Toby woke feeling well rested though his body was sore. He was sticky as if he had spent most of the day at the smithy and hadn't taken a shower before passing out. Slowly standing and trying to stretch enough to get rid of the kinks he realized he hadn't been to the smithy's at all in the last week. Quickly taking stock of everything he noticed he had slept with the Diadem on. Quietly stowing it in his trunk he went to go clean up.
As Toby showered he thought back over the last few weeks. This wasn't the first time he remembered waking up like this. He could recall studying and then just blanking out. He didn't recall coming back to the common room, or strangely what day today was.
That was quickly remedied with a few light conversations with fellow pit vipers. It was Saturday. Despite the ache he realized that he did need to work on his armor again. Taking a look through the homework piles and finding there were all caught up on already he took off to the labyrinth.
"Back again so soon? I thought you'd be asleep for the winter!" Urdrog said as he welcomed him back. Toby was confused but tried to hide it not to let on that anything maybe wrong. Was someone impersonating him?
"Just wanted to get back to work that's all."
"No wine this time? The elf-made stuff was delicious my boy. If you can ever get your hands on another bottle." He said with a devious grin as he showed him inside and to his nearly complete chest piece. As Toby ran his hands across it looking it over it felt like a dream when he made it. Like something that he had forgotten about a long, long time ago. His Diadem was in his bag next to the entrance and it was one of the few times in months that he left it off.
"Master Urdrog, how often have I been working on this for the last few weeks?"
"Id reckon you been here about two or three times a week. Pulling all nighters even with all the school work boy. I swear you keep yourself as busy as a House elf."
"So many things running together… What do I need to do to finish it?"
"Dunking it in the potion, which still isn't ready. You want to work on the greaves for now then?"
"Greaves?' Toby couldn't help but act surprised as he found them over half finished as well.
"Yeah. They could still use some work. We can't dunk them like that! The potion would corrode the metal in only a few seconds." He said running his hand along the metal. Toby pulled them off the manikin like it was muscle memory and got to work before he would have his lesson with Snape.
_...-~-…_
Headmaster Snape was pacing back and forth in his study. It was still five minutes before the Toby boy would arrive but he was looking forward to there study sessions. Snape hadn't found such an adept and willing pupil in all the years he served at Hogwarts. Not to mention the outside ramification his pupil brought to the table. The boy acted most like a goblin wielding a wand in his approach, as Snape noticed him referring to himself as one when taking stances in political views.
With this Jareth character preparing him to become a 'Goblin King' someday it was quite understandable. Even with his own searching he found no trace of any legitimate explanation of such titles. The boys training against Legilimency was coming along much faster then he had thought was possible. He hadn't been able to protect anything the first few times, but over the last few week he was able to block more and more. At this rate by the end of the year he would be immune to such magics.
The boy was also not a fan of Harry Potter, he seem to have made a vendetta against him that was unfounded by any reason. Toby seemed to be against the idea of prophecies and like Severus himself, believe he didn't posses the talent.
Dumbledore still had made it quite clear that Harry would have to die at the right moment, and that so far had been his and Toby's only disagreement. Snape was trying to play it as a master play based in magic, but he himself didn't understand the magic that Dumbledore set in motions thus he wasn't able to explain it to Toby any better himself.
Knock, Knock.
"Enter."
Toby stepped inside, his pale blonde hair so reminiscent of Draco's was worn lose and barely cared for as seem to become his custom. The earlier practices showed that this was also for a reason, almost everything he did was for some reason or advantage in the future, but at the time Snape had not search for the reason and was now unsure if he could pull that specific bit from his mind if he tried without causing great harm.
"Headmaster Snape." He said bowing.
"Well then Mr Williams, tonight I felt we should devote our time to countering unwelcome spells."
"I'd be delighted, but I would also like to know, what could you tell me about Silent spells, or wandless casting?" Snape moved across the classroom from Toby as there wasn't enough room in his office for some of the practice. He waited a moment before cast a tongue tying hex on the boy silently.
"PROTEGO!" Snape hadn't seen a wand in his hand, but there it was building a formidably protective shield in front of him. Toby's aim wasn't good enough to rebound such spells yet, but shielding was often enough. Toby lowered his wand hand after a moment, though never relaxing his grip.
