AN: I would like to thank my new Beta reader Cat, and if you think this chapter flows better, than you should thank Cat too.
Chapter 19:
Mummy, Charlie Bit Me.
It took a long while for me to heal. Not simply because my wounds were extensive, because they were, nor was it because I was tired, though again that was true. The reason it took me so long to heal was because I was avoiding returning to the real world.
The fight with the dragon had been intense, certainly I had never hurt quite as much as I had then, but it was a fight I knew I would win. Either because of my fight with Wolf a month earlier, or because of how every work of fiction I had ever read that had a fight in the hero's mind had the hero triumph when they realized that it was their mind they were fighting in.
Whatever the reason, I never doubted the result of my fight with the dragon. The potential fight with Ferrovax, on the other hand, was something I knew we could never win. Sure, we had a plan to side-step having to deal with him, and it even had a fair chance of working. But if it didn't, I would die.
Worse my friends might die.
Wolf stood, whole once more, and nudged me with her nose. I scratched her behind her left ear, just like she liked it. "I'm fine, just worried." She licked my face before nuzzling me. "Thanks, I needed that." I stood and stretched. "Time to get back."
Wolf knelt and I was about to get on when I felt a small breeze. I looked over at the dragon and noticed that she had also healed and was subtly flexing her new wings and giving me an expectant look.
I blinked, "Seriously?" She nodded and lowered herself to the ground. I turned to give Wolf an incredulous look, only to do a double take when I noticed she had already gotten on the dragon's back and was giving me an impatient look. "Already made friends, have you?" The dragon gave a pained whimper at my tone and Wolf gave me a look she must have practiced on particularly slow cubs.
"What? Just because I like you now doesn't mean I have to like her!" I defended myself. Why I felt like I had to defend myself I have no idea. Lava really hurt and she had hit me with a lot of lava.
A sound that reminded me of a sputtering diesel engine came from the dragon. It took me a moment to realize she was crying. Wolf patted her back comfortingly and bared her teeth at me chidingly.
I sighed before walking over to the dragon and hugging her. "I'm sorry, I'm just a little stressed." It was a struggle to get that out, because as soon as I touched her I could feel what she represented.
Protection, Destruction, and Greed.
She stopped crying and gave me an inquiring look, "Yes, I mean it." She actually shook with happiness. I sighed and got on her back. Great, a bipolar dragon. Just what I needed.
The flight to my house was blessedly short.
888
I woke find Vivavax's head right in front of my face.
Little Death, I am hungry.
I blinked. That was surprisingly articulate. "Hungry?" It was still pitch-black outside.
More Food!
"What's the magic word?" I asked softly.
Vivavax cocked her head to the side. Confusion.
I sighed, "Never mind." Explaining the concept of please and thank you was more work than I wanted to get into this late at night.
Please? Thank you?
Right, mind-reader. "If you want something from someone, then you say please, and if they do something for you, you say thank you."
Please, more food. Thank you.
"Good enough. Let's get you some food, shall we?" She jumped on my shoulders and got comfortable. I stood and nearly fell over. Yep, she's definitely gotten bigger.
Everyone was still asleep, so I wrote a note and left.
This late, or early depending on how you measure it, there was no one around. Even the late-night patrols had gone to bed by now, leaving everything quiet. If it were anywhere else it would have been unnerving. No one around, almost no light, shapes moving in the portraits and suits of armor. It should have been creepy, but it was hard to feel anything other than safe at Hogwarts.
I was passing through the last hallway before I got to the stairwell when I heard a low murmur.
…vă rugăm să-i fie cea.
It got louder as I went down the corridor until I finally came to a partially opened door.
mare o am pleda, vă rugăm să-i fie cea.
I crept closer and looked in. It was dark, completely dark, except for a pair of candles in front of Quirrell. He was kneeling on the floor facing the door. He traced a shape on the floor before repeating himself.
mare o am pleda, vă rugăm să-i fie cea
In front of him was a small idol. It sat between the two candles with a staff held above its head with its upper pair of arms, and a pair of blades in its other arms, with a cape hanging off its shoulders. To cap off the look it had a truly disturbing mask with more teeth than it had any right to. It would have looked vaguely Hindu if it had more color. As it was the idol was completely black except for its teeth, which were stark white.
