Disclaimer: I ain't no friggin JK goddess of magic yeh?
RITUAL BOOM
"Good. Don't hand it to me here. Let's go somewhere else." Feeble flirting aside, Harry knew that something big would happen if he took the Ring in the middle of a public place. "I suggest that you take me somewhere private." Pandora looked slightly suspicious at this- he had been making innuendo all the time she'd been there. Then, she took his hand before he could snatch another chip, and apparated out.
"What the fuck! I hadn't finished my chips! Vampires! Not needing food and shit, god! Where are we now?" Harry stood in a room that looked to belong in Hogwarts, except for the darker stones, and the obvious side-along apparition he'd just undergone. There were long banners hanging from the walls, of a black bat, on a field of raging fire. The floor was carpeted in a lush throw rug made of some kind of fur.
"We are in my father's castle fortress, of course. We are in private here. That is what you asked for, human, was it not?" The girl smirked.
"When I put on this Ring, something will happen- I don't know what, I but I feel a massive drain on life. Odd that you'd bring me to a vampire stronghold. Maybe…" Harry thought of the drain that would come- would it need it, or was it a side-effect?
"Pandora, there will be drain of life-force when the Ring binds to me- I think it's necessary for the binding. Do you have any… prisoners that could be used? Or cattle?" The girl looked slightly confused at this. Of course they had cattle! And prisoners, actually.
"There are the lifers of Azkaban that 'died' in their cells, and we've been feeding off of them in return for not having the Dementors draining their happiness. There are hundreds of other wizards from the other prisons as well. There are even some from Nurmengard, too. All the guilty ones, obviously. We don't feed on the innocent. Dark Wizards, Death Eaters, Unforgiveable-users, and then your basic killers, rapists and illegal artefact distributors. You could use pretty much all of them- they're replaceable. Most of them are losing nutrition anyway." The fact that the vampires killed off the worst criminals in wizarding culture didn't matter to Harry- they'd be dead soon anyway. Although, the Death Eaters would be useful, knowledge wise, for Voldemort's power-capabilities, motives and modus operandi.
"Would it be possible to get everyone but the Death Eaters into a warded room? Probably be good to protect it with Unbreakable rune sets, too. Oh, and Imperturbable doors." Harry was thinking quickly. If there was a massive drain effect, then it stood to reason that there would be a massive release of energy, too. Trying to capture that energy would be good, it would probably stop any negative reactions.
"Uh… Yes, yes it would, we have a Ritual Room to those specs, but… Why? We already dispelled the curse on it." Harry got very excited, with the prospect of revealing the identity of the artefact. Suddenly, he felt tingle down his spine, that felt a lot like when he put on the Mask of Dark Souls. He felt the presence in his mind, so he let it access his mind. Do not reveal the origins of the Aetherion Fragments, young one, not to ones so tempted by Dark Magic- to revive the dead is one thing, but to feed off them? Best not, young one… Harry blinked.
"The drain effect will release a lot of energy. Best if it doesn't level this place, yeah?" Pandora looked shocked at this revelation- the Ring could destroy her father's fortress, if it wasn't protected? Damn! She sent for a lesser minion to set up the Ritual Room, and to protect it as specified. Until it was ready, she may as well learn something about her guest.
"So, Harry Potter, what is so important about this Ring? Why go to these lengths to undergo the binding? Father knew, but he did not say anything…" Pandora looked slightly miffed at this, but kept her hard-fought decorum.
"The Ring has a powerful enchantment on it. When someone of the Gaunt Line binds to it, it seeks to empower them by draining neuroelectric energy, which is a muggle way of describing a soul. All souls but the one the ring is binding to in the vicinity will be drained dry, of their magic, their powers, and their life-force. So, I will basically be a vampire for all of five seconds. The powers can manifest in manifold ways. I could gain powers much like yours or your father's, or I could learn to transform into a pixie. A risk, yes, but a minor one. There is something else, though. You know of Voldemort's rise to power, and his resurrection, do you not?"
