Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story. Except a few things which you don't recognize from original series or anywhere else.
Author: zimagesto
Title: Harry Potter and the Legacy of Slytherin
Summary: Seventh year at Hogwarts. Contains: the Lord of Darkness, the Dark Lord, a bunch of elves, a lost kingdom and a lot of interesting stuff. Twisted story with a twisted end. Not conventional. Worth reading. R&R
AN: Due to current situation, I will no longer name chapters. What current situation, you ask? The situation of not coming up with good titles, duh!
Chapter 11
"Master, I have returned!" Avery said, a dark look on his face. "Me and Lucius have managed to find a way to kill Sybille"
"Oh?" Voldemort asked, looking darkly at his servant. "And where is Lucius?"
"He's at Malfoy Manor… Well, not quite" Avery replied.
"Not quite?" Voldemort raised an eyebrow.
"He's in a different world to which we opened a gateway from his Manor. He's still there, in that other world, I believe. We managed to find five demons in the shapes of large werewolves that never turn human, Master. Sybille will never know what struck her"
"Indeed" Voldemort replied, for the first time pleased with his servant. "Very good. I will see these demons a bit later. You may take some time off"
"Thank you, sire" Avery replied, smirking.
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Minerva entered Dumbledore's office, seeming quite concerned about something. The Headmaster was behind his desk, reading a Muggle novel, out of what she could tell.
"Hello, Albus" she said slowly.
"Minerva" he replied, smiling over his book. "What may I help you with?"
"I'm worried" she replied and sat down. "Not that He's attacked Diagon Alley, who knows what can stop him? I can't believe you've let the Order take it easy! Especially now!"
"I wouldn't worry so much if I were you, Minerva" Albus said calmly. "Voldemort will not attack again too soon"
"How can you tell?" she asked.
"I have my ways" he replied. "Tea, perhaps?"
"No, thank you" she replied and got up. "I trust you Albus… but I hope you are not making a mistake by letting your guard down"
"I'm not letting it down too much" the Headmaster replied and smiled kindly at her. She eyed him with a bit of wonder and then she exited the room, leaving the eccentric old man to his book.
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Somewhere, in a nearly forgotten world that was becoming less and less forgotten, Sybille was smirking to herself. Letting the Advisors out of service had been tons of fun, especially with her shooting bits of odd information around. "We're allying with Eleutheria"… "We're allying with Freedom" she'd said and she'd meant it. They'd be free. "The Queen is guarded by ten elves that remain hidden at all times… Do you think it is enough?" "We're creating a new type of horses that with the aid of magic can run 200 miles/hour" "We're raising dragons to guard the castle" "Do you think that training Cornish Pixies as spies would be worth a shot?"
She loved those stupid things she'd said… And she couldn't believe they bought the thing with the horses that ran at 200 miles/hour! Really now, who could stay on top of such a horse? And who could stir it right?
She went into her room and lied down on the couch, smirking to herself. With the queen gone, she and the Viceroy were ruling the kingdom, just like before. She truly liked that job and she wanted to keep it for as long as possible. And she had a feeling that queen Chase would have no problem in assigning her a great deal of power.
It wasn't that she was against the kid, really. She actually started to like her. She'd grow to be a great queen one day, Sybille was sure of that. But the older woman wanted things kept safe… And that meant under her control, if possible. She hadn't liked the last king and the feeling had been mutual, so she hadn't had too much power then, but now she would. And she would use it well.
Love, where are you hiding?- she hissed slowly and a cobra slithered towards her.
I'm not hiding- it replied simply. -Have a lot of problems lately?-
Yes and no. The Lord of Idiots is back, which is not very good for me. But the kingdom is very well, which is great… What do you think of queen Chase, Nieve?-
The cobra eyed her thoughtfully for a second before shaking her head a bit.
