Warning: This is not standard Harry Potter fanfiction. It contains scenes of violence and some inappropriate language.
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Auror Master
Fanfiction by Phoenix.
No web page for this story as of yet.
Harry Potter and its associated characters are copyright by J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., Scholastic Inc, and Bloomsbury.
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Part 2 - Reunions
A slim figure covered by a long white hooded cloak kneeled as it studied the ground intently. Reaching down with a finger, it touched a rusty-coloured patch on the stony surface in between clumps of dead weeds. Then raising its fingertip to the opening of its hood, it licked its fingertip and smiled. "You're back. And so convenient too..."
A deep, rumbling grunt from behind was the only answer.
Slight waves rocked the small canoe as it drifted slowly northward down the river, bubbles gently lapping against the sides of the boat. A hazy mist hung about the waters and the sky was grey as an old sword. In contrast to the sounds of the steady current all about them, the green forests on either side of the stream remained deathly silent.
Harry leaned back against the rear of the canoe and took the time to study the blue-cloaked woman sitting in front of him. She was unaware of his attention as she steered them steadily along with a long wooden pole. He had recognised her instantly even before she offered her supposed name. After all this time, what was she doing here? What did she want with him? He squashed down the dark, forgotten feelings of resentment that threatened to spill over from inside and breathed in deeply. He adjusted the black hood that kept his face hidden within its shadows, and checked the bandage around his leg. The wound left from the sharp stone fragment had been deep but he was healing fast as always.
"It will be night soon. Let us camp at the next bend of the river." Harry tightened his bandage more, welcoming the pain. "And you will tell me what it is that you want of me or why you are even here, Hermione ... Hermy." The blue-cloaked woman didn't turn to him as she continued to steer the boat. Minutes passed. He almost thought she hadn't heard his question before she suddenly threw her hood back to let her long red hair float in the breeze. She twisted slightly to regard him with sombre eyes.
"Let's not live in the past ... Harry."
With her head unhooded, he could see more of her features. She had matured. Especially her beauty, which had shown promise when they were younger, but was now in full bloom. In youth she had been pretty, most would say cute. But apparently cuteness had fled over the years and left adult splendour in its place. Sooty dark lashes were unblinking over her aqua eyes creating an alluring contrast with the pale skin of her face and darker hair. Pink-tinged lips were expressionless as strands of her hair fought the wind and partially obscured her face. However, overall, though much had changed, he knew he could never mistake her for another person.
But one thing ate at him. There was a strange, different kind of familiarity with that beauty that seemed almost unnatural. Like for the few times the sun managed to squeeze out its golden light through the steel sky and upon her... He finally turned away to stare at the moving scenery of the forest. "You haven't forgiven me have you?" she asked rhetorically, meaning either or both of them. He didn't answer. "But that's okay, since I haven't forgiven you either."
Anger welled, but was just as soon gone. She began to say something else when the boat rocked dangerously to the left almost unbalancing her. Harry steadied himself with a hand on the edge of the boat, while his other hand grabbed his wand to stop it from falling into the river. A large wave splashed into the boat, drenching everyone in cold river water. Harry rose up on his knees, while throwing his hood back to wipe the water out of his face and the hair from obstructing his vision.
He narrowed his eyes in annoyance when he saw the long, spiny blue tail snaking along the water around them. He turned to the front of the boat and waited. A second later, the water at the head of the boat exploded upward into a fountain at least twenty feet tall. At the centre of the eruption, the head of a basilisk appeared, its angry, yellow eyes in narrow slits. It screamed a high pitched animal cry as its long scaly body continued to rise out of the water. It began to lower its head to attack.
Grrrr ..." Harry began. "Ak-ip!" His wand started to gather power into itself. Black sparks emitted from its top. "Wait." Hermione waved them off and Harry stopped. The basilisk snarled as it streaked down, its mouth open in an angry shower of sharp teeth. Hermione's eyes began to glow a startling blue, an almost unholy light emanating from her pupils. The sound of the rushing waters seemed to fade into the background, into a still silence.
