Chapter Twenty-Three

The Lady, the Sword, and the Stone

As always on Christmas, Jennifer and her family made their traditional trek to Azkaban prison, and this year was an especially happy one. Thomas had been downgraded in security several months before when he was officially declared a non-escape risk, and the magic fields that had separated them in past years were no longer there. Not to mention that they did not have to break any rules letting their three children in for their annual grandfather inspection, and Thomas couldn't be more pleased to see Jennifer for the first time since September. Jennifer herself couldn't help but notice that the drawn look he had picked up his first couple of years there had been slowly disappearing and he seemed, despite his normally gruff personality, that he was more content now than he had been in years past, although Jennifer wasn't quite sure why. They'd been keeping him busy somehow, she mused, and with his mind having something active to do, he had regained the focus that had always given him his strength of character.

Alex and Aurelius fought to be the first to be picked up and Aurelius won out; Alex having to content herself with her father. Andrew in the meantime sat up on the table and grinned at the strange man on the other side with interest.

"He looks like your mother, Jennifer," Thomas commented, nodding to Andrew. "He certainly doesn't look much like a Craw at any rate."

"His nose looks a lot like mine did at that age," Severus commented.

"The Snape curse," Thomas chuckled teasingly. "He'll be as ugly as sin."

"Bite your tongue, he'll be as handsome as his father," Jennifer defended, gazing at Severus. Thomas looked amused.

"Yes, Severus, he may get lucky and find a girl with unusual tastes like you did," Thomas said mischievously. Jennifer stuck her tongue out at her father. "Speaking of Snapes, guess who paid me a visit a few hours ago."

"Don't tell me, Uncle Augustus," Severus said, making a slight face.

"You know we never got along, Augustus and I, he was always convinced… well, he was convinced that Octavius and I were over our heads. I hate people who visit just to gloat and say I told you so," Thomas grunted.

"Yes, but wasn't he a little right?" Jennifer asked, ignoring the expressions coming across Severus' face.

"Yes, damn it all, which is why I sat there and took it instead of having Boltin throw him out," Thomas scowled at her. "I did happen to murder a couple of people Augustus had wanted out of the way for years, so we decided to make amends."

"I'm thrilled."

"Yes, Severus, he said you would be," Thomas chuckled. "How's that old spook Icarus doing?"

"Still dead," Severus said. "He mopes a lot less than he used to."

"Only because he has more people to torment," Jennifer commented. "Lately he's been harassing Sibyl Trelawney from what I've heard."

"It couldn't have happened to a more deserving subject," Severus said. There was a click as the door opened again and Harry came in, Boltin not far behind.

"Well, who might you be? You seem familiar, but I'm not quite sure," Thomas said to Harry, squinting.

"I'm sorry, Thomas, you couldn't possibly imagine how busy I've been lately," Harry apologized, handing him a package. "Happy Christmas, Thomas, Jennifer, Severus, Corey, and little Snapes," he grinned. "I'm afraid I can't stay long. Ron and I are off on a short expedition tomorrow. Viviane is going to lead us to the Stone of Destiny."

"Oh, do be careful, Harry. I'm not sure I'd altogether trust where she may lead you to," Jennifer said with concern. Severus looked at her curiously.

"I know, Jennifer, don't worry. Dumbledore and I talked about it for a long time when we volunteered to go," Harry said. "But she has her reasons for giving it to us, I'm sure. We just have to make certain she's not trying to manipulate us."

"Is there something you're not telling me about my aunt that I don't know about yet?" Severus said with a frown.

"I guess you never finished that book of Tennyson's poetry, did you, Dad?" Corey said with a smirk.

"All right, Severus, we'll tell you, but I'm not sure you're really going to believe it," Jennifer said just before telling him who she was. Severus stared at her in speechless shock.


"I don't believe it," Ron said in awe as the rock opened to reveal a passage on the edge of the lake, leading down into darkness. "I should have brought my camera."

"I have a feeling that if you did bring it, you wouldn't be going back with it," Harry murmured to him as Viviane turned back to gaze at them.

"Well? What are you gaping at? Hurry and go in so I can hide the entrance," Viviane said impatiently.

"You don't think she'd try to trap us in there, do you?" Ron whispered back to Harry as they passed in.

"She wouldn't dare. Dumbledore knows what we were planning to do today," Harry murmured back.

"For your information, I no more plan to lock you in my home any more than I did Merlin, despite any popular rumors you may have heard," Viviane said, her eyes flashing slightly before turning to seal the entrance behind her. "A few thousand years of gossip can twist the simplest woman's life story," she added. She stepped into the darkness, pausing only when they failed to keep up. Impatiently she gestured and a small light appeared just below her face, causing her icy eyes to sparkle. "I'll allow you to have a torch, but only if you watch me and not any reflections you may see, is that clear?" she said in a voice that breached no argument. Harry couldn't see Ron's face to guess what he was thinking, but nodded.

