Hello lovely Readers,
Here's the next installment to A Shadowed Life!
Sorry it has taken me so long to post this next chapter, but I tried to also make it more action filled and long….if you count 20 pages and 13k+ words long XD. I have been rather busy as of late and I hope you all are okay with this chapter. I worked it out the best I could. My uncle is currently in the hospital due to a heart attack, they've placed him in a medical coma for the time being. On another note it snowed here so I was able to right more since classes were out for college during the ice and snow storm. My mind is rather scattered and a rude comment came in on 2/22. So it will be the first answered on the list of answers.
Sysa: What a rude comment. Do you delight it putting people down for their writing? It is only a fanfiction a made up story. You may think something's are, as you sat UNREALISTIC, but to others it is rather plausible. Nothing is ever the same with every person. Instead of putting me down for my writing how about you zip it and leave my story be if you're so disgusted with my way of thinking. I do not tolerate people like you. People like you are the reason so many writers stop their works because you don't know how to shut off your mind filter and just read for the sake of reading. Thus, you do not enjoy anything people write because you believe certain things are Realistic or not. There's a reason it's called fanfiction, now get lost. Also your reviews have been removed, I do not want your negativity on my feed Good Day to you.
Anaelyssa: Thank you for the sentiments. Yeah, I liked "Descent into Darkness" approach for the Yule Ball, but I didn't want it overly similar so I changed several things around. I'm glad it turned out the way it did though, I technically had several different approaches to it before I settled on that one though. Anyways as for the bond they had it a long time ago, but the Mate bond is all in part to their dragons.
Wishfull-Star: XD I think a lot of people are happy about Tom/ Harry along with you X3
Evenstarlily: Thank you, it's been hard since then… But I think I'm coping with it. Thank you for your support and I'm glad your enjoying the story and sticking with it :3
HeiLong-Kun: X3 –chuckles- yes he sure does, :3 I still have a big plan for that actually. I find myself slowly making this story longer the more I progress with this x.x Just all these ideas keep jumping out at me so I end up changing things before I start typing future chapters.
Tsylina Llyria: I'm glad you like it. Yes, the "Bond" and "Mates" Are construed as two separate things in this. The bond being the link they have and the mates is the dragon part of themselves.
StillWatersAreDeep: Thank you X3 I really do try my best to not do so many typos and such x.x Sometimes I never really see them until after I've posted it even after re-reading it three times before posting it XD
Tamtax: I don't mind at all if you end up reviewing for each chapter XD I'm glad you like that I included Luna in this :3 I am also glad you like how I portray the Malfoy family in this. I'm glad you like the story thus far and hope to continue hearing from you X3
Magical Potato: I know you commented in chapter 1, but I'm answering in this one anyways XD. I'm happy you like the twist I made :3 I hope to hear from you again.
BlondeFanatic: To be honest I was a bit confused by your question. I had to go bad and re-read my last chapter to figure it out. You are speaking of the section about the mention of Rita Skeeter correct? The women is Rita…I thought it was really obvious whom I was talking about there. As your part on gotten a hold of him….I'm still quite confused by what you mean.
Yaoifan: x.x sorry you got lost….I thought I wrote it so no one would XD
Geust: Thank you we are trying to get through it the best we can.
Evesgreenleaf: Thank you, :3 I'm glad you enjoy it.
To everyone else who comment similar to each other: Thank you, I'm glad you loved the chapter. I hope to hear from you all again soon :3
Enjoy!
Things in the story you might want to know.
"Talking/ spells"
'Thinking/ sound affects/ Memories'
§Music Song/ Magic Song§
-Parseltongue-
.:Spells:.
~Dragon Telepathy~
*Dragon Language*
Chapter Twenty-seven- A Maze of Confusion
The Hols had gone by in a blur to Harry, the rest of those days spent mostly in Tom's presence. Harry found himself feeling lighter and happier then he'd been in a really long time. The only other happiness he'd felt were on two other occasions. When his mother and father showed up in the Mirror of Erised and when Sirius had asked him about living together so he wouldn't have had to of gone back to the Dursley's house. Though, his time spent with Tom trumped them by far. On Christmas Harry found himself once again being spoiled, but it also brought his attention to the egg Tom had gotten him that still had yet to hatch. It seemed the egg would only hatch whenever the time was right for it too, when that was Harry had no idea. This year Tom gave harry something that most would consider extremely rare considering that it was near to impossible to find.
It was a young griffin, but this was a different type of griffin since the type of bird and cat that was mixed together was that of a Snow Leopard and a Bald Eagle. Harry had been pleasantly surprised to say the least and the creature absolutely loved Harry. Since it was a magical creature it would grow to be rather large in time, thus Tom had created a collar to the feline to keep it small, and the size of a large house cat or small dog, but with one parseltongue word the spell could be reversed to give the griffin its true form. This could also be said to change it back to the small form it was given. He had asked Tom why he hadn't just done the same thing with Osiris, his answer was because Osiris was not a magical snake like Nagini was and his body would be unlikely to survive the powerful magic.
Harry simply shrugged and started to joke around on calling the cat Voldemort or Tom, because of its eyes since they were red. This had only resulted in Tom snogging him to get him to stop saying such things and give the feline a proper name. He spent most of the day thinking of one name that would suit him and ended up naming the small ball of fur and feathers, Ropax. Tom had asked him the significance behind the name and Harry simply stated that it was something he'd seen once used in a story or something, but couldn't remember all it was about, but he'd liked the name. The griffin had taken quite shine to Harry even going far as being a little over protective of him, but it learned quickly that anyone Harry cared about was allowed to be near him. So it grew rather friendly with those Harry cared about as well.
Lucius had grown fond of the small griffin and people often found it trailing him as it pounced at his robes in a rather playful manner. Which, this lead to Harry's gift from the Narcissa and Lucius, since Harry couldn't use Hedwig anymore, they had gotten him a beautiful falcon they had trained for him to use for his mail. Draco got one to of course they were clutch mates so they got along rather well. Draco had bought him a few new books that had come out that year that Harry had been waiting for to come out, as well as a pair of black dragon hide boots that reached his knees. Bellatrix had, had Lucius help her in finding someone to create a set of throwing knives with Phoenix's carved into the blades with roses twining around the hilt of the blade, as a gift from her to him. What surprised him more was what Severus had gotten him, since he never had given him anything before it the past. He had gotten Harry a book full of pictures made up of everyone he deeply cared about in it, as well as pictures of his mother and father from when they were growing up until they died.
Harry felt a swell of strange emotions in his chest, out of everything he'd gotten this was special to him. It had everyone he'd lost Regulus, Abraxas… not a single face he knew wasn't present in the book. He couldn't help it when he threw himself at the male and hugged him. Severus had done something he never would have expected from the male and to him it was a priceless book he would always cherish. Severus had been reluctant to hug him back, but he eventually gave in with a sigh. He could feel over the link when it had happened that Tom felt a bit jealous, but also happy that would now always have something that he could remember those long dead with.
Harry smiled to himself as he remembered that day.
"How did you do it?"
Severus sighed with a usual drawl, "It was simple really… all I had to do is pull memories of those people and bring them to life in this book. I had others help me with the other memories, but I did not tell them as to what they would be used for. Though, I suspect that a few knew as to what it was for none the less."
