Jumping right on in….
A lone figure, clothed in searing black, stood on a snow-covered plain. Scintillating golden runes adorned the otherwise black robes of the figure, and in its hands was clasped an elegant staff of white gold, crowned with an obsidian of startling beauty. The stone was diamond shaped, taller than it was wide. Arrayed opposite the figure was an army of terrifying size, composed of equally hideous and vile creatures. They shuffled about, unsure of what to make of the lone obstacle in their way. It was only one in number, and yet it stood so confident, as though it were legion. Something was pushing through the legions, another robed and hooded figure, this one dressed purely in crimson. Once it reached the fore of what was presumably its army, a haughty feminine voice flouted across the space between the two robed ones.
"Stand aside! What purpose can you possibly serve here? You are one against the greatest army this world has ever seen!" The figure in the black robes responded in a language so beautiful, so lyrical and soft, that it was difficult to believe that the figure was speaking dire words of warning, that somehow, the other figure still managed to here.
"You stand on the threshold of my people's land. The threshold of a light you cannot bear. It is a line you will not cross." The woman in crimson robes laughed, clearly amused.
"You think to deter me with mere words? You haven't the power to stop me, nor the guts to use it if you did."
"The people have spoken." A golden line sprang into being midway between the two figures. Her eyes narrowed.
"Enough talk! Attack!" The horde surged forwards on her command, quickly closing in on the line in the snow. The scales on the back of the hands gripping the staff tightened as the black robed figure knelt. The line in the snow grew brighter, as did the obsidian mounted at the top of the staff. It looked as though light was pouring forth from a fissure in the snow where the line was drawn, and indeed the snow had melted from beneath it. It continued to increase, becoming almost impossible bright. The first line of beasts reached it, passed over it, and emerged as nothing but clouds of dust. Several more ranks were pushed through the incendiary barrier of light before the momentum of the army was brought to a halt. The black robed figure stood, and the army looked in awe past the line. The figure's staff burned as the though the sun itself had descended and rested atop it, as did the figures eyes. It was too bright for the army to look upon the creature, though many tried. The crimson clad woman waited expectantly for a challenge, but none came. "Will you do nothing? You possess such power, and do nothing with it! You are a fool!" The woman produced a wand from her cloak, and screamed terrible curses upon the figure, who merely stood serenely. It seemed almost as though the curses were visible as little blood red darts of hatred, but the awesome light burned them away before they ever reached their mark. "I. WILL. PASS!" the woman roared with rage, and began to step over the line. Her face became a rictus of pain and concentration as first her toes, and then slowly, agonizingly slowly, the rest of her foot made contact with the ground on the other side of the line. It was as though she pushed through some thick liquid, moving only with great effort.
Eventually, the crimson clad woman collapsed onto her knees, on the other side of the line. Heartened and encouraged by her success, her army tried to follow. Some were able to try and push through, but most were turned to dust. Soon, the line was covered across the entire width of the valley by creatures struggling to break through it. The black clad figure surveyed the spectacle and sighed.
"So be it. There is no other way." With that, the sun like staff was inverted, and the black clad figure plunged the sun into the ground. A blinding ring of light and steam spread about his feet, moving faster than one could see, disintegrating all it touched. In mere seconds, the army was gone, the valley floor exposed, not a spot of snow remained. All that remained was dust, and one crimson clad woman, attempting to get to her feet. The black clad figure walked to her and knelt, lifting her chin with a partially scaled, clawed hand. "Go. Do not return."
"But…how…you serve the Shadow, not the light."
"You have misunderstood. You serve darkness. I do serve the shadows- but to have shadows, one must also have light. And so I serve both.
"I will…never…give up. I will return, and triumph."
"I am sorry for you then, for your existence will surely be tortured." The crimson clad woman drew herself up, and pointed her wand at the black clad figure's heart. Before she could utter a word, the sun-tipped staff touched her forehead. A look of utter terror came onto her face, and her body burned away in a brilliant flash of light.
Harry woke, drenched in sweat, from his strange dream- or was it nightmare- sunlight shining into his eyes. He blinked several times. That had been a startlingly real dream. Almost as though he had been floating above the entire thing. And all the senses were there too. He immediately wondered if perhaps this was another false dream forced into his mind by Voldemort's magic. Harry ground his teeth. He couldn't tell anyone, at least not yet. Harry quietly got out of bed and crept down the stairs to sit in front of the fire in the Griffindor commons. After more rumination on the dream, his thoughts drifted back to his academic pursuits. Finals were fast approaching, with only two weeks before the fateful tests, followed by the much-awaited Christmas break. Perhaps Harry would be able to find some answers to his troubles then. In the meantime, he resolved to allow Hermione to pester him about studying, and that perhaps he even would engage in some preparation.
