Tholem
From where they stood, Tom and Minka gathered their first glimpse of the
bustling village. Set high above the Quan River on a rocky cliff, the entire city had
been built into the cave walls. At least a hundred wizards cloaked in white were
working up there; some climbed the endless flights of stone steps that disappeared
into the cave ceiling, while others crowded the cliff to welcome the visitors. The ship
brushed against the smooth stone wall as Alastor struggled to steer the ship into
place.
"What is this place?" Tom asked, trying to prevent his jaw from dropping in
amazement.
"The city of Tholem," said Alastor. "There are hundreds of these
underground villages along the Quan River. They are mostly used as illegal spots for
trading and selling dark arts equipment. Most wizards here are either deeply engaged
in the dark arts, or are in hiding from the law."
"Then vy are ve here?" interrupted Minka sleepily.
"This is the only stop for two weeks where you'll be able to get back to the
overworld," growled Alastor. "Anyhow, I've got to restock my ship for supplies."
"How do ve get up there?" called Minka to Alastor, over the echoing voices
of the wizards above.
"Watch me!" Alastor called back, drawing his wand from his pocket.
The ship was now right below the massive cliff, and waves of silvery Quan
splashed against the walls.
"Zorasterota!" he yelled and suddenly, a white aura formed around the ship.
Tom gripped the wooden railing tightly as the wooden vessel began to slowly rise in
to the air. He felt as though trapped in a dream; everything outside the ship looked
opaque through the blinding aura and Tom couldn't distinguish between imagination
and reality. The boat landed on the cliff, and as soon as it touched the ground the
aura vanished as hundreds of golden ropes were thrown on to the deck. Wizards
spilled on board, securing the ropes around poles using binding charms. The ship
was slowly taken through a large hole in the rock wall into an enormous cavern filled
with thousands of others. There were shipwrecks, treasure ships, sailboats, and even
some muggle submarines. Tom, Minka, and Alastor climbed down the ladder, to
immediately be greeted by several wizards.
"Good to see you again, Alastor," said one of the wizards with a dark black
beard and a sapphire turban. The greased tips of his moustache curled upward,
giving him a quite goofy appearance.
"Always a treat to stop at Tholem, Barnok" said Alastor cheerfully. I reckon
it's been almost a year since I last made it to this part of the Quan River."
"Nearly," said Barnok.
"Who are your friends?" spat a short wizard on the left with magenta robes,
showering Tom with spit; Tom looked disgusted.
"Oh yeah! This here's Minka Petr…"
"Petrovia," interrupted Minka.
"Yes, and this is Tom," said Alastor.
"Well why don't we all head over to the Howling Hag for a drink while I get
your ship loaded up, Alastor?" said Barnok thoughtfully.
"Well, alright. But I must be on my way by tomorrow," said Alastor hastily.
"Oh, and Shorgaff…" he said turning to the short wizard, "tell your men not to
touch anything in the back of the ship. I have important things there."
"I'll see to your requests," said Shorgaff tersely as he hurried out of sight.
"Pardon me," said Tom to Barnok, "but what exactly is the Howling Hag?"
"It's a bar," said Barnok. "Known as the best on the Quan River!"
"Oh," said Tom, feeling stupid.
The four of them headed back out of the boat hangar and down a cobblestone
road that ran in between two enormous slabs of limestone. Wizards upon wizards
crowded the streets trading everything from spices to werewolf fangs; they were
dressed in robes of all colors and speaking several languages. They passed some
alleyways filled with shadowed figures that Tom assumed were the dark wizards
Alastor had been talking about. He very much wanted to take a look around, but
Minka grabbed his arm and dragged him away before he could catch a good glimpse
at them. They passed an old witch who was selling a strange concoction she claimed
would give you eternal beauty. Looking at the hideous wrinkled woman, he doubted
it worked. Alastor stopped several times to greet old friends while Tom and Minka
got a chance to look at the interesting vendors.