Harry swiped his arm over his eyes to clear away the unshed tears he had yet to reveal, "I… Thank you Severus… this means more to me then you could ever know."
"You're welcome Orion," Severus said softly, giving him a rare slight warm smile before it quickly vanished.
Harry smiled back and clutched the book close to his chest as Tom pulled Harry back up into his lap. The Dark Lord resting his head on his shoulder to look at the book as Harry started from the beginning. The pictures moved and waved after him, bringing a smile to his lips as fond memories of the people on each page flitted through his mind.
Now that Harry thought back on it all, he supposed Tom had a bit to do with the book which, pointed to what Severus had said about certain people knowing regardless on being told or not. He was to say the least surprised that the Dark Lord even remembered them, considering he really didn't pay much attention or mind to them when they were around. It warmed his heart more than anything to know that Tom remembered them and gave Severus those memories of them, to him to create such a book. Tom was always doing things for Harry since Harry came into the Dark's care. What had made him even more ecstatic was that Lucius had told him there was a portrait of Abraxas within the mansion now after having removed it from one room to the hall area near the foyer. Harry hadn't made it a habit to explore the mansion when he'd first gotten there, and even when he finally went to Hogwarts and such he still hadn't wandered to the others rooms in the mansion.
However, the whole incident as Briar Rose, or Phoenix as some knew the persona as, had pulled out a lot of surprises for him that Christmas. He spent some time talking to the portrait that bore a part of Abraxas within it. The man had been stunned to learn Harry and Phoenix were one and the same. Lucius had told him of course but as always the man refused to believe something without first seeing it. So Harry had once again brought Briar Rose out just to show he was who he said he was, though his memories helped to confirm that as well. They spent rather long moments in deep discussion over the events that happened short after his passing from Dagon Pox and later events that lead Harry to ever traveling back in time in the first place.
Abraxas was rather distraught to learn of how Tom's slowly deteriorating mind during that time had strayed from the original goal to the point of pointless deaths. He was also rather upset that Harry had been pushed to, quite literally, snapping both mentally and emotionally when he was Briar Rose. He recalled the approach they had started for the war before his passing, however he seemed to greatly approve more so with the direction they were taking now. It was interesting bouncing ideas of the older Malfoy, even though he was just a painting now. It was around the time they were discussing werewolves and the political movements needed to ensure the induction back into society that Tom came to join the conversation, which in turn effectively started them all over to the beginning of the topic.
It was after a moment, that Tom remembered why he'd even come to interrupt their conversation. Saying he had another surprise for Harry that he thought the younger male would greatly appreciate. Harry asked him what it was, but Tom refused to answer, forcing Harry to follow him in puzzled silence until they reach the lounge room. What met Harry there made his face light up as though Christmas had once again started all over for him. There sitting in the Malfoy living room was Sirius and Remus. They spoke for a long time, under the supervision of Tom that is, and it was around then Sirius seemed to grow uncomfortable as it turned to the topic of Dumbledore.
"What is it Sirius?"
"Well prongslet, we both got a letter from Dumbledore a few days ago asking to help in the search for you…"
"Me?" Harry tilted his head confused at first "Oh… you mean me as Harry Potter… the name I forsook?"
Sirius nodded, "Yes, it will be rather hard to lie to him right now so Remus and I have been away from the Order and Dumbledore all together. We know you're happy where you are and from what you have told us I am rather proud that you are no longer in that old codgers grasp."
Harry looked to Tom who was watching silently and said man raised a brow at him, "Yeah… I'm glad to be where I am too."
Tom smirked before a spoke up, "If you want… we can keep you updated on current events to keep you in the know of what is going on when Harry is involved with something. If you should ever need pointers I am sure Harry can help you with keeping your cover as well as his well hidden."
Harry nodded then paused, before looking to Sirius, "I have a home under the name Orion Black… I will be creating a port key for both you and Moony… If anything and I mean anything goes wrong and you need a place to hide then you know that you have a safe place where my home is. It is an un-plotted piece of land and it has anti-owl and anti-tracing wards on it. The wards are my own design and are a rather complex set of wards that are not recorded in the database at the ministry. They only have papers that claim that the wards are of my own standard design."
"Aren't you afraid that they'll find out?"
"Honestly… no. I built them that way for a reason and if they find out then it is because they were trying to get into my home illegally," He smirked, "And since in no way is my secrecy on my wards is in no way considered illegal then it matters not."
"But it is illegal to falsify documentation on such things," Sirius pointed out.
"This is true, but I have the standard wards as well," the look on Sirius face showed puzzlement so he elaborated, "If one were to test my wards they would take note that under the pile of wards I have added are the standard version of wards I use for most residents or shop owners. Therefore the documentation is not falsified and thus, justified. The wards on top would be noted through magical means to have been added after the placement of the standard wards…"
"And in turn you would be clear of any charges put on you… clever… never thought you to be so… Slytherin," Sirius hummed.
"To be honest my first year the hat had wanted me in Slytherin house… I told it not to, but after… in light of all I found out I am rather upset that I had let other people's prejudice rub off on me and affect my decision in what I was going to do in my life. In a way being Orion Black helped me to gain the choice I never had back, just as Evan Spring has done the same, though a guise they must be for my own protection I will never regret the choices I have made willingly," Harry told him softly.
Shock colored both the male's visages, "What? Really, is that true?"
Harry nodded, "First year when I boarded the train to Hogwarts I met Ronald Weasley, the youngest male to the Weasley family. At first I believe I was a bit elated that someone actually wanted to talk with me and we got along real well at first. It didn't help that when we arrived at the school that Draco had to insult the first person I had become friends with… but I should have shaken that hand… I should have never of let the prejudices of what I had heard before that moment to push my own personal choices. I should have never of become a Gryffindor…then… maybe I would have been free of what happened the following years… I would have been where I am earlier… even if it meant that if it had happened earlier, that I would have been an actual Death Eater."
Sirius and Remus shared a look, before Tom interjected, "It is possible you wouldn't have been a Death Eater, if I found out you were a Horcrux then I know I would not have made you one."
Sirius choked, "Horcrux!? You are a living Horcrux?"
Harry grimaced before shooting Tom a look that clearly said 'Thanks a lot for nothing,' Tom only smirked at him, "Yeah… I found that tidbit out on my own and later told Tom about it… it was by luck really that I found it out. I was having internal issues with things going on in my life that was rather hard to sift through at first. It was during the first task when I spoke to the dragon that I learned of what I needed to do and afterwards I quite literally stumbled upon it… I asked Tom about it, but at the same time I kind of… opened a new kind of scenario in mine and his life…" Harry looked to Tom and Harry could see that even though Tom's mask was up he saw the subtle softening on the edges of it that were meant just for him.
Sirius looked between them, "… are you two…"
He didn't finish the sentence and Harry's eyes widened and blushed, 'How the hell did he come to that conclusion?'
Sirius growled, "You're only a child." He rose from his seat and looked at Tom with a look that said he was so dead.
Harry's eyes narrowed, "Sit. Down. Sirius."
