AN: Still not mine.
Chapter 8: Shadows of the Past
After a long moment of swirling nothingness, Alyssa's feet slammed into the carpeted floor of Mum's secret Rooder room. Looking around warily, Alyssa didn't see anything immediately out of place, but having never been conscious for a transition back from a Subordinate's domain before, she glanced at Harry.
Reading her expression, Harry nodded. "This is about what it was like the first time," he said. "I'm not sure why you didn't faint this time, but after that there was the same sensation and we were back here." He picked up the newspaper that had named John Haigh, studying it. "I wonder how people find Subordinates," he said. "I guess there's more to it than putting a news clipping of every serial killer who's died into the circle and hoping for the best."
"I would imagine so, yes," Alyssa said dryly. "Are you doing alright?"
"I'm doing fine," Harry said, and Alyssa noticed him glancing at her sideways. "How about you? You doing alright?"
Alyssa frowned thoughtfully. In truth… she didn't know how she felt. On the one hand, her mother was still missing, that creepy man was probably still around, and all this talk about some Ritual of Engagement was certainly unnerving. However, for the moment, there was a sense of peace, as if a weight she never knew she'd been carrying had been lightened. "I'm fine," she said softly. "I just hope Mum's okay."
"So do I," Harry said. It took Alyssa a moment to recognize the faintly wistful note in his voice and remember what he'd said about his own family. She started to open her mouth to… well, she didn't really know what. Apologize? Give her condolences? Whatever she had been about to say, however, was interrupted by a strange grumbling noise, one that almost had Alyssa jumping out of her skin looking for some new threat before she realized it was just her stomach.
Harry clearly tried to bite back a laugh as Alyssa felt her face heat up, but didn't quite manage. "Hungry?" he asked.
"I guess so…" Alyssa muttered. "I got Mum's letter before getting breakfast, and I never got around to having anything with everything that happened."
"Makes sense," Harry said. "I didn't get much either, what with Dudley's diet, so if you want we can go get something." Alyssa started to open her mouth to refuse: every second they waited was another second Mum was in danger, but Harry continued mildly. "When people are hungry, they tend to slow down, get distracted, so really it's in everyone's best interest if we take a few minutes to save a Sigil stone or a life later. We should really get some food." He frowned. "Bloody hell, I'm turning into Ron. And Hermione. And Mrs. Weasley…"
Alyssa cocked her head. "What do you mean?" she asked.
"Whenever I'm stressed, I don't want to eat anything either; so it seems everyone around me bothers me until I do." He shrugged. "This whole situation's been odd like that: normally I'm on the other side of this sort of thing."
"So you normally have no idea what you're doing and just make it up as you go, hoping for the best?" Alyssa asked.
"Hey, Ron, Hermione and I usually have a plan. It's just that everything tends to go to hell after we get into things."
That managed to get a giggle out of Alyssa. "Very well; I shall defer to your greater experience in these matters," she said with a small curtsy.
Harry rolled his eyes, but the small smile that tugged at the corner of his mouth gave Alyssa a warm feeling in her heart. "Right," he said. "Let's go: the sooner we recharge; the sooner we can get back to finding your mum."
"Of course," Alyssa said, turning to leave the Rooder Room, though she did pause to listen at the door before leaving. Just because that strange man hadn't made an appearance since his terrifying introduction what felt like years ago, that didn't mean he didn't have any plans to hurt her directly. That "Ritual of Engagement" Corroder had mentioned… she knew she'd made the right choice, slapping his deal down, but Alyssa would not deny that she was terrified of that unknown danger.
Could it be related to the warning in her mother's book? The one about how Rooders should never allow themselves to be taken alive? What horrors could that man visit upon her if she was captured? Clearly Subordinates were more than capable of imprisoning the souls of the dead, so it had to be something to do with her body… and that was as far as she was letting that train of thought go: she would not be taken alive, she wouldn't! She couldn't bear to think about it.
Trying to distract herself as she led Harry back down to the first floor, Alyssa whispered to him, part of her attention still focused on her surroundings. "Harry, would you tell me about your friends? You mention them a lot, and they sound like wonderful people."
Harry smiled; not his usual dry, sarcastic grin, but a real smile. "They are," he said softly, thankfully seeming to realize that listening for the man was still important. "Ron's my best friend, my first friend, really." His lovely (seriously, where did these thoughts keep coming from?!) green eyes grew distant. "I never had anyone growing up; Dudley saw to that, and most of the others at Hogwarts are still too wrapped up in the Boy Who Lived rubbish to see me for me." Part of Alyssa wanted to ask about that title, because that certainly sounded ominous, but talking about Ron and Hermione always seemed to improve Harry's mood, and she wanted him to be happy. "The Weasleys showed me how to get onto Platform 9 3/4s, they invited me into their home. Ron's stood by me even when almost nobody else would. They're… they're more my family that the Dursleys ever were."
