Chapter 26: Revealing Secrets
Harry
spent the day wishing he had more than just a wand. His mind kept flashing back to his fourth year, the third
task. It was all he could do to keep
Cedric's lifeless countenance from haunting his thoughts.
It was
amazing how those twenty-four hours were the longest of his life, yet seemed
all too quick when they were up. Harry
took a deep breath, firmly gripping his wand, and then headed through the
bedroom door. He pushed all thoughts of
failure from his mindset. It was not
only his soul on the line, but Draco's. He could not lose.
"Are
you ready, Harry?" the old wizard asked when the boy entered the main Hall.
Harry
nodded in reply, unable to find his voice. Voldemort soon entered, arrogance donning his pallid face. They stood next to each other, facing the
old wizard for their final instructions.
"The
final task," the wizard began, "shall take two days. It is an obstacle course, but one of greater magnitude than any
other. I suggest that you not try to
speed ahead of your opponent right away. It will tire you too quickly, and you might find that you accomplish
more if you help each other."
Harry
suppressed a laugh at the thought. Voldemort, on the other hand, took no trouble to restrain his
amusement. "You've got to be joking,"
he smiled maliciously.
The
wizard continued as though he hadn't heard the man.
"You
will find yourselves in a whole other world, and must find your way through,
with the use of magic of course. Since
it is a world cut-off from ours and completely unfamiliar to either of you,
apparating and summoning will not work. On the second day, you'll find a sign indicating how much distance you
have left. At the end of your journey,
you will find that for which you battle. Since each of you have won a task, this shall be the deciding
challenge."
Harry
felt his heart pounding, but tried to keep calm. In his mind, he went over any spell that might possibly come in
handy.
"I
cannot intervene while you are at your task. Do not, however," the wizard warned, "think that once you are alone, you
can kill your adversary. You shall
share any pain or punishment you afflict upon him. I promise you, it is not worth it." The dark area that hid his face was turned to Voldemort as the
wizard said this. There was little
doubt in Harry's mind that this was a more than necessary tenet. "And now, go to the end of this hall and
through the very last door. There, your
task begins."
With
that, the wizard disappeared, and Harry found himself looking down the great
expanse of the dark hallway.
"Scared,
Potter?" Voldemort hissed.
Harry
didn't answer, just heading down the hall. Each step echoed against the stone walls, muffled slightly by the vast
tapestries. And then, they stood before
the door. Harry reached out his hand
for the handle, but stopped, unsure.
"Then
I'll go first," Voldemort sneered.
He
opened the door, and then suddenly shoved Harry through. The boy tripped, fell roughly to the ground,
and found himself staring over a cliff into sheer nothingness. He quickly scuttled away from the edge,
trying to stop his heart from pounding.
"That
was a close one, Potter," Voldemort smiled.
"Don't
be so cocky. You would have died, too,
if I fell."
Harry
looked around him. The morning sun had
blinded him a moment, but his eyes quickly adjusted. To his left and straight ahead were the edges of two stony
cliffs, dropping off into clouds. To
his right, however, the ledge widened quickly, and there grew a lush
forest. Through the forest, they could
clearly see a path. It was small, and a
bit overgrown, but a path nonetheless.
"Which
way to go…" Voldemort mused, "Why don't you go to the left, and I'll go to the
right, and we'll see who makes it first."
"Funny,"
Harry said, heading down the path.
After
an hour of silence, Harry was beginning to wonder when they task would
start. They had so far come upon no
obstacles. In fact, it had only been a
pleasant walk, even downhill most of the way. Harry came upon a large stream, rushing quickly through the forest. It followed the path, and so Harry
entertained himself by watching the teeming life in and about the water. Voldemort, on the other hand, walked with
purpose and took in nothing of the sights around him.
After
a while, Harry thought he heard something in the distance. It sounded familiar, but he wasn't sure from
where. An airplane? Or a landslide, perhaps. He soon got his answer when the forest
parted. There, the ground went off in a
sharp cliff and the stream turned into a waterfall. It must have been over one hundred feet to the deep pool below.
"Dive
right in, Potter," Voldemort sneered, starting to climb down the rocks by the
waterfall.