Sirius eyes widened when he heard the tone used and it was one Harry never used for him before so Sirius knew this was serious, "But…"
"No…also I am not a child any more I haven't been for over thirty years now," Sirius gave a confused look and Harry started to explain to him and Remus what really happened the day Dumbledore attacked Briar Rose that one day, attacked him, and everything that came after that.
Sirius blinked, "So… you're saying, that Phoenix… was you?"
Harry sighed and ran his fingers through his bangs before standing and hissing the parseltongue words that were associated with Briar Rose. Sirius gasped as well as Remus, for they knew the face well. The face of the women who had bested James Potter in battle, the very same women who had helped to raise Sirius until he'd run away and lived with the Potters. The very same women who, was well feared back in those days for her ruthless tactics in battle. Soft emeralds watched their faces silently.
"Now you know… Orion Black, Evan Spring, Briar Rose, and Harry Potter are one and the same person… all are me and I am them and each one was created with choices I chose to make," He sighed in the feminine voice of Briar Rose.
Sirius looked hurt a little bit, "You could have saved them…"
"No, Sirius I couldn't… I could not intercede on any major key points in the time line. I could only do very little without changing it completely and possibly creating a time paradox. Time travel has strict rules and even I knew that if I changed anything… anything at all… then I would not know how my own world would be like if I came back to it…"
"…but, what about your parents? How could you have just let them die?"
"I had too!" He shouted his hands fisted at his sides and Sirius flinched back and went silent, "I had to let them die…I watched them grow up…I helped be a part of their lives while they stayed alive during that time. Their part was too big in the time line and I couldn't allow it to be changed. It had to happen and you have no god damn idea how I felt about it… I had to lock away my heart… every bit of it I had to shove it into the deepest recesses of my mind while I was in that time line… and because of that I had locked away important things that made me who I was and restricted me for having access to another part of me that I had denied myself. I didn't just watch my parents die… I watched many I loved die… your brother included…" Sirius flinched at the mention of his brother, "Abraxas, Orion, Walburga, Cygnus, Druella… I watched them all die and I could do nothing about it without causing something to go wrong in our time line…I couldn't change it…I'm sorry but I just couldn't."
Sirius stood up, he could hear the tears that should be there, but couldn't see and he walked over to Harry and held him close, even though he felt oddly to know what he now knew of Briar Rose as being his godson, "Oh pup, I'm sorry."
Harry shook his head and just buried his face in Sirius's chest, "It's not your fault Siri… it was never your fault, but I couldn't do that no matter how badly I wanted too."
"Hush, I understand," Remus stayed silent, but he looked just as sorrowful as the two embracing at the moment.
Harry had to admit, it was rather hard to hear the accusation in Sirius's voice until he explained himself for his own actions during that time. Though, when all was said and done Sirius seemed to accept everything that had been said. He also admitted that if he'd been placed in Harry's shoes he wouldn't have had the strength to allow those events to happen again and that Harry was really strong to have let it happen, to go through with it even if it caused him a lot of pain to do so. The only issue now was getting Sirius to see him as an adult now and not a child anymore.
Harry, sighed softy to himself as he sat in thought in his and Tom's room. His fingers where lightly running over the sleeping form of his young Griffin, Ropax. Tom was out and about and today was Orion Black's day off from work so Harry had the whole day to himself until he had to depart for Hogwarts with Draco in the morning. His thoughts went back to Sirius and Remus, they had been so surprisingly supportive of him even before he started to give them information that only Tom and the Malfoy's knew… well other than Bellatrix, Hermione, and Snape… but if he really thought about it Snape and Bella were part of the Malfoy package in a way.
Harry was startled from his thoughts when Nagini and Osiris entered the room. Harry's face lit up at the sight of his snake friends. Osiris wrapped his rather large elegant form around him and lazily rested his head on top of Harry's. Harry giggled softly, it had been a while since he'd seen the two snakes. Even during the holidays they had been rather scarce.
-Hello my friend, how have you been as of late?-
-I have been well… Nagini and I are mates now… we have been watching our brood. Nagini is expecting beautiful hatchlings-
Harry blinked in utter surprise before smiling –That is wonderful news, will I get to meet them after they've hatched?-
Nagini spoke up first –Yes, they will be staying nearby. We have marked the area as ours and any snake foolish enough to attack my hatchlings will find themselves at the end of my fangs. When they grow of age their own poison will be potent enough on their own to leave and find masters of their own, or simply live alone.-
-That is wonderful, so the nest is within the grounds I assume?-
-Yes, in the place where everything smells so sweet.-
-Oh, you mean the gardens. That is a rather lovely place to raise your family in.-
-In deed… this way we can be close to our master's and close to your hatchlings that it will be easy to come around often.- Said Osiris, which oddly enough out of the two snakes Osiris was the one sounding more formal.
Harry chuckled and reached up to stroke the scales on Osiris's head –I have truly missed you my friend.-
-And I you Harry, my master and friend.-
Harry smiled happily before going off into detail of all that Osiris and Nagini had missed. The three friends sat quietly and occasionally Ropax would lightly nip at his hand when he stopped petting him. Which, in turn left Harry laughing before resuming the petting once more. If there was one thing Harry passionately loved now it was magical creatures. He wasn't sure why he liked them so much, but he just did. It was possible that he too was part creature. His thoughts went from the griffin he was stroking to the last task of the tournament. They would have a few weeks to prepare themselves for whatever came next and since they had no clues this time, they were all sitting ducks.
{A Shadowed Life}
Harry and Draco looked over the platform of nine and three quarters. People bustling everywhere and Harry was happy to not that there were no news reporters anywhere. He'd thought there would have been considering the last task of the tournament wasn't all that far away from now. They got on the train with little trouble and he was even more surprised that Ron hadn't attempted anything like he usually did. Something wasn't right and Harry found himself on edge. Draco seemed to sense this and in kind was rather quiet and alert as well. The only thing Harry could think about that could at least give this feeling, could only mean Dumbledore was planning something. Harry didn't know what, but it was to peaceful for Harry to overlook. When his life was filled with dangers and chaos he knew that a peaceful break was rare and usually had an underlying meaning in it.
They made their way to their usually cart room and sat silently until the usual group of Slytherins, Gryffindors, and Ravenclaw joined them. In which everything went array with Hermione, Draco, Luna, and the twins started a discussion that even Harry had a hard time keeping up with. In the end it ended up with the twins as the victors of the topic and a disgruntled Hermione and Draco glaring daggers at the twins and with Luna dreamily smiling widely with soft giggles on her lips. Harry shook his head and for once he just let his nerves melt away watching his young friends.
These people even with the impossible odds with the way things happened to him had found a way to look past all their prejudices and become a family made up of just friends. They supported each other and argued about things that were important to them, but out of all of it there was no malice or anger behind their words towards each other anymore. Sure there was a few that still were reluctant and a bit iffy about it, but they tried and that was all he could ever ask of them. When the Hogwarts Express rolled onto the Hogwarts platform they all left together and walked over to the carriages where their group split into three groups.
Harry paused to stroke down the nose of the Thestral that was there, "Hello beautiful."
"Come on Evan," Draco called, "You have the rest of the school year to mess with Thestrals."
"You might, but not me…I have to be ready for whatever the next task has in store for me and the other champions. Something tells me…this time the others would have been just too simple…" He sighed and vaguely noted that Draco nodded his head.
