Authors Note: Hello my lovely readers, assuming there are any of you left. We are back from the cliffhanger I left you on last time, I would say I won't do it again, but honestly I like cliffhangers and they work well with my writing-style so it's probably happening again. On a less cheery note, I have to relate something that will likely cause a great number of delays to this story: my mother was recently diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. I'm not writing this because I'm looking for sympathy or condolences, I just want to explain in advance why future updates will most likely be sporadic at best. I am still committed to completing this story, and hopefully continuing the series into the later books, but I can't guarantee when future chapters will be posted. Now that that's out of the way, on with the -hopefully more enjoyable- story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Venom or Harry Potter.

Before they had fallen a dozen feet, Venom's superb reflexes had sent their arms flashing out, flowing away to either side until his claws dug deep into the ancient stones of the underground chamber they had fallen into, bringing them to an abrupt halt. Once they had time to get their bearings, the pair looked around the chamber they had inadvertently accessed from above. The space, to any normal human, would've been pitch black, but Venom's superior sight rendered the massive chamber in a dull gloom. The first thing the duo noticed was that the chamber was enormous, it was easily thirty feet across and a hundred feet long, lined on both sides with megalithic stone columns carved to look like enormous reeds.

The far end of the chamber was taken up by a massive and intricately carved slab of black stone, a full fifty feet high and almost as wide as the chamber itself. The walls were decorated with innumerable carvings painted in reds, blues, and greens, although in the darkness even Venom was unable to pick out the details of the reliefs, and the floor was made from cyclopean blocks of stone inlaid with carvings of a mighty river. The walls and columns were all set with torches in intricately carved stone sconces, but all of these were, unsurprisingly, unlit.

Ok, Harry thought to Venom, once they had fully taken in their surroundings, I know this looks bad, but We can just climb back up and out the way We came, right? As he spoke, they looked up to see an unbroken line of smooth stone above their heads: the hole they had fallen through had sealed shut behind them.

"Yeahh," Venom said slowly, his voice sounding strangely loud in the silence of the underground chamber, "I don't think that's going to be an option."

Well, We can just smash through it then, I know it's not ideal but I'm sure Dumbledore will be able to repair it when he finds us. Harry was reluctant to damage a historical site that had been ancient when his ancestors were first learning to construct crude wooden huts, but it paled in comparison to his reluctance to be trapped in an underground chamber.

"Works for me." Venom agreed, his voice carrying none of the reluctance of his host. "Besides, whatever presence is putting us on edge, it's much closer now. I think it might be down here with us." As he spoke Venom was crawling along the wall toward the ceiling, doing his best not to damage the priceless and irreplaceable carvings that decorated each stone block.

Thank you.

"You're welcome," Venom responded smugly before saying, as they reached the patch of ceiling where they had first fallen into the underground chamber, "Now for the fun part!" Pulling back, Venom sent one of their massive fists crashing toward the solid stone block that made up this section of the ceiling with all the force he could muster, the impact sent vibrations thrumming through the stone like the world's largest, and least useful, tuning fork, but when Venom pulled back the stone was completely unharmed. Undeterred, Venom pulled back again, striking the ceiling even harder, the force of the blow dragging their claws through several inches of solid stone as they were driven back down the wall. Yet, still, the stone of the ceiling remained undamaged.

Climbing back up, Venom dug their feet firmly into the stone of the wall before rearing back and bringing both fists crashing down upon the stone in an enormous overhand blow that set the entire chamber ringing like a gong from the impact. This time, when Venom looked at their handywork, there was the slightest web of spiderweb cracks issuing from the point their fists had impacted the unyielding stone. "This isn't working!" Venom roared, slamming their fist against the wall in frustration, and, to their surprise, leaving their hand buried to the wrist in the solid stone.

Wait, how come we can punch through the walls, but not through the ceiling?

"The ceiling must be enchanted to be unbreakable somehow, maybe it's to stop it from collapsing? Or to stop something from getting in?" Although Venom didn't voice it aloud, neither could stop themselves from thinking 'or out.'

Well why don't we just tunnel out through the wall and then up through the ground outside? Harry suggested. Without even bothering to answer verbally, the bonded pair sent their fist crashing into the stone of the wall once more, only to have it rebound off the stone as it had the ceiling.

"What the fuck!? Now the wall is impenetrable too?" Venom was as furious as he was perplexed.

It must be intent based. Harry thought slowly, so long as We're trying to break out, the walls are impenetrable, looks like We're not getting out of here this way.

"There must be an exit somewhere, right?" Venom asked, already dropping their body to the floor, where they landed without so much as a whisper.

Must be. Harry agreed as they began to make their way toward the enormous door at the far end of the underground chamber. As they approached, Venom began to be able to decipher some of the carvings on the massive slab of stone, there were at least a dozen different scenes transcribed onto the enormous block, but each of them contained depictions of an enormous birdlike creature with monstrous taloned feet, massive wings, and hugely muscled arms ending in clawed hands. As Venom drew ever closer the scenes suddenly began to move, animated by ancient magic to play out the scenes each had depicted statically mere moments earlier. In each scene the bird-creature was fighting other massive beasts, in one something that looked vaguely like an enormous dog, in another a creature of feline grace and ferocity.

Three scenes in particular, however, stood out, each was twice the size of the other scenes, and picked out in gold which glittered even in the darkness of the underground chamber. Whereas every other scene depicted the bird-creature impaling or dismembering its defeated opponent, these three showed it, clearly grievously wounded, in one it even looked to have had one of its wings torn off, carrying a still struggling opponent in its taloned feet toward an enormous building. There, tiny figures waited with long staves waving, from which issued lengthy looping lines that glowed even in the stone carving, these lines wrapped around the bird-creature's struggling opponent and bound them tight, despite their continued thrashing. With the bird-creature's help, each opponent was then carried within the massive building and down into a chamber beneath, where they were then sealed behind an enormous stone door.

"Harry?" Venom said slowly, once the carvings had completed their show and grown still.

I know, Venom, those things were put behind this door. But that was millennia ago! Surely, they couldn't still be alive? Despite his words, Harry couldn't help thinking that it would explain the presence, or perhaps presences, that Venom had been sensing since they first arrived. Do We go through?

"I don't think We really have a choice, Harry, if this place is half as powerful as the enchantments seem I don't think even Dumbledore will be able to find a way in. Our only hope is to try and find an exit, and there sure as fuck isn't one on this side of the door." Grimly, the pair braced their feet and began, slowly, effortfully, to push the enormous stone slab upward, once it was a few feet off the ground they released it and dived through into the chamber beyond. Leaving the slab to slam back down behind them.

What they found on the other side was almost disappointing, it was just another stone chamber, smaller than the last but still easily one of the largest rooms Harry had ever been in. The walls were covered in carvings of something, but the carvings were too small for Venom to make out precisely what in the low light. The far wall was a single featureless slab stretching across the chamber, but curving away toward the sides, so the chamber was deeper closest to the walls and shallowest in the centre. An odd design, and completely lacking any sort of visible doorway.

Like the previous chamber this was lined with columns, although these were relatively plain apart from the innumerable identical carvings which covered them as well as the walls. As Venom looked around, they began to realise the carvings covered not only the walls and pillars, but the ceiling and floor as well, in fact, beyond the lip of the entryway they currently stood in, there wasn't a square inch of the chamber not covered in the carvings. Venom stepped forward to try and determine what exactly the carvings were depicting, taking them to the very edge of the lip. As they took that step forward, however, light abruptly flared throughout the underground chamber, all of the torches on the walls lighting simultaneously.

"Neat trick." Venom muttered uneasily, taking in their surroundings once more in the light. The carvings, which had previously been indecipherable, were now revealed to be insects. Locusts. Unlike all the other carvings they had seen, these carvings weren't done in profile, it was as if Venom were looking at the creatures from above.

Why would anyone want to cover an entire room in carvings of locusts? Harry wondered, perplexed as they continued on into the room, their foot coming down atop the first few of the carvings outside the lip with an odd squishing crunch. Before Venom could respond, the carvings themselves answered Harry's question. A great shiver ran across the room in time with a massive shuddering BOOM from the other side of the chamber, an earth-shaking reverberation that forced Venom to lean back slightly from the sound. Thankfully the sound was too deep to be harmful to them, for if it had been within the damaging registry it would doubtless have liquified Venom, such was its power.

The far wall of the chamber began to shudder and shift, as if twisting in place, and the other walls, ceiling, and floor of the chamber began to undulate as if alive, that was when Harry realised. There were no carvings. Every surface inside the chamber was covered in a living carpet of locusts, all of which were suddenly stirring themselves to action. All except the far wall, which Harry now realised wasn't a wall at all, it was a creature.

The term 'creature' didn't seem to do the monolith of flesh justice, though, it dwarfed any other being Harry had ever seen, even the beast Venom had shown him from his previous host's memories. It's skin was the rough chitinous exoskeleton in evidence on the locusts all around them, Harry guessed that when it stood, it's head, a horrifyingly enormous mimicry of the insects surrounding it, would scrape against the ceiling forty feet above the floor, and four enormous insectile wings spread from its back, rustling like an entire library's worth of paper. The creature was humanoid, although it's insectile characteristics would ensure that no observer could ever mistake the beast for human, not to mention the creature's monstrous size.

Power roiled off the creature in palpable waves, filling the chamber and beating against Harry like the pounding of waves upon the shore. The sound of millions of insectile wings began to stir the air as the locusts took flight, beginning to form into an enormous living column which flowed around the creature's legs in a great spiral, slowly growing and spreading upward as it wound its way around the monster's body. The sound of the locusts' flight was deafening in the confined space of the chamber, echoing off the walls and growing louder with each passing moment. All the while the creature had been slowly rising to its feet, towering higher and higher over the seemingly miniscule figure of Venom as it straightened to its full height.

The great, looming creature raised an enormous hand to point at Venom, and spoke in a voice like the fluttering of a billion wings that carried over the sound of the locusts effortlessly; hitting Venom hard enough to force them to take a step backward: "Hak-To." Neither Harry nor Venom understood what 'Hak-To' meant, but both were willing to bet it was nothing good. In unison the countless locusts lining the walls, floor, and ceiling, and those ringing the creature, leapt from their perches and flew toward the symbiotic pair. The incoming wave of locusts looked more like a living cloud than actual creatures, so many and so tightly packed were the insects. They crossed the space with blinding speed, compacting into a tight column that was still wide enough to cover almost the entire chamber before Venom as they sped toward the interloper.

"Oh shit." Venom had time to say before they were engulfed by the insectoid tide of wings, legs, and sharp mandibles poised to rend their flesh.


Albus Dumbledore appeared in the ruins of Karnak Temple just in time to see a flash of black vanishing through a hole into the depths underneath.

"NO!" The ancient warlock yelled, wand flashing forward to try and halt the figure's fall, but before the looping line of blue magic could reach its target, a block of stone manifested across the opening, sealing the hole shut. Grimly the headmaster flicked his wand a half-dozen times more, each motion sending a different coloured bolt of magic cracking through the air to impact against the stone slab, each bolt was powerful enough to distort the air and send sparks of electricity racing along the surrounding structures, but none so much as scratched the block. Before Dumbledore could continue further in his efforts, his wand hand was pushed up and away from the slab, sending his final bolt of magic careening off into the night sky where it streaked out of sight into the clouds. Eyes flashing, Dumbledore turned toward whoever had disrupted his aim, only to pause upon seeing the even older face of his friend, Nicolas Flamel gazing placidly back at him.

