Chapter 9
Lilith's eyes snapped open. An icy wind blew through the room, blowing Sirius's hair back from his forehead. He stared at her; his mouth open in shock.
Her hair was still a flaming red. Her eyes were no longer emerald green, but a glowing orange. As she rose to her feet, Sirius noticed she was a lot taller than she had been. She had to be near five foot ten inches tall. He bowed to her. "Milady," he said respectfully.
"You've done well," Lilith said. Her voice was the same as before, but held a note of authority as if she were used to giving orders and having them obeyed. She smiled at Sirius. "Relax, I'm still me. There's just more of me now."
Sirius swallowed. "I can feel that. How does it feel?"
"Good," Lilith said drawing the word out. "I've finally returned fully to this world and the things I'll do."
"What do you mean?" Sirius asked hesitantly.
"I've been patient with Dumbledore long enough. I've tried being kind, but clearly that is not working. I'm done playing games. Dumbledore will pay for what he has done to my son."
"What about Harry?" Sirius asked.
"We are going to see Dumbledore now. If he still refuses to release my son from Azkaban, then he shall suffer the consequences."
**HPS**
"I'm afraid I can do nothing," Dumbledore said.
"Can't or won't?" Sirius said.
"Harry attacked a foreign diplomat," Dumbledore snapped. "What do you want me to do exactly."
"Foreign diplomat?" Lilith snorted. "I wasn't aware Karkaroff held any political positions. I also wasn't aware touching someone constituted an attack. Tell me Albus, what wounds did Karkaroff sustain?"
"You know Harry used magic," Dumbledore said tiredly.
"What spell was cast?"
Dumbledore rubbed his forehead as if he were getting a headache. "I told you there's nothing I can do. My hands are tied."
"Albus," Sirius began. "You threw Harry into Azkaban without a trial. At worst, he should be in a Ministry holding cell, not Azkaban."
"Harry is a dangerous magical being. I was not sure if a ministry holding cell would be able to contain him."
"Where would he go if he broke out?" Lilith asked.
"He might leave the country," Dumbledore said. "If that happened, who knows who might get hurt."
"My son is not dangerous," Lilith said icily.
"Karkaroff falling to the ground and screaming says otherwise," Dumbledore said steadily."
"Is that what you told yourself when you slew the fae?" Lilith snarled. Whether it was Africa, Europe, or Asia all mortals rose up and slew the fae to the last being. Is that what you wish to do to me and my son?"
"We took the fae's land from them," Dumbledore said. "You came back into our world Old one. Furthermore, it was not I who slew the fae. I will not be judged for what my ancestors did."
Lilith paused. "You're right," she said quietly. "I am sorry. It would be wrong to blame you for something your ancestors might or might not have had a hand in.
Dumbledore blinked. "You're sorry?"
"I am not perfect. I can make mistakes and comparing what mortals did to the fae to what you did to my son was a step too far. I still think you are wrong in what you've done, but I will not blame you for the sins that were committed before you were born."
Dumbledore stared at her for a long moment. "Apology accepted," he said. "I'll talk to Fudge and see what can be done."
"You have until this evening," Lilith said. "If he's not been released by then, I will go break him out myself."
**HPS**
Dumbledore watched the door close behind Lilith and Sirius. He leaned back in his chair contemplating his conversation with the Old One.
Lilith had surprised him with her apology, but it really changed nothing. Her and her son had to die. A small voice reminded him that they had technically done nothing wrong and didn't deserve what he'd done, but he squashed that voice. Standing, he strode to his fireplace. Grabbing a handful of powder he tossed it into the fire.
The flames turned green and blazed brightly. Sticking his head into the fire, he called, "Cornelius Fudge."
After an uncomfortable spinning sensation, he stared into Fudge's shocked face.
"Albus," Fudge said. "I was about to contact you."
"What is it?" Dumbledore asked.
Fudge swallowed. His hands shook as he spun his bowler hat. "We have a problem."
"What sort of problem?" Dumbledore asked his heart sinking.
"It's the dementors," Fudge said.
"What about them?" Dumbledore asked. This type of questioning was very annoying. It was like pulling teeth.
"They kissed the boy."
Dumbledore's mouth dropped open in shock and he nearly inhaled a mouthful of ash. "What," he whispered.