'At least I have people who care about me at Hogwarts!' Alyssa forced a frown off her face as Harry's earlier, angry words drifted through her mind. Just how bad had things gotten at his home with his aunt and uncle? He'd seemed genuinely surprised when she'd reacted positively to him showing his magic, even when he'd saved their lives with it. Pushing these thoughts to the back of her mind, Alyssa gave an encouraging smile. "And Hermione?"
Harry bit back a laugh. "She is the cleverest, most know-it-all witch in the year, maybe in the whole school," he said, a note of fond exasperation in his voice. "Last year, she literally was traveling through time just so she could take more classes. Drove us all mental, herself included. But… she's also brave, and we wouldn't get anywhere without her brain. If only she and Ron would stop fighting with each other every other week, that'd be great." He glanced at Alyssa. "What about you? Any close friends from your school?"
Alyssa pondered. She had friends at school, but the way Harry talked about Ron and Hermione… the only person she'd even consider describing similarly was Dennis, her friend back from before she'd been forced to leave home, but for all his energy, humor and enthusiasm she doubted he would be much help in this situation. "There are a few," she said. "Emma's my best friend at school; she's the one who got me into archery. Not that I'm ever going to tell her she probably saved my life by doing that: she'd never let me live it down. Then there's Dennis; he's probably my best friend period. One of the only ones who kept up with me after I went to boarding school." She giggled. "He got himself thrown out at least twice that I know of."
As Alyssa spoke, she and Harry had passed through the dining room and into the kitchen. This room held no special memories for Alyssa. It was a place to fulfill a task: neither she nor her mother took any special pleasure in making food. That was not to say that it was not very nicely apparel and put together: Mum had the reputation of the boarding house to think of, but there was none of the sense of peace or longing that had filled Alyssa when she returned to other parts of her home. Instead, once Harry had entered, she closed the door and started trying to figure out how to lodge a chair under the door handle to keep it from opening. The films made it look so easy…
Harry, meanwhile, walked over to the refrigerator and peeked in. "Well, we shouldn't have any trouble finding things," he said. "Anything in particular you want?"
"Something quick, please," Alyssa said, giving her task up as a bad job and starting to drag a heavy table over to put in front of the door, huffing slightly as she did.
"Right, toast and scrambled eggs it is then," Harry said casually, grabbing a loaf of bread and some eggs.
Alyssa watched in mild awe as Harry seemed to glide around the kitchen, easily keeping an eye on the eggs while still finding time to cut up a pair of apples and some herbs to give the eggs more taste. "You're really good at this," she said.
For some reason, that made Harry frown. "Yeah, I've had a lot of practice," he said after a moment.
Alyssa considered dropping the subject, but while they'd already had some nice discussions about their past, she still wanted to get to know her new friend better. "You have?" she said. "My school has a home-ec class, but let's just say that it's not my favorite subject. Does your school have one?"
"No," Harry said. "Maybe they come up in later years; Mrs. Weasley knows a lot of spells that help with cooking, but I've never picked any of them up." Harry paused for a moment before continuing. "No, I learned at the Dursley's."
There it was again. Oh, Harry was too controlled to let any note of contempt or anger into his voice, but the cold, flat nature of his tone whenever he spoke of his family made Alyssa shiver. Just how bad were things at Harry's home that he preferred a school with dangerous monsters and enough troubles that he was clearly a veteran of life-threatening situations to their company? Looking at the oversized, ratty cloths Harry still wore, Alyssa had to wonder…
Harry glanced at her before forcing a smile onto his face. "Don't worry about me," he said, scooping the eggs into a pair of bowls. "I'm shot of them for the year; they're off on holiday and after we're through rescuing your mum, I'll be going to the Burrow. You should come and visit: I'm sure everyone'll love you."
Alyssa studied Harry for a moment before nodding: as much as she wanted to help Harry with whatever problems he was having with his family, right now Mum was still in danger and Alyssa had to help her. "Thank you, Harry," she said, smiling. "I'm sure I'll love them too. They're your friends, after all."
The pair simply ate in silence, half to keep their ears open for any sign of the dark man and half because they were both lost in thought. Finally, when they were finished, Alyssa helped Harry stack the dishes, already feeling a bit more energetic. "Please remind me to thank your friends for giving you the idea that food helps," she said. "I feel better already."
Harry shrugged. "Let's hope that keeps up," he said. "Come on, we've given that dark guy enough time to set up the next leg of this game of his." The wizard frowned. "He has to have a reason for this. Are you sure you've never seen him before?"
Alyssa shook her head. "No," she said. "I don't think so, at least. Maybe Mum knew him… maybe that's the reason she sent me away. Because he wanted me for some reason." She shuddered as he thoughts drifted back to her worries about the Ritual of Engagement, and what it meant that she had to be alive for it.
Harry, seeming to notice her discomfort, patted her on the shoulder. "Hey, we've beaten two of those nutters, we can beat another two to get the rest of your mum's pendant, and even if they try to hide, the Weasleys' will be able to get us help soon. Either way, we'll get your mum back."
Nodding gratefully at the reassurance, Alyssa started pushing the table out of the way. "Let's go back to my grandfather's study; that seems to be where the man leaves his clues."
