by Katie Davidson (Virtue)
The next morning Harry sat next to the window. He didn't sleep a wink last night, thinking about Elora all night. He kept watching the sky's looking for a response from Lupin, Dumbledore, or even Snape - any one who might be able to help them.
Then it came, he saw Dumbledore walk to the door of the house. How did he get it so fast? Wait, Harry shouldn't think that, Dumbledore has always been a wonder, and he didn't care right now... he was here. Harry ran down the stairs and met him at the door, Mr. Danen was already talking to him in the front entrance, "Nice to see you again, sir."
"Albus, please." Dumbledore replied, then looked over to Harry. "Harry, I'm sorry I couldn't come sooner." Just then, Hedwig flew to Harry from behind Dumbledore.
Harry patted Hedwig gently and followed Mr. Danen and Dumbledore into the dining room where Cecil sat, drawing something on a piece of parchment. Cecil looked over to Dumbledore and greeted him; "You must be Professor Dumbledore. It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Cecil."
"Cecil, I heard of you from Elora." Dumbledore said, then stopped when he saw Cecil drop his head and go back to his drawing. "What is that you're drawing?"
"Just about finished," Cecil said, dropping the pencil, and lifting the paper to show everyone. It was a sketch of Elora, as she was the last time they saw her in Castle Gray. They cloak draped over her tall, 20-year-old body, her long dark hair almost to her hips, and the lightened areas of the sketch on her bangs showing the white that would stay no matter what happened.
"Is this Elora?" Dumbledore said, taking the parchment from Cecil. "She couldn't have grown this much in a few months.
"We don't know what happened to do that to her." Mr. Danen said, taking a look at the picture, and turning to Cecil who blushed. "You captured her almost too perfectly."
Cecil coughed lightly, "Well. Now, what are we going to do?"
A knock on the door startled them. Mr. Danen went to the door, opened it, and Professor Lupin stepped into the lobby. "I got the message," he said.
"Come in, you must be Professor Lupin. The others are this way," Mr. Danen said, leading Lupin into the dining room.
Dumbledore gave the sketch to Lupin and said, "What can you make of it?"
Lupin looked the picture over and whistled, "This is Elora? Well, hum... now." He laughed, "I've never seen anything like it. Well I mean, I have, but the spell is hard to come by."
"What sort of spell is it?" Harry asked.
"Well, it's a rare one, Harry. Only found in the Dark Arts, as you already know. Now, what's it called again?" Lupin thought.
"Loretrick," a harsh voice said from behind Lupin. Snape had let himself in.
"Severus!" Dumbledore said. "How nice it is to see you here."
Snape sneered to Harry. "Yes. I thought that maybe you could use my expertise. Now, let me see that sketch," he said, tearing the sketch away from Lupin's hands. He looked it over, a grin overcame his face as he said, "This is definitely the Loretrick. When did this happen?"
"Last night," Harry told Snape.
"Then you don't have much time. The spell completes at the next full moon." Snape said, looking to Lupin he asked, "And that would be?"
"Tonight," Lupin replied, "Shoot!"
"You better get going then," Snape sneered as Lupin said his good-byes and ran out the door.
"Hey you," Cecil barked to Snape, "What's your problem?"
Snape sneered towards Cecil and growled, "It's none of your business." He looked over to Harry, "Where did you last see her?"
"In a castle... Virtue took me." Harry said.
"Would you be able to get there again, Harry?" Dumbledore asked.
"Hum... I think, yes." Harry replied. "How we gonna get there?"
"Let me see; we have a vast selection: Fly, Ride, or Walk. What would be best?" Cecil replied with sarcasm in his tone. "I know how I'm gonna get there, now what about the rest of you?"
"We can take the Magic Carpets, I've got two of them." Mr. Danen said.
Cecil nodded, "All right then, Harry... you lead since you know how to get there."
Harry nodded back and let Hedwig go as he shouted, "Let's go!"
A/N: I present to you... a softer side to an ultimate enemy. Tell me what you think...
Elora, dressed in a long silk gray robe, a hood over her head covering her hair except for the white bangs which she let hang out, stood between Ahren and Voldemort, holding her hands together as the sleeves of the robes draped over them. They stood in the courtyard of Castle Gray near the far wall where a large mirror stood, the frame decorated with hooded figures, demons, and gargoyles. It was the gateway to The Realm, which was to be their next stop.
Ahren grabbed both of Elora's arms gently and turned her to look at him saying, "Are you ready my dear? If you are not, we should not go."
Elora looked into Ahren's eyes, "I am more ready now then I shall ever be, Father."
Voldemort thought to himself; "What is it about this girl that captivates me so? Once I tried to take over her mind... tried to kill her and I try again... but something has changed."
"Elora," Ahren continued to tell Elora. "If you are not ready to enter The Realm..."
"I know, Father. I'm ready. Please believe me." Elora replied.
Ahren let go of her and nodded, "All right. I'll go first." Ahren stepped forwards and stepped into the mirror. The glass rippled and soon he disappeared.
Elora watched as he disappeared into the mirror, and she was to go next. She stepped forward when -CRASH! - The walls of the castle crashed to the stone floor. Dust covered the courtyard and Elora gasped for air. When the dust cleared in front of her she saw that the bricks from the wall that had toppled over it had crushed the mirror. Without the mirror she couldn't get to The Realm, where Ahren stood trapped.
