Sorry about this chapter you guys, it is a little dull but I needed to put the information in it so the storyline would make more sense. There is still a little lovin' but it's subtle. ENJOY NONETHELESS! :)
And a disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any Harry Potter related material!
HARRY
POTTER
AND THE STAFF OF VIGOR
~ ~ !!! ~ ~
CHAPTER 13: CHRISTMAS AND THE WEAPON
Harry rolled over in his bed and moaned. Someone was hitting him and he did not appreciate the contact. It was way too early and way too cold to be awake as far as he was concerned. The person hitting him was obviously immune to any compassionate thought for another living being.
"Wake up you lazy prat! It's Christmas." A voice nagged. Harry groaned. It was Ron.
"There's presents..." Ron coaxed him. Harry's eyes opened a little.
"Presents?" He said hopefully, still in a very dazed state.
"Yes presents you moron, now get up!" Ron pushed him off his bed and Harry fell unpleasantly on his face.
"You git." Harry muttered half-heartedly. He looked up at Ron who was grinning at him cheekily. Long forgotten was their fight involving Ellanora. Two weeks had passed and they had neither seen her nor mentioned her.
"Come on. All you do is sleep. It's Christmas." Ron emphasized the last few words and pulled his friend up and on his feet. Harry shook his head.
"Sorry. I'm tired. Yay... Christmas." He smiled unenthusiastically as he made his way over to a pile of presents at the end of his bed. Ron had a similar pile and Harry noted none were open.
"Hurry up then." Ron urged him, clapping together his hands excitedly in anticipation. Harry frowned.
"You didn't open up any yet?" He wondered. Ron smiled a little.
"Nah mate, I wanted to wait until you got up. Share the excitement you know."
"Thanks." Harry smiled happily, appreciating the gesture. Both boys attacked their piles of presents and began ripping off the wrapping paper.
"Bloody hell," Ron cursed, "Another jumper from Mom."
"Same," Harry told him, "And some books from Hermione."
"Me too. What did you get from Fred and George?" Ron pulled a face at Hermione's presents.
"A Skiving Snackbox. You?" Harry grinned down at the array of gifts from Ron's brothers.
"A...a box of...Sensual Sensations." Ron blushed a little and muttered incoherently under his breath about how nosy and irritating his brothers were. Harry laughed. He unwrapped a few more presents from various friends until he came to the last one. It was a very small present. Harry pulled off the wrapping paper slowly to find a framed photo with an attached envelope. His name was written across the front in what looked like Aunt Petunia's handwriting. He opened it tentatively and read the small, scribbled note:
Harry,
Have a good Christmas and stay out of trouble. I would have bought you something but your Uncle wasn't too fond of the suggestion. Highly understandable his actions are of course.
This is a photo we took on your mother's sixteenth birthday.
Aunt Petunia
Harry dropped the note and picked up the picture frame to examine it carefully. He was staring into the face of his mother. She looked so happy. In the background of the photo was a spacious array of trees and barren land. Behind his mothers figure was a small tent and what appeared to be a campfire. Harry gazed into her eyes, which were full of frozen mirth and laughter. He wondered what she would have been like if she had known what her fate would be.
"What's that you got?" Ron asked making his way over to Harry. He peered over his shoulder. Harry coughed.
"It's my mother."
"Oh," Ron paused, "She's quite pretty."
"Yeah."
"And she's all happy and stuff."
"Yeah."
"She's so young too."
Harry nodded. She was young then and she was young when Voldemort had killed her. Involuntarily his hand went up to feel his scar, a trademark of both his mothers love from him and Voldemort's detest of him. Ron patted Harry on the shoulder. Harry turned around and looked up at him smiling.
"I'm okay." He reassured him. Harry stood up and placed the photo beside his bed where he stayed in front of it and stared at it for a few minutes. Ron leaned against the doorway and gave his friend a few moments of silence before clearing his throat. Harry turned and Ron pulled a face.
"Can we go have breakfast now? I'm starving."
"Sure." Harry grinned and quickly changed out of his pajamas so they could go and fill Ron's growling stomach.
* * * *
Hermione was already in the Great Hall when they arrived. She had a large, dusty book lying out in front of her and was reading through it quickly, stopping only to take small bites of her toast.
"Morning." Ron greeted her happily. She smiled at them and stood up.
"Merry Christmas." She gave Harry a quick hug and kissed Ron lightly on the cheek.
"So, what are you reading?" Ron wondered, blushing a little.