"Calm, mon ami." The alchemist counselled. "You will never be able to blast that open through brute strength; the wards are the work of thousands of years of the greatest magicians of the ancient world. And even if you did, that would risk opening the way to those that dwell within, you know that cannot be risked under any circumstances. Even to save Harry Potter."

"You are right, old friend." Dumbledore agreed after taking several deep breaths, "My apologies."

"Not at all." The elderly French sorcerer smiled back, "Now let us see if we can figure out how to open this chamber." Together the wizards searched the area surrounding the point where the figure had disappeared for several minutes, running their hands over every inch of stonework as they waved their wands and muttered long and complex incantations in a dozen forgotten languages. Finally, one of Dumbledore's spells was answered with a bright flash from a patch of stone just to the left of the questing fingers of his other hand and, pausing only to beckon his friend over, he triumphantly pressed the small patch of stone. The stone didn't budge. Frowning, Dumbledore pressed harder. Still nothing. Dumbledore attempted to change the direction of the force he was imparting against the stone. No reaction. Stepping back, he cast a series of long complicated spells, resulting in a floating matrix of threads, boxes, circles, and trapezoids which circled and danced around each other in mid-air over the spot of stone. In the centre of the confusing mix were a series of hieroglyphs rapidly flickering and altering in some sort of pattern.

"How interesting." Flamel murmured as he looked over his friend's shoulder, fascinated in spite of himself and the situation. "It would appear young Harry has somehow triggered some sort of rite of passage designed for the successor of the old god, Ra."

"Successor?" Dumbledore asked, sounding equally intrigued, "I was under the impression that the old gods were immortal unless killed in battle? Not to mention that Ra was the last of the old gods, he vanquished the other city gods and secured the preeminence of Thebes."

"True, Albus." Flamel did not sound surprised that his old apprentice knew of the secret history of the Egyptian pantheon. "But after he finished vanquishing the gods of the other city states Ra was too grievously wounded to continue on, he died in the aftermath of his final battle, having carried the last of his opponents to be trapped in the Catacombs of the Fallen Gods. Before the battle, the Theban Lexicon, the repository of all of Thebes most powerful magical knowledge, had been taken into the depths of the catacombs to be guarded by the other vanquished gods, as it was before every duel between warring gods." Flamel paused to inspect a carving before continuing.

"The idea was that Ra would be able to recover the book after winning the battle due to the catacombs being his domain of power, but no other being would be strong enough to win past the few Fallen Gods powerful enough to have been imprisoned there. The Lexicon contained both the accumulated magical wisdom of Thebes, and the rituals used to empower the mighty eagle which became Ra. The thinking was that, if Ra were ever to be mortally wounded, he could return to the catacombs and retrieve the Lexicon to be given to the high priest. That would allow the Thebans to create a new god to lead their city, in the aftermath of his battle with the Cobra God of Memphis, however, Ra was too grievously wounded to be able to retrieve the Lexicon and died in Catacombs. No other has ever been powerful enough to retrieve the Lexicon, and few have been insane enough to try, so no other gods were ever created as the priests of Memphis destroyed their own Lexicon in the wake of their god's defeat."

"And the possibility of the gods escaping is the reason why even attempting to enter the Catacombs is an act of High Treason against the Magical World, punishable by the Rite of San-Elek-Van-Tehlok." Dumbledore completed for his friend. "And yet the hope of the Wizarding World is now within the Catacombs, and so we must gain entry."

"Indeed." Flamel nodded emphatically, seemingly unphased by the reminder that his soul would be ripped from his body and damned to eternal torment in the home plane of the dementors should they be caught.

"Is there any way for us to trigger the right of passage, as Harry did?" Dumbledore asked the ancient alchemist, trusting the elder man's knowledge above his own.

"I do not believe so, once the right has begun it is impossible to trigger it once more before the current challenger has either succeeded or died. We may be able to find some other way in, though. I am sure the priests would have wanted to improve and expand upon their wards, so they must have had some way of getting in." Dumbledore nodded grimly, pulling out his wand and returning to the agonisingly slow methodical search he and Flamel had been engaged in when he made his discovery. As he worked, Dumbledore desperately tried to recall how many of the Fallen Gods had been consigned to the Catacombs. The names had long since been lost to history, but he was certain that there had been three gods strong enough for Ra to imprison rather than being able to kill outright. The Locust God had been the weakest, one of the first gods Ra had faced, and the Cobra God the strongest, but he could not recall what the second had been. If Harry were to face any one of them, however, Dumbledore had little doubt he would be dead long before help could reach him.


Wings and mandibles flashed all around, sharp stabbing pains biting into Venom's flesh from every direction as they were engulfed in the cloud of locusts. The insects quickly covered every inch of the symbiotic pair, biting viciously at the black flesh beneath them even as Venom frantically slapped and clawed at them, killing dozens with each swipe. Venom leapt away to land on the wall of the chamber ten feet away, but the locusts followed so swiftly that the symbiotic duo were free of their attack for less than a second. The ebony alien roared in frustration and pain as the innumerable insects continued to bite and claw at their flesh, only to stop abruptly as their open mouth was filled with yet more of the creatures.

The locusts tried to crawl down Venom's throat and continue their attempted consumption from inside their quarry, only to be sliced to ribbons by the symbiote's fangs. Those few who managed to progress past the monster's fang filled maw were swiftly caught and crushed by its long prehensile tongue. The fate of these first foragers did not dissuade other locusts from attempting the same any time Venom opened their mouth. As the assault continued Venom shifted their arms into enormous flat paddles using them to swat hundreds of locusts at a time, clearing the surrounding area in great sweeps. Simultaneously the flesh of Venom's body rose out in an uncountable number of ridges, separating the locusts crawling all over them from each other before expanding sideways, crushing the locusts with a wet squishing sound. All this while Venom continued to leap from floor to wall to ceiling to pillar, constantly on the move to prevent the locusts from surrounding them completely and dragging them up into the air.

Why don't you transform into a bunch of spikes and just impale the little bastards or something? Harry asked his companion frustratedly as the pain of the assault continued to filter down his nerve-endings.

I don't have the control to form anything that sharp. Venom admitted silently; his mouth being presently occupied with the consumption of locusts. The more powerful Klyntar are able to do that, but I lack the ability.

You've never mentioned that you weren't a very powerful Klyntar before? Harry thought, surprised despite the situation.

It's a little embarrassing to admit that I'm kind of a loser. Venom shot back, It's part of why I like you, you remind me of myself.

Wow, thanks, Venom.

You asked. Throughout this exchange the pair continued to struggle against the seemingly endless array of insectile attackers which swarmed around them unceasingly. They couldn't even see the great beast at the other end of the chamber, so thick was the cloud of locusts surrounding them. Despite the apparently infinite number of locusts attacking them, as they continued their fight Harry began to notice that the swarm was gradually becoming slower at responding when Venom was able to decimate a patch of the swarm. At first any gap they created was filled instantly, making it almost impossible to determine that there had ever been a gap at all, but now the gaping rents they tore in the fabric of the cloud hung open for several seconds before more locusts rushed in to plug the gaps.

In truth the assault was more an annoyance than anything else as Venom was more than capable of healing any damage the locusts inflicted, particularly with dozens being consumed by his flashing jaws each moment, the valuable biomaterial and brain-matter processed almost instantly by the Klyntar. Fueled by the influx, and heartened by Harry's realisation that the swarm was coming to the end of its strength, Venom expanded their arms even further and used them to create a great gust of air which blew the cloud of locusts back across the chamber where they quickly collected into another solid mass in preparation to rush them once more. Before they had the chance, Venom extended their arms and flattened the entire seething mass between them with a horrible squishing sound.

Gore dripped from Venom's arms to cover the floor, along with the pulped mass of flesh that had been the last of the massive locust swarm, and bodies littered the floor across the near half of the chamber. At the other end the massive creature stood impassively, having watched Venom slowly dismantle and dismember its minions without any apparent emotion. For a moment, Venom stared at the monster, and the monster stared down at Venom. Then, in a blur of movement, the creature's wings fluttered, driving it across the chamber where its foot slammed into Venom, sending them flying across the chamber to impact the wall above the doorway. The force of the collision left Venom half-buried in the stone and several loud cracks issued throughout the chamber that had nothing to do with the pulverised stone.

Venom was able to heal the broken bones instantly, but the pain forced them to roar out in agony, this roar was muffled almost immediately by the creature's enormous hand sealing around Venom and yanking them from the wall. The beast's massive fingers clenched tight around Venom, squeezing them mercilessly before flinging them back across the chamber like a stone sent spinning out across a lake. This time, however, Venom was ready, and they twisted in mid-air to land in a crouch against the far wall, less than a second after their feet had touched the cool stone, the pair launched themselves through the air toward the monster.

The creature saw them coming, and one of its massive arms swept up to bat them out of the air; but Venom was quicker, a long tendril wrapped around the arm and swung Venom down underneath it before launching them at maximum velocity toward the monster's head. They impacted feet first with the monster's forehead, causing it to jerk back as the monster took a step backward, hissing in pain at the impact. An impact that would've been enough to pulverise an elephant into a bloody paste, and yet had left no visible damage on the creature's armoured exoskeleton. Roaring now, the beast smacked the stunned symbiote off its head and through one of the massive stone columns that supported the ceiling, coming to rest in a dishevelled heap under several tons of rock. An instant later the rocks burst outward and Venom emerged from beneath, teeth bared and tongue lashing through the air.

"Is that the best you can do, Bug-Boy?" The symbiote hissed in challenge. Although the creature doubtless did not speak English, it seemed to understand the gist of Venom's comment and roared in defiance.

"Ahn-So-Lak Ba-al!" Given the rather violent gesture it made with its hands as it did so Harry was willing to bet that, whatever the creature had just said, it was a threat of some kind. The creature's wings propelled it across the chamber at incredible speed for something so large, and Venom only just managed to leap out of the way, coming to rest on its leg and trying to claw into it. The beast's chitin was too thick, however, and all Venom was able to do was make several six-inch-deep grooves in the creature's armoured shell.

A whistling of air alerted the symbiote to an incoming attack by the monster, and so the pair leapt away from their perch mere moments before the creature's hand slapped down where they had been. They landed on the ceiling above the creature's head and sprang off to land on the creature's back between the creature's wings, one of the few things not covered by its exoskeleton. The monster arched it's back with a scream as Venom raked their extended claws through the base of all four of its wings, severing them in a spurt of gushing gore which covered the elegant carvings on the wall that had only recently been uncovered from the locusts.

"How do you like that you insect-intellected twat!?" Venom roared in triumph at having finally succeeded in doing the creature significant damage. Then they noticed the wall coming toward them at terminal velocity. "Oh bugge-" the words were cut off by the great thudding crunch of the creature's back impacting with the wall, crushing the symbiote between the two. Once the creature had pulled away Venom fell to the floor with a dull thud, limbs rapidly strengthening and solidifying from where they had been crushed.