"Ah…my dears," croaked an aged man wearing a turban. "Would you like
me to tell you your futures?"
Tom was about to say no, but Minka pulled him into the dimly lit tent with
her before he could open his mouth.
"Good choice, good choice," said the old man excitedly. "Which one of you
would like to go first?"
"Vy don't you go Tom," said Minka pushing him forward.
"Come closer my dear," said the old man pulling him into a large wooden
armchair. "Welcome. My name is Professor Zambini. Let me have your hands
please."
He gripped Tom's long bony fingers in his wrinkled palms. His eyelids closed
and for a moment the tent filled with silence. Then Professor Zambini began to
convulse rapidly. His face began to flush and he panted, as if he couldn't breath well.
Tears dripped down his face as if he was seeing terrible things in his mind. But as
suddenly as it had begun, it stopped, and he awakened all of the sudden from his
trance. His large blue eyes stared at Tom with fear.
"Your future is cer…certain my boy," he stuttered. "But I am afraid it is not
my place to reveal it. I advise you to go."
He pushed the two confused wizards out of the tent with more force than one
would have thought from such an old man, and closed the curtain in their faces.
"Vot vos that all about?" said Minka perplexed.
"I don't know," said Tom, but inside he was lying to himself. In the back of
his mind he thought that maybe the old man had seen the world once he became
Lord Voldemort. What if he really did succeed in bringing terror to the world? A
nasty grin spread across his face, but he tried to suppress it so Minka wouldn't
notice.
The two of them rejoined with the others and finally turned right into a large
cavern carved into the wall. High above he could see big flames floating in the air
that spelled the words "The Howling Hag". He was surprised it had a cheerful
atmosphere for such a gloomy setting. The Howling Hag was unlike anything Tom
had ever seen. The entire center of the pub was used only as a stage, and the
hundreds of customers sat at tables placed inside large holes in the wall. These
"compartments" went all around the lining of the circular cavern, and wizards were
zooming around on broomsticks taking orders. The five of them sat down inside a
small stone compartment and immediately a small witch pulled up on a broomstick
and pulled out a wooden wand-like tool.
"Good evening witches and wizards," she squeaked cheerfully. "What can I
get y'all to drink?"
"I'll have a pint of dragon blood Marie," said Barnok from the back
"And I would like some mulled mead," shouted Alastor from behind Barnok.
Tom was disgusted, but he tried to hide his desire to vomit. Whoever drank
dragon blood?
Minka ordered a small gilly water, and Tom chose the only drink on the
menu he knew: Butterbeer. The small witch, using her strange tool, was writing all
this down in mid air, leaving behind neat white glowing letters. She then took her
hand and stuffed the floating letters into her cloak pocket. They got their drinks and
stared in awe as a beautiful witch wearing only her undergarments and a scarlet
wizard hat danced to the beat of some Middle Eastern music. From all around the
pub, wizards threw golden galleons onto the stage in delight.
After the witch, several dazzling veela crowded the stage and began to dance
as well. But rather than throwing galleons at them, the wizards watching began to act
strangely, trying to impress the creatures before them. Tom though, remained in
control of himself, never having been affected by veela powers. He and Minka
struggled to suppress their laughter as Barnok and Alastor jumped out of their
compartment and began taking their clothes off on the stage. Everyone, including the
veela were watching them in amusement.
After the excitement died down, Minka left to go outside, and the other two
headed over to the bar for some whiskey. This gave Tom the chance he had been
waiting for. He slid into the shadows and pulled out the ancient book from his robes.