The pair quickly crossed the dark hall, the rainy weather making the house even darker and more malicious-seeming than the situation already warranted. It was starting to get late. Thankfully, the man continued to keep his distance, and Harry and Alyssa made it to her grandfather's study without incident.
This time, Alyssa went straight to the desk, and lo and behold, there was a folded sheet of some sort of thick, heavy paper in the center of the desk. Picking it up, Alyssa noticed that it seemed very old, and so she carefully unfolded it to see more archaic writing.
Harold Powell: The Chopper
Subordinates, having already tasted death, do not age or weaken with time. In fact, they only grow stronger, more cunning, and more ruthless. Nowhere is this more clear than the Subordinate known as The Chopper, widely considered to be the oldest active Subordinate.
In 1655, a woodcutter by the name of Harold Powell was born in Cardiff, Wales. Hideously deformed at birth, he suffered the taunts and ill will of all those around him. At 17 years of age, he proposed marriage to Emily Dickins, the innkeeper's daughter, but was cruelly rebuffed. It is unknown if he was already marked by an Entity, or if this was the beginning of his path to becoming a Subordinate.
What is known is that, in retaliation for Emily's callous dismissal, he took the ax that he carried as a woodsman and dismembered her, stringing her mutilated remains up before fleeing the village. For years following the gruesome event, he went from village to village, abducting young girls and butchering them in the same fashion.
His mortal reign of terror was finally ended two years later, when one of his victims managed to escape and get help. A posse hunted Harold down and killed him. After this, in revenge, they strung his mangled corpse up. However, the next day, his body was gone, having been possessed by his Entity. Now a Subordinate, The Chopper continues his hunt for young girls to sate not only his own wrath, but the cruel desires of his dark master.
The rest was torn off: just like with the book, it seemed that the man wanted to control how much information Alyssa got. Still, what was already there was unnearving enough. Alyssa forced down a nervous gulp as she spoke. "1655… that's a long time ago," she said nervously. If this was true and Subordinates got more dangerous over time…
"Yeah," Harry said. After a moment, he continued. "Alyssa… I'm sure your mum would understand-"
"No," Alyssa said. "I know what you're going to say, Harry, and I appreciate it, but I can't. Whoever that man is who's behind all this, he's here for me. Mum is in danger because she sent me to safety, and now we're her only hope. I need to try and save her." She took a breath. "Besides, I'm a Rooder. I… I have to fight. It's what I'm meant for."
Harry studied her for a few long seconds before smiling wryly. "Alright," he said. "Don't worry, I'll be with you all the way."
"Thank you," Alyssa said. "That means a lot to me."
The pair sat in silence for a few seconds before Alyssa sighed. "We should go: this Chopper has someone suffering in his grasp, just like May and the Rands. We have to help them. And if we help them, we help Mum."
Quickly, Alyssa led the way back upstairs, Harry trailing close behind. Alyssa wondered where the man hid while she and Harry were in the house: the building was a large one so there were plenty of places he could stay, but how did he know when they were about to come out?
A sudden, unpleasant thought invaded Alyssa's mind: this man obviously knew a lot about Subordinates, Rooders and all of that. Could he work the teleportation circle in Mum's room? It required Holy Water, surely he didn't have any of that, but at the same time, he'd set it up to go to Sledgehammer's domain. Could he be following them into the Subordinate's worlds, watched them from afar? If so… why? Why wouldn't he help his Subordinates do whatever they wanted to do with her?
Somehow, Alyssa avoided jumping when Harry gently put a hand on her shoulder. Turning, she forced a smile to try and calm Harry's concerned expression. "Just letting my imagination get away from me," she said. "I'm okay." She had to be strong: she and Harry had gotten through so much together, they could overcome this too. Mum was counting on them.
Into the Rooder room they went, and this time Alyssa looked around for something to bar it. "Just in case," she said when Harry gave her an odd look.
He nodded. "Yeah, that's a good idea; I should have thought of it before," he said before hurrying to help her. In the end, the pair discovered that one of the long tables could move and scrounged several coils of rope. Alyssa wrapped a few around herself before using the last to tie the handle to the table. It wasn't perfect, but the petty, vindictive part of Alyssa was glad that she was doing something to inconvenience the man who had hurt her mother and was trying to hurt her and her new friend.
"We ready?" Harry asked as he drew his wand. "Bottles full?"
"Mine are," Alyssa said, adjusting her sling. "You still got yours?"
"Yep."
"Then we're ready. Let's go get this Subordinate."
With those encouraging words, Alyssa lay the page about Chopper in the center of the magic circle and sprinkled some of her water into the air. As the portal formed, she refilled the bottle from the jug: she wanted every advantage she could get while going into this Subordinate's domain. As the pair stepped through the portal, Alyssa wasn't sure what she expected. A medieval village, the last place Chopper had been as a mortal man? Some twisted amalgamation of the surely countless people he had killed over the centuries? Some nightmarish chaos beyond mortal understanding?
Whatever she'd expected, it certainly wasn't this.
