"I don't know what Professor Dumbledore is doing, allowing that Duelling Club to operate," Hermione listened as Madame Pomfrey bustled about behind the curtain, treating Harry's injuries, she was clearly not happy. "I have been run off my feet all week. Fixing this, reattaching that, I only got that Charles boy back to the right colour this morning and now, I get you two," the curtain was pulled back, she glanced over at Hermione, "Keep rubbing that over the wound dear." Hermione grimaced and pressed the bloodroot into her skin. It burned, but it was making the bruise fade. She looked back to Harry, he was still only slightly conscious. Madame Pomfrey pulled the curtain back and continued to examine him. She clucked her tongue in annoyance. "You'll be spending the night here I'm afraid Mr. Potter," she appeared from behind the curtain and closed it behind her. Shaking her head, she crossed over to Hermione again, "Let me see." Hermione removed the root, Madame Pomfrey poked and prodded at her for a minute "Ok, that's as good as it'll get, you can go." She turned headed out of the room to the storage cupboard to prepare some potion or other, grumbling all the way.
Hermione stood up and pulled her shirt down to hide the fading bruise on her stomach. She walked over to Harry's bed and pulled the curtain back to look at him. He was lying on the bed with his robes cut away down to his waist. Fading burns and bruises covered his exposed skin, Hermione bit her lip and stepped up to the bedside,
"Are you alright?" he looked up at her.
"Do I look alright?" he said, his voice was groggy.
"But you will be," she put her hand on his shoulder, he winced and she took it away, "Sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you,"
"It's alright," he turned away and looked at the wall.
"What happened?" he turned and glared at her.
"You know what happened. He beat me, Etean beat me!" he sounded really angry at himself,
"I know, I meant how did it happen? What did he do?"
"He beat me, it doesn't matter how." His tone was getting angrier with every word.
"Hey, I'm sorry, I was just asking."
"Yeah…well don't. It's not your problem."
"Yes it is. I'm your friend."
"You want to be my friend? Then just leave me alone, alright?" he turned away from her again. Madame Pomfrey came back in and bustled Hermione out of the room before she could say anything else. She walked slowly back to Gryffindor, the pain in her stomach forced her to think of nothing but Harry. She checked her watch, it was nearly half eleven, the rest of Gryffindor would be asleep by now. Stepping into the Common Room, she was surprised to see that she was wrong. Ron was sitting by the fireplace, when he saw her come in he jumped to his feet.
"Hermione, are you OK?"
"I'm fine…were you waiting for me?" he blushed,
"Well…I wanted to make sure you were OK," she frowned as she walked across the room,
"You could have been waiting a while. What would you have done if Madame Pomfrey had kept me in overnight?" Ron looked puzzled,
"I…I don't know, I guess I didn't think about it," she smiled and sat down in an armchair, wincing as a dart of pain shot through her. Ron bounced to his feet again,
"Are you sure you're alright?" she waved him away,
"Yes, I'm just a bit sore that's all. You should see Harry, he looks awful," Ron's face darkened,
"Serves him right."
"Ron!" she scolded,
"Hermione, he could have really hurt you."
"We were duelling Ron, people can get hurt, it's just something that happens," Ron shook his head,
"I know that but Hermione, Harry was showing off. He went too far just to show everyone how good he is. He didn't have to put you in hospital to beat you," Hermione sighed,
"Maybe but you said it yourself, accidents happen. Harry may have gone too far tonight, but he didn't deserve what happened to him. He was burned all over, what did Etean hit him with?" Ron frowned,
"I'm not sure. I have never seen a duel like it. At first Etean did nothing, he just dodged everything Harry threw at him, I've never seen anyone move that fast, then…" he paused,
"Then?" she prompted, Ron shook his head,
"Well…he kind of did what you did, he put up a shield. Harry hit it with everything he had, trying to punch through. Etean just stood there, goading Harry to hit it again and again. Nothing Harry did made a dent, he just couldn't break the shield. Then Etean dropped it…boom, it exploded and Harry caught a face full." Hermione sat back and stared into the fire.
