The halls were made of pure gold and were covered in what appeared to be Egyptian hieroglyphs. Parvati barely had any opportunity to study them as Bellatrix forced her body forward at a ridiculous speed. Despite everything going on, Parvati was largely disappointed at not being able to sate her curiosity – which then became disappointment in herself because she was more worried about the ancient carvings than trying to get out of this predicament.
Bellatrix's cackling laughter filled her mind, "Poor wittle Gwiffindor, twapped in her own body, can't do what she wants."
The mocking baby talk shamed Parvati into a rage. "I may not have control now, whore, but you have no idea what I'm capable of."
"You insolent wretch," her captor whispered, "this is your last warning. Fight me and you will watch your family tortured and then killed by your own hand. See through your own eyes as their faces turn from loving trust to confused terror as their beloved Parvati curses them over and over and over. YOU WILL KNOW PAIN AS YOU HAVE NEVER IMAGINED WAS POSSIBLE!"
Parvati cowered within her mind, shoving her consciousness into the furthest reaches in an attempt to escape the raging and unstable hatred radiating from the spirit residing within her. She shut down, acquiescing to the control. Her fear at not only the display, but also the threat to her loved ones, crippled her resistance. She couldn't let this monster hurt her family, so she would play the good captive and do what she was told. "Okay," she whimpered.
There was no verbal response from Bellatrix, just an immense feeling of satisfaction that emanated from deep inside their shared chest and resonated throughout the rest of their body. Their fingers tingled, their smile was wild and wicked, their heart rate increased, and a certain other area of their body reacted in a way that surprised Parvati almost as much as it disgusted her. Bellatrix was enjoying the domination way too much.
They kept walking, Bellatrix in complete control now that Parvati had tucked herself so deep inside her mind. She was deeply elated in the amount of control she had achieved. Before her death, she had gotten off on controlling people, both within the bedroom and without. But this was different, more primal, and therefore devastatingly more pleasurable. But she couldn't pause to enjoy it. "No," she purred aloud, "I have much more important work to do."
At the end of the entrance hall stood a throne made of black stone, arcane ruins inscribed all over it. Seated upon the throne was a skeletal figure clothed in tattered black robes embroidered in gold with the same arcane script as the throne. It wore a silver crown atop its head that seemed to give off a slight glow. When they came within ten feet of the dead monarch, the crown's glow grew to an almost blinding light, and then retreated to about the level of a couple of torches and began pulsing in conjunction with the beat of their heart. This was disturbing in the extreme to Parvati, but it elicited a giddy excitement in Bellatrix. Both emotions caused adrenaline to course through their veins, so when the skull moved to look straight them they jumped back, startled. The skeleton laughed, cackled really, at them and then stood, spreading its arms wide and then bowing deeply.
"Creepy," thought Bellatrix.
"Kinda like you," Parvati replied.
"Hardly." Bellatrix was a little indignant at the comparison, and a little mortified at the truth of the statement when Parvati sent a couple of clips from her memory to confirm the observation.
The skeleton prevented any further debate by standing straight and speaking. "Congratulations are in order, I see. You have both passed the first two tests, and the final one is standing before you." He paused for dramatic effect, and the continued. "To obtain the first piece of artifact, you must defeat me in a duel."
"Hmph," Bellatrix said through her stolen mouth, "This should be simple, then. I was hoping for a bit of a challenge." She smiled with Parvati's lips, and stood with her side to the skeleton, wand up and ready.
The skeleton cackled again, and then pushed both boney hands out in front on him causing an invisible force to throw Parvatrix backwards through the air. Landing hard on their back, the air was forced out of their lungs. They struggled to breathe while they stood back up, warry of another assault of force. The skeleton now mirrored their original stance, a wand in hand. Anger coursed through them as the embarrassment of being caught off guard emanated from them both.
In typical Bellatrix fashion, she leapt to the attack immediately. "Avada Kedavra!" she screamed as she directed her wand at the skeleton. She wanted this over with as soon as possible. To her astonishment, the skeleton simply took the blast and answered with a maniacal laughter.
"You can't kill what is already dead, fool. Now, why don't you join me?" He returned his own killing curse at them, narrowly missing as they jumped to the side. Having anticipated this, the skeleton immediately following the blast by waving his wand in their direction, sending an arc of red light that hit them square in the chest before they hit the ground from their leap. Their body was wracked with pain as every nerve ending in their body burned as if they were on fire. It only lasted for a moment, but in all of Bellatrix's life she could not remember such a pain. Not even the Cruciatis curse felt like that, though it could be argued that it was worse as it could be maintained through concentration, while this new attack seemed to be just a blast.
"Stop analyzing the spell and start helping win this fight!" Bellatrix screamed mentally at her captive. "If he wins, you die. I resume my journey to find another host. Got it?"
"Sorry," Parvati replied, focusing her considerable mind on their enemy. "Just keep him occupied, okay?" She got no reply, but felt Bellatrix's understanding. She began by simply observing just how this thing acted and reacted during the fight. She was nearly overcome with the amount of power it seemed to command. It shrugged off most of the spells that managed to hit it, and seemed immune to any spell that affect living things. After Bellatrix narrowly escaped another of the pain spells it seemed to favor, Parvati noticed that its crown would glow brighter in the second prior to it casting a spell. This knowledge bolstered their defenses, allowing Bellatrix to begin to avoid or block most of his spells. The skeleton began to get frustrated, sending more spells quicker than before, no longer laughing at their feeble attempts to destroy it. Inspiration seized Parvati and she acted, elated that the idea may just work. Without meaning to, she brought her own arm up and said, "Reducto!"
The crown on top of the skeleton's head immediately disintegrated, and the skeleton fell into a heap of bones where it was standing. The two of them stood staring in disbelief, wondering if it was really over. The moment quickly passed, and Bellatrix exploded in their mind, lashing out mentally at Parvati. She recoiled back into her hiding spot, overcome with a disembodied pain. Her captor was clearly angry at having been overridden, temporarily unconcerned that it had meant victory.
"I am in control!" she screamed, as much at herself as Parvati, "We do as I say! NOT YOU!"
"Okay," was the feeble answer Parvati gave in response. They both knew, however, that a foot hold had been secured. The relationship between the two had changed, the balance of power shifted ever so slightly. Parvati used the barely contained fear Bellatrix was trying to hide as a mask for her sense of hope. Hope that this could have a very different ending that her captor was envisioning.