"What the…"
Harry nodded along with Alyssa's confused whispered, looking around the path leading up to Alyssa's home. "This is new," he muttered. "Could that man have messed with the circle?"
Alyssa looked around, frowning. "I don't think so," she said. "It wouldn't make sense for him to put us outside, we might escape. Besides, I don't remember there being five massive metal gates in the newly heightened wall." Turning, Harry saw that Alyssa was right: whereas there had been a small, tasteful gate and fence when he'd been dropped off by the Dursleys, there was now a massive, imposing wall studded with five great gates: four of which had pulsing black sigils. Alyssa, meanwhile, was still musing. "I'm… also not sure this is a Subordinate's domain: it doesn't feel right. There's not enough… malice or cruelty or suffering in the air."
"So now what," Harry thought, turning to look back at the house. "We can't go inside: there's a black sigil on the door. Is there a back door?"
"There is, but I get the feeling that it won't work either," Alyssa said. "There's a shed out back, but I can't think why anything important would be there…" she looked back at the gates. "That one without a sigil… that seems to be our only path right now, which makes me nervous because I don't like being herded."
Harry sighed. "But do we have a choice? Didn't your mum's book say that there was always a path forward, no matter what? If that's the only way, it's the way we have to take, right?"
Alyssa nodded. "I guess so. Come on, let's go before this Chopper decides to show up." The teens hurried towards the center gate, and Harry wondered how they were going to move the massive metal construct. However, as they approached, it started to groan open of its own volition, revealing a thick, unnerving fog that seemed to refuse to pass the gate. The pair paused and glanced at each other, almost reading each-others minds. Neither of them really wanted to go into that fog, but they couldn't see any other way.
"Lumos!" Harry said, raising his wand and creating a globe of light on the end before holding out his other hand. "Let's go together, so we don't get separated."
Alyssa glanced at his hand for a long moment before slowly reaching out and interlacing her fingers with his. "Lead the way, Harry," she said softly, a faint pink dusting her cheeks in a way that caused Harry's stomach to do a weird flop. However, he pushed these odd feelings aside as he stepped over the threshold and into the mist.
Harry could not say how long they walked, only that some strange force seemed to lead him onwards, even as his and Alyssa's hands remained firmly intertwined. Finally, they stepped out of the fog and into another place Harry would never have expected: what looked like a mad fair-ground, the sound of laughter and voices all around them, though there didn't seem to be any people. Turning, Harry saw that there was no fog anymore, only empty air.
"Wait… I remember this place," Alyssa murmured from behind him, looking around. "I've been here before."
"Really?" Harry asked. "When?"
Alyssa's face twisted in a frown. "When I was little, Grandfather brought me here," she said. "I didn't really want to, but I loved spending time with him, so I agreed. We got separated, somehow, and… it was scary. Especially the clowns." She sighed. "Looking back, I don't think they were trying to scare me, but they did. If Dennis hadn't shown up, I don't know what would have happened."
Harry's thoughts raced: the only other experience he had with memory-worlds was Tom Riddle's diary, and somehow he doubted this was the same as whatever dark artifact that had been. Especially since there was nobody around. "Do you remember where you went during this?" he asked.
Alyssa looked around, clearly in thought. "It's been a long time," she said. "I know there was a Ferris wheel nearby; I was trying to get to it because somehow I thought I'd be able to see my grandfather from the top of it. I guess we just go that way and hope that I remember more as we go."
Not as much as Harry had hoped, but he supposed that if he'd been dumped in the center of the zoo he probably wouldn't remember everywhere he went and would suggest that they go to the reptile house. Therefore, he nodded and fell into step next to Alyssa as they made their way towards the massive wheel sticking into the sky. As they walked, Harry was consistently on-edge as he realized that, despite the fact there were still no visible people, the constant sounds of the crowd were all around them, and every now and then he could swear he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. Alyssa seemed to sense his unease, or perhaps she was just equally on edge, as neither spoke.
A few minutes of walking later, Harry paused. "Alyssa, look," he said, pointing towards a parallel path. The girl turned and gasped.
"That's- That's me!"
A small girl, wearing a cute orange dress that almost matched her twin-tailed hair, was wandering away from them, seemingly buffeted by an invisible crowd. Even from this distance, even over the crowd, Harry swore that he could hear child-Alyssa's faint sobs as she rubbed at her eyes with one arm.
"Grampy!" the smaller girl's voice echoed strangely despite the open space. "Grampy, where are you? I'm scared!"
"This makes no sense…" teenage-Alyssa said weakly, her hands shaking as they gripped her bottle. "I… I only said that first part… I never said…"
"Hey, hey, easy," Harry said. "It's okay." Alyssa nodded, and while she didn't look completely convinced Harry noticed that her younger self was moving on. "I think we should follow her; she's the only person we've seen in this crazy place."
Alyssa looked like she was about to argue, but after a moment she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Yes… yes you're right, Harry," she said softly. "Come on, let's go."
