harry paused after an hour or so, withdrew his book and began mumbling as he read, allowing himself and James a reprieve.

"So, what now?" James asked after a few moments.

Harry frowned as he reread the section of text.

The copse will grow dense and you will come upon an arch made of bowed trees. Through the arch you must proceed until you the thread you find. Follow it, but do not pull, for you will lose you way, never to find it again.

"Why couldn't they just write in English?" Sirius complained having read the page over his shoulder.

"This book is a few hundred years old, at least," Harry explained. "The language was very different at the time.

"Bloody gibberish more like. Where are we going?"

"The same way. We are looking for an arch made of trees," Harry clarified before moving on.

"Come on, Pads, where's your sense of adventure?" James interjected.

"He's just worried he'll be late home. Marlene will tell him off."

"Up yours," Sirius replied, raising a middle finger in Harry's direction. "At least I won't be chained up and whipped or whatever other weird stuff you and Bella are into."

Harry just chuckled and shook his head. Despite putting their differences aside some four years ago, Sirius could never fully get the image of his cousin being a masochist out of his head. Harry had given up trying to change him. In truth, he found it amusing when the two of them would trade barbs.

The sun had reached its' peak of the day when the trio came upon a clearing, in the centre of which stood a curiously constructed arch of two trees planted in the middle.

"Please tell me this is it," Sirius pleaded as he wiped the sweat from his brow.

"It must be," James replied. "Something like that isn't natural."

Harry said nothing as he approached, a frown creasing his brow as he felt for any type of residual magic. He circled the two trees slowly, feeling nothing and stepped through the gap between them as the book had instructed.

"There's something here. Stay where you are," he commanded as the two tried to approach.

"What is it?" James asked.

"Whatever it is, it's not friendly," Harry warned. "There's something familiar about it."

"Who the bloody hell is this whispering witch anyway?" Sirius questioned worriedly.

"I looked into it and there wasn't much to find. According to what I've read, she was a witch that lived close to here in eleventh century. Apparently, she could charm any man she met just by whispering in their ears. She liked wealthy men and when she had gotten what she wanted, she would kill them and eat their hearts."

"Bloody hell. What have you gotten us into?" Sirius yelped as he drew his wand.

"The danger isn't here," Harry continued, "I've found the thread, all we have to do is follow it."

"You're mad," Sirius declared.

"Oh, come off it, Padfoot. It's probably just an old folk tale," James sighed, shooting a questioning look towards Harry who merely shrugged.

"Maybe, but the magic here is dark. Just keep your eyes and ears open," he advised as he began following the trail, being careful not to offer any resistance to the frail thread of magic.

With a look of disbelief, Sirius reluctantly joined the excitable pair not wanting to be left behind and lost in the woods.

"Don't worry, Pads, I'll protect you from the evil, dead witch," James cooed.

"Shut up," the young man muttered in return.

As far as he was concerned, these two Potters were lacking in any common sense. He much preferred the day to day excitement that being a hit-wizard brought. At least then he didn't have to deal with creepy local legends and heart-eating women.

"We're getting close," Harry announced, pulling him from his morose thoughts. "The magic is getting stronger."

"Oh, good," Sirius replied sarcastically.

Against his better judgement, he continued to follow, ignoring the sense of dread that threatened to overcome him. He didn't understand how James and Harry could be so calm about being in such a perilous place. If Harry said something was dark, it was likely to be on what Sirius would consider the darkest. He had a way of downplaying things and it was times like this that such a trait irked him.

He was brought to a halt as he walked into the back of James, so lost in his thoughts he was that he didn't notice the pair coming to a stop.

"What is it, Harry?" James asked.

Harry gestured for the two to be quiet has he took a knee and began carefully wiping away dirt over a specific area. After a few moments of doing this, he stood and gave a triumphant grin.

"It's here," he declared.

"Where?" Sirius asked confusedly. All he could see was a rather inane patch of dirt that had been pushed around by the man.

"Come, take a look," Harry encouraged.

