Harry Potter and the Enigma of the Foreign Matrices – Chapter Six –
by Katherine Chan
A/N: By now, you should see that Katrina either has some serious emotional baggage or has a (or some) serious mental issues. Or both. She ain't so perfect, is she? And please note that I have mentioned – or at least I think I mentioned – that Katrina isn't such a clear-cut 'good-guy', but really is just herself, which is, to Harry Potter at least, a 'good-guy' most of the time but a 'bad-guy' when it comes to some issues. And that 'bad-guy' status will really rear its ugly head by the time the seventh year rolls around.
Let the story begin!
The next day, Katrina had disappeared yet again, except this time, even her bodyguards didn't know where she had gone. After a few days, they had all disappeared to go searching for her. The weeks rolled by, impromptu testing on their magic skills had been finished quite a while ago, and then the year was over, they were free to go, but no-one had seen neither hide nor hair of Katrina.
Harry seriously didn't want to return to Privet Drive, but then he considered the charm that Dumbledore had placed on the house. If he was there and while he still called home the place where his mother's blood dwelled – that is, Aunt Petunia and perhaps Dudley – no-one could harm him. And so off he went to Privet Drive, knowing that Ron and most likely Hermione as well would be shipped off to Number 12, Grimmauld Place as soon as possible. Dumbledore had informed Harry that they would buy his school books for him, and then he would be taken straight from the Dursleys to Hogwarts.
The summer was spent feeling a stab of pain shoot through him every time he read the front page of the newspaper, but all of the other days put together could not compare with the front page of the Daily Prophet that appeared two weeks after the summer holidays had begun.
Katrina Elena Dolohov, The Masked of Girl of Diagon Alley & 'The Shadow' One and the Same Person
Wanted for the Killing of Nine of Japan's Most Wanted Wizards and Witches and also for the Murder of the Muggle American President, 'The Shadow' has been revealed to be Diagon Alley's 'Masked Girl'.
Late yesterday, the Katrina Elena Dolohov was sighted, masked, fighting a yet another set of Death Eaters. At one point, her mask was blown off (see Above) by a spell and her identity was confirmed by several brave bystanders.
One of the Death Eaters revealed himself to have to same strange brand of magic as Katrina, and in their banter, he named the masked girl as 'The Shadow', and this was confirmed when she melted into the shadows and commanded the shadows to strangle the man.
Harry read the newspaper report over and over again, searching the photograph for some telltale sign to prove that it wasn't Katrina, but there was nothing he could find that could discount the front page title. Further into the report, it was revealed that The Shadow had killed over five thousand American soldiers, and after that, she had gone on a killing rampage across Europe and Asia, before disappearing as quickly as she had appeared. The most 'important' killings she had done were in Japan, where she had killed nine of the wizarding world's most wanted wizards and witches, all of whom had killed and tortured many people.
The only thing that separated those nine and Katrina was the fact that all those that she had killed had been killed quickly and cleanly, or at least as quickly and cleanly as she could manage in the situation, though that was a small and easily overlooked detail. Harry still couldn't reconcile the image of the heroine that had fought so hard for them, that had saved him and many others countless times, with this cold, heartless and ruthless killer. He tried to tell himself it was just another smear campaign, just like the Daily Prophet had done to him only a year ago. He tried to convince himself that Katrina was innocent. But the fact remained that if it really was a smear campaign, then what had Katrina done to make the Ministry do this?
Nothing seemed to fit together, everything was just a big mess. Harry stared forlornly out the window as life in Privet Drive went on, as the beginnings of fear stirred in his heart, wondering… wondering who she had been fighting for in the first place.
The days passed, with more and more news of strange deaths scattered all over the world, deaths where the victims looked unhurt on the outside, but inside, they found that the brain had been burnt up, somehow… or others that had been suffocated but there were no marks around the neck of the victim. In only two weeks since her disappearance, over five hundred witches, wizards and Muggles had been slaughtered, with the hallmarks of The Shadow all over them.
