Author's note:
Guess who's back! Well, kinda…
So my life has undergone a lot of changes in the past year or so, mostly for the better - and busier (to everyone who thought I might have gotten ill or something bad had happened to me, I'm fine and I'm really sorry for any anxiety I caused!). Basically, my priorities have changed a lot, and I don't have as much free time. Or rather, when I have free time, I haven't felt like I was in the right mental state for writing. My job is quite demanding and writing-intense, and sometimes after a full 8 hours of staring at a screen and typing, the last thing you feel like doing is staring at a screen and typing :P
But I've also come to realise how much I missed reading fanfics (because I also stopped doing that!) and posting chapters, and I missed feeling like I could actually be good at this whole writing thing... And I realised I'm not happy without it in my life. So I'm going to make an effort to MAKE the time and try to work writing back into my list of priorities. I haven't figured out the details yet, but I'm going to try and get some kind of weekly schedule going. Even if it's short chapters, or half-chapters, it's still something, right?
I can't promise updates will be regular going forward, but I am committed to finishing what I started - and that goes for all the stories I began, not just this one.
Lastly, thanks to everyone who PMed me or commented with supportive messages, I haven't had the chance to reply to all of them yet but I really appreciate the support. You guys are a MASSIVE part of why I decided not to abandon these stories, even though it would have been easier. At one stage, I considered deleting my account and closing this chapter of my life, to give up my dreams of becoming a writer - this was when things were getting hectic, and writing seemed like just another thing I didn't have the energy for anymore. It was only serving to make me feel guilty and like a failure... But I've since realised that I can't give up, not while I'm still interested in exploring the characters and worlds I've written about :) I also feel like if just one person reads my stories and wants me to continue, then it's worth it.
So... kinda starting small, but here's the next instalment...
Chapter 38: The Next Step
The startling realisation that Riddle had just escaped immediate death started to sink in.
Amalia was the first to move, pushing herself to her feet and stretching languidly, getting the kinks out of her neck. She drew her wand and unceremoniously cleared all the books from the floor and bed, stacking them into an untidy pile on the kitchen counter, out of the way.
"We should check the Stones outside-" Riddle murmured, inspecting his healed hand by prodding it gingerly. It looked completely normal, as if nothing untoward had happened to it at all. "... There might be a clue for the next location; a map of some kind, or-"
Amalia sighed, feeling the delayed effect of exhaustion starting to sink in - it was the middle of the night, and the adrenaline leaving her system after all the excitement made sleep seem extremely attractive. But even stronger was her curiosity. Now that they'd defeated the first puzzle, what was next? Riddle seemed to be following her train of thought, the exhaustion etched into his pale face being replaced by a kind of unshakeable stubbornness. He tried to stand up, but paused as he was overcome by a moment of dizziness.
"Here, let me-" she extended a hand to help him up.
He stared at her hand as if it was a foreign object (a foreign, bad-smelling object that he had no interest in touching voluntarily) and then got up by himself, successfully this time, brushing rudely past her to exit the tent first.
She rolled her eyes and followed.
Outside the tent, the snow was falling softly - and the clearing was bathed in an eerie blue-ish light, which certainly hadn't been there before. The light was emitting from the central stone in the configuration, and seemed somehow familiar-
"It's turned into a Portkey." Riddle said, approaching the stone and staring at it with rapt attention. "Touching it would probably take us to the next stage..." his hand hesitantly reached out.
Amalia grabbed him by the wrist before he could get any closer, scowling. "Yeah, we're not doing that." she said emphatically. "You literally just escaped certain death. You don't think we should consider this a bit before touching the glowing rock to see what happens? What if it's not a Portkey?!"
He glared at her frostily, and then shook her loose. "I wasn't going to touch it!" he snapped back, "I'm trying to sense if it has the same enchantment signature as a Portkey!"
She frowned. "Oh. You can sense that?"
"Evidently." he sniped, glaring.
"Okay then..." she stepped back slightly, mollified. "... Carry on."
He continued his inspection, carefully bringing his hand close to the stone, leaning forward and concentrating, as if listening to a far-off sound.
Amalia glanced between him and the glowing stone.
"I've used Portkeys many times before, and I never noticed a recognisable signature." she remarked, after almost of a minute of nothing happening.
He made no response, absorbed in whatever-he-was-doing.
"This would be the perfect opportunity for me to get revenge on you, you know." she noted conversationally. "I could push you into the stone and see what happens. It would be poetic justice."
He didn't even look up, which she found slightly insulting.