The pair hurried off after the girl, watching as she turned to started back towards the Ferris wheel, still sniffling and crying. Strangely, no matter how quickly Harry and real-Alyssa moved, they couldn't seem to get any closer to the memory of her. Several times, she would turn the corner of a tent, and by the time the teens could see her again, she was much further along than her unsteady, fearful pace should have taken her.
"Is this matching your memories of what you did?" Harry asked.
Alyssa shrugged. "I… I don't really remember. Everything was so big; I could barely see the Ferris wheel, there was a huge crowd."
Harry frowned. "Why didn't you ask someone for help?" he asked.
Alyssa flushed. "Mum always told me not to talk to strangers," she said. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Harry had to force back a smile. Alyssa must have noticed, as she glowered at him. "Quiet."
"I didn't say anything!"
"Yeah, but you were thinking it!" Harry started to open his mouth, not sure whether he wanted to apologize, snap, or tease the redhead, but Alyssa glanced back towards her past self and tensed. "Wait, I remember that tent… oh no."
Harry was about to ask what she'd seen when the sound of a honking horn and cackling laughter filled the air. A clown burst from a bright yellow tent just as young-Alyssa passed, causing the little girl to scream in terror and run. However, a moment later, she tripped over her own feet and fell to the ground with a cry.
"This… this isn't how it went…" Alyssa whispered as the clown advanced on the little girl as she tried to crawl away, honking his horn and laughing. "I didn't trip…"
The clown reached down and grabbed little Alyssa's leg, dragging her back towards him even as she kicked and screamed. Shaking himself from his stupor, Harry raised his wand. "Expelliarmus!" he roared. The jet of orange light flashed across the distance to strike the evil clown. However, the Disarming spell did not cause it to release its victim, and after a brief glare the clown started dragging young Alyssa back into the tent, where she vanished with a final wail.
Without a word, Harry and Alyssa dashed forward: no matter how much both of them knew that this wasn't real, they couldn't do nothing. As they ripped the flap open, Harry summoned up a fresh memory to power a Patronus: standing with Alyssa after sending on Mr. and Mrs. Rand, content in the knowledge that they were safe, that they had done a good thing.
Peering in, they saw young-Alyssa laying frightfully still on a table with the clown standing over her, still laughing uproariously. "Get away from her!" Alyssa cried, raising her sacred bottle. "Or me! Whatever!"
The clown turned back to look at them, and Harry nearly recoiled at the glowing red in its eyes. "It's too late for that," the clown said, and its voice was nowhere near to the high pitched note of its laugh: it was deep, dark and scratchy. The clown advanced, raising its horn threateningly. "Now, to make this terrible fate a reality!"
"I don't think so," Harry growled. "Expecto Patronum!"
As Prongs burst forth, Alyssa stepped forward and splashed the clown with her holy water. As the blue fire burned along it, the clown's form seemed to waver and shudder, but after a moment it stabilized. "Not so easy, little girl!" the figure snarled. "Not-" At that moment, Prongs slammed into it and threw it away. Whatever this thing was, it wasn't a ghost.
"It doesn't matter if it's easy or not!" Alyssa snapped, though Harry could see a strange glaze settling over her eyes. "We're going to save her, monster!"
Strangely, the clown's evil smirk widened. "She's already mine, Rooder," it hissed. "I will not let you take her from me! Feed me, Alyssa, feed me your anger, your despair!"
Harry rolled his eyes. "Stop the bloody game, this isn't even real!" he snapped.
Something in the world seemed to crack, and an instant later the tent seemed… faded. As if it was a picture that had gotten damaged and lost some of its clarity. The clown's form wavered again, and this time Harry could swear that he could see… something else behind it. A living shadow, vaguely shaped like a human but wrong in a way that set Harry instinctively on edge.
Alyssa's eyes widened before she glanced at her younger self's unmoving body. "Harry, keep it busy for a second," she said, darting over to the table. Harry was about to remind her that none of this was real before noticing the creature starting immediately towards Alyssa as she raised her bottle again. "Go!" he urged his Patronus onwards, causing it to interpose its silver light between Alyssa and whatever this thing was.
Unlike a Subordinate, this shadowy clown didn't immediately lash out at his Patronus; in fact it seemed to flinch back for a moment. This gave Alyssa time to sprinkle some of her holy water onto her alternate self and whisper something Harry didn't quite catch. The smaller girl began to glow before fading from sight.
The clown let out a cry as the image around them shattered, fading into some sort of hedge-maze "room" with a strange stone shrine in the center. Most of Harry's attention, however, was diverted by the fact that the clown disappeared, giving him a good look at the shadow that had lurked behind it. Unnervingly tall and thin, it was as if a pool of darkness had somehow acquired a will of its own and taken a vaguely humanoid form. However, the darkness body was freakishly tall; nearly Hagrid's height but lacking his human bulk; instead being so impossibly thin that a human surely would have starved to death before they got that thin. A strangled, angry hiss emanated from the creature as it finally lunged forward, its fingers growing like claws as it tried to rake at Harry's Patronus.