It was also staring at me, because for some reason Quirrell was kneeling facing the idol's back, so it was facing the door.
moarte mare doamnă, eu sunt instrumentului de voinței tale. Direct mine și i se va realiza tot ce doriti.
He traced a line on the floor and stood. I backed away from the door and hid behind one of the nearby suits of armor, not so much to hide, because I was already using the cloak, but to keep Quirrell from running into me.
I heard him say something else and then the door swung open. I waited for him to walk by, but I saw nothing. I frowned. Where was he, and what the hell was that?
Gone. A Prayer.
I started slightly when Vivavax spoke up. I gave her a look. What?
It was a Prayer and he left.
Quirrell was praying? Why would he be praying? Voldemort never struck me as someone who would submit to any higher power. His ego was too big. Not that I had any proof that he was actually possessed by Voldemort, and this did seem to be a mark against that theory. If Quirrell really wasn't possessed by Voldemort, then who was? Was Voldemort even here?
I sighed despondently. The more I learned the less it seemed I knew.
Little Death, I'm hungry, please food. Thank you.
Vivavax sounded so sincere I couldn't help but smile as I responded. One moment, please.
Breath. Focus. Sense.
I case my senses out to make sure Quirrell was gone. I found nothing but what might be the remnants of a spell. I couldn't tell which one it was but, I got a feeling of ignorance from it. I pulled back and frowned. An avoidance spell? If it was, why hadn't it gotten to me?
Please! Food! Thank you.
Right, let's go.
I left and made my way to the seventh floor without further incident.
888
I was standing at the podium waiting for Vivavax to finish off her current golem, this was her sixth one and they were disappearing faster than yesterday.
My mind, though, was on other matters.
Quirrell had religion. It was another in a long list of items that pointed to him not being Voldemort in disguise. It was disturbing, all my foreknowledge pointed to him being possessed by Voldemort, but the evidence... well, the evidence said otherwise.
He didn't stutter, I never noticed Professor Snape confronting him — though that may just be because I never saw it, not because it never happened — my cursed scar never hurt when he was around, and I never felt Voldemort's magic on or around him. Not that he couldn't have found a way to hide his magic, but with everything else it certainly seemed as if he wasn't Voldemort. Quirrell certainly creeped me out, but how much of that was because of me thinking he's creepy and how much of that was because he was actually creepy?
If Quirrell wasn't Voldemort, then who was? Was Voldemort actually here? The Stone certainly seemed to be here. Fluffy was here and Dumbledore had made his 'Extremely painful death warning' at the start of the year, which meant that the Philosopher's Stone was most likely here and that was certainly a prize worthy of any Dark Lord.
The Philosopher's Stone, the pinnacle of alchemy, a blood red stone capable of turning lead into gold. Useful in and of itself, but its true value came from its use as a potions ingredient.
Using the Stone as a reagent, a skilled potions maker could brew the Elixir of Life, which was exactly what it sounded like. Anyone who drank the elixir would be restored. No matter your age or physical condition, if you drank it you would be healed. Even if you had never done more than sit on your ass and eat, it would turn your body into its best possible shape.
It was a prize worth killing for. It was a prize many had died trying to obtain, which was another wrinkle in my theory. A lot of people had tried to steal the Stone from the Flamels, and the Flamels were still here, so why had Dumbledore been entrusted to hide the Stone from Voldemort? There was no way he was that much more capable than they were.
None of this was adding up, and…
Little Death, I want more!
During my mental wanderings Vivavax had managed to finish off the last few golems and make her way out of the arena, and was now crouching on top of the podium, giving me an eager look.
"You're still hungry?" I asked, slightly incredulous. Yesterday she had eaten four golems and seemed full. Now she was six golems in and seemed ready for six more. She nodded eagerly.
Please, more food, thank you.
I laughed, "Ok, how many do you want?"
She cocked her head to the side consideringly before nodding. All of them.
I raised my brow, "Really? All of them?" There were seven of them left, two with staves and five with swords.
Yes!
"Well, alright." She launched herself off the podium, doing a pirouette in the process, and landed in the middle if the arena. She crouched, head down and wings slightly open, eyes focused on the golems waiting outside the arena.