The basilisk froze, unmoving. Hermione's eyes began to glow even brighter. Then she waved her hand in a quick gesture. Simultaneous with the movement of her arm, the large hostile serpent dived back into the river. The light in Hermione's eyes winked out and time seemed to flow as normal. The sound of the rushing river came back. "A Research Auror," Harry stated. "Just like you always wanted to be." Hermione shrugged and replaced the blue hood of her cloak over her head. "You knew my dream," she said, as she continued to steer them down the river. Then added with a sarcastic smile, "Besides the dream that you would ever repay my book that you lost in our sixth year."
"Oh ... yeah."
The moon's light was dim in the darkness of the night sky. The campfire crackled warmly in front of Harry as he stared at the orange and yellow flames eat away at the wood. Looking down as he unwrapped the bandage from his leg, he noticed in satisfaction that the wound had healed completely. Although, strangely he was still feeling a bit weak. Enough time had passed by now for him to have fully recovered. Maybe it was just stress. And the shadows knew just how stressed he was. Harry looked down at the fire and a half-smile formed on his lips.
On the opposite side of the campfire, Hermione removed her cloak and sat down. Harry watched her with slitted eyes as she took some blankets out of a travel pack then began writing in a small notebook that she took from one of the folds in her cloak. "So what is so important that you seeked me out of all people? Why are you even here?"
Hermione stopped writing and looked up at him. She blew a long strand of red hair out of her eyes with a tilt of her mouth. "Reconnaissance, mostly." He should have known. "So you're just a spy," he said contemptuously. "For the Rebellion, I assume?" He wondered why he had never saw her before now and never even knew about her allegiance. The answer to the inward question came as quickly as it was asked. She had been avoiding him obviously. And a good thing too. "That is correct," she replied curtly. "It's a pointless battle. There's no way you can win." Her eyes flashed, almost beginning to glow. "You certainly did not help matters." He shrugged, uncaring. "That was in the past." "What could have possibly made you decide to fight with the Ministry?" He ignored the question. "So, again, what is this all about?" Hermione was silent for a while, toying with a long lock of her hair. She stared at the fire. "You must have noticed the large amount of Ministry activity in this area and to the east."
"Yes, there has been more... disturbances... here than in other areas that I pass through." "Well, from the little intelligence reports that we've received, it seems that something is going down at the Diagon Alley ruins and I've got to find out *what*. From the few Auror's that we have on our side we have our own missions. This is mine." "And where do I fit into all of this?" She played with a long lock of her hair.
"Well I have to admit I certainly didn't plan for meeting up with you. I just came across some of your ... handy work the night before. I didn't even know or believe it was you until-" She cut herself off, looking uncomfortable. Finally she looked at him in the eyes. "Harry, you're the only one who knows how the Ministry operates and who is actually not part of the Ministry. You've been with them a long time. You have information that could be of great help. And I've seen your power. How you easily defeated the Master Magical Creature Erumpentol.
You've seen the world oppression caused by the Ministry. Wouldn't that be one of the reasons you left them in the first place?" So that was it. She just wanted to use him. Again. Inside, the dark feelings of resentment rose to a crescendo. Outwardly, he showed nothing. His voice devoid of emotion, he shook his head. "Tomorrow we will split up and go our separate ways. I'm sorry but I can't be a part of this any more." Can't be a part of you, he added silently. Hermione shook her head. "Please don't let your personal feelings about me influence your decision. Think of all the suffering you could end."
Her eyes seemed to moisten, but instead they began to glow a bright blue. "I'm sorry I have to do this, but it's for the good of this world." Harry, startled, began to stand up. Then he shouted in pain as he felt his blood begin to boil. How could she have done it? As he bent over with the unbearable pain, a small cut on the inside of his lip broke open. He tasted the metallic taste of blood. Of course! He should have known that the kiss she gave him wasn't just for show. But she had caught him so off-guard, he couldn't have prevented it. But he should have.
Stupid, stupid, he admonished himself. Never trust anyone! Especially, of all people, this woman! He began to growl, powering up to let loose a bolt of dark magic at Hermione who was still staring at him with her glowing eyes. "Did you happen to know that the human body is comprised of more than seventy-five percent water?" she asked in an apparent bored tone as her eyes abruptly returned to normal. "And when that balance begins to change, it usually leads to death." She licked her lips. "Amazing what a drop of my blood can let me start when it gets within the bloodstream of a person."
