Master Mirror

by The Serpent Prince

What if the Mirror of Erised was more than a cursed artifact? When Harry is offered a Faustian Pact that seemingly offers to fix all his problems he does not even think twice before taking it. Voldemort, Death Eater plots, and a dying wizard. Will Harry and Dumbledore manage fix everything before the time is up? A dark adventure across an AU HBP, following a trail thought long lost

4. A meeting at a crossroad

Author notes: Really fast-paced mammoth of a chapter ahead! I hope you guys enjoy it! While writing this I realized I know quite a few pieces of fitting music to go along with it, so I decided to leave you with the "official" Master Mirror fanfiction soundtrack. I'm sure you will like these ones.

watch?v=0crf5th6oK0

watch?v=zenPtRDCI8w

watch?v=-PeEfMP-6wk

watch?v=XrPyxhRbu8I

watch?v=ZL1LBle8rTI&t=22s

I think they are really fitting to the tone of the fic as a whole. Especially the first one. As usual, the traditional reminder to excuse minor typos and slips on the keyboard and that I own neither the Witcher nor Harry Potter. I wonder how would Master Mirror turn this one around if I wished I did. Probably just dump the books in my lap.

10th July 1996, Little Whinging, Surrey

Harry Potter was absently toying with one of the fries, dipping it into the sauce again and again and never even thinking about eating it. His other hand was busy caressing the crumpled piece of parchment in his navy-blue jacket's pocket. He already memorized the short missive in which Albus Dumbledore informed him that he will retrieve him from his relatives that next Friday. When he first read the letter, he could not help but feel a wave of joy and relief. Being rid of the Dursleys after not even two weeks! Not even in his dreams would he dare imagine such a beautiful turn of events regarding his dreaded Summer holidays!

And then it hit him. This felt too good to be true! And he knew first-hand after growing up with the model family of the neighborhood, the dear Dursley family, that if something feels too good to be true, it's probably a hoax of some kind. But why would Albus Dumbledore of all people try to trick him?

Maybe it wasn't Dumbledore to begin with! Maybe it's some Death Eater ploy meant to lure you out.

But would they have been able to locate him? After all, Dumbledore turned the painfully inconspicuous little sub-urban home from Number 4, Privet Drive into a veritable fortress. Ward on top of ward, Blood Magic, dormant portkeys inlaid in the very structure of the house meant to activate if all other defenses would collapse, countless alarms linked directly to Dumbledore, and all that was powered by and linked to the piece of magic that was active in Harry because of his mother's sacrifice. It was an unbreakable defense. He only had to live there for a while and call the place home. And not alter the minds of his relatives in any way, as every participant had to be willing in order for Lily's protection to remain active. Harry still remembered Dumbledore's dejected looks when he explained that to him. I knew I was condemning you to ten difficult years. His Headmaster's words just a few weeks prior initially filled him with rage. Dumbledore immediately sensed the impending storm and tackled it before it even erupted.

And then, Harry knew there was truly no other choice. The blood protection was linked to his mother, so he needed to stay with maternal relatives for it to keep working. And the only one remaining was his dear aunt, Petunia. Initially, Dumbledore assumed it would be only a temporary solution. As impressive and powerful as the protection was, if anyone knew of other ways of similar power, it was Albus Dumbledore. And he was counting days until he would retrieve the young child from what Minerva McGonagall rightfully dubbed most awful Muggles. But as if to prove Harry's ideas, life decided to play its tricks on the young boy once more. If it's too good to be true, it's not true! And so, the now leaderless and riddled with rage Death Eaters decided to take revenge on behalf of their thought-to-be-dead Lord.

Thus, within a year after that fateful Halloween night, all of his paternal relatives, to whom Dumbledore planned on leaving Harry with once all the stray Death Eaters were rounded up, had been murdered. His great-uncle and aunt, Fleamont and Euphemia, their two sons, Calix and Alerio, some distant cousins, Icarus, Irene and Xanthus, together with all their children. His grandparents, Charlus and Dorea were already gone when James and Lily died. There were some options left from Dorea, which was born into the Black family. But Dumbledore quickly dismissed those, and with good reason. Andromeda Tonks, nee Black, was disowned from the family, and if Albus placed Harry with her, the decision would have immediately been challenged in front of the Wizengamot by Narcissa Malfoy, her own sister. Harry shuddered at the thought of growing up with the Malfoys. And thus, he remained the last member of the once high and mighty Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter. Well, all but one, Harry thought. Interestingly enough, he had a single more living relative alive from the Potters, one Calignis Potter. Once a wizard of great renown and power, Calignis was a permanent resident of Nurmengard prison, of all places, where he served imprisonment for being one of Grindelwald's Flag-Bearers. Flag-Bearer was a position corresponding to that of a Muggle general, and you had to be of immense strength and loyalty to the cause to attain such ranking within Grindelwald's movement. Given his status, the man would not have been given custody, assuming he would have wanted it in the first place.

This train of thought brought Harry to the one person Dumbledore could have left him with once the dust settled: Sirius Black. The young man felt his chest tighten at the thought of his recently deceased godfather. The man who spent twelve years in Azkaban while being innocent. The man who escaped only to save Harry from the danger of constantly being near the traitor Pettigrew, disguised as a rat Animagus. The man who offered Harry a home before even tending to his own wounds.

He cared for me as if I was his own son.

Harry's heart began beating faster as he continued to stare at the cheap fast-food meal he ordered and which he didn't even touch yet.

And I killed him.

His knees and hands began shaking, and he would have surely collapsed if he wasn't already standing. He remembered Sirius falling through the Veil. The visions. Not giving any interest to Snape's Occlumency lessons. The Mirror. How could I have possibly forgotten the Mirror?! His mind started creating scenario after scenario at an increasingly rapid pace. What if he remembered to use the communication mirror Sirius gave him? What if he worded his question to Kreacher differently? What if he went to Grimmauld himself? There were countless such variations playing in his mind, all ending up with Sirius being alive and him finally having a family. But instead, he had to rush towards the Ministry and fall right into Voldemort's trap, all throughout ignoring Hermione's warnings. Petunia is right. I am a worthless freak. And now, Sirius is dead. The Order lost its headquarters. He lost the only family he had left.

Maybe Dumbledore hates me and that's why he tricks me into thinking he will take me from the Dursleys.

Scenario after scenario, one more far fetched as the other made their way inside Harry's mind, completely freezing him in place. He started breathing faster and faster, being completely overrun by terror. Deep down, he knew that most of what he was thinking about had no way to ever happen, but there was also another voice at play here. One that whispered in his ear each time he tried to calm himself, and it said yes, but what if? What if the death of Sirius cost them the war? What have I done?!

He suddenly felt losing control of himself, and with an increasingly shaking hand he pushed himself back into the chair, not even noticing he tossed the fry right onto the window. He was only pulled away from his thoughts by the sound of the restaurant's door opening. His green eyes darted towards the door, as he slowly felt gaining back some control over himself. He tried to get himself distracted. To think about literally anything else in the world except Sirius. He thought about his friends, and how he was about to see them soon enough. Will I really, though? And what if they hate me too? Afterall, they almost died because of me.

