Disclaimer: I own nothing, all I'm doing is playing in a sandbox made by more talented writers.
Harry exited the bathroom, He was confident that he didn't look as weak as he felt at least. As he made his way over to his friends, the mood of the crowd washed over him. The panic that had been diffused by his intervention with Linus was on the rise again. Restrained but barely.
He felt it as he pushed passed people, some silent, others in the midst of small talk but the small gestures, be it a nervous bite of the lip, a ruffling of hair, or a tweak of the nose, betrayed their fear.
Harry was relieved to find Ron and Hermione, heads bent in whispered conversation behind the bar. He blinked, glancing to their side. The icebox with Linus' leg was merely a foot — he had to stifle a mad giggle — away from them.
He was about to interrupt but they looked up, and to his discomfort, Hermione enveloped him in a hug. Ron rubbed his nose, awkward and uncertain before joining, to Harry's further dismay. He still looked like shite, apparently.
"You alright, mate?"
"Are you okay, Harry?"
They spoke at the same time.
"I'm fine," he said shortly.
"Are you sure, mate?"
"Fine." Harry extricated himself. And if he had to take a moment to rub his eyes, that was neither here nor there. Hermione gave a look of disapproval at the tone he took but at least Ron had the decency to look the other way. He got to brass tacks. "Did you two feel that weird pressure before... everything?"
They nodded.
"Yeah, I thought so, you were quick to react. We can't rule out yet for sure that it was a mistake but, well... what do you guys know about preventing disapparition?"
The crowd buzzed around them as Hermione tapped her fingers on the bar in thought. "Well, we haven't covered them in Defense against the Dark Arts yet, but there are various forms of anti-disapparition jinxes, and they can be cast on an area. It's rather strange though, Hogsmeade isn't supposed to have any aside from charms that are placed on private residences. And that pressure we felt... usually they should just prevent a disapparition with no side effect on the person doing it, otherwise there'd be no end to injuries from rambunctious children and the like..."
Ron chose this moment to interject. "Yeah, this was something else. I haven't felt anything like that since…" He scratched his head. "Remember when I went on that trip to Egypt with the family? Before third year? One of the pyramids we went to, Fred and George wanted to have a laugh and they thought they could get away with trying disapparition in there — there's too much old magic there for the ministry to trace it — thought they could scarper with some treasure behind one of the sealed rooms." He looked a bit wistful for a moment then shook his head.
"Half-hashed ideas seem to be their forte'," Ron continued. "Anyways, Bill nearly had a stroke when he caught them. He gave them a right talking-to and he said that it's possible for cursed objects to spread an anti-apparition jinx. A jinx is likely to be worse than a charm and the consequences for trying to subvert them were dire, you see. His words, not mine. Always picks and chooses when he wants to be the 'cool' brother." He tutted; whether it was over the twin's mischief or Bill's apparent lack of an adventurous spirit, Harry wasn't sure.
Hermione looked impressed that Ron had recalled these details but she didn't mention it, though she looked quite engaged by the idea. "You know, I wonder if Hogwarts uses items like those for their charms. It's a funny idea to me that they would use objects of that kind of power in a school, but it's quite a large area. I wonder if they're somehow similar-"
Harry cut off her impending train of thought, his suspicions confirmed. "Then we're in trouble. Deep trouble. We need to tell everyone. What if more try? What if someone splinches more than just a leg this time? Two legs? Their heart? Can that happen?" He could feel the creep of panic up his spine again. The mood of the mob was rubbing off on him.
His friends shared a look. Harry couldn't quite read the silent communication between them. They turned back to him and nodded gravely.
"Do we tell everyone then?" asked Harry. "I... Won't that make everything worse? What if everyone gets in a frenzy? What if they don't believe us? Just try to brush us off as a bunch of stupid kids?" Harry didn't want to admit it, but his experiences made him wary of relying on adults. It left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Another shared look between his friends — this one said too much.
"Look, I know I get... iffy about this sort of thing but I'm not wrong, am I?" Damn straight, he wasn't wrong. The trio agreed that they shouldn't announce it in the middle of the room. The air was so thick with the trepidation of the crowd it could be cut with a knife.
