Disclaimer: I own nothing.
The Fourth Potter
By: Emerald May
Chapter 28
They were just in Muggle London, Severus and Tomoyo. "I need to find a payphone…" Tomoyo murmured, as her lavender hued oculars glanced about the busy street filled with cars, to search for a phone. And there it was, just beside a newspaper stand.
Without warning the Potions teacher, she dashed off towards it.
"Hey! Don't go running off!" Severus shouted. Children… He thought as he trailed after the Japanese girl, who was already dialing the number and talking avidly in Japanese. "Yes, yes that's right. Hiiragizawa-san's place. Alright." And she hung up, turning to the peeved professor, though she seemed not to care of his 'foul' mood. "Syaoran and Meiling are on their way to Eriol's. So is Harry, Hermione, and Ron," She said, stumbling over the foreign names. "And we should get going as well." She nodded.
"Fine. But where is this place of Eriol's?" Severus demanded, hands on his hips. He'd still be dealing with the Potter brat's little gang.
"Leeds, England," She said. "Or at least, that is where one of his residence house is at."
"Alright. Let's get back into my world. Muggles are starting to look at me funny, me dressed in these robes…" He muttered darkly as some people stopped to stare.
"Ok."
And in the next couple of minutes, they had made it back into the Wizardry Realm. "I will apparate, but you will have to hold my hand so you are not left behind." He most certaintly did not want the girl to hold his hand. After all, he rarely associated with muggles. Tomoyo's hand slipped into his as Severus raised his wand and a 'pop' was sounded. The two had disappeared and found themselves in Leeds, England.
"Now, where is his place?" He asked.
Placing a finger on her chin she glanced around. And there, off in the distance was a looming mansion, almost sinister in demeanor. "There. That's it." And the two of them began to journey along the pathway that would lead into a deserted field – and then to the half-reincarnation of Clow Reed's dwelling.
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Eriol paced around as Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun watched. "Hm…. I had feared that this would one day happen," He said as he glanced at Sakura. "I just never thought it would happen so fast after you began Mistress…"
Syaoran looked at Sakura, watching her speak. "What do mean, Eriol-san?" She didn't know why she was being so formal… possibly due to the seriousness of the situation.
"Well… Clow Reed-sama left this scroll behind, preserved in this chest…" The staff that Eriol possessed, already out from its hidden form, glowed slightly, illuminating the room. With a few words and a powerful light, a small cubical chest was slowly forming before their very eyes. He knelt down, picking up the small chest, opening it. However, they needed not to read it for an angelic voice was sounded throughout the room.
"A day foreseen,
By those of great,
Without a fault,
With a pure rate.
An evil will arise,
Before the morning light,
To only be destroyed,
By she who is willing to fight."
Syaoran quirked an eyebrow. "That didn't even explain anything. Evil is around everywhere." Sakura nodded softly in agreement.
"Shh." Meiling said as the voice began to speak again, this time without the rhythm of poetry.
"She who is to annihilate the force that provokes the realm will be brought into this world on the fourth month. Fate will take it's course on the night of the full moon in the tenth month of the twelfth hour. Magical forces will be stopped as a battle rages on. And as the sun will rise into the sky, one will be standing and the other shall be concealed into the depths of Hell. This shall not be an ordinary battle, for it will test the philosophies of Power and Faith. "
The little box disappeared into a small cloud of smoke, those that witnessed the happening opened mouth. Sakura bit her bottom lip as eyes were set on her. "And that person had to be me…" She murmured softly.
Wearily, Eriol nodded, his eyes tired and filled with sorrow. One shall live and another will be banished into Hell. Either the world will be radiant with light, or cloaked in darkness.
A knock on the door broke up the silence, and Ruby Moon stood up, walking towards the entrance door of the fairly large mansion, Severus and Tomoyo standing on the porch, soaked in rain. While the events had been going about on the second floor of the mansion, nobody had realized that it had begun to rain and storm, all entranced by what the light, musical voice had to say and offer to the children's ears.
Tomoyo ran into the room, Severus sulking silently behind her. "Naruku told me everything, Sakura-chan!" She said as she shot a hug towards her best friend. "What's going to happen now…" She wondered softly.
