Chapter 38 – Into the ether
The first thing Robert saw when the afterimages had died from his eyes, was Katherine, leaning on a plinth of some sort in the middle of the open space. The light from the ether lit up the area like day, but it was colder than the outer chamber had been.
"Katherine?" he asked gently, half expecting his voice to echo and slightly unnerved when it didn't.
"It's not here."
"What?" She twisted her head around to look at him and smiled sourly.
"It's not here."
He frowned, and hurried up to the plinth where she stood, looking dazedly at the smooth stone.
"Might be hidden somewhere inside it," he offered, running a hand across the top, but knowing even as he did so that it was useless. There was nothing here, only a very slight trace of magic, and that wasn't even enough for a concealment charm. Something had been here once, something powerful, but it had taken away long ago. "Well it looks like human error is responsible for the Tube service, then," he muttered, heaving a deep sigh.
Katherine didn't seem to be listening, she was just gazing dully at the plinth with a dead expression in her eyes. He glanced around, trying to see a way out – Potter had been right, there didn't seem to be an exit outside the central pillar, so there must be one inside it.
"There isn't," said Katherine quietly, and he started, turning back to see she was watching him closely. "There's no way out. Not for you."
"For me?"
"For any of you – not without consequences."
"What about you?" he asked slowly, fighting the urge to back away from her. He didn't like where this conversation was going and the look in her eyes was starting to unnerve him.
"I escaped from Azkaban, Robert. There isn't a place in the world that can hold me for very long."
Robert held her gaze for a moment, then found he had to look away. He turned his attention instead to the churning mass of ether that surrounded them and wondered if he could get back through it. There had to be some way out, didn't there? The Dark Lord would want to be able to check on his horcrux, wouldn't he? But if he'd taken it back already, if he'd just shut the exit off...
He shook himself mentally; thinking like that wasn't going to solve anything. He walked slowly up to the glowing wall and placed a hand gingerly against it, disappointed but not surprised to find it held firm. Definitely no way out that way, but then that wasn't what Katherine had said, was it? She hadn't said there was no way out, just that they couldn't escape without consequences.
He was about to turn back and ask her what she had meant when he suddenly realised there hadn't been any sign of the trio yet. Had they not followed? If they hadn't maybe there was some way to get a message to them, ask them to look for another way out-
Katherine's voice interrupted his musings:
"You three took your time."
Robert sighed, and looked around at the three dishevelled teenagers.
"We were seeing if there was another way in," replied Harry, eyeing Katherine dubiously.
"And?"
"And there wasn't," shrugged Harry. "Is it here?"
"No."
"No?"
"You've got ears, haven't you? It isn't here," said Katherine shortly, turning her back on him and leaning on the stone plinth, the sapphire studded ring on her finger glittering brightly in the ever changing light. He gazed at it for a moment, wondering just how long they had before she withdrew completely and the teenagers found out exactly why everyone was so afraid of her.
Hermione was saying something, but he was barely listening; he couldn't stop looking at the ring sitting innocently on his friend's finger. There was something wrong about it, but he couldn't work out what – it looked the same as it always had, a broad silver band inset with blue jewels, but-
"...Robert?"
He jerked his head up, looking irritatedly at Hermione.
"What?"
"I asked if you knew how to get out," said the brunette quietly, brown eyes studying him worriedly. He glanced at Katherine who was watching him with a vaguely amused expression, arms folded challengingly, then back at the trio.
"I-" he began, then looked sharply at Katherine. "Where's your sling?"
For a moment, something flickered in her blue eyes, then she shrugged.
"My arm healed."
"So where's the sling? Did you burn it or what?" he asked, taking a step towards her, the uncomfortable feeling in his stomach growing. There was something seriously wrong here – this whole place was wrong. Katherine opened her mouth to reply but he spoke before she got the words out. "And since when do you wear that ring? You haven't worn that ring since before Azkaban," he said accusingly, narrowing his eyes. "I know you haven't because you always used to and I always expect it to be there and it's not."
