Disclaimer: I don't own HP, no matter how much I wish I did. Sue me and the court costs will exceed what you receive.
Story: Swallowed by Shadow
Summary: When Harry begins his search for the Horcruxes, a mysterious man appears. Is he friend, or foe? Can Harry finish his task and beat the Dark Lord, or will he be Swallowed by Shadow? HP? HGRW RLNT
Date: 30 May 06
A.N.--This story takes place just after the end of book 6, and continues through the final battle.
Chapter 1
Living dead girl
Harry Potter. That name means so many things, the young teen thought. Savior, hero, freak, friend.
Murderer, said a cynical voice in the back of his head.
Harry pushed the voice aside as he looked ahead. He had a mission to complete.
It had taken over two months of searching, but he had finally found another Horcrux. Or at least, he hoped he had. Hermione had found a lead in the last place any of them had ever expected; Hogwarts; a History. When she finally moved past forcing Harry and Ron to apologize profusely for every time they had ever called her a book-worm, she revealed that she'd found the location of Helga Hufflepuff's chalice.
Who'd have ever thought it would have been buried with her, Harry thought, smiling at Hermione as she, he and Ron walked forward through the graveyard.
"Over there," Ron said, pointing. Harry looked in the direction he was pointing and, sure enough, there stood an entrance to a below-ground catacomb.
"Let's go," Harry said, starting toward it. The others nodded and quickly followed.
As they approached the door, Harry saw a bouquet of various flowers chiseled into the stone door, with symbols circling around it.
"What's it say?" Ron asked quietly.
"Acroasis," Hermione said quietly, with her wand aimed at the inscription. For a few seconds, she feared the spell had failed as nothing happened, then;
"A dark war has come,
And many deaths have been,
But with the dark has come the light,
And with enemies will always come friends.
"Herein lies the line of Hufflepuff,
Trusted by their friends,
Feared by their enemies,
Noble Hufflepuff is loyal to the end."
The voice died away, and Harry paused for a minute to recognize the memory of one of the founders of Hogwarts.
"Let's get this over with," he said finally.
"Do you think it'll open?" Hermione asked.
"Only one way to find out," Ron said, reaching forward. He slowly brought his hand to lie on door, expecting to be blown to pieces. But nothing happened. Gently, he pushed against it, but found it wouldn't budge.
"It's stu--" he cried out in surprise as he was hit by a banishing ward and thrown back into a head stone ten feet behind him. Hermione immediately ran to him, but Harry stayed where he was.
"Who goes there?" rung out a soft feminine voice, full of power, seemingly from everywhere.
"I am Harry James Potter," Harry replied quickly, afraid of what they might have awoken.
"Why do you disturb the tomb of Noble Hufflepuff?"
"I come to seek the Cup of Helga Hufflepuff," he replied anxiously. "We believe it has been fouled by the Dark Lord Voldemort, and we seek to destroy his taint."
"I sense truth in your words, noble Potter. But also Bravery beyond the likes of most. Your blood calls to me, Harry Potter. You are in the line of a friend of Hufflepuff, and thus, you may enter."
Harry belched at how easy that had been. At the very least, he had expected to have to persuade the voice, or vanquish a skeleton.
The door to Hufflepuff's tomb opened, and with one final sigh, Harry walked forward, until he was swallowed by shadows.
Harry lit his wand as he slowly descended the stairs of the tomb. The air was stale and cold as it passed over him, making him shiver.
I hate tombs, he decided as he descended farther. After what seemed like ages, he finally reached the end of the stairs.
He had walked into a large circular room, with niches lining the walls where corpse after corpse rested. Harry expected the smell to be terrible, but he found that there was actually no smell of rot or decay. In fact, he realized, the corpses didn't even have signs of rot or decay.
They must use some charm to keep them in the state they died in, he presumed, as he walked forward farther.
In the very center of the room rested a large dias, draped with silk sheets in the colors of House Hufflepuff. And on that dias rested one of the most famous witches of all time, Helga Hufflepuff.