Harry
was about to follow suit when he realized that diving might not be such a bad
idea. Sure it was high, but he'd flown
higher than this. Heck, he'd almost
fallen off his broom from higher than this. He took a breath for courage, and then leapt of the edge, trying to make
his dive as straight as possible.
It
seemed ages before he finally plunged into the cool water. The strength of the dive forced it into his
mouth and it tasted even cooler than it felt, causing him to shiver slightly. He quickly kicked his way to the surface and
came up just in time to hear a splash nearby. Voldemort soon came up gasping next to him.
"You're
braver than I thought," Harry smiled, swimming to shore.
"I
figured if you could do it, anyone could."
They
didn't even take the time to dry off, just kept on walking. Harry didn't mind, for the day was growing
hotter and the cool liquid felt good against his skin. They were soon again in the jungle, it
reminding Harry stronger of pictures he'd seen of Africa. The path was gone now and they just went
along by instinct.
Around
noontime, Harry was pushing aside some leaves when a snake popped out at him,
it hanging from the tree branches.
"Get
out of here!" he yelled in shock, and the snake quickly obeyed, pulling itself
up into the tree.
Voldemort
was staring at Harry, his mouth slightly open.
"What?"
"You…speak
Parsel Tongue…" Voldemort said in disbelief.
"Uh,
yeah," Harry said, giving Voldemort a condescending look, "How else do you
think I got in the Chamber?"
"The
Chamber? You don't mean the Chamber of
Secrets, do you?"
"What
other Chamber could I be talking about? You were there when… Oh wait,
you weren't."
Harry
quickly decided that he shouldn't tell Voldemort more and hurried on ahead.
"My
diary!" Voldemort exclaimed, "It worked, didn't it?"
"Yes."
Harry
could have kicked himself for saying that, but somehow it just popped out. He kept walking quickly, but Voldemort had
little trouble keeping up.
"Was
anyone killed? How many were petrified?"
"No. Six if you count Mrs. Norris and Nick."
Again,
Harry couldn't believe he was the one telling the Dark Lord all this.
"You
got in the Chamber, did you say? What
happened in there?"
Instead
of saying what he wanted to say ("Defeating the basilisk was almost too
easy."), Harry piped out, "I nearly died. The basilisk got a fang in me and the only thing that saved me was
Dumbledore's phoenix."
Harry
was aghast. What was going on? He turned away, ready to break out into a
run, but Voldemort caught him by the arm. Pain suddenly shot through Harry's forehead and he cried out. By Voldemort's screams and the fact that he
quickly let go, Harry knew the same pain was wrenching through the man's
head. For a moment, they each caught
their breath, then Voldemort looked up at Harry.
"So
that's what happens when I touch you…"
"It
also happens when-" Harry quickly clapped a hand over his mouth.
"What
is with you, Potter?" Voldemort laughed.
"I
don't want to be telling you this, but I can't help it!" he cried out with
distress.
Voldemort
gave him a strange look as Harry tried to think of what was going on. Was it… but how…? The lake? Possibly… Only one way to find out.
"What
did you think of Dumbledore when you were at Hogwarts?" he asked the wizard.
"He
was one of my favorite teachers, actu-" Voldemort quickly stopped, realizing
what he was saying, "What in Salazar's name is going on?! How'd you do that Potter?!"
"I
didn't," Harry said, shaking his head, "Veritaserum."
"You're
off your rocker, Potter," Voldemort laughed, "First of all, how would we have
got it in our system. Secondly, we'd be
little more than zombies if we had had any."
"Not
necessarily," Harry said, "If Veritaserum is watered down enough, it'll lose
some of its potency. I think that the
lake and waterfall had some of it in the water, and it was strong enough to
make us tell the truth but not strong enough to render us thoughtless."
Voldemort
gave him something of a worried look, then hurried off. Harry was about to ask him something, but
realized there were some things he didn't want Voldemort knowing about and it
would be best to leave it alone. He
could just see himself telling Voldemort that Snape was a traitor. It almost made him shake at the thought.