She noticed his agitation and looked down at him. "If you kill me, you will die also." Harry stopped powering up, confused on what to do. When his pain beginning to subside, he sat up again and held her off with an upright hand. "I guess you've won this one." He was calm now. "So how long have I got?" "About a week ... unless of course you convince me to remove my ... influence from your person." "And helping you do your job just might happen to convince you." "I see you understand." He shook his head. "You've changed, Hermy." "That's true." She smoothed her hair and looked down at the ring on her finger. "You just don't know how much."
It was a foggy morning. Harry struggled to see as Hermione lead their way east towards the Diagon Alley ruins. Dead leaves and other foliage crackled underfoot as they walked at a slower than usual pace through the woods. Hermione may be able to see through the white fog, research on spells, well known or rarely used being her element, but he sure couldn't. It was hard for him to even make out the dark-blue of her cloak in front of him.
"Chu!" He muttered angrily. "I'll find some way to deal with this ... this poison. It is water-based though, so there's nothing I can do for now, except to do whatever it is she wants." He looked ahead searching for the dark-blue outline of Hermione's cloak. It wasn't there. "Damn, where did she go?" he said aloud, speeding up his pace a little. The toe of his left boot caught on a fallen branch that he didn't see and he almost tripped over. Fortunately he was able to grasp the trunk of a nearby tree for support "Hermy!" he shouted, as he looked all around. The lack of visibility caused by the fog was terrible. He could barely see more than half a dozen meters in front of him before the scenery was swallowed by an all-encompassing white. "Hermy!"
For a moment it seemed like someone answered him. Harry concentrated on listening to it. It seemed like ... singing? He concentrated even more and could just make out some words. "Shadow and sun, sun and shadow... Refraction of light, what shall form?" It was coming from the north. The melody was strangely, haunting and beautiful. And familiar. He couldn't tell whether the song itself was familiar or the voice of whoever sung it. Or both.
"Let's go see what it is," he thought, his curiosity awakened. "And besides, I don't know where the heck we are anyway, so following it for now won't hurt anything." He stepped through the mist slowly, but surely, following the sound of the song. As he did so, he parted away low-lying branches from the trees and stepped carefully over shrubs and bushes and other forest vegetation lying on the ground. After a couple of minutes, and parting yet another set of low branches, the mist seemed to give way to a clearing and what looked like an old temple. It was fairly ancient, old enough to have survived through the Dark Wars and then some. The clearing the temple was in the middle of appeared to favour the sun as it streamed down, bright over the structure in contrast to the dreary thick fog behind him.
The temple itself, although ancient looking, was fairly well preserved and beautiful in its own way with various multi-coloured stain-glassed windows and whitish marble walls. The double wooden doors in the front of it were wide open. It was also the source of the haunting song that had led him here. Harry stepped forward into the clearing, feeling the warmth of the sun wash over him in waves. He removed the hood of his cloak and combed the black hair of his head with his hand. With the other, he felt the sunlight in his palm. Although warm ... it was also strangely cold at the same time. Feelings of familiarity washed over him and he turned to narrow his eyes at the entrance to the temple. As they approached the temple, the song continued. "Just as the shadow has many faces Mystery surrounds the storm."
"Harry!" Hermione called behind her. "Are you still with me?" No one answered. She stopped walking and turned around. He wasn't there. Annoyed, she lifted her hand and repelled more of the fog to see further behind her. All that were revealed were more trees and foliage. She could hear some sort of melody. Someone singing. Faint. She began to run towards the source of its sound. Absent-mindedly, she dissolved the fog in front of her with an open hand. She should have known that walking through this forest without any disturbances was wishful thinking.
Harry walked along the narrow hallway, quietly following the origin of the singing. He knew who it was now. He continued onwards. He couldn't stop himself. Finally he reached the centre of the temple. The chapel. He stepped inside, past the open doors, and saw her. She was standing on the altar with her back turned towards him. It was her who was singing the song.
