Seeing the Invisible Ten:
Disclaimer: I only own what you don't recognize; the rest is J.K Rowling's (if you want a little list, see chapter 9). Please don't sue.
~
Harry rolled over with a soft groan. Somewhere farther behind him he heard hissing. But it was a human that was hissing…he took that as a very bad sign and looked to his left. Sprawled beside him lay Farrell. Sensing his gaze, her eyes snapped open. Her stare flicked left and right, eyes widening with fear.
"get up when I say…we need to run," breathed Harry, squeezing her hand.
Farrell gave a tiny nod. The silence around them was so intense it was crushing her like two invisible boulders. The shadow of fear was bearing down upon her shoulders, and panic glistened behind her cat-like eyes. She looked around. They were deep within a forest somewhere, and a thicket of tall trees surrounded them on either side.
Harry slowly sat up, his ears picking up every sound. Suddenly, he heard a soft gasp beside him and whipped around, looking at Farrell inquisitively. She looked to her right and he followed her gaze.
Propped up against a tree nearby was a scorched skeleton of a wizard, his broom and wand laying beside him, the mangled remains of his face contorted in agony. He had been burned alive. Harry gulped, knowing that if he didn't think of something soon they too would come to this fate.
All of a sudden, rustling could be heard behind them. Farrell looked at Harry in fear, waiting for his signal. He waited, listening, just as she did. They could hear the sounds approaching and increasing in volume. Harry looked to Farrell, their eyes meeting. He nodded and they jumped up and ran swiftly through the trees.
They ran and ran, hurtling away from the unknown foe. Harry ran behind Farrell, constantly glancing after him, looking for what chased them. Then, out of the blue, Farrell stopped running. She just stood, staring off into the distance as she tried to catch her breath.
Harry stopped beside her and put a hand on her shoulder.
"What's wrong? Why are you stopping?" Harry asked, breathing heavily.
She looked at him like he was insane.
"Because we've hit a dead end, numbskull," she said, pointing in front of her.
Harry looked at inquisitively, "What are you talking about? We're in the middle of an open forest" he said, staring.
She raised an eyebrow, " Harry, are you blind? There's a wall right here," she said, putting her hand up against where a wall would be.
When he looked at her skeptically she grabbed his wrist and pushed his hand up against the wall.
He could feel the wood beneath his hand, coarse and splintery, but when he looked there was nothing there.
"Farrell, its invisible! How can you see it?" Harry asked, staring at her.
She stared and walked over to the left, heaving her meager weight against the unseen wall.
"What are you doing now?" Harry asked, walking over to her.
"Trying…to open…this door!" she gasped, her teeth clenched together as she rammed into the wall with her shoulder.
Then she remembered something.
"Harry! The seer and the key! And the prophecy! And the lightning boy!" she exclaimed, rigid with excitement.
He stared at her blankly, wondering what she was going on about.
"Harry! The prophecy, remember?"
He nodded, "yea, I do, but what's that got to do anything? We're narrowly escaping death and you're babbling about an invisible wall…"
She rolled her eyes, "Remember the end of it? 'To win the fight forevermore, Lightning and Seer together must soar, over the unseen town of which the treasure was for, over the city of forgotten folklore'. Remember? Plus, I've been having these visions about the red-eyed man, who just has to be the dark lord and he was talking about this invisible city and how he needs the seer and the key to get in and-" she cut off her rambling with a gasp.
Harry whipped around, thinking the attackers were coming, "What?"
"It must be me…Harry- you're the lightning boy because of your scar and…and I must be the seer…yes, that would make sense. Harry- we can rid the world of the dark lord, we just…we just need a broom!" Farrell exclaimed, immensely proud of herself.
Harry stared.
"You're sure?" he asked, eyes wide.
She nodded.
"The…the burnt corpse! He had a broom!" Harry said, stroking his chin thoughtfully.
"But we can't go back now, how will we get it?" Farrell said, sighing.
Harry's eyes lit up.
"Leave it to me," he said, pulling out his wand.
"ACCIO BROOMSTICK!" he shouted, pushing every ounce of concentration into the wooden stick into his hand.
Within a few moments, the broom came racing towards them, skidding to a halt in front of Harry. He turned to face Farrell with a grin.
She smiled back and motioned for him to get on before hopping on in back of him.
As soon as they rose into the air, the same crowd of people that had caused chaos during the quidditch match assembled on the ground, shooting spells in all directions until a hooded figure floated in.
Ignoring them and accelerating in speed, Harry flew forward, following the directions of Farrell. They dodged spells in every direction until they were hovering just over the center of what Farrell said was the invisible city.