Sensing the dread returning to him, he quickly got up and headed towards the exit, leaving his food untouched. He wiped the cold sweat on his forehead with his hand, walking absently and trying his best not to think about anything. He had been doing that a lot that Summer, walking around with no real aim. Riding the bus, or the metro all towards the end of the line, drifting around parks and walking around and across London without ever looking at anything. He barely slept, and when he did, he would have the same nightmares over and over again. His parents dying, then Cedric, Sirius, eventually Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, he would see them dead every night, and all because of him. He barely spent any time at his relative's house anymore, mostly just coming back at some point after midnight and leaving early in the morning. He froze when he realized that, feeling panic once more overtaking him.

Dumbledore said I have to live there for about a couple of weeks! What if I accidentally collapsed the wards?!

He could not take another step further once the thought hit him. What if him barely setting foot in the house that Summer made the wards fall? Did he just ruin yet another one of Dumbledore's plans?! Just like he did with the Philosopher's Stone five years ago! Voldemort could have been destroyed that day! If it wasn't for me!

"I'm fine! I'm fine, the wards are still up! I would have felt them coming down!"

Oh yeah, just like you felt their existence in the first place?

He felt tears rising in his eyes as he looked around the empty intersection, trying to think of ways to calm himself. Hands shaking, he took out the parchment from Dumbledore and held it tightly in his hands, trying with all his powers to make himself accept the feint trace of hope that its content was actually real, and he wasn't hated. He closed his eyes and tried to slow his breathing, as his heart beat loudly in his ears.

"Need a hand, young man?"

He couldn't help himself. Harry let out a short scream and turned around. Tried to turn around, more like, as his shaking legs failed him and he fell backwards on the pavement. He looked around, and at first glance, the place seemed deserted. No car, no people, not even stray dogs or cats. Just an empty intersection in the middle of the night. But then he felt like he saw something, and he hastily pulled out his wand and pointed it towards the suspicious sighting. Yes, there definitely was someone there. Right at one of the crossings, leaning on one of the flickering street lights stood a man. He just… stood there. Watching him. Smiling. He seemed amused at the teenager's reaction. Harry took a few steps back then got up, never once taking his eyes off the man. He didn't even care if he might be a Muggle, he wasn't letting his guard down in front of this stranger! He had a strange feeling while looking around, as if the entire city simply faded out of existence, and all that remained was that deserted intersection.

"Nice to see you back on your feet! Nothing like the grip of your wand to get the blood back flowing, isn't it, lad?"

Wand. He knows what this is. Wizard, surely.

"Who are you?! And keep your hands where I can see them! No funny business, you hear me?!"

The man just looked increasingly amused and stopped leaning on the pole, raising his arms as if surrendering. He took a couple of steps towards Harry then stopped.

"Gaunter O'Dimm, at your service! A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Harry Potter."

"How do you know who I am?!"

The man chuckled and took a frugal look at Harry's scar.

"Really, lad? It's not like you are a celebrity around these parts, no? Us normal, humble folk all know how you look like, I'm afraid."

Harry's eyes narrowed at his theatrics. The man waved his hands around and lowered his head in a mock bow.

"What do you want? Who sent you here?"

"Oh, I sent myself, have no doubt about that! To answer what you are truly asking, I assure you, I have no association with that unpleasant brute of yours, Riddle."

How the hell does he know Voldemort's real name?!

Harry slowly relaxed his grip, but did not lower his wand one bit. There was something… off about the man. No matter how serene his smile and joyful his eyes, something in the back of Harry's head kept screaming at him to run as fast as he could. O'Dimm, if that even was his real name, stood there with his hands raised and his dark, brown eyes full of amusement and mischief. He was only a bit taller than Harry, with pale skin, bald and sporting a stubble. He wore Muggle clothes, surprisingly enough, a dirty orange hoodie with two blue stripes above his elbows. He had blue jeans, sneakers, and a leather pouch hanging at his side.

If he wanted to kill me, he would have done it already.

"Who are you really? What do you want from me? I doubt this meeting is one of chance."

O'Dimm finally lowered his hands and held onto his bag. He looked carefree and got a bit closer, stopping only when he saw Harry's grip on his wand tighten again. The teenager felt increasingly erratic as with every step the man took, the weather seemed to get increasingly colder.

"It isn't indeed. See, once upon a time, I used to be a famous merchant of mirrors. Works of art, every last one of them! They used to show the truth and truth alone! So clear they were, I doubt you could even picture it. I used to be dubbed Master Mirror, or sometimes, The Man of Glass. Now, tell me, Harry Potter, I can sense you're the fear you experience at the moment. Why exactly haven't you run off beyond those wards by now? And yes, they are still up."

What the hell?! Okay, focus Potter! You can do this!

"And turn my back on a potential enemy? Plus, you are clearly here for a reason. I'm quite curious to hear it."

O'Dimm pondered over the answer for a few moments, as if trying to comprehend the implications of every word. Eventually, he smirked and nodded, seeming satisfied with what he heard.

"Curiosity, but tempered by caution. A good mix of traits, young man! One, I dare say, that will aid you well in the future! Now, to the business at hand. Do you remember what was the very first thing I said to you?"

Harry felt slightly confused by the seemingly random question, but answered it nonetheless.

"You… you asked me if I need a hand."

O'Dimm nodded gracefully. "Indeed. See, helping you, should you agree, is exactly why I am here! You are in need of assistance. I am a merchant. To my mind, that means we may find common ground to reach an agreement."

The teenager let out a humorless laugh and shook his head.

"Unless you sell a mirror that can instantly kill Voldemort, I really don't see how you could help me."

The man didn't even flinch when hearing the Dark Lord's name. Instead he shook his head in disapproval.

"Don't be crass, Harry! His name is Tom Marvolo Riddle. A weak, terrified, broken little boy who thought that adopting a silly moniker will free him from his pain but instead forever chained him to it. A tragic tale, in truth. Ever wondered just how many people across the world are just one bad day away from being Voldemort?"

O'Dimm really seemed to settle into his monologue, and Harry just stood there listening to his melodious speech.

"See, it's easy to hate the less than human, half-snake with red eyes, popping out of a cauldron and walking with a giant serpent over his shoulders. But look closely enough, and you see the cracks. Small, and so well hidden, but they are there, alright! And beyond them is still that child that grew up bullied by everyone at the orphanage, who had to live with bombs and death around him, who felt betrayed by his mother for dying on him when he needed her the most, and who grew up terrified of nothing more than death. At one point, you find that hatred and rage are… safer. There is no more pain in hate. Sure, there is no pleasure or happiness either, not in the true meaning of the word. But for people like Riddle, not feeling the pain and the fear is a good trade off to make. Do you think he keeps using the Cruciatus as punishment on his followers for fun? No, no, no, he is no Bellatrix Lestrange, that one! He uses it, because the power trip of torturing some Pureblood who got the world on a silver platter at birth temporarily fills the gap inside of him. A gap which, I'm sure, even he doesn't know it's there anymore."

It was fair to say that Harry was speechless by the time Master Mirror finished. He had no clue what Voldemort's background was. Suddenly, the Dark Lord's words to him started floating in his head. We are so much alike, Harry Potter. Were they really? Was O'Dimm lying to him? He felt nauseous thinking about it.

