I will never understand how I got the guardian's argument… but you should figure out the different characters compared to the HP series… Just think, there is only about five or six chapters until the end of Child's Hope as sad as it is.
Guardians of Death
It was decided then he would continue the spell and find out what could happen. So he took off his cloak, bared his arms, and stood just inside the outer circle of candles. Hermione got back into her position out of the circle ready for the magical ceremony.
With a flick of his wrist, the room was devoid of light. It filled the students with fear of the unknown as they knew the veil leading to death was alone with them. But it was just an inanimate object, nothing could go wrong.
It is time.
Everyone jumped as the deep voice filled the room. They would deny the fact later for pride's sake, but they each heard the others' gasp or squeal. Nervous energy filled the room again as the students, bar Harry, had no idea who their guests were. "What do we do now?"
Go back to where you were… They hadn't noticed they stepped out of their positions when the voice came. Beams of light revealed their guests, garbed in the previous grey robes. There were eight in all, surrounding them equidistant from each other pointing to the north, northwest, west, southwest, etc. It was the people Harry had seen in his vision, the ones that led them to this situation in the first place.
We meet again, Harry Potter.
"You mean you have seen these… these… things before?" Ron stumbled, glaring in confusion at his best friend, "What are they?"
We are the guardians of lost souls, bearers of the dead, and should be held in higher regard than just "thing".
Especially as we are here to end your journey right here, another of the guardians added with perfect poise.
"I've heard of you," Hermione said thoughtfully. The rest just rolled their eyes at the statement, of course Hermione had heard of them before. She knew everything! It would probably be scarier if she didn't know for once, as they were surrounded by these strange people. "But why are you coming for us? I thought you only came during dire circumstances."
Ah yes, the one from the north answered, but this monstrosity, the veil the students believed he was talking about, has taken those not ready for this ultimate fate. It is our job to collect those when it is their time.
"But why now?" Neville injected. Time with the DA really helped him with his confidence. Usually, he would have just squealed in fright and not even attempted to say anything, though he was a bit frightened at the moment. But then again, who wouldn't in these circumstances?
The north one nodded, though they could not see his face. The others who were in charge of this did not question the twists of fate the veil was creating. They continued to allow it in existence, foolishly sending innocent people to a fate worst than death. In the veil, they are kept alive, forever searching for a way out, or a way towards the afterlife, but they will never get it. Most give up, and vanish from this dimension.
"What will happen when we take one person out?" Hermione asked. It was clear that she was trying to get as much information out of these unearthly creatures while she had the chance, and was positively glowing.
All those who have continued to fight in their prison will come out, not just the one you seek. But would it not be selfish for you to just be wishing one out of such a fate? The one who answered, stationed at the southwest point, seemed to have smiled. Of course they hadn't seen the girl, as it was a female voice at least, smile; it was just in the voice. But she knew that they wouldn't mind saving other people as well. They would leap to the occasion. The rest that gave up will go onto the afterworld as they wanted.
"Wait a minute, guys," Ginny interrupted, "how do we know that we can trust them?"
The rest paused, thinking it over. Harry shook his head and continued his approach to the northernmost guardian. He could feel that they were telling the truth, an instinct he didn't know he had, and was going to follow it. They were trying to help, right? What problems could come from it?
But then again, something seemed off from the last time he saw them…
"What happened to the ninth person in your group?"
Ninth? There are only eight of us, unless you are referring to our king. But he would not and has not appeared in front of you for any reason as of yet.
"But I saw a ninth person, just like you! I remember counting them and laughing as they were the same amount of inches I'm supposed to do for the Transfiguration essay."
There was no other when we came to you, Harry Potter.
"Then what is he doing here?" Ron interrupted, pointing to another gray robed person in the back of the room, seemingly trying to hide from all eyes. At once the person tried to run for it, but was caught in a silver glowing web that materialized out of nowhere. Another person stood next to the imposter, but his back was turned.
You are very honorable if He appears before you, our ninth, our king.
You are very powerful, Harry Potter, to be able to summon us. The Dark Lord of human magic will not easily take over with you fighting for the light.
Enough!
The other guardians stopped everything they were doing to bow down to the newcomer. He was dressed in similar barb of his followers but the colors were different. Instead of the uniform gray of the others, his was half white and half black, clashing together as if colored paint being thrown from opposite sides. The only explanation that could be thought of this combination would be the fight between Dark and Light, or Death and Life. And even then the students couldn't figure out from where they had learned this information, no book or class. It just kind of came to them, as if it was in the back of their minds for all eternity.
We must take him away from here, or else he might escape from our grasp once again. Hemacke, the northernmost guardian, seemingly the second in command of the little group, stepped closer to the leader, I need you to bind him while I complete the ceremony.
Yes, my Lord.
The leader walked towards the veil, power radiating with his every step. The veil seemed to shudder under the close scrutiny of the guardian's leader as he lightly felt the silky surface. Stay where you are, children, or else this will not work. After muttering a string of magical words, the veil turned a grey color, just as the robes being worn by the guardians. The voices from behind the veil grew louder, and you could almost hear actual words coming from them. Words like "free" "finally" and words of praise. Until all of a sudden, it stopped.
"Sirius?" Harry called weakly, feeling a stone dropping deeply inside of him once the voices ended. The link between then had ended, filling him with foreboding.