"Yes, we felt the ripples in the earth's magic."
"Then you may be aware that he used something called Horcruxes to anchor various pieces of his soul to the earth. I carry one in my hand, attached to the Ring, and one to my own soul. When I bind to the ring, it will absorb and assimilate the two soul pieces. I am quite curious, though, as to what will happen to the soul fragments- they could crystallise and form something of value or some use, for all I know. The Death Eaters can't be used because of their souls being linked to Voldemort's- if they die, it would cause a paradox- his soul would be both anchored to this world, and the next. Then he'd be immortal, and feel no pain. Bad idea. They didn't die when I beat him as a baby, because he didn't die- his soul was wandering the world, Albania, for some reason. I need to destroy his Horcruxes before him, or he could wait an aeon before resurfacing. And I have plans."
Pandora was on the verge of shock- Voldemort had used that kind of Dark Magic to stay alive? He must have read of it in her father's treatise on soul magic, stored at Hogwarts against his wishes. And Harry was happy to fight against that monster? Even to her father, Voldemort was too strong to combat- and Harry brushed that fact off like dust to wind! She understood her father's directive more now that she knew how powerful Harry was.
"What about you, Pandora, I'm sure you aren't the seventeen year old I see you as. I know, I know- never ask a lady her age!" The vampire girl looked at him through slit eyes. Was this another joke? Or conversation?
"I was born to the people your race knows as 'Adam and Eve', and I am the sister of Cain and Abel that history forgot. I was party to their knowledge, and how they escaped Eden. In 75,015 BC, I was born. Cain came soon after, and Abel a year after that. I understood why we were free of the Precursors, but hated that we didn't fight them into the ground. Now, I'm glad we didn't- they helped to save the world, eventually. My father is Adam, now Prometheus, who was cursed by the Precursor now known as Hecate- the being the Greeks saw as magical, and the mother of wizards. She turned Cain Dark, making him murder our mother and brother. So I killed him. Father's curse turned him blood-thirsty, and he eventually turned me, so as not to be alone. There were others, gradually, who were cursed to become vampires, but none so powerful as my father, or myself."
"So what you're saying is, is that I'm your grandson many times removed? Well, hell! I've been flirting with my gran!" Harry scrunched up his face, wishing he hadn't checked her body out earlier.
"Is that all you got from that? You humans are more lecherous every day!" Pandora flushed- she hadn't thought of it that way. Her father wanted her to bond to her own great-grandson? Impossible! While the two were in their own thoughts, the minion came back.
"My Lady, the Ritual Room is ready, and the prisoners are assembled. The Dark Lord's followers are still in their cells." The man bowed himself back out. What a brown-noser, Harry thought.
As Harry and Pandora stood outside the Ritual Room in silence, Harry suddenly felt sorry for his flippancy when talking about Pandora's origins.
"Pandora, I'm sorry about your mother and brothers. I didn't think of your loss, which is somewhat similar to my own. Whatever happens in the room, I'm sorry." With that melodramatic redress, Harry stepped into the Ritual Room.
Pandora was suddenly ashamed- Harry thought she was giving him the silent treatment? She was thinking of how to broach the subject of the bond to him! Men!
Harry was surprised to see the amount of people in the Ritual Room. There was easily a thousand here, possibly two. Criminals the world over had been gathered for the vampiric royalty to feast on, and they had run out of worth. Harry was nervous- these people had souls, and it was wrong to erase them from existence.
Do not hesitate, young one. These are the scum of the earth- the ones who have done unforgivable things to their fellow humans. Use their souls, for you will need the power in the future to aid your quest. Do not hesitate…
That voice! Harry had barely even felt it slip through his shields that time! It was as if it was part of him, that it could do that… Harry turned his mind back to his task. He walked to the centre of the large room, to the chalk circle drawn on the stone flagstones. He stood inside, making sure the connections he'd asked for were drawn out. Each connection branched outwards like a tree branch, until they all met at a triangle on the ceiling, directly above Harry's head. The triangle was just like the one on the ring.