The wizard, however, was too fast, pulling the magical being back and drawing the small vial of holy water to splash the shadows. This time, the blue fire took hold and the shadowy wraith stumbled back, patting at itself as it screamed and burned. After a few long seconds, its form seemed to waver once again, and then it was gone.
"What was that thing?" Harry gasped, letting Prongs fade as he looked around.
Alyssa frowned. "Some sort of construct," she murmured, almost to herself. "It wasn't a Subordinate, nor a ghost… it almost seemed like…" she shook her head with a frown. "I'm not sure. Nothing good, that's for certain." She frowned as she stepped up to the shrine. "There's carvings here… I think they're some sort of words. Do you recognize them?"
Harry joined Alyssa at the shrine, and only had to take a brief glance at the odd runes carved all around the shrine before shaking his head. "No; there is a class on Ancient Runes: Hermione took it, so she might know, but she's not here."
"Shame," Alyssa said, an oddly dry note to her voice as she spoke. A moment later, she leaned closer. "Hey, does it look like this piece comes out?"
Harry looked at what she'd noticed: a hexagonal piece of stone with a particularly prominent rune emblazoned on it that did indeed seem like it would come out of the whole. "Yeah," he said. "Do you think this will get us through one of the black sigils?"
"Probably," Alyssa said, carefully prying the stone out. "We should go: I get the feeling that whatever that thing was, Chopper will sense that it's been destroyed. If he didn't already know we were here, he does now."
As the pair turned and headed back through the gate: the fog having thankfully disappeared, Harry glanced around. "Do you have any idea what just happened back there?" he asked.
"An illusion of some sort," Alyssa said. "I… I think we weren't really going anywhere: it was all in our heads. When you reminded me that none of what was happening was real, that damaged the fantasy, which allowed me to break us out of it fully." She frowned. "But what's the point? None of the other subordinates have done anything like that…"
The pair paused for a moment before Harry shrugged. "I'm sure it all makes sense in their twisted heads. Not sure I want to understand what goes on in there." Alyssa snorted and rolled her eyes, but Harry noticed a faint smile at the corner of her lips as she looked at the different gates.
"I think this stone will get us through that gate," she said, pointing to one of the further gates. "I wonder what sort of memory will be behind it." She glanced at Harry. "Maybe one of yours."
"I doubt it," Harry said. "You're the one they want; the guy in your house didn't even know I was a wizard until I showed him my wand." He paused for a moment before continuing. "I wonder if Rooders are part of the magical community? I've never heard of them before, but with how good Binns is at putting us all to sleep, they might have been mentioned and nobody remembers. I'll have to ask when we get out of this."
The pair made their way to the next gate, and as Alyssa pressed the stone against the black sigil and splashed it, it faded away. Once again, the gate creaked open without any input from either teen, revealing the choking fogbank. Glancing at each other, Harry offered his hand again, which Alyssa took, and the pair stepped into the darkness.
Alyssa gently squeezed Harry's hand as she walked with him, the faint light of his wand the only thing keeping the fog at bay. If only it could block out the formless whispers that pressed in around them. Glancing at Harry, Alyssa again noticed that he didn't seem to hear anything: she reminded herself that her Rooder senses seemed to be more sensitive when it came to spiritual things; and whatever was going on here it was certainly spiritual.
Finally, the fog seemed to fade away, leaving the pair standing in the center of a darkened, rainy street. Looking around, Alyssa didn't recognize it. "Harry? Is this where you live?" she asked.
Harry shook his head, frowning. "No. I don't know this place," he said. "At least, I don't think so. It's not Privet Drive, that's for sure."
Alyssa blinked, looking around herself. "I don't recognize it either," she said. She'd never been to this place before. But if it wasn't her, and it wasn't Harry, then whose memory was this? "We should get going: I'm sure there'll be another of those things around; we'll need to find it to break this illusion." Harry nodded, though he looked tense as his gaze flicked from place to place.
"I don't know this place," he said again, almost seeming to be talking to himself. "So why do I feel like I should?"
As the pair walked down the street, Alyssa keep a lookout for any sign of what was going on. Frowning herself, she realized that, while there were no people, the faint sound of chatting and laughter was drifting on the nighttime winds. More than that, she realized that she could see the signs of Halloween decorations.
When she pointed this out, Harry skidded to a halt. "Oh, bloody hell…" he muttered. "I know when this is."
"Harry?" Alyssa asked softly, reaching out to take his hand again.
"Come one," Harry said sharply, jerking his hand out of hers as he stalked forward. "We'll talk as we walk: you should know what's going on in case I get caught up in whatever illusion this place puts up." Biting back the faint feeling of hurt, Alyssa followed.
As the pair continued on, Harry seemed to take a moment to think before he spoke. "I told you my parents were dead, right? Well, I'm pretty sure this is the night they died." He sighed. "This all happened back when I was a baby. There was a dark wizard named Voldemort, who hated the idea of wizards and muggles living together. So he set about trying to do everyone who didn't agree with him in." He reached up and tapped the lightning scar Alyssa had been wondering about ever since she'd met Harry. "He decided that he was going to kill my mum and dad. There was a reason behind this, but Professor Dumbledore never told me." He sighed. "He succeeded, but when he tried to kill me, something went wrong, and I survived with just this scar, while he lost his power and was driven away."