Ever since he had gotten it from Grindlewald he had been dying to open it, but he
never had time to himself. He now took a few minutes to observe its intriguing
qualities before revealing its contents. Gleaming in the center was still the strange
eye, though now it was closed as if asleep. The surface of the tattered book was
covered in various ancient writings, some of which Tom noticed were in
parseltongue. The manuscript itself was quite thin, and he hoped it wasn't missing
anything. Finally, he decided to open it, but drew his wand just incase something
were to jump out at him. The ancient pages blew a slight breeze into his face when
he first pulled them apart, and he coughed as he brushed the dust away. The first
page read: The Steps Towards Immortality, written in 1930 by Balthasar Grindlewald.
Tom grinned excitedly and turned to the next page. But there was no next page. Tom
panicked and continued flipping through the manuscript; all but the first were blank.
What form of dark magic was this? Could it be similar to the journal he had created
in his seventh year at Hogwarts where he had preserved himself within its pages?
Maybe the deceased Grindlewald still lived inside this book! He quickly drew a bent
quill from inside his robes and began to fill the first page with words. Nothing
happened. Then all of a sudden he heard someone yawn… he turned sideways
looking around the compartment for his phantom yawner, but no one was there.
"I'm over here!" said a sweet voice.
"Where are you?" asked Tom in caution.
"I'm over here!" said the voice again in amusement. "Look on the cover
darling."
The cover of what? But then he realized what was going on; Tom flipped over
the old book to see the large eye opened wide and a thin slit of a mouth that had not
been there before smiled at him.
"And you are…," said Tom puzzled.
"Don't be silly," said the book giggling. "Haven't you ever seen a talking
book?"
"Not particularly," said Tom scratching his head in amazement. "Do you
have a name?"
"Well of course!" it snapped. "They call me Schlochankanterbruis, but you
can just call me Meg."
"Well, Meg…," said Tom still in shock, "Is there any particular reason that
you've inhabited this book?"
"How else are you going to know what to do," said Meg irritably. "Do you
think the pages are blank for no reason?"
"What do you mean?" asked Tom puzzled.
"Grindlewald asked me help you decipher the book. I'm the one who is going
to tell you what to do," she said to him in a voice one would use when talking to a
kindergartner. "The first thing you must do is find out where you need to travel to.
Once you reach your destination, you must find three ingredients which will create a
powerful concoction you alone can drink. Once you have done this, I will tell you
the rest. Each time you complete a step, the next step will appear on the pages. For
now, I will tell you the first clue, though after that, I must get my beauty sleep." She
said in a matter of fact tone.
"Well hurry up then," said Tom, making sure no one could hear their
conversation.
"First you must travel where the ancient kings do lie
Where golden sands do stir beneath the withered desert sky
A place of many dangers, hidden treasures buried deep
Of palaces and shadowed tombs where all the secrets sleep.
So travel there on your own risk to bake beneath the sun
And when you reach the Nile's bank, your journey's just begun."
She closed her eye, and the book became lifeless like before. Tom had been
listening with interest but now sat in silence.
"Golden sands…Nile's banks… ancient kings," he thought to himself, "She
wants me to go to Egypt! But how am I supposed to get there?"
As he continued to ponder this, Minka was walking back to him with two
foaming butterbeers. Then a light turned on in his head. Should he ask her to come
to Egypt with him?
"I thought you'd like another," she said smiling as she sat down next to him.
Tom quickly hid the book from view and looked at her innocently.
"Vot vos that?" she cooed in a suspicious tone.
"Oh, just some light reading" he said. "But there's something I need to ask
you…" but Tom never got to ask Minka his question, for at that moment, she had
leaned in to him and kissed him lightly on the lips. Tom felt a surge of pleasure rush
through him. He was whipped out of reality and into the world of dreams come true.
The moment he had with Minka felt like eternity.
But he was snapped out of his trance when Minka pulled away and began to
run from him.
"Where are you going?" he shouted, following her out of the Howling Hag
and into an alleyway.
But no one answered and Tom was left feeling worse than before. He began
to listen keenly for any sign of where she had gone. He had to talk to her…
A clash echoed to the right and Tom's legs followed, carrying him deeper and
deeper in to the darkness in search of Minka.
