Chapter 36 - Darkness Visible



Harry's mind blanked at Voldemort's words even as the surrounding Death Eaters herded them outside to the water's edge and enclosed the group in a tight semicircle. Rowan remained nearby but to one side, kneeling with the appearance of humility at the feet of the Death Eater that controlled her. The Amulet of Achidnae still dangled from her right hand, the shard of light inside it pulsing lightly. Professor Lupin also stood nearby, but from his slightly pained expression, Harry guessed the Amulet was controlling him.



Ginny clung to Harry in terror as Voldemort glided forward to circle them. "Why Harry, what a beautiful young witch you've brought with you," he leered, reaching out to lightly lift a strand of Ginny's hair. "Red hair," he noted approvingly, "like your mother." Harry felt Ginny bite back a sob. He instinctively pulled her closer, glaring defiantly at the Dark Lord. Voldemort seemed to take no notice and circled them once more.



"How very accommodating of you, Harry, letting me relive my almost-defeat at the hands of your mother. This time, however, I shall not lose. I will kill you both, make no mistake of that," Voldemort smiled, but there was no warmth in it, just cold, mocking amusement.



Harry glanced toward the Amulet glimmering slightly from where it dangled in Rowan's limp hand. Hermione had said that the Amulet would control any magical creature, but could drain the soul of the wielder. However, Voldemort controlling an army of magical beasts to use against the Wizarding world would be worse than any protective magic awoken by using it without the right bloodline.



Decision made, Harry coiled his legs underneath himself, and sprung! His hand closed around the delicate chain right before Harry crashed into the snowy ground and knocked his glasses off. Harry hunted for his missing glasses with one hand and clutched the chain to his chest. Rowan had mentioned dragons in this forest earlier, perhaps he could call one.



It was then he realised he had no idea how to use the Amulet of Achidnae!



He felt even more lost than he had with his fight against Riddle's Basilisk. Harry stared in horror at the blurry shape resting in his hand. Then he'd had the sword of Godric Gryffindor and, while he wasn't a trained swordsman, that weapon had been fairly straightforward! Far more straightforward than an arcane amulet, anyway!



'Help!' he called mentally, sending the desperate plea into the Amulet and hoping that something responded.



Something did. Harry's eyes widened. A large, sinuous head pierced the still waters of the lake with only the increased lap of tiny waves on the rocky shore betraying it's silent arrival. The serpentine head rose, higher and higher on a moonlit column of glistening scales. Finally, the serpent's spined back emerged from the lake, water cascading off its scales in an icy torrent. Its maw split in a toothy grin and a delicate forked tongue danced briefly over its sharp fangs. "Will I do, young one?" it hissed delicately, focusing its glowing eyes on Harry.



It was enormous; easily half again the size of the Hungarian Horntail he'd faced the year before, now that its deadly-looking, webbed front claws ground against the snow-dusted stones of the lake shore as it sinuously advanced, sliding out into the shallows before anyone could properly react.



A water dragon, Harry marvelled, as he saw the fin-like vestigial wings spreading beneath its front arms. One of the milling Death Eaters shouted and trained his wand on the serpent. Incredibly quick for all its size, the water dragon struck and crushed the hapless Death Eater in its jaws. An anguished cry echoed over them, sharply ending as the unmoving body dropped to the ice beside the water's edge.



The Death Eater's mask fell away at the sharp impact, revealing blank grey eyes and a hint of pale blonde hair. "Lucius Malfoy!" Hermione hissed in recognition, her voice sounding unnaturally loud in the stunned silence that had descended.



Then all chaos broke loose. Several other Death Eaters shrieked as the dragon's finned tail lashed into their ranks, clearing an escape route for the little group of captives. Harry didn't waste time as he saw the two Professors shake off their controlling enchantments. He grabbed Hermione and Ginny's hands and sprinted for the surrounding woods.

~*~

A soft gasp drew Sirius's attention, waking him from the fitful doze he'd fallen in over the several hours they had been imprisoned. Sirius looked up and saw Morgaine's eyes roll back into her head before she crumpled to the floor. Swearing quietly, Sirius rolled to his feet and moved toward her prone form.



"Don't touch her!" Ron's voice croaked urgently, great pain underlying his command. Sirius looked over to see the boy levering himself up on his forearms, trembling slightly at the strain. Ron wasn't looking at him though; he was watching the unmoving form of Morgaine. "It's a vision trance. If you touch her you might get pulled into her vision and you don't know how to get out."



"How do you know that?" Sirius frowned. Ron glanced at him briefly and blushed slightly.



"I've seen her vision trances before," he admitted, his voice still raw. "Morgaine's been coaching me a bit for the O.W.Ls. She knows a lot about Divination and she's . . .more interesting than Trelawney."



