Chapter 3

A/N: Sorry for the long wait everyone. I finally got another chapter done. I've pretty much had no time now that I'm back at University. I've seen the follows, favorites, and reviews continuing to roll in though. Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please let me know what you think in the reviews. All the best!

Harry arrived at their destination in a flash of crimson light. This time Harry was sure, this was his new favorite form of magical transportation. It had been instantaneous and he hadn't wavered one bit on arrival.

His first impression of their new location was that it was in the middle of nowhere. Even in the low light of the rising sun, all he could make out was green. He was pretty sure Rias had teleported them into the middle of a forest. Despite how harmless their surroundings were, something didn't seem right. Rias must have felt the same way, as she too remained silent, and was glancing around warily, her clear blue eyes narrowed.

It took Harry another moment to figure out something else that didn't seem right. It was the sounds of the forest around them, or rather, the lack thereof. Even at this time in the morning, there should be the sounds of birds in the trees, squirrels and chipmunks scurrying through the underbrush, and yet there wasn't. The forest was silent, eerily so.

Taking a deep breath in through his nose in order to calm his suddenly frayed nerves, he almost gagged. Something around here smelled rotten. He figured it must be a dead animal. That was a smell he'd recognize anywhere. Many years earlier, before Harry had even known about the existence of magic, Dudley and his friends had started picking on one of the neighbours cats. Of course after torturing the poor thing, it had succumbed to its wounds, where his panicked cousin had left it in the garden. It had started to rot and smell much like what he was currently experiencing. This had led his aunt and uncle to discovering the carcass soon after.

Of course, Dudley claiming that Harry having been the one to kill it, had horrified them. He'd had been forced to retrieve the body with his bare hands, as his uncle hadn't wanted to dirty his tools, and return it to the neighbour. It had given him nightmares for months. Of course, now, Harry found the whole thing amusing, just because he imagined his family's horror was more likely due to the fact they probably thought he was sacrificing animals in some kind of magical ritual, rather than being upset over the fact that the animal had been killed in the first place.

"This area is saturated in powerful dark magic," Rias' sudden comment caused Harry to jump in surprise. "Can you sense it?"

He was about to answer in the negative when he reconsidered. Was it possible all those things he'd just noticed were sensing the magic around him? He'd always assumed that sensing magic wouldn't be something so mundane, but it would make sense. For all he knew his brain could interpret what he felt through his physical senses, "I- I think so, but I'm nut really sure."

"Good. This could be dangerous, stay close to me."

"But what about my wand? You'll be the only one able to do magic. Shouldn't we come back another time after I have a functioning wand?"

"Ideally yes, but we don't have the time to do that. We need you to unite the Hallows as soon as possible, both to stave off any attacks that may come from the devil community or your war with this Voldemort. We had the element of surprise in the last battle, but I could tell he was powerful. He has the potential to stand against some of the higher ranked devils in the right situation. Plus, if we locate the wand, the whole point of getting another will be moot anyway. Just stick close to me."

Harry nodded his acceptance, though he did not like how vulnerable he was feeling. The duo set off forwards through the brush, which he finally figured out was in fact a path. It looked like it hadn't been cared for in so many years that he still had a hard time differentiating it from the rest of the forest. While Rias walked slightly ahead with a tangible sense of grace, Harry stumbled clumsily after her. The tree roots were thick, and the fact that he couldn't help his eyes from following the distraction that was the fascinating swaying of Rias' shapely posterior, led to much tripping on Harry's part. Rias was still wearing the school uniform she'd arrived in the night before and it had only served to prove to Harry that if the students of Hogwarts weren't required to wear the full body robes they did now, he would be distracted like this a lot more during the school year.

The trees finally split after a few minutes of walking, dragging Harry out of his ruminations.

"Why do I feel it won't be as easy as walking up to the shack and opening the door?"

Rias shot him an amused look, "It's never that simple." Her face turned serious. "I don't think we have any choice but to cross though. I'll handle whatever comes up. I'm sure whatever wizard designed this didn't take devils into account."

Harry surveyed the clearing before them with trepidation. It looked like normal ground, but Harry knew that meant almost nothing in the world of magic. He stepped up beside Rias, "Ok. Let's do it."

They both took a step out into the clearing simultaneously, holding their breath. Nothing happened. They took another step. And another. Harry almost wanted to laugh at how all their caution was for naught. Of course, fate chose that exact moment for everything to go to shit.