From where they stood, Tom and Minka gathered their first glimpse of the
bustling village. Set high above the Quan River on a rocky cliff, the entire city had
been built into the cave walls. At least a hundred wizards cloaked in white were
working up there; some climbed the endless flights of stone steps that disappeared
into the cave ceiling, while others crowded the cliff to welcome the visitors. The ship
brushed against the smooth stone wall as Alastor struggled to steer the ship into
place.
"What is this place?" Tom asked, trying to prevent his jaw from dropping in
amazement.
"The city of Tholem," said Alastor. "There are hundreds of these
underground villages along the Quan River. They are mostly used as illegal spots for
trading and selling dark arts equipment. Most wizards here are either deeply engaged
in the dark arts, or are in hiding from the law."
"Then vy are ve here?" interrupted Minka sleepily.
"This is the only stop for two weeks where you'll be able to get back to the
overworld," growled Alastor. "Anyhow, I've got to restock my ship for supplies."
"How do ve get up there?" called Minka to Alastor, over the echoing voices
of the wizards above.
"Watch me!" Alastor called back, drawing his wand from his pocket.
The ship was now right below the massive cliff, and waves of silvery Quan
splashed against the walls.
"Zorasterota!" he yelled and suddenly, a white aura formed around the ship.
Tom gripped the wooden railing tightly as the wooden vessel began to slowly rise in
to the air. He felt as though trapped in a dream; everything outside the ship looked
opaque through the blinding aura and Tom couldn't distinguish between imagination
and reality. The boat landed on the cliff, and as soon as it touched the ground the
aura vanished as hundreds of golden ropes were thrown on to the deck. Wizards
spilled on board, securing the ropes around poles using binding charms. The ship
was slowly taken through a large hole in the rock wall into an enormous cavern filled
with thousands of others. There were shipwrecks, treasure ships, sailboats, and even
some muggle submarines. Tom, Minka, and Alastor climbed down the ladder, to
immediately be greeted by several wizards.
"Good to see you again, Alastor," said one of the wizards with a dark black
beard and a sapphire turban. The greased tips of his moustache curled upward,
giving him a quite goofy appearance.
"Always a treat to stop at Tholem, Barnok" said Alastor cheerfully. I reckon
it's been almost a year since I last made it to this part of the Quan River."
"Nearly," said Barnok.
"Who are your friends?" spat a short wizard on the left with magenta robes,
showering Tom with spit; Tom looked disgusted.
"Oh yeah! This here's Minka Petr…"
"Petrovia," interrupted Minka.
"Yes, and this is Tom," said Alastor.
"Well why don't we all head over to the Howling Hag for a drink while I get
your ship loaded up, Alastor?" said Barnok thoughtfully.
"Well, alright. But I must be on my way by tomorrow," said Alastor hastily.
"Oh, and Shorgaff…" he said turning to the short wizard, "tell your men not to
touch anything in the back of the ship. I have important things there."
"I'll see to your requests," said Shorgaff tersely as he hurried out of sight.
"Pardon me," said Tom to Barnok, "but what exactly is the Howling Hag?"
"It's a bar," said Barnok. "Known as the best on the Quan River!"
"Oh," said Tom, feeling stupid.
The four of them headed back out of the boat hangar and down a cobblestone
road that ran in between two enormous slabs of limestone. Wizards upon wizards
crowded the streets trading everything from spices to werewolf fangs; they were
dressed in robes of all colors and speaking several languages. They passed some
alleyways filled with shadowed figures that Tom assumed were the dark wizards
Alastor had been talking about. He very much wanted to take a look around, but
Minka grabbed his arm and dragged him away before he could catch a good glimpse
at them. They passed an old witch who was selling a strange concoction she claimed
would give you eternal beauty. Looking at the hideous wrinkled woman, he doubted
it worked. Alastor stopped several times to greet old friends while Tom and Minka
got a chance to look at the interesting vendors.