"The Boy Who Lived," Alyssa whispered.
"Don't you start with that rubbish too!" Harry said. "It was my mum who did it: she gave her life for me, and somehow that gave me some sort of protection. I don't really understand how, but Professor Dumbledore said that was how it worked, and he knows more about magic than I ever will. It's still around: I met Voldemort in my first year, when he was trying to regain power, but he still couldn't hurt me. Not directly, at any rate."
The pair walked in silence for a minute as Alyssa tried to digest what Harry had told her. She'd guessed he'd had a hard life, but to have had his parents murdered as a baby, to have met their murderer… how was he still sane, and not a quivering ball of pain and paranoia? Especially if the ugly suspicions about his family that had started to creep into her mind turned out to be true. Alyssa didn't say anything, however. Instead, she just gently reached out and took his hand again.
This time, he didn't pull away.
After another minute, however, a strange, crawling sensation worked its way up Alyssa's back. Pausing, she turned and looked around.
"What is it?" Harry whispered, raising his wand higher.
Alyssa didn't answer immediately, she could have sworn she saw a shadow moving atop a distant roof, but no matter how hard she stared she could not catch another glimpse. "I'm sorry," she said. "I thought I saw something."
Harry nodded sharply, but as he turned he went ridged. "There…" he whispered.
Turning, Alyssa saw what Harry had noticed, a tall, cloaked and hooded figure walking down the sidewalk before pausing for a moment in front of a house that for some reason stood out from the others.
"Voldemort," Harry whispered, a note of fear entering his voice as the dark wizard, or the memory of him, walked up the path to a house, drawing a wand from the depths of his robe.
"This isn't real, Harry," Alyssa said urgently, giving Harry's hand a squeeze before pulling her own hand away so they could maneuver. "None of this is real, you survived: you're here. Let's go shatter this illusion." Harry nodded faintly, and the pair hurried forward just as Voldemort's image gestured to the door, causing it to burst open before striding confidently through.
As Alyssa and Harry ran up the path after the dark wizard, a voice drifted from the open door.
"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off!"
"Dad…" Harry whispered, just as another voice spoke. A cold, high, cruel voice that sent a shiver down Alyssa's spine.
"Avada Kedavra!"
There was a flash of green light, a rush of sound, and just as they reached the door the sound of a body hitting the floor as laughter filled the air. Bursting through, Alyssa looked around.
Even in the darkness, the only light Harry's dim Lumos, Alyssa could see the body slumped on the ground, and for an instant even Alyssa was caught in the nightmare, for surely that was Harry himself laying there, his glasses askew, his unkempt hair wild even in death. But after a moment, that spell was broken, and Alyssa realized that this man was taller than Harry, more filled out, and from the faint light she could see that there was no lightning scar over hazel eyes. Harry really did favor his father.
"Mum…" Harry whispered, and Alyssa jerked herself out of the spell in time to see a cloak sweeping around the corner upstairs as a woman cried out in fear.
"Harry!" Alyssa started, but the wizard was too fast, thundering up the stairs with his wand in his hand. Distantly, Alyssa remembered the feeling when she'd faced the clown nightmare: as if she was back in that moment, a child once again. All reason and logic had failed her; it had taken Harry's sharp words to break the spell.
She would have to do the same for him.
Running up the stairs, she saw a door thrown open at the end of the hall, Harry running towards it, but somehow the hall seemed to go on forever as they ran towards it.
"Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!"
"Stand aside, you silly girl… stand aside, now."
"MUM!" Harry roared helplessly, almost seeming to swim against the corridor.
"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead-"
"Harry, this isn't real!" Alyssa called desperately, but somehow her voice seemed weak…
"This is my last warning-"
"Not Harry! Please… have mercy… have mercy… Not Harry! Not Harry! Please- I'll do anything-"
"Stand aside! Stand aside girl!"
Green light blasted from the open door, and finally it seemed that they could move again, as Harry barreled through the door with wand raised.
"Diffindo!" Following him in, Alyssa saw Harry standing, wand raised, facing the figure they'd been chasing as he lazily turned to face them.
Alyssa had no memory of this, so she didn't know how accurate the dark wraith had been when copying Voldemort's form, but she guessed it was pretty close. A pale, hairless face leered at them, standing out horrifyingly from the dark hood. Piercing red eyes, wider than normal with silted pupils like a snake. The nose was also snakelike: flat and with large, long nostrils. A mocking smile spread across the face.
"Well well, this is a surprise…" the figure said.
"Expluso! Diffindo! Expelliarmus!" Harry screamed, slashing his wand over and over again, sending spell after spell at the illusion of the dark wizard. The image of Voldemort didn't even speak, mockingly twitching its wand with minimal effort, sending each of Harry's spells into the wall behind it, causing the baby that Alyssa had just noticed to scream and cry as pieces of the wall drifted down.
