Chapter Five: The Danika Medallion
"Where are we going?" Ginny asked.
They were walking down the street, Draco kept stopping at corners, looking around, then continue down the street again. A couple of times he ducked into a store, Ginny following behind, then exited a few minutes later.
"Somewhere safe." Draco answered.
At the moment they were on the edge of town. Draco stood there, looking at the stretch of road in front of them. A few cars dotted the road, but they were few and far between. He started walking on the shoulder of the road, which was dirt and gravel. Ginny was beginning to feel an ache in her calves and wished they could just stop for a few seconds, but feared Draco would yell at her.
"Where is safe?" She finally asked.
Draco stopped, causing Ginny to come crashing into him. He looked down at her and seemed to want to say something, but held back.
"Follow me." He headed into a grove of trees.
Ginny looked around. The sound of twigs snapping, and birds singing echoed around her. Draco kept walking and soon they came to a lake, thousands of diamond specks shining off its surface. Off to the side was a small dock with a couple of small boats tied to it. Draco looked around and making sure no one was looking, he headed towards the dock.
"What are you doing?" Ginny asked, seeing him get into one of the boats. "This is called theft!"
"No, it's called barrowing, I'll bring it back. No get in."
Ginny could feel her palms start to sweat. She'd never broken a law before and was reluctant to start now. Before she could make up her mind Draco tugged on her arm, causing her to fall into the boat. Draco began rowing to the middle of the lake then stopped.
"Have you ever heard of the Danika?" Draco nearly whispered.
"The Danika? The ancient cult?" Ginny was a little familiar with the Danika.
Studying Ancient Wizard Civilizations wasn't her best subject, but she remembered the Danika. Twice in history the Danika have appeared, once 2,500 BC and the second when the four founders were alive. Some believed the Danika would rise again, but Prophecy wasn't looked upon in the same light as it was a thousand years ago.
"What about the Danika." Ginny said.
"It's rising." Draco paused. "It's hard to explain—to know where to start. Of course you probably know the history, so I won't bore you with details of the past. Voldemort believed in the Danika and tried in vain to search for any information about it, but wasn't able to. There is said to be a medallion that holds the secrets to the Danika, but no one knows where it is or what it looks like."
"Wait," Ginny interrupted. "What does this have to do with you?" Ginny had guessed that the Death Eaters probably were involved, but Draco told her himself he wasn't a Death Eater.
"Everything!" Draco exclaimed. "My last two years at Hogwarts were dedicated to finding any material that would lead me to its whereabouts. I searched the school every minute I could, nothing else mattered. If Voldemort's followers found it first…" Draco shuttered.
Ginny had no idea Draco was so against Voldemort. Earlier in his school year he seemed to embrace the Dark Arts and went out of his way to let every one know. Something must have happened between his fifth and sixth year…something big to cause such a change.
"Why did you go against your Father?" Ginny asked.
"Just because I think Muggles shouldn't learn magic doesn't mean I think we should do away with them, any more than I think we should do away with penguins because they serve no purpose. Voldemort wanted a world purified of Muggles. To him they were disgusting creatures." He smiled. "Bet you didn't know his Father was a Muggle, eh?"
"A Muggle? But why would he want to—"
"Because, Ginny! Why do we do anything?" Draco's voice steadily got louder and louder. "He was driven to it. He's sick."
There was a short pause in which Ginny noticed the sky growing darker. The air grew colder as well, and Ginny wrapped her arms around her knees, trying to get warmer.
"Did your Father know?" Ginny broke the silence.
"Not at first. And when he found out, the bastard, he thought I was trying to help him. I didn't tell him otherwise, so I went on with my search without worry. There are many rooms at Hogwarts, Ginny, that no one has entered in decades. You just have to know when and where to find the doors."
"Why would Hogwarts have anything in it that had to do with such a horrible cult?"
