Touched by Death – Chapter 32 (Face Fletched in Horror)
Harry had found out soon after Marcus' meeting with Sirius on what the Flint's had tried to pull. At first, Harry had felt scared and frightened that they would take Marcus from him. The younger Gryffindor wasn't sure on how much time had passed when he finally calmed down.
Marcus immediately tried to calm down his boyfriend. At first trying to calm down his emotions before explaining what had happened.
Harry stayed silent for a while as Marcus spoke. Though his emotions were flickering across his face and eyes. The first one had been fear of losing Marcus. The next had been annoyance and hate. Hatred aimed at Marcus' parents, because they had tried to get him under their control. The next emotion had been amusement. Harry was amused that Sirius had managed to outwit the Flint's way before they realized Marcus was firmly out of their grasp. Harry couldn't even recall when Sirius had offered Marcus his blessing to court. But apparently that was when it become official that Marcus was a Black. Harry's next emotion was surprise, he never knew what Marcus' middle name was. Harry should have, since Marcus had signed his name when Sirius drew up the original contract. He could honestly say that he loved Marcus' name. But the Gryffindor could tell that Marcus had mixed feelings about the name, since it was given to him by his parents.
"Marcus," Harry's voice was soft. "It's still your name. Don't let them take that from you. They may have given that to you, but you're the one that can earn what your name means. You aren't a Flint anymore, you haven't been for a while."
Marcus had looked unsure at first, but he finally nodded.
Harry smiled as the last expression crossed his face. It was relief and love. Relief that the plan of Marcus' parents hadn't worked. And the last one would always be love, love for the man he had fallen in love with. He leaned up and left a soft peck on Marcus' lips. "I wouldn't let it worry you. It's your last year after all."
Marcus made a small humming noise. "Though, I still have a task to make sure nobody tries anything."
Harry rolled his eyes, "with you, Terence, Sirius, my friends, and the rest of Slytherin House. I doubt they could do anything without any of you coming to my aid."
"Never said that Slytherins fight fair," Marcus smirked. "Which means… you can't expect that they'll do the same."
Harry looked grim as he slowly nodded. "I know. I don't like it. But I'm thankful to know that I won't be completely defenseless this time around."
"Quite…" Marcus commented.
Marcus had felt on edge since he first got the contract over a year ago. Or least it definitely felt that long. It had all started when he and Sirius had accompanied Harry to Gringotts, before the old coot got the boot. He remembered the shocked look Klurkect, the goblin healer in charge of the cleansing ritual. Nor did he miss the words that he would communicate with Lord Black about what he discovered. Marcus knew that the healer probably reached out to Sirius, but he doubted he told Sirius the entire story. Marcus doubted he would have been told if it weren't for his ties to Harry, Sirius and his employment with the Goblins as a Curse Breaker.
Marcus never did see the letter that must have been sent to Sirius. He wasn't sure if the letter had been sent to him either. Mainly because Sirius had never said another word about it. And Marcus wasn't about to bring the topic up for conversation.
When Marcus had gotten his letter about it, there was nothing in the letter to tell him what he was about to find out. The letter had demanded his presence at Gringotts, a matter that pertained to his employment there. The letter had instructed that it would work as a portkey for that following weekend. And even if it had been during one of his classes, he would have been excused, even if the professor didn't like it. That was when he got the full story, but only after he had signed the job contract. After all, this was a top-secret matter and it demanded confidentiality of the highest order.
It was then that Head Master Xurnak had explained the contract in full detail. It had been discovered that the darkness that had been purified from Harry, was indeed a horcrux.
Marcus had been horrified when he found out. He would have never imagined that the scar in his boyfriend's head was part of Voldemort's soul. That had also been another shocker to the Slytherin, the Dark Lord had made Horcruxes. Then things started to make sense, especially on what happened two years ago. Marcus remembered telling Harry that the diary in his 5th year was actually a horcrux, though that was when Harry was only 12. But he never did elaborate on what one was, no matter how much Harry persisted on the matter.