The monster had clearly thought that crushing the annoying being would be enough to dispose of it, and so was surprised when Venom launched themself at its head once more. Upon landing, Venom slashed at the creature's eyes, only to find that they were covered by a hard shell that, like it's main exoskeleton, was too tough for their claws to penetrate. That's not to say it didn't hurt, the creature screeched even louder than it had when Venom had severed its wings and batted desperately at it's face, forcing Venom to leap across onto one of its feelers. They were only able to stay there for an instant before the whistle of air forced them to leap away again to prevent being squashed by the now enraged beast.

Venom, this isn't working. Harry thought to his other as they continued to evade the monster's furious swipes. We're not going to be able to kill this thing through brute force.

I'm open- Venom thought back before stopping as he focused on directing their leg muscles to help them leap away from the creature's latest attack -to suggestions! He finished once they had landed.

Far above them the creature opened it's mouth and roared at them once more "Varak-Tohn Dahl!?" The monster's tone sounded almost as if it were asking a question, although given that it was already moving to stomp on them it didn't seem as if it were planning to wait for an answer.

I've got it! We can't kill it because we can't get through the exoskeleton, right? Harry's thoughts were tinged with excitement at the possibilities his rudimentary plan could afford.

Yes, where the fuck have you been? Venom, on the other hand, was far too frustrated by the monster's resilience to allow anything resembling optimism into his tone.

So, We need to hit it where it doesn't have an exoskeleton!

No shit, but where?

Get it talking.

Ah, nice one, Harry. Venom's mental tone was approving as he understood his host's intent.

"Hey, Bug-Brain! We're going to eat what little brain you have inside that fat head of yours and then We're going to feed your entrails to your children!"

Not so much banter as threats, but whatever, it can't understand what you're saying anyway.

Everyone's a critic.

You kno-NOW! Harry broke off mid-thought as he saw the monster opening its mouth to respond to Venom's latest provocation. The pair moved, so fast it seemed as if they simply disappeared, by the time the creature's eyes caught them they were already landing on its face, one arm swinging back with claws extended. An instant later, Venom sent those claws driving up into the creature's mouth, shearing straight through the soft flesh of the creature's pallet and driving deep into the enormous monster's brain. The creature spasmed, jaws smashing shut, with Venom's arm still inside. The symbiote screamed in pain as it fell off the creature, even as its quarry collapsed backwards with a dull sigh that was still forceful enough to send Venom flying backward. The creature impacted the ground with a great THUD which shook the whole chamber and sent sand spiralling down from the ceiling, it twitched once, and then went still.

"FUCKING FUCK!" Venom swore "We forgot how much dismemberment hurt! But We will be ok in a few minutes! The same can't be said for you!" So saying, the symbiote spat on the enormous corpse.

A few minutes? Harry asked, surprised.

"Yes, it won't take us more than that to regrow our arm. Particularly if we were to consume a large amount of brain-matter…"The symbiote trailed off suggestively as it directed their gaze toward the cooling corpse of the monster.

Ugh, fine, but only because this fucking hurts. Harry agreed reluctantly, before trying to distance himself from his senses as Venom climbed up into the creature's skull and began to devour its brain with gusto.


Meanwhile, Flamel and Dumbledore had been forced to scour the first dozen feet of the temple they were currently searching before they managed to make their next breakthrough, the time mostly taken up with the intensely complicated spells required to detect Ancient Egyptian wards. The discovery this time was centred on a large patch of carvings depicting the sun-god vanquishing various opponents, although these were the more romanticised versions the Pharaoh's had placed where their muggle subjects might see them.

"Nicolas," Dumbledore called the even more elderly man over, "what do you make of this?" As he spoke, he indicated the knot in the wards he had found centred on the carvings.

"Hmm," Nicolas murmured noncommittally as he began to weave his wand, casting a series of obscure detection, display, and diagnostic charms at the knot. In response, an increasingly complicated lattice of threads and geometric shapes began to appear in the air where the knot was located, before spreading out around the complex, particularly over the floor. After another few minutes of casting Flamel finally stopped, breathing hard at the use of so much powerful magic in such a short period of time, he was not, after all, as young as he once was. Peering at the information his magic had just made visible, Flamel commented "This is going to take a while, Albus."

"Not what we're looking for then?" Dumbledore asked with a sigh, the ancient priests had certainly done their job well when it came to hiding the entrance to the Catacombs, and unlike with the Chamber of Secrets no one else had ever been stupid enough to record going looking for it, so there wasn't even anywhere they could eliminate as a possibility.

"Non, I believe this is the entrance, it is just that to gain entrance one must fulfill a great number of magical requirements, they must all have been elements of the priesthood. We're going to have to alter our magical signatures to the point where the locking magic recognises us as high priests of Ra and allows us entrance into the chamber below."

Dumbledore ran his eyes over the series of magical requirements Flamel's magic had revealed for the wards "This is going to be far from easy, my friend, the magical purification rituals alone would be complicated enough, but to steep ourselves in Egyptian ritual magic in a way that can then be reversed is going to be even more difficult. Especially given the latent magic from the wards the International Confederation of Wizards set up to ensure no one attempted to gain entrance to the Catacombs."

"Indeed," Flamel agreed gravely. "However, I'm afraid you missed the magical passphrase spell that has been worked into the ward-matrix, see?" He pointed with his wand to a spot where a small black sphere was almost hidden within a larger dark-blue one "The red trigger threads to the Evisceration Curses and the Reanimation Invocation give it away. We'll need to break the magical cypher in order to determine what the password is, not to mention the correct pronunciation assuming the word is something that only has meaning in this context."

"And that will take at least as long as the purification and magical inundation rituals." Dumbledore sighed again, he found himself doing that a lot in recent days. Perhaps young Mr. Potter is more like his father than I gave him credit for? Dumbledore mused idly, thinking of the dark-haired boy whose antics had prompted so many similar sighs during his tenure at Hogwarts, before shaking the thought away. "I propose that one of us focuses on altering our own magic to fool the wards while the other sets to work cracking the cypher, I would rather not have Harry down there longer than absolutely necessary. The longer he spends down there the more likely he is to encounter one of the Fallen Gods, and the less likely we are to ever see him alive again."

Flamel nodded grimly. "Oui, I will set to work on the passcode at once, you have less magic to purge than do I. Not to mention the effects of my stone, which I cannot attempt to purge."

"Of course, old friend." Dumbledore agreed, already beginning to trace the complicated lines and symbols of the purification ritual circle out of blue fire on the floor. Within moments the floor had become an intimidating weave of runes, lines, and arcane symbols as the headmaster deftly crafted one of the most complicated magical ritual circles as if he were merely doodling with a stick in the sand. I only hope that Harry does not take so much after his father that he will already have gotten curious.


"For FUCK'S SAKE!" Venom roared, slamming their foot into the solid web of glowing golden threads that had covered the entrance to the locust-creature's chamber the instant they tried to retrace their steps. "WHO THE FUCK DESIGNED THIS SHIT!?"

Probably someone who didn't want the giant-monster-demon-things they put inside to escape? Despite his own frustration, Harry couldn't help but needle his symbiote a little.

"That's not the point!" Venom refused to see any levity in the situation. "The point is WE are trying to escape, and these-" Venom descended into an incomprehensible, but impressively long string of alien profanities "-enchantments are stopping us!" After a few moments of silence, and several deep breaths, Venom had calmed down enough to continue "Perhaps We should just wait here, Dumbledore will come for us eventually. And since this chamber has these giant monster things, I don't doubt he'll be able to find it somehow."

NO! We can't stay here!

"What?" Venom sounded genuinely shocked at Harry's vehemence. "Harry, that creature there almost killed us, and from what We saw on the carvings and what my own senses are telling us, there are more of them down here. I'm not sure We can survive an encounter with another of these things, especially not if they get any stronger." His voice became almost gentle "I don't want you to die, Harry."

Venom look around. Harry commanded one of their arms to sweep across the chamber, indicating the countless dead locusts littering the floor and the enormous corpse of the locust-leviathan slumped against the wall. If Dumbledore finds us here, he's going to know I didn't do this on my own, but not how I did it. Odds are he's going to start poking around until he figures out how I did it, which means he'll figure out how We did it, and that means he'll find out about you. I highly doubt he's going to be ok with me being bonded to a brain-eating alien, so he's going to try and take you away from me. And, since you're powerful and people often confuse powerful and dangerous, he's probably going to kill you.

"To be fair We have killed 6 people in the past three days." Venom muttered.

I don't care! You're my first and truest friend, Venom, you were there for me when no one else was. Thanks to you, in the short time We've been together, I've already managed to: leave the Dursley's behind, found out I'm a wizard, travelled across the world, survived being attacked by kidnappers and rapists, and We killed a fucking giant locust monster! I am not going to risk losing you, if that means We have to risk dying against some overgrown animal-demon-things, then that's what We're going to do. Ok!? If Harry had made this impassioned speech aloud, he would doubtless have been panting by its conclusion, as it was, he simply waited the long moments it took for Venom to respond in silence.

"Ok, Harry." Venom's voice was very quiet, and for a moment Harry was afraid he had said something to upset his partner, then he felt his consciousness wrapped in a warm black veil, it was the closest thing he could imagine to a mental hug. After a moment, Venom released his mind and said, "If you ever tell anyone about that I will feed your brain pictures of Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia having sex until you puke."

You wouldn't dare!

"Try me." For a moment the two merely stood in silence in the chamber of the dead locust-creature. Then they burst out in laughter "HAHAHAHAHA!" The sound echoed around the chamber in a way that would've made any human onlooker not-so-discreetly searching for an exit. Once their mirth had finally died away, the pair made their way toward the entrance to the second chamber that had been hidden behind the locust-creature when they first entered.

The next chamber looked similar to the one they had just exited, only this time Harry was relieved to see that the walls were covered with the ordinary carvings, rather than a swarm of insects. The floor and ceiling likewise seemed to be clear, but that was where the good news ended. Standing in the middle of the chamber was a beast just as large as the locust-monster they had only just succeeded in killing, except where the previous beast had been almost spindly, this one bulged with muscle. Its entire body was covered by a pitch-black exoskeleton from its enormous mandibled head, to its two hugely muscled arms ending in crushing pincers, all the way down to its four insectile legs each ending in an enormous stabbing point which left deep gouges in the floor with every step. None of those were what Harry noticed first about the creature, however, the first thing Harry noticed was the enormous stinger-topped tail that arched up behind the creature, already poised to stab down at Venom.

Well fuck, Venom commented silently to his host, that's not good. The creature opened its mouth and hissed, opening and closing its pincers with a resounding clacking of hardened chitin, and juddering its tail backward with a dry rattle.

Go for the mouth? Harry asked his partner.

Go for the mouth. Venom agreed as a vicious grin spread across their shared countenance. In an instant, Venom disappeared from where they had been standing, flying toward the creature's open mouth faster than any human eye could follow. As they went Venom extended long tendrils of substance from their body, grasping onto pillars and punching into stone before flexing to propel them forward even faster. They were now moving so quickly Harry almost expected them to leave a sonic boom in their wake, the creature had yet to even begin to react, and, for a moment, Harry let himself believe that it really would be that easy. Then the creature moved.