"So I put it back on, so what?" asked Katherine, scowling at him. "Honestly, Robert, you're being ridicu-"
"What does ether do?" he cut in, not letting her finish.
"What?"
"The Dark Lord went to all the trouble of practically inventing ether, and for what? A test of nerve? Step through this and you can get the horcrux? Step through this and you'll never get out again unless you're a descendant of Slytherin and completely off your rocker? What does ether do, Katherine, because so far it hasn't done anything."
"Robert, it doesn't exist," snapped Katherine. "It doesn't do anything-"
"Tell me about Aristotle."
"What?"
"Tell me something about Aristotle. Anything, anything at all."
Katherine surveyed him coolly for a long moment, then said quietly:
"And you have the cheek to call me crazy."
"You are crazy," replied Robert hotly. "You know you're crazy, Katherine – everyone knows you're crazy, but you're not like this. This isn't how you behave – this is how I'm always scared you'll behave but you never do. Back when we were sixteen and I'd just joined the Death Eaters one of our missions went wrong and the Aurors turned up. Everyone ran but I was trapped and you came back for me. You wouldn't just sit back and accept that the horcrux isn't here – you'd go mental and bring the place down trying to find it because you'd think it was a trick and you'd want to be sure. You don't just give up, Katherine. You're incapable of giving up."
"What are you getting at?" asked Katherine quietly, in a voice that was so calm it was almost lifeless.
"You're not Katherine," said Robert, closing his eyes because he knew he sounded mad. "You're how I see Katherine but you're not her. And this isn't real, is it? I'm imagining it and I think it's real, but it's not."
"Course it's real," muttered Katherine, sighing heavily. "Don't be stupid, Avery."
"Then why did the trio only show up when I thought about them?" he asked, opening his eyes and glaring at her. "It's the ether, it's getting into..." He trailed off, suddenly aware that he was on the floor, having to prop himself up on his elbows to see her. She smiled faintly, and turned back to a plinth made of black marble.
Black marble, not stone. Where was he?
"Honestly, Robert, you're getting rather lax, aren't you?" chided Katherine absently. "Took you ages to wake up. For Salazar's sake, Potter was out of it before you."
Robert pushed himself up, looking around at a circular wall of light and an area very much like the one he'd just been in – dreamt he'd been in. Beside him on the floor were Ron and Hermione, their eyes shut and looking for all the world like they were asleep. He nudged Ron experimentally, but he didn't react.
"They're not asleep," said Harry's voice, and he looked up to see him sitting on the ground a little way to the left of Katherine. "Ron snores when he's asleep."
"The ether gets into your head?" ventured Robert, getting to his feet and walking over to the plinth. "Makes you, what, live your fears?"
Katherine glanced at him, blue eyes overly bright, and he could almost see the struggle inside her head; at the moment, it looked like marginally sane Katherine was winning.
"Traps you inside your own head and unless you can get out, you'll die," she said with a small smile that seemed a little manic. "Of starvation, I mean, or is it dehydration? I can never remember which one happens first."
"That gives you a long time to get out," he pointed out, frowning slightly.
"Still a nasty way to die," she shrugged, running an expert hand over the glossy surface of the plinth. "Harry said I tried to kill him in his dream, though, so I guess if someone does that you'll die too. If your mind thinks you're dead, you pretty much are."
Robert cast a glance at Harry who was twisting the black cord Katherine had been fiddling with earlier around his fingers.
"How did you get out?" he asked, frowning.
"Ron stepped in front of me and Katherine's curse hit him instead," said Harry quietly, eyes darting anxiously over to where his friend lay. "And then, I don't know, I just thought it couldn't be real because, well, he couldn't be dead. He's my best friend."
"See, denial is a good thing," said Katherine brightly as Harry fell into silence. Robert rolled his eyes and she grinned. "I need help."
"I know. We'll be out of here soon – is there a way out?" asked Robert; in the relief of waking up, he'd forgotten to look.
"Hope so," said Katherine calmly, peering closely at the marble.
"You haven't looked?" questioned Robert, the surprise evident in his voice.
"Harry's looking," she replied, gesturing at the black haired boy.