"Ah…my dears," croaked an aged man wearing a turban. "Would you like
me to tell you your futures?"
Tom was about to say no, but Minka pulled him into the dimly lit tent with
her before he could open his mouth.
"Good choice, good choice," said the old man excitedly. "Which one of you
would like to go first?"
"Vy don't you go Tom," said Minka pushing him forward.
"Come closer my dear," said the old man pulling him into a large wooden
armchair. "Welcome. My name is Professor Zambini. Let me have your hands
please."
He gripped Tom's long bony fingers in his wrinkled palms. His eyelids closed
and for a moment the tent filled with silence. Then Professor Zambini began to
convulse rapidly. His face began to flush and he panted, as if he couldn't breath well.
Tears dripped down his face as if he was seeing terrible things in his mind. But as
suddenly as it had begun, it stopped, and he awakened all of the sudden from his
trance. His large blue eyes stared at Tom with fear.
"Your future is cer…certain my boy," he stuttered. "But I am afraid it is not
my place to reveal it. I advise you to go."
He pushed the two confused wizards out of the tent with more force than one
would have thought from such an old man, and closed the curtain in their faces.
"Vot vos that all about?" said Minka perplexed.
"I don't know," said Tom, but inside he was lying to himself. In the back of
his mind he thought that maybe the old man had seen the world once he became
Lord Voldemort. What if he really did succeed in bringing terror to the world? A
nasty grin spread across his face, but he tried to suppress it so Minka wouldn't
notice.
The two of them rejoined with the others and finally turned right into a large
cavern carved into the wall. High above he could see big flames floating in the air
that spelled the words "The Howling Hag". He was surprised it had a cheerful
atmosphere for such a gloomy setting. The Howling Hag was unlike anything Tom
had ever seen. The entire center of the pub was used only as a stage, and the
hundreds of customers sat at tables placed inside large holes in the wall. These
"compartments" went all around the lining of the circular cavern, and wizards were
zooming around on broomsticks taking orders. The five of them sat down inside a
small stone compartment and immediately a small witch pulled up on a broomstick
and pulled out a wooden wand-like tool.
"Good evening witches and wizards," she squeaked cheerfully. "What can I
get y'all to drink?"
"I'll have a pint of dragon blood Marie," said Barnok from the back
"And I would like some mulled mead," shouted Alastor from behind Barnok.
Tom was disgusted, but he tried to hide his desire to vomit. Whoever drank
dragon blood?
Minka ordered a small gilly water, and Tom chose the only drink on the
menu he knew: Butterbeer. The small witch, using her strange tool, was writing all
this down in mid air, leaving behind neat white glowing letters. She then took her
hand and stuffed the floating letters into her cloak pocket. They got their drinks and
stared in awe as a beautiful witch wearing only her undergarments and a scarlet
wizard hat danced to the beat of some Middle Eastern music. From all around the
pub, wizards threw golden galleons onto the stage in delight.
After the witch, several dazzling veela crowded the stage and began to dance
as well. But rather than throwing galleons at them, the wizards watching began to act
strangely, trying to impress the creatures before them. Tom though, remained in
control of himself, never having been affected by veela powers. He and Minka
struggled to suppress their laughter as Barnok and Alastor jumped out of their
compartment and began taking their clothes off on the stage. Everyone, including the
veela were watching them in amusement.
After the excitement died down, Minka left to go outside, and the other two
headed over to the bar for some whiskey. This gave Tom the chance he had been
waiting for. He slid into the shadows and pulled out the ancient book from his robes.