"Sure," he said.

"Anything to keep from stumbling around in the dark anymore," Ron agreed. The Lady reached over to the wall and a torch burst to life as she removed it from its place. Dazzling prisms filled the room reflected off the torch against the pure crystal walls and ceiling, the light of the torch magnified by all the reflective surfaces.

"Look straight ahead," Viviane reminded them, walking swiftly forward again. It was so difficult to keep his eyes fixed on her… Harry couldn't help but be a bit curious as to why they weren't allowed to look, yet Dumbledore had warned them to tread lightly with Viviane in her own territory. But Ron had seen something… an odd shadow from the corner of his eye, and realized from a brief glance that there was an object lodged in the ceiling just ahead of them. Lagging behind, Ron tried to time just when the object would be above his head then glanced up, reaching for what appeared to be the hilt of a sword. Faster than lightning, Viviane had turned and smacked his hand forcefully away, her eyes flashing with a frightening look that wasn't altogether human.

"Now is not the time for that, blood or no blood!" she snapped. "Don't try to touch anything else in here without my leave!"

"I'll make sure he doesn't, Viviane," Harry assured her, standing by Ron's side.

"Be assured that if either of you do, you've only yourselves to blame for the terrible fate that will follow," Viviane warned, picking up the pace even faster, glancing back warily at them every now and again.

"What are you doing? Do you realize what sort of dangerous ground we're on here?" Harry hissed at Ron as they continued on.

"I couldn't help it… it called to me somehow," Ron said. "You don't think that was the sword, do you?" he asked.

"We're in a crystal cave beneath a lake in the middle of a forest in the middle of nowhere, following someone as old if not older than Merlin and just as famous to find a Stone that's supposed to sing whenever the heir to the high king comes in contact with it. What do you think, Ron?" Harry asked curtly.

"I think I should have grabbed it when I had the chance," Ron said, earning a glare from Harry.

Well, just how many opportunities would he ever get to touch the hilt of Excalibur again? But Ron was quickly distracted as the tunnel they were following dipped into a huge cavern, the walls all covered with the same multi-angled crystal as the way there. A glow came in from above making odd waves of light through the room, and Harry couldn't help but look up to see the surface of the water above them. But his wonder soon led his eyes back to the center of the room where stood a large, plain looking monolith.

"Behold, the Lia Fál; the Stone of Destiny," Viviane said solemnly. "It is said it will sing for any legitimate heir of the High Kings, and weep for any pretender. You may touch the stone, Weasley."

Nodding almost nervously, Ron stepped over to it, not quite sure that the stone wasn't going to do something unexpected as he reached his hand out to touch it. The moment he did, it let out a harmonic whine and startled him, making him take a step back. Slowly the sound died away, leaving Harry's ears ringing.

"How were you able to find it? I mean, I heard it had been stolen… was that you?"

"No, I simply acquired it from the one who happened to acquire it from the original owner," Viviane said evenly, leaving Harry to try and work that one out for himself. "I did it to make sure it wouldn't fall into the wrong hands, and I'd certainly hate for this to all have been in vain, so you must take it to the castle without delay. Dumbledore can figure out what to do with it when he has it."

"Well, I suppose we should minimize it and get going then," Harry said, reaching for his wand. But Viviane was quickly at his side.

"No! You can't use any spells you have to aim in here. If a beam hits the crystal, it will have disastrous results!" Viviane warned him. "Besides, the Lia Fál is completely fused with Ancient blood magic. I doubt any of your modern spells would work on it."

"Well, then how do you expect us to get it out of here, then?" Ron asked.

"That's your problem," Viviane said coolly. "I've done my part bringing you here. You figure out how to get it out by yourself. I need to take care of something while I'm here. Do not look at the crystals," Viviane said, wandering down a corridor they hadn't noticed before, completely hidden by the surrounding crystal.

"How do you suppose she got it down here?" Ron sighed. "Some otherworldly technique she thinks beyond us, no doubt."

"No," Harry said, looking up. "I think all she really had to do was find a way to get it to the edge of the lake. I'm quite sure she just used her power over the lake to take hold of it and send it down here to the bottom. So what we need to do is figure out how to get it back up."

"This thing must weigh a ton," Ron sighed, glancing up. "Too bad we can't use a levitation spell."

"Well, we could maybe use something that can levitate on its own," Harry said thoughtfully.

"It'd break any broom, even several together if you tried," Ron said.

"Actually I was thinking of something a bit larger," Harry admitted. Ron and Harry exchanged looks. "You think it would be willing to help?"

"Probably, if we can find it," Ron said. "We'd better get going if we're going to try, though, I'd rather look for it in the daytime rather than…at…" his thoughts suddenly left him as he caught his full reflection in one of the crystals, staring in amazement as he watched the image of himself pulling out the sword from the cavern he had seen it in, a regal look crossing his face as he wielded it proudly.