"Yes, he really did. So, now Etean is our duelling champion." Ron sat back and sighed,
"Yes, at least until someone beats him that is,"
"Right, however long that takes," they looked at each other for a moment before Hermione yawned, and then winced in pain as she stretched her stomach muscles, "I'm tired, I'll see you in the morning," she stood and turned to head up to her room. Ron stood and stopped her,
"Em, you sure you're alright?" she smiled and patted him on the shoulder,
"Yes…thank you. Goodnight."
"Goodnight Hermione." She left him alone and headed to bed.
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Harry was falling, there had been a sudden rush and the floor fell out from beneath him. His instinct was to open his mouth and scream in fear but he stopped himself, it wouldn't do for him to be seen to be afraid. A person in his position must be in control at all times. As suddenly as it had started, the plummet stopped, he felt his knees bend slightly as he landed on solid ground. He straightened and looked around. He was standing in a darkened stone passageway. There was very little light here but it was enough for him to navigate by, just. He couldn't see very far along the passage, a heavy mist diluted what little light there was to form a thick haze in the air. Not that it mattered, he had been told what to expect. Harry adjusted his robes, pulled his hood closer about his face and headed forward. His shoes made faint, rhythmical clicking sounds on the polished stone floor, he checked his pace to keep the sound constant and daunting to anyone who could hear it.
The mist became heavier the further he travelled down the passage, the air was stale and reeked of decay and charred flesh. The smell invigorated his senses and excited him, his pace quickened. The stone floor of the passage ended at the base of a narrow stone staircase that climbed up into the mist. The light was brighter above him. Without a moment's pause, he marched up the stairs. At the top, the haze was clearer. Harry looked around him. He had emerged from an opening in the ground and was standing at the base of a steep slope of ash and broken rock. It rose up beyond his sight into the mist. A warm, dry wind washed over him. A wicked smile spread across his lips as he started to climb. It was difficult going, the ash and gravel shifted beneath his feet. The wind pouring down the slope became hotter the higher he went. The air got thick with smoke and fumes, making it difficult to breathe. The slope steepened, becoming near vertical. A daunting rock edifice rose above him, further than he could see. Just when he thought he could go no further, he noticed the steps, an ancient staircase cut into the face of the cliff.
Harry laughed and ran over to the base of the stair and continued to climb. There were hundreds of steps, zigzagging back and forth, higher and higher up the cliff. Many of the steps were damaged, some crumbled beneath his feet, threatening to cause him to slip and fall to his death but he didn't slow down. Anxiousness compelled him, he had to reach the top, he had to see it. On and on he ran, slipping and scrambling as he went. Several missed steps led to scraped knees and hands. His eyes stung and his lungs burned, a wave of dizziness washed over him and he fell to his knees fighting for breath. He shut his eyes and coughed over and over again. A metallic taste in his mouth told him that he had coughed up some blood but that didn't stop him. Steely determination took hold and he started to climb again. The summit was now almost in reach, only a handful of steps separated him from his goal. He couldn't remember ever feeling this giddy before, this was not like him but he didn't care, the sense of glee only grew within him as he reached the top.
He reached the top of the stairs and found himself standing on a narrow ridge of rock overlooking a vast chasm of fire. A lake of boiling lava teemed and seethed over two hundred feet below him. In front of him, from the very centre of the inferno, a single column of stone rose up to tower above him. Fifty feet away, a narrow stone bridge spanned the distance to the pillar, the only way across. Harry's gaze followed the curve of the span and then travelled up to the point of the summit and upwards. The sky above mirrored the fire below. It was red, the deep lustre of fresh blood, he smiled at the sight. He paused to drink in a deep, delicious breath as his eyes fixed on the pinnacle of the stone pillar. It was fabulous, even more beautiful than he had imagined. Without a thought for his own safety, he took off and ran across the bridge to the other side, and then ran and scrambled up the rest of the slope.