"Silent spells are performed the same as normal spells, but instead of the verbal incantation, you must draw the same magic out of a pattern you create in your mind. The words are the form of the magic we draw upon, the wand itself is the focus; multiplying our potential dozens of times before pushing it into the pattern that is normally our words." Toby nodded as he set his wand on a nearby desk. Snape wasn't sure if he expected to still cause a strong enough shield without it but they began again.
This boy once again did amazing results. After half a dozen tries he still wasn't able to make a shield strong enough to protect against the weakest hexes, but he did use an accio spell to draw his wand back to his hand in time to protect himself. In a normal duel he wouldn't have enough time, but with practice he may be able to pull it off.
Toby's tries at silent spell casting were dismal. Snape tried to reassure him after over a dozen failed attempts that most students didn't practice it until there sixth year, and then many still couldn't perform them well.
"I know sixth years practice it…"
"You are already performing better then many of our fourth years; there will be some things that are out of your reach for the time being. The simple spell work you can do without a wand is already a feat that many adult wizards do not posses. You should be proud of your current skill." Snape said. Toby did seem to visibly become more confident as they continued.
"You think Potter has figured out the Horcruxes by now?" Toby asked as they exchanged attacking and blocking. Toby was working on the spell control itself that he could redirect or even counter the spell as they were cast. Snape wasn't going full force to give Toby spells he had a chance against.
"I have utmost faith in Albus's plan Toby. I'm sure they are gathering as we speak. The Dark Lord hasn't mentioned anything about them, and as long as it stays that way I imagine they are doing there job."
"So you passed them the Sword of Godric Gryffindor then?" Toby said with almost a sneer to his voice.
"Just over a month ago as we discussed. The silver will be able to destroy the Horcruxes they find as you explained to me." Snape responded ignoring the tone. Toby had made it clear that he wanted to return it to the goblins in a previous practice session.
"If only some of the venom in was still available. My dagger would greatly benefit from that addition. Another weapon that can put down the Dark Lord." Snape thought about it for a moment, nearly missing the block before calling for wands away.
"There maybe a way..."
It was later then they had planned to be out. Toby was carrying a black boa constrictor Snape had shown him how to summon with the use of a spell called Serpensortia. It was nearly seven feet long and seemed fairly calm animal as they stood in the girls bathroom.
"Imperious." Snape said pointing his hand at the snake. The snake shivered for a moment before letting out several hisses. The sink and surrounding objects moved aside and opened down into a long dark passage. Both moved down it quickly as not to be followed. It took a few minutes for them to clear away most of the debris as it seemed the place had mostly caved in at some point before they found the main chamber, with a large mess of dead flesh peeling away and slowly rotting.
"I had imagined it would be more decomposed then this by now…" Toby said as he approached the body. Snape sat a few step back holding a handkerchief crossed his mouth.
"I believe this area is magically protected. The snake such a long time part of it, must be receiving some of its protection, but I don't think I want to let it rot down here forever. Pull a fang." Snape commanded and Toby obeyed.
The top of the tooth had a small notch with what looked like black ink inside. Toby wedged the point of the fang into the ground and placed his dagger tip to the point and began to hammer it in with blast from spells.
While Toby worked at that, Snape went to work removing large section and magicing them into bottles, as well as rending all but the skeleton to dust. He was disappointed the eyes had been so badly mangled with how strong they could be for potion ingredients.
Toby cracked the fang unveiling a line of black ink like fluid that he was carful not to touch as he ran the blade down the rivet. The ink slowly vanished as the blade of his dagger took on a darker almost black color before fading back to proper silver.
"Thank you so much Headmaster I'd-" he started as they heard what sounded like boot walking along the stone near the entrance. Both quietly pulled there hiding about them. Toby pulled his cloak, Snape silently cast a disillusion charm on himself.
Jareth walked into the light with a pair of ruby lenses old style glasses. He flashed a smile like he was a rockstar at them before settling his gaze where Toby was standing.
"Well, well, well, I meet the great Headmaster Severus Snape. Toby has told me so much about you, and what almost sounds like the legendary level of skills you have." He said with a small clap. "Don't mean to be interrupting, but apparently this entire cavern area is sealed from outside interference and I desperately need to have a talk with my good friend Toby here." He said waving his hand towards Toby, and sounding urgent.
"Has there been a challenge?" Toby pulled off his invisibility cloak, quickly stuffing it into his bag and moving to Jareth. Snape moved forward as well, not bothering to drop the charm even though he knew they could both see him.