Head Master Xurnak had almost looked gleeful when Marcus confided in him about the destruction of one horcrux in the legendary Chamber of Secrets. Apparently, goblins weren't big fans of the Dark Lord, especially after the last war.
Marcus had been told that the fragment had been studied to determine how many there were. And since it was barely a sliver of a soul, but just as dark. They had a way to figure out how many there were and could use that to determine an approximate location. The only problem was, the smaller the soul within the horcrux, the harder it was to track the others.
And that was Marcus assignment, he was to go and track these horcruxes and destroy them. Head Master Xurnak had estimated that it would take two to five years to complete.
And so far, one year had passed since Marcus had signed that contract. Though he had requested about the possibility of informing his boyfriend. Considering that these horcruxes belonged to the being or monster who had sought after the Gryffindor's death. Plus the fact that one of them had been in Harry for least thirteen years.
Head Master Xurnak actually considered the matter, before deciding that he could be told AFTER the contract was completed. He would not risk this information getting into the wrong hands, even if it was the Boy-Who-Lived.
Marcus let the topic die on that and didn't bother to ask again. A goblin hated to repeat themselves twice or be pestered by a matter that should have been kept closed. And you DEFINITELY didn't want to do that to the Head Master goblin of Gringotts. There were just some things that you didn't do or even ponder the idea.
Following that conversation, the goblins soon discovered something in the Flint's family vault. The goblins already had a right to search that vault, but it made matters easier since Marcus also had rights to the vault. Which meant, no added paperwork needed to be sent in order to search the vault. In normal circumstances, Marcus' title as heir to the House of Flint would be revoked. Which the title technically was and so he would lose all rights to the family vault.
But it so happened, that a certain artifact was actually resting in one of Marcus' private vaults. He had happened to swipe it and several other artifacts from the family vaults, along with a considerable amount of galleons, sickles, and knuts. Marcus didn't even realize at the time what it was, but he knew it held some importance to his family. And so, he took it and put it where his family would never get their hands back on it. At the time it was petty revenge against his family, but now it would come in handy.
Marcus didn't hesitate to fetch the artifact and bring it back to Head Master Xurnak's office. Where it was be examined and destroyed. There was a small hope that they could use this more accurately to find the rest. Marcus didn't see what value there was in a stupid ring, but it apparently was something that was important to the Dark Lord. That was the first object that was found in Gringotts. There had also been another, but in the Black family vaults. A vault that Marcus also had access to, being that he was the Heir to the House of Black. That object had been a goblet that appeared to be made of gold with a Badger on the side. Though Marcus silently wondered if he would have to explain to Sirius why he was in the Black Family Vaults. He wasn't looking forward to that conversation, maybe when this whole ordeal was over with. But that would have to be saved for another day, hopefully somewhere far in the future.
"You have done well, Heir Black. It has helped reveal several locations that will quicken the length of your contract," Head Master Xurnak spoke slowly.
Marcus nodded, "Are any of them known locations for me?"
Xurnak nodded, "one is the wizard dwelling with Lord Black. Another is somewhere inside of Hogwarts."
Marcus eyebrows had shot up at that. What would a horcrux be doing inside of Sirius' house? He honestly wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer. But he knew it wasn't in Sirius' new house, it had to be in the old one. Marcus knew very well that Sirius hated anything to do with his family. And that included anything that was dark. Marcus wound up nodding before excusing himself. There was no time to waste and he hoped that during that summer he could use the opportunity to ask Sirius to stop by his ancestor home. He just hoped that his excuse of the goblins having contracts to have some of them destroyed would work.
Thankfully by the next summer before Marcus' 7th year, another horcrux would be destroyed. Though this one would be in the shape of a locket with the coat of Slytherin on it. Marcus was just thankful that the artifacts were spared and purified while the horcrux from them was destroyed. Marcus would have hated to have such a priceless heirloom from the founders destroyed forever. The good news about it was, it helped narrow down the location for the next horcrux. Marcus didn't really think that Sirius would believe him when he said that several of the goblins wanted several dark artifacts destroyed. But they were aware that they were under the protection within the Black Ancestral home. Sirius had been far too glad to occupancy Marcus to his 'beloved' childhood home in hopes that the Black's precious heirlooms would be destroyed. Sirius didn't even want to step a foot back inside the old place, but let Marcus have free reign to find whatever the goblins wanted. The goblins could have the entire place destroyed if they wanted. Marcus was just thankful he didn't have to go into detail what Head Master Xurnak was really after. Though he didn't hesitate to ransack the place for other dark objects that Gringotts might be interested in. Plus, it helped with his cover story in case Sirius was waiting outside for him. Which meant that his next stop was back to Gringotts, they had another horcrux to destroy.