"In the end, that wolf is going to kill me…"
Hermione twitched. The moment Katrina had drawn of her power to her to kill as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time possible, Hermione's memories of that day had been released. She remembered the one white and one red eye, she remembered everything. Hermione gazed at the newspaper clippings in front of her, all displaying moving photo's of Aurors examining the victims of The Shadow. One of the Aurors was examining a drawing on the building next to the bodies, daubed in the blood of one of the victims no doubt, as one of the victims had a slit cut into their wrist. The drawing displayed a several wolves, with more unfinished ones at the edges. The photo was one of the earlier ones, and in later ones, the picture daubed near the bodies had more and more wolves, and there were more and more frequent deaths. Harry had told Hermione about the wolves on Katrina's arms; perhaps it was a kind of curse that took her mind over?
The constant riddles, saying one thing and then saying something else that made the first thing impossible… Perhaps Katrina really was mentally instable, and the power she held was something that made her all the more dangerous because of it. Or was it the other way round? Was it her own power that had warped her mind? Katrina's past was entirely shrouded in mystery, and the only people who could answer were her 'friends' that had protected Hogwarts. Hermione wondered if they would still be there, or if they were searching for Katrina.
A bell rang, and Hermione hurried to answer the door. She peered through the little peep-hole, and her eyes widened when she realised an extremely ragged looking Christina was standing outside her door. Hermione drew her wand out, opened the door and pointed it straight at Christina's chest.
"What do you want?"
Christina quirked an eyebrow at the wand, but then she literally collapsed against the screen door in exhaustion. "Just… just le' me in, there's something I have to tell you."
"Why should I trust you?" Hermione was still wary, still scared.
"Little one, if I had wanted your life, I would have already killed you, even in my current state. Just let me in."
"Why don't you go to Dumbledore? I can't help you, you know."
Christina sighed. "I don't think it's Dumbledore that Katrina had a crush on, you know. Let me in, or I'll let myself in."
Hermione's eyes widened again, and despite what her mind was telling her, she opened the door and was ready when Christina slumped in the doorway. She helped Christina up the stairs to the bathroom – thankfully Hermione's parents were in the living room, with the door closed.
"What is it you think I can do that you can't?" Hermione handed one of her larger shirts and pants to Christina, whose own clothes were in tatters and splattered with blood, her own and others' mixing.
"We raised the alarm when we realised she was using her Shadow and Light powers, and every single one of us in the entire world has lent their power to their area's most powerful fighter, and they to their next most powerful, and there are about five hundred of us who have been sent to bring her down. Even the mercenaries from outer space have begun to rush back to Earth. But none of us, even though we work together, has anywhere near enough power to even mark her. She hasn't even got a scratch, let alone a fatal wound."
Hermione flinched. "You mean… you mean you're all trying to kill her?! And you haven't answered my question yet, either."
"We are… there is… no other way that we can think of… except for why I am here. Before… before her blood took her over, she mentioned to me that there was someone… Someone remarkably intelligent compared to other humans she had ever encountered. You are the only way, Hermione, that she will stop, even for a moment. A moment is all we need. Right now, she is like a whirlwind, and our blood is flowing to stain the world."
"Why? Why is she killing so many people? None of them even have anything in common!"
"That's correct, none of her victims have anything to do with one another. Her blood has called to her for a long time, and it has finally caught up with her. I remember the day she was talking to you, when she started talking to that bird. The wolf she was talking about was herself, and her blood… She has not killed like she is now for a long time, and her heart yearns to be satiated. But now, you have to come with me, Hermione."
At that, Christina shot up from her sitting position, grabbed Hermione and teleported right into battle before she'd even begun to absorb what was going on. "What do you think you're doing?! This is kidnap! You're going to get me killed!" The exhausted fighters beside her gazed at this human, and realized her for what she was, what she meant to the demon they were fighting.
"Everyone has a destiny, and your destiny was decided the moment she fell in love with you!" The fighters arranged themselves into circles, and then they began to glow, then the balls of light flew into the middle of the many circles, forming a new being, a more powerful being. To give their energy to someone else, they had to fuse, something that was permanent. They were willing to give up their lives to save others, because that was something ingrained into their blood.