"The boy was kissed."
**HPS**
Lilith's rage filled the air as she stared at Dumbledore. Her orange eyes glowed. The air crackled around her. It appeared to swirl around her as if it too were angry at what'd been done to the boy. "Kissed," she hissed. "My son was kissed. Is that what you are telling me?"
"It was an unfortunate accident," Dumbledore said. "Kissed may have been too strong a word. Perhaps attempted kiss is better. We've currently lost contact with Azkaban and I shall need to go and see what has happened."
Quicker than he could follow, Lilith was beside him, her right hand gripping his left shoulder so hard, he felt his bones creaking at the pressure. "Let us go," she said.
Dumbledore felt the floor drop out from under his feet. The next thing he knew, he was falling into and endless darkness.
**HPS**
Dumbledore blinked as light filled his vision. They stood on the gloomy shore of Azkaban. Looking around, he saw the single tower thrusting towards the sky like an accusatory finger.
"How?" he said glancing at Lilith.
"I can go anywhere I choose," Lilith said. "Giving you time was a courtesy, a courtesy I should not have extended to you. Now quit talking and let's see what your folly has wrought."
Dumbledore followed her towards the prison. Looking at the stone tower through his half-moon spectacles, he stiffened. "The wards are gone."
"Just noticing that are you?" Lilith snapped. "Yes, they're gone and your precious dementors can escape. Why they haven't is something we shall have to investigate."
Lilith pushed at the iron door that led into the prison and it swung open soundlessly. She stepped inside, finding herself at the top of a set of roughly cut stone steps. "Correction," Lilith said. "It appears all magic has been drained from this place. I wonder if the island is still unplotable?"
AN icy chill went down Dumbledore's spine. "That is impossible. That is centuries of wards woven together. Who knows how much magic was here? Not to mention the prison sat on a ley line, not a big one I'll admit, but a ley line none the less."
"That's gone to," Lilith said as she began to descend the steps. "When I said all magic was drained from this place, I meant it."
"What could drain a Ley line," Dumbledore said.
"I don't think it was a what, but a who. What I want to know is what my son did with all that power. He couldn't have absorbed it, he would've combusted."
"Your son can channel the power of an entire ley line?"
"He's not merely human," Lilith said. There was no malice or arrogance in her tone. She was just stating a fact. Stepping down off the last step, the duo came face to face with a large man holding a wand. The tip of the wand blazed red. His eyes never left them as he spoke.
The man was tall and thin. His hair was snow white Grey eyes were filled with barely controlled panic.
"What the bloody hell took you so long," he growled. He paused, realizing they weren't who he'd expected. "Why aren't the ruddy aurors here?" he barked.
"They don't know they're needed." Lilith said calmly. "From what I can tell, the wards to this place weren't designed to alert them of any problems. That appears to be your job."
"Yeah," the man snapped. "Well I can't really do that when all the magic has gone on the frits. Had just enough time to tell them that the boy's been kissed when everything went to hell. Never should've locked the boy in here. No kid deserves this place no matter what he's done."
"Was he successfully kissed?" Dumbledore asked.
The man grunted. "Hell if I know. Been all I could do to keep everything steady around here ain't it? Prisoners have gone mad screamin' that they got no magic."
Dumbledore stared at the man his gaze sharpening. "What?"
"You going'' deaf old man?" the man said. "The prisoners are sayin' they got no magic." He paused. "Well, most of them are anyway. Some are just sittin'' quietly and…"
"And?" Lilith prodded.
"Look," the man said. "You need to see this."
Without another word, the man turned and began striding down the hall. Lilith looked at Dumbledore. "Who is he?" she asked.
"You've met Daniel McNeil, current warden of Azkaban. I think he's getting close to retirement age by now."
"Where are the other guards?" Lilith asked.
"There aren't any," Dumbledore said. "Daniel is given a talisman that protects him from the dementors and he is stationed here."
"Without any backup?" Lilith asked incredulously.
Dumbledore shrugged. "It was made perfectly clear to the dementors that if they harmed him their contract with the ministry would be broken. Besides, the ministry only had the one talisman."
Lilith snorted. "And it was too much trouble to make another one."
"Are you to coming or not," the warden bellowed.
Lilith and Dumbledore hurried to catch up to him. Stepping up beside him, they stared into a cell and gaped.