Do not worry children, it will take time for the spell to truly work. The people behind are wondering what is happening and do not want to attract darkness. The rest really didn't rest much after hearing it, they still wanted to hear the voices, but had to listen to the very powerful person. He was the only hope they had. They didn't have time to look at the book with all the bloodlines Harry came from, so they didn't know that if the spell they had earlier would have worked. Maybe they were crazy to go without knowing if the vision was real…
I must leave now, Light Children, for I have more business to attend to. Hemacke, Kekioe, I leave the veil in your hands if anything goes wrong. And Hemacke, make sure to move this imposter to our realm where I am able to handle him.
Yes, my Lord.
With a flash of light, small amount of black and grey stars glittering with it covered the leader of the Guardians of Death and once it vanished, he was gone. Just next to where he was, the veil of death flapped violently without any wind. An unknown body was spit out, breathing softly as if in sleep. Another followed it after a few moments, and another after that. The students watched, hoping Sirius hadn't given up after all their trouble, not noticing the glaring between the guardian second in command and the imposter.
You must think you're tough, don't you, Hemacke, the imposter spit out, struggling in his bonds, but no one can hold me! Another flash, this time pure black, surrounded the creator and the silver web bonds disappeared. You might be Lord Temalako's favorite student, but I will always be more powerful than all of your pathetic attempts.
They couldn't even cry out in joy when Sirius was spit out of the veil as well, apparently the last as none came out even after a minute. At least they were able to save sixteen people from the veil.
Temalako will forever be more powerful than you are! There is no running from him! You were a student of his as well, what changed you to the dark side, Mianok?
Mianok, the imposter laughed, Hemacke, so naïve. Do you really think Temalako will defend you when you are in the most need? I was his protégé until I figured out the true nature of power. Why do you continue these shenanigans? I can teach you much more than Temalako could ever do.
Never, Mianok! You are going down!
Don't say I didn't warn you. With a complex wave of his hand, a snakelike creature slithered out of his arm. No, it was a worm… or was it? The beige colored skin resembled that of a worm as it was pretty slimy, and divided in sections. Bulging eyes the color of the most depressing swamp watched every movement happening in the room.
We'll handle him, Light Children, we leave you with the Charmanke. I am sorry, but we cannot hold off both and this one has to be taken care of by us in a more secluded area or else you might die in the process.
At that, they vanished along with the evil imposter. The worm creature slinked over ominously, eyes glaring. The student didn't want to deal with this creature, whatever it was called, but it didn't lie in their hands. They were stuck.
"Hermione…." Ron asked uncertainly, "what is that?"
Hermione looked up at it paralyzed, "I don't know, Ron… I really don't know… Luna, do you?"
Luna just shook her head and tried to run for it. The creature had other ideas and spit clear goop at her, plastering her to the ground. It did the same to Hermione and Neville as they tried to rescue their fallen friend while Ron, Harry, and Ginny ran for cover. The others wouldn't hate them for trying for safety, how would they be freed if the others were trapped as well? The three locked in the slimy cells were instantly knocked unconscious taking out their main hope. Without the Ravenclaw or Gryffindor Know-It-All, there was only a small chance of finding the spell to destroy the monster. In a last ditch effort to safety, Ginny ran towards the door back to the main building and was hit by the monster but only on her arm so she stayed awake, having to watch in horror as the monster slinked towards her to finish the job.
"Get away from her!" Ron called out, before Harry could hold him back. The creature turned back towards them, intent clear in its eyes. "Bloody Hell…"
The remaining Gryffindors ran for their lives, separating in the process. It started after Ron, probably because Ron just pissed it off. Harry tried to throw loose rocks at it but the creature continued on at his friend, not even flinching. Ron soon fell victim to the spit attack, falling down next to where Sirius and the other Veil Victims lay.
"Use magic, you idiot!" Ginny screamed as the worm continued towards her brother. It was in that moment that Harry felt like an idiot, he was a wizard wasn't he? And that had to be the first time Ginny had said anything bad about him. At least she was truly over him, even though Ron didn't like the new crushes.
While he was thinking about his stupidity, the worm continued its attacks, but this time at him. Just another thing to add to his growing list of idiocies. He started to run towards the crevices from before, but a spit ball to his leg toppled him and glued the leg to the ground. It was time to pray for a miracle or their attempts to save Sirius would have been in vein. It would be their time to join him.
Question: This one has to be easy… Who do Mianok, Temalako, and Hemacke resemble? And if that is too easy then (thinks): How will they be saved (and I already have it written yay!)
KrazeyForever: well, at least it's in a good way! And sorry about the cliffhanger for this one, I just couldn't resist!
Makalani Astral: oh, sorry, that must have been confusing… Severus wasn't reading a muggle paper, he was just comparing the bland perfection of the muggle paper with the crazy wizarding paper he was reading… sorry!
SexyIsSnape126: again, I am very sorry for making it so confusing, I was just trying to finish the chapter too quickly… Harry didn't subconsciously cause the veil to dissolve, it just happens that the guardians were warning him just as Severus read about it. Sorry again for the confusion!
Trinity 101: as much as I would want for James and Lily to come back to the land of the living, but my understanding of the veil (at least what I am convinced it is in reading it) is that if it was to be reversed (which I know it wouldn't in the real series), then only certain people could go back. And I would think that Lily and James would be resolved to their fate in the afterworld as they had given their lives for Harry to go on, so I wouldn't think that they would rush back (and the fact that I don't have too much time… and it would kind of cause more problems with Severus, he has to deal with Sirius, doesn't he? If he gets out of course)