On her slim body she wore an almost transparent white robe which fell past her long legs and down to her ankles, leaving her elegant feet bare. Long, straight blonde hair fell down her back and almost past her waist. Its colour was so golden it seemed to emit a light of its own. It was her. His danger senses exploded into action, but he stayed unmoving as the door to the chapel suddenly slammed shut with a bang and long chains of white light shot out from each corner of the room to wrap himself up, tight and immobile. More sunlight seemed to stream in through the roof of stained glass windows to fall all around the woman in front of him.
She seemed to glow even brighter, as if the sunlight was indeed coming from her and not the roof. Her melodious voice continued to sing, haunted, "But together, what will become when that which has split become one?" She stopped singing and the room fell to silence. She lifted her arms above her head and from her feet, a white light began to drift upwards, but slowly as if it were smoke. When the light reached the top of her hands, it seemed to blink once then reform into a white material. First long white sleeves formed down her arms, then a hood around her head as the rest of the light fell downwards to morph into a long robe-like cloak. A Master's cloak of pure white.
She dropped her arms in a sudden, quick motion. The newly cloaked woman turned around and removed her hood with one elegant hand. She tilted her head up and freed the hair from her neck to fall down her back. Then, looking down at him as he stood helplessly encased in long chains of light, she gave a half-smile. Brilliant blue eyes regarded him with a devilish twinkle in their depths. "Remember me, Harrold?" Her voice was the same. Throaty, sensuous.
"Ralione," he acknowledged. She looked him up and down. "Even more handsome than I remember." "And you. Still a beautiful bitch." She laughed at him. "I missed you, you know. We were good together. An unstoppable team. One complementing the other." She stepped down off the altar and approached him, walking through the gold chains of light that held him from each corner as if they really were as insubstantial as they seemed. She stood in front of him and unmoved by the beauty of her face, Harry stared into her eyes, finding them doubly familiar for some unknown reason.
She lifted a slim hand, and with a long fingernail, began to trace down his cheek. Harry repressed the urge to shiver. "Why don't you come back to the Ministry with me? The empty spot in our bed has been empty for far too long ..." She smiled. Suddenly an explosion rocked the temple and the chapel doors were blown inwards off their hinges with a crash. Harry turned his head to find Hermione striding in, her blue cloak giving off an icy-cold steam. Her hood was lowered and thrown back, her long red hair seeming to float behind her as if being blown by a strong wind. Eyes glowing as she accessed her magical power, she lifted her right arm. "Meabeci!"
From behind her, a large shadow inhaled its breath and a split second later, a cold, vivid blue beam of energy shot forth, directly at Ralione. However, the intended target did a quick back flip towards the altar almost lazily, white cloak whipping about, and dodged the shot with ease. Instead, the beam hit the back wall of the chapel and exploded, sending shards of sparkling ice everywhere. Ralione smoothed her cloak down with her hands. "Pity." She yawned, covering her mouth with a hand. "An interruption." Harry concentrated, his eyes glowing golden, and dark shadows rose up from his feet to dissolve the chains of light which held him immobile.
The light dissipated to nothing and he was free. Hermione looked at the white-cloaked figure more closely and the blue light in her eyes winked out in shock. "It's you!" Ralione squinted at her and began to laugh. She turned back to Harry. "So this really was the girl who left you all those years ago! How absolutely delightful!" She turned back to Hermione. "Well you had your chance, Hermione, now I'll be taking him back."
Hermione's eyes began to glow again as she narrowed them. "You just try! Drazzilb!" The shadow she created hovered into the light revealing a large blue, water creature with a dragon-like head and sharp spines protruding from its tail and shoulders. "KAPPA!" it roared as it began to form a cloud of blue energy above its head. Ralione smiled as she lifted her arm. "White Flare." As soon as she said the words, a blast of pure light magic dropped from the ceiling and seemed to explode in a burst of light. "PIKA!" Harry and Hermione covered their eyes from the blinding whiteness.
When the light dissipated, Ralione was nowhere to be seen. Instead a twelve-foot tall Demiguise with four incredibly muscular arms stood on the altar. Its torso and legs were rippling with pure strength as it stood there, a feral grin on its frog-like face. Its skin was a grey tone and it wore nothing save for a small, black loincloth. Ralione's voice floated in the air, her tone slightly mocking. "Harrold, I'll be back for you later when we can be more alone. For now Demiguisann will keep you amused till then." She laughed and then her voice was gone.