Most
of the day passed in silence, and with unexpected ease. Harry once came across a boggart, but knew
how to defeat that so well that it was hardly a challenge at all. And that was about the most exciting thing
that happened all day. The only thing
that Harry found significantly odd was the fact that he had no need to eat,
drink, or go to the bathroom. In fact,
he realized, he hadn't needed to do any of that for the whole time he had been
in the Hall. He decided that since no
real time was passing, his body didn't know the difference.
He'd
lost Voldemort a long while ago, and thought himself better off for it. After all, who needed a snake creature
following him around all day. The sun
was setting, however, when his peaceful solitude was broken as he walked past a
tree and head-on into Voldemort.
"Still
here?" the man asked nastily, "I thought you'd be dead by now. Or given up, at the very least."
"Why
should I? With an opponent like you, my
chances of winning are almost guaranteed."
They
glared at each other a moment, and then Harry saw something flash in
Voldemort's eyes; something he was sure that hadn't shown in those eyes for a
long time. Yet Harry couldn't pinpoint
what it was. He concentrated on those
red eyes, and the feeling in them grew. Memories of last year suddenly returned to him, and the year
before…every year at Hogwarts came to him in one swoop of feeling. It was that feeling that now shown in
Voldemort's eyes.
"You…you
fear me…" Harry whispered, knowing it was true but unable to believe it.
"What?"
Voldemort exclaimed, anger rushing to his eyes, but not extinguishing the hint
of terror.
"You're…afraid. Of me."
"And
why should I be afraid of some insignificant teenager?" Voldemort sneered,
walking off.
Harry
hurried after him. "You can't lie to
me, you know. Admit it; you fear me."
Voldemort
didn't answer, but increased the speed of his strides.
"Answer
me yes or no; are you afraid of me?" Harry insisted.
"I
have no re-"
"Just
answer the question."
"You're
pul-"
"Why
are you having so much trouble? Just
answer: yes or no."
"Look
here, Pot-"
"Yes
or no."
"YES!"
he yelled, turning on the boy, "I fear you!"
After
getting over his shock at such a forceful answer, Harry gave him a questioning
look. "Why?"
"Why?!"
Voldemort snarled, "For more than half my life, every person has looked at me
with fear. Many tried to mask that with
courage, yet fear always shined behind it. Even you always looked at me that way. But now… How can you have none
of that? Your face holds no fear,
only…defiance."
Harry
was almost gaping now. How could he not
fear Voldemort? He'd feared the man
since the end of his first year at Hogwarts. And yet, as he looked at him, Harry knew it was true. He didn't feel fear of Voldemort
anymore. Anger, yes, even pity perhaps,
but no fear.
"And
since we're having an interrogation, tell me why you do not fear me."
Harry
wasn't sure of his answer at first. It
had always been natural to fear Voldemort, but now… "You're human…" Harry said, almost thinking aloud, "Before the
second trial, you always seemed an invincible monster, but now I know that
somewhere in there…you're human."
Voldemort
made something of a snorting growl and then headed off at double pace, Harry
following right along.
"You
know, there's something I wanted to ask-"
Voldemort
screamed in rage before Harry could finish, and then the Dark Lord took off at
a sprint. Harry laughed to himself, but
calmly followed at a walk. It was near
evening before they would meet up again.
As
Harry came out of the forest, he found a vast ravine with a bridge of rope and
wood going across it. On the other side
was Voldemort. Harry realized with a
jolt that the man had already cut through one of the ropes that held the
handrails and was now working on the second. The boy ran up on to the bridge, quickly finding how unstable it
was. He was holding onto the remaining
handrail when it suddenly went limp in his hands and he almost fell off the
bridge.
"Voldemort,
you idiot!" Harry yelled, on his hands and knees, "You'll get us both killed!"
Harry
quickly crawled across the bridge, glaring at the man.
"Too
bad you're quick," Voldemort said, "or you would have had to find another way
across."
"I
could have easily majicked another way."
"Then
why did you rush onto the bridge?"
Harry
chose not to answer. The last rays of
sunlight were quickly fading, so each decided to call it a night. Harry went as far away from Voldemort as he
could without losing sight of him—for he didn't want the man to get a head
start in the morning—and used his wand to make the grass into a very
comfortable bed.