"You know how to use one of those?" asked Robert, frowning at him. Harry shook his head.
"No idea, but I don't think she does either," he answered, nodding towards Katherine, who laughed and ran a hand through her hair.
"The patterns make themselves, Potter. All you have to do is play around till you find one, or in your case, it finds you and if you're serious about it, stop talking and start concentrating."
"How did you wake up?" asked Robert, as Harry shot Katherine an annoyed look and turned back to his task.
"I didn't," answered Katherine, looking up and meeting his gaze with a placid expression on her face.
"You didn't?"
"Nothing happened – well, that's not strictly true, everything sort of flickered for a moment, but then I was here. Only figured something might be meant to happen when you walked through and collapsed on the floor." She cast a glance at the two unconscious teenagers still lying on the ground. "I think you're right though – the ether gets into your head and manipulates what you see so it's just about believable but sort of the worst case scenario."
"And yet it didn't affect you?" he questioned and she smiled grimly, looking almost normal again.
"The only way anything's getting into my head at the moment is with a sledgehammer. Why did you wake up, anyway?"
"You were being weirder than usual," he shrugged, giving her a half smile.
"Is that possible?"
"Apparently." He sighed, watching her examine the plinth. "Is there a horcrux here?"
"Doesn't look like it, does it?" she said distractedly, and he frowned, wondering whether he had really woken up or not. She glanced at him and rolled her eyes, grabbing his hand and holding it over the plinth. "Feel like it?" He snatched his hand away, rubbing it to try and ease the pain.
"That hurt," he said, staring at the plinth.
"That's a horcrux. Very dark magic."
"The locket didn't feel like that."
"Reg had broken most of the curses surrounding it – we only did the last bit."
"So this one's going to be harder to destroy?"
"Of course." She glanced up at him, adrenaline fuelling the volatile look in her eyes. "But we're going to destroy it." She massaged her swollen shoulder absently with her free hand and looked pensively at the black marble. "Just got to work out how to get it. Pleasant dreams, Weasley?" Robert frowned at her last comment, then turned around to see Ron sitting up, looking pale and confused.
"What happened?" he mumbled, then he caught sight of Hermione and what blood there was left drained from his face. "Is she ok?"
"As long as she wakes up soon," murmured Katherine, looking thoughtfully from the plinth to where Harry sat, twisting the black cord around his fingers.
"Soon?" asked Ron, looking up sharply. "What if she doesn't?" Katherine glanced at him, one eyebrow slightly raised.
"Do you really need me to spell it out for you?"
"Can't you make her wake up?"
"What do you suggest we do?" asked Katherine, giving him a derogatory look. "You can try pinching her if you want, or maybe a kiss is more appropriate."
"What?"
"Well it worked for Sleeping Beauty," shrugged Katherine carelessly. "True love's first kiss and all that."
"Can't you get into her head," asked Ron, ignoring this remark. "Tell her it's not real. There is a spell that can do that, isn't there?"
"You really want me messing about in her head the state I'm in?" asked Katherine quizzically. "Anyway, I'm pretty sure you have to figure it out on your own. Else you wouldn't be worthy to get the horcrux."
"There must be something we can do," argued Ron, looking to Robert for support.
"I don't think so," he said quietly, glancing at Katherine who gazed back mildly.
"What?" she asked, arching an eyebrow. "I was being serious about the kiss."
"Katherine-" he began, but Katherine spoke over him, turning to face Ron.
"You love her, don't you?" she said, looking coolly at Ron who flushed scarlet, staring at her and even Harry looked up from his task and frowned.
"What kind of a question is that?" stammered Ron, and Katherine rolled her eyes.
"Tell her. Really. Before she finds someone else and you end up a bitter and twisted old man with a broken heart." She smiled sourly, fingering the pendant round her neck absently. "Or maybe you'd prefer to die young and have her mourn you."
"Katherine," said Robert sharply and she looked up at him, frowning slightly.
"What?"