Harry climbed up into the carriage and they headed towards Hogwarts. The ride there was rather quiet considering it was him Draco, Theo, and Blaise. All the while Harry kept trying to come up with reasons why he was feeling so uneasy. He was sure that last time he'd been to Hogwarts the old man had sneaking suspicions that Orion and Evan might be the same people. He'd made sure over the break that Evan and Orion were out in about in town to keep that suspicion from being accurate. Yet somehow he had a feeling that maybe it wasn't enough. Harry shivered and Draco placed a hand on his shoulder to reassure him.
"It's probably nothing," Draco said to him drawing Theo's and Blaise's attention to them.
"I don't know… Ron not bugging us is suspicions enough and the fact nothing so far has gone wrong for me yet is starting to bug me," Harry sighed.
"Maybe your luck has changed?" Blaise asked.
"No, I don't think so… This is just my luck… the calm before the storm, and usually I'm always right about that. Most days my luck is horrid right off the bat," He sighed.
"Then do you possibly know what could cause this unease?" Draco asked.
"The only thing I can think of is Dumbledore having figured out that Orion and Evan are the same person," He shrugged.
"What? Wait when did this happen?" Draco asked his eyes wide.
"The previous task with the lake I shivered at the end when I emerged from the water. As far as Dumbledore knows only Orion's body temperature drops significantly to the point it could kill him. Evan Spring however does not… as far as he knows Evan shouldn't have the same problem since it is a rare condition," Harry explained, "I can only surmise that Dumbledore saw the violent shiver I gave regardless on how well I tried to avoid and hide it and coupled with the warming charm it would have made it even more noticeable."
"Oh great… You think he might try something on this next task?"
"I don't know… I tried my hardest over the break to play Evan and Orion out in the open, not sure it helped though. If Dumbledore does try something during the tournament then I don't know exactly when that will be or if it is part of the task naturally," He sighed.
Both went silent as they sat there together in thought, when they pulled up to Hogwarts they clambered out of the carriage and up to the building to get to the great hall. They had a welcome back feast from the holidays and Dumbledore reminded everyone that there was still the final task that was still left to complete. It would take place in a few weeks giving all participating time to prepare for the final task. However no one was permitted to use the Quidditch pitch until further notice, free time would be spent mostly in doors anyways considering the time of year. Way too many people would not brave to cool are of Hogwarts just yet.
Harry chuckled at something Draco mumbled under his breath until he felt that all too subtle push on his mind and Harry's eyes went wide. His shields clamped down and he looked over at the head table, the head master was still talking, but he was staring straight at Harry. Though, to everyone else they probably did not notice anything was up. The pressure against his mind walls were more over barring then the last few attempts the head master had attempted and it hurt quite a lot. Harry's dragon side growled venomously, but it wasn't just within Harry and it echoed of the walls with how loud it was. Every head in the room turned to the boy they knew as Evan Spring at the same time he yelled.
"Get out of my head, NOW!" as he stood up and glared daggers at the old man.
The pressure let up, but there was blood trickling from Harry's nose.
The pressure now suddenly gone made him feel light headed and nauseous to the point Harry had to use Draco to keep himself standing. He was outright ticked off with Albus Dumbledore, he walked over shakily till he was right up in Dumbledore's face. McGonagall was now standing as well as Snape and Hagrid. His hands were balled at his sides, nails biting into the flesh there as he spat out his next words.
"Where do you come off invading my mind? Oh, and don't you dare say it was for my own good. I'm tired of people telling me what's good for me. First people attack my family because of someone within this school did to me. I'm tired of certain students who will remain unnamed, keep attacking me physically. I'm tired of people trying to tear me and my brother away from each other and I'm tired of you always probing, looking for something without permission might I add…" He turned to everyone in the room, "I will tolerate it no more… anyone he personally attacks me from this day forward will rue the day they ever did. I am not longer playing this mister nice guy. I tried and it seems those who continue to do so still want to ruin what life I have built for myself. Those of you who have not attacked me in anyways shape or form I will remain polite and help anyways I can," He looked back at Dumbledore.
"Calm down Mr. Spring," Dumbledore placated him, "I was only discerning on if you were mentally all right with what has been going on."
Harry hissed, "So you try to force your way into my mind to do so? You couldn't have just asked?"
"Mr. Spring I suggest you-" McGonagall started to say, but Harry shot her a glare that shut her up quick.
"It was all to make sure you were okay Mr. Spring, I could not tell if you were telling stories if you told me outright and the fastest way to get that information is to see it for myself do you not agree?" Dumbledore said still giving that Grandfatherly twinkle in his damnedable eyes.
Harry growled, "No I do not agree… I do not know if you are aware 'Headmaster', but it is considered illegal to use Ligilimens a child and considering I am not in my final years here it is also considered mind rape on a minor… if I wanted you to see all those horrid things that happened to me then I would have given you the memory in a pensive and now I do not trust you enough to possibly tamper with my own memories…So no Headmaster I do not agree. Consider yourself warned next time you try to do this again or anything else I will make sure you are in Azkaban for it," With that Harry turned away before pausing and looking back at him, "Or worse the Dementors kiss."
The entire hall was stunned silent, sweet little Evan helpful to many and friend to all had obviously snapped. Many there thought just when this was going to happen and now that it had they were unsure how to handle it. Those light blue eyes were that of stone and the air around him seemed to crackle around him. He didn't even stay to listen to anything more of what Dumbledore said and walked down the long isles taking note that Ronald Weasley was just coming in and seemed shocked to see him coming towards the doors. The boy frowned and was going to make a snappy retort when Harry simply flicked his wand wordlessly and pushed Ronald out of the way, a lot more gently then he even felt like doing. Not even attempting to deal with the gingers bullshit just yet.
He didn't hear Draco follow reluctantly, but he felt him. They stalked through the halls to the Slytherin common room before Harry stopped. He stood in the middle of the room, his hands shaking at his sides. He was trying to calm down the bubbling chaos within him. As Phoenix he would have let it go without repercussion, but he had to, in order to hide who he was. He couldn't let anyone know who he was and any notion the old man may have had about him being Orion, probably went out the window. Harry closed his eyes and took deep calming breaths and he minorly felt Draco hovering close by, but there was another presence just entering the room.
"Would you mind, Mr. Spring, telling me what that was about?" Snape drawled.
Harry raised a hand for silence, his dragon still growling loudly within and without. It took a while, but the professor stayed silent and patient before Harry slowly opened his eyes. He turned slowly to stare at the other male. His blue eyes still seething with that well suppressed rage that wanted nothing more than to pitch forward and tear into someone or something.
"What just happened Severus… is Albus Percival Wulfric Dumbledore just used Ligilimens on me in front of teachers and students alike," Harry reached up and touched his nose with shaking fingers, "I will not stand for it… if it was today that Evan Spring… me… was supposed to snap then that will be it. He almost had me Severus… he almost got through… if that happened then everything I've worked for… that Tom worked for… would be bare to his eyes. I cannot stand for that ever," He swayed on his feet and Draco caught him before he could collapse, "Shit…" He panted as the younger male pulled him over to a couch."
"Did he get to see anything?" He asked.