I wonder how often in my life have I been just one bad day away from being Voldemort?

"Harry?"

It is our choices that define us, in the end. How right you were, Dumbledore. No matter what, I didn't end up like him. No matter how similar our lives were, I survived. Whole.

"What is it?"

"I could help you finish off Riddle. Mind you, I can't just do the deed for you! But with my aid and knowledge, it will be a rather easy affair. But here is really where it gets better for you! See, I can do so much more than just help with Riddle."

Harry slowly lowered his wand, curiosity slowly taking over him. The intersection was still devoid of all life save for the two of them. Everything was eerily silent, as if frozen in time. Somewhere in the back of his head, a small voice still screamed at him, begging him to turn tail and run, and forget the whole thing. But he didn't.

"I am a man of many talents, young man. I could, if you so desire, call upon my talents to give you things you have always dreamed of. Wealth beyond one's dreams? Knowledge of all things? The charm to win every woman you so desire? Or perhaps your desires are of a deeper nature? Children? A family?"

Harry immediately narrowed his eyes at that. I could have my parents back! And Sirius! The man in front of him made every alarm in him ring loudly, but the prospect of having those he loved back to him was just too much to ignore!

"You are not a wizard, are you?"

"No, I am not."

"Human?"

O'Dimm shook his head.

"Harry. What I am is of no consequence. It is best not to dwell on it. And even if you will, I will, just with this issue, spare you from your wish. All that matters is that I have the skill to back up everything I say to you."

Run, you fool!

But I could fix everything. Right now!

Harry realized all to well the impasse he was in. This was one of those moments which, no matter what he decided, he would probably look back on it and regret not taking the other route. He was as of right now, both literally and figuratively, at a crossroads. He was no fool. He knew enough of the Magical world to figure out that whatever O'Dimm was, he was both rare and dangerous. No matter how much he tried to come off as harmless, he must have been a creature of immense power, one that would undoubtedly ask for something in return. I should say no. Go home and never look back. He knew that was the wisest thing he could do. But can I ever live with myself knowing I let this pass? He looked at Master Mirror, trying to sound as confident as he could. He probably failed, if Gaunter's smirk was any indication of it.

"Can you… can you bring my parents back?"

O'Dimm seemed genuinely saddened by the question, and shook his head.

"How often I was asked just that. Always, have I wished I could answer yes and just do it, but I'm afraid the answer is no. The very first thing you ask of me, is one I can not provide. No magic can bring back the dead, Harry."

The teenager only nodded numbly. He expected that. He knew it was all too good to be true. His voice shaking, he asked his next question.

"What about Sirius?"

O'Dimm's eyes seem to lit up and he looked as if he was close to bouncing around of excitement.

"Now, that is a different matter entirely! Sirius Orion Black did not die. He merely… how should I say it, walked through a door. It will be incredibly risky. And I mean it. It is still no easy task, and it will require both of us. We both could perish while attempting it. But, yes. I can bring Sirius back to you."

And that was when Harry, despite all his worries, decided to go along with it. He would never be able to look at himself knowing he had the chance to bring his godfather back and he let it pass him. The thin teenager pocketed his wand and took one more look at the deserted neighbourhood. The silence was unsettling. The darkness, the flickering light, the emptiness. Everything was so devoid of life. Like a ravaging storm of calm, and O'Dimm was at its centre. He felt as if something just beyond the darkness was waiting to pounce on him. And at the same time, as if it tried to seduce him into walking towards it willingly.

But if I can bring back Sirius, I will take any risk.

"Alright. Alright, O'Dimm. I'm in. Whatever… this is, I'm in."

Master Mirror laughed and somehow managed to relax even more. It was strange how such immense power and mystery rested in someone so inconspicuous.

"I will grant you three wishes. No more, no less. Be warned, my price is high, but easy to pay if you have enough wit."

"And what exactly is your price?"

He looked at the teenager surprised, as if the answer was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Why, your soul! Seriously, lad! You are making a deal at a crossroad on midnight, being given three wishes of your choosing! What did you think I will ask for, a sales coupon! C'mon, Harry, you are smarter than this!"

Harry instantly stiffened and his grip on his wand returned, narrowing his eyes. Despite that, in the back of him mind, another thought was forming.

"That doesn't really seem like a fair deal, O'Dimm!"

"And it would most surely not be. But I told you, it is an easy thing for the witty enough. See, I always allow an exit clause in my contracts! A little word play of their choosing, shielding them from me collecting their debt."

"And does it work often?"

"You'd be surprised."

Harry Potter just stood there, thinking. Do I step away, risk everything and everyone I love, but avoid making a deal that is most likely to end in trouble? Or do I take it, and improvise as I go along? He knew it should have been an easy decision to make. You know what, to hell with it! I've been winging it for so long now, it would feel too weird taking a rational decision now all of a sudden. He could almost hear Ron taking his wand out and joining in the fun too, while Hermione would scream at both of them. Harry finally relaxed, seeming more like himself. More like himself as he seemed in a long time. The prospect of having Sirius back, together with the thrill of the adventure was really starting to get to him. He nodded his head, a small glimpse of a smile starting to appear on his face.

"Okay. So, how does this work? Do you… write a contract, or what?"

O'Dimm seemed thoroughly pleased with himself and gave Harry a bright smile.

"Better. A blood pact, like in the days of old! Look!"

Master Mirror opened his right palm towards Harry, whistling slowly. As he did so, a deep cut appeared on his palm, but he seemed to keep the blood back with his magic. Harry was quite impressed by the display of wandless magic, but then panicked as Gaunter motioned him to do the same.

"Erm… do you think… do you think you can do that cut to me too? I'm not allowed to do magic outside of school, and…"

"Oh, for certain no. You will need to use your magic for the wishes I think you will have. Show me your wand!"

Harry shily extended his wand and O'Dimm placed two fingers on it, looking at it intently and after a few seconds smiling. A feint, white light appeared for a second on the tip of his fingers, and the teenager looked at him mistrustful.

"What did you do?"

"I merely removed the Trace from your wand!"

What?!

"How… but… I don't…."

"How eloquent of you, Harry. Truly, a master of oratory. Make sure to give such fiery speeches in the Wizengamot one day!"

"But how did you just remove the Trace? Just like that?! I hope this isn't some kind of joke!" he said his eyes narrowing, at which Gaunter just rolled his eyes.

"Are we going to waste time discussing technicalities, or are we going to get to work? Just do the cut, Harry!"

He wanted to argue more, but to what end? He already committed to this. His heart racing, and hoping he won't get another howler from the Ministry, he pointed his phoenix core wand at his palm and cast a low powered Diffindo. Blood started to immediately come out of the cut, and when he looked at O'Dimm he saw the man already held his hand stretched towards him. The two shook hands, and Harry felt a breeze of cold wind sweeping over him when they touched. Master Mirror too was… cold. It felt as if holding a dead body, and for a moment the teenager felt repulsed and tried to step away, but Gaunter held his hand tightly, looking at him with humour in his eyes the entire time.

"I, Gaunter O'Dimm, otherwise known as Master Mirror, or the Man of Glass, hereby swear to grant one Harry James Potter three wishes of his choosing, anything he wishes for, if his desires are within my capability to grant. In return, I ask for his soul to be mine to do so as I wish. I will allow him to choose when and in what conditions his debt will be repaid, the only exception being in outright refusing to comply with it."