"Stop it," said Robert patiently, holding her gaze and waiting for her rationality to reassert itself. Don't get angry or worried – that was the key. If he stayed calm, she wouldn't have anything to rebel against and maybe she'd be all right for a little while longer. He glanced at her hand which was tightly wrapped around her necklace, and decided it might be best to keep the topic of conversation away from Severus Snape, too.
She followed his gaze and let go of the pendant, stuffing her hand in her jeans pocket and sitting down with her back to the plinth. Robert studied her for a moment, wondering what he could do to help her even once they were out – she wasn't just going to snap back into normal Katherine again, not this time – but a sudden burst of light cut off further musings.
"You found it?" he asked Harry, staring at the spell writhing just above his hands. Harry was looking at the twisting line of light with a slightly stunned expression, his hands perfectly still.
"What do I do?" His voice, when he spoke was barely more than a whisper, as though noise of any sort might make the glowing line of violet and gold disappear forever.
"Break it," said a small voice and Robert heard Ron gasp; Hermione was awake. She smiled weakly at Harry as he looked over at her with a concerned expression. "I'm fine, Harry. You have to break it – that's what she did."
"But we don't know what spell this is," said Harry, frowning deeply. "It might not be-"
"It's the spell protecting the Cup," said Katherine quietly. Robert looked down at her where she was sitting with her face buried in her one free hand. "Granger's right. Break the spell and use AK on the horcrux. We need to get out of here."
"AK?"
"Avada Kedavra."
"But I don't know how to-" began Harry, then trailed off as Katherine looked up at him.
"Half an hour ago you couldn't sense magic."
"What if something happens when we've got the horcrux?" asked Harry, gazing at the spell still hovering in front of him.
"We'll deal with it. It's not like we have much choice."
"How do you cast Avada Kedavra?" asked Harry quietly, after a moment's pause.
"Mean it," Katherine answered shortly.
"That's it? You just have to hate someone enough to kill them?"
"You don't have to hate them. Just know you've got to kill them."
Harry studied her for a moment, then looked over at his friends; Ron had an arm around Hermione and was watching him intently and Hermione still looked shaken but he knew she'd help if he asked her to.
But he wouldn't; this was something he had to do on his own. Ron and Hermione could come with him, could help him get where he needed to go but they couldn't destroy Voldemort. That was his destiny.
He concentrated on the thread of light before him and pulled his hands sharply apart. There was sound like a banshee's scream and then the wall of ether around them started to whirl. Gold flecks in the column grouped together and flew inwards, towards the plinth, and Harry looked up just in time to see Robert haul Katherine clear as the golden light earthed itself into the black marble.
He was vaguely aware of Katherine swearing quietly in a hushed voice but it barely even registered – his attention was fixed on the molten gold object forming on top of the plinth.
Hufflepuff's Cup.
He stepped hesitantly towards it as it settled, shivering slightly; if he got this wrong, they were all in trouble. What if destroying the Cup brought the chamber down on them, what if there was no exit – maybe he should ask his friends to find a way to leave before he tried to get rid of it – or maybe he should just run now, it was all lost anyway, you couldn't win against someone like Voldemort-
He started at Katherine's yell and whipped round to see her glaring up at the pillar of swirling mist around them. At first he thought breaking the spell had done something to his hearing, but then he saw the puzzled looks on his friends faces and decided that Katherine wasn't speaking English. She seemed to be very angry about something, and even though he didn't understand the exact words he knew she was swearing.
And then he realised why.
The pillar of light around them had dimmed, no longer emitting a pale golden glow, it now shone silver and looked more like smoke or fog than liquid sunlight. He saw Robert put a hand on her shoulder to try and calm her down but she flinched away, scowling at him and drew her wand, sending a huge silver figure shooting out of it.
She watched it for a second as it launched itself into the tendrils of mist that were creeping inwards, driving them backwards and away from the small group, then her bright blue eyes snapped onto his and one eyebrow was raised. The meaning was clear – she wanted know what he was waiting for.
He took one last look at Ron and Hermione, wrapped in each other's arm then turned back to the Cup and flung the killing curse at the fifth horcrux.
x – X – x
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