But there was a problem about the matter of finding the next horcrux. For one matter, it was in Hogwarts, the Room of Requirement to be exact and Marcus was very aware of how vast that room was. Not to consider the fact that students have been piling their junk in that room for years, if not centuries. Marcus wouldn't be surprised if this took him more than a year to find the sixth horcrux. He was definitely not looking forward to this. Especially considering that Harry was noticing his absence more and more. Marcus had never felt more disappointed in himself that he couldn't even tell Harry why. Terence had already confided in him that Harry was being a stupid Gryffindor and letting his doubts control him. That didn't stop Marcus from trying to spend as much time preparing his boyfriend for the upcoming tasks while fulfilling his career as a Curse Breaker. But overall, just being there for Harry when he could. There was no way he was going to let Harry face this on his own.
Marcus couldn't wait till he could find the horcrux and destroy it. Because that meant he was only one horcrux away from the Dark Lord being vulnerable. And that meant that Voldemort could be killed for good this time. And there was no way that Marcus was going to leave that duty to Harry. His boyfriend already had enough anguish in his life because of that madman's tyranny. This was his mission and he was going to see Voldemort dead for good, along with his Death Eaters. He just hoped that it wouldn't wind up killing him in the long run.
Harry felt that the night before the final task was the worst. It felt that anything that could go wrong, would. Maybe that was why he kept tossing and turning in his and Marcus bed. Even Marcus comforting touch didn't seem to help. It was like Harry couldn't feel it in his dream state.
The dream eventually ended with Harry jolting right up with a scream on his lips.
Marcus comforting arms were around him, bringing Harry to his chest. "Harry, it was just a dream."
Harry felt a slight shudder go through him. And slowly kept repeating to himself, "just a dream," over and over. The dream had felt so real, but most of it he couldn't even recall. He remembered that he had been running, but not sure if it was towards or away from something.
"What was it?" Marcus pried.
Harry frowned as he pulled slightly away from Marcus. "I'm not sure… But I was running."
Marcus looked unsure at that. "It may come back to you later. There's no sense in worrying too much about it."
"Maybe…" Harry muttered to himself. He wasn't sure if he really wanted to remember what the dream was about. Especially if it caused him to want to scream from it. But he felt that this was important somehow, he just didn't know why yet. And so, he tried to put it out of his mind for the time being.
"Well, there's no sense in trying to go back to sleep. They probably already started breakfast," Harry commented out loud.
Marcus looked like he wanted to protest that Harry should try to get some more sleep. He wound up just sighing before nodding. It would be useless to try to convince Harry to go back to sleep for another hour or two. He was well aware that after breakfast, the champions had to head out to the Quidditch Pitch for the final task.
"Well… if you won't try to go back to sleep. Just promise you'll keep my necklace on and never take it off," Marcus let his fingers thread through Harry's locks.
The small Gryffindor leaned into the touch, "I promise. It's not like I ever take it off anyways."
Marcus smiled and pressed a kiss to Harry's forehead. "If I can't protect you, this is the best I can do. Even if Terence will be watching your back."
"And I'll be just fine. Now come on, I want to have breakfast before I have to leave for this stupid thing."
Marcus snorted, though he didn't disagree with Harry's comment.
It didn't take long for Harry and Marcus to be joined by their group of friends. Marcus was on Harry's right side, while Dean was on his left. Terence sat in from of them with Neville and Seamus on both sides.
"You ready for this, Harry?" Terence asked.
Harry grinned, "as ready as I'll ever be."