"Well, isn't it obvious. We must form a brigade and create a force to push whoever this person is into his own living Hell," Severus said, as if stating the obvious.
Sakura shook her head. "No… Not even all the auroras in the magical world could destroy this evil… This prophecy involves he and I, not other magical forces. And this destiny had been laid out far before any of us were even born."
Meiling clenched her fists. "Well… well, Syaoran and I can help, can't we? We are part of your circle with the work of Clow!"
"No, Meiling… Even I cannot intervene in the events that will begin," Eriol said quietly, his composure calm, though his insides had that feeling of unsteadiness when riding a roller coaster. He was, after all, a mere child forced into a mind of an adult. "The fate of mankind rests in the hands of the Chosen One: Sakura." His eyes shifted from Meiling's face twisted in dissatisfaction, to Sakura, fear plastered across her face and in her eyes. "Don't worry, Sakura… We all know you can defeat the evil that lurks within the world. After all, you did call forth the powers of the Clow into your soul when their card forms were away from you. By now whomever it was that confiscated the cards will know that your power may exceed his own…"
Severus looked up at the vaulted ceiling. How strange this evil may be an even greater threat to the world than Voldemort ever was. Subconsciously, he rubbed his left forearm as he glanced over at the children. And how strange that the Japanese raised children had an even larger knowledge of the works of the universe that even some of the greatest philosophers of the age knew not of.
"The only problem is now is that we do no know when this evil will strike. All we know is that it will strike sometime this month…" Tomoyo said softly.
Eriol nodded. "Yes…" He glanced over at the Potions Master. "Mr. Snape. Do you think it would be possible to allow them," He waved his hand over to Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun, "To be stationed by Sakura in Hogwarts?"
"I am not sure. Even the Magic of Ministry doesn't even know about this prophecy. And plus… I highly doubt the headmaster will allow such beings with ridiculous attire into the school…" He said, eyeing Ruby Moon's extravagant clothing for 'battle'.
Ruby Moon glared at the professor, taking a menacing step towards him, fury burning in her eyes. "And what if the school was to be doomed by an attack?" She challenged him. "Besides, there are two other guardians that have been in your school…"
Sakura blushed. Nobody at the school knew of her guardians' whereabouts.
"And where are those guardians, if I may ask?" Severus demanded, rather than requested. Ruby Moon smirked and nodding in the direction of Sakura.
"The guardians reside in the pendant that hangs around Sakura-chan's neck."
Severus looked sharply at his Third Year student. "Is this true, Potter?" He deliberately used her true surname, one out of anger, two out of it being who she was. He would refuse to call her Kinomoto anymore.
Sakura bit her lower lip. Through gritted teeth, she spoke and nodded. "Yes. But my name is Kinomoto."
"It is not. You are the daughter of Lily and James Potter and therefore, you will be called as Potter," The Potions Master retorted, his voice cold, no emotion betraying him.
She couldn't argue with him, but her name was not of importance. As if the Yue and Kero could sense her apprehensiveness around this professor, they emerged from the pendant, dissolving out of a blinding light of golden and pink, with a tinge of silver. Each person shielded their eyes from the light as the room became a bit more crowded with two other beings in the room. Respectively and protectively, Yue and Kero positioned themselves on either side of their Mistress, both in their true forms, both with stern expressions, directed at Severus.
Astonished, yet not allowing that feeling to make its way onto his face, he merely 'tsk-ed'. "You know, Potter, that person bodyguards are prohibited by the school unless discussed with the Headmaster and the Ministry of Magic, which I believe you have failed to do." He smirked at the girl.
"Please, please, let's not argue right now. We have more important things to progress in," Eriol said from his seat, his back erect against the high-chair. His staff was still in his hands, his fingers loosely wrapped around the slim body. It seemed harmless, like a child's toy. But immense power could be released from it if the reincarnation of Clow Reed wished for it to be so.
Severus glared at the boy. "Do not speak to me like that, child. I'll argue about anything I well please." He held a hand up as Eriol was about to speak and protest. "And I don't care if you are Clow Reed's descendent of the Emperor of China. I am an adult. You are a child. You abide to my rules and my instructions. Do I make myself clear?" A fire gleamed in his eyes as he spoke. He would not be belittled and cast aside by a child. He had been the fifth wheel so many times before. And here was his chance to show James Potter that his descendents cannot push him back to a lower rank.