Both James and Sirius approached and peered closer at the area Harry had been working, each frowning as they tried to spot just what he seemed so elated to see.

"I don't see anything," James huffed.

With a sigh, Harry approached and pointed at a minute hole barely big enough for the tip of a needle to fit in. The others could not see it until their noses were almost pressed against the ground.

"Well, congratulations," Sirius snarked, "you've finally lost your bloody mind. How the hell do we get in there?"

Harry cuffed him on the back of the head playfully as he drew his wand and pointed it at the boy.

"Give me your hand."

"What for?" Sirius demanded.

"It needs blood and your family is older and wealthier than ours," Harry explained. "It won't open for just anyone."

"Bugger off, you've got the same blood as me."

"But yours is purer. We only get one chance at this and I don't want to make a mistake."

"Just give him the blood, Padfoot," James sighed. "The quicker we do this, the quicker we can get out of here."

"Fine," Sirius relented, wincing as Harry drew but a drop of it from a finger.

He watched curiously as it was placed on the hole, causing the ground to tremble beneath their feet as the opening grew. When it was large enough to admit them one at a time, the woods once again fell silent and unmoving around them.

"You first," he insisted, giving a nod towards Harry.

He shrugged and lit the tip of his wand before entering the descending tunnel, James and Sirius trailing in his wake.

Immediately, it was clear that no one had been here in some time. Whoever it was that had carved into this piece of land had used rocks likely found in the woodland around them to form makeshift walls, some with odd carvings etched into them, others covered in moss. A dank smell wafted from below them and the skeletons of rodents and other small animals littered the floor, crunching as they were crushed beneath the feet of the trio.

"What is that smell?" James asked, wrinkling his nose.

"Smells like something died in here," Sirius answered.

Harry remained silent, his attention firmly set on navigating the winding path they found themselves on. The smell, though distracting, was the least of their worries if what he had read proved not to be fictional.

The tunnel stretched on and on, deeper underground and the smell only worsened the further they traipsed.

"I can't bare this much longer," Sirius declared pinching his nostrils together.

"It can't be much further," Harry comforted. "I think I can see an opening ahead."

True to his word, they arrived in a large cavern only a few moments later, though the disappointment ruined any elation they may have felt in this moment.

"There's nothing here," Sirius huffed angrily, kicking an errant stone across the floor.

The sound echoed off the wall and Harry held up his hands for silence as he listened. He frowned as he felt around for any trace of magic or anything that could have been missed.

"This isn't it," he whispered. "It goes deeper."

"So, what is this place?" James asked.

"Maybe an antechamber of some kind," Harry answered as he removed the book from his back pocket and began perusing it for anything he had missed.

Onwards to helle you must go. The guardians of the gate will allow your entrance though not your leave. Blood-giver, be warned. She will know you approach. Her sweet nothings are enticing, are they not?

"Sirius, pass me that stone and no casting of spells."

Sirius muttered under his breath as he went to retrieve what Harry had asked for.

"Be ready to stun him if needed," Harry whispered to James when they were out of earshot.

James frowned, but nodded. Harry wouldn't ask such a thing if it wasn't important.

"Here's your bloody stone," Sirius growled as he handed it over, a frown forming when Harry pocketed it.

"Come on," he urged, "It's over here."

With a shake of his head, he followed Harry to a section of wall that looked no different to the others. He watched as he used his wand and began mumbling incoherently with his eyes closed.

He never could understand Harry's relationship with magic. It was as confusing as it was awe-inspiring. It felt almost as though there was a connection between the two that no other could hope to understand or share. Time and time again he had proven his brilliance, and as baffling and frustrating as it was, he could think of no other he would trust more with such.

"There," Harry declared after a few minutes of work.

Sirius looked to see that a large, metal handle that looked out of place was now visible on the surface of the stone.

"How did you do that?" he questioned.

"I asked for it," Harry answered cryptically.

"You spend too much time around Dumbledore," James replied on Sirius' behalf, he too unimpressed with the answer.