Master Mirror stopped and looked at Harry expectedly, the teen knowing it was his time to speak. He felt a rush of emotions filling him.

"I, Harry James Potter accept my debt to you. You may reclaim it…"

This is it! I have to spout something ridiculous! This is no riddle; I have to come up with something he can't instrument into happening! I'll die if I don't make this nonsensical enough!

He looked around, hoping something in his surroundings will inspire him. He was getting quite agitated, eventually looking down on him. O'Dimm noticed his discomfort and only smirked. He grabbed hold of the crumpled letter in his blue jacket, already starting to feel dread at the though that he may have just made a huge mistake. Wait a minute. Blue jacket. Blue! Ravenclaw! Of course, the Houses! He grinned and looked up at Master Mirror, speaking quite confidently.

"… You may reclaim it when a dying raven tries to kill a lion with the blood of a serpent and I have trapped you in a black cell with the aid of those weaker than myself!"

In that moment, sparks of pure, white light came out of their touching palms and Master Mirror quickly retracted his hand, Harry following suit. He searched his palm, wanting to heal his cut, but to his surprise, the injury was all gone! He ran his fingers over where it once was, not even seeing the faintest scar. It was O'Dimm that pulled him out of his surprise.

"So, Harry. The wishes. I assume the first one will involve Sirius Black, am I right?"

The teenager looked at him dazzled, then regained composure and merely nodded.

"Yes. My first wish is to return Sirius to me. My second wish is that no one I care about will die in the fight with Voldemort. And for my last wish, I want Voldemort dead."

Master Mirror stood there, deep in thought, listening. Once Harry stopped talking, he remained silent for a few moments, then spoke solemnly.

"The second one is easy to accomplish. You won't have to worry about it. The first one has every chance in the world to go horribly wrong, but if we play our cards right, we could still achieve it by the time the night is over. As for the third, it is once more something I will need your aid with."

Harry nodded, suddenly feeling energetic and excited. By the time the night is over? He could barely contain himself at the thought! At that point, he would have gone along with anything Master Mirror told him to do.

"The third one… killing Riddle. It will be tedious. Tell me, have you ever heard of a piece of magic called Horcrux?"

He frowned, trying to remember the word. No matter how much he tried, he just couldn't place it.

"No, I don't think so. What is it?"

O'Dimm smirked. "Not a fan of soul magic, then?"

Soul Magic? Crap, this can't be good.

"Too much Arithmancy for my tastes" he said drily.

"Surely" the man answered in equal manner. "A Horcrux is a very obscure application of Soul Magic. It is essentially a soul shard. You split your soul in two, generally through murder, then perform some ridiculously complicated rituals to remove half your soul and place it in a container of your choice. The idea is that in doing so, you essentially become immortal."

Oh, this is even worse than I thought! You gotta be kidding me!

Harry tried to remain focused, tapping his chin with his wand and looking gravely at O'Dimm. His heart started beating faster at the thought of an immortal Voldemort. How could Dumbledore ever expect me to beat him?

"How many did he make?"

Gaunter looked intrigued at his wording. "How did you figure out he made more than one?"

Harry just sighed and rolled his eyes.

"It's quite in tone with my usual luck for things to go as disastrous as possible. How many?"

Master Mirror chuckled and shook his head. "Seven. Seven Horcruxes. A remarkably idiotic thing to do, given that a Horcrux is one of the few pieces of magic that has very real and dangerous degenerative effect, both physical and mental."

In that case, the more the merrier. If the Horcruxes weakened Voldemort and he is still at this level, we would have all been dead already if he made any less.

"I take it you know where they are?"

"Of course. And we don't have to worry about all of them anymore. One, is his childhood diary. You already destroyed it during your second year of schooling."

Harry was shocked at the revelation that the diary that possessed Ginny was a Horcrux, but the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. The thing was just too insidious to have been the result of mere enchantments. Too alive.

"The other is the old ring worn by the lords of House Gaunt. That is, Riddle's maternal relatives..."

"WHAT?!"

O'Dimm stopped and looked at Harry, as the teenager looked around as if expecting someone to come out of the darkness and tell him he didn't just hear what he thought he did. But that means! Unfortunately, he did not manage to see the vicious and feral grin on Master Mirror's face as he observed the teenager's distress.

"What's the problem?" he asked gently.

"If he is a descendant of House Gaunt it means... Gaunts and Potters intermarried for centuries! Before their different ideals became too much of a friction between them! I... it... we must be related!"

Gaunter looked at him nonchalantly and just shrugged.

"So? All you Purebloods are related. How long ago was the last time a Gaunt married a Potter?"

Harry closed his eyes and frowned in concentration, trying to remember. "Erm... some centuries ago, before the Statute of Secrecy."

"So then why are you so concerned? It's not like the man is your first cousin or uncle, you just share some ancestors!"

The teenager rubbed his temples and calmed himself a bit more. He knew O'Dimm was right, but the revelation of being related with Voldemort, the man who killed his parents, the most dreaded Dark Lord Britain ever faced, no matter how remote their connection made Harry somehow feel dirtier. As if there was a taint about him which he knew he had no way of ever removing.

"Back to the matter at hand. Your Headmaster already destroyed the ring earlier this Summer. Next, we have Salazar Slytherin's locket. Another family heirloom of the Gaunts. Riddle hid it in a cave, surrounded by a rather ingenuous set of traps. Luckily for us, it was stolen by one Regulus Black and hid at Grimmauld Place. If all goes well with your Sirius, we will destroy it tonight. Another is Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem. It's at Hogwarts, in that old room you used for your little militia last year. It's a sitting duck, just waiting for you and me to kill it. Then, we have Helga Hufflepuff's cup. It's in Bellatrix Lestrange's vault, at Gringotts. Sitting duck, same as with the diadem. The last two will be more problematic, I suppose. Nagini, the snake that is always in Riddle's company. And the final one is, well, you."

What?!

"What… no. No! I am not a Horcrux, this is absurd! What the hell are you talking about!"

"You are, albeit an accidental one. And technically, it's just your scar that's the Horcrux. Usually, getting rid of it would consist in killing you and hoping only the soul-shard dies. You could die, naturally. Or instead of you coming back into your body, it could be the soul-shard, now fully alive and sentient. But fret not, for I have a plan! And if it works, you will be rid of your pesky companion by the time Sirius is saved!"

Harry was hyperventilating, trying to keep up with what O'Dimm was saying. He felt his whole world coming to an end when he heard he was a Horcrux, then felt once more the small glimmer of hope dangling before his eyes.

"How?"

"I told you. Sirius is not dead. He merely walked through a door. A pesky door, true, one which makes death a rather gentle affair in comparison. But a door, nonetheless. And where that door opens, we may still retrieve him from. Having an extra soul to bargain with will be in our favor once we arrive."

"Hold on, slower. You say the Veil is a door. But… where does it open to? And who would we bargain with?"

"I will tell you. For now, go home. Write a letter, detailing what and where the Horcruxes are. If we do not return, your Headmaster will find it and finish the deed. In the meantime, I will fulfil your second wish."

