Chapter
10
The
Eye of Darkness
A/N:
Aha! Finally the title is explained! Well it will be if you read the chapter.
Here goes nothing:
The next few days passed on normally enough. A
meeting for the Gryffindor Quidditch team had been set for the weekend. They
wanted to make the necessary changes in the team.
They had already had lessons in every
subject except Defense Against the Dark Arts. That was because Destire was busy
preparing, but they were told that soon Defense would be the most time
consuming lesson since it was the one they needed most. In fact, teachers were
including Defense in all their subjects. Hagrid, while explaining about dragons
during Care of Magical Creatures, gave them many tips about protecting
themselves from dragons or actually using them to attack. Everyone found this
useless however, since no one really thought they would encounter a dragon any
time soon, especially Harry, who had had enough of dragons the last year.
Professor Sprout taught them how to
fix all sorts of remedies from magical plants. Professor Flitwick taught them
all kinds of attacking charms and McGonagall showed them how to transfigure a
flower into a sharp-ended sword. Trelawney told them how to recognize dark
shapes and symbols in their crystal balls. When Harry asked her about the thing
she had seen in his, she looked as though she had no idea what he was talking
about. Harry supposed that meant Dumbledore hadn't gotten anything out of her
either. Professor Aruna had them do all sorts of curing potions and poisoning
potions; Snape hadn't come once yet.
They finally had their first Defense
Against the Dark Arts lesson on Friday. The fifth years reached the class early
for they were excited. They had heard rumors around the school that Defense was
going to be extremely interesting and advanced that year. The school now even
had the ministry's
full
approval to teach the students everything about the three Unforgivable Curses
as well as many other dangerous hexes and spells.
Professor
Destire entered the class, smiling at all of them.
"Hello,"
he said. He took the register then started. " Let's begin shall we?"
"Now,
last year you learned about the Unforgivables am I correct?"
The
students nodded.
"This
year we will be working on those and more. We shall cover not only curses and
hexes, but also all sorts of dark items and how we can protect ourselves
against them. I advise you from now to take these lessons very seriously and
make them you top priority, considering the situation we are all in right now.
I shall name you some of the topics we will be learning, but first any
questions?"
Seamus
raised his hand.
"Yes?"
"Professor,
at the er- No Darkness ceremony, you said in front of everyone that you
were sure the dark_"
"I
know what I said," interrupted Destire. "Yes. You are right. I was under orders
from the minister; I couldn't say otherwise. But I had believed he was back.
Any other questions?"
As
everyone shook their heads, Destire proceeded.
"Right.
This year we shall be focusing mainly on the Cruciatus Cursse, the Imperius
Curse, the Killing Curse, the Stunning Curse, the Weakening Curse, as well as
fighting dementors, and of course, dark items such as the Box of Serpentskin
and the legendary Eye of Darkness."
Harry's
quill dropped to the floor with a loud clatter.
"The-
the Eye of Darkness," he whispered.
He
realized all heads had turned to look at him.
"Mr.
Potter? Are you all right?"
"Uh-
I'm.. fine," Harry lied. "Really."
As
Destire turned back to the class, Harry nudged Ron and Hermione. "It's the
thing," he hissed. "Now I remember. Voldemort said it in my dream."
They
gasped.
"Mr.
Potter! Mr.Weasley! Miss Granger!"
"Sorry,"
said Harry quickly. "Was my fault. Professor, could I ask a question?"
Destire
looked surprised. "Certainly."
"What
exactly is this- Eye of Darkness?"
"
It's strange you should ask that Mr.Potter, for in fact the Eye is our first
lesson. The school program doesn't consider this lesson very important though,
since the Eye is legendary."
Legendary?
How could it be legendary, when Voldemort was going to use it to kill him? And
how did it work anyway?
Destire smiled at the students, who
were all looking at him and waiting in interest.
"Now,
this is quite an interesting lesson. First of all, you may be wondering why
this Eye is legendary. If we want to be frank, it is not really legendary.
However, it hasn't been used for centuries, and it is so deadly that people can
hardly believe it is real. They say that whoever holds the Eye has the power to
control and destroy the whole world."
The
whole class was now hanging on to Destire's every word.
Dean
raised his hand. "So where is it now?" he asked.
"It
is believed that the Eye's current owner is Lestard Macklier, who lives far
away in the middle of nowhere. He got hold of the Eye some time ago, but has
never once used it in fear of its dark powers. He keeps it with him for
protection. He had already been cut out of the world before he had found it,
and when he did, he just kept it with him. He is however, the only person alive
who really knows how to completely control it."
Harry's
heart was thumping loudly. So that was who Voldemort had wanted to contact. And
what had Wormtail said? That he had managed to get in touch with him and that
he had agreed to talk to Voldemort in person?