"Don't forget that Hagrid's been supplying them his creatures. I'm just glad I'm not in there," Neville said softly.
Harry slightly winced at the thought. He wasn't exactly thrilled at the thought of facing any of his creatures. And it looked like Terence shared the same sentiment. It was common knowledge that Hagrid loved his dangerous creatures. It wasn't a very comforting thought on what was to come.
After what felt like another hour or two, Harry and Terence stood up to make their way outside. It wouldn't be long before the rest of the school made their way outside as well. But at least Harry would be able to find out what exactly they had to do in this maze. Since that had never been made clear when they revealed that they would be going through a maze.
That was when Harry caught a glimpse of Headmistress McGonagall. It looks like she would be in charge of explaining things.
"As you all are aware, this is the final task for the Triwizard Tournament. This won't be like the first two tasks. There will be no dragons or swimming in the depths of the lake. But you will find challenges in the maze. Some that you may find hard to overcome. You have one objective, to find the Triwizard Cup before your fellow champions. You will then be portkeyed to the entrance of the maze and they will be declared the winner of the Triwizard Tournament. I know you will each do your school proud. But if you chose to withdraw, simply cast red sparks with your wand and you'll be collected from the maze. Good luck," McGonagall's voice was stern as she spoke.
Harry shuffled his feet as he listened to Professor McGonagall. He knew there would be more than just finding this cup. His nerves were already ticking and just wanted this tournament to be over with. Thankfully this was the last task and then it would be over. Harry watched as Terence was deemed to go first, he did have the most points after all. Viktor would go second, and Harry would be the last to enter the maze. Harry wasn't surprised by this order, since he didn't really gain any points in the second task and had only gotten points because he technically did get the egg in the 1st task.
Terence gave a reassuring smile before entering the maze. Viktor gave a nod to him before he entered himself.
Harry took a deep breath in before walking slowly in the maze. He soon let out a breath of air as the maze closed behind him. "Of course," he muttered to himself as he cast a silent Lumos. It may have been bright outside, but the maze was dark and had only a little light. "Might as well get this over with." With that, Harry start making his way past the tall, green hedges. He soon lost count on how many turns he had taken. Felt like he was just going in circles, though he had cast a Point Me spell. He was hoping that the cup would be towards the north. That's when he started coming across the creatures.
The first creature wouldn't have been too bad if his boggart was the same. But it seemed like the form had changed. Instead of the usual form of the dementor it would take, it was something completely different. Something that started to shake Harry's world.
"Marcus," Harry choked out as he fell to his knees. He could already feel tears welling up in his eyes. "You can— you can't be dead… No…"
In front of Harry was a very still form of Marcus, lifeless eyes looking at him. He was wearing his traditional Slytherin robes. He felt at the point of sobbing before he finally snapped out of it.
Harry grasped at the pendant under his robes, it was heating up and could feel waves of love and comfort. "You're not real," Harry growled under his breath as he stood to his feet. Harry grasped his wand tightly as he cast Riddikulus at the boggart in front of him. It changed into a familiar scene when Terence had dumped water on Marcus, and he looked indignant like he couldn't believe his friend. Harry let out a small laugh and watched at the boggart exploded into smoke and was gone. Most likely it would reform somewhere else in the maze.
Harry hardened his features slightly as he continued to press on. He really didn't want to dwell on what he just saw. He knew that Marcus wasn't really dead once he felt the necklace heat up. He did wonder if Marcus was able to feel his panic and fear. He shook his head slightly as he made another several twists and turns within the maze. That was when he came across a Blast-Ended Skrewt. Harry steadied his wand and was wary to approach the creature.
But once the skrewt was aware of someone's presence, it started to make it way to its new prey.
The first thing that Harry realized was that the skrewt was fast. He started trying to back up as fast as he could. That was all it took before Harry tripped over his own two feet and fell on his backside. He felt his fear start to spike, he didn't want that stinger anywhere near him. That was when he noticed the underside of the creature. Hoping for the best, he sent an Impediment Jinx at the underside. It worked.
The creature was knocked back and didn't seem to be moving. At least for now it wasn't.