"I'm researching," Hermione stated, "I'm trying to determine what ancient magical item Voldemort might wish to get his hands on."
"What?" Harry exclaimed, "On Christmas?"
"Yes Harry. I'm very worried about what Dumbledore told you." Hermione sniffed.
"I don't know if I should have told you that." Harry mumbled. He grabbed a breakfast bowl and filled it with various foods from the table. Ron was already shoveling food into his mouth.
"Of course you should have. Our lives are in danger too." Hermione's eyes flashed irritably. Harry shook his head.
"Not that part. The part about the artifact and the Cave of Eradication. All you're going to want to do for the rest of the holidays is research stuff in the library." Harry explained. Hermione looked shocked.
"You can't say you don't want to know! That you aren't concerned about what might happen if Voldemort might actually come into contact with this dangerous item? Think what could be possible outcomes Harry." Hermione snapped. Ron stopped eating and eyed Hermione cautiously.
"Hermione," He began slowly, "It's Christmas. We can worry about things like that tomorrow."
"Well," Hermione scoffed slamming her book shut, "It is quite obvious that neither of you care about the welfare of the future of the magical community. Go on. Stuff your faces. World damnation can wait."
"Oh Hermione." Ron rolled his eyes and scooped some more food into his mouth. Hermione glared at him but her temper was short lived and she soon began to finish her toast, resigning herself to a sulk.
"Anything special on tonight?" Harry asked them. Ron paused with a spoon full of food halfway to his mouth.
"Just Christmas dinner." Ron shrugged. Hermione sighed.
"It will be rather small. Mostly everyone has gone home for Christmas."
"Tell me about it," Ron muttered, "Neville, Dean, Ginny, Seamus...all the girls except you Hermione...practically every single other student...Parkinson, Harry's annoying ex-girlfriend, Luna, Colin, Malfoy..."
"I didn't know you were one to acknowledge Malfoy." Hermione smiled a little. Ron scowled.
"I'm not and I don't." He argued, chewing on his food with newfound intensity. Hermione gave him a reproachful look before she too returned to her breakfast. Harry gazed around the Great Hall. He saw a few Ravenclaw students eating, no Slytherin's and one Hufflepuff. At the end of their table sat Edward, picking at his food distractedly.
"Is Ellanora gone?" Harry asked Ron quietly. Ron glanced up startled, her name hadn't been mentioned since their argument.
"I doubt it Harry. Who does she have to go home too?" Ron pointed out. Harry shrugged and looked back down the table at Edward. The little boy always seemed so sad.
"Invite him up." Hermione suggested, feeling pity just as Harry was. Ron shook his head adamantly.
"No, he's a brat."
"Oh, wouldn't want your girlfriend to hear you saying that." Harry blurted out jokingly before he could stop himself. He had no idea why he had said that. Hermione stiffened and Ron frowned. The Trio lapsed into a silence for a few minutes before Harry coughed.
"Hey! Edward! Come up here!" He yelled down the end of the table. Edward stared up at them blankly for a moment before standing up. Harry smiled at him reassuringly before his expression changed to a frown as Edward exited the Hall.
"Temperamental that one." Ron muttered. Hermione clicked her tongue and picked up her book.
"I'm going to the library to study. Eat your food and join me if you want. If not, waste your day doing nothing." She turned and strode briskly out of the Hall. Ron shook his head.
"Mental that one." He muttered through a mouth full of food. Harry nodded.
* * * *
Most of the afternoon was spent in the library. Ron and Harry hadn't actually intended to go but they thought they had better if they wished to avoid Hermione's unpleasant wrath for a week or two. Once again they were subjected to what seemed like a pointless waste of time. Book after book was filled with worthless information that aided them not.
"Don't you say a word." Hermione cautioned as Ron opened his mouth to utter a complaint. He shut it abruptly and glared at her for a moment.
"I just want to ask," Ron said slowly, "How long we are going to be doing this?"
"Why?" Hermione asked, picking up another book and flipping through it.
"Because...every year it's that same thing. Something bad happens and we spend all our time researching through book after book looking for some kind of answer to the problem at hand, which frankly, I think is a waste of time."
Hermione sighed, "I don't think it is."
"Yes, it is! Not everything is found in books." Ron muttered. Hermione's head snapped up to stare at him in a way that made him shift uncomfortably.
"Not that I have a problem with books and such." Ron put his hands in the air. Hermione sniffed and went back to reading. Ron shook his head in despair and Harry tried to hide his grin.
They went back to researching and it was only around dinnertime that Hermione seemed to realize just how pointless what they were doing was.