"You'll never get in without the key," a harsh voice said suddenly.
Farrell and Harry looked around. Lingering nearby, the cloaked figure of Voldemort hung in the air.
"There's a force-field that acts as a roof. You can't fly through it until its broken, only capable by living human flesh of someone who wants to get in for themselves," the sinister voice continued.
"And I had intended to make the dear little seer here open the city with the key, but now, Potter, I could simply drop you and get in without the seer and use her for other means," Voldemort cackled.
Harry's eyes ignited with hatred.
Farrell gripped her wand tightly as Voldemort lifted the golden key from his pocket with a gnarled hand.
"Here is the key, my dear. Come here and I'll execute your friend Potter swiftly and painlessly," Voldemort said, shaking his hood off to reveal a twisted smile.
In a flash, Farrell had whipped out her wand and shot a disarming spell directly at the dark lord.
The key fell from his hand and he let out a yell of fury as he scrambled to grab it. Just as he looked down, scuttling to grab the key, Farrell whisked the heavy golden ball Harry had given her for Christmas and took aim, dropping it on Voldemort's head with a clunk. Knocked unconscious by the ball, Lord Voldemort fell through the shield.
Where he fell through, a web of intricate golden light, like threads in a tapestry, wove out on all sides of the hole he'd made in the shield. Suddenly, invisibility was replaced with vision as the city materialized before their eyes, colorful and untouched. Harry zoomed down to where Voldemort had fallen.
The dark lord lay in a heap on the ground, but not for long. Harry and Farrell stood over him, waiting for a sign of movement in which they would blast him to pieces. But he did not move. In fact, he was beginning to blur around the edge, slowly disappearing into nothing. After a few minutes, the dark lord was no more.
Just as he disappeared, a loud crunching noise could be heard. Farrell and Harry looked around, watching for the source of the noise. With a gasp, Farrell found it. The enormous walls of the city were crumbling to nothing, slowly breaking down since the shield had been broken.
Harry quickly ushered her onto the broom and sailed out of there and into the safety (if you could call it that) of the forest. They reached the spot they'd arrived in, marked by the scorched man.
Hopping off of the broom, they searched for the portkey.
"Harry, do you realize what we've just done?" Farrell asked, her voice shaking.
Harry glanced over and nodded numbly before bending over, closely examining the underbrush.
"Harry," she said, her face breaking into a grin, "we've destroyed the dark lord."
Then he straightened up, beaming as he held up the withered remains of the burnt flower.
"And now, "he said, "we're going home."
Farrell grinned as they joined hands and each touched the flower. It was with only a jerk behind their navels before they fell with a thud onto the Hogwarts school grounds.
~
"You are honestly telling me that you defeated Lord Voldemort and that he deteriorated into the walls of the unseen city before they crumbled into nothing?" Professor Dumbledore asked, stroking his beard after listening to about an hour of their retelling of the day's events.
Harry and Farrell nodded, exhausted.
"Its not that I don't believe you, Ms. Branwen, Harry, but I assure you that the rest of the world will be skeptical. Unless, that is, you have any proof."
Harry put his head in his hands and Farrell sighed before her eyes widened and she jumped up reaching into her pockets.
She pulled out the charred remains of the key, and two shining pieces of gold that were formerly part of her Christmas present from Harry.
Professor Dumbledore disregarded the key but immediately picked up the pieces of the ball.
"This is a Solation ball, is it not?" he asked, examining it closely.
Farrell looked to Harry, who nodded.
"You're sure?" the headmaster asked again, staring at the ball.
Harry nodded again, "yes, sir. I bought it for Farrell for Christmas."
"Well, Harry, Solation balls are truly indestructible. They are centuries old, and very rare. Where you bought it is beyond me, because usually they are quite hard to find. But the impact of an age-old magical force field…if anything could break a Solation ball that could. So, your story must be true," Professor Dumbledore said, smiling widely.
"On behalf of the wizarding world, I thank you for your services. I should think you both will receive the Order of Merlin, most likely first class. But now, I need to owl the minister of magic, telling him of your achievements. You may go," the headmaster said, gesturing to the door.
After leaving the office of the headmaster, on the spiral staircase down to the entrance, Harry turned to Farrell.
"So, now that you've saved the world and destroyed the most evil villain to grace the earth, what would you say to having dinner with me tomorrow?" He asked, smiling at her.
She turned to look at him, but instead of responding, pulled him towards her and kissed him deeply. The entrance to the corridor swung open and a crowd of people cheered as they stood there kissing in the dark.