I fiddled with the controls and sent the remaining golems in. The sword golems entered first and started charging Vivavax.
I frowned, they should not be charging. Level ones do not charge. I glanced down at the podium and slammed my hand on the stop button when I saw that all the golems had been set to level three.
The golems were still charging and the staff users were hitting her with beams of fire. Vivavax was ignoring them, the beams were absorbed as soon as they hit her. As the sword golems got close she launched herself at the leading golem, only to get smacked aside as it slashed its sword at her, sending her tumbling. She hit the ground hard but was up in a flash and started running away.
I swallowed, the golems were supposed to stop if you surrendered but they were also supposed to stop if you hit the stop button. If they didn't stop and Vivavax died we could say goodbye to Hogwarts. Hell, we could say goodbye to all of Great Britain.
I had to stop this, but how? The podium wasn't working. Vivavax must have drained it when she landed on it, and while the shield was up I couldn't get in.
I jabbed my wand at the arena shield and pushed as much magic as I could at it. "Bombarda!" The curse hit the shield and was completely absorbed. I leaned against the podium, winded. Dammit!
Vivavax was still running, but the sword golems were getting closer. The lead golem put in a burst of speed and swung its sword at her. Vivavax jumped to the side at the last second, only just managing to avoid the strike.
I hit the stop button again and this time something happened. The golems didn't stop, but the shield flashed before disappearing.
I grinned before reaching into my robe and gripping my cloak, relishing the sensation of it slithering up my arm and over the rest of me. Soon I was completely invisible.
First things first, I had to deal with the staff golems. Vivavax could ignore their spells, but I couldn't, and helping her was out of the question until they were dealt with.
One of the first staff golems was right by the podium. I walked up behind it and whispered, "Bombarda." The spell was visible as it shot out of my wand and caused the golem's head to explode.
Before now I had only fought level two golems, and their response to my cloak was to stop doing anything. A response I had thought the level three golems would mimic.
They did not. Apparently the response level threes employ to a comrade suddenly dropping dead was to saturate the area with as much spellfire as possible. As soon as the headless golem started dropping, three sword golems stopped chasing Vivavax, reached into the bags at their belts, withdrew knives and lobbed them in my direction. The staff golem, not to be outdone, sent a gust of wind at me, turning the knives from merely fast to something approaching hypersonic.
Thankfully, as soon as they had stopped chasing Vivavax, I had dropped to the ground and started crawling away. The knives missed me, but the gust of wind still managed to smack into me hard enough to flip me over.
I scrambled to my feet and, keeping well away from the approaching sword golems, started for the last staff user. It had returned to firing at Vivavax. I stopped twenty yards away and palmed one of my throwing knives. I took aim and threw it for all I was worth. About halfway to its target the knife became visible, but the golem was too occupied to notice and it hit home, sinking nearly hilt deep in the golem's throat.
Before it could start dropping, I summoned my knife back and turned away. The knife slammed into my hand and I took in the rest of the arena.
The three golems that had gone over to the first downed golem had turned around and thrown some more knives, but as I was nowhere near their target I wasn't worried. The two still chasing Vivavax had stopped to try and find the new threat and that was when she struck.
Vivavax jumped onto the nearest one's shoulders and bit clean through its throat. Before the other one could react she repeated the process.
As she was doing that I targeted the last three. "Magnus Glacices," The best part about this spell is that it was invisible, there was no beam of light or spell that flew from your wand. You pointed, waved your wand, said the words, and the effects started happening. Perfect for an invisible fighter like myself.
I only managed to catch one of the golems with it. The other two jumped out of the way as soon as the ice started crawling up the middle one's legs. The golem who had jumped to the left was just pushing itself up when Vivavax ran over and bit its neck.
"Magnus Glacices," I targeted the only golem still moving and caught it as it turned to try and swing its sword at Vivavax. She dodged the swing and jumped at its throat, leaving only one golem still 'alive'. It was reaching for another knife when I hit it with a Bombarda to the head.
I took a moment to catch my breath before pulling off my cloak and stuffing it in my robe. I walked over to where Vivavax was making the golems disappear.
Great hunt, Little Death! Thank you!
I felt my eye twitch, "You almost got stabbed!"
Fun!