Harry merely shrugged as he seized the handle and gave it a pull. The stone made an almighty racket as it slowly but surely came away, revealing another cavern on the other side.

"It's just like this one," Sirius moaned.

Harry shook his head.

"No, this one is the entrance. The magic here is much stronger."

As they crossed the threshold into the adjoining room, Sirius released a girlish scream and fell to the ground, his hands pressed to his posterior.

"It bit me, it bloody bit me," he panicked.

"What did?" James asked as he came to his friend's aid.

"That bloody snake. Quick, you need to suck the venom out," he whined.

"You can bugger off," James replied forcefully. "I'm not my lips anywhere near your arse."

"I helped you with your cream," Sirius pointed out.

"There's a bit of a difference there, Padfoot. You won the toss to put that cream on my back. It's not the same as sucking venom out of your arse."

"I LOST THE BLOODY TOSS," Sirius roared. "I WON'T SAY IT AGAIN."

"Oh, shut up," Harry broke in with a chuckle. Whilst the two had been arguing, he had retrieved the offending animal that had attacked his friend. "It's a common adder. You'll be fine. Merlin, you're such a drama queen."

"An adder?" Sirius asked for clarity.

"Yes," Harry sighed. "The bite isn't fatal to wizards and even muggles rarely die from it."

"Oh," Sirius responded as he stood. "It still bloody hurt."

Harry chuckled as hissed gently at the creature. It was still young and must have somehow found its' way in.

"Don't worry, I'll get you out of here," he assured the snake.

It hissed its' appreciation as it wrapped itself around his wrist, hissing contentedly at the warmth.

"You know, that still creeps me out," Sirius announced.

"Just keep a look out for anymore deadly snakes whilst I get the next door open," Harry returned with a smirk.

Sirius muttered incoherently under his breath as he turned away, annoyed that such a trivial thing had elicited such a response out of him. He should be used to snakes by now. Harry more often than not had one with him in some capacity. He smirked to himself at the quip he wouldn't make aloud. Harry was more protective over his wife than anything else and even Sirius wouldn't get away with insulting her twice in one day.

"It's open, Padfoot," James called.

Sirius returned to the pair to find them both staring at a staircase that had materialised in the wall. It was made of the same, rough hewn stone the rest of the cavern was made from, though by Harry's reaction, there was something different about it.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. There's a lot of magical activity here and its difficult to isolate any of it," Harry answered.

"Shouldn't we just leave it?"

Harry shook his head.

"There's no immediate danger, just stay alert. We don't want to be taken surprise by anything."

Sirius nodded as he tightened his grip on his wand and followed James and Harry. To his surprise, the stairs did not descend as deeply as expected and when they rounded the corner, the found themselves before a chamber, the torches adorning the walls bursting into life.

"Unbelievable," James whispered.

Within the room was pile upon pile of coins of various currencies, trinkets crafted of valuable metals and even weapons and statues that would make the wealthiest of people green with envy.

"I can't believe it is still here," Harry chuckled as he stepped into the room. "Merlin, these are Spanish," he added, pointing to a rather large pile of gold.

"How many men did this woman murder?" James asked as he joined the other Potter, overwhelmed by the unexpected amount of wealth on display.

"Quite a few I imagine," Harry shrugged.

Sirius left the two to fawn over the gold, that he had more than enough of to last several lifetimes. His eyes had been drawn to a rack of weapons of which he had never seen the like.

"Who's there?" he questioned, turning sharply as a gentle breeze caressed his ear.

His gaze shifted over to Harry and James who seemingly had felt nothing. With a shrug, he continued his inspection of the weapons. There were spears, swords and even a few hammers that were in pristine condition. He'd never been interested much in muggle weaponry, but he felt drawn to these in almost the same way he had been to his wand at the age of eleven.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" an alluring voice questioned.

"They are," Sirius agreed, his attention firmly on a sword crafted from gold.

"That one belonged to one of my late husbands. For finding my home, it is yours. You need only take it," the voice whispered again.