"Yes, we have very little time now. Urdrog should be nearly done with the corrosion dip on your armor pieces. We must hurry to get there in time now." Jareth held his hand out to Toby, straight up and down. Toby took it and with a parting wave to Snape he was holding onto a large owl that took flight.
Snape summon the serpent and made his way back up to the bathroom, closing the door once again. Moaning Myrtle was watching him, but he cast a memory charm when she went for the plumbing, before making his way out of the room.
"Good luck Toby. No more mistakes now."
_...-~-…_
Toby barely caught his footing when he was dropped inside the throne room. Several goblins stripped away his clothes and fitted him with cushioned under armor before placing several of his own goblin forged items on him. A cloak that had many pouches and loops on the inside held his readied potions and many of his things that normally resided in his bag. He didn't even get a chance to look at himself in the mirror before Jareth lifted him in his bird form and dropped him next to the champions entrance to the coliseum. Toby ran through the few doors and got to the exit just in time to see the portcullis finish opening. He ran out the door to find a large stone wall.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, tonight challenge will be an age old game that I am well known for. Our Champion are positioned outside a labyrinth. The rules are simple. The first to reach the center is victorious." He held two orbs out to Gringotts. Each was a starting point outside the maze and depending which Gringotts picked, Remus would start there. Grabbing the left one he chucked it at the spinning labyrinth.
"Let the games begin!" Gringotts bellowed out to the crowd as Toby and Remus ran to find the entrance.
_...-~-…_
Remus stepped forward and contemplated the maze immediately. From what he was able to gather from Grintoll, Jareth was a maze builder, ever crafting challenging puzzles to warp the mind and change people perspectives. His masterpiece was bringing a muggles drawing of a room of stairs to life. Intrigued Remus looked up the picture and tried to imagine such a place in three dimensions. If this labyrinth has any where near as much work put into it, the structure alone could be dangerous.
His first problem became readily shown. How to get in?
There didn't seem to be any doors, and the walls didn't deviate more then three different patterns that didn't bear any doors. A flick of the wrist proved that straight damage spells like reducto didn't blow open holes.
Kneeling down he took a careful look along the edges for any deviations. When none could be found he moved down the wall nearly twenty feet. The time his search showed that the floor immediately beyond the entrance was made to appear as the lower part of the wall and from where he had stood before it looked like a true wall. Upon finding this he made his way inside.
The path led left and right. At least to keep his bearings a wand using the four point spell would show that the path behind him was North, so he had to venture south. Without any early look at the maze he wasn't sure if his part of the maze could intersect with Roberts son's.
Choosing right Remus quickened his pace. The choice seem useless as it only lead to a dead end that he guessed was a corner of the labyrinth. Turning around he when back the other direction passing by the entrance he eventually came to another dead end.
"This goblin wouldn't have been so crazy as to put no actual path to the center would he? How would anyone ever complete it…?" Lupin slowly turned around and closed his eyes. The first obstacle was an optical illusion, perhaps the turns where the same. Using his wand to conjure a walking stick to him he began his path back. The stick was pressed against the wall so that when he passed an opening he would feel the stick pass through. To his delight no more then ten feet from the entrance he found the door leading to a different path.
To keep up better pace, Remus conjured a thick fog the spread nearly ten feet in every direction from him that never got more then ankle high. It showed each turn as he neared as the fog started to move down the length.
His path even with his clever spell work lead to a dead end. The only thing before him was two he guessed fake doors with animal head hanging out from behind shields. He stepped forward and out of simple frustration at this turn of events leveled his wand at them read to at least crumble them to dust when they all hid there head behind the shield.
"That's not the way to get by us!"
"Yeah! It's in the rules!"
"You have to ask a question."
"Then you can pick a door!"
Remus put down his wand looking at the four head as they all spoke in turn. This was not a magical creature he was familiar with. There must be a large selection in the home realms of each of the goblin families he thought to himself.
"Which of these door lead to the center of the labyrinth?"
"Also in the rules."
"You can only ask one of us."
"And just to warn ya, one of us always tells the truth."
"And one of us always lies."
With how they talked Remus was wondering if there where four creature or just two standing behind the shield. Asking would waste his question, but deciding without that knowledge could be useless as he ask one that isn't bound by either of those rules.
He took a moment to calm himself and decide on the proper course of action. His best bet was to go with that they where just two creatures, and it was an age old question like the one he heard as a boy about which broomstick was cursed, and talking to the brothers that always lied or told the truth depending on which you asked.
