AN: So Here's a new chapter. Hope, you'll enjoy it, though I must warn you that there will be no Draco/Harry in this part.
miss quirky bookworm, well, maybe "cheating" is not exactly the right term, I just meant that he mimicked the natural ability. It is more like the difference between natural diamonds and artificially grown diamonds, than between natural diamonds and fake diamonds. Draco, soon? Don't know. We'll see. It will take some time to get them together. In my opinion, it would be less interesting otherwise.
Arieru-chan, yeah he does love books, but nor for them being books but for them being the carriers of knowledge. Tom and Bella… Hm-m. Just wait and you'll see. ;)
NelliGirl, Thank you. I like that Draco character is not carton, my line story lies more with Ryan, so I am afraid I may neglect other characters unintentionally. I tried to make Flhoyer powerful, but not all-powerful, that would be dull, if he had no obstacles.
Sylkie, haha, how right you are, though I am not sure it will come to that. =)
cyiusbalck, updated. ;)
Killer of the Night, wow, I am glad you like the story. I'll try to update regularly.
Starflower-Gem, haha, I didn't think of this in that light. You are right, of course. Though, Ryan doesn't yet realize how exactly he wants Draco. =)
Lady-Minty, I am not exactly sure if a coma is considered a positive or negative feedback, but thank you for the increased review points, nevertheless. :D
HPDMsasunaru, your senses are right, but Ryan despite his smarts can be dense in some departments.
RRW, oh my, I totally forgot about Ron and Hermione. I don't like the characters too much and they will not play a major part in this story, but I think I must mention them nevertheless. Ollivander will be in the next chapter, I think.
Moyima, thank you! I quite like them myself. =)
Tarkemelhion, ah, Raymond Feist, I do believe I've read it, though it was some time ago, and I remember the contents only partially. Good books though. Thank you for your opinion on my English, it may be good because I study in English and currently read literature exclusively in English. My first language is Russian.
hollypawlover, I really don't think that my changing POVs are that difficult, I try to mention the name of the viewer in the beginning. It s my opinion that POV should be mentioned when the storyline is presented by the first person and Iwrite it in the third person. And I am sorry to say, but Harry won't go back to being Harry Potter on the large scale again. Harry Potter is dead. Thought, I would warn you beforehand.
Chapter 17
When Ryan finally arrived at his training premises, he was subjected to the picture of utter despair, that his Apprentice Alpha currently represented. The tall man was hunched, with his head lying on the library's table, face obstructed from view by the long bangs.
"You reached your core."
"Yes, Master."
That was not a real question and not any real answer, but it was a start.
"Why are you sad?"
"Sad?" Apprentice looked up and stared at him with the beginnings of fury, namely a temper tantrum, in his slitted eyes. "Sad doesn't even begin to describe how I feel! It's outrageous how my core is damaged! Who did this to me? Why? Will you answer?"
By the end of the tirade, Alpha reached across the table and grabbed Ryan on the front of his robes. The mage grimaced at this uncouth behavior. He calmly squeezed the offending arms and twisted them painfully. He would not tolerate any disrespect from his Apprentice.
Alpha's face twisted and he tried to free his hands from the grip to no avail. Clearly, the Dark Lord couldn't boast at his physical prowess, while Ryan was improving in leaps and bounds in the department with the help of his genius godfather.
"You will never do that again, do you understand?!"
"Yes, Master," complied Alpha, his voice still resentful.
Ryan released Riddle and sat down at the table, gesturing for his Apprentice to do the same.
"First of all, I don't know what is wrong with your core and who did it. Why don't you tell me about it? Then we will search for a solution."
Alpha sighed.
"It is hard to describe, can I show you?"
"You are inviting me to your core? You do realize that is a very intimate procedure and is a grave violation if not done with the owner's permission? It is very serious, I will know much more about you, see your soul, your strengths, your weaknesses. Are you sure?"
"I trust you… Master."
The small smile on the face of the vicious murderer looked foreign, but his eyes conveyed sincerity. Perhaps, there was hope yet. Or Riddle simply couldn't not trust him, after all the mage was already in control and could technically do anything to his Apprentice. Power vise. The will of apprentices should never be suppressed. Counterproductive. And unethical.
"Very well. Stand up and give me your hands."
The mage moved around the table to stand near his apprentice, who warily extended his bruised arms. Ryan turned them over palms facing him and covered them with his own hands. They were now standing close to each other, their palms touching gently. Flhoyer looked up to see Alpha's eyes. Damn, but the bugger was tall. The intensity of the eyes' lock grew. Ryan took a step closer almost touching Riddles chest and finally dove into the crimson eyes.
The mage's body remained standing and motionless, however his amazingly green eyes were now vacant. The owner's mind missing. Alpha was still conscious, but he felt a tug on his insides and shivered. The sensation was beyond intimate, he never imagined it would feel like this. The dirty thought of eliminating the body standing so helplessly before him crossed his mind despite the solemn moment. However, it wasn't wise to harm someone, who could tear apart your essence from the inside, and, strangely enough, the idea of hurting his Master was repulsive to him. So he waited.
Riddle's core was dark, which came as no surprise and was perfectly natural. It was littered with silver flecks and it was definitely damaged. Torn and crudely sewn together. The rough joints glared with small holes and were the sickly red colour.
Ryan saw the problem. He just didn't know what exactly this problem was. To tear the core, the very essence of a magical being, seemed preposterous. Who would do that?
Ollivander was perhaps capable, but that didn't look like his style. He eradicated his adversaries not maimed them. One good point to be said about the old man is that he was certainly logical and rational: "do not leave an enemy behind" and all that rot. The mage counted the rips. There were seven.