Harry stepped backward towards Hermione as the huge twelve-foot-tall, four-armed, fighting creature walked forward slowly. It growled at Harry and focused its bright red eyes on him. "I WILL TAKE REVENGE FOR MY FALLEN ERUMPENTOL BROTHER," it snarled. Then it looked at Hermione and an appalling leer tilted its lips. "AND YOU WILL BE MINE." It leaped at her with its four arms out-stretched, growling like a dog. Hermoine took a step back. "Kappa, Glacier Spear!" "KAPPA!"
Her kappa friend glowed a cold blue and shot a large spike of ice directly at the attacking master creature. However, the oversized ape punched it away almost contemptuously and shattered it on the ground. It continued forward and was about to reach her, when a dark blur collided into its side so hard, it was knocked through the wall of the chapel and several more walls until it was smashed outside into the forest. Hermione turned and saw Harry crouching in place of the Demiguise, feet smoking.
"I had it under control," she said forcefully. Harry lifted his arm. "Wand, to me!" As his wand leaped into his hand, he turned to look at her. "Sorry, but I can't take any chances with the person who holds my life in her hands." He leaped through the hole in the wall and followed the trail of destruction left by the beast's exit to the outside. Hermione jumped after him, her blue cloak billowing behind her.
Jumping to the forest floor through the hole left in the white, smoking marble of the temple outer-wall.
Harry did a forward flip and landed low to the ground, his left hand braced for balance. Hermione arrived on the ground behind him with her Kappa hovering over-head as Harry slowly rotated his field of vision. The fog, no longer affected by Ralione's power of light, was seeping back into the area. He had to find Demiguisann soon and end it before the visibility worsened even more. He noted the line of destroyed trees the Master creature left in its flight. Hermione moved forward.
"Careful," Harry warned her. "Master creatures are almost impossible to sense." "TAKE THIS!" A tree trunk seemed to come out of nowhere. Harry and Hermione leaped upward almost narrowly getting smashed by the huge rough wood thrown at them. Harry rotated backward in the air to alight on a tree branch above him while Hermione grasped on to the branch of an adjacent tree and swung herself up. The four-armed monstrosity jumped out of its hiding place behind one of the forest trees and ran, ape-like to leap on to the trunk of the branch Harry was standing on. It began to climb impossibly fast. "I DON'T CARE WHAT THE LIGHT AUROR SAID!" it rasped. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU NOW!"
Harry thrust himself off the branch and did a half twist to face the huge beast as he descended to the ground. His wand was settled into his hand. "Shadow Bolt!" He threw his wand straight at the climbing Demiguisann. In midair his wand began to glow black and electricity crackled as he began to form dark energy around his body. The Demiguise saw the attack and leaped away to a different tree. The wand exploded through, narrowly missing it, but cutting the tree the beast was climbing in half. The top of the tree fell down with a crash. Harry landed on the ground, his cloak billowing behind him, and dodged as the creature leaped at him again. Its four arms were just a few feet shy from grabbing him.
"KAPPA! Impale it!" Hermione shouted. "KAPPA!" From behind the Demiguise, Hermione's creature charged, its head lowered to skewer it through the spine. Shockingly more agile than it seemed, the beast flipped backwards, landing behind the kappa and grasped its body with its two lower arms. With its upper arms it began to bash the water monster's head in, with massive overhead swings. The monster squealed in pain and Hermione shouted in horror. "Drop it!" Harry shouted as he jumped up and rotated into a flying spin kick striking Demiguisann's head. After completing the spin, he used his other leg to propel himself away from it by pushing off its face.
The attack was powerful enough to snap its head to the side and make it roar in agony. It dropped the kappa, and grasped its head in pain with its two upper arms. Hermione's eyes flashed blue as she formed an ice-blade around her fist and leaped off the tree to the attack. The monster recovered from Harry's blow and grabbed her out of the air with one huge hand. It began to laugh in exultation then stopped and screamed in pain as she slashed through its wrist with a powerful swipe of her frosty ice-blade. As she dropped, Hermione did a back flip away and landed safely on her feet.