When he reached the top, he paused to look around him. There was a large bowl-shaped depression in the rock. Three stone pillars leapt up from the ground, rising to support a giant crystal orb almost twenty feet above his head. Directly beneath the orb stood a low altar, carved out of heavy black stone. The air was clearer here, the smell of ash from below was barely detectable. Harry stepped down into the depression, trailing his hand along the rough stone of the pillar beside him. At the bottom, he stepped up to the altar. It too was more perfect than he had imagined. He ran his fingertips along the carvings on the edge, admiring the smooth flowing lines of the ancient text. He couldn't read them, their meaning – their original meaning was long forgotten, lost in time. This place, these carvings were the last remnant of a dead civilisation. There was nobody in the world now who knew what the people who built this place had intended to use it for but that fact was irrelevant to him. All that mattered was that he knew what it meant to him. It meant the end of a journey, the light at the end of the tunnel. After all these long years, his waiting and scheming was about to pay off. 'This is where it will happen.' He laughed, quietly at first, and then louder and louder, he threw his head back and laughed harder than he ever remembered laughing before. A searing pain exploded across his forehead, he grabbed his head, but continued to laugh. The pain grew and grew as he laughed, he shut his eyes and fell to his knees.
He woke up, the world vanished as he opened his eyes to darkness. The pain remained, his fingers ran along his scar, it burned. He took his hand away, expecting it to be bloodied, but his head wasn't bleeding. There was a brief moment of disorientation as he appeared to be looking at himself sitting in the bed. The pain faded as Etean broke off the connection, he lowered his hand and stared at Harry. The boy seemed confused, Etean didn't blame him. He could tell by the look on Harry's face that he was still in agony, he was still running his fingers along his scar, wincing as he touched it. Harry lowered his hand and looked around him, Etean froze, but that wasn't necessary, Harry couldn't see him. After a moment's pause, Etean raised his hand and waved at Harry, his eyes rolled into his head and he fell back into a deep, dreamless sleep. Etean stood, watching him for a minute more, then sighed and left, this was a complication.
Etean strolled through the castle in silence, his mind racing. No matter what way he looked at it, this was bad. He had hoped that he was wrong, that the sensation he picked up on earlier was not what he thought it was, but now? He paused as someone, a prefect stepped out into the corridor in front of him. He turned and headed away from Etean, continuing his rounds. Etean's attention focused on him as he shadowed him for about a hundred yards before they got to the staircases. They separated, the prefect headed down, Etean turned the other way. He needed to think, to clear his head. There was only one place he could do that. He wasn't sure how long it took him to climb to the top of the Astronomy tower, his mind was running in circles.
Etean stood and leaned on the railing of the balcony looking out at the landscape. There was no moon, Hogwarts grounds were blanketed in darkness, but not to Etean. His senses extended, showing him the world as it truly was. Magical light in a thousand indescribable colours poured from the walls of the castle, bathing the land for miles around the school in a wondrous iridescence. He looked over to the forest, a million tiny glowing lights shuffled and bustled about, countless beings and animals going about their lives, living, breathing, fighting, hunting, killing and mating, each in their own way. Etean reached out with his mind and touched them. His mind divided and divided again to track them all, gradually he became aware of them all, his own consciousness faded into limbo, bringing a sense of calm. He let himself drift for almost for a couple of minutes before drawing back. He shut his eyes and took a deep breath before waving his hand over the railing. A silver bowl, full to the brim with water appeared. The surface of the water glowed faintly in the darkness, illuminating his face. Etean gazed at his reflection for a moment before reaching down to disturb the surface.
"Poliakov," he whispered. The water churned and rippled for several seconds before settling. When it did, the face reflected was no longer Etean's. Poliakov stared up at him,
"I was not expecting to hear from you so soon Boy," his voice was quiet and slightly distorted. The surface shimmered as he spoke.