"Hopeless!" She exclaimed, slamming shut the current book in her possession. Ron tried not to smile.
"I told you-" He began. Hermione glared at him.
"Not a word! Not a single word." She warned. Ron shook his head.
"You never let me say anything." He muttered. Harry cleared his throat.
"Hermione, I really don't think we're going to find anything." Harry said gently.
"I know. I'm not even sure what it is we're looking for. If we keep going it could be weeks before we find something. Maybe even longer." She sighed.
"Weeks in the library?" Ron's eyes widened, it was not something he would be looking forward too.
"It's only because of this ridiculous selection of books, there's nothing in them." Hermione snapped.
"Well," Harry contemplated, "We could find ourselves accidentally wondering into the Restricted Section."
"You're kidding, we'd get caught." Ron said mildly. Harry grinned.
"We could accidentally wonder in there a night."
"But-"
"Somehow with an Invisibility Cloak over us."
"And-"
"And with the Marauder Map."
Ron closed his mouth and considered what Harry had said. Hermione shook her head.
"No." She said firmly. Harry pulled a face.
"Why not?"
"Because it is hardly sufficient enough. I say we sneak into something else," Her eyes glistened, "The Forbidden Section."
"Uh huh," Ron nodded with sarcastic enthusiasm, "Because that's real."
"It is. It's hidden and we're going to it tonight. It has so many books in it. Very old ones too. I'm sure we'd find something. I don't know why I didn't think of it before. It's just perfect." Hermione said getting excited.
"Why?" Ron rolled his eyes. In his opinion a library could never be considered perfect.
"Because I think it's forgotten or hardly ever used or something. I doubt we'd be caught." She told him.
"Then how do you know about it?" Harry wondered. Hermione's cheeks darkened.
"Well, I just do. Listen, we'll go have dinner and then leave the common room tonight at about eleven. With the Marauder Map and Invisibility cloak I doubt we'll get caught and then we can spend a little while there. We're bound to find something." She said hopefully. Ron and Harry shared a look. Hermione was always full of surprises.
* * * *
As soon as it reached eleven o'clock Harry began to feel slightly nervous even though sneaking out had been his idea. He hadn't misbehaved much at all so far this year and he guessed he wasn't really used to acting up anymore. He waited in the common room patiently and was soon joined by Hermione and Ron. Ron looked just as nervous as he was but Hermione was as calm as ever.
"If we get busted for this, I'm blaming the two of you." Ron warned them as they huddled under the Invisibility Cloak and quietly exited the common room.
"Really?" Hermione whispered, "Because I'm going to blame you because you talk so damned loud I'd be surprised if the whole castle didn't hear us."
Ron scowled but didn't speak any further until they were back in the library. They headed in to the Restricted Section but Hermione completely ignored all the books on the shelves. She walked up to the end of the small area in which the books were situated, took out her wand and tapped it on several places on the end wall and muttered a spell. Almost immediately the wall disappeared and gave way to a long, dark corridor. Harry and Ron gaped.
"That's not even on the Marauder Map." Harry exclaimed quietly glancing down at the map. Hermione just smiled and headed into the passageway. Ron and Harry followed her and about ten minutes later they came to a large, moldy room that was empty.
"Yay, we snuck out in the middle of the night when we could be sleeping to be diseased and covered in germs." Ron jumped up and down mockingly. Hermione reached out and hit him not too lightly across the arm.
"Just wait." She told him. Ron sighed and leaned back against a nearby wall. He gazed critically around the room before his eyes landed on his right arm. Harry watched in amusement as Ron's mouth fell open and he started flapping his arms around crazily.
"Ron! Stop it!" Hermione snapped.
"Get it off me! Get it off me!" Ron yelled. Hermione pulled a face.
"Get what-"
"Spider! Spider!" He screamed. Harry tried not to laugh as he made his way over to Ron and grabbed him. He held him still and flicked off a small spider that had been crawling very slowly up Ron's arm. Ron cursed.
"I hate spiders." He muttered. Hermione giggled. Ron shot her an annoyed look and pointed angrily around the room.
"No books Hermione, do you see any books? No! I don't. Gee Harry, do you? No, not you either. Well I wonder where they could be. Maybe there are none. In that case, I really am glad we snuck out for no reason because-" Ron stopped and blinked hard several times. There were four long rows of bookcases appearing in front of him. They flickered into view a few times before becoming solid and fixated in sight. Hermione held up her head proudly.