Harry quickly approached her, wanting to finish this and go home for a good, long shower.
She lay in a silk gown, with flower patterns embroidered on it, her red hair strewn about her hair like a small sun. He noticed that in her left hand she held her wand, and in her right, a dazzlingly beautiful chalice. It was made of silver, and covered with various gem stones and symbols he didn't recognize.
This is easy, he thought, reaching forward. Just before his hand touched the chalice, he stopped, frowning. Isn't it TOO easy?
He pulled his hand back and cast a quick charm to allow him to see magic. "Accarlo."
A strong, red glow emanated from the chalice as the spell took effect. It was the strongest glow he'd ever seen using this spell. Looking around, he noticed that each of the corpses glowed faintly as well.
Maybe it's the spell to keep them from decaying, he thought as he aimed his wand at the chalice. He wasn't sure how to get rid of a charm that powerful, so he settled for trying to safely set it off.
He stepped back a full ten feet and took careful aim. Regelo! he thought, silently sending the banishment charm at the chalice.
"Protego!" he called as he saw the banishment charm bounce off and the red light tense and shoot out toward him.
The curse hit his shield hard, trying to break through. Focusing all of his power on it and it alone, he allowed the charm he'd used to see it and the Lumos charm to break. He held it off for over a minute, until he felt the invisible curse disperse. He didn't even want to think about what the curse would have done to him as he walked back up to the dias and grabbed the cup.
He raised it above the corpse, into his newly returned wand light. The rubies along the top edge sparkled beautifully as he held it up. Just as he was about to turn and leave, a hard hand grabbed his throat and squeezed.
He dropped the cup, startled, and looked down, into the long dead eyes of Helga Hufflepuff. But dead or not, she was trying to strangle him just the same. Forgetting totally about the cup, he slapped her hand away wildly and ran for the door.
Or, where the door used to be. Now there was only a smooth stone in its place. He spun back around, and saw that Helga wasn't the only one who had risen from the dead. All of the corpses had crawled out of their niches and were headed straight for him.
"I'm sorry, Hufflepuff!" he cried, raising his wand. "Reducto!" One of the Inferi lost an arm. "Reducto!" Another lost a leg. There are too many!
He searched his brain, trying desperately to remember what Dumbledore at told him about Inferi. The thought of the old man sent a tinge of despair into his heart, but he pushed it away. He could think of how weak their side was without him after he made it out.
"They fear the light, and heat, Harry," he recalled the words.
Without a second thought, he pointed his wand at the Inferi closest to him, almost within arm reach, and cried out, "INCENDIO!"
A let of flame shot out from his wand, burning one of the long-dead Hufflepuffs to ash. "INCENDIO! INCENDIO!" he cast over and over, until all that was left was a room full of ash and the still walking body of Helga Hufflepuff.
"Don't make me do this," he said, aiming his wand at her. "I can't kill one of the founders of Hogwarts!"
She came forward relentlessly as he dodged her. "Please don't make me kill you!"
Please, Harry Potter, finish this, so I can rest in peace, echoed a sourceless voice in the room.
"He-Helga?" he stuttered, dodging another blow.
Yes, Heir of Gryfindorr, it is I. Or the shadow that is left of me. I must ask that you destroy my corpse, so I may pass fully. Please, young one, I beg you to do this favor of me, and in return, I shall break Lord Voldemort's blockade and allow you out.
"So be it," he spoke quietly, aiming his wand at the charging Inferi. "INCENDIO!" he cried, watching grimly as the corpse burned, leaving small pieces. "INCENDIO!" he called again, burning her remains to pure ash.
Thank you, Harry Potter.
"Rest in peace, Helga Hufflepuff," he said quietly, as he picked up the chalice and left through the newly opened portal. "Rest in peace."
A.N.--There's the first chapter! What do y'all think? You know, the best way to let me know how I did is that little button right down there, y'all know which one!
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Oh, the mysterious man makes his appearance in the next chapter, so gimme lots of review love so I feel motivated to write!