The ground rumbled dangerously, as Harry felt his feet start to sink. Before he knew what was happening stone hands seemed to be erupting from the ground.

"Aaah!" Harry jumped in surprise as he felt one of the hands grab his ankle.

"Harry! Are you ok?" Glancing around wildly Harry noted Rias was no longer beside him. Following the sound of her voice he noticed her floating through the air, her devil wings extended.

"Why didn't you just fly us both over this in the first place?" Harry grunted trying to rip his leg free. He hated not being able to use magic.

"I… I didn't think about it." Rias blanched before recovering a few seconds later. "Just hold still!"

Her hands had started to glow once again, and they were aimed towards him. "What are you doi- argh!"

Rias released her power of destruction so that it hit the ground near his legs. The crimson energy demolished the nearby magical constructs and seemed to break whatever enchantment was causing him to sink. The backlash causing him to stumble backwards and land on his back.

He sat up quickly, watching Rias fly towards him, only to gape at the next thing to erupt from the ground! It was a giant stone snake nearing the size of the basilisk he'd killed in his second year. "RIAS!"

The crimson haired devil stopped, looking at him in confusion, only to take in Harry's wide eyed stare over her shoulder. She spun around immediately, just in time to take the first strike by the snake. She went flying through the air, crashing into the forest on the edge of the clearing.

The snake turned towards her as she struggled back to her feet. Grabbing onto one of the trees for support turned out to be a mistake as the ground began to shake once again. The property's trees started to sway back and forth, groaning as they came alive. Vines shot out of the darkness wrapping around Rias' wrists and ankles, restraining her. If Harry wasn't currently fearing for both of their lives, he might have found the sight of her tied up in shredded clothes extremely interesting, but instead, he was lamenting the earlier loss of his wand.

Harry realized immediately that he needed get the snake away from Rias. With panic started to seep into his mind, he did the first thing he thought of. "Hey! Leave her alone!"

The snake froze before its head whipped around to face him, "Speaker?" A grating, yet strangely still distinctly serpentine voice rang out.

Harry's train of throught ground to a halt. He must have spoken in parseltongue without realizing it. What he found confusing was how a stone construct shaped to resemble a snake was able to speak parseltongue itself. "Err… yes! I am a-"

"Speaker…" the voice ground out again. "But not master?" There was a moment of silence. "Kill the false speaker!" And the several tonnes of snake shaped stone came hurtling towards him.

"Shit!" All Harry could think of in that moment was how much he wished his wand wasn't currently a pile of splinters and that if he really had to fight a serpent this size again, he could've at least been given the Sword of Gryffindor again beforehand. Closing his eyes so he wouldn't have to see his impending death, Harry could almost feel the sword in his hands. Even though it had been three years since he had last held the famous blade, he could remember its weight perfectly. It had given his weakened twelve year old body the strength to fight through his terror all those years ago.

Just when he was sure he was about to be struck down, a loud explosion ripped through the air. Eyes flying open in shock, it took Harry a moment to figure out what he was seeing. There was a large crater of missing stone from the snake's neck. Looking around he saw the enraged face of Rias, her crimson aura fluctuating wildly. A quick glance to where she'd been before revealed a pile of ashes, all that remained of the previously attacking vegetation.

Harry's second surprise came when he glanced downwards. It seemed it hadn't been his imagination that had captured the details of the Sword of Gryffindor so well, it had been simple observation, seeing as how the magic blade somehow rested before him in his hands. His momentary shock turned into a feral grin. Now he could help.

Not worrying to create a plan. Not worrying about the fact that he really didn't know how to wield a sword properly. Harry charged forward. Rias was peppering the things head with shots, unintentionally keeping it distracted like he needed. Seeing an opening, he increased his speed, and wrapped both hands around the ruby studded hilt. Raising his arms, Harry put all his strength behind his diagonal slash. Everyone looked perfect as the ancient blade sliced through the air, and it would have ended perfect too, if it hadn't sliced through the stone then gotten stuck, jarring Harry enough that he fell down again, letting go of the sword.

Scrambling back onto his feet to avoid being crushed, Harry eyed the sword warily.

"Harry! What are you-" Rias had to dive to avoid the snakes lunge. "Doing? Are you-" she released some more of her family's signature magic into the monsters open mouth, causing it to momentarily cease its attempts to eat her. "crazy?"