Harry only nodded and ran off towards Privet Drive without even saying a goodbye. He had too many questions swirling in his head to properly focus on one. Voldemort's background, Sirius, him being a Horcrux, Master Mirror himself. He felt uneasy at that thought. He read so many stories about deals like that which ended in disaster. But is he really bad? He seems like a pretty friendly guy.

Famous last words, Potter; he thought drily.

It wasn't as if he had much of a choice now. He signed up for the deal, and he was going to see it through.

Dumbledore already knows about the Horcruxes though, so was this really worth it?

Doubts encroached upon every thought he had, but thankfully he managed to beat them back and keep his head clear. When he finally reached his house he looked at it in disgust, but continued nonetheless. At the very least the Dursleys chose to ignore him as much as possible, which suited him just fine. He reached out towards his pocket, looking for the keys, and then he realized. I can do magic! A huge grin appearing on his face, he drew his wand, opening the door with a barely whispered Alohomora! He advanced slowly through the almost unnaturally ordered and tidy house, going up to his room.

It was only when he sat down and picked up a bit of parchment and a quill that he gravity of what he was doing really hit him. Bloody hell, I'm writing a letter in case I die tonight! He paused, suddenly not finding any good words to put down. With a growing feeling of emptiness in his stomach, he scrambled up a letter to Professor Dumbledore, detailing the situation with the Horcruxes and his deal with Master Mirror. That one alone was hard enough, but his mind went totally blank at the next one.

Dear Ron and Hermione,

I just made a deal with someone, possibly a demon, and now we are going to retrieve my dead godfather from the after world. Yeah, good one, Potter. I can almost hear Hermione shouting. I wonder if the living can haunt the dead too, because she will definitely get on the warpath for me.

He started, threw away, and restarted that letter nine times. Every time, his words failed him. Eventually, he put down a couple of lines, trying to think on all they shared in the past. It was harder than he thought. It was strange. He was far from a stranger when it came to dangerous situations, but he never felt as paralyzed as he did now. Maybe it was the whole thing just now starting to dawn on him, or maybe it was the first time when he fully realized the magnitude of what he was doing. After seeing Cedric and Sirius die before his own eyes, it was as if something in him just clicked. It wasn't just old stories and school adventures anymore. I'm in a war. And I could die at any moment. He put his quill down once more, the thought starting to really hit him. This is really a war.

"Trouble with your letters?"

He instantly grabbed his wand and pointed it towards the sound. O'Dimm stood right below the door's threshold, looking at him. He had a rather eerie presence, in the barely lit room in the middle of the night. Harry did his best to push back his worries and lowered his wand.

"Yeah. I just don't know what to tell them."

Master Mirror stood below the threshold, nodding. For some reason, the teenager felt increasingly terrified by him, the light in the hallway lit him up in a way that made him look as if he was made out of pitch blackness from where Harry was sitting. Suddenly dreading to even raise his eyes at him, he just invited the man to sit down on his bed. He nodded and took his seat, opening his leather pouch and pulling out a dusty bottle. It was not too large, with a spherical shape and a long, thin neck. Along the spherical portion of it were beautiful inlays of gold, in various geometrical shapes. O'Dimm blew the dust away, making Harry cough vigorously in the process. He then removed the cork and handed the bottle to Harry, which took it hesitantly.

"That's from a land I visited a very long time ago. I quite miss it, sometimes. My departure was on a slightly sour note, though I made some good memories along the way. Try it, it's good."

Harry thought it would be rude to refuse, so he took a small sip, then immediately regret it. That brew packed quite a punch! It was sweet and spicy all at the same time, all blended together by strong alcohol.

"What is that?"

Gaunter just smiled and put the bottle back in his pouch.

"Mahakaman mead! A quite popular drink from a far away land called Mahakam. A mountainous kingdom where gold is almost as plentiful as water is in an ocean!"

Harry's knowledge on Magical history was an area where, ashamed as he was to admit, he really had little to no expertise. He gave up on it the first time he had a class with his ghost-professor Binns, and his unnatural obsession with Goblin Rebellions.

"I never heard of it. Where is this place?"

"Ah, when I say far away, I really mean it, young man" he said happily. "It takes some very special skill to navigate there safely."

The man appeared lost in thought for a few moments, then he stood up and Harry put down his quill and did the same.

"We really should get going."

He nodded and picked up a backpack he already had prepared for Dumbledore's arrival. "Where to, exactly?"

Gaunter smiled, and in that moment, Harry felt a strange sensation of weightlessness, and the world around him starting fading out of existence, all colours, shapes and smells merging into a strange blur. It only took a second for the terrifying blur to start breaking up, but from it appeared new shapes, new colours and new smells. Harry felt a sudden realization, figuring out exactly where they were!

"The Ministry! We're at the Ministry of Magic!"

"Yes. Do you think you can say that a bit louder though, I think the guards in Azkaban didn't quite hear you yet!"

He threw O'Dimm a dirty look as he kept examining the wide, black hallway, filled with chimneys every three meters of so. Every once in a while, the Floo would activate and some sleepy witch or wizard would leave the building, surrounded by tall, green flames.

"Can we even Apparate in here?! What the hell are we doing here, and won't they see us?!"

"Everything is under…" O'Dimm then clapped his hands loudly, smiling as he looked around. Harry's heart froze at the sight in front of him. Everything stopped! EVERYTHING. STOPPED. HE CAN STOP TIME! Everyone was fixed in place, one old witch even stuck halfway through the Floo, the flames too appearing forever frozen in place. His heart was racing at an increasingly fast pace.

Oh, no. This is bad. This is really bad.

"Are you out of your mind?! You stopped freaking time itself just so we can sneak through?! Don't you know that terrible things happen to wizards that meddle with time?! What the… This is your brilliant plan, time travelling?!"

Master Mirror was totally unperturbed by his companion's outburst. He let him finish and then replied calmly.

"To answer in order: We can't Apparate in here, but that's of no consequence, because what I did was not Apparition. We are here so we can retrieve your Sirius Black, and no, they obviously can't see us since they are frozen in time. My plan does not involve time travel. And between you and me, Harry, you should not believe what your Granger told you about time travel, mainly because she should not believe what she was told about it either. Do you actually believe that if the slightest error with a Time-Turner could cause the collapse of reality itself, they would give such power to children? No matter how good a student they are. If you truly believed that, I must have severely misjudged you, young man."

Even though he knew he shouldn't have, he felt quite embarrassed upon hearing that. O'Dimm must have noticed too, because he just shook his head amusedly and strolled on. Harry still looked around in awe and terror both. Even as they passed the great statues in the atrium, he still could not believe his eyes. Everything was becoming increasingly surreal, and he felt more and more that he finally bit more than he could chew. More to fill the silence, he started talking.

"So… the Veil is a door. Where to?"

Master Mirror gave him a short look, then continued looking ahead. They were heading towards the elevators, surely.