"Fortunately for me, though perhaps less fortunate for you, there is very little I can do to help you review as a class. Taking into consideration this fact and the fact that it is also the last week before finals, there will be no required class. I will be here when the class would normally be, should you have any questions, I will try to help you as best I can. And before some smart ass decides to ask, there will be no wands allowed on the final- however, you must bring them with you. It is all applied, you needn't bring a quill. Just yourself. And hopefully your brains. Class dismissed- oh! Make sure to check the list posted outside to find out when your final is, they are individual." Kiora leaned back in his chair, watching the happy students rush for the door. Only a very few stayed behind to ask questions. After those few were also gone, Kiora couldn't help but smirk. The kind of questions they asked weren't going to help them on the final one bit….in fact…studying history really wouldn't at all. Kiora was very much looking forward to administering the test to a few choice students.
Harry trudged towards the magecraft room, dreading the test and annoyed that it was so early in the morning. He passed another student on the way out, who was clutching something in her hands as though it was gold. Harry eyed her curiously, but apparently she missed his glance, since she passed him without saying a word. Perhaps she'd merely been holding a superb grade report. Harry walked into Sinavre's classroom. A metal box of some sort sat on the only remaining table. Sinavre stood behind it.
"Your wand please Harry." Harry handed over his wand dutifully. Sinavre deposited it in the box, and closed the lid. It seemed to Harry as though the seems of the box disappeared and it looked like a solid cube of metal. Harry gaped, caught completely off guard.
"Umm…"
"Your task, Harry, is to get your wand out of the box. You have an hour." Sinavre then retreated to his desk and sat down to pore over some book or other. Harry stared at the box, and felt around the edges with his hands. There wasn't any indication that this was actually a hollow object as opposed to a solid chunk of metal. Harry then concentrated as hard as he could on mana sight and found that there appeared to be some kind of depression in the top of the box. He tried touching the spot with his finger, but nothing happened. He tried 'pouring' some mana into it, which was rather hard, since it was difficult for him to control such a small amount, and the depression turned slightly green, and seemed to expand. Harry channeled more mana into the depression, until it was completely full. Then it seemed to evaporate in a green haze. Just as he was about to reach for the box again, angry flames leapt up from the box. He shot a quick glance at Sinavre, who did not seem at all concerned…
Which would have to mean it was controlled or…an illusion. Harry inched his hand towards the flames, and felt no heat. With a certain sense of satisfaction, he bent his will towards dissolving the illusion, and it slowly faded away. The next thing he saw was a complicated mechanical mechanism. He gazed at the mess of gears and springs, thoroughly stumped. After perhaps a quarter hours careful examination of the device, Harry was fairly certain that he had found the spring-loaded gear that ought to make the thing go. But he couldn't reach it to wind it up. He tapped his foot as he contemplated the problem. It wasn't long before Harry realized that it was after all, a magic exam, and they had learned how to lift things magically…so winding a gear oughtn't to be too hard.
With some difficulty Harry managed to wind the gear and release it. The clockwork whirred away, and another layer of the box's puzzling innards were exposed. It looked like a black cube. He touched it, and his finger went through, but he could feel nothing. Hastily, he withdrew the hand, expecting to be short a digit. His hand was fine. He also could not see within the space, with mana sight or normal eyes. What sort of puzzle was this? Something he could not feel or see. Darkness? Which would take..light? to dissipate? Harry formed a light on one of his fingertips, after only a few minutes of failed attempts, and passed it through the patch of dark. It rippled, and fell away, revealing his wand, a pure black ring, and a silvery bell.
"Impressive. Forty-two minutes and thirteen seconds. An excellent time." Harry jumped at Sinavre's soft voice.
"What are these?" Harry held up the other contents of the box besides his wand.
"Gifts. For you."
"Are they…special in any way?"
"The ring will bring you light when you need it most…and you will have to find for yourself what purpose the bell may serve."
"Its an awfully dark ring…seems a little odd that it makes light."
"You can find light in the most unlikely of places Harry." Sinavre smiled an enigmatic smile, and congratulated Harry on his excellent performance before dismissing him.
Weeee! Writing roll…during/near finals…how odd. Anyhow, R&R please! I like hearing what you have to say.