A/N: Life is boring right now. Thankfully, nothing much happening.
For those of you who might question the title of this chapter, feeling that the last chapter was the group's first encounter with the wizard, that isn't so. In the last chapter they were pitted against the wizards followers. This time they are up against the man himself.
And as always,
Enjoy.
Disclaimer: Go back and read the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before this one.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN: THE FIRST ENCOUNTER
If Orion had thought that the wizard would keep them waiting he would have been sadly mistaken. No more than a half hour's walk past when they left the gates of the castle, the group found themselves once again facing the same young woman who they had met earlier.
"Becca!" Orion greeted her with a wide smile. "Great magic! It's been what? A whole half hour? Where has the time gone?!"
The statement met with a solid frown as the woman turned briefly to face him, then back to the group. "My master is being quite generous and has sent me once again to make his offer to you." She stated as empirically as ever. "Go back now and no further harm will come to you."
Voldemort laughed at the woman. "Your master calls that being generous? To offer us a safe escape when we just soundly throttled his followers in a fight where we were seriously outnumbered? How truly magnanimous of him."
"You would do well to heed his offer." Becca stated firmly. "Go back now!"
"Your master can take his offer and..."
The woman pointed a finger at Voldemort. "You will be silent!"
Voldemort's statement stopped just where the woman had cut him off. With a hand to his throat he struggled to make any words, but the only sound that came out was a strangled rasping sound.
The woman focused her attention on Harry as she quickly knelt in front of him. "Harry, please, listen to me. My master wishes you no harm. He knows you are being led by others. That they have told you lies to gain your cooperation. He is willing to forgive all of this, but only if you turn back now. Please."
"Why is he so eager for me not to go on?" Harry ask calmly.
"Because he knows the dangers that await you. He can not allow you to continue on this journey. If you do, you will leave him no choice. He will stop you if he has to."
"And why is he so opposed to my finding him?"
"Because he knows that those traveling with you are bent on finding him only to do him harm. He has a right to protect himself, Harry."
"Is that what he's been doing by killing other witches and wizards?" The teenager ask bluntly. "Protecting himself?"
"Harry," the woman pleaded in the same fanatical voice, "please do not let others guide you for their own goals. Don't let them mislead you with their lies and these fabricated stories of things my master has done. The others care nothing for the danger you are in. Turn back now and my master will overlook all that has happened. No one will be harmed."
"Least of all your master." Orion stated.
The woman stared up at him, then slowly got to her feet, her gaze never leaving the Unspeakable. "You think you have the power to defeat my master, but you are wrong."
"I seem to be doing well so far." Orion replied with a pleased smile. "Now, has your master thought up any new games? Because that last one was a bit boring."
Becca gave the man a positively nasty smile. "You want games, Mr. Black? Then why don't we try this one?"
Before Orion could even react, the woman reached forward and lightly touched the tip of her finger to his neck, then instantly disappeared.
For a few seconds, Orion couldn't discern anything different. But suddenly he reached up and felt a small, thin band now encircling his neck. As he ran his hand over it, Arabella came rushing forward, running her hands over the band as she searched for a clasp.
"It looks solid." She stated. "So the question is, what is it for?"
Orion stood silently for a few seconds before stepping away from her. "I know what it's for." He replied placidly.
Arabella hurried after him. "Well, would you care..." But she stopped abruptly both in her statement and in her movement as she ran into something in front of her.
Orion just managed to grabbed her arm to keep her on her feet as he pulled to a stop just in front of the barrier. Quickly Arabella turned and face the invisible wall Orion was already examining as he ran his hand over it.
Voldemort joined them, soon followed by Lupin and Harry.
"Now what?" The older wizard ask, rubbing a hand over his throat as he watched Orion's examination of the wall.
Orion turned briefly to him, then back to the barrier before him. "Well, it would appear this wizard is done with his game with you. But it would also appear we now have a new one." He replied.
"Well, it's a stupid one at best." Voldemort answered. Pulling out his wand, he directed a spell at the wall. But as soon as it hit, the spell was absorbed, without so much as a flash of light or any sound.
Orion stood several minutes watching as Voldemort alternated between studying the wall and trying various spells against it. Each meeting the same end.
"Well, now," Orion stated as a small smile played across his lips, "not quite up to things, are we, Voldemort?"
The older wizard frowned at him, then turned back to the invisible wall again with his wand. He tried again, and three more times after that, all with the same results.
"Have you thought of up?" Orion asked as Voldemort stood staring at the invisible blockade before him, tapping his chin with his wand.