They hashed it out over the next few minutes. They settled for telling Rosmerta in the end. It was her bar to begin with. If anyone should take responsibility, it should be her, and they hoped the affection she gave freely to Hogwarts students would help them convince her of their case.
They couldn't find Rosmerta between all the people gathered together, so they split up. As Harry maneuvered through the throng of people, the stench came back in full force. It wasn't quite the same as the one that emanated from the viscera of Rowan's pants leg. This was mixed with the scent of Rice-Wine and incense. Something grabbed him by the shoulder. A withered hand with a strong grip masked by its age. He turned around.
Harry looked into blind eyes. Though they twinkled like stars. No. They were more akin to dead-light. He shook his head. A hag. He hadn't noticed her during the commotion and without looking closely she blended into the background of Wizard establishments.
"You. You and the other young ones. You are Ka-tet. Though you'll find more in time. Less young maybe yet..I'm sorry." Her voice was aged. Deep. Like the dark. 'What the hell is wrong with me?'
Harry looked at her blankly. He had to crane his neck as she was a head taller than him, "Uh...Sorry?".
"Yes. You should be. No no no, you're not yet, it's beyond your ken." she sighed, "They have many names, the worlds they come from too. You'll name them in time.", she seemed to size him up at this point, unfortunately she found him wanting.
She looked sadly at him, "It binds us all, you see? Ka. And it's a cruel machine. A wheel. It grinds babes into the dirt for its battle with the Other. What waits for the likes of us is only a deep, dark sea.", she followed the proclamation with a surprisingly casual shrug. As if to say 'What can you do?'. Before Harry could —Defend himself? Interrogate? Question?— her, she disappeared into the crowd, her walk almost ethereal.
Against his better judgement, he was about to give chase before he heard his friends call out to him.
Hermione, Ron and Rosmerta were gathered around Linus. He still hadn't woken up. That couldn't be good. Harry gave up the chase before it started with a huff of annoyance and made his way over to them.
On closer inspection, Linus looked terrible.
The stump hadn't started bleeding again —'thank Merlin'— but he was pale as death. Still breathing but it was getting softer. The stump looked infected. They had done the best they could at the time, but none of them could claim to be knowledgeable on first aid, magical or otherwise, and they were likely lucky they didn't kill him.
A chill went through Harry at the thought. From the looks on his friends' faces, the same thought had already occurred to them.
Rosmerta cut through their thoughts, "I can't thank you three enough for what you did. I'm...a bit awed that you acted so quickly and with such decisiveness. If I ever get ahold of Minerva, I'll make sure she gives you awards to the school, hundreds of points for the rest of time, whatever . I...thank you. Thank you so much.", Rosmerta had to rub her eyes, they were a mite wet. Harry —and clearly Hermione too though a sliver of pride shone out of Ron— felt awkward at the gratitude.
'Anyone else would have done the same'.
Though maybe he was wrong. The mob didn't. Maybe he didn't give them a chance. It was cold comfort.
Having recovered herself, Rosmerta went on, "I think you're right. About the Disapparition Jinx, I'll get everyone to listen but we have another problem. Linus is stable but...well, you can see the state of him. He's still in danger. Hermione here asked about Essence of Dittany. There's an apothecary nearby, Rowan mentioned it. Jenn's not here but I'm sure she'd want to help, not a selfish bone in that one. And we can't take the risk that Rowan's telling porkies about that monster he saw. I'll ask around, we need to form a party.", Harry and his friends were about to volunteer but before they could she stomped her foot.
"No. You've done quite enough and you should have your praises sung from every hill in Scotland as far as I'm concerned but you're...I've heard about your adventures in the school and it's about time we did our jobs as the grown ups in the room."
The three of them still looked mutinous and she sighed. She gathered them all in a strong hug, with a squawk of protest from Harry, and a suspicious lack of it from Ron, "You three are sweet. And you shouldn't have to go through so much, at such a young age too. Let us take the load off."
Harry was still chagrined, hadn't he proved himself time and again? But he let it go, she was right. Ron and Hermione seemed partly relieved. He felt a pang of guilt. He never asked for this, and they sure as hell didn't either.
They'd have followed him anyway.