Sirius swallowed a chuckle at the boy's obvious embarrassment. Somehow, he didn't think Ron would appreciate his amusement. "I see," he said, carefully keeping his tone neutral. "Thank you for warning me, Ron." Sirius crouched next to the fallen Seeress and looked over her to the boy. "Do you know if these are normally spontaneous like this? Or how long it will last?"

Ron shook his head. "They're not supposed to be. She can control it really well. She's taken me into a few to show me what they're like." Ron hesitated before adding, "Something really bad must be happening."



"Then Voldemort's probably involved." Sirius rubbed a hand over his face and sighed. "It's too bad you're not a Seer, Ron. It would be nice to know what was going on."

~*~

Curses followed their flight as Harry pulled the girls along and hauled them behind the trunk of a large tree, it's ancient bark deeply creased and hollowed; enough to create a shelter for them to catch their breath in. Most of the surviving Death Eaters had scattered at the rampage of the water dragon, taking cover, even as Harry heard Voldemort's hissed orders to find the escapees carried through the still air.



Harry spared a glance at his two companions. They both looked frightened - their eyes wide and slightly dilated - but they were making a courageous effort to not panic. The three stayed still and silent, pressing further back into the small hollow in the tree, their breath turning to mist in the cold air.



Professor Lupin joined them moments later and looked at the three in alarm. "Where's Rowan?"



"She was with you, Professor," Ginny said from where she clung to Harry's arm.



"I was trying to catch Wormtail before he got away again," Rowan said, ghosting out of the trees. Her winter cloak was gone, lost sometime during their headlong flight, but she ignored the cold, looking ethereal in her white robes. Harry felt a small tendril of fear wind through him. Rowan's eyes were pure black and not reflecting any light. Something was very wrong.



"All of you, get behind me!" Lupin ordered, narrowing his eyes at their changeling teacher. "She's not human now."



"Human?" Rowan regarded him with mocking amusement. "I should hope not."



Harry felt himself pale and a distant part of his mind wondered if standing behind a werewolf to avoid a demoness was really the safest course. Another cry and some frantic scrambling from a lagging Death Eater sounded nearby, drawing their attention. Harry couldn't hear any telling noise from the water dragon he'd summoned. But, remembering how silently the creature had moved that didn't reassure him. He stepped defensively in front of Hermione and Ginny and hid the Amulet still clutched in his hand in a fold of his robe.



Rowan seemed to catch his thoughts and smirked slightly. "It will not come unless it's called."



"There could still be Death Eaters in these woods, Rowan," Lupin pointed out grimly. "And we don't have our wands!"



The slightly mocking smile never left her face as, with almost board indifference, she waved one hand at a nearby oak sapling "Lacanum Inflamare." With a tangible wave of heat, the small tree disappeared in a concentrated inferno, turning to ash and a charred stick in moments. "Hardly a concern, Moony. I don't need a wand."



Ginny trembled slightly and buried her face into Harry's cloak. Hermione took a tentative step forward, looking fascinated, but utterly shocked. "That's impossible," she stammered, her brown eyes wide.



Rowan's icy, mocking smile was not reassuring, but decidedly dangerous, "Very little is impossible."



"Wandless magic can't be controlled - not like that!" Ginny added quietly.



"She is not in control of it, Miss Weasley," a deeper voice supplied moments before a cloaked wizard appeared out of the trees and reached up to pull back his hood, revealing Merlin's aged face. "And she may do herself some very serious damage if she does not calm down."



"Leave me alone, Merlin," Rowan fluffed like an angry cat, turning her darkened eyes on the ancient wizard, her stance shifting to the defensive. "I like this power. I'm stronger this way!"



Merlin's eyes narrowed slightly. "You are half wild and more danger to yourself than me right now. It is very dangerous for you to lose control like this. Even I cannot be sure how much this will affect you." Rowan's eyes widened in shock at the rebuke, and Harry thought he almost caught a slight flicker in her eyes as they almost returned to a more natural colour.



Harry swallowed and tentatively found his voice, "Grandfather Merlin, do you know what's happened to her?"



Merlin looked to Harry - turning his back on the volatile demoness and ignoring her as though she were a child having a temper tantrum - and regarded the boy over his spectacles, smiling gently. "A defence mechanism, I would imagine, Harry" he mused, twisting the tip of his ebony beard between his fingers. "Quite probably caused by the Death Eaters and their use of the Imperius Curse. The subconscious mind isn't affected by the Imperius Curse, so, to defend itself from that unnatural control, her mind seems to have willingly submerged its human characteristics beneath the demon blood each of my descendants' carries. Simply put: Rowan is now a full demon."

Harry heard an odd sort of squeak-gasp from Hermione and saw her eyes widen. "You can't be!" she shrieked, her hands flying to her mouth in amazement. "You can't be him! You died! You can't be alive!"

"Miss Granger?" Merlin gave her a puzzled look. "Can't be who?"



"You're Merlin!" she gasped. "The real one," Hermione pressed, her eyes burning with excitement now as Merlin merely nodded his confirmation, not seeming overly concerned with her deduction. Harry felt a jolt of surprise as this sunk in. The real Merlin? Was that even possible?