The motion was so fast, and Venom's own momentum was so great, that the symbiotic pair had no hope of ever evading the creature. In an instant one of the creature's enormous pincers had sheared through Venom's tendrils while the other struck them full in the chest. Their forward momentum abruptly shifted as they were sent careening back across the chamber almost as quickly as they had crossed it, indeed it was this very speed that saved them as the creature's stinger flashed through the air mere millimeters short of their arcing flight. The pair impacted the wall with the increasingly familiar crack of breaking bones, but by the time their body hit the floor Venom had already repaired the damage.

The moment their feet touched ground; the pair were away narrowly avoiding the stinger's second strike as it buried itself deep in the stone where they had been standing. The duo were not quick enough to avoid the creature's lashing pincers, however, and the beast dealt them a glancing blow that sent them smashing through one of the room's many pillars, causing the whole chamber to shudder and sand to slither down from the ceiling high above. The rubble of the pillar collapsed down on top of Venom with a deafening cacophony of stone grinding against stone, interspersed with the gunshot cracks of fracturing rock. By the time the rubble had settled there was no sign of the black-clad figure that had impacted the pillar, and for a moment, it seemed as if that would be that.

Unlike the locust-creature, this beast seemed to believe in being thorough, for even as Venom exploded from underneath the rubble, they were forced to contort their body like liquid in order to avoid the sting-tail that speared down toward them. This time, rather than attempting to leap away, Venom sprang onto the stinger itself, hoping to reach the point where the stinger joined the tail and, hopefully, deny the creature it's most dangerous weapon. Unfortunately, the scorpion-beast was unwilling to oblige this plan, and, with a dismissive flick of its tail, sent Venom flying through another column. The chamber shook more substantially this time, and even more sand fell from the ceiling, beginning to form small piles on the previously immaculate chamber floor, and pooling in the great grooves carved by the creature's clawed feet.

As fun as this is, Venom began as they once more avoided impalement by a hair's breadth, I really don't think our plan of 'going for the mouth' is going to work this time. We can barely manage to avoid the creature long enough to touch the ground, We're never going to be able to get close enough to try and impale its brain.

I'm open to suggestions if you've got a better idea! Harry thought back in pained frustration, as impressive as Venom's healing abilities were it didn't stop the creature's blows from hurting, a lot! Before the pair could continue their silent scheming, the creature managed another glancing blow, sending them flying through another of the seemingly endless number of pillars lining the chamber walls, this one near the far end of the chamber from where they had entered. The chamber shook again, but Harry noticed that this time the shaking was markedly less than when the creature had last knocked them through a pillar on the other side of the chamber.

"We are getting really sick of this! How many fucking pillars does this place have!?"

Venom! That's it!

What's it?

The pillars! I don't think they're decorative! I think they're helping to hold up the ceiling in here!

Oh, so eventually the creature will run out of pillars to knock us through, and then We'll be crushed to a paste under hundreds of tons of stone and sand, fantastic!

Would you stop being a sarcastic git for five seconds? If We let the creature keep knocking us through pillars all over the place that'll happen, but, if We're able to get it to knock us through pillars on one side of the chamber, then maybe We can have half the chamber collapse and bury the creature without killing us!

Assuming We don't get caught in the collapse or killed before We can manage it. Venom sounded less than impressed with his host's impromptu plan.

Do you have any better ideas? The symbiote was silent. Thought not.

Alright, alright. So which side of the chamber do We collapse?

I don't think We really have a choice, look at the ceiling by the entrance. Harry was right, the creature had already smashed three of the eight pillars holding up that side of the room, and cracks were spreading through the ceiling at an alarming rate. Sand cascaded down in a constant stream rather than the occasional trickles that had issued at the beginning of the confrontation.

You do realise that's our only way out so far as We know?Harry was prevented from replying as the creature finally managed to time one of its tail-strikes to intercept it's leaping prey's path. Venom had just enough time to throw up a shield of substance before them, but the tail punched straight through, stopping just short of one of their large white eyes. Even as the tail pulled back the substance of the shield Venom had used to slow the blow began to crumble away into dust.

"Of course, the fucking thing has to be poisonous!" Venom groaned aloud.

Venom what do we do?

This is going to hurt like a fucking bitch.

What's going to-ARGHHH! Harry's thought's morphed into an agonised mental scream as Venom swiped through the joint connecting the rapidly disintegrating shield tendril to their body. FUCK! Harry swore viciously, trying to master the pain of Venom's impromptu amputation. Once he had succeeded, he continued: And yes, I know that it's our only exit but are options are currently A: Let that thing murder us, B: Let that thing continue to kick us around until the whole chamber comes down and We are crushed to a pulp, or C: Provoke it into bringing down part of the chamber on itself and hope We survive. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure which one of those I'd prefer.

All right, but if We die from this, I'm blaming you.

Duly noted. Throughout this exchange the pair had continued their weaving dance of acrobatic evasions, something which only seemed to infuriate the beast as it's strikes became more powerful, but less precise. As quickly as they were able, given the frequent diversions required to avoid being crushed, skewered, or sliced in two by the creature, Venom made their way to the side of the chamber they had initially entered from. So which column should we take out first, one of the ones toward the middle or the ones close to the entrance? Harry asked once they were as close to their position as they could be, given the constant evasions.

Let's start with the ones toward the back, don't want to have to come back here if taking out the other ones doesn't do the trick.

Good point. That decided, the pair aimed their next jump to take them to one of the few surviving columns by the entrance to the chamber.

"Hey, Ug-" before Venom could finish their taunt the creature was already striking out toward them with a pincer and it's sting, holding the other pincer back to try and catch them once they evaded the initial strike. Unlike the first monster they had faced, this behemoth was as silent as a tomb, somewhat appropriately given their current surroundings. What's more, every missed attack seemed to anger the behemoth yet further, as if Venom's continued survival was a personal insult. Together, the beast's more taciturn nature and its continuously mounting range obviated the need for any incitement.

Guess we don't need to worry about provoking this one to attack us then. Venom thought to Harry with something approaching levity. The symbiotic duo launched themselves over the scorpion-creature's head, narrowly avoiding the flashing strike of the second pincer, aiming to land on another pillar on the other side of the beast. The creature's blow landed mere moments after Venom had moved, smashing through the solid stone column as if it really were the fragile reed it was decorated to resemble. The impact caused the chamber to shudder harder than ever before, and the stream of sand from the ceiling was fast transforming into a torrent, the sound almost drowning out the ominous groaning of the stone ceiling.

As they passed over it they made sure to take a futile swipe at the creature's exposed back, wouldn't do for the beast to realise they were no longer trying to attack it directly after all. The strike, despite being powerful enough to pulverise any human, barely left a scratch in the creature's ebony exoskeleton, serving only to enrage the monster still further. By the time the pair touched down the creature was already wheeling to face them and, just as they had hoped, the creature simply turned in place rather than circling around them, too eager to strike at Venom to consider that it was being maneuvered into a corner. Just as before, their feet had hardly made contact with the stone of the pillar before the creature was striking out at them once more, this time scything at the pillar with one of its legs as it swung its pincers to cut off Venom's avenues of escape.

Is it just me, or is this one smarter than the last one? Harry thought as they only narrowly avoided the creature's impromptu trap and flipped to another of the pillars. Behind them the smashing of their previous pillar resulted in several large chunks of stone cracking away from the ceiling to fall upon the scorpion-beast, which shrugged off the impacts as if the stones were made of foam. Looking back at their handywork, Harry saw that the three pillars remaining, including the one he and Venom had perched on, were all shuddering slightly under the weight of the ceiling, and even as he watched cracks began to shoot along their length. Venom, I think this time We should jump away from this section.

Couldn't agree more, Harry. Even as Venom concluded his thought the pair were already leaping away as the creature struck at the pillar they had been crouching on with both pincers and its tail, seemingly too angry to even consider clever traps anymore. The leviathan roared out it's anger and frustration as it lashed out at the tiny darting figure that continued to elude it, but only for a moment. The creature's roar of fury changed pitch as its strike shattered the stone pillar, causing several hundred tons of rock and sand to come crashing down upon it in a great deafening deluge.

If Harry hadn't known better, he would've sworn it sounded dismayed before the falling debris silenced it and buried the creature completely, not so much as an inch of the creature's ebony exoskeleton was visible through the destruction. Landing in the middle of the chamber, Venom turned to survey their handywork. The pile of rubble extended for a satisfying distance both up and across the chamber, although, to his amazement, Harry could see new pillars and ceiling stones swiftly coalescing out of magical energy, rebuilding the chamber even as he watched. Above lay a thick screen of glowing gold, the boundary of the enchantments reinforcing the chamber, not even the top-layer of sand above the chamber had been disturbed by the collapse, only that which lay beneath the surface. Thankfully, none of this seemed to disturb the pile under which the scorpion-beast had been buried.

"How do you like that? Little scorpion bitch!" Venom crowed at the pile, only to stop in stunned horror as the pile of debris began to shift. Almost as if something underneath was trying to force it's way out.

Harry? The symbiote asked in a would-be calm voice.

Yes, Venom? Harry responded in matching tones.

What say We go see what's in the next chamber?

Sounds like a great plan. Thus deciding that discretion was the better part of valour, Venom bravely left the chamber as quickly as possible, before the creature had a chance to free itself and go back to trying to kill them.

What do you think is going to be in the next chamber? Venom asked as they made their brave withdrawal from the scorpion's chamber.

Whatever it is, it can hardly be worse than what was in this chamber, can it? Harry assured his companion confidently. How very wrong he was.

The next chamber was seemingly identical to the two that had preceded it, except for one key difference. It was completely empty. No hulking figure stood awaiting their arrival, no wall of flesh concealed the doorway at the opposite end of the hall, the chamber was simply empty.

This is too easy, there's got to be something We're missing. Venom muttered in Harry's mind.

Agreed. Slowly, the pair made their way into the chamber, carefully inspecting every inch of wall, floor, and ceiling for any sign of whatever danger lurked within the room. After they had crossed the first few feet of floor without incident, Harry broke the silence, at least mentally, There is something different about this chamber from the other ones, apart from the seeming absence of giant monsters trying to kill us. He informed his companion I just can't put my finger on exactly what. The feeling was infuriating, it reminded Harry of the 'Spot the Difference' puzzles he had occasionally seen in his uncle's newspapers: his mind could tell there was something wrong with the image, but not precisely what.

I agree, but I can't figure it out either. Venom sounded just as frustrated as his host that he was unable to pinpoint exactly what differentiated this chamber from its predecessors. The pair continued their slow advance and increasingly minuet inspection of the chamber for several long moments, fruitlessly searching for the difference that hung just out of their reach. It wasn't until they had reached the centre of the chamber that realisation dawned.

"We've got it! It's the ceiling! It's too low!" The pair crowed in satisfied triumph, delighted to have finally solved the conundrum that had so frustrated them. To their immense surprise, their revelation was answered by a strange hissing laugh issuing from beyond the solid stone above their heads.

"Very good." A voice hissed from above, "what clever dinner I eat tonight." And with that the ceiling vanished, revealing a monster clinging to the true ceiling beyond. The creature was staggeringly huge, even larger than the creature's in the previous two chambers, if Harry had to guess he would have put the beast at roughly sixty feet long. This behemoth, unlike its predecessors, was not bipedal, its long serpentine body sported four short, heavily-muscled legs, each ending in a four-clawed foot. Its head looked like that of a cobra, with an enormous hood swiftly spreading from its neck as it bared its monstrous fangs down at them in what could've been a smile.

