Author's Notes:
If you're curious about what the phoenix that shows in this chapter looks like, google "Dreamer by Gpotious." It's a beautiful piece of art.
Chapter 6
Far Too Many Riddles
1994, November 19, Beauxbatons Carriage.
"Fleur, have you talked to Potter?"
Fleur looked up from her book and frowned. "Non, she is impossible to catch. Ever since ze Weighing of ze Wands — Weighing of the Wands, I've 'ad trouble finding 'er. I saw 'er put on a Cloak of Invisibility once. I zink — think," Fleur said, pausing again to correct her English, "I think that she does it to 'ide from 'er classmates. I've 'eard of the way zey talk about 'er. The English are incredibly rude."
"Come now, you know the French can be rude as well," Madame Maxime said, looking down at her. "An Invisibility Cloak though? Those are very expensive, I'm surprised she has one."
"I tried asking 'er friend, zat — that — Ronald, but all 'e could say was that he 'elped stop a Dark Lord," Fleur said, laughing bitterly. "I'll try approaching 'er other friend soon."
"Good, good. Throw in a few questions about Potter's skills, will you? You still haven't learned the Patronus and you're three years older — she might have other skills. We don't want to underestimate her. Figure out what you can. Use her to your own advantage anyway you can," Madame Maxime said, patting Fleur on the shoulder.
Fleur looked up at Madame Maxime, smiled, and said, "Of course, Madame Maxime."
When Madame Maxime turned to look out the window, Fleur scowled at her back.
She muttered under her breath, "Should 'ave never let you convince me to —"
"There, Fleur," Madame Maxime suddenly said. "The Potter girl and her friend, they're outside now. Go now."
Fleur sighed and got up. She walked out of the room without another look at Madame Maxime and left the carriage, ignoring the venomous looks from the other girls and the dreamy ones from the boys. She stepped out of the carriage and looked around.
Where were they?
She began walking towards the castle, thinking they had perhaps already gone inside, when she heard a voice from over a small hill. She couldn't make out what it had said, so she began making her way towards the voice. Another voice came and it sounded as if the two were arguing.
"You've been at it for not even a full week!" Fleur heard a voice yell. "It takes most months, even years to get this far ahead, Iris! It would be a miracle if you — if you — there's no way you're ready!"
"Will you stop yelling? I didn't fix my eyesight only to lose my hearing," came another voice — a more familiar one. It was Iris Potter. "I just know that I've got it, okay? I can just feel it. I've been doing it for years anyway, technically, meditating in general, and two months by actually doing what Sirius told me to do. Most wizards and witches wouldn't bother with something they'd consider a muggle technique, and Occlumency itself is a rare and difficult branch of magic, so obviously it would take most a long time. This isn't like the Chamber, there'll be no Basilisk this time."
Fleur had walked over the hill and leaned against a tree to listen to the conversation.
"No, no Basilisk, just an entire colony belonging to —"
"Relax, Aragog likes me," Iris said.
"He told his children to eat you!" Hermione shouted.
Basilisks and flesh-eating children? Fleur was beginning to wonder if it was really a good idea to come anywhere near Iris Potter.
"A misunderstanding, I'm sure. I won't go near the colony anyway. So no colonies nor Basilisks. I still can't believe Newt is selling new copies of his book purely for the edit of my encounter. Ridiculous."
"It's not just for you, it's for the update on the spiders in the forest as well. And there hasn't been a Basilisk seen in centuries, so of course he's going to update it."
"Newt himself had a bloody Basilisk. I wonder how he got that out without anyone else seeing it?"
"Yes, but he had to keep Jerry quiet. I don't think — quit changing the subject!"
"Right. Well, I have the Portkey, Hermione, I'll be okay. You worry too much."
Hermione stared at Iris for a moment before shaking her head and sighing. "I know I can be a bit overbearing… but I only do it because I care for you. Do you even realize how important you are to me? Ever since my parents found out about what kind of dangerous situations I've been, ever since the argument that ensued — no, don't apologize — they've been more like acquaintances than anything else. I don't want to lose the most important person in my life. I don't want to see you get yourself killed, and this! This, not even you can deny, is dangerous and stupid. There's only one thing left for me to do. I'm coming with you."
"I know you care," Iris said. "I do. And don't think you're not the most important in my life as well. With that said, you most certainly are not coming. I need somebody to cover for me, and I've no idea where Ron is. Seriously, where does he disappear to?" Iris asked, looking around as if she was expecting Ron to be lying around. "It doesn't matter. I won't be able to make it back for at least twenty-four hours; that means you have to be ready to make up a lie as to where I am. Dumbledore said I need to go with someone, but I can't do that. He's not even at Hogwarts right now; Sirius isn't in the country; McGonagall would have a fit about me going into the Forbidden Forest, and Hagrid can't leave his skrewts."
"You asked Hagrid?"
"Only if we could go into the Forbidden Forest, explore for a bit, you know? I didn't really think it through since I have no idea what I'd say to get him to leave me alone there for a full twenty-four hours. It's fine, you've taught me the Proximity Ward. I've been practicing it. I can make one large enough to reach our dorm room door even if I cast it from the wall furthest from the door. That means the ward will be twice as wide as our dorm room. I'll cast it to only alert me if anything larger than a fox gets through — I think that size is good enough."
"You've got everything then?" came Hermione's voice after a few seconds.
"Yes. I've got the Portkey, the leaf and several potions, one of which I've already drank. I've got two leaves just in case actually."
"And you think it wise to go and do this a few days before the first task? You'll have to keep it in your mouth during the first task," said Hermione.