Without looking at the sacrifices- for that is what they were- Harry took out the ring box, and opened it up. The small gold band, with a black stone set in it sat inside. The soul piece attached to the ring was sanguine with its fate- it wanted release. The piece attached to Harry, though… It struggled, sending massive spears of pain into his mind. Harry could feel the piece trying to contact its originator, but the wards on the room stopped it. Taking the ring from the box, Harry held it up to the triangle above him. He slipped it onto his right index finger, triggering the enchantment.
The chalk lines of the room suddenly lit up in a blaze of white light, rays of which speared into the eyes of the Dark Wizards, burning out their minds. The souls of the sacrifices began to seep into the blazing light, adding to the glow as the impurities were burned out. The black mist given off hung at the ceiling, gradually filling the room. As the last man dropped, the shining triangle above Harry began to lose its shape. Finally, the two Horcruxes spewed out of the ring and scar, in black smoke. It seemed to take an age for the black to leave the two hanging white orbs- just like Sirius' soul back in third year. Before Harry could see the final shape of the design above him, a spear of iridescent white light shot down, and into Harry's scar.
He awoke, what felt like much later, curled up in the chalk circle on the Ritual Room floor. The stone flagstones were still warm to the touch, so it can't have been too long. Harry slowly drew himself to knees, looking around the room. There was no effect to the room itself, the rune sets he'd requested saw to that. There was a distinct lack of bodies, however. They must have evaporated… thought Harry. As he stood, he was suddenly knocked back by a woozy feeling. Bending over, he clutched his head.
Wait a second! His scar! It was gone! So was all his hair, for that matter. Easily remedied, though. Harry explored himself, trying to see if anything had changed with his physical appearance. Nothing, as far as he could feel. He'd tried hard to reach his current shape, he didn't want the work wasted. Harry noticed two items lying side by side on the ground inside the circle with him.
A large circular hoplite shield rested on its back, with the face pointing up at Harry. On the front it was plain black enamel, with a gold edging. It was large, almost a metre across, and completely circular. It bulged outwards slightly, which Harry assumed was to deflect blows to the sides. Beside it were two armoured gauntlets, which were suspiciously made of the same metal as the Mask, as was the shield. Smoke writhed inside of the gauntlets, giving them an ethereal quality. The ends were shaped like his fingers, probably to aid gripping things. Harry slipped the two armoured gloves on, feeling the cool padding like in the Mask. The gauntlets made their way up to his elbows, where they seemed to blur into his skin, which seemed to part to allow access to the bone. Curious, Harry tried to remove one. It didn't come off. It felt as if he was pulling on part of his arm, it was so integrated. Damn! How am I supposed to walk around like this? Harry rapidly thought over his predicament. What if…
Harry focused on the two gauntlets, and about them slipping off. The joining places on his arms writhed, as the strands of metal unattached from his skeleton, and the gauntlets slipped off. Relieved, Harry brought out his trunks, and put the armoured gloves and shield in an empty compartment. He'd ask the Mask about it later. He reckoned it knew- he could feel it earlier, steering him to undergo the binding to the ring as far back as McDonald's. It was about time he got back to his shopping trip, and then back to Jacques. Returning his hair back to its normal length, Harry turned around.
As Harry made his way to the door back out into the corridor, and Pandora, he wondered what he'd gained from it besides two pieces of other-worldly armour. Was their appearance somehow connected to the Horcruxes? Would the others do the same, and crystallise into these pieces of armour? Admittedly, he did feel… different. There was no real way to describe it, except for a kind of energy that thrummed around him. Just before he opened the door, he felt himself grow weak.
Well, I'm back for limited time only! A short time. OK, basically until Easter, I think. I should ideally be doing English Language A2 coursework… but fuckit. Fuckitfuckitfuckit. \0-0/
Song of the Week: The Kids From Yesterday by My Chemical Romance
Film of the Week: Transformers: Age of Extinction
Book of the Week: The Curse of the Gloamgozer by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell