(All is J.K Rowling's except my dear Lemercier.)
6. Past
"Fight it Potter. Fight it." Cassandra said sternly as she circled Harry Potter who was doubled over on the ground, his wand hanging carelessly from his right hand, as his other hand held on to his forehead. They had traveled far from the Wizarding world in the United Kingdom to the Merchant Isles, privatedly owned by the Lemercier's and where Tom Riddle was taught all he knew of the dark arts. For the first few months she had locked him in the Lemercier library, forcing him to read books upon the dark arts, spells and curses. She would appear randomly taking more books down, or pointing out the essentials of the dark arts in a certain book. Or they would spend days together in the grand ballroom perfecting his technique or his occlumency. Today they were perfecting his occulmency.
"Stop! Please stop!No!" He yelled as he pushed his forehead to the ground, as if trying to smash the pain and images within his head unto the marble flooring. Images of Dumbledore dying, Severus standing over him with his wand out, Sirius falling down dead, and his mother's screams echoing through his head. "STOP!"
"Unbelieveble." She muttered to herself as she waved her wand and stared down at him. Cassandra watched as Harry slowly raised himself to his knees, his face buried in his hands. "Pathatic Potter. You let worthless memories over come you. This time I want you to stop acting like a tart and bloody fight back." Rising her wand, she repeated the spell.
Harry sat up, taking deep breathes and reaching by the side table for his glasses. Putting them on, his vision cleared immediately as he glanced around the bedroom. Nothing. Just a dream. A memory. Pushing the heavy blanket off his sweaty body, he swung his legs to the side and rubbed his forehead. Cassandra had told him before that occlumency was hard to maintain even after years of practice. Hidden memories would take forms of dreams,and false memories would soon convince even yourself that they are true. Turning around slightly he watched as Ginny slept on, her red hair falling around her like a halo. She was just up only a few hours ago, when Gregory woke up. Sighing he knew that he wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep, he reached for his robe and made his way to Gregory's bedroom. Whispering the numerous charms set on the door, he opened it slowly and glanced inside. Asleep. Smiling he closed the door and whispered the charms again, then started for the room where at the moment the horcrux was situated. It was being guarded by four Arours, the best that Moody could provide. Taking care in not waking any protraits he made his way down the moving stairwells, to the ground floor. Noticing that the Great hall was still busy with movement from healers and house elves, he decided to check the process of some wizards and witches. "Mr. Potter sir, how may I help you?" A young healer asked as she glanced up from binding a young man's leg. It was oozing green pus that smelt strongly like rotten flesh. Sad how he knew how rotten flesh smelt like.
"No," He glanced down at the young man and promised himself to remember to visit, later in the morning when he was awake. "Has there been any deaths?" She smiled and shook her head, finally pinning the cloth she wiped her hands on her medi aporin.
"No sir none at all for this past week... We are discharging many back home..." Giving the hall an uneasy glance she turned her sights to Harry Potter. "But sir... There is rumour going around of another battle... Is it true sir? Are you going to send these poor lads and gals out to die?" His eyes reflected a bit of confusion and then harden at the prospect of another battle, he disliked it as must as everyone else but he was not in charge of those. It was the Minister that establishes those nonsensical battles that achieve nothing. The light side should be defending villages, but instead they are sent off to rural areas where the battle was to commence and be fought.
"I'm not in charge of that department Miss, it is the Minister of Magic that you wish to express your feelings too." She nodded and excused herself to another patient a few beds away. Lingering a little longer to survey the hall, he turned around and proceeded to the dungeons but stopped suddenly at the top of the steps. Glancing down he knew that Cassandra disliked anyone from entering the dungeons, especially if she was away. Seldom she would stay in the dungeons and if she did stay over, it was only to check on Harry and his going ons without her. But since the arrival of the Horcrux she gave permission for the usage of the dungeon, as the safe keeping of the horcrux till they came to an agreement of what was to become of it. Following her orders in not destroying the horcrux and to the dismay of the Prime Minister and his commanders, he made sure that no one was allowed near it except for himself. As he walked the torches lit before him till he reached a room that was once the Potion classroom,giving the door a loud and strong knock he waited for an Auror to open it.
"Who goes there?" A muffled question was heard from the other side of the door, it sounded like Collins himself. He was Moody's second man, quick and a strong auror. He was also the auror that accompanied him on the retrival of the Horcrux.
"Harry Potter," At once the a lock was heard behind the door and slowly it opened Collins standing on the other side half his body against the door for any force that stood before it. His wand in his other hand giving Potter an over look. It was custom for any auror to do this, and especially with something so valuable within the room, it was vital that he did this. Knowing that Colin was performing a scanning spell, behind the doorway he waited.
"Aye you are," Turning around he voiced out to the other three aurors that it was indeed Harry Potter, and opened the door alittle wider for admittances. Walking through noted that all the desks and chairs were gone, the closets that held ingredients are no more, and the only thing worth it in the classroom at the moment was the horcrux. It stood on top of a stool in the middle of the room, there was no need for any light upon it. It already illuminated the skull was pearl white and hauntingly beautiful, reaching out to the skull his mind flashed back to the first horcrux that he retrieved.
"Step lightly," both Cassandra and Harry have been going through passages inside a wet and dark cave, avoiding both muggle and wizard traps. It was starting to get colder, but that was only a sign that they were getting closer to the horcrux. Se-Orisis's tomb was huge compared to some kings, thus it made it harder for the two not to get lost. Cassandra leading the way with her wand, stopped suddenly feeling a wall in front of her. "A wall."
"Break it." That wasn't needed as the door slowly opened itself, as if it was waiting for them all along.
"Let's go. The sooner we get that, the better chance we have of leaving this place alive." Moving past the door they desended a flight of stairs to the tomb and where the Horcrux laid in waiting. As they left the staircase without any trouble, they made their way through the passage, the walls were wet and the air was stuffy. "Just behind that wall. I don't see any magic surrounding it, we'll just blast it open."
"That bugger was the hardest mission I ever went through," Colin said happily as he made himself comfortable in a chair close by the door that Potter had just entered through. Taking hold of it by then Potter was examining it carefully, turning it upside down and looking for ingraving inside the skull.
"NO POTTER WATCH OUT!" Cassandra yelled as another huge rock came falling down on him, skidding to a halt he watched as the stone barely missed him. Still he ran on towards the Horcrux which sat on it's alter, so close. Grabbing it Potter turned around only to duck as something swung a big club at his face. "AVADA KEDAVRA!" At once a bright green light erupted from where Cassandra stood and the big thing which was a troll, that swung it's club at Harry felt limp to the ground. "WATCH OUT!" again she yelled this time ready he turned around..
"STUPEFY!"
"I don't know Colin. I've been through worst getting the other horcruxes, you could say this one was a breeze."
Footnotes:
-This was more a flashback into what Harry went through during his first task in getting that horcrux. It was poorly written but due to time and constrictions as to what I'm planning on writing, it was a trial run. Now that I know what is to come it will be more carefully thought out and written.
-Cassandra Lemercier took in Harry Potter as a pupil four months after the death of Dumbledore. Both of them stayed in each other's company in Merchant's Isle for five years.
-Merchant's Isle. An island off the coast of Italy. Unplotable. It has been in the Lemercier family since 48 BC, used as a trading port the Lemercier made their money from importing and exporting raw ingredients or fine expensive things for the muggle and wizarding world. Before the downfall of Rome which was perdicted by one of the family members, the Lemercier's went back to their origins. England. They left it to rot. Guston Lemercier (Cassandra's Grandfather) took hold of Merchant's Isle and once again started the business only he imported and collected dark arts relics. It is also in Merchant's Isle that Tom Riddle is taken and learns more about the Dark Arts.