"Hmm," Iris said, thoughtfully. "Yeah, you're right. I don't have to place it in my mouth literally right after, though. I'll wait until after the first task. And they've sent first years in there for detention, remember? They had no problem with having Malfoy and I go alone. That was three years ago too. I didn't have the spell knowledge I have now. I'm sure my Shield Charm will be good enough, and that Arietes Augue spell should deal with most things — though it can leave a nasty burn if you don't do it right. Protego, Praesidio Incaedium, Arietes Augue, Avada Kedavra..."
"Iris..."
"Alright, alright, no Killing Curse."
Fleur saw Hermione talk quietly to Iris for a few more moments before giving her a long and tight hug, and then the two went their own paths. Once Hermione had gone into the castle and Iris was near the edge of the forest, Fleur followed her, forgetting what she had originally intended to do.
As she followed Iris from a distance, curious as to where exactly Iris would be going to in the Forbidden Forest, she thought about what she had heard. She really didn't know what to make of most of it.
What had Iris Potter been at for a week? Another spell, perhaps? Something similar to the Patronus, something that could help her in the first task? Whatever it was, it took most months or years. Had she also learned the Patronus in a week? Fleur wouldn't believe that even if Dumbledore himself told her so. She had been working on the Patronus for almost three weeks and all she could get was a small shield of silvery mist. It was irritating considering she had nearly practiced every single day. Madame Maxime constantly pressuring her definitely didn't help.
Then there was talk of Basilisks and flesh-eating children. She had heard a rumor of Iris battling a Basilisk in her second year, but that was obviously just a rumor.
There was the leaf and the potions, and especially the Portkey. Where would a fourth year get a Portkey from? As for the other two things, perhaps she was going to do a ritual. Not all of them were dark after all.
Iris could also cast a Proximity Ward, a decent sized one as well. Fleur had only learned to cast one last year.
Another point to Iris Potter.
She had no idea what Praesidio Incaendium or Arietes Augue was.
Another thing that stood out was the mention of someone named Sirius. It wasn't exactly a common name, and yet, it couldn't be Sirius Black, could it? Rumor was the man had betrayed the Potters and wanted to kill the last living one. It was then Fleur realized that she had completely lost Iris.
"Merde," she muttered as she began to walk back, not only because she had lost Iris but because she couldn't figure out exactly what she and her friend had been talking about. She wasn't a fan of riddles.
On the way back, she began looking down the lakeside. Back home, in France, she had her own spot at Beauxbatons — a little haven of hers that she had partially made herself. It was near a waterfall and a large pond, a very beautiful location. Her mother, who was very talented even while at school, had selfishly placed it under the Fidelius before Fleur even started attending Beauxbatons, not that Fleur minded once she actually saw the place.
When the time came for her first year, her mother had made one of the teachers there the Secret Keeper, a friend of the family. Fleur couldn't be the Secret Keeper, as the Fidelius would get weaker the longer the Secret Keeper stayed within it. Otherwise, people could just hide Secret Keepers within the Fidelius protected location and the secret would never get out.
Fleur grew her favorite flowers there and added a large and comfortable hammock in between two of the trees. She Transfigured the rocks and branches lying about into a table she could do her homework on, and she fashioned herself a small bookcase that was built into the underside of the table. A chair was added too, of course.
She even added a firepit for the colder nights. It wasn't that she needed one, as warming charms always did the trick just fine, but the sound of fire crackling and the orange glow it emitted made the place feel more like a small home.
She would spend almost every weekend there, sleeping in the hammock — for she was much lazier than she let on, swimming in the large pond, or even just doing her homework. She became steadily more isolated, only keeping a few friends — most of them being the staff. Even there, she wasn't all too close to them. This led to her spending more and more time in her Safe Haven, as she called it.
As she thought of home and how little she cared for Hogwarts, and Britain in general, she began to get more frustrated with Madame Maxime for pressuring her into coming, and herself for giving in to the pressure. She didn't care for Hogwarts, nor the tournament, nor any of it really. She had nothing here. She shouldn't have bothered with putting her name into the Goblet of Fire. It was all so stupid.
She didn't care for glory and fame. She wouldn't have minded the money, as her family was only above average in terms of wealth, but it certainly wasn't anything to risk dying for. She had so little to strive or live for in France though, outside her family; no wonder it was so easy for Madame Maxime to convince her to try out for the Triwizard Tournament; no wonder she couldn't produce a Patronus.
She snapped out of her thoughts as she saw what she was looking for. It was a peninsula leading out to the Great Lake. There were plenty of trees on it. She could only dream of casting the Fidelius, so she'd have to rely on natural cover. The trees would do. There were even rocks at the edge of it. She could easily create a small pool for herself by levitating the rocks around. It looked as if it had a nice spot for a hammock, with a nice view even.
It could be the best she could hope for, here in Hogwarts, when it came to finding herself a new Haven. She'd be here for another seven months. She might as well give herself something to enjoy.
And so, Fleur set out to explore the peninsula and see if it was good enough.
The Forbidden Forest
Iris had been walking in the Forbidden Forest for fifteen minutes, and yet, the beacon still felt far off. How longer was it? She was surprised to not have encountered anything even close to dangerous yet. In fact, she didn't think she had encountered anything at all outside of a few birds when she first entered the forest. She would have expected something… anything, really, even a squirrel would have eased her nerves.
And when she noticed what else felt off, her nerves only got worse. Her thoughts about not seeing any other living things made her realize one thing.
Outside the noise she was making, it was completely silent.
Not only was it so dark that it almost looked like nighttime thanks to the large trees, but she couldn't hear a single sound outside the ones she was making. And a second later, she wasn't making any either outside her heartbeat. She had stopped breathing, and began to listen.
Nothing. There weren't even the gusts of wind.
Was it foolish that she had gone out here alone?
She began to think so.
In the safety of Hogwarts, the Forbidden Forest seemed alright; not that bad; the thought of going in alone maybe even felt a little exciting.
Now though?
Now she was all alone in an ominous forest, where the trees blocked out the sun, where silence prevailed so heavily that her heartbeat sounded like war drums, where she felt like a hundred eyes were watching her all at once.
She fingered her Portkey. Maybe she should just use it and come back later with someone else? Having Hermione here would be a dream come true. Even better, Ron. She was much closer to Hermione, but Hermione didn't share her sense of humor the way Ron did. She needed humor right now. It was her defensive mechanism, and she knew it.
Phoenix Wings. That was all she had to say and she'd be whisked away to Dumbledore's office. So simple, so tempting, yet she felt like she shouldn't.
No, she should continue.
Iris marched on, ignoring the fact it seemed to be getting darker, ignoring the silence outside the crunching leaves and snapping twigs, and most of all, not daring to look behind her. She held her wand tighter. She knew Protego, and would throw it up instantly if she felt anything was suddenly too close.
The loud snapping of a twig made her stop. She had been carefully avoiding anything that would make too much noise, and she knew she had not been the one to step on any branches. She turned to look at the direction the noise came from, and nearly gasped.
A floating skull was staring right at her. It looked to be the skull of a stag, given the structure and the antlers. Iris stared at it for a moment before noticing that it wasn't floating at all. It was connected to a grey body, one that looked more like it belonged to a very muscular and large bull than a stag, and one that had two large wings folded by its body.
Iris had no idea what it was, but its appearance was enough to make her slowly walk away. The creature stared at her for a moment, before turning around and walking away too.
Iris let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding, and turned back to continue on her way. She decided it was dark enough for her to use her invisibility cloak now. She hadn't wanted to use it before because she didn't want the cloak to tear from the branches on the floor. Lifting it up would make her feet visible, making it not worthwhile to use. But now the forest was dark, and in front of her, the forest became so suddenly pitch-black that Iris was sure it was unnatural.
"Lumos Maxima," she muttered under her breath. Her wand lit and she immediately flicked it, sending the ball of light ahead, into the darkness. To her disbelief and terror, the ball of light disappeared into the shadows, as if it was swallowed up.
Iris stood there for a moment, unsure if she should continue. She lit her wand again and sent another ball of light, this time paying much closer attention.
The light would travel, lighting everything as it should, until it reached a certain point — where the unnatural blackness seemingly began, and then, it would just disappear as if the spell was cancelled.
A voice from behind her caused her to jump in fright and let out a shriek.
"It is not — I did not mean to frighten you, young one," said a centaur. "But as I was saying, it is not usual for a human to be this far into the forest, much less a young one as you. And to be so close to the shadows, tell me, why is it you are here?"
Iris took a moment regain her composure. "I — I need to find something. It's that way," she said, pointing towards the shadowy part of the forest.
The centaur raised its eyebrows. "Why?"
"I'm trying to become an Animagus, and this is part of the process," Iris said, realizing there was really no harm in revealing her plan to one centaur. It wasn't as if this lone centaur would go to the Ministry to tell them.
The centaur didn't say anything for half a minute, and Iris wasn't really sure what to do, but then he responded. "Your Place of Power is calling to you from within the shadows?" he asked, looking up at what would be the sky if the trees didn't cover it.
"Er — Place of Power?" Iris asked.
His head snapped down to gaze at Iris. "I have stalled you long enough. The ones who lurk amongst the shadows have passed, and you may enter safely. There will be no need for your Cloak of Invisibility; there is no sight in the shadows. There is only darkness. Travel quickly," he said. And with that, he turned and galloped away, leaving a frightened Iris behind.
"The ones who lurk amongst the shadows— what the hell does that mean?" Iris muttered to herself, rubbing her arms in an attempt to put herself at ease.
It wasn't working.
She looked down at her Portkey again and began rubbing the silver phoenix pendant. She'd use it only if she had to. She had to do this. She didn't need to become an Animagus, but she wanted to do something impressive besides the Patronus. She had learnt that almost out of necessity.
Her father, Remus, and Sirius had all become not only Animagi, but they had made the Marauder's Map. Iris didn't know how she would even start with making such a complicated piece of magic. Her mother was the best in school at Ancient Runes at the age of fourteen, and was apparently great in most of the other subjects. Perhaps they were romanticizing her a bit, but Iris doubted all the praise came from nowhere.
There were the mirrors that they had made as well. The twins made all kinds of pranking objects, something that, again, Iris wouldn't know where to start with if she wanted to do the same. Snape had once told her he had created spells in his time at Hogwarts as a way to show Iris how utterly pathetic she was.
And outside the Patronus, wasn't she a bit?
What exactly had she done in her three years of Hogwarts besides get into trouble and save people's lives? Sure, the latter was worth mentioning, but that was mostly luck and the help of others. Snape's spells were unique, whatever they were. The Marauder's Map was unique — and still is. The twins would likely create all new kinds of interesting magical objects within a few years.
She had completed the meditation part of the Animagus process within a week. She would follow through with this and hopefully become the quickest Animagus in recent history. It would be something she could actually be proud of, something she actually worked towards. Outside the Patronus, something she believed anyone could learn if they dedicated enough time to it, she didn't really have anything.
Her mother was the one who stopped Voldemort, not her. Her scar meant nothing, really. She was good at Quidditch, sure, but that came naturally. She didn't have to practice nonstop to become as good as she was. She was just a natural at it, and not only that, but she had the fastest broom in the school. She couldn't exactly be too proud of winning Quidditch games, could she?
She had told the twins she would try in the tournament, and while she certainly meant she would try, she wasn't planning on doing her best. The more she thought about it, though, the more she began to want to try her best. She most certainly didn't want any more fame, but at this stage, could she really gain any more from winning one tournament? And if she did win, it would be against three seventh years. She'd prove Snape wrong with that, that was for certain.
Iris shook herself mentally, and stared back into the shadows.
Why not?
What was the worst that could happen?
She began walking towards it.
She was inches away from the wall of shadow.
She took a step in and everything went black. She hadn't passed out, her vision was just all black. She lifted her hands to her face and she could see them. She could see her entire body and even the ground, but really only a circle of a few feet could be seen.
She closed her eyes and and felt her beacon — Place of Power? — reaching for her. She walked on, looking only at the ground not just to avoid tripping on anything but because it was pointless looking anywhere else — there was only blackness.
Iris had been walking for a few minutes in the dark, not being able to see two feet in front of her, when the sound of something disturbed her. Up until now, there was only quiet. And now, there was a strange sound that she couldn't explain fully. It sounded a bit like a bird call of a diver bird, except far more mournful and haunting. A plaintive wailing of sorts. Whatever it was, it let out single eerie tones that lasted for five to ten seconds before repeating.
Iris felt shivers go up her spine. She clutched her wand in her right hand and the Portkey in the other.
After two minutes of more walking, the wails stopped and it was silent again.
After a few moments of silence, another wail came.
This one was closer. Much closer. It sounded as though it was only fifty feet away.
Iris spun around, her hairs more on end than ever before. The phoenix pendant was slipping from her sweaty palm and she clutched it tighter, not caring that the sharp edges were digging into her skin. She lit her wand again, but it provided no light whatsoever.
Another wail. Twenty feet away.
"Lumos Maxima!" Iris shouted in a panic. No light came. "Incendio!" she tried again, and she witnessed the flames get swallowed by darkness a mere foot from her wand.
Suddenly, what must have been only five feet from her, a large piercing, wailing scream made Iris scream herself. She took a step backwards, only to trip and fall.
"Phoenix Wings!" she shouted, no longer able to stand it. She wanted to go back. She didn't think it was worth it. There were other ways of proving herself. She wasn't even sure she'd want to come back at all, even if it was with Dumbledore himself.
It was then that Iris realized the Portkey had not worked. She shouted the phrase again, but nothing happened. There was no tug behind her navel, no anything at all. She sent a pulse of magic into it, thinking maybe that was what was needed and said the phrase again.
She remained right where she lay.
She wanted out. The entire place felt off, as if something dark, deep, and sinister was lurking just out of sight, and if she turned around too suddenly, a great and evil entity would be there, a tall and intimidating form staring down at her, without blinking.
The wailing seemed to be getting louder. It was surrounding her on all sides. Wail after wail. Scream after scream. The darkness seemed to be closing in. Iris couldn't move out of terror. The feeling of dread, of something unnatural being nearby, returned. She knew it was watching her. She didn't think even dementors had terrified her to this point. She was sweating. The wails were getting louder. They were deafening. She thought her eardrums would burst.
"Iris," came a voice from nearby.
Iris looked around, but all she could see was blackness and shadowy tendrils reaching out for her. They wrapped around her legs and began pulling her into the black. She screamed and clawed into the ground, but ground itself seemed to be made out of the very same substance — a fluid-like shadow.
She closed her eyes and screamed in terror.
"Wake up."
She opened her eyes, and she saw Hermione looking at her.
"You need to wake up," Hermione said, her face completely blank.
Iris sat up in her bed and took a look around and saw she was in her dorm room, but it looked… off. She didn't know what was different. She glanced at Hermione, whose face was still blank.
"Hermione? What the — what happened?" Iris asked in a panicked tone. There was absolutely no way it was just a nightmare. It couldn't have been.
"You need to wake up," Hermione said again, staring into Iris's eyes.
"What? I am awake — what the hell is wrong with you?" Iris asked, unsettled as she had noticed how none of Hermione's facial features outside her mouth seemed to move at all. "Hermione?"
"You mustn't stay, lest you descend into never ending madness," Hermione said in a voice that was not hers, but rather that of a male — a familiar one too. It was the voice of the centaur she had spoken to before.
The walls of the room began to change, darken, and they all became the shadowy walls of blackness Iris had seen in the forest.
Everything went dark again, and then a small amount of light appeared, and illuminated over it was the centaur she had spoken to.
"Come, young one. Do not let the dreams beckon, you mustn't leave the waking world," he said, pulling Iris to her feet. He held in his hand a crystal that emitted light, and unlike any of her spells, it seemed to push the shadows back. "Come, I will take you beyond."
Iris stook close to the centaur, flinching whenever she thought she saw a tendril of shadow reaching for her out of the corner of her eye. She wasn't even sure if she was really awake; everything still felt like an odd dream. The reality around her seemed distorted. She felt like she was in a whole other world, a new reality.
In what felt like no time at all, the centaur stopped and said, "We are here. Take a step forward and you will enter the heart of the forest. I will not wait for you. You must find your own way back. One of your kind saved my life before, and I have repaid the debt. Goodbye, prophesied one."
"P-prophesied?" Iris asked, turning to the centaur, but the centaur was already gone. Iris turned back around and could just faintly see trees through the darkness. She took two step forwards, and suddenly, it was day time. She spun around in amazement and saw that the wall of black was still there. Unlike the entrance to the shadows, however, the shadows seemed to be attempting to breach through an invisible wall.
Iris reached a hand out, wanting to see if there was a wall stopping the shadows from entering the so-called heart of the forest. Her hand went right through, and entered the shadows.
Before she could pull it out, she felt something graze her hand — she immediately pulled it out as quickly as she could, and as her hand was brought back, another hand reached out and slammed against the invisible barrier, before slowly withdrawing.
Iris stared in shock at where the hand had been. What had she gotten herself into? This is something she would have expected out of one of the horror movies Dudley would watch. It didn't even make any sense. She checked the time, and to her surprise, she had been in there for less than twenty minutes. She could have swore it felt like much longer.
What was the shadows? What the hell was in it? How the hell was she supposed to get back? Why does it suddenly stop? Why does this part of the forest look nothing like the Forbidden Forest?