"I don't think he did… not that I could tell, I was more occupied with helping my dragon enforce my mind walls to keep him out. If he did then I am unsure of what he glimpsed," Harry sighed as he leaned back and rested his head against the back of the couch.
"I will inform our lord, so he knows what has happened," Snape said before turning.
"Yes, please do…oh and Severus make sure Auntie Bella as well as mother and father are there," He smirked at the dark male.
Snape smirked, "I would be delighted to do so."
Harry chuckled before he felt a cool cloth on his forehead and something up under his nose to get rid of the blood, "Thanks Dray."
"Never thought the old fool would have it in him to pull that kind of stunt, what makes you think his reasons for doing it are?"
"Well not for the reason he gave, he probably wanted to force his way in to figure if Orion and Evan were one and the same… however it is possible I might have thrown that thought out the window with my behavior… though it might be highly unlikely, I don't know. That man wants to desperately figure out the players in the game he is in… and I can guarantee he thinks of use as players in a game," Harry sighed.
"Well since everyone bore witness to that and quite a number of pureblood families were there you can guarantee that many of their parents will hear of it and there will be people moving to remove the Headmaster from his seat as Headmaster of Hogwarts," Draco said to him softly knowing the side effects Harry would have, one of which was sensitivity to sound.
Harry sighed, "That would be great, because then I won't have to worry about Tom ripping the wards apart… it's a delicate process for a place so old as this and teaming with natural magical barriers."
"So you found the knot?" Draco asked surprised.
"Yes, I found it before leaving to go home for the holidays. It was a pain to find. It was on the grounds near the forbidden forest, just behind Hagrid's hut. It was real close to the ground and hidden by a stack of pumpkins. There are more layers to the barrier around Hogwarts then I had originally thought. Many were put there by Dumbledore himself. Others are rather old possibly been there since the founders had created the school, but there is a natural magical barrier there created by the area itself to protect the magical beings within the land. How it got mingled in I have yet to find out, but Tom assures me with patience he could remove the barriers that are not needed and the natural will be left untouched. Hopefully this is true… if the natural barrier is connected to one of Dumbledore's barriers then it is possible that he could damage the land and it could lash out quite violently."
"Wow… you know a lot about this sort of thing don't you?"
"I have to Draco warding is a job or mine…well more a hobby then a job, I just made it one," He chuckled.
They talked for a long while, until other Slytherins joined them and then the questions shot off. Harry dealt with them as they came with as much grace and calm he usually did as Evan Spring before his exploding period. Once all was calmed down they all shuffled off to their beds for the night, each and every one of the exhausted and in need of rest and that night Harry dreamt of his Tom.
{A Shadowed Life}
A few weeks went by since that day in the great Hall. Ron was malicious as ever now, but since Evan Spring was no longer taking anything from anyone he was just as vicious back to the overbearing male. It wasn't just Ron now, though many of the students who thought he was lying now were also siding with Ron and Dumbledore. These students consisted of Ron and Ginny Weasly, Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, Katie Bell, Lavender Brown, Terry Boot, Hannah Abbott, and Marietta Edgecombe. So it was mostly Gryffindors, six to be précises, and the other three consisted of two Ravenclaw students and one Hufflepuff student.
Though, the more he looked around the more he started to wonder which students also agreed with this growing group yet did not verbally speak out over it. Many that he helped during the school year continued to come to him for aid when they needed it. However, those few that were more so considered light families seemed to cling to Dumbledore like a wart. However, there were the few light families who sought him out to find out the truth. Those that had been curious enough to hear out what had truly gone on and Harry provided them willingly with information to incriminate Dumbledore in the worst light ever, causing them to turn from the light lord so easily.
Harry was quite pleased with himself if he had to outwardly admit it. Currently he was lounging in the common room on the couch surrounded by his Slytherin friends who were doing other things at the moment. Classes had been canceled that day in favor of holding the final task for the champions. Harry had been chipping away at Dumbledore's loyal followers and their families and after the tournament was over Tom would start to move his plans from there. The tournament was a way to show just how strong Harry was as Evan Spring only to reveal later that he was indeed a dark lord himself as well as none other than Orion Black.
Harry sat up and cast a quick tempus to see the time, "Well… may as well start heading for the field," He looked out the window at how gloomy and dark lake which told him it was fairly gloom outside if it was almost pitch black, "It seems this task will be taken in darkness… this should be fun."
"Wonder if it'll be as eventful as the other tasks," Draco mused.
"If Dumbledore has anything to do with what's going on than probably… stupid old codger is only playing into our hands," Harry stood as he heard chuckles from the other Slytherins in the room.
Draco chuckled, "I'm sure our Lord is greatly pleased with your endeavors."
Harry raised his chin a fraction with a smirk, "Of course, could you expect less of me?"
Draco snorted, "No, and I doubt that if anyone knew who exactly you were they would be unwise to judge you or under estimate you."
Harry chuckled, "I doubt even then they would be unwise to under estimate me… mostly because they wouldn't at all believe it at first."
"True, but they would eventually believe it none the less," Draco assured.
Harry rolled his eyes, "Come on everyone, it wouldn't do to have the whole tournament waiting on little ol' me."
Harry heard several chuckles from the other Slytherins in the room as he strode over to the exit to the common room. They took note that they weren't the only ones cutting it close to the deadline for the task. Harry just hoped he'd prepared for any kind of scenario he could be put in, in the final task. As the exited the castle he looked up at the sky, a shiver rolling through him as the nip in the air caught his skin. He quickly put up a powerful warming charm and glanced at Draco who was chuckling at him. Harry rolled his eyes and made his way down to the platform that looked to be where the champions were to be standing. He was surprised to only see Cedric there and he scanned the area looking for Fleur and Krum. Fleur was just exiting the castle and Krum was in a mass of people near Hermione.
Harry shrugged his shoulders only to feel someone tap his left shoulder moments later. Harry jumped and whirled around to come face to face with the minister. Harry blinked and timidly took a step back, yes even though Evan spring was no longer taking much from people he was still rather wary of people. The Minister was silently scrutinizing him as Harry did the same back. Both were silent as they took in everything about the other and Harry wondered only minutely what the reason the Minister would be doing trying to gain his attention.
"Um, hello sir, is there something I can do for you?" Harry asked.
"Quite so, I have come to the understanding that Dumbledore has used the mind arts on you…is this true?" Harry blinked in surprise and then nodded.
"Yes, and I am rather miffed about it still," Harry said playing on the suppressed anger he still had over the issue.
The Minister's eyes grew wide, "Yes, well I will make it my utmost responsibility that you get your justice on his wrong doings. Assaulting a minors mind is a grave thing to do… the damage he could have done… I shudder to think just how many others he has done this too."
"You think he has done this to others as well?"
"Who's to say he has not, the reason you reacted strongly to his intrusion was because you know Occlumency correct?"
"Yes sir I do… mother and father thought it was for the best for me to do so… so I can keep people from seeing the horrors of my past if they chose to try and read my mind," Harry said in a softer tone playing on the pity card the Minister was sure to use with him.
"Right they are, you should not have to relive those horrors and no one should witness them without your expressed permission either. Dumbledore will sure to stand trial for this I swear to you that he will young Mr. Spring. Your family friend… or is it cousin?... I fear I do not know which but if you prefer I will call him your cousin, Mr. Orion Black, speaks fondly of you during the times we see each other… you and young Draco. I practically feel as though we are family ourselves. So when I heard from Lord Lucius I found myself quite aghast with what had happened," He rambled on.