"Come now, Harry," the wraith said dryly. "Is this really necessary? I haven't even killed you yet." It gestured at the baby in the crib behind it with its wand. "Let me rectify that."
"No! Expel-"
"Avada Kedavra!"
A flash of green, a rush of sound, and Baby Harry slumped to the bottom of his crib, his green eyes staring emptily at the ceiling.
"Think about it, Harry, would not this be kinder? To die with a family that loves you? To not have to suffer any longer? To rest?"
"LIAR!" Alyssa cried, grabbing Harry and pulling him back. "Harry, you're better than this. Repeat after me! THIS! IS! NOT! REAL!"
The bedroom seemed to swim before their eyes, and for an instant the image of Voldemort twisted, becoming the same tall, thin shadow that had created the carnival as it glared at her.
"Damn you, Rooder…" it snarled. "Let me feed!"
"No!" Alyssa snapped, stalking forward. "I won't let you hurt him like that! I won't let you hurt anyone like that! Begone, whatever you are! Go back to the shadow that spawned you!" As the shape lunged forward, the pale image of its wand rising, Alyssa splashed it with her holy water, causing it to twist and writhe for a moment. She stepped past, gingerly placing her feet so as not to stand on the illusion of Harry's mother (Fake though this may be, there were some things that just Were Not Done) she sprinkled more water over the image of baby Harry. "This is not real," she said again. "Not now. Not ever." The image of Harry glowed faintly as the water settled over it before fading from sight, causing the illusionary world to shatter around them, revealing another shrine.
Before Alyssa could get her bearings about her, an icy chill gripped her as the wraith lunged and wrapped itself around her. "Mine!" it shrieked gleefully as Alyssa struggled, feeling her strength starting to waver, almost as if it was being drained from her. She tried to splash with her bottle, but one of the hands was on her wrist, gripping it hard enough that she was sure she would break as darkness began to cloud her vision…
Then, there was light. Gasping, Alyssa stumbled and fell as Harry's Patronus threw the wraith to the ground and started stomping on it. "Get off her you bloody bastard!" Harry snarled, his voice once more clear as he stalked forward, wielding his wand in one hand and his sacred vial in the other. The wraith slashed desperately at the Patronus, driving it away with a shriek, but Harry was on it before it could recover, splashing it with more holy water. Like the wraith before it, the blue fire burned hotter and brighter than against a ghost or Subordinate, consuming it until there was nothing left.
Silence reigned for several long seconds as Harry slumped to his knees, panting and gripping his head. Alyssa, ignoring the painful needling sensation as feeling returned to her body, crawled over to be next to him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. The teens sat like that for several seconds, getting their breathing under control and their heartbeats to slow down.
Finally, Harry looked over at Alyssa, and for once neither of them seemed to mind how close their faces were. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I… I knew that wasn't real… that that had all happened before… but when I heard their voices again…"
"Don't be sorry, Harry," Alyssa whispered. "You're so brave: having that horror in your past… It would have affected anyone. You did brilliantly."
The pair stayed like that for a time, trying to get themselves back under control. Finally, however, Harry patted Alyssa's hands. "I'm fine," he said. "I'm fine." Alyssa nodded, letting go only slightly reluctantly as they rose to their feet.
"Those things… they keep talking about feeding," Alyssa murmured as she moved to the shrine, gently tugging the hexagonal runestone out. "They draw us into that illusion, they make us feel fear and pain and anger… maybe they're trying to feed off of us, like Subordinates can do to the people they murder."
Before Harry could respond, the sound of slow clapping filled the shrine-space.
"Oh ho, clever girl!"
Spinning, Alyssa gasped as she saw a tall, pale man leaning against the hedge behind them, still clapping. For a moment, she thought Voldemort's image was back, but she realized that this figure was different. Although nearly as pale, the smooth, skull-like face was replaced with a heavily tattooed one, barely covering up countless ugly scars. The long, billowing robes were gone, revealing a body that was at once hideously deformed and horrifyingly strong-looking, thick, heavy arms looked like they could lift a car unaided, rippling, tattooed muscles that covered more ugly scars.
What really drew Alyssa's attention, however, were the eyes. There was cruelty there, malice equal to Sledgehammer's or Corroders, but they were tempered with a mocking cunning, an ancient, evil gaze that had seen so much, done so much, that nothing could surprise or unnerve it.
Chopper smirked as he looked at the pair. "I'm so glad, Alyssa, Harry. I had thought this was going to be boring."
AN: You will notice that I forwent the weird, trippy scene where Alyssa's house blows up and a giant clock tower appears as Alyssa rides on the clock's face. No, I do not regret this in the slightest. No, I did not find it strangely cute when Alyssa seemed to be having fun. Shut up.
In all seriousness, this section of the game will continue to undergo major changes, more than probably any other section. Chopper is supposed to be the leader of the Subordinates, let's make him a nightmare.
PS: Sorry for the drop in quality: I've been working on this chapter on and off for ages, and while I'm not completely happy with it, eventually I have to move on.