Indeed, it looked nothing like the gloomy forest she had just come from. It was actually beautiful. The leaves of the trees were bright green, and the sun actually reached through the top of the trees. The trees themselves looked as though they were breathing. They swayed, but there wasn't nearly enough wind to make them do so. They felt alive.
The ground also caught her eye.
It was absolutely covered in flowers. The majority of them looked to be bluebell flowers, but there were also red, pink, and violet flowers. A light mist hung in the air, highlighted by the beams of sunlight, but it only enhanced the forest's beauty.
It looked like a place out of a fairy tale.
Iris stared at it in awe, not believing that just behind her, a twisted place of abominations lay, attempting to corrupt this gorgeous part of the forest. And the more she thought of it, the more she wanted to get away from wall of shadow — and so, she began walking further into the heart of the forest, breathing in air that felt fresher than anything she had breathed in before.
She saw a unicorn far to her right. It didn't acknowledge her, so she kept going, tugging at the pull of the Place of Power to get a feel on where it could be. For a few more moments, there was only the crunching of the leaves, grass, and flowers beneath each of her steps.
Then there was a screech, and Iris snapped her head to where it had come from.
She couldn't even begin to process what it was before she was forced to duck under the big flying beast which flew low to the ground. She turned her head from the ground and watched it — a griffin — fly away, up and up, through the top of the trees, and out of view.
Iris stared at where it had disappeared from view for a moment before shaking her head, and continuing on, walking towards the place she felt she needed to be.
She walked slowly, taking in the beauty around her, breathing in the fresh air, and watching the interesting magical creatures in this part of the forest. A few griffins, another unicorn, a pegasus, a group of kneazles, a white bunny with wings, a few hippogriffs, and plenty of non-magical animals as well.
The one that really caught her eye was on a branch of a tree, a look of curiosity upon its face as it looked down at her. She wasn't sure exactly what it was, but it looked a bit like a phoenix, except it was not red.
Its eyes were blue, except lighter. They nearly shone — almost like a sapphire. Its head looked like that of a phoenix, as did most of its body, but the beak was much straighter than that of a phoenix's beak, and the feathers that extended from its head went further out than those she had seen on Fawkes.
Fawkes's plumage was scarlet-and-gold. This one was mostly midnight blue, but there were also other shades of blue. Fawkes's beak had a sudden downturn at the end of it, while this one only had the slightest of curves at the end. The eyes of Fawkes were purely black, and this one had blue ones that were nearly glowing.
Fawkes was fierce looking. This one's appearance was elegant, graceful, perhaps even feminine.
"You're a pretty little birdie."
The bird let out a sound that could only mean indignation.
"Er — right, not little. What are you, a phoenix?" Iris asked uncertainly.
It shook her head, and then, instead of the flames Iris expected, there was a large flash of light that burst out of the bird, temporarily blinding Iris, and a large clap of thunder right after. After her vision cleared and began working two seconds later, Iris noticed that the bird was gone.
There was another thunderclap from behind her, and startled, Iris jumped up and around in fright, only to have to quickly duck as the strange phoenix-bird attempted to hit her head with one of its wings. It landed back on its branch and stared at Iris as if expecting her to piece it together.
"Thunderbirds don't do that," Iris murmured to herself, and neither did phoenixes. "Whatever, I don't have time for riddles. See ya, birdie."
The bird didn't let a trill this time, but what could only be described as a sonic scream.
Iris clapped her hands over her ears. The scream was deafening. Her eardrums must have been pierced by nails, as it felt as though hammers were being pounded against the sides of her skull. But a second later, it was over and Iris was left gaping at the bird, which looked to have a look of smugness on its face.
"What the hell? You ugly little —"
The bird opened its mouth again, as though daring Iris to finish her sentence.
Grumbling to herself at the absurdity of the situation, Iris turned her back on it and continued walking, ignoring the indignant squawks of the phoenix-hybrid-thing. Fifty feet later, she noticed that the angry squawking was still nearby. Iris turned her head and saw that the bird had begun flying from branch to branch, but the squawks, somehow, didn't seem genuine. It was almost as if it was just being playful, and Iris wasn't sure how she knew this, but it was like Fawkes: she just knew, somehow.
"I can't speak avian, you ruddy bird," Iris muttered as she kept walking towards her destination. Her legs were starting to get tired. She felt as though she had been walking for hours now, and the annoying sounds the bird was making was starting to get on her nerves. It was as if it was trying to annoy her as much as possible, acting like a complete maniac, constantly squawking, flying down to smack Iris on the back of her head with its wings, letting out half a second sonic screams directed in a direction that wouldn't hurt her ears, but would make her want bury her head in the ground anyway.
Finally, after five more minutes of walking and being smacked upside the head, Iris had enough.
"Do it again, you goddamn peacock. I'll feed you to the fucking squid."
The bird's eyes widened to a comical level, and it stared at her, unblinking, for so long that Iris wasn't sure whether she should laugh or be unnerved. For such an elegant and majestic looking creature, it sure knew how to make itself look absolutely ridiculous.
"Two can play at that game," Iris said, widening her own eyes just as much.
The bird's lower beak dropped, and its eyes remained wide open.
Iris repeated the action, holding back laughter at what her life had become.
The bird stared at her for a moment, its beak still low and its eyes wide again, before slowly tipping over and falling off the branch. There was a soft thud as the creature hit the ground, and Iris rolled her eyes at the theatrics. Were all phoenixes — or phoenix-like birds — like this? Fawkes certainly wasn't this dramatic, that was for sure.
Iris turned and started speed walking away, each step making her come closer and closer to sighing in relief, for she didn't hear anything else from the blasted thing.
Unfortunately, her sense of relief was short lived.