She is a true queen. A descendant of both Chases and Eagle. The perfect heir. She is still young… But that is not a problem. She has you and Akanai Kenden by her side-
I know- Sybille replied and gently petted the cobra. -My thoughts exactly. I think she and I will get along. And I will convince her to give us a chance, Nieve. I know she shan't look down on us because of our past.-
The cobra seemed to smile, if such a thing was possible.
She won't- it replied and paused for a few seconds. -Don't worry, Sybille, she'll let you live here… she'll let you rule beside her. She knows you're good-
The woman simply laughed and petted the cobra again, choosing not speak. Tomorrow would be another loooong day, as she had a meeting with the Council about one thing or another and then she had to make preparations to go check up on a few cities and on a few gateways to other worlds.
If either Harry or Voldemort would have been there, they'd have probably noticed that during all the dialogue, neither she nor the cobra had prolonged the 's' of any word.
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Harry, Ron and Hermione entered 'their room' and grinned to each other. Yep, everything was still in place: all the books, the couches, the armchairs, everything was just as it had been. The blue and gold big room in Hogwarts was as welcoming as ever.
"I wonder what that crazy book has in store for us now" Harry joked, pointing towards the book that had welcomed them on the arrival there, which was on a table. Hermione smiled at him and opened it. It was blank.
"Nothing here" she murmured and looked around in the bookshelves. "Hey! The Book of Kings! Remember when Towers brought a copy of this one?" She sat down in an armchair. "Did you guys notice that this room tends to have a mind of its own? The book wasn't here before!"
"Sort of" Harry replied, but Hermione didn't seem to notice him as she flipped through the book, scowling a bit.
"If there' s one thing I hate about some wizarding books it's that they don't have page numbering! Really, now how am I supposed to find anything…"
Harry and Ron shared a glance and walked behind Hermione's armchair and looked down on the book as she was flipping pages. All kinds of images moved around before their eyes as she flipped through them, as if looking for something. Of course, she might've just been looking around.
Finally she landed on a picture and frowned. It showed four people, two women and two men mounted on horses in a forest… it was like a hunt.
"That guy there looks like Slytherin!" Harry said and pointed to one of them.
"Let's see what this is about" Hermione replied and put her hand over the book. "Show me!"
The picture started moving and the man beside Slytherin started speaking, their horses walking at a steady pace.
"Salazar, what do your little friends say?" he asked.
The other man stopped and looked at a slithering being in the grass and started hissing, while the other man watched him in something like fascination.
"What'd he say, what'd he say?" Ron asked and Harry smirked to himself.
"'Where is the stag?'… it says it's close, that he'd seen it about five minutes before and it went towards…"
Suddenly Salazar looked up towards the others and smiled, translating.
Thanksss- Salazar said. "He said the stag is close, he saw it just five minutes ago and it went towards west"
The three watched curiously as the others nodded and guided their horses in another direction than the one they'd been walking in. They seemed very peaceful and neither of the three teens could believe that Salazar turned out to be a bastard, really.
"We should get some horses to pull the carriages to the school" said one of the women. "They're so wonderful!"
"I had that in mind too, sister. How about Thestrals?" the man who wasn't Slytherin said.
"Not all will see them" she complained.
"It would be more interesting, don't you think?"
She nodded and, as the four walked around, Hermione said slowly:
"I think that they're the Founders. The man over there must be Gryffindor. The women must be Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw… I think I've seen them before in books."
The teens watched the four walk around through the forest, making small talk for awhile before getting thoroughly bored. It was interesting to see the Founders, yeah, but not that interesting.
"I wonder why anybody would put that in a book" Hermione mused, before muttering 'stop' and flipping a few pages. "I'd have thought this book has important moments in the past in it"
"I guess these images were there for seeing the atmosphere of the time" Harry shrugged.
"Maybe you're right" Hermione replied, although the Founders being on a hunt nagged her somehow.
She closed the book and put it in the bookshelf and looked around.
"Come on" Harry said. "We need to go to dinner and see what Amala's up to and what she managed to do"
"Poor girl" Hermione muttered. "My parents are really nice and all, but I still wouldn't want them around at Hogwarts"
"I wouldn't want them here either" Ron muttered and the other two started laughing.
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"Where've you been?" Neville asked and the three smiled at him.
"In our room" Harry replied and the boy grinned.
"I love that place" he said and returned to his plate. Soon enough Amala and Snape entered the Hall and she sat down in front of the trio, next to Neville.
"Hey guys, what's up?" she said, trying to be as cheery as ever, but not quite managing to. She looked a bit weary.
"We've just been to our room" Hermione replied to her and she smiled. "And where might you have been? We tried to take you with us, but…"
"I was talking to Severus" she replied, her weary look returning. "About my parents. Damn, I can't believe they're coming! I'll have to tell them about Sev and everything will go straight to hell"
"Sev?" mouthed Ron and she glared at him warningly.
"How's it going with Luuuna?" Amala asked, putting a smile on her face. "Come on, spill up details!"
"Um… it's going well" Harry replied, glancing over to the Ravenclaw table before shutting up.
"Which part of 'spill up details' don't you get, Harry?" Amala asked, rolling her eyes. "Come on, tell us! How is she?"
"Bad mental image, bad mental image" Ron muttered and Harry raised an eyebrow at him.
"She's fine" the raven-haired boy replied. "She's really nice, actually…Um…"
Amala just rolled her eyes and sighed.
"Okay, forget I even asked, Mr. Can't-say-two-good-words-about-my-girlfriend"
She started eating too and looked up to the teachers' table, her eyes scouting for the black-eyed Potions Master for a few seconds.
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The dinner had finished for quite awhile and Harry had managed to catch Luna before she disappeared to God-knows-where. And he'd invited her for a walk outside. So now, the two of them were walking on the shores of the lake, wishing that curfew never came.
"It's so beautiful, Harry" Luna murmured as she looked up towards where only a few clouds rested on the sky, around the moon, somehow drawing attention to it. Around the clouds, the stars shone brightly and everything was well… magical. Everything was blue and still, calm like a night in a fairytale.
"It is" the boy replied and found himself being dragged down by the girl. She'd sat down on the grass and he sat down too, next to her. Both lay silent for a few moments before she grabbed his hand in hers. He shyly leaned over to her and kissed her briefly, feeling her smile under his lips.
Such a beautiful night…
At the edge of the Forbidden Forest, two figures stood, watching the two teens with wise eyes.
"The kid needs love and beauty in his life" the woman sighed.
"That he does, Naranesh" he replied. "Needs them indeed…"
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"This way, Master" Avery said, pushing open the doors of the Manor. Voldemort walked through them and looked around. The place felt empty somehow, though he couldn't tell exactly why. It probably was because of the two Malfoys being in a parallel world.
They walked up to one of the higher floors of the Manor and finally Avery opened a door.
"In here"
There, in the middle of the room stood a large black marble podium with three steps leading on it. Right in front of the stairs was an oval-shaped black marble frame in the shape of a circle, four meters tall and wide. Voldemort frowned and asked his servant:
"Why is it closed?"
"It is unwise to leave a portal opened, Master. Who knows what can come through it?" Avery pointed out and walked over to a switch, pulling it. In less than a moment, the frame filled with a silvery liquid before it seemed to clear away, showing a forest. "After you, sire"
Voldemort nodded curtly and climbed the stairs.
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"Milady" the viceroy said and Sybille stopped in her tracks.
"Yes?" she asked curiously. "What is it, Theodore?"
"Please, call me Karl"
"Only if you call me Sybille" she replied and he nodded, smirking slightly.
"Of course. I came to talk to you… Our scouts say that a portal towards the World of the Darkelings has been opened on Earth, though we don't know exactly where it is"
"That's bad" she replied, thoughtfully. "Perhaps it is time I should go in a ride home? No… No, we should take care of things from here. Perhaps send a few scouts?"
"Precisely my thoughts, Sybille" Karl replied. "I'll be damned if it's not about Voldemort"
"I know how you feel" she smiled amusedly before the two of them started waling quickly in the same direction: towards a few warriors' houses.
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The common room had emptied for awhile, with the exception of a few close friends. Well, more than a few, actually. Harry was lying down on a couch, thinking, Hermione and Ron were crowded on an armchair, Amala was sitting by the fire, right on the floor while Ginny was telling her to move so she wouldn't burn herself to death and Neville was playing chess with Jane who was having a good time, although she didn't really know how to play.
"I still can't believe they're coming here" Amala said for the thousandth time that evening. "And tomorrow nevertheless!"
"Deal with it already!" Hermione said, rolling her eyes slightly. "How bad can it be?"
"Horrible?" Amala suggested. "You don't know my mum. She can be such a mother hen all the time and she can be incredible in placing guilt in everybody. God, I can hear her now: 'how could you, Amala? After all the trust I had in you and this is what you do?', or 'but I raised you so well!'. She's absolutely…"
"I'm sure she's not that bad" Neville said, looking up at her from the floor.
"Shut up!" Amala glared at him. "You'll see tomorrow! And dad… He lives in a world of his own sometimes, you can tell him things and they go right past his ears, you know?"
"We know" a few people in the room complained and Ginny rolled her eyes, dropping herself on the floor.
"Listen, stop complaining, ok? Be happy tonight, if you won't be able to do it tomorrow. Come on! Give us a break, too! We're sorry for you, all of us, but really!"
Amala glared at her and Ginny looked her in the eyes.
"You can go to… Severus's bedroom tonight, live your moments of freedom and deal with things tomorrow. Carpe Diem!"
"Ginny!" Ron shrieked and everybody looked at him, realizing they'd have a show. "I can't believe you said that!"
"What?" the girl asked, raising an eyebrow. "Can't little Ronnikins bare the thought of his friend actually being with Snape, or the thought of his sister not being completely innocent, as she was when she was three?"
"Both actually" he groaned. "How can you say that? About her doing that! I honestly thought you could censure your words a bit"
"They were censured" Ginny replied and Hermione and Amala giggled. "Really, Ron, sometimes I wonder…"
"You know what I wonder?" Ron asked, glaring at her.
"I have a feeling you'll tell me"
"What you've been doing with Malfoy"
Ginny stared at him silently for a few seconds before growling like a lion.
"You'd go berserk" she replied and lied on her back on the floor.
"What have you been doing with him, Ginny Weasley!" Ron growled menacingly.
"Sibling fight!" Amala cried, actually delighted for the first time that day. Everybody else stared at her. "What!"
"Many things" Ginny replied, avoiding to look at him. "But really, Ron, you know I'm a smart girl, I wouldn't get myself in trouble…"
"GINEVRA!" he cried.
"Lay off, Ronald!" she snarled in response. "I might tell you one day, but right now, I don't want to! Get it! I haven't slept with him yet, ok?"
"Yet!" Ron growled, but she didn't reply. So he settled for sitting cross-armed on the armchair, looking very pissed.
"There goes my distraction for tonight" Amala muttered and nearly everybody –except Jane and Harry- glared at her. "I'm going to bed, I know I'm pathetic"
With that, she climbed to her feet, waved the goodnight and climbed the stairs to her dorm. It was really quiet and they were starting to drift off when Hermione remarked:
"It's much more quiet now, without all the whining"
"No kidding?" asked Ron, still glaring at his sister who was watching the chess game with very much interest.
"She's usually not a whiner, I wonder why she acted like that" Hermione mused.
"You think too much" Harry replied, before getting up. "I'm sleepy. Night!"
"Night!" the others replied as he too went to his dorms.