Though Eriol disagreed with his terms, he thought best to nod, to agree and to put this rubbish behind him. His main concern was how to defeat the evil that was approaching oh so steadily. "Alright. Now, can we please focus on the evil that will befall us before the week is over?"
Severus nodded. Now that he held the upper hand, he would allow for the children to discuss the fate of the world – with his objects and agreements, of course. "Let's."
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Albus Dumbledore paced slowly around his office, alone and in deep thought. He had left Minerva with the quidditch team in Tomoeda, Japan, returning to Hogwarts on the issue of the disappearance of his Gryffindor Seeker, and on the persistent urges the Ravenclaw Head of House had. It was said that Draco Malfoy knew the secrets behind the disappearance of Sakura. And in a way, he was correct, with his solid evidence.
A sigh was heard clearly in his study. Albus closed his eyes as he pondered silently. His only companions were the portraits of the previous headmasters of Hogwarts. He was certain that the disappearance of the ghosts and his student were connected to Voldemort. He could feel the power of his former student growing stronger with each passing day. But he would not let Voldemort prevail.
A soft knock was heard on his study door, and with hands folded, fingers overlapping one another, he turned to the oak-wood door, freshly painted, courtesy of the house-elves. The door opened ajar. "Headmaster Dumbledore?"
Recognizing the baritone vocals of Harry Potter, he waved his frail hand to let his pupil enter. "Yes, Mr. Potter?"
Harry walked into the circular room. "Uhm, Headmaster, my sister isn't anywhere to be seen. I have no idea where she could've run off to… Even her adoptive family doesn't know where she is, though that brother figure she has seems to be hiding something…"He said, now his voice reeking with worry. If his sister was gone… then his brotherly instincts were turned on, like a radar searching for a lone ship in the sea.
The headmaster nodded softly. "Yes, I know. And Mr. Draco Malfoy has brought evidence of where the two were last seen – on the second floor of the dungeons. There were fragments of a shattered picture. And strangely…" He led Harry to a small door, opening it. Albus peered over his half-moon spectacles, eyeing the broken shards of the canvas. "It seems as if your sister had emerged from the portrait itself. But we don't know what that picture had been concealing beyond the wall. Without this, the mysteries behind it remains unknown. If we can put the picture back together, and regenerate the correct coding to have it attached to the wall, we can open it up with the right password," He finished off, closing the cabinet with a flick of the wrist that held his wand.
"What does Malfoy know of this?" Harry demanded angrily. His arch-rival seemed to have gotten too close to his sister. "And two persons?"
Albus nodded. "Yes. Professor Snape has been reported missing as well." Then his naturally pleasant face grew grim. "And if we don't find them soon, especially your sister…" He raised his wand, levitating a small paper, creased over and over again, crumbled up and torn a bit at the edges. It was the little note about the Card Mistress that was found clutched in the hands of the person that had perished in the Forbidden Forest. Dumbledore already had his suspicions on who it was. "I suspect the good in the world will be consumed by the darkness Voldemort threatens to befall on our earth."
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Author's Note: I AM SO SORRY THAT I DIDN'T UPDATE IN SUCH A LONG TIME. And what's funny is that I didn't even know this chapter was halfway completed when I looked at it. X______________X Well, here is the next chapter. I had major writer's block, but now ideas are starting to flow from my muse to my mind. And yes, my muse is chocolate. ^_^; No making fun of my muse. / Let's see… I am not sure when the next chapter will be updated, but with the new surges of ideas in my brain, it might not take as long as before. I am so hoping to get this story done by the end of this year. It has been almost three years since I first had the idea for this story. So long.. so so long. And you make me feel special, magicgirl10, for basing your fanfic off my fanfic. ^_^ Don't forget to put my ideas (or creditations) in your disclaimer (since your fic is based of mine. –happy smile- ^_^;; ), and also JKRs! Thanks everybody for the wonderful reviews! Until next time, ja'ne!