"Salazar was the second person in history to bring the Danika back. He found the medallion in Africa, brought it to Hogwarts and tried to find its mysteries. Nearly did, too. No one knows exactly what the medallion holds within it. Some say it's the mysteries of the world and universe. Others say it has power to control the world."
"Well, if you knew the mysteries of the universe, wouldn't that be the power? You know, the power to control the world?"
Draco looked at Ginny quizzically. "You're very surprising."
"What?"
"Just when I thought you couldn't get any dense you answer correctly. I think you hide a lot more in that head of yours than you let on."
Ginny blushed and looked out to the water.
Draco continued, "Before Salazar could finish his work on the medallion Godric discovered what he was doing and stopped him. After that all trace of the medallion has left historical records. Nothing after that mentions the Danika or the medallion. Scholars today think it never existed. Very few history texts mention it. But it's out there."
"How do you know?" Ginny asked, anxious for an answer.
"One day I found a door at Hogwarts. I had never seen this door and a peculiar mark was on the outside. It was three snakes intertwined…"
"The mark of Slytherin!" Ginny exclaimed.
"Yes. I knew at once what was behind the door and when I entered my theories were proven correct. A vast library, larger than the public one in the main corridor, was behind the door. This was Salazars library, filled with his books. I cleaned the place of its cobwebs and searched through every book and finally I found it. His account of what happened with the Danika. His story through his quill." Draco's eyes lit up with pleasure.
"And then?"
"My Father found out about my discovery, but I destroyed the text, but not before committing it to memory. This was right after graduation and I was to be executed on Voldemort's orders. I fled my Father's house and assumed a new identity, bent on finding the medallion, tracing it's path through time, now that I knew where to begin."
"But then why would Voldemort still want you on his side? You know? Wanting to meet."
"Why do you think?" Draco spat. "I found the medallion."
(A/N: Ok, I"m so sorry, but I have like aboslutely no time to do chapters any more! So now my chapters are going to be short and not as often. Gosh, I need to hurry up and make it rich so I can lounge all day, writing Harry Potter fan fic, lol!!!)
"Where are we going?" Ginny asked.
They were walking down the street, Draco kept stopping at corners, looking around, then continue down the street again. A couple of times he ducked into a store, Ginny following behind, then exited a few minutes later.
"Somewhere safe." Draco answered.
At the moment they were on the edge of town. Draco stood there, looking at the stretch of road in front of them. A few cars dotted the road, but they were few and far between. He started walking on the shoulder of the road, which was dirt and gravel. Ginny was beginning to feel an ache in her calves and wished they could just stop for a few seconds, but feared Draco would yell at her.
"Where is safe?" She finally asked.
Draco stopped, causing Ginny to come crashing into him. He looked down at her and seemed to want to say something, but held back.
"Follow me." He headed into a grove of trees.
Ginny looked around. The sound of twigs snapping, and birds singing echoed around her. Draco kept walking and soon they came to a lake, thousands of diamond specks shining off its surface. Off to the side was a small dock with a couple of small boats tied to it. Draco looked around and making sure no one was looking, he headed towards the dock.
"What are you doing?" Ginny asked, seeing him get into one of the boats. "This is called theft!"
"No, it's called barrowing, I'll bring it back. No get in."
Ginny could feel her palms start to sweat. She'd never broken a law before and was reluctant to start now. Before she could make up her mind Draco tugged on her arm, causing her to fall into the boat. Draco began rowing to the middle of the lake then stopped.
"Have you ever heard of the Danika?" Draco nearly whispered.
"The Danika? The ancient cult?" Ginny was a little familiar with the Danika.
Studying Ancient Wizard Civilizations wasn't her best subject, but she remembered the Danika. Twice in history the Danika have appeared, once 2,500 BC and the second when the four founders were alive. Some believed the Danika would rise again, but Prophecy wasn't looked upon in the same light as it was a thousand years ago.
"What about the Danika." Ginny said.