"There is far more to the world than even Wizards know. There are… gates. Scattered across the planet. I know of only three. One is at your dear Hogwarts. Somewhere deep in the forest near the castle. I know not where it leads. Another is in Sweden, at a place called Gamla Uppsala. I have a theory as to where it opens, and trust me. You would have to be literally insane, stupidly brave, or some combination of both to attempt going through it. The third one is here. It is also the only one that is still active. It leads to a thoroughly unpleasant place I sincerely wish I never have the misfortune to visit after I'm done with you. It is called Helheim. A realm of death, so far from Earth that you could not even see its star on the night sky if you looked without any machines to aid you."

O'Dimm stopped when he noticed his companion was no longer with him. He looked around with a curious expression, then made a small sound of relief when he saw Harry a few steps behind him. The teenager looked at him with an absolute dumbstruck expression.

"Helheim?" As in, Norse mythology Helheim?! Which is actually another planet on which we will meet… what? Aliens, right? You are lying! You have no idea what you are doing! If I didn't see you do that time trick I'd even imagine you are a Death Eater trying to fool me into flinging myself into the Death Veil. Hel-bloody-heim!"

When he finished, Gaunter started letting out a guttural laugh, which annoyed Harry even more. He shouldn't have ignored his gut feelings about this!

"So, a medieval castle where you learn magic and break every single law of Physics on a daily basis, all while surrounded by ghosts and other reality warping defenses is a perfectly acceptable fact of life for you, but other life forms existing in the galaxy is where you draw the line? I have to say Harry, for most people it would be the other way around!"

Well, when you put it like that…

"That's not the point, there is just…"

"…Only one way to find out. No?"

Begrudgingly and in a full display of his age, Harry followed along, not bothering to ask any more questions. The possibility, no matter how remote, of getting Sirius back made him not turning tail and going back home. As if sensing his annoyance, O'Dimm started talking again, not letting him savour even a minute of peace.

"Only three wizards still know of these gates. Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel and Albus Dumbledore. Through out time, many others knew, or at least suspected it. But that is neither here nor there. What matters to you, is knowing what we will deal with on the other side."

Gaunter peered back at him, looking at him intently.

"How are your fire spells?"

Why in Merlin's name would that matter?

"Good, I guess. I know a handful of fire-based curses, and I can always fall back on Incendio. Why?"

"Because fire will hurt them most. If we face anything larger than that Hungarian Horntail you so delightfully outmaneuvered in your fourth year, we do not engage it. We run. As fast as we can. I will conjure illusions and transport us away, if possible."

Harry felt a malicious grin appear on his face. The thought of Gaunter O'Dimm being scared of something was surprisingly pleasant to him.

"Not scared, are you?"

"I'm simply no fool. Harry, the beings that are in charge of Helheim waged wars across the galaxy while your kind didn't even figure out how to make fire. For them, Magic holds no more secrets. Be careful with them. And let me do the talking!"

Eventually, the unlikely pair made their way down into the Department of Mysteries, O'Dimm opening any door they came across without any difficulty. Harry felt a rush of memories assault him as he made his way through the black marble corridors.

This is where I got Sirius killed, he thought grimly.

"I did a huge mistake last time I was here…"

O'Dimm merely nodded without looking back.

"Yes." That one word cut deeper into Harry than all the years he spent with the Dursleys or the murder plots Voldemort tried. "And it is also where you will make it right."

If only I listened! If only I thought twice! Harry became increasingly absent minded as they walked through the frozen in time corridors. He would just close his eyes and hope he wont bump into anything. He imagined how life would have been if only he was more careful. Would he have gone straight to Grimmauld once school ended? Or would have Dumbledore taken him there in two days? Either way, they would have been together. Probably go at the Burrow to play Quidditch.

It all got too much when they eventually reached the tall, grim looking arch sitting in the middle of a deserted, circular room. He dropped his wand and almost ran through the Veil the moment he saw it. O'Dimm turned around and looked at him curiously, but remained silent.

Merlin, this is where I killed the only family I ever had!

"Are we doing this?"

Harry tried his best to calm himself down and eventually managed to pick up his wand and walk next to Master Mirror.

Man up, Potter. This is just like back in second year when you went after Ginny. Except… this time it's another planet.

"Business as usual" he muttered more to himself, but O'Dimm heard him and merely rolled his eyes.

"Keep your wand ready and your wits sharp."

The two took in the grim arch one more time. Despite the entire Ministry being frozen in time, the arch seemed to still be active. A strange, translucid mist filled its stone edges, and countless, hypnotic whispers made themselves heard when near it. After receiving a nod from Master Mirror, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes and took a step forward.

The first thing he felt next was pain. Pain as he has never felt before. Even Voldemort's Cruciatus felt more like a Tingling Charm for which he longed for now that he experienced this. He felt as if every inch of his body was torn apart with untamed hatred, his nails ripped off and every hair on his body plucked out. Then, he realized he no longer had any kind of control over his body. He no longer felt his body! All that remained was the pain. He could not even move his eyes, having to take the full blunt of the blinding lights that now made up the world around him. He could almost feel them burning his eyes away, a horrifying tunnel of colored light. The flashing lights of the rainbow was all that remained of reality in that space.

Harry no longer had any notion of time or its passing. He would not be able to tell if what passed since he crossed the Veil was an eternity or mere seconds. What he did know, however, was that one should never assume that things can't become even worse than they are. Because worse they became. He felt as if every piece of his decomposed body was hastily thrown together, and then hit with a giant, cold hammer. The moment the hammer hit, he felt a deafening sound, and the world went blank.

The next thing Harry Potter felt was his limbs. Then his body violently hitting some kind of rocks as it was flung from some great height. Then, to make matters worse, he felt coldness. It took all the strength he had left to open his eyes.

"O'Dimm! O'Dimm, where are you?"

"Here!"

He barely heard the man's voice through the violent gushes of wind. Harry cast the strongest warming charm he could on himself and then looked around. They appeared to be on some large, circular square made of white stone, which was levitating high above the covered in snow mountains below. The sky above had a strange, green color, somehow feeling heavy and angry at the intruders.

"This is horrible!" Harry shouted.

"This is Helheim."

"What's this stench?!"

They both felt it the moment they landed. There was a horrible smell of rotting flesh filling the air. Harry could barely keep himself from throwing up letting the wind sweep him away. He would never understand how Master Mirror seemed completely unperturbed by their surroundings.

"Melt the snow! I have a theory!"

Harry looked at him intently, but since the man had no intention of explaining himself, the teenager merely shrugged and raised his wand and shouted Calidum Circa! A bulb of orange light appeared at the tip of his wand, and suddenly, all the snow around them turned into water, instantly being flushed away over the edges of the floating square and wetting Harry's clothes, who cursed vigorously as he dried himself with his wand. What he saw next made him lose the little composure he managed to muster and simply screamed and then threw up.

"Well, this is surely unexpected and quite anticlimactic." said O'Dimm, that merely looked around intently at the sea of dead bodies that filled the entire square. Most of them still had flesh on them, albeit rotten, filled with various smelling boils, or with marks of burns and scratches. Many lacked limbs, some had their heads bashed in, almost all of them being mutilated in some way or another.

Harry tried to keep himself moving, to touch the disgusting bodies as little as possible, and it took Master Mirror restraining him to keep him from accidentally falling over the edge of the square.

"What… what happened here?!"

He managed to calm himself enough to think clearly, but his entire body was shaking and screaming at him for going in that place.