Disclaimer: I only own what you don't recognize; the rest is J.K Rowling's (if you want a little list, see chapter 9). Please don't sue.
~
Harry rolled over with a soft groan. Somewhere farther behind him he heard hissing. But it was a human that was hissing…he took that as a very bad sign and looked to his left. Sprawled beside him lay Farrell. Sensing his gaze, her eyes snapped open. Her stare flicked left and right, eyes widening with fear.
"get up when I say…we need to run," breathed Harry, squeezing her hand.
Farrell gave a tiny nod. The silence around them was so intense it was crushing her like two invisible boulders. The shadow of fear was bearing down upon her shoulders, and panic glistened behind her cat-like eyes. She looked around. They were deep within a forest somewhere, and a thicket of tall trees surrounded them on either side.
Harry slowly sat up, his ears picking up every sound. Suddenly, he heard a soft gasp beside him and whipped around, looking at Farrell inquisitively. She looked to her right and he followed her gaze.
Propped up against a tree nearby was a scorched skeleton of a wizard, his broom and wand laying beside him, the mangled remains of his face contorted in agony. He had been burned alive. Harry gulped, knowing that if he didn't think of something soon they too would come to this fate.
All of a sudden, rustling could be heard behind them. Farrell looked at Harry in fear, waiting for his signal. He waited, listening, just as she did. They could hear the sounds approaching and increasing in volume. Harry looked to Farrell, their eyes meeting. He nodded and they jumped up and ran swiftly through the trees.
They ran and ran, hurtling away from the unknown foe. Harry ran behind Farrell, constantly glancing after him, looking for what chased them. Then, out of the blue, Farrell stopped running. She just stood, staring off into the distance as she tried to catch her breath.
Harry stopped beside her and put a hand on her shoulder.
"What's wrong? Why are you stopping?" Harry asked, breathing heavily.
She looked at him like he was insane.
"Because we've hit a dead end, numbskull," she said, pointing in front of her.
Harry looked at inquisitively, "What are you talking about? We're in the middle of an open forest" he said, staring.
She raised an eyebrow, " Harry, are you blind? There's a wall right here," she said, putting her hand up against where a wall would be.
When he looked at her skeptically she grabbed his wrist and pushed his hand up against the wall.
He could feel the wood beneath his hand, coarse and splintery, but when he looked there was nothing there.
"Farrell, its invisible! How can you see it?" Harry asked, staring at her.
She stared and walked over to the left, heaving her meager weight against the unseen wall.
"What are you doing now?" Harry asked, walking over to her.
"Trying…to open…this door!" she gasped, her teeth clenched together as she rammed into the wall with her shoulder.
Then she remembered something.
"Harry! The seer and the key! And the prophecy! And the lightning boy!" she exclaimed, rigid with excitement.
He stared at her blankly, wondering what she was going on about.
"Harry! The prophecy, remember?"
He nodded, "yea, I do, but what's that got to do anything? We're narrowly escaping death and you're babbling about an invisible wall…"
She rolled her eyes, "Remember the end of it? 'To win the fight forevermore, Lightning and Seer together must soar, over the unseen town of which the treasure was for, over the city of forgotten folklore'. Remember? Plus, I've been having these visions about the red-eyed man, who just has to be the dark lord and he was talking about this invisible city and how he needs the seer and the key to get in and-" she cut off her rambling with a gasp.
Harry whipped around, thinking the attackers were coming, "What?"
"It must be me…Harry- you're the lightning boy because of your scar and…and I must be the seer…yes, that would make sense. Harry- we can rid the world of the dark lord, we just…we just need a broom!" Farrell exclaimed, immensely proud of herself.
Harry stared.
"You're sure?" he asked, eyes wide.
She nodded.
"The…the burnt corpse! He had a broom!" Harry said, stroking his chin thoughtfully.
"But we can't go back now, how will we get it?" Farrell said, sighing.
Harry's eyes lit up.
"Leave it to me," he said, pulling out his wand.
"ACCIO BROOMSTICK!" he shouted, pushing every ounce of concentration into the wooden stick into his hand.
Within a few moments, the broom came racing towards them, skidding to a halt in front of Harry. He turned to face Farrell with a grin.
She smiled back and motioned for him to get on before hopping on in back of him.
As soon as they rose into the air, the same crowd of people that had caused chaos during the quidditch match assembled on the ground, shooting spells in all directions until a hooded figure floated in.
Ignoring them and accelerating in speed, Harry flew forward, following the directions of Farrell. They dodged spells in every direction until they were hovering just over the center of what Farrell said was the invisible city.