"I know, but there has been a complication."
"Complication?"
"Yes, I have just come from monitoring a rather interesting dream that Harry Potter was having. It appears Voldemort has beaten us to the punch yet again," Poliakov frowned,
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that he has found The Alter of Etheros. He's there now, or at least he was there recently."
"How recently?" Poliakov started to sound worried.
"Within the last hour maybe,"
"How is that possible?"
"I don't know, but he was there."
"You're certain of this? How?" Etean nodded,
"I have been monitoring Potter since I arrived. It appears that the connection between him and Voldemort is only visible when it is active, as it was earlier. I detected an anomaly emanating from Potter. Based on the ethereal trace, he was sharing his consciousness with Voldemort."
"Was Voldemort aware of the connection?" Etean shrugged,
"We cannot be sure, we certainly cannot rule it out. However I doubt if it was intentional on Voldemort's part, I fail to see any possible advantage from his point of view. It seemed as if Voldemort was exploring, just looking around the mountain, the altar, everything. It is possible that travelling to the altar weakened his defences and Potter saw his actions by chance."
"Even if that is the case, this is bad. You said you monitored the dream. Did you see which gateway he entered through?"
"No, I only joined in after he landed on the other side. Potter woke up before he returned," Etean pinched the bridge of his nose and straightened up, Poliakov was silent for a moment, then he leaned forward, "What do you think we should do?"
"Nothing," he shook his head, "We must continue as before," Poliakov was silent for a moment more, "We may have to shorten our timetable somewhat," Etean shook his head,
"I don't see how we can, Draco's training is too rushed as it is,"
"Well, if Voldemort is closer to completion than we believed then all we can do is…"
"…is continue as before," Etean interrupted him, "and hope I can complete my task before the whole thing blows up in my face." Poliakov frowned,
"Yes, but the situation is all the more grave now. You must be prepared to use the contingency option," Etean shook his head again,
"I am, but I don't want it to come to that. We have come too far to waste our opportunity here." Poliakov was silent for a moment, deep in thought before he spoke again.
"I agree, but we must do something. We must regain at least a portion of the initiative."
"How,"
"We must act, and act fast. I want you to release control of the Etyar to me."
"The Etyar? Why?"
"Well, there are only so many gateways that allow access to the Altar, we control some, but there are others. They are remote, hard to get to. We believed that they were beyond Voldemort's reach, though it seems that is not the case. I want to reposition the Etyar to monitor all the gateways we currently don't control, hopefully we can figure out which of them Voldemort is using, maybe we can even take it from him."
"Why the Etyar? Wouldn't it be better to use members?"
"Ideally yes, but using members for an operation like this would require the approval of the Council and that will take time we don't have. The Etyar don't fall directly under their control, you can authorise me to take command and order them directly," Etean considered the situation for a moment then nodded,
"It's not a bad plan. Contact Dominic and fill him in on the situation. He can organise things."
"Dominic? Why not Duncan?"
"He's…unavailable at the moment."
"Unavailable? The Captain of the Etyar is 'unavailable'?"
"Yes, he's on an assignment, it will require all of his attention. Dominic is in command for the time being."
"Assignment? I was under the impression that he had completed his mission with the Grangers." Etean nodded,
"He did, this is something else."
"What?"
"Nothing that need worry you now Old Man. For now, consider Duncan out of the game. Ok?" Poliakov shook his head,
"Fine, play your games, but he had better be available if we need him."
"He will be, don't worry."
"Right, well it appears I have work to do, I had better go. Good luck."
"And you," Poliakov's image faded from the water, Etean waved his hand over the bowl and it disappeared. He looked up at the dark, starless sky above,
"Please Father," he whispered, "If you're up there, if you can hear me, just a little help. Just let one thing go my way in this." He took one more look out of the window before heading down to the dungeons.
A/N: hey guys – thanks for all the reviews, seriously, I'm glad this story is keeping you all so amused.
More to follow.