Shadows of Conquest
Summary: Hidden in the texts of the Millennium Tome is a Ritual which looks like it could end Voldemort once and for all.
Chapter Four
A month before the ritual the group who were performing the ritual arrived at Hogwarts to start making arrangements.
"Nothing here is suitable," Ishizu commented as the group walked through the school. They got strange looks from the students and other teachers. Those who followed duelling were pointing to Seto, Yugi, Ryou and Ishizu. Apparently Ishizu was quite popular with female duelists in this part of the world.
Even the abandoned and out of bound sections of the castle still had students.
"We really need to find a large location in the castle where we won't be interrupted. A location no one else can get to." Ishizu continued.
"You'd think an ancient castle like this would have locations that only teachers knew about and not students," Yugi replied.
The small groups footprints echo's through the hallway. Students occasionally peeking out the doors or classrooms to observe the strangers.
"The Chamber of Secrets," Harry shouted out. "You need to be a Parseltongue to open the entrance. As far as I know I'm the only one at the school with the ability to speak to snakes."
"Snake speaking is considered to be a gift of the Gods. The Egyptian that is gods." Ishizu explained. "It is an ability that runs through my family and can be traced back to the time of the Pharaohs. Not every member of the clan has this ability. I don't and neither did my mother. My father did as does Marik. You have a great gift, Harry Potter."
"I'd like to see the Chamber. Headmaster Dumbledore would never allow it when I'd requested to see it in the past." Professor McGonagall replied.
"I got the same response," Severus mentioned. "All those wasted potion ingredients from the basilisk. Even if I didn't use them in potions myself, the school could've sold the parts and upgrade the school equipment."
McGonagall nodded in agreement.
"I'd be happy to take you Professors," Harry told his former teachers. "I'm surprised to see you both agree on a lot more than I though. When I was a student, you always seemed to have some sort of rivalry going on."
"We're both very competitive people Mr Potter." Professor McGonagal told him. "Yes, you can be competitive with someone and still be good friends. We agree on many aspects of running the school. I'm glad to have someone who tells me exactly what they think, but respects my decisions."
"That because you actually listen to my suggestions," Severus replied. "You didn't ignore me while I was a student, unlike some of the other teachers who are still here from the time I was a student."
KC
The group made their way to a girls bathroom which was hunted by a crying ghost. She took an instant liking to Set, Atem and the Ring Spirit.
'Maybe she could join your harem.' Seto teased Set
Set chuckled, glad to see his influence was rubbing off on his descendant, even if it was only slightly 'A bit young for me. I was in my nineties when I died. She's a fifteen-year-old girl. Bad time to die if you ask me, hadn't finished going through puberty. So many emotions that would've settled if she'd lived to adulthood.'
"Since your all dead, do any of you want to be my boyfriend." The ghost flirted with the three spirits.
"I'm sure Set here would love to add you to his harem." The Thief King suggested.
"Harem! More than one girlfriend. Your mean he already has some and he's still going after me?" Myrtle cried.
"I'm far too old for you dear." Set replied, reverting himself to the old man he was before he died. "I was already an old man when I died. I've been dead a long time, as have both my wives whom I'm still happily married to. I'm not looking to add anyone to my harem. My cousin Atem here was young when he died and unmarried."
"Set!" Atem yelled.
Yugi was trying to hold back a chuckle at Atem's horrified look. Severus rolled his eyes at the young ghost. Minevera shook her head. They only saw Myrtles side of the conversation.
"I'm your Priest my Pharaoh. It is my job to find a suitable wife for you to produce an heir." Set told his cousin.
"I'm not ready for children," Myrtle said in embarrassment before hiding in the toilet.
"Stupid ghost. The dead can't have children." The Thief commented.
"Who was she talking to?" Harry asked. Not being able to see the three ancient spirits.
"She's nuts if you ask me," Ronald replied.
"You only heard half the conversation," Ryou told him.
"Who was she talking to?" Ron asked.
"No one you need to know about," Kaiba replied.
Yugi and Ryou nodded in agreement.
Ron rolled his eyes, it was the response he got from those three all the time when they were at Domino High School.
KC
They listened to Harry as he open the chamber. The group followed him through the dank, dark passages.
Seto shivered. The passages reminded him a little too much of when he was held captive by the Death Eaters.
'You could probably learn how to speak the snake language. I didn't have the ability myself, but Isis did. I'm actually surprised her reincarnation doesn't have that ability. I always wanted to learn but didn't have time with my responsibilities once I became Pharaoh. Then again, you have your own responsibilities running your company and probably wouldn't have time to learn either.'
He agreed with the spirit. As much as he'd like to learn, he didn't have time. It was hard enough finding time to practice Shadow Magic without using the Millennium items.
The tunnels opened up to a larger area. Seto started to feel more relaxed. It was also brighter in the opened area. He looked around for a light source and couldn't find any.
"Much better" Ishizu commented.
Minevera and Severus were both looking around with interest.
"We'll close the toilets for renovations or an exosmic," Minevera started discussing with Severus.
"With all the small improvements we've both been making to the school it will be believable. I wonder what that area of the castle was originally. I know for certain it wasn't a girls bathroom." Severus replied. "The original bathrooms were pit toilets in different areas of the school which are no longer used."