Harry didn't waste any time in getting back on his feet and making a dash away from the creature as far as he could get. He had no interest of being anywhere near that creature if he could help it.
Harry felt like he was running forever before he finally slowed to a stop. He still hadn't seen the other champions yet, not even Terence. He did get a sense of déjà vu, but simply ignored it. That was when he looked up and his breath was caught in his throat. Because not even fifty feet away was the Twiwizard Cup, glowing with a blue aura. Harry ran towards it, he didn't care. He was so close to this being over and being in Marcus arms.
Harry almost wanted to curse himself for not paying better attention to his surroundings. He shouldn't have just charged towards the cup. Because now he had a wound on his leg, all courtesy of one of Hagrid's Acromantula. He still grabbed the cup and could feel it portkey him to his destination. Just not the destination that he thought it would bring him. His leg was throbbing painful and he yelled when the cup deposited him. Because he had landed right on his now injured leg.
When Harry finally had enough senses to look around him, he was confused. Nothing around him was familiar. He had thought he be in front of a maze not what looked to be a graveyard. That was when Harry saw something approaching and they were carrying something. So, Harry attempted to crawl away back to the cup. He figured if the cup had brought him here, maybe if he grabbed it, it may take him away. Before he could think any further on his idea, he screamed.
Harry didn't notice a snake that slithered near him and had bitten deep into his other leg. He could already feel himself getting lightheaded. No doubt the snake had just injected him with its poison. Not wanting the snake to bite him again, Harry held his wand tightly. And before the snake could attack him again, Harry cast the most powerful cutting curse he knew. And since he had learned the curse from his boyfriend, he had a feeling that the curse might be a little dark in nature. At that point he didn't care, he didn't want to die.
Harry watched in silent satisfaction as the curse cut through the snake's head and was stunned to watch as the snake disappeared in black smoke. Though he could swear he thought he heard high pitch screaming. Harry felt a little disoriented and before he knew it, he was hauled to his feet and restrained by a statue.
"Harry Potter, at last we meet."
Harry had to shake his head for a moment, he still felt lightheaded. And it wasn't helping that he had Acromantula venom and snake poison coursing through his body. When he looked who spoke to him, he didn't recognize him. "Who are you?" Even to Harry, his voice sounded cracked and defensive.
If Harry hadn't been pinned by some statue, he may have flinched back at the loud laugh.
"Not surprised you don't know me. I was disguised for the entire year."
"Mad-Eye. Though I should say, Barty Crouch, Jr," Harry quietly muttered.
The skinny man looked slightly surprised.
"Several of the professors figured out who you were," Harry commented. "If not for our stupid Ministry, you would have been sent back to the Dementors where you belong!" Harry's last words were hissed out.
Barty let out a snarl, he would never go back to the Dementors. "Good thing, you'll never live to see that day."
Harry didn't like the sound of that. But he couldn't move while restrained, he couldn't even reach his necklace. So, portkeying out by his necklace was out. He wished he had the forethought to use his necklace before he got restrained by some stupid statue.
Barty Crouch, Jr went over to some cauldron he had set up.
Harry didn't have a good feeling on what was about to happen, and he knew he was going to be the center of it.
"You should be honored, Potter. You'll be the first to witness the Dark Lord's resurrection and be the first to die by his hand," Barty said with a smirk.
"Funny, I don't feel so honored while being stuck by this stupid statue," Harry commented sarcastically.
Crouch didn't say another word as he dumped some creature thing into the cauldron and his own blood.
Harry had a feeling that the creature lump thing was the malformed version of Voldemort. His feelings of fear and despair soon turned to hope when Crouch let the statue slacken its hold on him. He would have enough room to move his arm to grasp at his necklace. Though he wouldn't be quick enough to stop Crouch from using his dagger and slicing apart his arm.
Even if Harry wasn't already in pain from the previous two creatures, he would have howled in pain regardless. Trying to block out the pain when Crouch turned his back. Harry laid his bloody hand on the pendant and hissed out the password. That didn't stop him from seeing something or someone arising out of the cauldron. Harry didn't have to guess who that was as he vanished from graveyard.