"Okay then. You, would he tell me the door behind you leads to the center of the Labyrinth?"
"Um…" he poked his head behind the shield talking to the other head before comeing back out and saying. "No."
"Then I'll be going through this door then." He said moving to pull back on the one he asked.
"What if he was telling the truth!"
"Then you would have to have been lying." He said before ducking past the door. The stone floor immediately after it fell away on his first step and he was barely able to get a gravity reorienting charm into place. He was slowly able to make his way down the tunnel that was to short for him standing, and if he let to much of himself hang away from the wall the charm my let him fall anyway as the worlds gravity over rid his magic.
After another several minutes he wasted like this he made it out and reversed the charm landing back on his feet. Looking around he found what seemed like the many hallways from before, so using the same fog trick he made his way down the path again. After several more turn and constantly using the four point spell he realized that it wasn't reliable.
The wand as he held it steady in the four point spell slowly rotated. Either the magic of the place was corrupting the reading from the wand, or the entire labyrinth was slowly turning. Unable to figure out which way the center was anymore he just kept following the paths.
A few more turns brought him face to face with a sphinx. He nearly cried in relief actually recognizing a threat for once in this jigsaw maze. She was calmly staring at him seated in the middle of the passage. She smiled looking to him.
"Well good sphinx, lets hear your riddle." He asked good naturedly. He was a decent hand at riddles, and he could always find another path if he didn't know it. She nodded her head before nearly singing in a beautiful voice.
"What has roots as nobody sees, Is taller then the trees
Up, up it goes, And yet never grows?"
"I see your master is rather found of riddle style traps. Could I please hear the riddle again?" she nodded repeating it several times until he could repeat verbatim.
"Roots… many different plants, and some magical beast have roots. Mandrake, well I guess it's still considered a plant. But this thing is taller then trees. It keeps going up, but is never actually growing…" he leaned against the wall. "Tonk would know this one I bet. Her mother keeps a large collection of old time riddles at there home." He looked up to the sphinx, bowed and retreated going down the other path he has seen. This way lead quite a distance before take a few turns. He saw another opening up ahead when he heard something clanking with metal go by along the next path and the sound of spells being cast from both side of the fight. Was there other wizard in the labyrinth meant to try and knock them out of the fight?
This path lead to an opening that showed the prize at the center. As he moved forwards parts of the walls closed quickly, revealing what had been two metal half statues formed into one large metal construct. The being seemed to leek steam, but was nearly ten feet tall, with large shields covering most of its body and large broadswords in each hand.
"Well that is a little unexpected after the other things in here." Remus whispered as it swung its swords in an overhand motion. Remus cast a disillusion charm on himself as he ducked out of the way. Whatever it was that guided this being vision wasn't fooled by the charm as he turned and started attack with haste. Remus had only seen the like before when McGonagall demonstrated the statue protection to all the teacher before each year of school to make sure they were ready if the school needed to be defended.
Reducto, disarming, and leg lock jynxs seemed to glance off the armored hide, and even once nearly reflected at Remus as he cast like mad against it. Trying to find some spell that wouldn't glance off that pristine helm. He tried to summon the helm off, or vanish it, freeze it in place, and straight stun it. None of the spells had any visible effect.
Thinking his new plan was a bit of a death wish he use agumenti to cover the ground with water and then froze it. The metal golem was stuck in place for the moment, but Remus could already hear the ice cracking as it started to break the bindings on it. Quickly his slid towards it, passing the oncoming blade and then underneath it before spelling his feet to catch grip on ice. He stopped himself and jump onto the golems back. With how the armor sat across the shoulders it couldn't readily attack behind it. Then he started to manually pull the helm off.
The helm was stuck really well, but it did come off. Inside he saw a goblin pulling on several levers and had earmuffs with some kind of cord hanging out of them and plugged into the golem. The Goblin finally looked up, sneered and went for a button that had a large lighting bolt looking symbol on it. Remus quickly stunned the Goblin before he could push the button. A wave of his wand now seemed to help it fall without any more harm before he stood up and brushed himself off.
"She's never going to believe that one." He said thinking to his Nymphodora back home. He grimaced a bit also thinking of the words Harry brandished at him during the last meeting and how right they had been.
Pushing that aside he looked to the wall that had closed unleashing the metal golem on him and watched as the door slowly opening, revealing his prize.