Sleep
was just starting to creep up on Harry when he heard the scuffling. It sounded as though an animal were digging
around a bit, trying to find a meal. He
looked up lazily, and then froze. There, in the light of the full moon, he saw what could only be a
werewolf. It was far enough away that
it hadn't noticed him yet, and Harry wanted to keep it that way.
Slowly,
he stood on his bed. He reached up to the
tree branch above his head and tried to quietly pull himself up. Though he didn't get the quiet part down
quite right, the werewolf didn't notice. Normally Harry would have left it at that, leaving Voldemort to find his
own way out of the situation. But
seeing as he wasn't sure whether or not Voldemort's death would mean his own,
Harry nimbly made his way through the trees over to Voldemort's bed. There he grabbed a couple of acorns and
began pelting the Dark Lord with them.
Voldemort
looked up once or twice before sitting up angrily and yelling, "Stop it,
Potter!"
The
werewolf's howls rang through the night, letting Voldemort know he had made a
big mistake. The wizard quickly sprang
to his feet and scrambled up Harry's tree just as the werewolf caught up to
him. For a moment it had him by the
back of his robes, but a tearing sound rang through the air and the Dark Lord
sat panting in the tree. Harry couldn't
stop laughing.
"Idiot
boy," Voldemort murmured, examining the hole torn out of the back of his robes.
Harry
quickly went into a neighboring tree, having no wish to sleep so close to
Voldemort, and quickly made a spell to soften its branches. He fell asleep quickly, knowing he'd need it
for the day ahead.
~*~*~
A/N: *sigh* A disappointing lack of cliffie. Oh-dee-vell. Well, I hope you enjoyed it. One or two chapters and we'll find out. ^_^ I'm not even sure how it's going to end yet. But I do know what's going on w/ Draco and Azar. Bwa-ha-ha!!! ^-^
A HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE thank you to all my reviewers!!!
herm: Thanks!
princess of mordor: Hehehe… Thanks!
jona: Thanks! Go ahead and rush me, 'cause I ought to get this thing done. ^_^
Arabella Figg: Point of the 1st challenge: the old wizard dude was hungry. Who won: Harry, by a long shot. ^_^ Thanks!
Moon Warrior: *blushes* Ah, wowsers, thank you. And coming from such a wonderful author… *beams* Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. And no, your stuff could never be poo-poo! Do your evil laugh while throwing a dead frog around the room! Now THAT would be interesting. ^-^
Kelly: Aw, I'm sorry. Well, not really, but pretend I'm being nice. ^_^ Thanks!
Herm: Thanks! I'll try.
Swim Angel: Ah, yes, poor Draco. ^-^ Um…I have a napkin… ^-^ Thanks!
Sear: He was freaky… ^_^ Thanks!
Raven of Death: Yep, yep. I try and emphasize that a bit. "voldie 2 [attack of the clones!]" Oh, that cracks me up each time I read it! ^o^ I wish I had HP nightmares! ^-^ Thanks!
Kendal: Oh, no howlers, please! I couldn't stand the embarrassment if one of those came during my school lunch hour! ^-^ Thanks!!!
Roselyn Riddle: Not bad title… ^_^ Will Draco become evil. That is the question. ^-^ Thanks!
Dilandra: We'll find out more about Draco later. Thanks!
erin: Thanks!
sweets: Basically, Harry failed mentally, 'cause one blow knocked the determination right out of him. Of course, you can actually take from it whatever you want… It's not too specific. Thanks!
Julia: Heehee, you'll find out. Thanks!
Lonely Dove: Hehe…wait 'till fic 7. ^-^ Thanks!
minerva401: Thank you! Picture page? What picture page? Ooh, I'd like to know where! ^_^
Allison: Just remember, if you kill me then I can't finish the story! But…er, no, we're not going to find out what voldie went through. *ducks* Oh, think of your own dream! ^-^ Well, since Hermione was holding Draco's hand during the spell, she can feel him stronger than Ron can. And I'm not going to answer that question, 'cause it'll give too much away. ^_^ But I assure you, Draco's very capable of joining V. *mwa-ha-ha* Hehe, and I'm not saying anything about Azar. ^_^ Thank you!!! And I would have delved more into Harry's psyche, but I'm not a master at that like you are!
Well, be excellent to each other!
-Ady
