Chapter 36: The End of Brightness

"He's lying," said Harry, helping Rudolf and Ron up. "It's still on the magicograph."

How could he not have realised? Of course the brilliant light was the Orb of Light! Was it not what Amarenox wanted to destroy? Hadn't the old man said, on Harry's first visit, that the world for him was like a foreign country, but he could cope at night? He wanted to obliterate all sources of bright light and turn the world into a place of darkness! If he destroyed the Sun, the Orb of Light would still exist, buried deep in Gringotts, so he would have to destroy that as well. And he wanted to get rid of Harry, so that he didn't interfere. "Well, you've failed there!" muttered Harry.

"Pardon?" said Ron.

"It's not important," said Harry. "We have to be quick!"

He launched himself at the tiny door, but something caused him to stop. There was a crack. Looking at the magicograph, Harry saw that all of the magical activity in the cave had stopped, except for a thin line around the edge. His heart sinking, Harry stepped inside, Ron and Rudolf behind him.

Everything, including the table, had disappeared from the small, stonewalled chamber. As the last of the three entered the cave, there was another crack. The door had gone, leaving solid stone on every side.

Everything was totally black, then a small round light appeared in the centre of the floor. The cave was shaking madly.

"What's happening?" shouted Ron. "What's he doing to us?"

Water began to seep in through the hole. It was icy cold, and Harry felt like his feet had frozen. Then he understood. This time there was no terrible voice shouting "NOW YOU WILL DIE", but in every other respect he was back in the cave in the game with Melkius Karrelus, the day he got his artificial arm. This time, however, he knew what to do.

"Stay calm!" he yelled. "Don't do anything!" He Conjured a huge rock out of nowhere. The cave stopped shaking. "Quickly! Climb up before it disintegrates!"

The water was up to their knees now. Harry, Ron and Rudolf scrambled up the rock. Harry attempted to blast a way out in the roof as he had done in the game, and on the third attempt he managed it.

"Get out! It's going to fall!"

Rudolf went first, then Ron. As Harry grabbed the side of the hole, he felt it come off in his hand. Rudolf and Ron both grabbed him, and pulled. The rock below him disappeared – Harry hadn't had enough time to Conjure a more lasting one. With one last heave, his friends pulled him out. The entire chamber caved in, and Harry felt his right leg being crushed by shards of the cave roof. He lay, panting, that leg bruised and bloody. They were in a small, dusty room with one window, on a rich carpet that covered most of the floor.

"How did you do dat?" asked Rudolf.

"Let's say Amarenox's idea wasn't very original. I had to do exactly that on a Tri-X game. Nice carpet. Where are we?"

"The store in the pavilion, I think," said Ron, looking around. "Yeah, look, here's the ball crate for Quidditch. God knows why we ended up here!"

Rudolf shrugged, but Harry had more urgent things to think about. "We have to get back to the college! Tell someone about what Amarenox has done!"

There was yet another crack, and they all looked up, surprised.  "I'm afraid that won't be necessary," said Amarenox's voice, louder that ever. The old man was standing against the far wall, holding the shining Orb in one hand and a bottle of dark red liquid in the other. Behind him was an iron framework: one end, sharp and pointed, directed out of the open window; the other, a tube, inside a great cauldron filled with a dark turquoise liquid. Ron fell back next to Harry and Rudolf.

Harry tried to move, but found he couldn't. His leg was obviously broken. He reached for his wand and found, to his horror, that he had dropped it as the cave collapsed around him.

The old man looked like he had, so long ago now, when he had warned Harry about Lord Amarenox and Thomas Millstew – tall, with white robes and beard, and eyes and voice like thunder and lightning. He flicked his homemade wand, and Harry found himself almost totally paralysed, unable to move.

"I'm sure you've worked it all out by now," he boomed. "It was my plan to destroy you, but after Millstew failed I had no other choice but to go ahead with my plans. You interfered, yes, but you have not caused any lasting damage.

"You warned me about yourself," said Harry, finding that he could move his lips at least. "You said that I was to be aware of you."

"Ah, yes," smiled Amarenox. "I have always had trouble with – with my other self. The self that strives to help, to be kind – it ruled me for the first part of my life. I went to Hogwarts you know, under a different name, a name now forgotten. I was in Gryffindor, like you I believe. After I left school, I trained to become an Auror. We studied the Unforgivable Curses. I became enthralled. I delved deeper into the Dark Arts. I became afraid of the light. Remember me telling you that the world would not take me, except at night? That is what I meant."

Harry nodded. "You going to destroy the Sun. And – and the Orb."

"Very good," said Amarenox. "And I wanted you out of the way first – for obvious reasons. I have spent much of my life in that cave beneath the college, but when I heard that the reigning Dark Lord had been finally defeated, I decided to take control. I had heard of you, I decided to get rid of you. I employed a servant, Millstew. My other self tried to stop me, but I destroyed it. I could take the form of a man so small and wrinkled he didn't seem a threat, and I used this when you came to visit. I wanted to kill you, but I knew it would be unwise. Millstew could do it for me."

Ron suddenly spoke up. "You were scared!"   

"You could put it that way. When my other self took over for a short time in the cave, I failed to conceal my true appearance for a short time – a mistake perhaps. It is not important. In a few hours, the world will be thrown into twilight. Everyone will either join me, or fade away in what they see as a living hell." Amarenox stroked the metal contraption beside him. "When the sun rises, I will activate this machine and destroy it. But before, I will destroy the Orb of Light."

Must waste time, thought Harry desperately. Out loud, he said, "Where d'you get that thing?"

"This?" said Amarenox, continuing to stroke the machine. "Some goblins made it for me. Very skilled metalworkers, goblins. Or do you mean the Orb? From Gringotts, the goblins again. The one I had originally paid – with someone else's money, of course – left me, but thankfully some were still faithful. They got me the Orb. It was the world's last hope," he said, in a tone of mock sadness, "how unfortunate to see it destroyed. But with this blood of Dark beasts –" he held up the bottle of red liquid – "I will put out the light inside it! Watch!"

Slowly, Amarenox unscrewed the lid of the jar and tipped it towards the Orb in his other hand.