Path of the Necromancer
Harry felt sick as he stood outside the shop, he was in the centre of Diagon Alley and yet there was a shop he had never seen. One that no one saw, in fact he had no idea how they missed it. It looked like a wooden shack, not completely out of place but at the same time it did not fit in well. Though it was what he saw on the outside which disturbed him.
Skulls, hearts, livers and a wide array of organs and pulsing objects greeted him. All of them looked almost alive, as if they would get up and start working at the slightest indication. How no one could see the shop was a mystery to Harry, though he was here for a reason. He had been invited. A letter had been delivered in the dead of night, addressed to him and inscribed on black ash parchment was the message.
I hear, I see, I know
I have heard you require certain items. I see that would be near impossible for someone in your position to acquire, however I am willing to offer my services to you. I run a small shop in Diagon Alley that I know you have never noticed. Within may be the answer to your problems. Bring Gold.
The Seeker
Indeed Harry had been looking for items, items he would need to complete a ritual that already turned his stomach. Though Hermione only had a few weeks left in her. He had known that it ever since he left Hogwarts, as had Daphne and both as if one mind had started to work on the way to cure her. Though the ingredients they needed seemed impossible to find, and deep down Harry wondered if what he needed to do would even work. It still sounded fanciful and yet he couldn't deny the authority that slow haunting voice commanded.
Two weeks earlier
"It isn't real?" Harry commented, the moment the word Necromancy entered the conversation his heart sunk. He knew no magic could raise the dead and an inferi Hermione was not what he had in mind for the future.
"Incorrect, it is real, an ancient art forgotten, lost to history. It was my own doing," the slow cryptic voice corrected, dragging out every syllable.
"No magic can raise the dead," Daphne commented, it was a law of magic they all knew and understood.
"Your ignorance is the evidence that my work was completed, of course magic can raise the dead girl. Magic is a force that cannot be bound by your mortal laws. The actual power is unknown to you, or anyone. There are gods who could never understand the raw power of it, though I am not one of them," the voice trailed off in a darkened hush as it ended the sentence.
"Then why doesn't anyone know how to do it?" Harry asked plainly.
"Because the last person to know was my champion, I told you her name. She was the only one to walk that path in millennia, and now another one has passed it can be done again," the voice continued not answering the question fully.
"Ok then how can I do it? And how will it save Hermione, she's not dead," Harry was no longer interested in the history; all he wanted to know was how to save Hermione. The one person he had let down the most.
"A ritual can be done, it will give her a new life that will match the length of yours to the second. Though the true power of the Mortus is far greater."
"What is it?" Harry enquired on the verge of temptation. The voice sounded like it was almost smiling.
"It will you command of life and death, of souls themselves. Though there is a price,"
"Of course there is," Daphne muttered but was ignored.
"What price?" Harry asked and by his tone alone Daphne knew he would make it for Hermione, while these words would go unspoken, she had never seen such devotion.
"You will be bound to my realm forever, oath bound to serve librorum as one who is not truly alive and not truly dead as will your companion."
"What do I need to do?" Harry asked, he did not care about what sacrifices he had to make. He wanted to make amends.
"First you will need to acquire ingredients, Basilisk Venom, Vampire ashes, Dragon's heart, Unicorn's blood and more personally, the blood of friend and foe."
Meanwhile
The door creaked open, a slow movement which filled the darkened room inside with sound. No one behind noticed but Harry was draped in a hood and cloak, he didn't want to be recognised.
"Hello?" a whine of a voice asked, aged and croaky it probed and the source was obscured by an armchair which sat next to fire.
"Hello?" Harry questioned looking around, shelves were packed with strange vials and objects. None of which he understood and he walked with arms firmly locked next to his sides. He didn't want to touch anything.
"Ahh, you're a customer." An old woman was laid in the armchair, warming her hands in the cold bitter air of the shop. She was dressed in a long black robe which masked her entire being, with the exception of her stony wrinkled face. Thin lips and a flaring nose seemed roughly attached to her but her eyes commanded attention. Or more accurately; her eye sockets commanded it.
"And you're the seeker?" Harry questioned feeling like he made a mistake, how could this blind old woman help him. She didn't seem able to move let alone hold dangerous ingredients.
"Oh yes dear child, I have provided for those interested in the dark arts for decades. The Dark Arts are forbidden fruit, access to which I effortlessly provide." The woman smiled, turning her head as if to look at Harry who removed his hood.