Without looking, Voldemort turned his wand to the sky and shot a blast of purple light straight up. It hit the same invisible force ten feet up and dissipated as the other attempts had.
"Satisfied?" Voldemort ask, still not turning his attention from the invisible wall before him.
"You don't seem surprised."
"I'm not."
"Really?"
Voldemort turned a slightly sideways look at Orion. "Haven't you noticed?" He asked almost casually. "The air is getting thinner."
Orion looked about them, then turned back to the other man.
"The trap wasn't meant to just stop us, Black. And if you knew anything at all about this wizard, you'd have known that."
"Known?"
"We're not just facing an invisible wall. We're standing in a box." To demonstrate his point, Voldemort turned his wand on each side in turn, blasting it with the same purple light. The result was the same as it had always been. "A trap we can't escape, and with no way to let air in." He turned the same sideways glance at Orion. "One could almost admire the man's ingenuity."
"While one was dieing?"
"Well, think about it, Black." Voldemort went on as though the whole situation was nothing more to him than an interesting puzzle as he stared back at the invisible barrier before him again. "The muggles come, and what will they find? Five people dead with no explanation."
"You seem to be facing your death rather calmly." Orion observed.
"Because panicking accomplishes nothing. Besides, we are far from out of options."
From where she stood, Arabella listened to her godson already breathing harder. Even she could feel the growing lack of oxygen as she took a slow, steady breath.
"Then perhaps you should bloody well get on with it!" She stated, trying not to let her anger get the better of her.
Voldemort turned to her, then again pointed his wand at the wall before him.
"We'll try all five of us hitting the walls simultaneously. That may weaken them."
Each of them took up a position to face one of the four walls and the ceiling. On Voldemort's signal, they each hit the wall before them with the same spell. But the effect was much the same as with a single spell.
Voldemort tried the technique in several different variations. He tried using different spells, attacking different areas of the walls, and even kicking it once in frustration.
By the time they had seemed to go through most of his ideas, even Voldemort was showing signs of the effects of the lack of air in the trap.
"All right." He said, panting slightly for air. "We haven't tried all together against one wall. That might do it."
Orion stepped up next to him. "We're not going to have many options left or time to try them out if this fails." He stated darkly.
"Just keep your mind about you, Mr. Black." Voldemort replied in a level tone. "We may need you yet."
Not bothering with what the dark wizard meant, Orion waited for Arabella, Lupin, and Harry to join him at his side.
"Now," Voldemort stated, "all together."
Five blasts of light hit the wall. Although this time they didn't just dissipate. They hit the wall, crating a wavering effect. But this time the shimmering effect lasted longer and reached further out across the invisible walls. The structure it illuminated shook slightly, then groaned like steel beams about to give way. But the ripples eventually slid off into the ground, and the structure held.
"All right. Again." Voldemort stated. "But longer this time. It can't stand against all five of us hitting in the same location."
Standing next to his godmother, Harry wavered slightly on his feet, just missing grabbing her arm as he collapsed to the ground.
"Harry!"
Voldemort turned to Arabella's anguished cry to see her knelling over Harry's collapsed form.
"What's wrong?"
Arabella had managed to help Harry to a sitting position, but he looked pale and ready to pass out again.
"Get the boy up!" Voldemort stated. "It will take all five of us hitting the wall to break the spell."
Arabella knew Voldemort was right. But she could also feel how weak Harry's grasp was as he tried to use her arm for leverage to get back to his feet.
"Harry?" She asked, her voice edged with concern.
"I'm all right." He answered her.
But Arabella turned to Voldemort. "He's too weak." She stated. "The spell won't be as strong. It won't work."
"He has to try or we all die." Voldemort shot back. "It isn't a choice for any of us."
With Arabella's help, Harry stood next to her. Again all five of them focused on one area of the wall. But as the five streaks of light hit the wall, one faltered and finally failed.
Arabella's followed it as she felt Harry's weight shift against her as his legs collapsed under him.
Voldemort, Lupin, and Orion equally broke off the attack as they turned to see what had happened.
"Well, now." Voldemort said softly as he took a staggered breath of air. "It would seem we do indeed have a problem now, Mr. Black." He said, turning his head to the man standing next to him.
"Any more bright ideas?" Orion asked, his attention fixed on Arabella and Harry.
"Actually, I do have one more." Voldemort replied, turning to face Orion. "The barrier's weakness seems to be that it isn't able to withstand a force of magic greater than itself. As is it with most things, they will fall to something more powerful than themselves."