"I'm just trying to help!" He called back. Before she could respond again, he darted forward and grabbed the sword, intending to pull it free. It wouldn't budge. Even bracing himself with his feet for leverage didn't seem to make a difference. For an absurd moment he felt like King Arthur of legend, except he was pretty sure the stone he'd pulled Excalibur from hadn't fought back like this snake was.

Harry was pretty sure if he could get the blade hot enough, it would be able to cut through this rock easily, but he didn't have his wand to do that. Though discouraged, Harry tried something. Everything he'd been taught up until this point, indicated that it wouldn't work, but something seemed to be urging him to try it. He'd always trusted his instincts, so it was without reservation that he spoke, "Incendio!"

The blade he held, still impaled within this stone monster was suddenly wreathed in flames. Grinning at his success, Harry began to channel more magic in the sword, much like he would when casting a particularly powerful spell. The fire only grew in intensity, while the blade in question slowly heated to a glowing orange colour.

When he felt it was hot enough, Harry gave it one more mighty tug. The sword pulled free easily, much like a knife through butter, causing him to stumble at the lack of resistance. He cut the magic he'd been using, knowing that waving a flaming sword around without getting more practice first probably wasn't the best idea.

Stepping back, he watched Rias battle it for a minute, trying to come up with some ideas. The construct was obviously damaged, yet didn't seem to be showing any signs of slowing down. He needed a different way of doing this. Remembering that it was not in fact a live creature started to give him an idea. They needed to combat the enchantment that was animating the beast, not the beast itself. Unfortunately, Harry didn't really know anything about dispelling enchantments. This was more along the lines of something Ron's brother, Bill, would know as a curse breaker. He only knew one general purpose charm to dispel. Figuring it was worth a try, Harry charged into the fight once again.

Knowing the blade was still hot, Harry raised it above his head before plunging it point first into the side of the stone serpent. "Finite Incantatem!"

Everything froze as the spell dispersed from the sword in a wave. All was silent before the first cracks appeared. The giant beast rumbled as it crumbled apart, Harry barely rolling out of the way in time to avoid getting crushed.

Staggering to his feet, while using the sword as a cane, Harry took in Rias' shocked expression as she once again landed. He was feeling pretty surprised it had worked as well. "Let's not do that again." Harry panted. "Please."

Rias just nodded. Turning towards the ramshackle building, the two headed up the front steps, taking in the dead snake carcass nailed to the door with distaste. "Guess we might as well go in."

Albus Dumbledore apparated into existence at the beginning of an unkept gravel road. He eyed the overgrown hedges warily and the forest on either side. He knew not to underestimate Tom's defenses so as he stepped forward, he kept his senses extended.

Just before the edge of the vegetation, he winced as a sharp pain shot through his head. His grip tightened on his wand, and his other hand went up to the side of his head. Losing his grip on his magical senses he took a moment to steady himself. He had expected Tom to be subtle with his designs so he'd had his senses extended to the max.

Probing the area more carefully he realized, to his shock, that the wards around the old Gaunt estate were active. That meant something had tripped them already. He couldn't help but fear that someone else had discovered the secret about Tom's Horcruxes. He couldn't allow this to become common knowledge. He needed to get in there and see if whoever had tripped the wards were still there.

Knowing that subtly was no longer required he hurried forward as fast as his aged body would allow. One wave of the Elder Wand cut a swath through the thick hedges, while another conjured a protective bubble around himself that was only visible as a slight glimmer in the air. Despite its underwhelming appearance, it proved to be incredibly effective as soon as the twisting vines and creaking branches touched the barrier, they immediately retracted with their ends burned.

Finally, stepping out into a clearing, Dumbledore stopped in his tracks. A battle had happened here recently. Looking around he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. He could sense a high concentration of magic on the dry ground before him, but it seemed to be fading, so he assumed whatever enchantment had been placed on it had been broken. The pile of rubble in the middle of the clearing indicated some kind of stone golem, which only made him more wary of who he was about to meet. Taking down a golem was an impressive feat.

Crossing the open space, he took in the shack before him. It looked almost the same from when he'd seen it in the memory, if only a little worse for wear. He stopped in front of the steps, eyeing the open door, and keeping his wand raised. Before he could decide how to proceed, he was shocked once again as two people stumbled out of the building. He was even more shocked when he recognized one of them.

"Harry?"

Harry looked around the inside of the old shack in distaste. Ever since he'd crossed the threshold he'd felt on edge. It didn't help that his scar had flared up too. He wasn't sure how to describe it, but he didn't sense Voldemort's oppressive presence like he usually would. The pain was there, but he didn't feel at risk of seeing any visions from the Dark Lord's mind.