"Really I didn't know? Orion talks about you fondly as well Minister, if I could I would vote for you, but alas I cannot until I am of age," He said to him with a small smile.
"Really now he speaks of me, well then I must have made a good impression on him then," The Minister beamed.
"Minister… can I ask something?"
"Yes, what is it dear boy?"
"I was wondering has there been any word on Harry Potter's whereabouts. I mean… I haven't read anything in the paper since people started talking about him disappearing."
"I am not sure Mr. Spring, not much is known, but Dumbledore claims he is in hiding, though from what I have no idea. The old coot has been saying the Dark Lord is back yet there has been no sign of him, other than the random attacks by what everyone calls the Death Eaters… for all we know they are only acting up for shear boredom," The man sigh exasperatedly, "Yet there has been neither hide nor hair of the supposed 'Dark Lord'."
"Sounds as though he has absolutely lost his mind," Harry said and the man started to agree with him, "Sir, um…I would like to talk to you again sometime, but the final task is about to begin Mr. Black speaks of you often and well I can think of no other person to talk to about what has been going on with what's being said about my family."
"Mr. Black speaks of me?" The minister thought this over before nodding and looking at Harry again with a gentle smile, "I would love to talk with you again. I will send word when I have the time to speak with you. It has been frighteningly worrying about what has been going through the news about you and your family… I hope to help anyway I can."
Harry internally smiled as he successfully turned the conversation in his favor. It really hadn't taken much surprisingly. Just agreeing with the man and complimenting him on words based off of Orion Black seemed to be enough for the man. It was rather sad that he so easily manipulated the topic so well. If he could get people of the backs of the Malfoy's then that would be highly pleasant. He wouldn't have to worry about Draco being pulled away from his family and even though Tom had offered to take them in he doubted the man wanted to adopt the younger Malfoy heir. He nodded to the man and the bid each other farewell and the Minister wished him luck on the final task. It was then Harry turned to the imposing green shrubbery that stood before everyone.
He could feel the magic as well as see it rolling off the place. He now understood why no one was allowed to come to the field even for Quidditch practice. The thing was alive and would protect itself by destroying anything it saw as a threat and to it wizards were the threat. Harry inwardly felt wary, there could be any number of things in there and to be honest he was not entirely looking forward to any of it. All he could do was hope he was prepared for anything that could be within the place. He glanced to the other champions that came up next to him. Fleur looked rather frightened, but had a resolved look to her features. Krum was probably just was wary, but not frightened, just as Harry was. Cedric looked like he'd just swallowed something distasteful, but he too had a resolved look upon his features.
Dumbledore started to announce what the task was about and Harry found out that the Tri-Wizard cup would be in the dead center of the maze, waiting for the first champion to come upon the cup for the win. The points earned would determine the winner by both skill, time taken, and spell work used. If given excellence in all categories then it was possible for even the last place recipient to win the tournament or possibly put the first placer out of reach entirely from the others. Harry internally smirked at this, but was also annoyed. He didn't know if he would be watched and as far as he could tell there would be no magical cameras following them as there had been in the second task.
He looked over at Dumbledore and wondered just what he'd done to manipulate this part of the tournament as well. He would have to be careful of what he did within the green walls of the maze. He didn't want to slip up like last time, but if he was forced to then there would be nothing he could do to stop Dumbledore from doing what he would do next if he decided to confront him about his fighting capabilities.
He sighed internally, he hoped it would come to that, but with the progression of each task seemingly getting harder and harder to complete he wonder just how he was going to get through this one. He was more prepared than the others that, was for sure, but too much of it was in relation to Briar Rose as well as Orion Black, then that of Evan Spring. Yes Evan was a prodigy, but he wasn't a master in fighting as Briar Rose was or a master at creating and constructing spells as Orion Black was. Evan spring was neither of these, well not masters anyways and he had to always restrain himself from doing something either of them are known to do, let alone acting as they have. Even with the change in attitude that Evan underwent he was still kind and open to people who wanted or needed help.
Harry shook his thoughts off and tried to focus on Dumbledore explaining that there was a number of different obstacles and challenges within the maze they would have to overcome. However, the headmaster revealed not of those challenges and Harry sighed softly. He heard he would be the first to enter and given five minutes before the next champion entered the maze and so on. Harry readied himself as he waited for the sound of the cannon, when it sounded he was off into the passage before him before it closed slowly behind him.
Looking forward Harry mumbled a spell under his breath that transformed his ears to his dragon one's and his eyes into slits. His nails sharpened slightly as he moved forward, wasting no time to move towards his target. Harry could see anything that showed he was under surveillance so he proceeded till he caught a scent on the wind that made his hackles bristle. There were Acromantulas' in the maze and from what he could tell there was also the scent of many other creatures as well. One's he was no familiar with. He cursed under his breath because now he really hoped he wasn't under surveillance. He could pull off being taught certain spells, but fighting was something he couldn't pull off unless he was forced to do so. Grimacing he didn't like that thought, mostly because if he allowed himself to fight as Briar Rose usually did then he was more than likely going to lose himself to the blood lust he knew was still deep within him.
Harry walked slowly until the smell of fire assaulted his nose and he grimaced, 'Now what's in here that makes that scent permeate the air?' Harry thought to himself.
Without warning something came, sailing in his direction and Harry was barely able to dance out of the range of the rather large stinger that had come at him. Grimacing Harry looked at the Blast-Ended Skrewt with distaste. Hagrid had a hand at some of the creatures in the maze… that he was sure of. He dodged another lunge from the Manticore Fire Crab Hybrid. Harry nearly fell over when it rushed his direction with the strange way it blasted itself forward. This thing was rather violent and was much larger the three foot one's he remembered Hagrid having bred.
"Geez, why'd they have to employ Hagrid's grueling beasties in this," Harry said out loud as he sent a severing hex at the thing.
It cried out in anger as the well placed hex sliced through the thick hide like armor. Though, it wasn't enough to stop it from attacking him again. He just hoped the damned thing wouldn't use it's rather explosive propulsion ability it seems to have. What he also hoped was that the female of this species wasn't close by. It was troublesome dealing with the male version already. He jerked back and growled at the beast when it swung its stinger at him. When it turned Harry only had a fraction of a second to move and even that wasn't enough as the explosive propulsion the beast had struck his left arm, burning the flesh there and Harry gritted his teeth in pain.
"Damn…I can't use my healing in case I'm being watched," He growled under his breath.
He looked at the beast and studied it's movements. He would be able to defeat it, he just had to land a well-aimed and powerful spell to sever the armor. He thought over the many spells he had learned that would be acceptable as Evan to use. He readied himself and waited patiently. When it came back at him once more Harry struck out with the spell.
".:Avskarande-Piasu:." It was a severing spell that was of the grey variety, though unknown to many as a darker grey spell.