Now, there was a happy thought.
He coughed awkwardly and begged off, though he promised to return with butterbeer. He needed another moment to himself. The day so far had been an emotional rollercoaster and some warm drink would do them good.
If only it was enough to keep that tingle in his spine at bay.
Harry drew comfort from the scent of the Butterbeer he carried, it washed over him in a wave of warm nostalgia. It carried memories of the invisibility cloak, the Hogwarts kitchens where the House-Elves were always eager to please, Honeydukes...
He was forgetting something important and it bothered him.
Harry arrived back to the table his friends were seated in. Rosmerta was addressing everyone in the room. "Alright you lot, it's time to get our act together. Now there's no way to soften this so I'm just going to say it. We have reason to believe we can't disapparate away from here, that's why our friend from the Ministry splinched himself."
There was silence for a crowd turned on her then. Frenzied in their demands for answers. Harry noticed the hag that had confronted him earlier near the back, almost out of sight. She was wrapped in an eerie calm, her blind eyes—'Dead Lights'— gazed out the window into the dark. As if waiting for something.
Rosmerta had to fire sparks out of her wand to keep the peace, "ALRIGHT, ENOUGH! I know you lot want to get home, it's getting dark out there, and well, we all heard Rowan's story, and no, we don't have floo powder, I was supposed to go out today to get some. But we have an idea, we need to.."
The crowd never found out what they needed to do. At that moment, all light, magical or otherwise, went out.
Darkness.
'Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off —The face of his father—'
'No!'
Several mutters of 'Lumos' filled the room, to keep the unrelenting dark at bay.
'Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!'
'No no no...'
The windows crashed open, the crack of broken glass resounded through the air. And three silhouetted figures craned their necks through.
'Stand aside you silly girl … stand aside now.'
Dementors.
Their dead eyes reflected starlight, the black cloaks seeped in a captivating gore.
The stench of sulphur.
Harry tried covering his ears to rid himself of the voices, to no avail. He knew their source. It wasn't just memory. His internal battle distracted him enough that he didn't see Ron coming. The lanky ginger tackled him and Hermione to the ground. He dragged them under the table for makeshift cover.
The cacophony of the crowd was at its peak. The individuals within, gone. Replaced by the hivemind of the mob, an alien presence within themselves. A formless entity that spoke a truth in reaching hands, kicking legs, and death pushes.
Frenzied.
They—it— pushed passed one another, leaving bodies in their wake, still or otherwise. When they couldn't push, they knocked each other down, hoping their victim would slow the dementors advance. Or worse, appease them.
Hermione had broken into frustrated, terrified tears. Ron was shouting something at him, he could only tell by the 'O' of his mouth. Large, and frantic.
'Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead —–'
Harry slapped himself. Hard.
`Not Harry! Please … have mercy … have mercy…`
He struggled to fish his wand out of his pocket. Rolled out of the cover. He was too slow.
Shrill laughing. A Woman's scream. His mother's.
Hands clammy, quivering, he waved his wand. Shouting the incantation. Trying to summon a kinder memory. Nothing but wisps of silver.
Burning. Pain. Green—Dead—Light. It won't leave.
The dementors had Rosmerta in their grasp. She cried, begged but their lidless eyes held no pity. Yet their gaping maws promised a deep, dark sea.
Dead Light
Her body crumpled to the floor. Still alive. Harry hated the next thought that cemented itself in his head. A painful insight.
He wished she wasn't.
And so the Wheel of Ka turned.
AN: Another chapter done, I hope it satisfies with content rather than its quantity. Things are just getting started, and hopefully it will be a wild ride for all of us. Just wanted to give thanks, to the HPfanfiction and Deadwoodpecker's discord for the advice and encouragement. To my real life friends too, someone has to put up with me at least.
If you like the story so far feel free to leave a review and tell me why, even it if it's just a 'Story good, me like story more story please'. Warms the cockles of my putrid heart. Hey, even if you hated it, feel free to tell me why even if it's "Story bad, me no like story, less story please". There's no such thing as negative press as they say. Also I'll be going back to chapter one, realised that 'Disapparition' rather than 'Apparition' was the proper term. Whoops. Till next we meet, friends!