"I can feel the Hallow. It's in here," despite her words, Harry noticed that she was frowning. He just raised his eyebrow in question. "There's something else though. It doesn't feel right. I think it's been cursed or tainted somehow. We'll need to be careful. Whichever one it is, don't pick it up before we're sure it's safe."

He nodded. When Rias saw his agreement, she started walking across the room. Stopping in one of the far corners, she wasted no time in ripping up one of the loose floor boards and tossing it to the side. Reaching her hand in she pulled out a small box.

She glanced back at Harry, "No point in waiting I guess." She flicked the box open revealing a ring inside.

As soon as he laid his eyes on the ring, it was all he could think about. He needed to put it on. It consumed his every thought, and somehow he knew as long as he wore that ring, everything would be alright. He could barely hear a voice in the back of his head telling him this wasn't right. This wasn't normal. It was strikingly similar to when Barty Crouch Jr. had cast the imperius curse on him in fourth year, but for some reason he couldn't quite manage to gather up the will to fight back. He needed to get the ring out of Rias' hand. Reaching out his hand, he made to grab the ring, yet when his hand brushed along the edge of the ring, Harry felt like his scar was about to burst open. Luckily the pain served to sever whatever hold the ring had held over his mind. Blinking around in confusion, his gaze immediately zeroed in on Rias. Her eyes looked glazed over, but she was staring at the ring with a greedy look on her face, an expression he hadn't seen from her yet, and he wasn't sure he liked. She was getting ready to slip the ring onto her finger.

Moving quickly, he smacked the ring out of the devil's hand, watching it clammer loudly off the wooden floor. Harry was then faced with an enraged devil. Her eyes still cloudy, yet narrowed in his direction. Glowing in crimson light with her hair blowing in an invisible breeze, she extended her hands towards him. Acting on instinct, he readied the Sword of Gryffindor, spinning, he slashed downwards onto the ring.

The first thing he noticed was the loud unearthly scream, and then the magical backlash hit him. Flying through the air, he felt himself collide with Rias. Harry wouldn't say that he didn't like the soft landing he received, but he was sure it couldn't have been comfortable for her, so he scurried to his feet as quickly as possible.

"Sorry about that," Harry mumbled feeling embarrassed.

"It's fine Harry. I should actually be thanking you. My own arrogance almost killed us. I just assumed any curses that a human wizard could come up with, though dangerous, wouldn't be able to affect the mind of a devil. I should be begging your forgiveness."

"Don't worry about it Rias. We're fine. I've rushed my way into things without planning a fair share of times in my life, and you had already warned us to be careful." He reached for her hand and gave it a quick squeeze. He was pretty sure she appreciated it based on the smile he received in return. "We should get moving though. My scar has been acting up a bit, and the only time it's done that in the past when it's something related to Voldemort. I don't want to find out he figured out a way to track us, and shows up here."

Rias looked at him concerned, "You didn't tell me anything about your scar?"

Harry just shrugged it off, "Well even though it may not feel like it, we did only just meet yesterday. I know I told you about my life, but it must not have come up. It's not a big deal."

That was a lie. When Harry had told her about the events at the Ministry the night before, he had carefully edited out the details about his scar. It wasn't something he liked to spread around. With all the bad press his episodes with his scar had got him, he hadn't wanted to freak her out.

"Fine, but we're not done talking about this. That kind of thing isn't normal. Anyway, what happened to the Hallow, was it destroyed?"

"I don't know. Let's see." The two walked over to the fallen ring carefully. As he crouched down he was finally see what was left. The metal band of the ring was split cleanly down the middle, from where the sword had struck, yet to his surprise the stone was completely undamaged.

"Is that the-"

"Resurrection Stone," Rias finished. "Ya, I think so."

Harry gulped nervously. He was suddenly aware for the first time of all the possibilities an artifact of that name possessed.

"Harry…" Rias was giving him an understanding look.

"Right… err," he scooped the stone up in his hand, barely feeling the small tingle of magic that shot through his body as he did. He dropped it in his pocket, promising himself to explore it later. "Let's get out of here."

Standing back up, Harry finally felt the weariness set in. Taking Rias' arm, the couple stumbled out of the building, intending to teleport away, They both came up short though at the sight before them. Harry was looking into the shocked face of his Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore.

"Harry?"