"I haven't done that much with Draco" Ginny said, suddenly looking towards her brother. "So, you should apologize for your outburst"
"'m sorry" he muttered darkly. "And you'd better not have done anything"
Ginny rolled her eyes, before she too going to bed and dragging Jane with her. Neville got the point and said goodbye to the couple soon after the two had left.
"We're all alone" Hermione said suggestively.
"Yeah, we are" Ron replied and smiled widely. "What's my sister been doing with Draco? Do you know?"
"Well…" Hermione drifted off. "She'll answer that when time comes."
Ron opened his mouth to reply to that, but he was cut off soon by her mouth on his. And so they snogged into the deeper hours of the night, neither daring to actually take their relationship any further.
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Voldemort smirked to himself as he was led by Avery through the dark forest. Oh, yes, this would be a very good place from where he could get his servants.
"Just a bit more" the Death Eater said and suddenly they were in a clearing. And in the middle of the clearing were…
"Lucius… Narcissa" muttered Voldemort, eyeing the two corpses with surprise. "What happened?"
"They died" Avery replied with a dark smirk.
"I can see that, you fool, but how?" Voldemort snapped.
"Hit by the Avada Kedavra… The Avada Kedavras that I cast"
Voldemort looked at him and snarled furiously.
"Traitor! You will now die at the hands of the Dark Lord, for treason!…"
"And I'm taking him with me" Avery replied, taking out a dagger from his robes. Voldemort raised his wand to deflect the throwing of the dagger, but it never came. Instead, Avery cut his own veins.
"Are you mad?" he asked and the Death Eater laughed the laugh of a madman. "Fool. Crucio!"
The laughter was replaced by screams and the man trashed on the ground, blood flowing everywhere. Voldemort raised his wand, ready to cast the killing curse when he heard sounds around in the woods. He turned and saw a few dark beings nearing him with open mouths and his eyes darted quickly to Avery who had weakly started laughing again. And he realized why he'd cut his veins…
To call the creatures…
And for the first time in many, many years, Voldemort felt truly and deeply afraid.
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AN: Shortest chapter I've written since… well, a long, long time. On this story, I mean. But hey, it's an update and a definite step forward in the story!
Oh, and last chapter I made a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge mistake :bumps head against the wall: I killed Seamus and then I put him right in Transfiguration class… and made him bark like a dog. Thanks to everybody who told me of this –I changed it the instant I saw those reviews… after all, I'd been thinking about Dean and I wrote Seamus…- :once again bashes head against wall: And for the second mistake I made… thanks marauder#3!
Replies to reviews (and thanks to everybody who read + double thanks to everybody who reviewed!):
Inu-kokoro: lol, yes, poor Amala indeed… We'll get to see her parents next chapter, when they actually make it here. And yes, she's made love to Sev. I couldn't be very explicit, since I want to keep this PG-13 (although all the 13 year-olds probably know what the fuss is all about anyway) And well… there's not much more I can think of saying right now, so thanks for the great review:grin:
Soramiko: That's ok, I kinda understood what it meant from the context, lol. About Seamus: I'll go bang my head against the wall some more. And ah, the scene with Amala's parents will be :licks her lips: delightful . I have it planned for… about a year, I think. It's one of the first scenes that popped into my mind about this story (the others… I'll spill out a few. Amala rescuing Sirius, her first interactions with Snape, Towers being a teacher and him fleeing as a dragon. Some others are soon to come ;-) ) Thanks for your great review!
Marauder#3: thanks for pointing out the two mistakes:again, bashes her head against the wall: I've got to stop doing that. :grins widely: Thanks for the wonderful review!
Tsuetsu:bows: Thank you!
Alcapacien: Lol. The Transfiguration class didn't come out too well at first (read my AN) but I'm quite pleased with it now, too. And… the 5th year being his dad… Nope, sorry mate. No James or Lily revivals here. And those poor kids were just that: poor kids. (why poor? Because they had History of Magic!) Thanks for the review!