The hood bore a striking gold design, a set of intricate eyespots, which glittered in the light of the torches lining the chamber and contrasted sharply with the glossy crimson scales that covered the rest of its body. The creature's long sinewy tail lashed at the air, coiling and uncoiling from around the pillars as the beast began to half-slither, half-crawl down the wall toward them. "It has been so long since that fool, Ra, imprisoned me here," the monster paused, its voice was deep and velvety, decidedly female but with a strange hissing quality that left no doubt the beast was anything but human.

"He died for daring to defy me, of course, but those accursed priests of his did an infuriatingly good job at warding this underground prison, and I am so, so HUNGRY." The creature's sibilant voice transformed into a great hissing roar as it struck out with its head, neck extending far beyond what it should be capable of to bury its fangs in the floor where Venom had been standing the instant before. Unlike the previous monster, this one did not seem frustrated by its failure to strike Venom, instead it made a pleased sounding coo in the back of its throat: "Oooh, quick prey! I like it."

It was only then that something dawned on Venom, "You speak English?" They asked the creature perplexedly, momentarily distracted from the danger the leviathan before them represented by the startling nature of their realisation.

"A speaker?" The creature replied, drawing its head back slightly in surprise and cocking it to one side, the hood flattened to the beast's neck for a moment, as if in consternation. "How interesting, that means I can enjoy some conversation while I toy with you." So saying, the creature batted at them with one of its powerful legs, the motion was so fast Venom never had a hope of dodging and they were sent flying off to crash into one of the far walls of the chamber. "Oops." The monster hissed wickedly, eyes gleaming "Am I being too rough on you, Prey?"

"Fuck you, Bit-" Before Venom could finish, they were wrapped in the creature's tail and being held up before it's dangerously glittering black eyes.

"Now, now, Prey, that's no way to talk to a lady." The creature squeezed viciously, reducing many of Venom's bones to powder before flinging them up to crash against the ceiling. The impact left them half-lodged in the stone for several moments before gravity pulled them from the hole they had made and sent them plummeting down toward the unforgiving ground. They never made it that far, however, as the creature lazily smacked them with a four-clawed foot, sending them spinning off to crash into the wall between two pillars, Harry noted the creature was careful to avoid knocking them into the pillars themselves.

The beast took it's time slithering its way over to Venom, by which time the symbiote had managed to repair their previously pulverised bones and ready their limbs for explosive action. Just as the creature reached them the pair vanished, springing toward the creature's exposed eyes with all the speed they could muster. Almost casually, the creature flicked its head slightly, headbutting Venom across the room to skip across the stone floor like a pebble cast out upon a lake. "I must say," the monster informed them conversationally as if they were merely enjoying a cordial chat, "I'm impressed with how fast you heal, Little One. I'll be able to have fun with you for days, assuming I don't get too hungry first…" The creature trailed off menacingly, clearly enjoying tormenting it's all but helpless opponent.

Harry? I'm getting the feeling We might just be outclassed here.

No shit, what gave you that impression? Before Venom could answer the creature moved with blinding speed once more, this time making a gesture with one of its front legs. Instantly Venom was dragged into the air, hanging suspended in a golden corona of power, then the creature began tracing patterns through the air, as if following the line of a particularly complicated maze. Venom's helpless body was pulled along in the line of the gestures, slamming helplessly into walls, ceiling, and floor, whenever the monster traced a line too close to the edges of the room.

This thing can do magic too!? Venom asked in horrified dismay, bad enough the beast outclassed them physically, but to be able to use magic as well? Even as the symbiote was voicing this thought, the creature seemed to tire of its magical manipulation and instead flicked out it's forked tongue to impact the pair and send them flipping across the chamber toward the grand doorway they had so recently entered through. Upon reaching the doorway Venom impacted with the same glowing golden threads that had prevented their retreat from the locust-creature's chamber and were sent bouncing away as if they were made of rubber.

I suppose that explains how it was able to create the illusion of a false ceiling to hide. Harry thought, having grown accustomed enough to the disorienting sensation of being flung through the air to at least attempt to talk to his compatriot.

"Ooh, how fun! It looks as if I've discovered a new game we can play together, Little One." Harry didn't know how a snake-monster managed to infuse its voice with so much glee, but his tormentor managed it. "It's rude not to answer when someone speaks to you, Little One, do I need to teach you some manners?" The beast's voice had taken on a mocking tone Harry knew all too well from his hours spent being tormented by his cousin. The monster snatched Venom out of the air, bringing them close to gaze directly into its enormous obsidian eyes, "I asked you a question." It growled dangerously, "Answer. Me." The creature punctuated this order by digging it's enormous claws into Venom, tearing great holes in their black flesh.

"ARGH!" Venom roared in agony, "Why should We be polite to a giant snake-faced cunt like y-" the beast interrupted their question by slamming them swiftly into the ground hard enough to shatter the few bones Venom had managed to repair since the last impact.

"If you can't keep a civil tongue in your head, Little One, I'll have to rip it out and eat it." The snake-like figure paused, as if considering, "In fact, I might do that anyway. In the meantime, answer me, politely this time."

"No." Venom spat back hatefully, "you do not need to teach us manners."

"Hmm," the snake monster seemed to consider their words for a moment. "Why do you refer to yourself as 'We,' Little One? There is only one of you, I haven't scrambled that tiny brain of yours that badly, have I?"

"There are two of us." Venom had decided that keeping the creature talking was a good way to prevent it from going back to torturing them.

"Oh, you mean there are two of you in that body? Are you insane then?"

"Insane!?" Despite themselves, the pair was incensed, "We are VENOM!" As they spoke Venom pulled away from half of Harry's face so the pair could speak as one.

"Fascinating!" The beast seemed genuinely intrigued by this latest development, in a flash it reached out and grasped the substance of Venom's face between two claws before pulling it away. The force quickly tore Venom's substance from Harry's head until the two were only connected by a few narrow tendrils that threatened to snap at any moment. Seemingly satisfied, the creature released its grip on Venom's head, allowing it to flow back over its host.

"I wonder how much abuse it will take to separate the connection between you? Let's find out!" The monster then tossed them a short way up into the air before flicking them back toward the golden threads of the wards. Upon impact with the wards, the direction of their flight was once more reversed sending them back toward the beast, only to shift once again as the beast swatted them back toward the glowing threads as if they were an oddly shaped tennis ball. This began a series of short, and increasingly painful, trips back and forth across the chamber as the creature continued its rally with the enchantments on the doorway, it's return strikes becoming increasingly elaborate as it sought to challenge itself. Each impact resounded across the chamber with the sound of snapping bones, the injuries quickly mounting to the degree that Venom could no longer completely heal them before the next impact dealt yet more damage.

The jagged pieces of fractured bone began to slice away at Harry's innards, piercing organs, slashing muscles, and tearing tendons and ligaments. The impacts themselves began to pound against Harry's organs as Venom became increasingly unable to shield his host from the barrage of blows the creature was inflicting upon them. Harry could feel his consciousness beginning to slip away from the constant barrage of impacts and dizzying directional changes as he and Venom were battered mercilessly. Venom's form began to waver, the hulking black figure beginning to separate into a small boy and an amorphous black ooze connected only by the most tenuous of threads.

The creature wound up and slammed the rapidly fading pair with its tail, sending them slamming into the glowing threads with such force they bent slightly inward before sending Venom careening off back toward the beast. The snake-monster, instead of hitting it's plaything back toward the threads, this time allowed it to sail past saying "And now, time for my most impressive feat yet, allowing you to bounce off the wards at the other end of my prison before hitting you behind my back without looking, doesn't that sound fun, Little One?" It did not, in fact, sound fun to Venom but, fortunately for the dying pair, it never happened. Instead the two sailed straight through the open doorway at the opposite end of the chamber and into the room beyond. The creature, Venom realised, had miscalculated, the wards only prevented Venom from escaping back the way they came, they did nothing to prevent the pair from continuing on into the next chamber.

"NOOO!" The creature hissed from behind them, throwing itself forward in an attempt to catch it's erstwhile prey, only to slam into the same glowing threads it had so recently been delighting in. "Damn you, Ra! Still denying me my prey even after your death!" The monster began to slam against the wards with ever increasing strength, the force of the blows causing the entire underground complex to shake and the wards to bend slightly with each impact. Not once, however, did they come close to breaking.

Venom, for their part, merely lay there, allowing the symbiote to restore their almost liquified organs and crushed bones to working order before slowly staggering to their feet, ignoring the furious cries from the snake-beast behind them. Even for Venom, the amount of damage the creature had dealt was debilitating and were it not for the astronomical amount of brain matter they had consumed from the locust-creature the symbiote would never have been able to affect the repairs. Too weak to even taunt their former tormentor, Venom simply turned and began staggering deeper into the chamber, steps growing steadier and more confident with each passing moment, until, finally, they returned to normal. It was at that moment that the pair truly realised what they were seeing.

Is that?

"I think so…"Before them lay an enormous skeleton, bigger even than the creature that had so nearly killed them just moments earlier. The skeleton had collapsed in on itself in the absence of flesh, but it was still possible to distinguish one of the enormous wings -the other was nowhere in sight- that had graced the creature in life, and made it so recognisable on the carvings that marked the entrance to the beasts' chambers. It was the bird-creature.

This must be Ra. Harry thought, awed by the sheer scale of the beast, not to mention the fact that it had apparently defeated all three of the creatures they had just fought. That's what the snake-monster called it.

"Do you think it's any relation to the Egyptian god, Ra?" Venom asked.

It'd be a bit too much of a coincidence for it to be an Egyptian eagle-creature called Ra and unrelated to the Egyptian eagle-god called Ra, don't you think?

"Coincidences do exist, you know. But yes, I take your point."

You know, Venom? Harry thought, in a philosophical tone. Looking at this enormous skeleton that was once a mighty being has made me realise something.

"What's that, Harry?" Venom was intrigued to hear his host's epiphany.

I really fucking hope there's a way out through here or We are SO fucked. Venom burst out laughing.

"Couldn't have put it better myself, Harry. While We're here though, do you want to take a look at that book?"

What book? Harry took a moment to take in their surroundings, the room was enormous, almost as large as the chambers of the three monsters they had just faced, but much shorter than those rooms had been. The carvings were also far more intricate, many of them featuring Ra or the robed figures that must have been his priests and inlaid with gold or glittering stones that Harry could only assume were precious gems. The ceiling was supported by four sturdy columns, these carved to resemble enormous lotus flowers, and the far end of the chamber was dominated by an enormous altar set at the top of an impressive set of steps.

The altar was made of pure gold, and the steps it sat upon glittered with the black sheen of obsidian, making the entire structure almost glow in the faint light of the torches. Atop the altar sat, unmistakably, a book, but a book unlike any Harry had ever seen before. It was constructed of a strange silvery metal, somewhere between silver and platinum, yet indescribably distinct from either of those: it was unlike any substance Harry had ever before seen. The book was also enormous, almost half-a-foot thick, and covered in the intricate carvings and symbols Harry had seen covering the walls of the entire underground structure. It also glowed faintly, a dim golden radiance that seemed to beckon Harry closer and whisper promises of power into his very soul.