"These warriors… the ones with the black and orange robes. They are Einherjar. Odin's Army. The others…" O'Dimm pointed towards some hideous creatures, more skeletons than man, with bits of rotten flesh on their limbs and long, revolting hair growing straight out of their skull "…Are called Draugr. A variation of Inferius. Less powerful, but more resilient and easier to make."

Inferius? Odin? Good one, Potter! Got yourself in the middle of a war between gods. If I make it out of here, this will really be one to tell the kids about.

Harry hugged himself, the cold wind starting to break through his charms.

"Why… why were they fighting? And how will we find Sirius?"

O'Dimm merely looked around, trying to find enough clues to piece together what could have possibly occurred there. He motioned towards Harry to follow him, the two advancing towards a narrow bridge going deep into a tunnel, inside a much higher mountain peak, standing tall over the other mountains below. The teenager felt disgusted feeling the dead bodies touch his feet, and cursed inwardly at every step. Whatever caused the battle between those two armies, it must have been a true massacre.

"I know this is the realm of the dead, but... is it supposed to be so... you know."

"Dead?" O'Dimm asked drily. "No. No, this is a ruin. Something horrible must happened on Helheim. And it involved Odin somehow."

Harry still could not believe they were talking about the actual Norse god. Even as he walked the surface of that barren, cold, Sun-less void of a planet, he still had trouble believing it.

"What could have been?"

"The Aesir, the race of wizards and witches of which Odin is part of is proud beyond what's good for them, and equally powerful. Still... this seems too big, even for their usual spats. There is only one thing I know of that would lead to the destruction of a planet. But if that happened, it... it raises some intriguing questions. About a great many things."

Harry would have wanted a less cryptic answer, but decided not to push. He instead focused again on his surroundings. The walls of the tunnel surrounding the bridge seemed to have once had beautiful relief carvings on them, though it seemed that the violent battle chipped away large chunks of the magnificent art. Harry could still make out some of the general motifs. Large armies crossing over a bridge of gold, tree branches, and some sort of chained figures being presented to someone. He also noticed Runic arrays and inscriptions, but he could not understand them.

If only Hermione was here.

"This place was once beautiful." Gaunter's comment pulled him out of his reverie. "The carvings were enchanted to move. The bridge would light up in the colors of the rainbow, like the famous Bifrost Bridge. There were gold statues throughout this entire place, all the way towards the palace."

Harry raised an eyebrow at the solemn tone of his companion.

"You knew people here?" he asked gently.

"Only in passing. But Harry, I have travelled roads and distances you would not even be able to comprehend. I have never encountered a people that has achieved more than the ones that ruled this part of the galaxy. And for that, young man, they have my respect."

"I see."

"As for your Sirius, there are two roads we can take. If the one that rules this realm still lives, we go on with the original plan and bargain with her. She is a formidable adversary. Let me do the talking. If she died then… then…"

Harry felt his annoyance rising. Not only did the man not deign to tell him what the original plan was in the first place, but now he was stalling. What have I got myself into?

"Then what?"

"Then Sirius Black will be the least of our worries. Because without the Queen of Helheim, we will have no one to open the Bifrost for us. We will be stuck here."

His heart tightened at the words. He couldn't even imagine what being stuck in that frozen wasteland would mean. His only thoughts were now about his friends, wondering how they would react at his disappearance.

For the next hour or so, the two companions made their way through large, deserted halls, filled with dead bodies. They passed by tall columns made of pure gold, statues of fierce warriors and large doors with beautiful inlays made of gold, silver and gemstones. Eventually, they reached a magnificent gate, before whom stood a horde of dead Einherjars.

"She lives."

Harry looked at him curiously, looking around and trying to deduce how he came to that conclusion. When he eventually asked how the man knew that, he only replied with Magic leaves traces.

"Point your wand at the doors and open them. And remember, let me do the talking!"

The teenager could only nod and quickly did as he was told. He held his breath as the doors opened with a loud screeching sound. They advanced through a wide, empty hall, surrounded entirely by windows. At the end of the room was a hideous throne which appeared to be made of pieces of human bodies! The sight made Harry sick to his stomach, but what he saw next was truly the worst sight he ever laid eyes on during his entire life.

On the death throne stood a tall woman, with bright white hair and skin more wrinkled than Harry even thought possible. She had long nails and tattered rags as clothes. But what was most striking about her was that the entire right side of her body was dead! The flesh was rotting away, her eye socket was empty, and she barely had any teeth left! There seemed to be a contrasting smell emanating from her, her live side smelling of roses and various flower, while the dead side smelt like a rotting body. She stood hunchback on her throne and peered at the two visitors. Her remaining eye had a pale, silver color with a tinge of blue near the iris.

"You must be either very stupid or very powerful to dare bring that creature to my domain, blood of Pavarmud!"

The disembodied voice was hoarse and filled the room like a thunder. Harry could not even see the being in front of him move her lips while she spoke. Her voice felt as if it penetrated deep into his mind, sending shivers down his spines.

"Queen Hela!" O'Dimm said smoothly, while bowing his head. The being did not even acknowledge him, instead continuing to stare at Harry, who felt increasingly uneasy at the sight in front of him.

"Why… why do you call me blood of Pavarmud?" he asked shakily, despite Master Mirror's advice not to speak.

"Stupid it is, then." She had a look of utter distaste on her face, or at least as much distaste as her living half could muster. "Perhaps, Peverell will be more familiar to you?"

Peverell? That sounds familiar. Harry remembered seeing the name mentioned in a wizarding genealogy book he read a couple of years ago. He knew that the mysterious family married into the Potter and Gaunt lines, spurring a wave of intermarriages among the two families up until the early XVI century or so.

"It… I know the name, and that they are my ancestors. But why call me that?"

O'Dimm straightened and intervened smoothly. "That is neither here nor there. Queen Hela, we came seeking you…"

"Silence, creature!" She hit her throne with her living fist, making a thunderous noise across the room which prompted Harry to cover his ears. "You will speak when you are addressed!" Master Mirror clearly did not appreciate her words, as his entire demeanor changed, his features becoming sharper and his eyes showing a venom which made Harry's blood freeze. "Now, Peverell. I call you that because you carry one of my old creations. Show it to me one more time, human. My Cloak. My Invisibility Cloak."

With a shaky hand and more questions than he thought he will have, he took out the smooth cloak from his backpack, advancing towards Hela with his eyes on the ground. He could not bare look at her any longer, as the sight of the half dead woman filled with him with terror. He flinched when he sensed her dead hand running over the Cloak and for the first time in his life he felt a strong revulsion to his last connection with his family.

"This is part of a set. A set I gifted to three young wizards a very long time ago. They spent their lives in search of my people and were the only ones that have ever actually been successful in their pursuit. As a gift, I personally fashioned three gifts for them. Thee gifts, for three brothers."

Wait a minute. Harry froze. I heard this story before!

"Only the Peverell Brothers have ever truly mastered my gifts. Unravel their secrets. All that owned them afterwards merely had suppositions and theories. Young Peverell. You have done a mistake putting your faith in the creature that accompanies you. I hope you know what you are doing."

"Queen Hela" O'Dimm interjected quickly "We are here for one Sirius Black. He accidentally fell through a gate opening to your domain recently. We would like to negotiate his return."