Hermione,
who was looking fearfully at Harry, now raised her hand.
"Miss
Granger?"
"Professor-
how exactly does the Eye work? I mean, what- what does it do?"
"Now,
I want you all to think," replied Destire. "What does an eye normally do?"
"Er-
it sees?" said Neville, surprised at the question.
"Right.
It sees. It finds things. Now what is one thing that a dark wizard must do
before he is able to kill his worst enemy?"
"To
find him and reach him?" said Ron, looking at Harry.
"Exactly.
And most of the times, this is not easy, especially where there are such spells
as the Fidelus Charm. But what does the Eye do? If the person holding it is
able to control it well, the Eye will first locate his worst enemy, then show
him exactly what his enemy is doing at the moment, and finally at the owner's
command, it will take him right to the enemy, no matter where he is, and blast
him into a million pieces in less than half a second."
Everyone
gasped. Harry felt an enormous jolt of fear in his stomach; he was doomed for
sure. They were all quiet for a moment, until finally Destire's voice broke
into the deadly silence.
"There
is however, one way, and ONLY one way in which the Eye of Darkness can fail.
This happens when first, the victim says the Reverse Spell, which no one has
ever been able to learn, though it is said to be very simple once the trick is
discovered, and second, if an extremely strong symbol or some sort of spell-
breaking charm is present. Only if these two conditions are met will the Eye
fail its job, but it has never once happened."
Just
then the bell rang, and the students filed out excitedly talking about the
lesson. Harry slowly got up, his face white in shock. Ron and Hermione looked at him anxiously.
"Harry?"
said Hermione as they left the class. "You- you all right?" Ron just stared at
Harry, his face almost as white as his friend's. Harry didn't reply.
"Harry-
you- you've got t o tell someone," said Ron finally.
"Like
Sirius. And Dumbledore. He said to tell him if you found out what the thing was
right?"
Harry
still didn't say anything.
"Harry!"
"Sorry."
Hermione
and Ron both sighed. The three of them gloomily went down to dinner.
He didn't eat anything; he just wasn't
hungry. All he could think about was sitting there and suddenly being blasted
into a million pieces without any warning. It might happen any second. Just
like that. Ron and Hermione kept talking to him, but he just didn't know what
to say.
Harry noticed that Dumbledore was
looking at them from the high table. He noticed he was looking more and more
curious and anxious as he watched the three of them: Harry, as pale as a ghost,
sitting slumped with his head on the table, Hermione and Ron giving him frantic
looks, looking panicky themselves, and saying something every now and then to
which there was no response or reaction from Harry.
Dumbledore finally got up and strode
over to them. The students all turned their heads in surprise to look at them.
"A word if you please," he addressed the three quietly. Ron and Hermione looked
anxiously at Harry, who nodded and the three got up and walked out of the hall
with Dumbledore. The four stood in the
corridor outside the hall.
"Are
you three all right? I couldn't help but notice you were acting quite strangely
during dinner. Harry, I'm worried if this has anything to do with_"
"It
does Professor," said Harry quietly.
Dumbledore
looked at him with concern waiting for him to continue. But Harry couldn't get
the words out.
"Er-
professor, he's found out what You-know- who is planning to use to- to,"
Hermione broke off, not wanting to say any more.
Then,
"It's the Eye of Darkness," said Harry so abruptly that Ron and Hermione stared
at him.
"The
Eye of Darkness?" repeated Dumbledore, his eyes flashing. He looked more
worried than Harry had ever seen him in his life.
"Oh-
God- how could this- Harry, do you know what the Eye can do?"
Harry
nodded. "We just had a lesson about it in Defense," said Ron.
"Are-
are you sure?" said Dumbledore. For the first time ever, Harry noticed that t
he usual calm and confidence in his voice was gone.
"Yes.
I remembered what Voldemort had said in the dream as soon as Professor Destire
mentioned its name."
"I
suppose you don't know the Reverse Spell?"
"No."
" I
didn't think so. No one alive has discovered it," he had regained a little of
his usual calm and seemed to be deep in thought.
"What-
what should I do?" asked Harry.
"Be
on your guard. Try and find the Reverse Spell. That's all you can do for now.
Oh and- I don't want this to let you stop everything, Harry. Do your lessons,
enjoy yourself, play Quidditch. Just stay alert, that's all and don't wander
around by yourself."
"Of
course."
"Take
care now."
And
he walked off back to the Great Hall.
A/N: Okay- basically I know how the story will
turn out, but I'm kinda hoping you guys can still give me suggestions. I
already got a couple and am thinking about them. So if it's no trouble…… hope
to see some in your reviews J