She growled and looked around to see who had invaded her Castle. Five figures walked over the broken stones of the wall. She pulled out one of the Dark Art Daggers and stepped back beside Voldemort, who stood calmly with a sneer on his face whispering, "Who do we have here?"
The figures came into view: Harry, Mr. Danen, Cecil, Dumbledore, and Snape. "Who are you?" she shouted.
"Elora," Cecil said. "Get away from him!"
"You cannot tell me what to do! Get out of here!" she screamed, readying to throw the dagger at them, but Voldemort stopped her. "What are you doing?" she sneered to him.
"Do not waste the power of those daggers." Voldemort said. "Not on the likes of these fools."
"But the mirror... The Realm... My Father!" Elora cried.
"I know another way. We must go, now..." Voldemort said, and they disappeared in a slow cyclone of darkness.
"Elora!" Harry shouted as they disappeared.
Dumbledore placed a hand on Harry's shoulder saying, "She's gone Harry."
"Almost," Snape said, "She hasn't turned completely. Not until tonight."
"I heard something about a 'Realm'." Mr. Danen muttered. "The Realm, to be exact."
"THE Realm?" Cecil shouted. "Are you sure?"
"Yes. Why?" Mr. Danen replied to Cecil, glaring at him curiously. "What do you know about it?"
Cecil stepped back slightly saying, "It's basically like THE place for Darkness. A lair caught between Dreams and Reality, where Nightmares are created."
"Then what would Voldemort want with The Realm?" Harry asked. "And Elora at that?"
"Enough with the chit-chat!" Snape barked. "Cecil," his cold stare turned to Cecil, "How can we get to this Realm?"
"We don't want to go there... no way, no how." Cecil said, shaking his head.
"Pull yourself together man!" Mr. Danen said, shaking Cecil. "I want my daughter back! Tell us how to get there."
Cecil pushed away Mr. Danen and shouted, "All right! I'll take you to an entrance I know of, but I won't be going with you."
"Fine with me," Harry said, folding his arms over his chest and grinning lightly.
Voldemort and Elora appeared in front a set of large stone doors, carved with the same creatures that had framed the mirror. They stood in a large, circular, dark cavern. It was damp, and only the light from a few torches gave them sight.
"What is this place?" Elora asked.
"My second home," Voldemort replied. "These are the doors to The Realm. I am the only one who knows of them, for a dark enchantment covers this area, hiding its existence from that of the seekers."
"Then let's open them!" Elora shouted, reaching out to the door. Voldemort grabbed her and pulled her away from the door, they crashed to the walls of the cavern as screams were heard emitting from the stone doors, and a blast of dark light seeped from the cracks.
Voldemort sheltered Elora from the blast against the wall. He shouted to her, "You must not do that!" But stopped any more yelling as he looked into Elora's onyx eyes.
Her breath was heavy from the shock of the blast, and her chest heaved as she muttered, "I'm sorry." She caught her breath and asked, "What was that?"
Voldemort pulled away from her and replied, "A defense spell. It attacks anyone who should near it as you did."
"Then how do we get in?" Elora asked, walking towards the doors but not too close, gazing at the figures engraved on it.
Voldemort looked at her, the hood had fallen from her head, and her dark hair moved with a slight breeze that came from the tunnel connected to the cavern, and she wore silver silk gloves on her hands. He shook his head and walked over to her, pushing her back and behind him saying, "Stand back."
He looked straight at the door and shouted, "I command thee, demons of The Realm, to give us passage to the lair of Nightmares."
A haunting scream echoed through the cavern that would give anyone the goosebumps, and so it did give Elora, Voldemort could feel her shiver from behind him. He stepped back, as did Elora, as the stone doors creaked open. Dark shadows moved out from the doors and started circling and rising around them. Elora wanted to scream, but Voldemort placed a hand on her mouth to stop her and whispered, "Silence. They are the guardians of doorway. They must first make sure we are worthy to enter."
Elora watched the shadows move around them. Then they stopped and returned to where they had come from. A deep roar echoed through the cavern saying, "Enter."
Voldemort took his hand off of Elora's mouth and took her by the arm. Pulling her forward they stepped over the threshold of gateway, and entered The Realm. The doors slammed shut behind them, and Elora stood in a lair completely covered by shadows. The floor she stood on was glass. The glass created a path, twisting and turning in each and every direction beyond the darkness. Ahren ran up to her and wrapped his arms around her. "You made it," he whispered.
Ahren let go of Elora; the sight of the extravagant area stunned her. Ahren looked over to Voldemort and said, "I saw what you did when Elora was going to try to open the doors herself. You saved her... why?"
"She's much to important to be killed by a defense spell." Voldemort replied.
Ahren smiled, "Important for what?"
"Silence!" Voldemort barked. "Let's get on with this."
He grabbed Elora's arm again and pulled her along, Ahren stopped him and tore his grip off from Elora growling, "I will take her."
"Fine," Voldemort sneered. "Remember Ahren. Your powers are not as strong here as they were in your Castle. Watch your back," and with his robes floating behind him he walked forward.
"Father?" Elora said. "What's going to happen?"
Ahren looked to Elora and with a smile on his face he comforted her, "Hush, my dear. Nothing will happen to you, I promise."