"Don't underestimate me," she said dangerously, as she ripped off the dismembered hand, which was still hanging around her waist and threw it on the ground behind her. "YOU BITCH!" the demiguise roared as it held its wrist in agony, trying to stop the fast leakage of black blood. It grasped another nearby tree and broke it off by the base with its two free arms. "BLOCK THIS!" it shouted again as it threw it at her. Hermione expelled a breath and desperately tried to jump away but the tree was moving much too fast. "NRUB REDNUH!" Harry shouted. A dark flash of lightning disintegrated the thrown tree into red ashes that harmlessly fell around Hermione like snowflakes.
Harry turned back to the giant ape but it was no longer there. "NOW YOU DIE!" From behind, two arms grabbed him like vices of steel and his back exploded in pain as he was flipped over and smashed into the ground with a huge overhead blow. Harry choked on blood as the ape began furiously hammering on his chest with as many functioning arms it had left. A crater began to form on the hard earth behind his back as the force of the blows pushed him in. "I'LL PUNCH YOU TO DEATH YOU MISERABLE TRAITOR!"
Hermione threw a sharp rock at Harry and it landed on his chest, and Demiguisann accidentally punched it. Abruptly, the ape roared in pain and it stopped the beating. It stood up and ripped an ice spike from its back. It roared again as more spikes began to embed themselves into it. It turned around. Hermione's eyes were glowing bright, aura flaring, as icy steam drifted away from her hands that she had used to throw the spikes. "YOU ANNOYING LITTLE GIRL! I WILL ENJOY RIPPING YOU APART!" it shouted. Then it leered and growled lecherously. "IN MORE WAYS THEN ONE!"
It began to run, ape-like at her, on arms and legs. Hermione stood her ground and desperately hoped that Harry was okay. All of a sudden, the ground beneath the ape's feet ruptured in a strong earthquake and it grunted in confusion and pain as it was knocked high up in the air by a powerful blast. Harry, in an explosion of dirt, rocks and other debris, erupted from the ground and flew up into the sky after it. "Edalb Wodsahs!" Harry's wand began to glow black and propelled himself into the air above Harry, with a crack of thunder.
More dark energy formed around the black wand and the air around it seemed to shift as it reformed itself into a black katana, the very darkness of the long blade seeming to absorb the light around it. Harry grabbed the hilt of the sword in both hands and met the ape in midair at the highest peak of their flight. "NOOOOOOO!" the Master creature shouted in fear, seeing the blade of pure shadow. It desperately tried to twist away from him in the air but it was not to be.
Harry grunted as he swung the Magic sword, cleaving it diagonally through the middle, causing black blood to explode everywhere. After the quick execution, he turned a flip and descended back to the ground, landing with a solid thump and forming a smoking crater with his feet. The black blade hissed with steam as he balanced himself with one hand on the ground. A second later, the two halves of Demiguisann landed on either side of him along with several splashes of blood and other body fluids. Harry stood upright and threw the sword into the air.
With another crack of thunder, it reformed back into his wand, that landed in is pocket. Hermione was standing in front of him, impassive. "I see it was not a mistake to force you onto my side." Harry spat out some blood to the side then looked down at her. "It was a mistake ... you just don't know it yet." He dusted his cloak free of dirt and leaves. "You seemed to recognise Ralione. How do you know her?" he asked, morbidly curious. Hermione looked away from him with a troubled look in her eyes.
"She's my twin sister." *** End of Part 2
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LIBRARY
SHADOW WAND
A wand specifically made for high rank wizards in the defence department during the Dark Wars. Made of transfiguring one's wand into pure shadow. Capable of great dark magic. Only one ever successfully made.
Attack : Shadow Bolt
Type : Shadow / Electricity
The wand gathers dark electricity around its body and becomes a deadly bolt of destructive energy.
Attack : Thunder Burn
Type : Fire / Electricity/Shadow
A powerful shadow attack with elements of lightning and fire making it possible to burn.
Attack : Shadow Blade
Type : Shadow / Electricity / Fighting
A wand shape-shifts into a long black katana sword. Incredibly sharp and powerful. Thought to be an indestructible weapon.
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Notes: Comments & Criticisms would be much appreciated!
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Phoenix: Phoenix_HP@excite.com