I sighed and went to go lie down on the bench, I was far too tired to deal with this. Vivavax finished with the golems and tried to lie down on top of me. Apparently an all magic diet is good for the body, because this last feeding had pushed her from just small enough for her body to fit in my lap to big enough that I could conceivably ride her into battle.
My feet would drag on the floor, but still.
"You're too big to lay on me," I said, as I tried to stop her from doing just that.
She got a determined look on her face. Please lap! Thank you!
I sighed, again. So tired. "Fine, but just your head."
She made a happy noise and got on the bench, laying her head on me. I laid back and tried to sleep. My mind drifted in that hazy place between wakefulness and sleep. It was nice, peaceful even, and I was nearly asleep when Hermione decided to show up.
"Did she get bigger?" Hermione asked. I made no move to respond. As tired and irritable as I felt I was likely to say something…regrettable. "That bench can't be comfortable."
I will not stab my friend. Friends are not for stabbing, no matter how much you want them to shut up and let you sleep.
Hermione sighed, "Well, if you're that tired, I guess I can wait to tell you that Charlie Owl'd back."
I reluctantly opened my eyes, "Really? That was fast." Really fast. Too fast, maybe?
Hermione shook her head, "Not really. Post Owls are bred to use the Nevernever to get all around the world. Getting from here to Canada and back is well within their capabilities."
Even as tired as I was, that surprised me. The Nevernever is the spirit world, or more accurately, it is all the spirit worlds. Heaven, Hell, the Underworld, Valhalla, and, most closely linked to our world, Faerie. They all existed within the Nevernever.
If you knew what you were doing you could open a Way into the Nevernever in London, walk for a bit, open another Way, and step out in Arizona or Siberia. It was dangerous, incredibly so, but undeniably useful.
I blinked, sitting up and absently stocked Vivavax's head. "Isn't the Nevernever dangerous?"
Hermione nodded, "Very, but the modern Post Owl is descended from an owl native to the Nevernever. They know how to get around safely."
"Oh," I said. I know I'm so articulate. "So what did he say?"
"Charlie?" Hermione asked. I nodded. "That he would be here tonight and to meet him in the forest by Hagrid's hut."
Not the Astronomy tower? "The Forbidden Forest? How is he getting here?" The forest was dangerous enough, I shuddered to think about what was on the other side of it in the Nevernever.
"Apparently the Dragon Lands have an entrance in the forest." Hermione said.
"Huh." Really, that said all I needed to say. I looked at Vivavax, "Hear that? You'll be home in no time." No response. She had fallen asleep.
"Do you really think this will work?" Hermione asked, looking concerned.
"I hope so," I said. "I really do." Because if it didn't there wouldn't be enough of us left to mop up.
888
I had Hermione go let the others know that we would be down in a few hours, and then Vivavax and I — finally — got some sleep. After our nap I let her feed on a few more golems before we started for Hagrid's hut.
Getting down was a challenge. Vivavax was officially too big for me to carry and she just absorbed disillusionment charms, so I had to ride on top of her to keep her invisible. It was an experience, one that passed without incident.
Well, without incident, barring Vivavax bumping into Sally-Anne Perks. She was walking around by herself and Vivavax took a corner too quickly and ran into her. She was fine, just drained, so I levitated her to a window alcove and arranged her so it looked like she just fell asleep. Had it been anyone else I would have felt a little bad, and honestly I still felt a little bad, but it was just Perks. That lazy, no good…
Anyway, after that we made it to Hagrid's hut without further problems.
I tried to read to distract myself from tonight, but I found my mind wandering around in circles. Would this work? Would Charlie get in trouble? If so, how much? Should we have gone to Dumbledore?
On and on my mind went.
Hagrid was no better. He spent the day alternatively pacing and whittling. By the time we finally left he had a small collection of half-finished wooden figurines.
I rode Vivavax until we were a good way into the woods, following behind Hagrid, with Pansy and Hermione walking just to my left. Once we were far enough in, I got off Vivavax and pulled off my cloak.
"When did he say he'd be here?" I asked, breath misting in the cold air. It was solidly in spring now, but the Forbidden Forest seemed to have missed that memo.