"Ron, what are you doing?" Harry said, attempting to pull him away. But another reflection caught Harry's attention and he saw Ginny holding a child, talking to someone beside her that he couldn't see at first. But Ron turned to the same vision and saw for certain it was Hermione holding a baby of her own, and then Arthur Weasley appeared, saying something to the girls with a smile. Hermione then got up and hoisted the baby off on Arthur and ran out of view, Ginny and Arthur's eyes following her.

"Harry! Look!" Ron said, and Harry looked over at the reflection that Ron had noticed. Harry recognized it at once; it was the first Christmas he had at Hogwarts, just as Ron and he began opening their presents, watching in amazement as he saw himself enfold the cloak all over again. Then, as he glanced away, he saw himself at his wedding. He felt very strange when he noticed several ghosts in the background watching the wedding itself, including his mother and father.

"I think," Harry said slowly, hardly able to peel his eyes from the images, "I think we need to get out of here."

"Half a moment, I want to see the girl's face," Ron said insistently, his eyes intent on the child his wife was holding. "Hermione always did want a girl."

"Come on, Ron, this is… this is like the Mirror of Erised... only it's worse, with truth and falsehoods and desires all intermingled somehow. We really shouldn't be looking at these."

"I know we shouldn't, you're right," Ron agreed, but didn't make any move away from them. Suddenly he gasped. "Harry, look!" Harry couldn't help but glance over to see what had frightened Ron, and found himself facing the image of Voldemort, but one much younger than he had faced, entering a house that felt extremely familiar to him. It was when he saw the face of his father appear and a green flash of light erupt that he was quite certain he had had enough of looking into the crystals.


It was very late before the car finally pulled up along side the castle. Harry directed Ron to drive over to the Perch, jumping out when they came close and then getting the car to slowly back up at an angle to try and levy the stone gently out of the back. It took a while to manage it, and just as they finally set it down, Dumbledore stepped out onto the parapet with a pleased smile on his face. Ron jumped out as well, patting the car on the side.

"Thanks Car," Harry said.

"Good show, Car, thanks," Ron agreed enthusiastically as the car slowly drove itself down back towards the forest. "You know, we really need to find a better name for it than Car."

"I see your mission was a success," Dumbledore said, looking in this robe pockets for something.

"It's the real one," Harry said with a nod. "She had it down beneath the lake in the Crystal Cave, although we had a devil of a time moving it. I hope you don't mind us coming up here, you asked us to be discreet and all, and with the car…"

"Well done," Dumbledore said with another smile. "I have the perfect spot in mind for where to keep it, but for now we should just get it to my sitting room."

"How?" Ron asked, and Dumbledore produced two bottles of potion, handing one to each.

"Strength potion, now why didn't we think of that before?" Harry sighed, rolling his eyes. "I told you we should have brought Severus."

"I don't think I'd want to see whatever it was he would have seen in those reflections," Ron said, taking the potion.

"Good point," Harry agreed, taking the other, easily picking up one end of the stone. Ron tried to pick up the other end and it began to whine again, and Dumbledore produced a pair of gloves as Ron blushed slightly and thanked him. "Well, so much for being discreet," Harry said as the owls above them started to hoot in protest to the noise.

But it was quite late, and with most the students and staff gone for the holiday, it was easy to get down the stairs and over to the study without being seen, setting it gently just inside the sitting room, Ron taking a curious look around behind the curtain before slipping back into the study with Harry.

"It's done," Harry said, exhaling and sitting down in one of the chairs in front of the desk. "All of the parts of the Callum Seal are now in the school."

"But they're just here to be protected, right?" Ron asked. "I mean, they're not going to be used to try to open it or anything?"

"It may become necessary to gather the pieces and take down the Seal long enough that we can recreate the gate and restore it to its original strength, preventing creatures to slip through the cracks as they have been lately," Dumbledore explained. "But I do plan to try every possible other solution before we attempt something of that magnitude. However, between the school and its allies, I believe that we can safely open the gate, regardless of the current popular rumors believing it will destroy all magic and end the world as we know it."

"I thought magic couldn't be created or destroyed in any case," Harry said.

"True, yes. I think, rather, that the real danger is producing a vacuum effect of energy if the gate is opened improperly, which either draws magic from this world into theirs or their world into ours, creating a burst of magic on one side and a drain from the other, unbalancing both our world and theirs," Dumbledore explained. "Of course, if the gate is open long enough, probably several hundred years, it will eventually rebalance. But magic as we know it will be changed forever, and it'd most likely propel both worlds into chaos as creatures that we can not possibly handle come into this world, and creatures they cannot possibly handle wander into theirs."

"With all their power, what could we possibly have over here that the faerie world would be susceptible to?" Ron asked.

"Muggles," Harry told him, and Dumbledore nodded gently.