"You'll never get in without the key," a harsh voice said suddenly.
Farrell and Harry looked around. Lingering nearby, the cloaked figure of Voldemort hung in the air.
"There's a force-field that acts as a roof. You can't fly through it until its broken, only capable by living human flesh of someone who wants to get in for themselves," the sinister voice continued.
"And I had intended to make the dear little seer here open the city with the key, but now, Potter, I could simply drop you and get in without the seer and use her for other means," Voldemort cackled.
Harry's eyes ignited with hatred.
Farrell gripped her wand tightly as Voldemort lifted the golden key from his pocket with a gnarled hand.
"Here is the key, my dear. Come here and I'll execute your friend Potter swiftly and painlessly," Voldemort said, shaking his hood off to reveal a twisted smile.
In a flash, Farrell had whipped out her wand and shot a disarming spell directly at the dark lord.
The key fell from his hand and he let out a yell of fury as he scrambled to grab it. Just as he looked down, scuttling to grab the key, Farrell whisked the heavy golden ball Harry had given her for Christmas and took aim, dropping it on Voldemort's head with a clunk. Knocked unconscious by the ball, Lord Voldemort fell through the shield.
Where he fell through, a web of intricate golden light, like threads in a tapestry, wove out on all sides of the hole he'd made in the shield. Suddenly, invisibility was replaced with vision as the city materialized before their eyes, colorful and untouched. Harry zoomed down to where Voldemort had fallen.
The dark lord lay in a heap on the ground, but not for long. Harry and Farrell stood over him, waiting for a sign of movement in which they would blast him to pieces. But he did not move. In fact, he was beginning to blur around the edge, slowly disappearing into nothing. After a few minutes, the dark lord was no more.
Just as he disappeared, a loud crunching noise could be heard. Farrell and Harry looked around, watching for the source of the noise. With a gasp, Farrell found it. The enormous walls of the city were crumbling to nothing, slowly breaking down since the shield had been broken.
Harry quickly ushered her onto the broom and sailed out of there and into the safety (if you could call it that) of the forest. They reached the spot they'd arrived in, marked by the scorched man.
Hopping off of the broom, they searched for the portkey.
"Harry, do you realize what we've just done?" Farrell asked, her voice shaking.
Harry glanced over and nodded numbly before bending over, closely examining the underbrush.
"Harry," she said, her face breaking into a grin, "we've destroyed the dark lord."
Then he straightened up, beaming as he held up the withered remains of the burnt flower.
"And now, "he said, "we're going home."
Farrell grinned as they joined hands and each touched the flower. It was with only a jerk behind their navels before they fell with a thud onto the Hogwarts school grounds.
~
"You are honestly telling me that you defeated Lord Voldemort and that he deteriorated into the walls of the unseen city before they crumbled into nothing?" Professor Dumbledore asked, stroking his beard after listening to about an hour of their retelling of the day's events.
Harry and Farrell nodded, exhausted.
"Its not that I don't believe you, Ms. Branwen, Harry, but I assure you that the rest of the world will be skeptical. Unless, that is, you have any proof."
Harry put his head in his hands and Farrell sighed before her eyes widened and she jumped up reaching into her pockets.
She pulled out the charred remains of the key, and two shining pieces of gold that were formerly part of her Christmas present from Harry.
Professor Dumbledore disregarded the key but immediately picked up the pieces of the ball.
"This is a Solation ball, is it not?" he asked, examining it closely.
Farrell looked to Harry, who nodded.
"You're sure?" the headmaster asked again, staring at the ball.
Harry nodded again, "yes, sir. I bought it for Farrell for Christmas."
"Well, Harry, Solation balls are truly indestructible. They are centuries old, and very rare. Where you bought it is beyond me, because usually they are quite hard to find. But the impact of an age-old magical force field…if anything could break a Solation ball that could. So, your story must be true," Professor Dumbledore said, smiling widely.
"On behalf of the wizarding world, I thank you for your services. I should think you both will receive the Order of Merlin, most likely first class. But now, I need to owl the minister of magic, telling him of your achievements. You may go," the headmaster said, gesturing to the door.
After leaving the office of the headmaster, on the spiral staircase down to the entrance, Harry turned to Farrell.
"So, now that you've saved the world and destroyed the most evil villain to grace the earth, what would you say to having dinner with me tomorrow?" He asked, smiling at her.
She turned to look at him, but instead of responding, pulled him towards her and kissed him deeply. The entrance to the corridor swung open and a crowd of people cheered as they stood there kissing in the dark.