"Told you so." She said smugly. Ron scowled. Harry sighed as they once again began to research through all of the books. He put down the book he was reading and made his way over to a small bookcase that had appeared on the end wall but had remained unnoticed until now. He scanned the covers of books half-heartedly while Hermione and Ron argued at the other end of the room. They all looked the same. They were all dusty, all brown and spotted and thick. One however caught Harry's attention. It was black and thin, tucked into the very end of the bookshelf as if it was hiding. He pulled it out and flipped through it. The pages were blank.
"Piece of crap." Harry muttered shaking his head at the blank pages, who would bother hiding a book without text?
"What you got there mate?" Ron asked coming up behind him.
"Nothing. Blank pages." Harry replied closing the book. Ron frowned and took the book off Harry.
"Hang on a moment." Ron pulled out his wand and tapped the book. Instantly writing slowly appeared across the pages.
"What? How did you do that?" Harry wondered amazed. Ron shrugged and grinned.
"Sometimes magic needs to be recognised." Ron said simply. Hermione came over to them and peered over Harry's shoulder.
"Well?" She took the book off him and examined the title, "Magicked Fables? Harry really! We need history not fiction."
She handed it back to him and headed off to the area she had been before. Ron shrugged and followed her. Harry frowned and surveyed the book carefully. He opened it to the middle and gaped.
"The cave." He whispered to himself. There was a rough drawing of the cave walls he dreamt about. He read the story that accompanied the illustration and glanced up as he heard Hermione cry out in discovery.
"Found something!" She called triumphantly. Harry closed the book and walked over to her quickly. He would show them the book in a minute.
"The Amulet of Cognition. It was created around 1245 by the Giants of Razuul," Hermione frowned, "It was produced from the blood of Phoenix's, Unicorn's and Hippogriff's and is said to have been worn by the leader of the tribe. The amulet is supposed to give the wearer great intellectual power."
"That's a possibility." Ron said thoughtfully, "But where is it now?"
"It was lost. Around the sixteenth century is just disappeared, along with the extinction of the Razuul clan. So I guess it could really be anywhere." Hermione shrugged.
"And Voldemort is going to defeat everyone with his massive brain capacity." Harry mused. Hermione frowned at him.
"It would give him power Harry. He is already powerful enough. Who knows what he will be capable of!" Hermione exclaimed.
"It would be pretty bad." Ron said quietly. Hermione nodded. Harry sighed and held up the book.
"This-" He began.
"That's full of fairytales Harry. Nonsense and such." Hermione rolled her eyes.
"This," Harry began again firmly, "Has the cave from my dreams in it."
Ron straightened up quickly, "Say again."
"The cave I dream about. It has a drawing that shows the pictures that are on the sides of the caves. And...it feels like it." Harry waited for their reaction. Hermione stood up and took the book once again from him, this time so she could carefully flip through it.
"The cave of Eradication." Hermione echoed the story title. Harry was sure they all remembered the cave being mentioned previously.
"Well...what's it about." Ron urged.
"Gosh, it's very old. About five thousand years. Built by some of the first wizards that have ever been recorded." Hermione gaped as she flipped through the pages.
"Huh?" Harry and Ron asked, puzzled.
"I'm sure magical people go a long way back but it really cannot be proved. This cave," Hermione turned the book around and showed them the illustration, "Was built by the first Wizards that were recorded to have existed. Moor of Raiken, Sly of Gren and Rak of Rikar."
"Wow. A history lesson after hours." Ron rolled his eyes while Hermione narrowed hers on him.
"Actually Ron. If you had been paying any attention we went over it in History of Magic last year." Hermione chided. Ron went to retort but Harry interrupted them.
"Children stop it. What does it say about the cave?" He wondered. Hermione's eyes went back and forth frantically as she went over the few pages.
"Not much. It was built by Moor, Sly and Rak five thousand years ago. There's lots of magic surrounding it. It's hidden amoung some mountains in Antarctica," Hermione shrugged her shoulders, "That's all."
"It doesn't say something about some sort of artifact?" Harry frowned.
"No."
"It's supposed to be hiding something."
"It's not."
"But there has to be something else!" Harry said frantically.
"No Harry, nothing." Hermione assured him calmly. Harry sighed and looked down distractedly at his watch.
"Take the book then. We'll keep looking. We better get back. It's three in the morning." With knowledge of the time Harry yawned. Ron was already practically dozing off. Hermione nodded and they tidied up a little before pulling the Invisibility Cloak over themselves and leaving the Forbidden library.