"That book." Venom clarified unnecessarily. "The one that might as well have a sign saying 'I'm important as fuck, this is why it was worth going through all that dangerous shit.'"

Don't you think it's a little too… convenient? Harry asked cautiously, the events of the previous chambers had made him extremely suspicious of anything as seemingly inviting as this book.

"Look, if it's going to try and eat us, or something, it's going to do it eventually. Might as well go pick it up, that way We know when it'll happen." Venom sounded extremely tired throughout this explanation, although his voice then perked up. "And if not it probably has a bunch of awesome ancient magic in it!"

Ancient magic We almost certainly won't be able to read. Harry pointed out.

"I'm sure there's a translation spell or something, now let's go pick up the damn book already!"

Alright, but, if We die, I'm blaming you. Harry consciously echoed the symbiote's own words from the scorpion-beast's chamber.

"Duly noted." Venom returned with a grin, parroting Harry's own words. With that, the pair bounded up the steps and, pausing only to ready themselves for whatever fresh horror awaited them, picked up the book. For a moment nothing happened. Then, with a mighty scraping sound of stone upon stone, a passageway opened before them in the formerly solid wall. The pair stared at the new opening with great suspicion, "Now that is definitely too convenient." They said after a moment's silent contemplation.

It could be our other way out? Harry suggested without much conviction.

"Or it could be another death trap like the last three chambers." Venom replied with far greater surety.

Well, at least it can't be any-

"If you finish that sentence, I swear to KNULL, I will strangle you." Prudently, Harry did not continue his sentence.

Let's just go through then. Venom let out a long heartfelt sigh, but, together, the pair trudged into the newly opened tunnel to meet their fate. Their fate, as it turned out, was to wander aimlessly through the darkened tunnel as it swiftly curved around, before straightening out into a long straight passageway. After several minutes of walking, they stepped out into another large chamber, crouched and ready to be attacked from all sides. Only to stand up in consternation when they realised that they had, in fact, returned to the chamber they had first entered.

"WAIT A MINUTE!" Venom roared, turning them around to face the seemingly solid patch of wall they had just passed through and stepping toward it. They passed through the illusion easily, finding themself back in the passageway they had just exited.

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING US?" The bonded pair roared in unison "WE COULD HAVE JUST WALKED THROUGH THIS FUCKING PASSAGEWAY INSTEAD OF FIGHTING THOSE GIANT-DEMON-MONSTERS!?" Enraged beyond all reason, the pair began to tear away at the stonework, ripping great chunks out of the walls and flinging them across the chamber. Only to watch as the damage was repaired by the enchantments that ran throughout the chamber. Taking this as a challenge the pair ripped even greater chunks out of the walls, tearing out entire stone blocks and tossing them aside as if they were cardboard cutouts instead of megalithic blocks weighing several tons each. After several minutes of this sustained rampage, Venom had finally calmed down enough to look at the destruction they had wrought and begin thinking rationally again.

"We should probably clear away the rubble." Venom said reluctantly.

Why? Harry asked, even as they began the laborious process of shoving the chunks of stone into the concealed passageway.

"Because seeing this is going to make Dumbledore almost as curious as seeing the giant locust-monster We killed." Venom explained as they broke a particularly large piece in half in order to fit it into the tunnel.

Good thinking. Harry complimented the symbiote, grateful for his foresight.

"I try." Venom replied with an air of false-modesty. It took the pair almost twenty minutes to complete the clean-up from their rage-induced demolitions, but, finally, the chamber appeared as it had when they first entered. Once they had completely finished, Venom took the chance to continue their earlier conversation: "How long do you think it will take Dumbledore to find us?"

I'd be willing to bet he's found us already; We have been down here for over an hour at this point. He's probably just trying to figure out how to get in here, it's not like the entrance was easy to find, is it?

"True." Venom conceded as the pair seated themselves against the wall, head leaned back against the cool stone. "Want to make a bet about how long it will take him to get down here?"

What could you possibly bet, Venom? You were interrupted before and I'd really like to know what an alien that shares my body could possibly offer for a bet.

"Well, given that I can assimilate the knowledge and experiences of anyone I bond to, even partially, I could always form a temporary partial-bond with a particularly attractive girl and show you a few memories of her showering or-"

Venom! Harry interrupted, cheeks burning beneath the symbiote suit. I'm not going to let you steal stuff like that from people's heads! That's wrong! And I'm certainly not going to use you to peek on girls naked! That would be a total violation of their privacy! Despite himself, Harry couldn't help but imagine what the girl from the airport would look like without any clothes on.

"But what's the fun of having powers if you refuse to use them for lechery? I mean, uh…"Venom broke off, floundering.

Venom?

"Hold on, I'm trying to think of a word that sounds close enough to lechery I can claim that's what I meant to say." Harry sighed, and, if he had been in control of an independent body, he would've pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. Suddenly he broke out of his aggravation, a startling new idea forming in his mind.

Venom, you said you can access all of a person's knowledge and experiences?

"Yeah, so what? You said you weren't going to let us use it for anything fun." Venom sounded more than a little put out.

Oh, grow up, Harry admonished the symbiote, fully aware of how strange it was to be admonishing a… Actually, how old even is Venom?

"I'm approximately three-hundred-and-twelve of your years old." Venom informed him matter-of-factly.

YOU'RE WHAT? Harry was flabbergasted. Venom, that means, wow. You're older than a lot of countries! Wait, how are you still so immature if you're over three-hundred years old?

"You should really be more respectful of your elders, Harry." Venom admonished mock-seriously. "Besides, I'm not immature, you're immature."

Yeah, I can tell. Harry thought back dryly. Anyway, what I was saying was: if you can assimilate knowledge directly from other people, then that means We can just copy knowledge from other wizards and learn magic that way!

"That's an amazing idea, Harry! We should try Dumbledore first! I bet he has all sorts of knowledge stored in that ancient brain of his!" Venom could barely contain his excitement, ignoring Harry's snort at hearing the centuries-old alien refer to anyone as 'ancient.'

Then, Harry had a thought which put a damper on their enthusiasm. Wait, Venom, what if Dumbledore's occlumency stops you from getting his knowledge?

"Oh." The symbiote deflated abruptly, "hadn't thought of that." Venom thought for several moments before suggesting "I could always try a full-bond? Then I could access his memories physically rather than telepathically?"

I think Dumbledore might notice if alien goo tried to bond with him completely. Harry pointed out dryly, fighting down the sudden rush of unwelcome emotion that came with the thought of Venom bonding with another. Besides, isn't there a risk Dumbledore would be incompatible?

"Well, yeah, but the worst that could happen is his body could reject the bond and he could die an agonised death. No big deal." Venom assured his host.

Venom, as far as we know Dumbledore is a good person, good people dying agonised deaths is a big deal.

"You are absolutely no fun, you know that?" Venom muttered truculently.

You say the nicest things to me, Venom. Harry responded with mock sweetness. Only to break off as the patch of wall they were leaning against suddenly began to slide downward behind them. Over the sound of grinding stone, Venom's superior hearing could just make out the sound of footsteps on stone from beyond the section of shifting wall. In less than a second, the symbiote suit had flowed off of Harry, leaving him dressed once more in his dark jeans, black t-shirt, and white trainers. The book, Harry noticed, had disappeared at some point during his wardrobe change, although -given the odd thickness of the back of his shirt and its sudden weight- he had an idea where it might have gone. Even as this transformation was occuring, Harry was levering himself to his feet and turning to face the new arrival, fists clenched in case it turned out to be hostile. Fortunately, it wasn't hostile. It was Dumbledore.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Harry cried out, feeling an overwhelming flood of relief that he could finally escape this underground hell that had so nearly cost him his life.

"Hello, Harry." The aged wizard smiled kindly down at him, eyes twinkling in the light issuing from his upraised wand. "What say we leave this smelly old crypt?" Despite his almost joking words, Harry couldn't help noticing that Dumbledore's piercing blue eyes made a brief but thorough inspection of the entire room, and particularly the still sealed doorway to the chambers of the monsters, before returning to Harry. Reaching out, the headmaster offered Harry his free hand, which Harry grasped, finding its grip surprisingly strong for one so seemingly frail. "Come, my boy, let us leave this dreary place." Dumbledore said as he gently guided Harry onto the stairs and up toward the open air far above. "I'm afraid I must apologise for my lateness in coming to collect you." He began, sounding genuinely regretful. "I arrived just as you fell into this chamber, and was not fast enough to prevent your descent, indeed, I must admit I am grateful to see that you were not injured by your fall." Here the elderly warlock turned to look at Harry, gently probing the boy for an answer as to how precisely he had emerged from a forty-foot fall completely unscathed.

"I was really scared Professor." Harry began earnestly, doing his best to look innocent. "I was falling so fast and I couldn't stop thinking about how I wanted to slow down before I hit the ground and, somehow, I did. I landed on the ground as if I'd just stepped off a staircase." Dumbledore appeared to believe this fabrication, because he nodded with a knowing smile.

"Accidental magic often manifests when a young witch or wizard is experiencing great emotional stress, we should both be most grateful that yours did so in this situation." Dumbledore's eyes hardened slightly, although his face retained its kindly warmth. "I would be most interested to hear, Harry, the precise circumstances that lead to your separation from the Dursleys. The charms I had monitoring your well-being and proximity to them alerted me to the fact that you were a great distance from them several minutes before I arrived here to find you falling into that pit."

"You were monitoring me, Professor?" Harry was unsure whether to feel pleased that the headmaster had taken his concerns seriously enough to monitor him personally, or upset that the wizard had been tracking him.

"I apologise for the intrusion," Dumbledore had the good grace to appear somewhat contrite "but I'm afraid I thought that the Dursleys may have reacted poorly to my discussion with them yesterday evening. I felt it best to err on the side of caution."

"Well you were right, Professor, they told me we were going to visit the temple complex, but when we arrived they just pushed me out of the car, locked the doors, and drove off yelling about how they weren't going to tolerate my unnaturalness or let you threaten them." Harry explained, giving a somewhat embellished version of the events surrounding his parting from the Dursleys.

"I see." Dumbledore's eyes had become almost flint-like, and Harry could see something cold and powerful stirring in their piercing blue depths. Then the headmaster blinked, and it was gone. "It would seem then, young Harry, that you will be in need of alternate accommodations." As the headmaster spoke, they finally reached the top of the stairs they had been climbing throughout their discussion. There, Harry was met with a sight he had never expected: someone who looked even older than Dumbledore. The man was dressed in a plain white robe, with wispy white hair, and pale -almost waxy- skin. His eyes were deep-set, but bright and alert, peering out of his face intently. "This," Dumbledore said, indicating the even older man, "Is Nicolas Flamel, Harry. Nicolas, this is young Harry Potter."

"Emphasis on young, Albus." The ancient man said with a kind smile as he reached out a hand to shake, Harry took it, careful to squeeze only very gently: the man looked frail enough to break if Harry breathed too heavily on him. "How old are you, Mr. Potter? It can't have been more than ten, twenty years since Voldemort fell, can it?" The man had a very faint accent, but Harry couldn't quite place it, French maybe, or Italian.