As these fused fighters continued to fuse, Christina grasped Hermione's hands, and then she began to glow. Hermione gaped as she began to glow as well. "No… what are you thinking?!" She tried to wrest her hands from Christina's unforgiving grasp, but Hermione, being a witch but still human, could not free herself. Christina brought her face close to Hermione's, so that her mouth was beside Hermione's ear. "I'm doing this because by yourself, you won't be able to hold her still long enough. Even if it means we both lose ourselves in the attempt, because in the end, either way, whether we live or not, we are not going to be the people we were." She whispered. Hermione paused, and in that moment, Christina's mind melded with hers, memories intertwining, opinions easing together side by side… a perfect fusion. Just before they were both entirely fused, 'Christina' muttered to 'Hermione': "And I wouldn't be doing this unless I knew we weren't going to go insane from wildly differing perspectives. We share the same fate, and although you were born far away with a different path than me, our destiny was set the moment Katrina was cursed all those years ago."
The many fusing fighters braced themselves against the ground as they let their scrambled brains straighten themselves out. "Needs must," whispered Christina and Hermione, both knowing that the fused fighters would be struggling for their sanity. "Needs must."
Half an hour later, the fifty or so fighters left, plus Christina and Hermione, were streaking off, searching for Katrina, who had disappeared whilst they were all fusing. Christina/Hermione experienced two feelings as she flew over the land: one, the exhilaration of first flight, and two, the apprehension of certain death by the hands of someone she loved. As they flew high over a lake, Christina/Hermione marvelled at the exceptional eyesight, catching a glimpse of her reflection. She contemplated her new face in her mind, the fine, delicate slanted cheekbones, that seemed to belong to someone who would never been seen within a half-kilometre radius of a battle, the slightly curly light brown hair, the storm grey eyes…
"My name is… I am Ysira!" The legend of the Wolf-Curse, the one named Ysira who was the only one who could prevent the Twisted One from truly waking; all of this was remembered in an instant by all who heard, including Katrina.
Who was holding hands with Voldemort, both of them glowing slightly but growing increasingly brighter. Ysira spied the Order of the Phoenix approaching from one side, and further behind them, a small gang of Hogwarts students, including Harry Potter. There had to be a reason why Katrina would be fusing with someone far weaker than her, and a male at that. Entering her mind would be out of the question, as she might end up being dragged into the fusion herself. Instead, Ysira tapped into Harry's mind, the person who held the strongest link to Voldemort, even if it was a hate-hate bond.
The bond was severed in an instant, and Ysira appeared with a crack next to Harry, grabbed his arm and disappeared again, to appear only mere metres away from the fusing Voldemort and Katrina. "Take that bastard out! You're the only one who can kill him, and I'm the only one who can stop her! We can't let them fuse!" Even as Ysira finished the sentence, she was already by Katrina's side, and risking her hands to try and wrest Katrina away. At that moment, the Order of the Phoenix attacked the Death Eaters, as did the fighters technically under the leadership of Christina.
Harry gulped, levelled his wand straight at Voldemort, and uttered the first spell that came into his head. "Genjutsa!" he cried. Voldemort saw the ruination of his plans, his and Katrina's fused body lying in tatters on the ground, trampled on by rejoicing members of the Order of the Phoenix. He saw everything coming apart, the cause stemming from his agreement, the agreement he was currently fulfilling…
Harry screamed, as Voldemort exploded from the confines of the mental prison, shards of horror embedding themselves in Harry's own mind, he was going to die, get killed by Voldemort- As suddenly as his own spell attacked himself, he was released, relief coursing through his veins, as Professor Nørskï helped him up even as she hexed held up a shield against an errant spell. Squinting through the translucent shield, Harry gasped when he realised that Voldemort was tearing himself from Katrina's grasp, and he could also see that the woman that looked so much like Christina and Hermione were succeeding in pulling Katrina away.