"It's rising." Draco paused. "It's hard to explain—to know where to start. Of course you probably know the history, so I won't bore you with details of the past. Voldemort believed in the Danika and tried in vain to search for any information about it, but wasn't able to. There is said to be a medallion that holds the secrets to the Danika, but no one knows where it is or what it looks like."
"Wait," Ginny interrupted. "What does this have to do with you?" Ginny had guessed that the Death Eaters probably were involved, but Draco told her himself he wasn't a Death Eater.
"Everything!" Draco exclaimed. "My last two years at Hogwarts were dedicated to finding any material that would lead me to its whereabouts. I searched the school every minute I could, nothing else mattered. If Voldemort's followers found it first…" Draco shuttered.
Ginny had no idea Draco was so against Voldemort. Earlier in his school year he seemed to embrace the Dark Arts and went out of his way to let every one know. Something must have happened between his fifth and sixth year…something big to cause such a change.
"Why did you go against your Father?" Ginny asked.
"Just because I think Muggles shouldn't learn magic doesn't mean I think we should do away with them, any more than I think we should do away with penguins because they serve no purpose. Voldemort wanted a world purified of Muggles. To him they were disgusting creatures." He smiled. "Bet you didn't know his Father was a Muggle, eh?"
"A Muggle? But why would he want to—"
"Because, Ginny! Why do we do anything?" Draco's voice steadily got louder and louder. "He was driven to it. He's sick."
There was a short pause in which Ginny noticed the sky growing darker. The air grew colder as well, and Ginny wrapped her arms around her knees, trying to get warmer.
"Did your Father know?" Ginny broke the silence.
"Not at first. And when he found out, the bastard, he thought I was trying to help him. I didn't tell him otherwise, so I went on with my search without worry. There are many rooms at Hogwarts, Ginny, that no one has entered in decades. You just have to know when and where to find the doors."
"Why would Hogwarts have anything in it that had to do with such a horrible cult?"
"Salazar was the second person in history to bring the Danika back. He found the medallion in Africa, brought it to Hogwarts and tried to find its mysteries. Nearly did, too. No one knows exactly what the medallion holds within it. Some say it's the mysteries of the world and universe. Others say it has power to control the world."
"Well, if you knew the mysteries of the universe, wouldn't that be the power? You know, the power to control the world?"
Draco looked at Ginny quizzically. "You're very surprising."
"What?"
"Just when I thought you couldn't get any dense you answer correctly. I think you hide a lot more in that head of yours than you let on."
Ginny blushed and looked out to the water.
Draco continued, "Before Salazar could finish his work on the medallion Godric discovered what he was doing and stopped him. After that all trace of the medallion has left historical records. Nothing after that mentions the Danika or the medallion. Scholars today think it never existed. Very few history texts mention it. But it's out there."
"How do you know?" Ginny asked, anxious for an answer.
"One day I found a door at Hogwarts. I had never seen this door and a peculiar mark was on the outside. It was three snakes intertwined…"
"The mark of Slytherin!" Ginny exclaimed.
"Yes. I knew at once what was behind the door and when I entered my theories were proven correct. A vast library, larger than the public one in the main corridor, was behind the door. This was Salazars library, filled with his books. I cleaned the place of its cobwebs and searched through every book and finally I found it. His account of what happened with the Danika. His story through his quill." Draco's eyes lit up with pleasure.
"And then?"
"My Father found out about my discovery, but I destroyed the text, but not before committing it to memory. This was right after graduation and I was to be executed on Voldemort's orders. I fled my Father's house and assumed a new identity, bent on finding the medallion, tracing it's path through time, now that I knew where to begin."
"But then why would Voldemort still want you on his side? You know? Wanting to meet."
"Why do you think?" Draco spat. "I found the medallion."
(A/N: Ok, I"m so sorry, but I have like aboslutely no time to do chapters any more! So now my chapters are going to be short and not as often. Gosh, I need to hurry up and make it rich so I can lounge all day, writing Harry Potter fan fic, lol!!!)