Ever since he had gotten it from Grindlewald he had been dying to open it, but he
never had time to himself. He now took a few minutes to observe its intriguing
qualities before revealing its contents. Gleaming in the center was still the strange
eye, though now it was closed as if asleep. The surface of the tattered book was
covered in various ancient writings, some of which Tom noticed were in
parseltongue. The manuscript itself was quite thin, and he hoped it wasn't missing
anything. Finally, he decided to open it, but drew his wand just incase something
were to jump out at him. The ancient pages blew a slight breeze into his face when
he first pulled them apart, and he coughed as he brushed the dust away. The first
page read: The Steps Towards Immortality, written in 1930 by Balthasar Grindlewald.
Tom grinned excitedly and turned to the next page. But there was no next page. Tom
panicked and continued flipping through the manuscript; all but the first were blank.
What form of dark magic was this? Could it be similar to the journal he had created
in his seventh year at Hogwarts where he had preserved himself within its pages?
Maybe the deceased Grindlewald still lived inside this book! He quickly drew a bent
quill from inside his robes and began to fill the first page with words. Nothing
happened. Then all of a sudden he heard someone yawn… he turned sideways
looking around the compartment for his phantom yawner, but no one was there.
"I'm over here!" said a sweet voice.
"Where are you?" asked Tom in caution.
"I'm over here!" said the voice again in amusement. "Look on the cover
darling."
The cover of what? But then he realized what was going on; Tom flipped over
the old book to see the large eye opened wide and a thin slit of a mouth that had not
been there before smiled at him.
"And you are…," said Tom puzzled.
"Don't be silly," said the book giggling. "Haven't you ever seen a talking
book?"
"Not particularly," said Tom scratching his head in amazement. "Do you
have a name?"
"Well of course!" it snapped. "They call me Schlochankanterbruis, but you
can just call me Meg."
"Well, Meg…," said Tom still in shock, "Is there any particular reason that
you've inhabited this book?"
"How else are you going to know what to do," said Meg irritably. "Do you
think the pages are blank for no reason?"
"What do you mean?" asked Tom puzzled.
"Grindlewald asked me help you decipher the book. I'm the one who is going
to tell you what to do," she said to him in a voice one would use when talking to a
kindergartner. "The first thing you must do is find out where you need to travel to.
Once you reach your destination, you must find three ingredients which will create a
powerful concoction you alone can drink. Once you have done this, I will tell you
the rest. Each time you complete a step, the next step will appear on the pages. For
now, I will tell you the first clue, though after that, I must get my beauty sleep." She
said in a matter of fact tone.
"Well hurry up then," said Tom, making sure no one could hear their
conversation.
"First you must travel where the ancient kings do lie
Where golden sands do stir beneath the withered desert sky
A place of many dangers, hidden treasures buried deep
Of palaces and shadowed tombs where all the secrets sleep.
So travel there on your own risk to bake beneath the sun
And when you reach the Nile's bank, your journey's just begun."
She closed her eye, and the book became lifeless like before. Tom had been
listening with interest but now sat in silence.
"Golden sands…Nile's banks… ancient kings," he thought to himself, "She
wants me to go to Egypt! But how am I supposed to get there?"
As he continued to ponder this, Minka was walking back to him with two
foaming butterbeers. Then a light turned on in his head. Should he ask her to come
to Egypt with him?
"I thought you'd like another," she said smiling as she sat down next to him.
Tom quickly hid the book from view and looked at her innocently.
"Vot vos that?" she cooed in a suspicious tone.
"Oh, just some light reading" he said. "But there's something I need to ask
you…" but Tom never got to ask Minka his question, for at that moment, she had
leaned in to him and kissed him lightly on the lips. Tom felt a surge of pleasure rush
through him. He was whipped out of reality and into the world of dreams come true.
The moment he had with Minka felt like eternity.
But he was snapped out of his trance when Minka pulled away and began to
run from him.
"Where are you going?" he shouted, following her out of the Howling Hag
and into an alleyway.
But no one answered and Tom was left feeling worse than before. He began
to listen keenly for any sign of where she had gone. He had to talk to her…
A clash echoed to the right and Tom's legs followed, carrying him deeper and
deeper in to the darkness in search of Minka.