Flhoyer relaxed the grip of his will on his mind and it automatically rushed to the original body. Seeing into another's core was very much like possession, but in a way even more dangerous.
The green orbs regained the lost spark and the brows moved closer to each other in a frown. Ryan stepped back from Alpha, terminating the skin contact between their hands.
"I see. I cannot answer about your questions into who, how and why immediately. Also I don't know how to fix it yet. But I will sooner or later. I'll have to research."
Apprentice was clearly disappointed, but nodded in understanding, nevertheless.
"You've done a good and swift job in reaching your core. That I commend. For now I want you to continue to read through the library and take notes on any information you deem important. Do not actively practice magic, it could jeopardize your core in its current condition. I should be back in a few days and hopefully we will have the solution to your problem by that time. Fare well."
Ryan looked seriously into Alpha's eyes trying to convey his commitment and understanding, nodded in parting and shifted. He suddenly had a lot of urgent work to do.
It was a lucky day for the bookstores' owners in Knockturn Alley. A visitor, that previously none of the shop owners encountered in their line of business, swooped down on the dark arts' haven and practically emptied their stock on the Dark Arts' books, not really discriminating between branches, buying items with both milder and more sinister contents, but paying larger attention to the soul arts, the most dangerous of the dark arts. It was the discussion of the night in Dementor's Bone pub, just who the mysterious visitor was. Nobody distinguished his features under the deep hood, except that this one was male and had gleaming green eyes, not really much to go on by. Many suggestions were brought to the table, bets were made, someone even suggested that the missing Dark Lord changed his identity and was as usual heavily relying on the use of magical contacts – "coming in various colours and pupil shapes, only today – two for one!" Well, this someone was receiving some percentage of the sales of a particular optical store for distribution and the endorsement of its products.
Meanwhile the mysterious figure arrived to the spacey house lost in the forests of Scotland.
Ryan entered the part of the building with restricted access, meaning that he was the only one capable of crossing the shielding. This part of the premises consisted of one bedroom, his private library, small modern kitchen and a study.
He lighted the fireplace and settled himself on the soft green-coloured carpet with golden patterns in the middle of the library. Ryan acquired over a hundred books on this fruitful day. Not all of them were bought as the research material for solving Riddle's problem, some just picked his fancy. But if he wanted to indulge himself this much often, then he must look into increasing his investments. He was a rich person, but his expenditures since he returned after his apprenticeship were also vast. According to the bank statements his vault contents were already emptied by quarter.
As far as he knew goblins dealt only marginally with Muggle business world, so he could convert a part of his galleons to pounds or whatever currency was needed, entrust it into a highly ranked agency and go on with his merry little escapades in the magical world. He certainly didn't have enough time to get into nuances of finance himself.
While going through changes in his plans, Flhoyer covered the floor around him in the circle of books, and there were over a hundred of them. While situating them, he imbued each one of them with an ounce of his magic and now called for these bits to search for the word "soul".
Only fifteen books remained unglowing.
Ryan sighed and separated them from the rest. It would be a long search. He for god-knows-which-time regretted that he couldn't access the blocked memories of his Apprentice, he only could remove the block entirely and he didn't dare to do that till the end of the Apprenticeship.
As far as he deducted till this point in time, such damage to the core could be done only if the person's soul was similarly damaged. But there was no resemblant occurrence described in the grimoires' on soul arts in Sohhare's library. So he went to search for other sources. He was thankful he had given an order for Gringotts to empty and regain control of the Grimmauld Manor already a week ago. A few more days and the Black Library will also be in his reach. Flhoyer swallowed the beginnings of drool forming in his mouth.
The mage looked again at the glowing books. It was going to be a long night… Up till ten o'clock. He really hated his biological curfew mechanism. Still, an hour was left, he better get started.
A familiar chirp woke a seasoned wizard from his slumber on the desk in his office.
The Headmaster grimaced at the stale citrus flavour in his mouth and considered changing his candy choice, but quickly dismissed the idea. It could cause massive panic in the wizarding world. Albus Dumbledore abandoning his dear lemon drops? No way, was the world coming to an end?
The old man looked around shiftily and with an undercover wand flick froze the portraits. Nobody would ever know his greatest secret. The wizard carefully unwove the impenetrable defenses, which rivaled the goblin ones, on his desk drawer, opened it slowly and breathed in admiration at seeing the contents. The whole stash of Mars bars.
Headmaster reverently tore the cover and gorged himself on this chocolate delicacy. Life was good.
Even though he and his Order were booted out of the Grimmauld place. Even though the goblins, the nasty creatures, refused to disclose the identity of the current owner. Even though… No, actually life was good, because Voldemort died and no longer marred the picture. Severus reported that he died shortly, or even immediately, after disappearing with Bellatrix on some quest. Albus reckoned this quest proved to be quite dangerous if the Dark Lord died on the first steps. Well, no big loss. He still, though, mourned the disappearance of Harry Potter, his chosen successor. He didn't know what happened but was finally coming to terms with a possibility that the boy may really be dead. The paths of destiny were mysterious and inscrutable for mortal minds. Perhaps, he just wasn't able t comprehend and interpret the prophesy correctly, and it fulfilled itself without any outside help.
The Headmaster was at a loss with whom to replace Harry Potter. It didn't matter that Voldemort was dead, he still needed someone to continue his line of work – to present an example of nobility and goodness to the wizarding society, to be a symbol and to protect. It couldn't wait for long, he would have to look more closely at the student population next year, and perhaps even venture abroad. How troublesome…