She came across a clearing, and as soon as she stepped into it, she knew this was it. Her Place of Power. Her beacon. Whatever people called it, this was it. She could feel the power radiating from beneath the dirt, and she wasn't quite sure how. She had never felt it before. Before she could get ready, however, a voice spoke from behind her, causing Iris to jump in fright for the third time that day.
"It has been a long time since I, myself, have faced an enigma," said a creature Iris definitely did not expect to see here, one with the body of a lion and the head of a woman, her voice melodic in the way it spoke.
The sphinx stared at Iris, who was pale and wide-eyed, but this time, it wasn't to mock a dramatic bird. A sphinx. She had read about them, of course, and she was not pleased to see one. When she had read about the history of Triwizard Tournaments, she had read about one task featuring a sphinx. The sphinx in that task had brutally slaughtered two of the champions.
This sphinx seemed to sense her internal panic. "Don't worry, I won't kill you, but I will ask that you leave."
"Could I — may I use this spot for the next twenty-four hours, please?" Iris said in a weak voice, before quickly adding, "If not, I completely understand and I'll leave you alone."
The sphinx tilted her head. "And why must you use this spot? I am not fond of this spot in particular, but rather this whole part of the forest. I don't like humans much, rude little beings, them."
Iris stared, her jaw slightly hanging, before saying, "I — I apologize for them. Our kind can definitely be rude. I… I just wish to use this spot to meditate for twenty-four hours. I want to become an Animagus, you see, and my beacon — Place of Power, I'm not sure what you'd call it — is here, in this spot."
The eyebrows of the sphinx rose an inch. "Here?" she asked. "Normally, I would say no and tell you to leave, or maybe maul you until you got the message, but you've made me… intrigued."
"Could I —" Iris gave a nervous laugh "— intrigue you enough to convince you to let me stay here for a day?"
"Perhaps. I'll let you use it, if you can answer my riddles," she said, smiling deviously. "It would help soothe my nerves," she purred.
"A riddle?" Iris asked, confused. Why would a riddle help with anything?
"Oh yes. If you can't answer it, you're not intelligent enough to be here and will likely be foolish enough to try and do something I wouldn't like," she said in a dangerous tone, and Iris had to fight back the urge to swallow. "But if you are able, you might convince me that you're intelligent enough to know that should you try anything here, anything I don't like, I'll kill you."
Iris nodded slowly. "Of course. Er — what's the riddle?"
"Riddles, sweet one. Plural. Answer all three by telling me the phrase I want, and I'll let you use this spot."
"Okay," Iris said, nodding. "Give me the riddles."
"Walk on the living ones, and not even will they mumble. Walk on the dead ones, however, they mutter and grumble. What are they? Next, what is as light as a feather, but becomes harder to keep the longer you hold it? And finally, what exists when one person has it, but ceases to exist when another gets it? String the answers together, and you will hear of that which you are incapable of hearing."
Iris frowned. She got the third one almost instantly, or at least she thought she did. Secrets. Secrets stop existing when another gets it, don't they? She hated that it was the thought of what Pettigrew did that made her think of the answer.
"How many chances do I have? What happens if I'm wrong?" Iris asked.
"You only have one chance at the final answer. Feel free to guess the individual answers wrong all you want, but I likely won't tell you if you're right or wrong. If you're wrong about the final answer, I will force you to leave this place."
"Right. The third has got to be secrets, doesn't it?" Iris asked.
The sphinx only smiled.
She had no idea where to even start with the first riddle, so she moved on to the second one. Working backwards had helped before, maybe it would again. "What becomes harder to keep the longer I hold it? A fart?"
The sphinx let out a laugh. "For amusing me, I will tell you that you are thinking of the wrong hole."
The wrong hole? She assumed the answer wasn't any other gross thing, and that crossed out two holes of hers. Iris blushed thinking of it. Anything involving ears didn't make sense, but her mouth? Her mouth spoke and breathed air, and that had to be it!
"Air, right?" Iris asked, but the sphinx didn't respond.
She had the last two, but it didn't make sense. Blank, air, secrets? She ignored the nonsense for now. It would be best to figure out the first one, but she had no idea what the answer could be. Dead ones that mutter and grumble? A shudder went down her spine as she thought of what she had read about Voldemort in the war. Inferi. He was fond of Inferi, and Inferi might mutter and grumble despite being dead.
But that answer didn't make sense. It wasn't about people or bodies. It had to be of something else that could live and die. Plants came to mind, but she couldn't recall any plants that would mutter and grumble when dead. Perhaps, it didn't mean to literally grumble. Maybe it meant that they just made noise. Still, what plant makes noise only when it dies?
Iris looked up at the sphinx, who had settled herself onto the ground, the leaves crunching beneath her. Iris opened her mouth to speak, but closed it. What the hell could it be?
She heard a trill, and immediately groaned. That bloody bird, couldn't it leave her alone? She turned to glare at the creature, and gave it a look of dislike. Couldn't it have just stayed in that pile of —
"Leaves!" Iris suddenly blurted out.
The sphinx raised an amused eyebrow and looked away.
Leaves air secrets. Well, that made no sense whatsoever. Leaves air out secrets? Leaves breath secrets? No, leaves breathe secrets? None of that made any sense! Is that what she would hear, leaves that breathed out secrets? Leaves that spoke of secrets?
The trees did feel alive here. The way they creaked and groaned as they swayed in the wind, which wasn't nearly as strong as it should have been to make the trees move as they did.
Nonetheless, leaves that breathed secrets? If the trees here spoke some language she couldn't hear or understand, it made sense. But the leaves? And secrets? What kind of bloody secrets did trees have? She instantly felt stupid. If trees could hear people, they'd have all sorts of secrets. But here, in the middle — heart — of the forest? Could they pass on secrets to the other trees? Iris humored herself on how the secrets would eventually become completely different by the end, like a very long version of the telephone game that she had played in muggle school.