It was almost seductive, and Sirius was intoxicated by the way it sounded in his ear. Tentatively and so not to displease the woman, he reached out and took it in his grasp. It was warm to the touch, a warmth that flooded through him.

"Such a good man," the voice cooed. "However, I do not share my treasures with just anyone. If you wish to keep it, the others must go."

Sirius frowned at the request.

"They are my friends," he mumbled.

"Are they? Why would they leave you alone with such dangerous objects? Why, the sword you are holding will claim your life if I so wish it."

"You're lying," Sirius denied.

"I tell you no lies, young man. However, one as charming as yourself can be spared. All of this could be yours if the others are gone. You could spend the rest of your days with me. You would have all the comforts you could ever want."

The final words were spoken in the most seductive tone yet and Sirius visibly shuddered as he felt the hot breath against his neck.

"Are you alright, Pads?" James called.

"He wants your sword," the voice warned. "He wants all of this to himself. He wants me to himself. Kill him, KILL HIM."

Mechanically, Sirius turned towards his friend with the hand clutching the sword raised to strike him down where he stood whilst his mind screamed against the actions of his body.

"What the bloody hell are you doing?" James questioned as he avoided the strike. "HARRY!"

The other Potter stormed over to them, a look of concern marring his features as he watched his friend attempting to decapitate his father. He fired a stunner towards the man only for him to deflect it with the strange sword he held.

"You have to fight her, Padfoot," he urged.

"Kill them both," the voice countered.

"I can't," Sirius choked.

"Worry not, there are others to help you."

An ominous wind blew through the room and the torches on the wall barely managed to stay illuminated under the pressure. When the breeze subsided, there was a rather jarring, grinding sound as the statues came to life, though they were no ordinary statues, they were not statues at all.

At least a few dozen men ambled towards him, their movements laboured but their intention clear. It was not often that Harry was surprised by anything in the magical world but the sight of almost forty inferi attempting to rip him limb from limb was not something he would forget in a hurry.

Fortunately, he knew just how to deal with the animated corpses and a controlled stream of fire burst from his wand, reducing them to ash one after the other before they could get close to himself or James.

With the dead dealt with, the only issue remaining was the friend still hacking away at James who was reluctant to cast anything at the boy. At a loss on what to do, Harry turned his wand towards Sirius.

"Legilimens," he muttered.

The mind he entered was awash with conflict, the two presences he felt fighting for control. Sirius, however, was panicking and it would do little to help seize control from the dominant force. In an effort to help his friend, Harry felt his way through the muddle of emotions and memories that had been left in disarray as he drifted towards the foreign magic. What he did notice immediately, was the strength behind it. Were he to combat it alone, he doubted his ability to subdue it.

It was a strange magic, warm, welcoming and seemingly of no threat. That is what made it so dangerous. The magic of the victim would welcome the warmth as though it were an embrace of a loved one and be overwhelmed before they stood a chance. The need for blood to enter now made sense. Whatever magic it was that resided here feel it, learn of its' weaknesses and manipulate it to do its' bidding. It was not something Harry had ever heard of and was pleased that such a thing was no common.

Finally, after several moments of carefully following the trail, he felt the presence stronger than he had prior and that of his friend attempting to wrest back control.

Sirius was doing remarkably well. The magic had gotten the better of his physical being, but the mind was offering resistance. With a strong mental probe, Harry joined the fray and felt the magic of his friend double the efforts with renewed vigour.

"Come on, Sirius," Harry urged.

The foreign magic began to buckle under the combined onslaught of the two, and with a mental shriek, it was expelled.

Harry too was forced from the mind by the release of pressure. Pulling himself to his feet where he had unwittingly fell to the ground, he looked across the room to find Sirius sat against the wall.

"Why the bloody hell did I agree to come with you," he groaned, resting his head in his palms. "What the fuck was that?"

"I have no idea," Harry answered truthfully. "I've never heard of anything like it."

"Well, can we get this shit together and leave? I don't fancy that happening ever again."