"Charlie said he'd be at eight," Hagrid answered. He was glancing around nervously, the forest didn't bother him, but clandestine meetings weren't his thing.
I was about to ask what time it was, but Pansy beat me to the punch. "It's only 7:40, we have a lot of time before we have to start worrying." She was leaning against Hermione, the cold air getting to her.
I was about to say something, but stopped when I felt a change in the air. "What was that?"
"What was what?" Hermione asked, looking around. She furrowed her brow, "Do you smell that?"
Pansy took a deep breath and suddenly look nervous, "Sulfur."
I was about to respond when a red head walked into our small clearing.
"Charlie!" Hagrid boomed happily, and started for him, but before he get close Vivavax charged him.
Father!
Father? My eyes went wide. "Hagrid, wait!" He froze, watching as what must have been Ferrovax himself caught Vivavax as she jumped at him and brought her close in a hug. "Hagrid, that's not Charlie." Not unless Mrs. Weasley has been keeping secrets.
Hagrid took a step back, only to freeze along with the rest of us when Ferrovax raised his eyes to look at us. When he looked at you it was as if you were staring at the sun and it was staring right back. Hermione fainted and Hagrid followed suit a moment later.
Pansy was slowly inching back, sweat pouring down her brow, only to freeze when he rested his gaze on her. Ferrovax looked at her for a long moment before visible dismissing her and turning towards me.
My hind brain was screaming at me to run, to hide, to do something, just get away! But I could do nothing. The weight of his gaze held me in place. The air seemed heavier, thicker somehow, as I struggled to stay upright. It was a losing battle. I fell to my knees, my eyes never leaving his.
I couldn't look away. I couldn't look away! I couldn't look away!
A soundless voice gibbered in the back of my head. Please look away, please God look away. Tears streamed down my face.
I started mouthing words. Please, I'm so sorry, God, I'm so sorry, so sorry.
I was close to breaking entirely when he finally spoke.
"You know who I am." It wasn't a question, I nodded anyway. "You know what I am. I require an answer and you will give it to me. Is that understood?" I hadn't stopped nodding. "Speak."
"Y-yes." My voice cracked as I answered.
"My daughter is not as she should be. Why?" Ferrovax asked.
"S-she hatched and tried to eat me," He arched his brow and I flinched, curling in on myself.
"Continue." His voice was calm, never once did he raise his voice. I was still frightened beyond measure.
"She had almost d-drained me when I tried to enter her mind to fight back," Ferrovax frowned, and I stopped breathing for a moment before I forced myself to continue. "I'm sorry but I was dying and I just wanted her to stop." He didn't respond so I kept going. "That started a Soulgaze."
Vivavax, who had been silent until now, spoke up. Father stop, Little Death is Nest Mate. Her tone, which usually reminded me of a small exuberant child, was very respectful.
He gave her a long look before nodding and turning back to me.
"You're the last Potter." Again, not a question. I nodded anyway. "I see." He inclined his head towards me slightly, very slightly. I froze, before accidentally slamming my head on the ground in a poor attempt at a bow. I didn't look up again until Vivavax started speaking again.
Wait! Little Death come with us.
I looked up and saw that Ferrovax had started walking away, only to pause as she spoke up. He glanced back at me and arched a brow questioningly. She jumped from his arms and made her way over to me. I hugged her close.
It was a struggle to talk, the air was still so thick, but I forced myself to speak.
"Vivavax," I said softly, "I can't leave my family." A small part of me was tempted, the chances of Voldemort getting to me while I was in Dragon lands was practically zero, but he could still go after my friends, my family.
Please! Come, thank you!
I smiled and reached into my shoe and pulled out the switchblade I had used to fight the Red Court vampire that had attacked me last summer. Keeping the blade closed I gave it to her. She gripped it in her claws before giving me a look.
"I can't come, but I want you to have this." She looked confused. "Humans don't have claws so we have to make our own, and this is my first one." I had gotten it with my own money. Cost me a pretty penny too. I had to buy it from a secondary school kid because I couldn't just go into a store and buy it on my own. "It was the first thing I bought on my own, with my money, and I want you to have it to remember me by, okay?"
She gave the knife a long look, before nodding decisively. Okay.
Vivavax pulled away and joined her father. They walked into the forest, soon disappearing from sight.