"Leaves breathe secrets?" Iris muttered, not realizing she had just given her one chance up until she already said it. Her head snapped up and she was ready to protest that it wasn't her answer, but the sphinx was smiling.
"Very good," she said, to the astonishment of Iris. "Indeed, the leaves here breathe secrets. They whisper in the winds; you need only listen."
"I thought you said I was incapable of hearing whatever it was?" Iris asked, still a little stunned she had gotten the answer right. Hermione was the one to get these kind of things, not her.
"You are. But sit down here, and do what you must. I have not left this part of the forest for years, and yet, I know that of the tournament your school holds. The trees hear it, and by extension, their leaves do, leaves that can travel through the wind, leaves that make their way here, to me. I need only listen to know what goes on in the outside world."
Flabbergasted, Iris could only nod.
"You're welcome to use this spot for as long as you wish," the sphinx said as it put its head down and closed its eyes.
"H-here? You're okay with falling asleep with me here?" Iris asked.
The sphinx smiled, but didn't open her eyes. "While you puzzled yourself over the riddles, I listened to the wind, and it spoke of you, Iris Potter. I need not fear from you."
"Would it possible for me to learn how to —"
"No," the sphinx interrupted. "You're a human. Come back to me when you're not."
"Right. Er — are you going to stay here? I don't know if I'll be attacked while I do this. I can set up a Proximity Ward if you won't. And could you maybe get my attention after twenty-four hours? Or preferably twenty-five just to be sure?"
"I'll make sure you aren't disturbed, and yes, I will wake you," she replied.
Iris had a feeling that the phoenix-like bird, which was on a high branch looking down at them now, would end up disturbing her anyway, sphinx or not.
She cast a Cushioning Charm on where she was going to sit and got down on her knees, resting her backside on the back of her ankles. With the Cushioning Charm in place, her knees didn't hurt and her toes weren't being forced to curl uncomfortably due to the pressure of her body leaning on her feet.
She searched through the small bag she had brought with her, and pulled out the Neutralizing Potion, and drank it. The effects of the Essence of Nature potion were gone within seconds, and Iris cleared her mind. She entered her trance much quicker than she expected, and before she could even think of how odd it all was, her life began flashing before her eyes.
Beauxbatons Carriage
"Fleur! Where have you been?" asked an agitated Madame Maxime.
Fleur fought the urge to roll her eyes. "I have been out and about, Madame Maxime."
And she had been. Fleur had found herself a nice spot on the peninsula and though she hadn't recreated what she had in France, she had sat there, upon the rocks with small waves from the lake crashing against her bare feet, and enjoyed the sunset. She hadn't seen Iris Potter walk out of the forest, and her spot gave her a view that would let her see the edge of the forest closest to the castle.
"Well?"
"Well what?" Fleur asked.
"Don't cheek me," Madame Maxime said. Fleur opened her mouth to retort, but she beat her to it. "What did you find out about Potter? Did you go and apologize?"
"No, I didn't. She went into ze Forbidden Forest before I could. I could 'ave called out to her, but I was curious as to where she was going. I did overhear 'er talking with 'er friend, zat 'Ermione Granger."
"And?" Madame Maxime asked, curiosity burning in her eyes.
Fleur did roll her eyes this time. "You realize I do not care about zis tournament nearly as much as you do, correct?"
"Answer the question, Fleur," Madame Maxime snapped.
"I don't know! Zey talked about a lot. Iris 'as been doing something, but I do not know what it is."
"Some spell?" Madame Maxime asked, and Fleur didn't know whether to be amused or angry at how she wasn't even bothering to hide the fact that she was obsessed with Fleur winning the tournament. Anything for the glory of Beauxbatons, she supposed.
Fleur sighed. "I don't know. Whatever it was, 'er friend said zat it took —"
"That, Fleur, not zat."
"That it took most people months or years to accomplish, and that the fact Iris 'ad done it within a week was a miracle. They didn't elaborate."
"Something that takes years to accomplish, yet she did it in a week? What else?"
"They spoke of a Basilisk. I remember hearing a rumor of Iris battling a Basilisk, but I assumed it to be false. Apparently, Newt Scamander is updating his book, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, with two new edits. One for Acromantulas being in some forest, and another for the encounter Iris 'ad with a Basilisk."
"So Dumbledore wasn't jesting? Continue," Madame Maxime said, staring at the wall in thought.
"There was something of flesh-eating children," Fleur said, and Madame Maxime's eyes quickly bore into Fleur. "But I must've misunderstood zat. Iris also 'ad some leaf she needed, and potions she did not elaborate on. And a Portkey. She 'ad a Portkey, and I'm not sure 'ow."
"Is that it?"
"No, zere was some ritual Iris was to do or something, but again, no elaboration. And she can cast a Proximity Ward, large enough to cover this carriage."
Madame Maxime's eyes flared. "She is casting spells on our carriage?"
"What? No, zat's not what I meant. She is just capable. Mon Dieu, you are paranoid. And zere were other spells zey mentioned, but I did not recognize their incantations."
"What were they?" Madame Maxime asked.
"I don't remember the second one, but Iris said it could burn 'er 'ands or something if she was not careful. It was a two part incantation, and both words started with the letter A, but zat is all I remember. The other one was called Praesidio Incaendium."
Madame Maxime's eyes widened. "Praesidio Incaendium?" she whispered.
"What?" Fleur asked, concerned. "What does it do?"
"Dragons," Madame Maxime said quietly.
"Dragons? What of zem?"
"Them, Fleur, not zem. Praesidio Incaendium is a shield spell, used to stop dragonfire."
Fleur's eyes widened as well at this. "Dragonfire? I thought a third of dragon 'andlers could not even produce a spell to stop dragonfire?"