James chuckled as he pulled the other animagus to his feet.

"Sorry, Prongs," Sirius offered. "I never thought I'd actually try to kill you. I mean, I've felt like it a few times, but to actually do it."

"I probably had it coming," James replied with a wink. "After all the pranks, I think we're even now."

The trio laughed as they spent the next several hours filling up a chest that Harry had brought with the gold and valuables within the room.

"I think this is yours," Harry called, offering Sirius the sword he had tried to decapitate James with.

"You can bloody well keep that away from me," Sirius replied, backing away from the blade with a look of horror.

"I think we should keep all the sharp objects away from him for a while," James broke in. "Just in case the urge to kill comes back."

"Keep taking the piss as you are, it might well do."

James snorted as he slammed the lid shut on the chest.

"Well, that could have been worse," he sighed.

"Worse?" Sirius yelped. "I was attacked by a damned snake and got mind-raped by a witch that has been dead for hundreds of years. It couldn't have been any worse."

"Well, we could always tell Marlene that you tagged along with us," James offered.

"Or that you are under the spell of another witch. I bet that would be worse," Harry added.

Sirius shook his head irritably.

"Bugger off you prats," he growled as he stormed from the room leaving a pair of laughing Potters in his wake.

Harry shrunk the trunk and pocketed it, pleased with the newfound wealth he had acquired. When he had time, he would sort through the lot and ensure James and Sirius got their fair share. For now, however, he had sated his need for an adventure and wanted nothing kore than to head home.

He caught up with James and Sirius and the trio pushed their way through the long tunnel towards the exit, the eventual sight of the setting sun eliciting a sigh of relief from all.

"So, how was your first adventure?" Harry questioned the others.

"I thought I told both of you to bugger off," Sirius huffed.

"I enjoyed it," James declared with a grin. "Come on, Pads, admit it. You had fun, didn't you?"

Sirius fought the grin for only a few seconds before nodding.

"Alright, I bloody had fun."

"Where to next then?" Harry asked.

"We could always do Egypt," James suggested.

Sirius shook his head in disbelief.

"You'll be there," Harry chuckled with certainty.

"I'll bloody well have to be, won't I? You two would get yourselves killed if I wasn't."

A/N

Well, I don't know where to begin even writing what is next.

Life has taken a turn for the worse in recent months. I'm not looking for pity, just stating a fact. I know there are many of us suffering through the pandemic and what it has caused.

Recently, I lost my job. Such things are difficult enough to get at the moment with almost no jobs available. For me, a teacher, it is proving impossible. With the uncertainty plaguing the world, people are clinging on to what they have, and I don't blame them, I certainly did.

Unfortunately for myself, the school I taught at is not funded by the government and relies solely on charitable donations to function. Since the pandemic has hit, funding has barely trickled in and I have been let go because of it.

To put it simply, I find myself in a terrible position. I am a proud man, and proud of what I have achieved. Everything I have, I've worked hard for and made sacrifices to have and right now, I am broken. I feel as though everything I've done has been for naught.

As a proud man, I feel ashamed and it pains me that I have to reach out for help. Were it only myself I had to think of, I doubt I'd be able to consider it, but as man, it is important when to recognise that you need help and I am in need of it. As I write this, I am thinking of those that rely on me for support, to keep them fed and a roof over their heads. As a man, it shames me that I find myself in this position but anyone from my country will know that our government is terrible at helping those in need.

Because of all this, I have set up a go fund me page in the hope that my lack of faith in humanity is proved to be wrong, that there are people willing to help those that need.

I apologise for my rant. I am emotional and struggling, but with the hope that it will all get better.

Details of my go fund me will be on my page.

Thank you, and again, I apologise if I am making little sense.

Link to page minus the spaces: uk. go fund me /f/6huff2-help-keep-me-afloat

page can also be found by searching for my name on the website by searching for my name 'Lee McCusker'. The profile pic is of a thestral and my location is Norwich, Eng.

TBR