It was a hybrid spell almost forgotten by most, a clever spell created between Swedish and Japanese words. In short it meant severing pierce, A spell strong enough to slice even through muggle steel. A spell that would be enough for the thick hide of the magical beast, before him and just as the spell hit Harry could already see the affects. An X shape appeared on the armored hide and cut deep, causing the beast to squeal before it fell to the ground in four pieces. It's insides pilling out onto the grass and under the brush nearest to it. Harry watched as the brush seemingly came to life and started to feast on the beast's fallen form.
Sighing Harry looked down at his left arm. The burn was rather bad even the healing spells he used when going against Ron was no match for this magical burn. He hoped that he'd be able to heal it without scarring once this was all over. Looking around he sighed and walked forward leaving his arm limp at his side as he pressed on. He knew locator charms would work, the whole place was laced in a magic that stopped anyone from using them. So the idea of using them was very moot.
Harry was turning another bend when a very loud his assaulted his ears and his eyes went wide in utter astonishment. They had a damned basilisk in the maze. The creature alone was very powerful in its own right. Depending on its age the basilisk's stare could either kill or just simply petrify you. On top of that the basilisk's skin was impervious to many spells, though depending on the spell used they were invulnerable to it. In fact many dark spells could easily tear a basilisk apart, but light spells could usually only knock them out. The spell he'd used on the Blast-Ended Skrewt was one that would be ineffective on a Basilisk. Harry had no idea where they got the beast or how Dumbledore talked them into letting them use it for the task, but Harry was sure this fight was going to break him. As Harry Potter he had gotten rid of the large snake with a sword and that was just barely coming out with his own life intact.
This time he was Evan Spring and regardless of his skills he was not going to let this snake kill him. If it came to a fight he would be forced to fight as Briar Rose would. That thought alone made a dreadful chill run straight down his spine and bile rise up. Dumbledore had played his chips well this time, Harry had been so focused on the possibility that the man would get Orion and Evan in the same place that he had let slip the fact there was still much the old fool could do in this tournament. Harry closed his eyes and faced the direction the hiss came from.
-So hungry… stupid humans threw me in here…no respect…All there is to eat is the spiders that I've found so far…I smell humans and the lion creature…- The snake was practically mumbling to itself in a disgruntled manner and Harry dared not to answer it in fears of revealing just exactly who he was.
"Oh dear, Merlin is that a Basilisk?" That voice be longed to none other the Cedric Diggory.
Harry cursed under his breath as the snake turned to the idiot –Humans… I will kill and eat you whole to satisfy my hunger… to bad my stare cannot yet kill, but my venom shall do the trick quiet easily-
Harry sighed in relief and opened his eyes, careful to not look the beast directly in its easy. However, Cedric being the fool he was wasn't as lucky and accidently stared into the beasts eyes. His whole body locked up and his skin grew pale showing the affects the snake had on him. Harry cursed and pushed Cedric away and used the boy's wand to cast a spark for the people to come find him. Harry turned back to the Basilisk and taunted it before rushing down a maze path. Harry shivered as he felt it close on his heels and right as he felt it about to strike he dodged and point a well-aimed .:Bombarda:. at its head.
The large snake wavered a bit before angrily lunging at him –Insolent hatchling… you will be eaten painfully-
Harry laughed and blasted the snake once again. He could discern that the snake was very much a male. The magic pointed to it as well as the voice given. He dodged the snake slowly falling into old habits as Briar Rose, something that quiet literally slipped his notice. His usually icy blue eyes as Evan, were lit up and sparkling with excitement. Without thinking Harry let his dragon in alongside his excitement and landed a well-placed punch at the end of the snake's snout, sending the snake's head down to the ground. The snake groaned and Harry found t highly amusing to play with the snake.
He heard the sound of his dragon chuckling within his mind, ~This, inferior beast's, eyes will not affect you Ux Bahamuti you do not have to fear it's binding spell of paralysis and death~
Harry blinked in surprise, 'Really?'
~Yes~
'That's bloody brilliant to know, thanks~ He felt the dragon chuckle again, but stayed in the forefront of his mind alongside him.
The Basilisk's eyes met his and it chuckled –And now you will meet a bloody end foolish Hatchling- It lunged and Harry dodged it easily –How? Our eyes met you should be paralyzed- It hissed in anger.
*It is useless against one who is from the blood of dragon's* Harry said in the dragon tongue. He wasn't sure if all dragons were immune to the snakes stare, but the dragon in him didn't dispute it so he guessed he was right.
The snake stopped and watched him, it's tongue flicking out rapidly to taste the air, -The dragon's tongue… I know not of what you speak… however… dragon legends live long it seems… Dragonborn.- The Basilisk curled in on itself in thought. –Very well… leave me, and I shall attack you no longer.- Harry tilted his head in a questioning manner, but anyone who may be watching would think he looked confused about the large snake's unmoving body. The snake laughed a hissy laugh –I value my life to much to go against a creature made in the union of a powerful wizard and a dragon. Dragons are a snakes better, they rule over us even though my kind is considered the king of all snakes they still govern us as well. Yes, even the less intelligent o f the dragon race that was left behind…. Oh, do not look surprised hatchling Basilisk's remember well of the old legends, only a basilisk not born to a basilisk would not know of these legends. Now leave I grow hungry…okay I will not eat your human companion I paralyzed, I will hunt elsewhere.-
It was fun conversing without speaking the snake language. The snake read his every facial expression and every body movement and conveyed it in the right way. Harry had almost expected to this Basilisk to be as the same as the one in the chamber. However, after coming to know Tom he'd found that basilisk had only ever known the inside of the chamber it had lived in. The one he conversed with, however it had not and had possibly lived with others of its kind at one point or another. Its build was rather small compared to the one from the chamber, showing it was still maturing.
He minutely thought about Fleur and Krum, but out of the other three champions he was sure the other two could handle themselves against a maturing Basilisk. Fleur more than Krum because, of her Veela heritage. It was fun to learn that snake that snakes and dragons had a form of hierarchy. He'd never known about any of this and it left him rather curious. Maybe he could ask the minister where the basilisk was raised later on, so he could indiscreetly track it down later to learn more. That's if he didn't get killed or one of the other two champions left didn't kill it. Shaking his thoughts off he pushed forwards. Harry's sharp, slitted dragon, eyes taking in his surroundings and looking for traces of Acromantulas. Last thing he need was one too-
He spoke to soon as an Acromantula dropped straight on top of him, "Shit!"
Harry struggled with the large spider as it pressed its full weight onto of him. With a growl Harry shoved the fuzzy spider off of him. It wasn't anywhere near the size of Aragog, but it was fairly big in size itself. About the size of a large horse so far at least, but Harry's dragon strength could deal with the creatures brute strength easily if he pushed himself to do so. Harry mentally sighed that it had to be just his luck to run into one beast after another in this forsaken maze of confusion. He'd run into creatures of different types and had yet to find himself at a dead end. Which, for him was rather odd that he hadn't found one yet, but even he knew it was only a matter of time for him… so he hoped anyways.
A loud scream filled the air causing Harry's eyes to widen as he understood the scream to be that of Fleur Delacour. Harry growled under his breath and sent an .:Arania Exumai:. Sending the spider flying over the maze wall and out of sight, hopefully he hadn't just made the situation worse than it already had been. He dashed down the maze path before him, trying to mentally calculate where the scream had originated from. He couldn't afford to lose Fleur's support in all of this. Unlike Cedric Fleur and Krum were a strategic move he needed in his plans and losing them to this maze was not an option. However, there was no need for concern as, as soon as he turned the corner he slammed straight into Fleur, both falling to the ground in a heavy heap of limbs.