"You sent the note," Harry half commented, half questioned. She nodded.
"Indeed dear child, I have heard..."
"How?" Harry cut her off there. A smile crept across her decrepit face,
"I hear whispers, hisses of the dark world which tell me one thing. Harry Potter is attempting to brew the leech of life. Which dear child, is why you are here." Her voice seemed to speed up and slow down every other word.
"Who is this whisper?" Harry asked, knowing she could only be referring to the haunting voice which had set him upon this path.
"Oh no you don't dear child, that name is one you can never know. Not alive that is, though that is something you are intending to correct is it not? After all the only reason you would want the leech of life is to complete the Mortus."
Yes the Mortus, Harry had been looking for information since he had heard it. The voice obviously wanted him to complete of his own accord. Though the book on the ritual he had found, it was not one Hogwarts would keep in stock.
"Yes," the woman stretched out a thin, bony hand.
"Then dear child you have come to the right place. Everything you need is hear," The Seeker announced rising slowly from her position, a slow pained movement told Harry she had been there for quite some time.
"You understand the sacrifices you will make?" she asked.
"Yes," Harry confirmed nodding, there was no point; she couldn't see.
"Good, it is always best to. You also know that unless you recant the incantation perfectly..."
"I will suffer a slow, lingering painful death? Yes I know," Harry retorted quickly, this dark wooden shack was making him feel so uncomfortable, he wanted to do nothing more than get out and never see this person again. Though he doubted that would happen.
"Tell me, what vessel are you using?"
"A living one," Harry answered.
Hogwarts Express
"After the potion is brewed then a vessel must be in place to ensure once drunk the potion does not kill the soul. This vessel can be either a soul; contained in a gem that was forged in magical fire. Or a living element, though the soul connection may cause..." Harry muttered as he read and looked up at Daphne while he did so. She looked half asleep, he couldn't blame her.
Since what had happened she had been unable to sleep soundly in the Slytherin common room, though whatever power that owner of that voice had worked. Neither she nor her sister had been harmed by anyone, apparently someone had tried and they were found in the morning. Near death.
"Soul connection?" Daphne questioned the term was familiar and yet somewhat alien.
"Apparently the vessel has to have a living soul, that way my soul and it fight out and because I'm the invader I get kicked out. After the potion has done everything," Harry explained muttering to himself. Though he did not directly answer her question.
"So how do you trap a soul?" Daphne asked but Harry simply shrugged.
"Oh great, let me guess I'm going to be the vessel?" Daphne laughed sardonically.
"Not if you don't want to," Harry assured her. He was going to ask as she was the only person who knew what he needed to do but he did not want to force her.
"No, No. I guess it's something us servants have to do."
"Servant? You're not my servant" Harry affirmed, though his shocked response received a slight laugh in response.
"Please, I swear allegiance to the voice and his champion, who is you and the next thing I know me and you and together all the time working on this" she argued.
"No! I thought you wanted to help," Harry countered; he wondered how long she had felt this way.
"I do, but I don't know why you're letting me!" Harry felt silent, not sure what she meant.
"We've never even spoken before now, and now look..."
"Daphne, you're not my servant and I'm no champion of anything. Look if you don't want to help don't, but there's no one I would trust more to do this. There is no one I would rather invest my soul into."
Daphne couldn't help but smile. She nodded.
"I suppose I'm sorry, I just don't know what to think any more," she told him sadly.
"Neither do I," Harry sighed echoing her tone.
The Seeker's shop
"Intriguing, you understand dear child that the bond you will share enters a realm of magic which is unknowable. It is well past the limits of even my understanding." She inquired softly while slowly moving from shelf to shelf.
"Yes I understand. It was made very clear to me." Harry commented watching her with shocked fascination, she seemed to blend in with the organs and objects on her shelves. Then again exactly how she was so precisely finding the ingredients was also a mystery.
"Well then dear child, know you are entering realms that would please he who watches you." Her words were meant to be encouraging.
"Who is he?" Harry half barked, the woman smiled and tapped her nose.
"That dear child is his secret. One that I will not reveal, but know this his nemesis moves in the shadows, she moves against you." The woman whispered lightly.
"Who?" Harry questioned but the Seeker simply put a finger to her nose. The other hand however stretched out a leather case. Within in different sections were the ingredients he needed. Though as she handed them over, her other hand dipped down and removed the bag of gold Harry had brought. It was almost half of what everything he had.
"That is for you to find out, the days ahead are unclear. Clear them." Then she was gone.