"Yes, I am Ambrosias, Myrddin and Merlin, the half-demon wizard that once hoped to heal this war-torn land with the leadership of a young man named Arthur," he sighed heavily, an ancient pain passing briefly over his features. "Rowan gained her abilities as a Vox Veritas Argentum from me."



"And more of her personality than either of you wants to admit," Lupin commented, straightening slightly from his defensive stance.



The void-like darkness in Rowan's eyes faltered again, almost giving way to a more natural blue.



Merlin stepped closer to his heir, removing his thick cloak as he did so, and draped it around the younger woman's shoulders. Rowan's eyes widened in obvious surprise at the action and the sudden warmth. "There, little one, calm down and take control again," her grandfather urged gently drawing her eyes upward to his own.



Harry watched, amazed, as Rowan's eyes flickered, lightening from unrelenting darkness to dark sapphire. They did not return to their natural ice blue. Harry suspected they never would.



"Rowan?" Ginny asked, taking a tentative step forward. Harry barely stopped himself from lunging after her and pulling her back to safety. "Are you . . . you again?"



"I . . . I have it under control now," Rowan gasped, shivering from both cold and horror. She straightened, looking at them with haunted eyes. "It was . . . intoxicating. The Imperius Curse is mind rape. It robs you of your control. Your thoughts are no longer your own. Coming out of it is horrible. It's sickening to know they took your mind, you couldn't fight it and they can take you again at any time. Then a part of me I'd locked away at the end of the last war surged forward, offering comfort and protection. I . . . I didn't resist it hard enough." She glanced toward her grandfather and lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry."



"We can discuss this more later," Merlin told her, stepping back toward the trees, motioning for the others to follow. "The Death Eaters have been removed for now, and I highly doubt they will return this night. However, the castle is decidedly more comfortable for long conversations than this forest."



Harry fell quietly into step beside Rowan and Ginny with Lupin and Hermione behind them. He stole a careful glance at her, and felt a touch of sadness and a rush of anger towards Voldemort. He was beginning to consider her something like a parent, as he did Sirius. Her still-dark eyes looked haunted, tarnished by self-loathing and more than a bit afraid. She'd admitted that this had happened before, but he sensed that this time was worse and he wondered if she would recover this time.

~*~*~*~

It's the second to last chapter. I'm allowed to take up space thanking you, aren't I? ^_~ Yes, I'm excited. This chapter was a monster to write and I had betas to do. A lot of them and didn't have time to write my own stories. Everyone that reviews means so much to me! And even those that don't review and just check in for new updates and enjoy them (I know you're out there. . . .I'm one of you on several fics -_-;) The final chapter is next! Look for it in a week or so.



Plans for the future include an Inuyasha AU that I'm having a ball with. Even if you don't know a thing about Inuyasha, it will be understandable, so I'm inviting everyone to read it. I am also considering either a prequel or a sequel (or both) to this story, but haven't made up my mind on those yet. Anyway, enough of my yammering. ^_~

Reviews for Chapter 37:

Marshmellow16b: you rock for reviewing! I hope it's still "obsession" worthy.

Mystic Jade: You are reading it!!!! Yay! But you know I wouldn't be too hurt if you didn't want to. Plushie Trowas to you for your kindness!

Sparkle: Well spotted! Sirius did give Harry the watch. However, Sirius wasn't in possession of anyone's things while he was at Azkaban and the Ministry would be hesitant to turn things over to Remus because he's a werewolf. That would leave Rowan and Dumbledore. Rowan kept a lot of things in trust for Harry and even kept Sirius's old motorbike. As for your second question. Possibly in an out take. That conversation was mostly Morgaine calming her extremely upset older sister. Rowan had just seen her one time fiancé for the first time in thirteen years and still hadn't really made peace with the fact that she still loved him.

Siljoria: Thanks! The Sorting Ritual wasn't included because it wouldn't advance the plot in any way and the story just didn't flow that way.

Gotta B Writin: It's Rowan. :)

Dementorchic: Thank you so much! I'm so excited too. I've already started planning the party and the costumes. It will be a very quiet party, as we will all be reading.

WolfMoon: Beautiful name! And whenever I manage to snag time away from my betas, I write.

Marvoless: *bows* high praise indeed! "Myfanwy" is an old Welsh name meaning "My fine/fair one" or "My beautiful girl". (I'm quite sure on the first meaning. Not quite so sure on the second) It's pronounced "Mih - Faun - wee".

I-Love-Draco: Thanks!

Elven Eyed: *blushes* thank you. It was a very happy birthday.

Lana Riddle: Thank you and thank you. :)

D-Scythe: *grins* I will definitely read and review now that my life has calmed a bit.

Siriuslover: *laughs* This chapter about took me to the edge of sanity! I'm glad you're enjoying it.