"That is correct, it is a very difficult spell to learn. And should you learn it, it does not mean you can use it well enough against dragons. It is like the Patronus. Producing it without dementors around will be much easier than with, just as Praesidio Incaendium is much easier to produce when you do not have dragonfire battering the shield. This might mean that dragons will be involved in a task if she is attempting to learn that, however foolishly."
"What do you mean, foolishly?"
"She is foolish to attempt to learn that spell, as the first task is five days away and given the history of the Triwizard Tournament, large dangerous creatures are usually in the first task —"
Fleur didn't bother saying anything, because it sure sounded as though Iris had already learned it, and she would rather not have Madame Maxime harping on about her learning another difficult spell. She didn't feel it necessary to mention Sirius Black, either.
Instead, Fleur got up and left Madame Maxime to her rambling, not bothering to say goodbye or goodnight. Madame Maxime's hunger for fame and glory was making Fleur realize that there was a chance that her headmistress didn't really care for her, that if she wasn't as skilled as she was and capable of being the champion, Madame Maxime wouldn't talk to her at all. This depressing thought made the feeling of loneliness become heavier.
The Heart of the Forbidden Forest
It felt as though she had been meditating for hours. A part of her wondered if those hours would turn out to be days in real life, but that would be ridiculous. The sphinx would surely get her attention. And if she didn't —
No, she had to stay focused. She had to let the memories keep coming. By this point, most of her life had flashed by. The tedious and uneventful parts, such as the daily things one would do, flashed by quickly, not giving Iris enough time to even see what part of her life it was.
When the important bits came up, they'd linger for a second, as though somebody else was flicking through her memories and pausing at certain parts, almost as though to judge her. Metaphors aside, it really did feel as if somebody was there with her, watching her memories with her. She didn't know why, but it unnerving. Whoever it was, whatever it was, it wasn't flicking through the memories. It was just there. Watching.
She only let her thoughts linger on it for a second before focusing again on the memories, which were beginning to get closer to now. She was witnessing the Quidditch World Cup. The Dark Mark. The arrival at Hogwarts. Moody's first lessons. The Goblet of Fire. Her name. The second Basilisk. The training. Sirius. The trek through the Forbidden Forest. The shadows. The sphinx.
Now.
Everything vanished. There was nothing that she could see in her mind.
She still felt that other presence, however, and it disturbed her. She dug deep inside her, trying to find whatever it was. She mentally waded through her mind, which was as empty as it could have been. Then she saw it.
Red eyes.
Iris only had a second to panic, but no more to react. The other presence, the one that had unnerved her, the one with the all too familiar red eyes, it lunged at her. She couldn't do anything to stop it. She tried clearing her mind, but this didn't even feel like her mind anymore. It felt deeper. The journal had said soul searching. Was this it?
She had no idea how to fend off this form of Voldemort. She knew there was a part of him inside her, Dumbledore had literally told her so in her second year, but she didn't think it was like this.
Suddenly, a memory assaulted her mind.
She was in a cave, and there were two children with her. They had frightened expressions. A body? No, bodies. There were the dead bodies of animals lying in front of them, a dozen or so of them. The two children wanted to leave. They were terrified, Iris could see it clearly, and she wanted to comfort them, but she only felt some sick sense of pleasure at seeing their fear.
They tried to leave, the children, but they couldn't. She was making them stay. The entrance leading to outside couldn't be found anymore by them, but Iris could see it clearly. Something was making the two children, who couldn't have been over the age of ten, not see it. The boy walked up to her and was demanding something, most likely to be let out, but Iris couldn't hear anything but the blood pulsing in her ears.
Then, the two children fell, their bodies below their necks no longer working. It wasn't a body-bind curse, not one that Iris had ever seen, at the least. They could still move their necks, they could still scream. And they did.
She looked over to the dead animals and lifted a hand towards them.
The dead rabbit's legs twitched.
The dead cat's tail twitched.
One by one, the rabbits, cats, and snakes began moving again, and after a moment, they all stood. Iris smiled, cruelly. She didn't want to, but she couldn't stop it. She looked over to the children, who had stopped screaming, if only out of pure terror. She loved it. She loved the fear she could smell from them, and she wanted more.
Slowly, the dead but animated animals began making their way towards the two children, who could only stare with wide eyes. Slowly, they began crawling over the two, and the whimpers… Oh, the whimpers sung to her. She let the animals crawl over their faces, at which point they finally regained back their voices and began screaming.
Iris had enough. It wasn't her who was doing this, it was him. She pushed the memory away as hard as she could, and it went… It went only to be replaced by another.
She was looking into the open eyes of a man that looked similar to the Tom Riddle she had met in the Chamber, only much older.
She had a little girl squirming in front of her on the floor, her back bending at a nearly unnatural angle as she screamed and screamed until her vocal chords gave out. Only then did she let go of the spell.
She was telling a redheaded woman to move aside, but she would not obey, so she killed her, despite the pathetic wishes of one of his servants.
Yellow eyes stared at her as she commanded the beast to go above, into the castle, and kill. Then a girl with glasses laid on the ground, dead, in the girls' lavatory. Pleasure coursed through her veins, and she begun the ritual.
Memory after memory flashed in front of her eyes, and she couldn't do anything to stop it. She didn't even understand any of them anymore. They were all too quick, too vague, but nonetheless, Iris was forced to watch the blurs of memories pass on by. She resigned herself to letting it all play out. The journal said to let the memories play out, and she couldn't begin to think on how disgusting it all was. She couldn't begin to fathom how she had these memories. That would all have to wait until it was done.
Author's Notes:
The memories of Voldemort will not be what turns Iris turn the grayer path. Nor will she get Voldemort's memories. She will only keep the memory of the cave and a few of the murders, but that's all. This isn't one of those fics where she gets his memories and becomes great at magic or whatever.