Hela let out an animalic growl.

"Humans used the last open gate they have as a convenient execution method. Filthy breed, Midgardians! To treat the domains of an Aesir as if they are your personal trash bin! My domains!" Hela's wrath seemed to really hit a stride now, as the room started shaking and her voice contorted into a savage screech. "I, Queen of Death! I, who have brought extinction to entire planets by merely walking amongst them! I, creator of pestilence! How I long to once more show your insolent kin the true meaning of power! Neither those second-rate tricks you dare call Magic, nor those pathetic Muggle contraptions could stand a chance even in the face of the weakest of the Aesir! And you, Peverell, you parade into my home, bringing with you that foul filth your ancestors wisely imprisoned, and you expect me to give you what you wish?! Tell me, boy, what could you possibly give to me as compensation for my generosity?"

What does she mean, my ancestors imprisoned O'Dimm?!

Master Mirror sensed his hesitation and spoke up. "A soul for a soul, mighty Queen! Your Peverell carries with him the shard of another. One which, I dare say, you may be interested in as well. The soul shard belongs to one Tom Marvolo Riddle. It is yours to do so as you wish, if you give us back the soul of one Sirius Black!"

Hela stood silently for a moment and observed them, then broke into a sinister laugh. Harry felt disgusted seeing pieces of rotting flesh falling off her as she laughed.

"Oh, Peverell. The creature cheated you twice tonight, and he tries to do it a third! You want the soul of one Sirius Black?" Harry kept looking at both of them, feeling increasingly wary of O'Dimm, which appeared more and more feral. I've done a huge mistake. "Sirius Black lived and died centuries ago. Who you are looking for is Sirius Orion Black! And you say you want his soul, creature? Oh, but the Queen of Death can do so much better than just his soul!"

Hela then snapped her living fingers and a powerful lightning appeared in front of her, making Harry cover his eyes. The burst of blue light only lasted a few moments, and his heart stopped when he heard a man's voice coughing and muttering curses under his breath. Sirius! He slowly opened his eyes and looked at him. He looked exactly as he did at the battle in the Department of Mysteries! When he calmed down and saw Harry, he immediately started tearing up and tried taking in every detail of his godson. The teenager paused for a few moments then ran up to him, hugging him tightly.

"Sirius!"

The still dazzled man grabbed Harry's head in his arms and looked at him as if trying to figure out if this wasn't just a cruel prank being played on him. "How are you here?! Harry, did you jump into the Veil?!" His expression changed at that thought and turned furious. "Merlin's beard, Harry! How could you do something so monumentally stupid as to jump into the Veil of Death?! And who the bloody hell is he?!" He pointed a finger at the still feral looking O'Dimm.

"Sirius, not now! I promise I'll explain when we get home!" He broke from his embrace and turned towards Hela. "I… thank you. Your Majesty!" He felt his cheeks redden, certain that he added the last part way too quickly. The Aesir queen merely looked pleased with herself and turned towards Master Mirror.

"Anything the matter, creature?"

Gaunter O'Dimm steeled himself and adopted his charming smile. Or at least he tried to, as every muscle in his face emanated pure and undistilled rage. "Not at all, Queen Hela! This is, after all, why me and Harry are here. Now, the only remaining matter is appealing to you to allow us to return to Midgard."

Hela looked at him scornfully, but then nodded her head slightly. She motioned them to group together, O'Dimm merely remaining put, while Harry, still holding onto Sirius, had to almost drag him next to Master Mirror. The wizard was looking at the bald man with a mixture of anger, curiosity and fear. "You will explain this to me when we get home, Harry!" he whispered in his ear. He placed an arm over his nephew, while keeping his other one free and ready to grip his wand holstered on his forearm and protect him from O'Dimm.

Hela stretched her dead hand towards Harry, sparks of deep, sinister purple light flying off her fingertips. The teenager instantly felt a strong pain centered around his scar and fell to his knees, screaming. Sirius immediately kneeled beside him, trying to comfort him and asking him what's wrong. He looked up furiously at Hela, but he had been in that cold realm for long enough to know better than to just lunge at her. Slowly, a small, sickly green sphere of light emerged out of his forehead. He felt like pressing his hands on his forehead, as if to stop the bleeding of a deep wound, but he noticed that he could no longer move his limbs. It took less than a minute for the green orb to fully leave the teenager, and it then darted between Hela's fingers. She studied it curiously, then smiled at O'Dimm. A vicious, feral, nightmarish smile that will forever haunt the sleep of both Harry and Sirius. While the two wizards made themselves as small as possible, terrified to the bone, Master Mirror merely looked stoically at the Aesir and nodded his head. The Queen turned her horrible face towards Harry and spoke in a chilling tone.

"Peverell. Do not trust the one that calls himself the Man of Glass. When I send you home, say this to the first wizard you see. Besides Sirius." She added the last part as if she just remembered her earlier assessment of Harry's level of intelligence after seeing that he entered a deal with O'Dimm. "Say these words, precisely: cheat death once. Remember them!"

Harry wanted to thank her once more, but the being waved both her hands, joining them in a clap which let out a loud, high pitched bang. The next moment, the three men were enveloped in pure light, flashing in all the colors of the rainbow. Harry and Sirius both braced themselves for the incoming pain, which hit them both with unrelenting fury.

Neither knew how long the journey took, but they both hit the wooden floor of Grimmauld with a powerful noise. The two wizards groaned and slowly picked themselves up from the floor. They were in the Black Family Tapestry Room, which was now even dustier than Harry remembered it. Outside, through a small crack in the deep green curtains, he saw the Sun was already up. The moment he got up, he just hugged Sirius tightly, but somehow managed to not shed a single tear. He was so glad to be back home!

"Harry…" Sirius's voice was feint, the man still clearly feeling the pain from the journey. "Harry, what just happened? And who is that wizard you were with?"

"I'm quite interested in hearing the answer to that question too, mister Potter."

They both looked up at the door, where stood a clearly distressed Albus Dumbledore, his wand ready to fire. His face was a strange mixture of curiosity, worry and cautiousness. Then his face contorted into pure shock as he looked at Harry and saw. He saw what was missing. The famous lightning shaped scar on his forehead was gone!

Author notes: I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I had quite a few ideas floating around in my mind for how Sirius's rescue would play out. In the end, I choose to along with this one because all the fics I have read involving the Hallows and the afterlife involved either an esoteric take slightly inspired from Christian dogma or the bureaucracy riddled office filled with files and expensive suits. I wanted to go with something I haven't seen used as much. And since Pagan tradition is much more pregnant in my Potterverse than in canon, and I am personally very fond of Norse mythology, here we are. Still, it's not something I'm 100% sure with, and I'd like your thoughts on it. ATM, I dont plan on expanding on the Aesir or travelling across the ream though. Also, I feel like this chapter is more upbeat and dialogue-oriented than the previous ones. While I dont know if the dialogue part is that much of a problem, this fic surely does not aim for an "upbeat" tone. I only wanted Harry to feel at ease with O'Dimm, at least enough to actually go along with his schemes. Well, that's about it for this chapter. I hope you like the "soundtrack" too! See you guys back withing the week!