"You're not even a little worried?" she said sceptically.
"If you'd wanted revenge you would have pushed me when you first thought of it, five minutes ago." he drawled, without looking up.
She grinned. "Perceptive bastard."
After a moment, her grin faded. "But not that perceptive, it seems... Are you done yet?"
"I'm trying to concentrate."
She huffed. "Seriously, what are you trying to sense?"
"I'm sure I'd sense something if I wasn't being interrupted constantly."
She ignored that. "Are you sure this is even a thing?"
He exhaled bad-temperedly and straightened, giving up. "I read it in a book." he admitted, moodily. If it was anyone else, Amalia would have accused them of pouting. "It said you could tell a Portkey by its magical signature, and even be able to sense whether it was touch or time-activated-"
"But you've never actually practiced this ellusive skill?" she finished, exasperated.
He glared. "Do you have any better ideas?"
"Sleep on it and come back in the morning?" she suggested, half-serious. She was really tired.
"By which time it could have vanished and we would have missed our chance for another whole month." he deadpanned.
She had thought of this possibility already, and reluctantly agreed. They may not have an opportunity like this again soon. "Fine..." She paced around the Stone thoughtfully. "Let's see... First, we need to figure out if it is, in fact, a Portkey. Then, if it is, we need to know what type of Portkey it is - touch, or time-activated. Or a combination... And most importantly, we need to find out if touching it will cause instant death... For example, if it drops us into a volcano or something..."
"I hadn't considered that precise scenario, but yes." Riddle said dryly. He thought for a moment. "We could recreate the Portkey enchantment on a new object, and send off a living thing there and back to see what happens."
Amalia blinked. "That's... actually a great idea." she allowed. Enchanting Portkeys was not an especially easy task - especially when one was attempting to insert conditions like the ones Riddle was proposing - but it wasn't impossible. Essentially, they needed to copy across the enchantment (which was easy enough; Portkeys were simple to replicate and therefore a popular choice for mass transportation to big wizarding events, like Quidditch matches) and then they'd have to time-lock it to return in five minutes, bringing back whatever living thing they used as a test subject.
"Yes, I like that idea." Amalia decided. "I can do the Portkey spell... I think. What animal should we-"
"Serpensortia."
"Of course." Amalia muttered, watching a sleek grey snake drop from the tip of Riddle's wand into the snow, where it instantly hissed and recoiled on itself, reacting to the cold. "Of course it would be a snake."
Riddle carefully picked it up and cradled it in his hands, hissing soothingly to the creature in Parseltongue. It seemed to calm instantly, winding around his arm and staring, with its unblinking, beady little eyes, into Riddle's dark gaze as he gave it a full set of instructions to follow.
"Alright then. I guess I'll go ahead and create the Portkey..." Amalia said, and looked around. There was a dead branch on the ground nearby, sticking out from the snow. She picked it up and placed it next to the glowing stone, and then swiftly muttered the replication spell, "Portus effingo..."
The branch glowed bright blue for a moment and then went back to normal - it wasn't activated yet.
Next was a bit harder - she had to activate it by fixing the intention in her mind (and that was often the hardest part) and then carefully enunciating the spell "incipia statum". The first two tries did nothing, but on the third, the branch started glowing blue just like the stone. She had succeeded (she assumed). There was no way of telling until they tested it out.
"We're ready." she announced.
Riddle finished hissing at his pet, and knelt next to the branch.
"Good luck, little guy." Amalia said, feeling a bit sad for the poor creature. Who knew what awaited him.
"She's female, actually." Riddle corrected, and they both watched in sombre silence as the snake extended itself slowly from Riddle's arm onto the snow, and then slithered towards the branch, her forked tongue tasting the air bravely as she approached the glowing object.
Riddle stood up and stepped back, folding his arms impassively.
The snake reached her destination, hesitated, and then in a quick movement, ducked under and around a protruding part of the branch, gripping it firmly with her coils.
There was a flash of light - and the snake vanished.
They would know in five minutes what was waiting for them on the other side... that is, if the snake made it back at all.
So the first chapter in AGES and I give you... gratuitous snake abuse? Even I didn't see that coming before I sat down to write it! :D this is kinda like 1/4 of a chapter... but I'm getting back into the swing of things, and taking it slowly to start :) less pressure that way, I guess.
By all means, leave a comment with any ideas for stuff you'd like to see coming up in the story (any characters from the time period, spells, locations etc). I have a lot planned out already (i.e. the main plot beginning - end), but it's always fun to hear your ideas too, and possibly work them into the grander scheme :)