"S-sorry," Fleur said as she pulled herself apart from him, "I was trying to outrun zee rock golem z'ey placed in zee maze."
"A rock golem? Are they trying to kill us? I just faced off a Blast-Ended Skrewt, a Basilisk, and a Acromantula," He ground.
"B-basilisk? Acromantula? Dear Merlin it really does sound like z'ey're trying to kill us," Fleur groaned, "Seen anyone else?"
"Yeah, Cedric… right as he was getting petrified," Harry sighed.
Fleur's eyes went wide, "You left him z'ere?"
"No, of course not, I wouldn't do that… well, unless they're my enemy, but that is beside the point, I sent a flare up with his wand and the Basilisk wasn't going to eat him," Harry defended himself.
"Or so you 'ope," she sighed.
"I'm pretty sure it wouldn't harm him," Harry smirked and fleur rolled his eyes.
"Zo damn confident you are Spring," she smirked.
At that moment a rather harsh breeze came through and they both stared down the path in wide eyes, "Run!" Harry shouted, before taking off with Fleur down the path. They both came to a turn that lead straight into a dead end, but had two paths on either side just before the end. They dove to an opening, only to turn in time to see each other on a different path before the path sealed off and they could no longer see one another.
"Zee you at zee finish line Springe!" Fleur shouted and Harry laughed before responding in kind with a 'you too!'
After talking with Fleur he was more cautious more than ever that there were possibly more dangers to the maze then he'd ever thought possible. A shiver raced down his spine as he pushed on away from his now dead ended path. Now that he knew the maze shifted and changed it was possible that he could easily be going in circles as well. This just made him mentally weary now and he was sure that the tiredness would soon seep into every other part of his being and not just the mental. Oh, he knew his limits… but no one else did. It was on another run that he came upon a puzzling mist that filled the area. He blinked a few times and just stared at the mist unable to comprehend just what he was looking at. Taking a deep breath he hesitantly stepped into the mist like substance and at first felt no different until he took a few more hesitant steps in and he suddenly felt a lightheadedness that left him feeling as though he'd been turned upside down and Harry nearly laughed as he waved his wand and dispelled the ant-gravity mist that scattered to the spells affects.
Shaking his head he continued on, "Silly as well as dangerous things in the maze. Either they're trying to give a sense of humor to offset the dangers here or they've just thrown a bunch of things together as a ridiculous test to see who had the large spell repertoire. Sighing Harry continued on until he came to a long corridor that showed something glowing at the end of it. Harry didn't need his dragon sight to know that it was the goblet however, there were signs that something was guarding the cup. Harry crept forward avoiding the roots that had started to sprout up around him in an attempt to distract and panic him, even though he got rid of the roots easily as they tried to wind themselves around his legs and feet. He was about to step past and opening when a spell went flying in his direction. Harry dodged and turned to look only to find that the one who fired the curse at him was none other than Viktor Krum.
Harry's eyes went wide as he quickly evaded a spell and cast aside another, "Krum? What the hell?"
Krum didn't say anything, but looking at the male's eyes he could see that he was under a control spell of some kind, possibly even the .:Imperius:. itself. Harry cursed as another spell was flung at him and Harry was forced to deflect it. He knew he wouldn't be able to dodge and defend for long especially with the roots become more active as time drew on. Without another thought Harry leapt forward and spun out of the way of another curse, while dancing over the roots with relative ease before landing a side swipe hit to the male's head with his foot as he swung it up to knock the male out.
Breathing a sigh of relief he watched the male's unconscious form for a long moment before picking his wand up and firing off the sparks needed to show his location as the roots started to pull him up under the hedges. It was a shame that Viktor would be unable to finish the maze and he was angry that someone dared to impede the male's victory in such a way. Sighing he turned to walk down the path he'd been on only to curse and realize it had sealed off at some point. Growling Harry took a random path once more before coming across a something he didn't at all think should be in a maze.
He remembered the size of fluffy, Hagrid's three headed dog that was in relation to Cerberus, but this creature was just as big, but it had three heads. Harry remembered the muggle tales of a Chimera and this was a very accurate description of it. The beast had a lion's head, a goats head, and the head of a snake for its tail. However the snake tail was that of a Black Spitting Cobra, the scale blending in with the goat like hindquarters that were dusted in a black ink fur, before fading into the dark brown fur of the lion, who's front paws scoured the earth beneath it in a way of intimidation. It roared and charged at Harry. The only way for Harry to go was back the way he came, so instead he did something rather daring. He ran towards the beast and just as it was swiping at him Harry dove under the beast sliding across the ground under it and out the other side.
However, the swipe hadn't entirely missed it's mark, and had scrapped Harry's entire right side, just under his wand arm and to his back. Hissing in pain Harry stood and three a very powerful severing curse at the beast cutting its snake tail clean off, just as the snake was about to take a bite at him. It roared in pain and thrashed about giving Harry the escape time he needed. Without thinking on his injuries any longer than necessary he dashed down the maze path, just barely making it to the next section before it closed off the area the Chimera was in.
Harry paused and looked down at his right side. It hurt like hell and there was nothing Harry could do to change that fact. He had been fooling people all term that he healed like a normal human being, and if he attempted to heal now it would cause suspicion. Groaning Harry tried to ignore the pain flaring up in his right side, as he made his way down the path. He turned in time to see the cup and moved as fast as he could, before stopping at the end and looking in every direction he saw that was opened to his eyes. Was it possible the Chimera had been the goblet's guardian? He hesitantly walked forwards, not taking note of the mist at the base of the cup podium.
Within seconds he was reliving his worst nightmares, everything he'd ever feared or still feared plus the new fears that came later on in his life. Harry was almost hyperventilating when a part of his mind told him that it wasn't real. That none of what he was seeing, hearing, or feeling was real. He tried to focus on that part of his mind and the spell he needed to dispel such a spell being used on him. When he came to he was on the ground with roots wrapped around his right leg tightly, obviously having wrapped around his leg when he was panicking over his mental incapacitation. He flinched violently at the fire lacing the claw marks on his side and back, and to add to the pain his ankle had been sprained when the roots had grabbed hold of him in his state of delirium.
"Merlin… if I ever find out who made this maze and put these things in it…I swear to give them a damned earful," Harry hissed in agitation, his dragon side just as furious as he was.
Harry severed the roots from around his leg and limped, the rest of the way to the cup. Now that the mist was dismantled he was sure Fleur would be able to get to the cup rather easily now if she hasn't won already. Harry grabbed for the cup and in his pain idled, mind he did not take note of the odd magic attached to the cup already. Something almost like runes appeared upon his the skin of his wrists and then out of nowhere bindings resembling that of shackles appeared upon his wrists. His eyes went wide and he was whisked away. When he landed he looked up in panic looking at cheering faces, before the cuffs around his wrists activated once more and then he was yanked away from the cup and whisked away elsewhere once more. The strained of both port keys causing him to blackout before he made it to his second destination.
Next Chapter- Revealed
Well everyone that is it for this chapter. Looking forward to your R&R's. See you all soon!