"Well, unfortunately," Orion replied, taking a similar, stilted breath of air, "Our numbers seem to be dropping."
"Numbers don't matter." Voldemort replied, still staring at the man next to him. "'Power' is what matters here. And we haven't tapped our full potential yet, have we, Mr. Black?"
Orion held the man's gaze. "Meaning?"
Voldemort was speaking in barely a whisper now. Just low enough that only Orion could hear him. "I've seem what you can do. I've felt it. Now," He added, looking about them, "if you can collapse an entire mountain, Mr. Black, I really fail to see where a little box can be much of a challenge."
Orion stared back at the man. "Regardless of what you think I can or can not do..."
"I already know what you can do, Black! I told you, I've seen it. Now, I may not have all the pieces fitted together yet, but I know your boggart is involved somehow with your rather impressive level of magical ability. So I would suggest you bring him out here..."
"You know absolutely nothing!" Orion hissed at the man.
"I know enough. Now I'm afraid we're out of time for you to be playing hide-and-seek with your little friend..."
Orion slipped a finger under the collar around his neck and held it up for Voldemort's inspection. "Perhaps you've missed my newest accessory." He stated.
Voldemort studied the slim silver collar for a few seconds. "And?"
"It's purpose," Orion explained, "is to effectively cut me off from Bo. Even if whatever theory your twisted little mind has come up with were right, I can't reach him."
Orion felt he saw something that almost bordered on fear pass over the man's face. But it was quickly swept away by annoyance. "You would let us all die just to keep some bloody secret?" The man all but spat at him.
"You're not listening to me." Orion replied. "I can't reach Bo. Nor can he reach me. We are effectively cut off from each other."
Voldemort pulled his wand back out. "Then I think the solution is rather obvious. That collar has to come off."
Orion took a quick step back, pulling out his own wand. "You honestly think that if this wizard thought this through enough to know how to handicap us best, that he would make it such a simple matter to get the blasted thing off?!"
But before he could react further, Voldemort fired off a spell that just grazed the side of the collar.
To his utter surprise Orion felt the collar loosen and then fall away.
"Apparently he's not as sharp as you give him credit for. Now call your boggart, Mr. Black."
Orion made no move to comply, but instead fixed a hard stare on the man. "If you ever do that again, I swear I'll return the favor with a lot less careful aim."
"And if we don't get out of here very soon, that threat will be redundant at best. Now between the two of you, I'll wager you have enough power to break out of this trap."
Orion fixed a hard stare on the man. "And I have no idea what it could do if I can't break through." He hissed back at the man. "You think I hadn't thought of any of this before now? If it fails, the power falls back on itself. It would kill us all."
Voldemort glanced over at where Arabella was still leaning over Harry, calling his name as she tried to get him to respond. Lupin sat next to them, moving as little as possible as he watched the exchange with more interest than Orion would have liked.
"And we're all so much better off just sitting about waiting to see what happens?"
Orion watched Arabella cough several times in-between calling Harry's name. Without a word he turned and walked over to the wall.
Voldemort stepped back, placing himself next to Arabella and Harry, who sat with his eyes open, but slightly unfocused.
"What is he doing?" Arabella asked hoarsely as she watched Orion stand before the barrier, running his hand over it as it responded with small ripples following his movements.
Voldemort smiled slightly.
"Watch."
As Arabella, Lupin, and Harry sat watching Orion, he reached up and placed his other hand against the barrier, getting much the same results. But as they watched, the barrier began to change, reacting in a way they hadn't seen before. At first a single ripple went through it, a sound like a low roll of thunder following the movement over their heads. But as they watched and listened, a second ripple passed over them and the sound grew louder.
From behind him, Arabella could see Orion's muscles tensing as he kept his hands placed against the barrier. Wave after wave coursed through the barrier. Each one moving faster than the one before it.
Suddenly a flash of light erupted across the barrier and a rush of wind blew in on them like a shower of cold water.
Orion turned slowly to face them, seeming a little unsteady on his feet. But the effect passed quickly as he stood before them. "Lets go." Was all he said before starting off again.
For the next several hours the wizard seemed to forget them as their journey continued without any further incidents or any more visits from Becca. But Orion felt fairly sure they were being carefully watched just the same. The problem was he didn't know exactly why. Was the wizard waiting for another opportunity or just casually observing them now. And if so, what was he looking for?
Getting increasingly bored with the lack of action, Orion finally altered his pace to bring himself up alongside Voldemort as the man continued to walk on in absolute silence.