But if they weren't quick enough, the fusion would still finish, since Katrina really wasn't letting go of Voldemort. Dodging around the shield, Harry drew out a long bladed knife – something he'd picked up from all the fights he'd witnessed – and hurried forward, raising the knife, swinging it down even as Voldemort's and Katrina's bodies were flowing to where their hands joined…
"Harry! You okay, mate?" Screams rent the air, the thud of bodies on the ground… Harry opened his eyes, twitching slightly at the sting of pain in his hands. He looked at his hands to evaluate the damage and stared in horror. His hand was spattered with steadily cooling metal from the knife he had wielded. A sudden flare of light and a heart-shaking boom later, and Harry was hurrying to his feet, trying to ignore the pain shooting through his body. He saw Voldemort lying in agony on the ground, both of his hands severed at the wrist, the stumps bleeding profusely.
As he hurried forward, wand steady, spell forming on his lips, he felt a sharp sting in his left leg, ice-cold flooding through his limb. Nagini reared her head, fangs bared, readying for another strike.
"Stupefy!" Harry crumpled to the ground, and even as his vision blackened, Harry raised his wand, aiming it at the cackling face of Voldemort, and uttered "Karasu!" Another knife hidden in Harry's boots flew out like a silver arrow, and guided by his wand, struck Voldemort's forehead.
Katrina screamed in frustration as the fusion sequence was abruptly stopped, sending out a pulse of power that flung the now useless Voldemort and that meddler Potter soaring away into the gathering darkness. She whirled around to face the still present Ysira, and just as she was about to plunge her fist through the pesky human – she realised who it was.
Just as her lightning fast mind also realised what the person before her was, she was already being hurtled backwards by the combined blasts of the waiting fighters – who were technically under the leadership of Christina. Ysira flew behind Katrina, even as the latter was still flying backwards, and hooked her arms under Katrina's arms, legs locking around Katrina's legs. Her body was pressed right up against Katrina's back, and where it in a situation lest dire, all three people involved would have been thoroughly aroused. As it were, Ysira gathered her power into a solitary focal point in her, then flung it outwards.
Her tears evaporated as her power rampaged outwards, ripping apart her body cells as well as Katrina's, but the blast was thankfully contained by the combined shields of the now leaderless fighters.
Ron stumbled towards the next body, to identify if the person was a Death Eater or an ally, and whether they were dead or not. The black hair made the already pale face seem even more pallid, the blood spatters around the man's mouth made it even more macabre. Ron slumped to his knees, hand reaching for the metal spattered limb, and was stunned to find a dogged pulse pumping its way through Harry's body. Harry coughed, more blood spurting out of his already blood drained body. "He's here! Hurry! He's gonna die!" Ron watched helplessly as the mediwizards did all they could to save the almost-corpse. A man appeared – Anthony – and he forcibly picked up the mediwizards in his way, clearing a path for him. Kneeling next to Harry, he cast his healing magic, burning the poison away, fighting the death magic that had flooded through his body.
A few minutes later, Anthony sat down heavily, thoroughly exhausted. Ron realised that the man wasn't really Anthony, but still quite similar. "He'll wake up in a few minutes… which is more than can be said of Katrina or Ysira…" The man sighed, and everyone stared as tears began leaking out of his eyes, steadily increasing until there was a torrent.
All the wizards and witches watched uncomfortably as the man wept on the loss of two lives that had been dear to him, and also one other that should never have been involved. That wouldn't have been involved if he hadn't nudged Katrina into transferring schools.
In fact, none of this would have happened if on that night that everything had truly begun, he had not followed Katrina's mother to her room.
THE END
Aww… that's so sad. I'm just amazed that I kept this way out of the explicit zone, not even a single kiss. The following 'good guys' are specifically mentioned as dead in the course of the story.
Name
Cause of Death
Ginny Weasley
Unspecified
Bree
Unspecified
Hermione Granger (Ysira)
Kamikaze
Christina (Ysira)
Kamikaze
The following 'bad guys' are specifically mentioned as dead in the course of the story.
Name
Cause of Death
Man from Diagon Alley
Expecto Patronus
Man outside Hogwarts
Power blast
(Female) Death Eater
Voldemort's Death Seal
Clone
Knife stab
Bree's Clone
Internal injuries
Voldemort
Knife stab