"I'm ten, Sir." Harry answered politely, somewhat confused by the man's apparent odd grasp on time.

"You must forgive me," Flamel said with a slight bow, "once one has lived as long as I, time tends to run together somewhat."

"How old are you?" Harry asked before he could stop himself.

"I am six-hundred-and…" The man trailed off looking thoughtful "Albus, what year is it?"

"1991." Dumbledore supplied helpfully.

"Sixty-seven then. I am six-hundred-and-sixty-seven." Upon seeing Harry's stunned expression, he continued "I am an alchemist, and am, therefore, immortal."

Damn, Venom thought appreciatively, this guy is even older than me.

I know, Harry agreed, more than a little awed by the revelation.

"As I was saying," Dumbledore unknowingly interrupted the silent conversation. "You, Harry, will be requiring new lodgings for the foreseeable future."

"I would be happy to offer my home, Albus." Flamel offered immediately, with a welcoming smile to Harry.

"My thanks, old friend." Dumbledore said, sounding pleased at the offer. "But I have an idea I believe young Harry may find even more agreeable." Turning to Harry, Dumbledore said something that completely shocked the young boy. "How would you like to live with an old friend of your parents, Harry?"

"A friend of my parents?" Harry echoed, hardly daring to believe it.

"Yes." Dumbledore confirmed with twinkling eyes. "His name is Remus Lupin. At the time of your initial placement with the Dursleys he was unavoidably detained in the north, but in the time since he has returned and now lives in London." The twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes dimmed slightly as he continued. "He is also, I'm afraid to say, the bearer of a rather unfortunate magical affliction that he will doubtless tell you the details of once you meet him. As a result of this, and some rather unfortunately backward laws, he has had difficulty finding work in the wizarding world, so your contact with it will be limited. He has however, as I understand it, been able to form a rather successful business in the muggle world."

"Muggle?" Harry was momentarily distracted by the odd word.

"It is a common wizarding term for those without magical ability." Dumbledore explained.

That query answered, Harry was able to make sense of Dumbledore's earlier statement, "So, what does he do?" Harry asked, intensely curious to learn more about the man he would soon be living with.

"In the wizarding world he would be known as a Hit-Wizard," Dumbledore began. "But I believe the muggles would term him a-"


"Bounty hunter!" The short, wiry man hissed the word out between his tightly clenched teeth, transforming the title into a curse fit to damn the figure who hunted him. The man couldn't see the figure at the moment, it had been following casually behind him at a discrete distance for almost half-an-hour before he had been able to make his move. The figure was good, the man had to give it that, if it weren't for his long experience dodging tails sent by organisations on both sides of the law, he would never have even noticed he was being followed. It was the little things that gave it away: the too-casual trail of the eyes over the wares in shop windows, never stopping to actually inspect any of the merchandise; the appraising glint in the figure's unnatural amber eyes whenever they 'happened' to pass over the man; and the quiet tension which gripped the figure's lean frame, even as it 'casually' ambled down the street behind the man.

As soon as he had begun to suspect the figure of following him, the man had begun to complicate his route, cutting around sharp corners, doubling back on himself, and speeding up as soon as he was obscured from the figure's view. Sure enough, no matter what actions he took the figure stayed just on the edges of his perceptions, never seeming to be paying any specific attention to the man, but always there. Finally, the man had set a course for one of London's seedier neighbourhoods, where his own ostentatious clothes would mark him as one to be feared, while his follower's understated and unobtrusive clothing would signal that they had something to hide.

After all, having something to hide was dangerous, particularly this late at night. His winding path had culminated in a swift turn into a dead-end alley behind a large, and 'abandoned,' warehouse he used as headquarters for one of his meth-labs. Once ensconced in his hiding place behind one of the dumpsters that cluttered the small alleyway, the man drew the shiny silver pistol he kept tucked beneath his designer sports-jacket. Then, he settled in to wait for the figure to appear.

The figure, however, never obliged. After almost fifteen minutes of silent waiting, the man could take the tension no longer: running a hand through his tightly slicked back red hair, the man took unconscious comfort in the familiar sensation of his heavy golden rings running along his heavily oiled scalp as he stepped out from his hiding place and into the alley proper. The most likely reason for the figure's absence was that the man had successfully lost his pursuer in the tangle of streets and passageways he had navigated through on his way to the alley, but that didn't mean he couldn't take some extra precautions on his way out. Walking over to the deliberately dilapidated-looking door to the warehouse, the man rapped on it sharply with two knuckles.

"It's me." The man informed the door, and a moment later it swung open to reveal a large heavily-muscled man in a leather jacket.

"Yes, boss?" Leather-Jacket asked, his gravelly voice emerging from deep within his broad chest.

"Grab whoever's best in a fight and come with me, I had some twat following me earlier and I don't want to take any chances." The man's voice was taut with nervous energy but overlaid with self-assured command. In response, Leather-Jacket simply nodded before turning and waving another muscle-bound mountain to join him at the door. The second thug wore an expensive looking pair of mirrored sunglasses, despite the overcast sky and dim lights of the warehouse. Once Sunglasses had joined him and Leather-Jacket, the man cocked a finger, indicating that the pair were to follow him before heading for the mouth of the alley.

Upon reaching the corner where the alley turned into the slightly wider, but still deserted, thoroughfare, the man gestured to his bodyguards that they should take the lead out. Wordlessly, the pair passed on either side of their boss and stepped out of the alley and into the weak light of the London afternoon. Without warning a foot lashed out from the side of the alley, shattering the lenses that gave Sunglasses his name, and crushing the man's nose with the distinctive crunch of broken cartilage. Sunglasses went down in a heap, hands flying up to grasp his injured face as blood began to pour from his shattered nose.

Before he had even hit the ground, a second swift kick to the temple had knocked him out cold, silencing the agonised grunts that had begun to force themselves from his larynx. Warned by his comrade's fate, Leather-Jacket reached into a pocket and pulled out a small black handle, which -with the press of a button- flicked out into a wickedly sharp switchblade. From around the corner stepped the figure, amber eyes fixed and body slightly crouched in preparation for swift action.

The figure was dressed in a simple dark suit, something anyone from a simple office-worker to a high-paid lawyer could, and did, wear to work every day. The suit was offset by an understated red-and-gold-striped tie which contrasted elegantly with his plain grey button-up. The ensemble was completed by a pair of smart, but practical, black leather shoes; one of which shone with a highly polish sheen, while the other glistened darkly with the rapidly drying blood from Sunglasses' nose. Seeing that the figure's hands were empty, Leather-Jacket grinned maliciously before darting forward, knife poised to slip between the figure's ribs and end his life.

Before the knife came anywhere near its intended target, Leather-Jacket found his arm caught in a grip as unyielding as stone, first holding it in place, then swiftly bending it back until he was forced to release the knife or find it slicing into his own flesh. Grunting, he attempted to exert his mammoth-muscles to prevent the backwards movement of his arm, but to no avail, the figure continued to bend his arm without any apparent effort. Soon Leather-Jacket's arm had reached the limit of human flexibility, then the figure bent it further. With a crack that echoed startlingly loud in the confined space of the alley, Leather-Jacket's humerus snapped, drawing an agonised scream from the brutish man as he clutched at his maimed arm with his whole one.

The grip on Leather-Jacket's arm was released, only for one of the figure's feet -the one still wet with Sunglasses' blood- to flash out, striking Leather-Jacket's knee and cleanly snapping the man's kneecap. The formerly grinning man went down with a howl of pain as his leg bent unnaturally in the wrong direction, before, like his companion, his cries were silenced by a swift kick to the side-of-the-head. The figure stepped over his fallen opponents without sparing them so much as a glance and smiled at their now-trembling boss.

"Hello, Mr. Crimp." The figure's voice was hoarse, but surprisingly soft and agreeable. "I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to come with me, you are, after all, wanted in connection with fraud, embezzlement, bribery, blackmail, arson, pimping, drug-running, gun-pushing, date-rape, assault, murder, and genocide, and I'm told that was just one Thursday." Despite the pleasant sound of his voice, the figure's face was hard as he stared down into the shorter man's eyes.

"Who are you? I'll have you on my list!" The, now-named, Mr. Crimp blustered as his eyes darted around the alleyway, searching for some means of escape.

"Now, now, Thomas." The figure showed his teeth in a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "My name is Remus, and you'll have plenty of time to work on your list once you're in jail." So saying he reached out and wrapped a hand around Thomas' neck, lifting him off the ground as easily as a normal man might hold a baby. Remus' hand tightened around the red-haired-man's throat, constricting his windpipe and cutting off the flow of oxygen to his brain, whilst being careful not to do any lasting damage. After a few short seconds Crimp's struggles ceased and his eyes rolled back into his head, unconscious.

Hefting the man over his shoulder, Remus drew a small black phone from the inside of his jacket and flipped it open: "Police? I believe there's been some sort of altercation near Warehouse 23 at Tilbury Docks, I think two men are injured, and I saw signs of a struggle within the warehouse itself." The man paused, a slight smile spreading across his face. "Yes, I do think there could be someone in danger inside. Several people in fact if the sounds are to be believed." Another brief lull while he listened to the person on the other side of the phone "Please, don't waste a moment, I believe the people inside may have been taken hostage."

With that Remus snapped the phone shut, satisfied that the police would soon arrive to 'help' the two thugs, both of whom he knew had criminal records longer than some books, and the 'innocent hostages' working in the concealed meth-lab. Drawing his wand, Remus casually vanished the blood from his shoe, leaving it a perfect match for its counterpart once more, then he twisted in place and was gone.

He reappeared in another alleyway, less than a hundred feet away from Scotland Yard, from there he walked, Thomas Crimp still slung over his shoulder, calmly into the atrium of the police station. There he was greeted by a great deal of unhappy people and unfailingly polite, but harassed-looking, police officers. Ignoring the former and nodding courteously to the latter, Remus made his way to the desk-sergeant with the ease of long familiarity, smiling warmly at the pretty blonde-haired woman sitting behind the desk.

"Good afternoon, Sarah." Remus greeted the police officer, his careful politeness shot through with genuine affection. For her part, Sarah jerked slightly upon being addressed, her face shifting into a glowing smile as she realised the identity of her visitor. Unconsciously one of her hands came up to push a stray lock of golden hair behind one of her ears.

"Hello, Remus." She smiled at him, hands now fidgeting slightly with her pen. "Got another one I see." She indicated the unconscious form hanging limply from Remus' shoulder.

"Yes," he smiled almost bashfully, "quite a nasty one this time: Thomas Quentin Crimp."

"Really?" Sarah asked, coming out of her seat and stepping around the desk to inspect Remus' redheaded prisoner, putting her hand on his cheek to turn his face toward her. "How'd you manage to catch him? We've been after him for months, but he always seems to disappear into the maze of alleyways. Or to surround himself with so many thugs we can't get to him before he slips away." As she spoke her hand dropped from Crimp's face to rest lightly on Remus' arm, after a moment she seemed to realise what she had done and released her grip, blushing slightly.