"You've got something on your mind."
Voldemort didn't even spare the younger man a glance. "And what makes you think that, Mr. Black?"
"Because for the past hour you haven't said one word. Quite a feat for you, unless you've got something rolling around in that mind of yours."
After a brief pause, Voldemort finally answered him. "All right, Mr. Black. Yes, I am thinking about something. About what that young woman said. 'He is very pleased to have finally met you'."
"And?"
Voldemort paused as he rubbed his hands together, continuing to stare off at the horizon. "One of my spies," he finally answered, "actually saw this wizard."
Orion mask his surprise behind an expressionless tone. "I thought no one had ever seen him."
"It was a haphazard encounter at best. But one of my spies did happen to be at a gathering of this man's followers when the wizard himself was present. Something my spy was given to believe was an extreme rarity. And to him this wizard had one startling characteristic that he would never have expected of the man."
"And that was?"
Voldemort turned to the man walking next to him. "He said this man could not have been more than thirty years old."
This time Orion's surprise was all too evident as his eyebrows shot up. "Thirty!?"
"Not what you would expect."
"Not even close. How can your spy be so sure this was the man?"
"He gave enough evidence to convince me this was the man. The point is that the man was, by all accounts, fairly young."
"So if this man is thirty now, and the spell was placed on Harry as a baby..."
"This man would not have been but fifteen years old himself when he placed the spell."
Orion absorbed the information past a growing frown.
"Now, based on the young lady's statement, and assuming that what she said wasn't just a slip of the tongue, I would say we have two possibilities here. One, that this wizard did not place the spell on Harry himself."
"And two?"
Voldemort turned to the other man. "That this wizard isn't the person we're looking for at all."
Q&A
Skahducky:
It seems the group's secrets aren't secret anymore. He knows the group is being watched by Bale and the unspeakables, and he knows Bo is always nearby should he be needed. Why didn't they try to get Bo to apparate them out of the conduit? Please update soon!
Well, Dear, actually you sort of jumped the gun here. And by 'he' I am
assuming here you mean Voldemort.
First off, no, the group is not being watched by Bale and the Unspeakables. Now, reading over the last chapter I can see where one might get that idea. So let me do a little expanding for you on that scene.
Bale knew that the group didn't just 'disappear'. What exactly happened to them he was only guessing. He was operating on two assumptions. They had been ported somewhere else or they were, in fact, still there. Since he didn't see any portkey, he was going to go with option number two. But to prove it, he had to find whatever was standing in the way and not allowing him to see the group. And by the spell he used, he proved something was there. Something that wasn't natural and that had no other purpose for being where it was. But currently Orin has no proof of where his agent has 'disappeared' to, and he is most definitely not watching him.
Now this second one is a bit more tricky. Technically, no, he doesn't know this for sure. He's only guessing. And Voldemort isn't entirely sure exactly what Bo is yet nor his exact relationship to Orion. Currently he does not believe that this is a boggart at all. He instead sees Bo as some sort of symbiotic magical creature that has attached itself to Orion. Just what it is and how powerful it is he is still open to suggestions on. But he is reasonably sure that this creature is part of the reason Orion was able to destroy his lair. Not 100, but he is working on it. Now, does Voldemort know that Bo is always nearby in case they need help? Again, he is reasonably sure that the creature is somehow connected to Orion. He is not so sure exactly how much help it would be in a crisis.
Why don't they have Bo apparate them out of the conduit? I thought this one was fairly obvious, Dear. Because it would defeat the purpose of what they are trying to do. Find the wizard in the north. And, based on Harry's directions, being in the conduit is the only way they are going to find him.
Nice try though.
MasterLupin:
Well it would seem that they got lucky. I am curius about the "finaly meet you" part of the welcome to your doom speech that the lady gave. I would think that having placed the secrecy charm on Harry the wizard would have therefor meet him. Or is she reffering to meeting as an actual person capable of thought as aposed to being a baby. Post again soon.
Now you see, I was curious how many people would pick up on that.
And as you can see, it didn't get past Voldemort for a second. Nor has he forgotten it. And it was indeed a very telling statement. But as that it is pivotal to the story, I can't really tell you what Becca meant when she said it.
But I will say this for Orion. He is all too well aware that Voldemort is putting the pieces together a lot faster than he would like, and he knows that if he isn't careful, the man will pretty soon have the whole picture put together. And above everything else, Orion is determined to protect Bo from Voldemort.
All reviews are as of 01/18/2007.
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