* * * *
"I've got it!" Ron jumped up and startled his friends. It was late in the afternoon the next day and the Trio were sitting in the common room contemplating possibilities involving the cave. Harry and Hermione looked at him expectantly.
"The cave is hiding that amulet thing." He declared.
"The Amulet of Cognition Ron." Hermione told him. Ron rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, that." He looked at them eagerly. Hermione shook her head.
"I don't think so, both were created at entirely different times. And I doubt Wizards would allow Giants to hide something in their cave. It seems like it was special to them and Giants and Wizards loathed each other way back in history." Hermione sighed.
"Fine. You think of something then genius." Ron said sulkily, sitting down.
"We won't rule it out as a possibility though." Hermione assured him. Ron waved his hand around nonchalantly.
"We just need to work out what is in the cave." Harry sighed.
"It's too hard. We have no leads or anything about what it could be." Ron muttered. Hermione gave them a determined look.
"We'll find out. We always do. Just have faith, we have plenty of time." She said gently.
"No we don't! Time is running out fast! I need it and I need it now!" Harry bellowed in a voice that did not belong to him. Hermione cowered from him and Ron's eyes widened in shock.
"What?" Hermione whimpered. Harry shook his head.
"I'm...I'm sorry, I don't know where that came from." Harry apologized profusely going pale. Ron remained shocked but Hermione regained her composure and observed his face carefully.
"I need to know Harry." She eventually said.
"What?" Harry asked quietly, still surprised at his outburst.
"Why does your scar keep changing colour? It's been doing it for months and I waited for you to talk to me about it but you...you never did. Now I need to know why. Why does it?" Hermione wondered quietly.
Harry fell forward off his seat and moaned in pain.
"Harry stop mucking around and answer me, please." Hermione scolded. Harry glared at her and his hand went up to his forehead.
"Really! Harry you always try and avoid confrontation..." Hermione trailed off as Harry collapsed on the ground unconscious. He heard a series of thunderous steps of feet around him and Ron's voice.
"What the hell? That came out of nowhere! Quick, get him out to Madam..." But Ron's voice faded fast and Harry immediately found himself in the cave.
He shivered as he made the journey down into the depths of the cave. He could likely find his way anywhere in the cave now because he had traveled down it so many times that it had become so familiar, almost like a home. But the cave was anything but homey. Harry watched emotionlessly as his friends died and collapsed before him and he and Malfoy, along with Sirius for a moment, opened the end of the cave and went through it. Hurry, quicker. Hurry, he's really bad this time. Harry shook his head and tried to ignore the voices, they were distracting. What on earth happened to him? Harry glanced over at Malfoy who wore an expression of determination. Get him on the bed. He knew himself that he felt more determined now as ever because they were drawing closer and closer to it and he wanted to grab it before he was stopped again. Because he was always stopped before he reached it and it annoyed him so much. Pass me that vial, it will wake him up. Harry saw it now. It was giving off high amounts of power and he was hungry for it. It was placed proudly in front of him on a large stone, the item of ultimate destruction. Harry saw Malfoy pick up his pace and he too hurried towards it. He reached it first and was filled with immense fulfillment as he clasped his hands around it. Wake up...wake up. Harry sat up with a jerk, his hand outstretched in front of him and his fingers crookedly grasping nothing.
"Staff...staff..." Harry muttered wildly looking around the room. He had lost it and he was not happy.
"What Harry? What?" Hermione asked gently, grabbing his hand.
"Vigor...Staff of Vigor...I want it...I need it..." He explained. Hermione glanced over her shoulder at Ron who came over to Harry and held a flask to his lips. Harry drank it quickly and felt himself doze off to sleep, the blurred faces of Ron and Hermione watching him with concern.
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A/N: Again I am sorry that this chapter was slow, the next ones are completely full of stuff happening! Promise…for instance…
Someone confesses feelings…
Someone dies…
And some more secrets are revealed…
To my reviewers:
Kagome19: I am happy that you stayed up to read it! Lol, it's really nice to know how much you are enjoying this fanfic!
Iniysa: I'm feeling that I want them together too, I don't know if it's going to happen…hehe…a dream hey? Well I do suggest NO fanfiction before bed! Lol!
Hplova4eva: I'm really glad you like it!
Tinker: Glad ya like it!
FairyGirl: Hope you liked the Ball chapter! It was huge!
eckles71: Thanks for the long and awesome review a way back! I hope you still enjoy it!
TUNE IN FOR THE FUTURE CHAPTERS!!!!