Remus seemed not to notice anything "Well, he did try to vanish into the tangle of London's streets, but he only had two thugs with him by the time I managed to corner him. I'm afraid a concerned citizen may have noticed the disturbance I caused neutralising them and called the police. Might've thought there was something dangerous happening inside the 'abandoned' warehouse Mr. Crimp was using as a base for his meth-lab as well." His innocent facade was somewhat undermined by the mischievous grin tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Oh really?" Sarah did little to try and hide her own smile. "This wouldn't have been the same 'concerned citizen' who called the police thinking they had heard a disturbance from the back of the store Fitzmalfoy was using to hide those sex-slaves last month would it? The one who 'just so happened' to be alerted to the disturbance by your capturing Thompson and gave us probable cause to enter?"

"I really couldn't say." Remus had stopped trying to hide his grin now, it looked good on his usually care-worn features, stripping away years of worry and hinting at just how young the 31-year-old truly was. "Anyway, can you take him?" The smile melted away as he turned to business.

"Of course, just let me call a constable to take him down to the holding cells. Same account as usual for the bounty?" Sarah had quickly fallen into a well-practiced routine, helping to ease the tension that had animated her since Remus' arrival.

"Yes, thank you." The man in question smiled at her gratefully as she picked up the phone and pressed the extension for an internal call, the conversation was brief, and she returned the phone to its cradle in less than a minute.

"Remus-" She began suddenly, before stopping equally abruptly, face a mask of nervous indecision. "Would-" she broke off again, seemed to steel herself, then continued; "would you like to grab a drink tonight? After I get off work?"

A series of emotions flashed across Remus' face in quick succession: joy, nervousness, anticipation, realisation, regret, and finally resolve. Sarah's face had already begun to fall before he spoke "I'm sorry, Sarah, I can't."

"Still looking for your nephew, huh?" Her tone made it clear she already knew the answer.

"Yes. And besides-" Remus cut himself off quickly, looking guiltily at her to see if she had noticed his slip. She had.

"Besides what, Remus?" Sarah's voice had taken on a harder tone, and from the look on Remus' face he knew he was in dangerous waters.

"I just- I don't believe I would be right for you, Sarah, I'm sorry." He averted his eyes to avoid meeting her gaze.

"Why not, Remus? I like you, I know you like me, why won't you just give me a chance?" Her voice held resolve, clearly this she had been wanting to say this for a while.

"It's not you!" Remus burst out, startling them both with his vehemence. "You are kind, and intelligent, and funny, and so full of life, and-" He stopped himself, blushing slightly. "It's not you." He repeated softly. "I… Have a condition." Remus finally admitted, his voice slow and heavy with reluctance. "It means I can't be involved in that way, with anyone."

"Remus, I don't care if you're impotent!" Sarah told him fiercely.

"What!?" Remus was so shocked his eyes jerked up to meet hers for the first time since she had broached their current subject. "No- I mean- that's not-" his face was almost glowing as he attempted to sputter out his refutation; "I am not impotent." He finally managed to say, albeit very quietly. "My condition is a very rare one, it makes me…" He broke off as if searching for the right word "a hazard, to people I'm close to. I could never risk putting someone I cared about in danger that way."

"Doesn't what I want count for anything in this?" Sarah's normally pale cheeks were flushed with colour, and her amber eyes shone brightly from within her slim face.

"I'm sorry-" Remus said, and perhaps he would've said more, but at that moment the constable arrived and relieved him of his burden. The constable, a big man himself, struggled noticeably when he took Crimp's limp form from the slender bounty-hunter, and, during the distraction afforded by the man's stumble, Remus disappeared. Leaving a disappointed and highly frustrated Sarah behind him.

Remus reappeared in yet another of London's seemingly endless number of alleyways, this time next to a large and well-appointed tower-block of flats. Exiting the alley, he walked through the glass doors to the building, nodding to the sandy-haired security guard as he passed and stepping into one of the lifts at the opposite end of the atrium. Once inside, he pressed the button marked "24" and settled in to wait as the lift bore him to his destination. After several seconds, the doors opened with a ding and he stepped out onto the dark-blue-carpeted floor of the main hallway.

Turning left, he made his way with swift purposeful steps to the last door on the left, situated directly next to the windows overlooking the street below. Surreptitiously producing his wand, Remus tapped the door to his flat undoing his security enchantments and unlocking the door with a smart click. As soon as he opened the door, the werewolf knew something was wrong. His enhanced sense of smell informed him that there were two humans in the flat already, both of them tantalisingly familiar, but not immediately recognisable, and one of them underlied with a scent quite unlike any he had encountered before. Drawing his wand once more from within his jacket, Remus crept toward the entrance to his sitting room, footsteps making slightly less noise than a prowling cat's on the flagstone-floor of his entryway.

Upon reaching the doorway, Remus flattened himself against the wall beside the opening and concentrated on his enhanced senses of smell and hearing. Two sets of breathing were coming from inside the room, both steady, one from a relatively large individual, the other quite small, at least based on the pitch. The scents were the same he had detected on entering, but stronger now, still teasingly familiar, but beyond his attempts at definite identification; one of the scents he had definitely smelt before, but the other seemed like an altered form of one he had known very well.

As silently as he could, Remus inhaled a deep breath, seeking to draw in as much of the smells as he could. The second scent was reminiscent, he realised, of not one smell he had known, but two. It was similar to those well-known scents, but not identical, and it was this smell that bore the unique tang that differed so from every scent he had previously encountered. Abruptly, a new smell wafted into Remus sensitive naval cavity, sugar and a strong hint of citrus.

Sherbet Lemon? Remus thought, bewildered, and suddenly he knew who the first familiar scent must be. Stowing his wand, he made a point of scuffing his shoe slightly on the floor, then waited a moment before entering his sitting room.

"Professor Dumbledore! It's been too-" the words died in Remus throat as his eyes registered who he was seeing. On the right stood Dumbledore, just as Remus had known, dressed as flamboyantly as ever in a bright blue robe with gold designs, his long silver beard tucked neatly into his belt and hair flowing down his back like a quicksilver waterfall, but it was the figure next to the aged headmaster that froze Remus in his tracks and stopped his words mid-sentence. The boy was young, tall for his age, with pale skin, messy black hair, and startling emerald green eyes alight with a bright spark of intelligence. "H-Harry?" Remus choked out, hardly daring to believe it.

The boy shuffled his feet a little awkwardly, "Hello, Mr. Lupin." He said with a tentative smile. In an instant Remus had crossed the room and swept the boy up in a hug, spinning him around and laughing joyously before setting him down and stepping back to inspect him properly. "Harry! It's so good to see you again! I've been searching for you ever since I heard about Lily and James, but someone-" here he turned to look accusingly at Dumbledore "-refused to tell me where he had placed you."

"Alas, Remus, I'm afraid that Harry's greatest protection beyond even that wrought by his mother's love, was the secrecy of his location. If you had been making regular visits to a muggle neighbourhood people would doubtless have become suspicious that you knew of his whereabouts." Dumbledore seemed to truly regret that he had kept the man from visiting Harry, although his conviction was unshakeable.

In response, Remus only sighed, "I know, Professor, I understand your reasoning, particularly given my line of work, but that doesn't mean I have to be happy about it." Turning back to Harry he broke out into a broad smile once more, "Now, Harry, how have you been? You've grown so much since I last saw you! You look just like James, but you have Lily's eyes." His voice became very soft as he spoke of Harry's parents.

"I've been alright," Harry shrugged, "the Dursleys weren't particularly happy to have me around, but they kept me fed and sheltered and made sure I had clothes to wear and went to school and everything."

"Is that so?" Remus' amber eyes flashed slightly at Harry's description, "and, pray tell, where are the Dursleys at the moment?"

"That, Remus" Dumbledore smoothly interjected, "is why we are here. Recent events have made it clear to me that Harry should no longer live with the Dursleys, in fact, I believe it would be best if he were to live with you from now on." Dumbledore finished with his eyes twinkling behind his half-moon spectacles and hands clasped lightly behind his back.

"With me?" Remus was stunned at the suggestion. "But, Dumbledore, you know about my-" here he broke off, glancing at Harry before continuing "-condition. Harry wouldn't be safe with me." Despite his words the man looked longingly at Harry, clearly wishing to make up for almost ten years of lost time.

"I have complete faith that you will be able to make arrangements for Harry when you are… indisposed, Remus." Dumbledore assured his former pupil with absolute confidence.

Remus was clearly wavering, but he turned to Harry rather than voice agreement: "Harry," he said, looking deep into the boy's eyes, "do you want to come live with me?" The boy seemed surprised to have his opinion consulted, but he looked at Remus appraisingly for a moment.

"Yes, I want to live with you, Mr. Lupin." He answered with a firm nod.

"Please, call me Remus. Or Moony."

"Moony?" Harry asked, confused.

"An old nickname your father gave me, I'll tell you all about the story once we have you settled in." Their exchange was interrupted by Dumbledore.

"With that settled, I'm afraid I must return to Hogwarts and continue preparing for the upcoming school year, I shall see you next week, Harry, for our first lesson." So saying, he swept from the room. Leaving boy and werewolf alone together.

And that, my (hopefully) rabid readers, is all she wrote. For this chapter at least. And by she I mean he, and by he I mean me. So that's all I wrote, is what I'm saying. Anyway, at least it's not a cliffhanger this time, right? As always, please write in with any constructive criticism, comments, or praise (always nice to hear). Also if you have any questions or confusions please feel free to PM me or write a review and I will do my best to either explain, fix the problem, or inform you that I'm not going to tell you anything because it's significant for the rest of the story.

There is also a very unsubtle reference in this chapter, and if you noticed it and recognised it then good for you because what it's referencing is awesome. Something I wanted to address in this story is the Dursleys' physical abuse of Harry, which has become basically fanon, despite the fact that Vernon specifically states they've never actually beaten Harry in book one. It's become so overdone at this point that it's honestly just gratuitous, and I figured I'd try to be one of the few who actually represented the Dursleys as they are in the books: neglectful, emotionally abusive, and objectively terrible guardians, but not child assaulting demons who beat their nephew half-to-death on a daily-basis.

(Also, just to answer any questions there might be out there: the ancient priests never used the tunnel Venom did to retrieve the Lexicon because they couldn't. In order to access it one must either pass the trial to become the successor of Ra, which Venom did by reaching the final chamber, or be given permission by Ra so the wards will allow access. This isn't explained in the story proper because there was no way for it to come up organically, and it is, truth be told, a minor detail.)

Fanfic Recommendation:

Oblivion by ChaosEmperorNex

This is a crossover with the Elder Scrolls games, which I like because I fucking love those games they are awesome, but it's set in the world of Harry Potter. The concept behind it is something I've honestly never seen done before, at least in HP fanfiction, and it's both very interesting and extremely fun. In short: Harry is the reincarnation of the Daedric Prince Jyggalag and is attempting to regain the power he once held as an all-powerful deity. The story is extremely well written with excellent action scenes, character development, and pretty much everything else you can think of. The one negative to this story is that it is, very unfortunately, incomplete, and hasn't been updated in years. So, if you don't want to fall in love with a story and then be sad that there isn't more of it, maybe consider staying away. If you're willing to love and lose, however, definitely check the story out, it is an extremely enjoyable read while it lasts. (And maybe if enough people read it and say how awesome it is it might become active once more, a man can dream, can't he?)