"There's no bed there," Dumbledore said.
"Of course not," the warden said. "There prisoners, aren't they?"
"But don't they have rights?" Dumbledore snapped.
The warden shrugged. "You know the laws better than I do. You wrote most of them. If they needed rights, why didn't you insure they had them?"
Dumbledore's mouth shut with a snap. Lilith gazed at the man, not even looking at Dumbledore.
"He seems calm?"
"Yeah," the warden said. "He'd better since he doesn't have a soul."
"I resent that," the man said. "I do to have a soul, at least now I do."
Lilith stared at the man, a pensive expression on her face. He was of medium height with a clean-shaven face, brown hair and brown eyes. His black robes were clean with no sign of dirt. He looked healthy, not at all like he'd been in prison for an extended period of time.
"What happened here?" she asked the warden.
"No clue," the warden said. All magic failed and when I went to check he was like this. Do I need to tell you he didn't look like this yesterday? He'd been kissed for something. He was just a lifeless shell before all this happened."
"I didn't do anything," the man snapped.
They all ignored him. Lilith stared at the warden. "Are all the prisoners that were kissed like this?"
"Don't know," the warden said. "I got to that and went no further. He pointed to something down the hallway.
Lilith followed his finger with her eyes and saw a black cloak and a pile of ash. Stepping closer, she examined the cloak. It appeared pristine, untouched by whatever fire had consumed the occupant.
"It looks like whatever wore this was burned up from the inside out."
"That was a dementor," the warden said. "Now do you understand why I called you?"
"Nothing can destroy a dementor," Dumbledore said.
"Well something can now," the warden said. "Haven't seen one of the bloody things since all this mess started."
Lilith looked up. "We have to get to my son."
**HPS**
Harry stood in the center of his cell, feeling the power rush through him. He glanced down at the remains of the dementors in front of him. His lip curled in disgust. "Fowl creatures," he murmured.
Concentrating, he extended his senses and was surprised to feel no magical wards blocking his progress. Something was different though. He looked around his cell noticing several spheres of bluish white light flying through the walls. "They're souls," he said quietly. He tensed as the iron door of his cell crumbled into dust. He relaxed as a familiar power washed over him.
"Harry," Lilith said hurrying over to him.
"What took you so long?" Harry said.
"Why didn't you teleport out?" Lilith shot back as they hugged.
Harry pointed to the walls of his cell. "They were spelled. What kind of wards can bind an old one?"
Lilith turned to glare at Dumbledore. "What have you done old man?"
Dumbledore took an involuntary step backward. "We had to be sure Harry would stay put," he blustered.
"Is that how the dementors got into my cell?" Harry snarled.
Lilith's eyes met her son's She noticed his eyes too where orange.
"What," she hissed.
"Dementors entered my cell," he said. They tried to remove my soul." He smirked. "It didn't go well for them."
Lilith took a step towards Dumbledore. "I should've known," she said coldly. "I should've known you couldn't be trusted."
"Lilith," Dumbledore pleaded. "I didn't know you could feel human emotions at the time. Now I'm beginning to believe you can. Don't you see? There is hope for you to enter the light."
"enter the light?" Lilith said. Her voice was so harsh it must have hurt her throat. "You've told me for years that I'm a monster, an abomination that you will destroy. Well old man, you wanted a monster, you've got one."
She snapped her fingers. Dumbledore and the warden collapsed to the floor.
She glanced back at Harry. "What happened here?"
"When I killed the two dementors that entered my cell, I must have sent some kind of magical pulse that destroyed the others. When they were destroyed, all the souls the dementors had consumed were freed."
"The warden said something about prisoners losing their magic."
"Really?" Harry said. "That would explain a lot."
Lilith's orange eyes glowed and she looked at Harry closely. "You absorbed the dementors essence and the magic of over a hundred wizards and witches."
"What does that mean?" Harry asked. "An I going to be an all powerful being that can end all my problems with a snap of my fingers?"
Lilith snorted. "Hardly, it appears that most of the power was used to help you in your maturation. The rest went to destroying the wards and restoring the kissed to full health. I'll look at you when we get home. For now, we need to look at these prisoners. DO you feel up to that?"
Harry nodded his head. "I feel fine."
"Good," Lilith said. "Let's go."