"We'll look into the history at a later date. So much has been lost over the years. I believe the schools needs a Professional Curse breaker who specializes in history." Remus suggested.
"We do need a new history teacher.' Minevera agreed. "We'll need to find someone who will be interested in researching the castles history and teach more than about goblin wars."
KC
The large group split into three smaller groups arranging to meet in the larger room after they'd finished exploring their section. Signals were worked out to let the others know they were in danger. Seto stayed with Ryou, Yugi and Ishizu while Severus and Minevera stayed with Harry and Hermione. Bill and Fleur took Ronald and Remus.
There was more to the chamber then the central room. Several of the rooms were under fading preserving charms.
"Not as hard to break into as the pharaohs tombs." The Thief King commented. "I wonder how this place went undiscovered for so long. The preserving charms are so tacky. The magic is noticeable from the upper levels if you know what you're looking for."
"A lot of the Pharaohs magic sadly died when the Pharaohs did," Ishizu told the others. "I'm not talking about Shadow magic either. The Pharaohs had powerful magic before the shadows and for the first few dynasties after."
"I would like to study these texts in detail." Seto pointed to the library of books. "It seems Salazar Slytherin was a scientific researcher. He hasn't written his books like most other magic users. Now is not the time to be distracted by reading, as much as I would love to continue reading."
"We need to move on to the next area to continue determining if this place is suitable for the ritual. None of this magic in the room suggest otherwise, but we don't know what else we will come across." Ishizu agreed. She was just as fascinated by the ancient books as Seto. In fact, all of them in the room were interested in the books. The Thief King wanted to sell them, the others for a more historical interested.
"I think we should become archaeologists," Ryou told them. "I enjoyed searching Set's tomb and I'm enjoying what we are doing now."
Yugi nodded in agreement. "Archaeology is what I want to eventually study."
"I'm already an archaeologist. It is wonderful work, I loved looking into history." Ishizu gushed.
"My focus has always been more in the future, but we can learn a lot about the future by looking into the past." Seto agreed. "It's something I'd like to do as a hobby. We still have Sets tomb to explore properly, last time we were focused on getting the tome."
"We should get together regularly to do this, Kaiba's work permitting of course." Yugi nodded.
"I'd like that," Seto admitted. "As long as you don't drag your dog along every single trip."
"Joey's not interested in archaeology. The same goes for Tristan, Tea and Duke." Yugi replied.
"What about the other girls?" Ryou asked.
"I don't really know where Serenity's interests lie, the same goes for Mai," Yugi replied. "Rebecca's a bit like you Kaiba, looks to the past to improve the future. She would enjoy these types of trips if we let her come with."
Ryou reminisced, "Amane always enjoyed the trips to dig sites with father when we were growing up. She'd enjoy it as well."
KC
Severus, Minevera, Harry and Hermione's group had discovered a menagerie of different animals and plants. It was like entering a whole different world.
Severus looked like he was in heaven. "This plant has been extinct for over 200 years. Who knew that under Hogwarts was such a thing."
"The spell work to keep everything alive is amazing," Minevera commented. "If the ministry wasn't so corrupt I'd bring someone from the Departments of Mysteries down here. Will the ritual interfere with Salazar's spells?"
"We'll have to check in with Miss Ishtar. She's more familiar with the ritual then I am. This is the find of the century. So many helpful medical potions that have been out of use due to the extinction of plants and animals will be able to be made again."
"Some of these creatures look like things Luna always described," Harry commented. "Do you think the plants and animals are dangerous?"
"Yes," Hermione replied. "That one there, I don't know how to pronounce its name. It has highly poisonous venom which would kill you in minutes if it bit you. The venom was used to make a potion that was used to treat the Black Death in witches and wizards', but would kill those who didn't have magic. Many squibs died due to the potion."
"Correct Miss Granger." Severus smiled, glad that someone took an interest in potions outside of what he taught.
KC
The three groups meet in the Central room to discuss anything that might be a problem.
The Weasleys and Remus section had just led to different passages throughout the school. The entrance to the bathroom wasn't the only entrance in and out of the chamber. They didn't see any problems caused by their section magic wise but meant they had more exits the needed to secure.
"Our section was mostly research notes, library and several labs," Seto reported.
"There are preservation enchantments on the rooms, none of which will cause any problems to the ritual." Ishizu continued on from Seto.
"We found a menagerie of animals and plants. Living animals and plants. Many of which have thought to be extinct for many years." Hermione told them in much excitement. She didn't even wait for anyone else in her group to talk.
"It may cause problems with the ritual. There are many charms in place, many which are starting to fail." Severus continued.
"We will have to confirm what spells are in place," Ishizu replied. "That is something which needs to be preserved."
Hermione lead the way to the chamber.
"I recognise that creature. Luna talks about them all the time." Seto pointed out.
Harry and Hermione nodding along in agreement.
KC
'We've got a lot of work ahead of us with what's here and what is in your tomb.' Seto told the ancient pharaoh.
'Once we know Amane is safe and Voldemort won't cause any threats we will be able to do all the research we want after running that little business of yours.' Set agreed.
'I don't think Mokuba will approve.'
'He doesn't appreciate research, so to him, he finds it dull.'
'As a result, he tries to get me to participate in what he considers fun, which I personally don't find fun most of the time.'
'Your brothers adorable bossing you around like that. I wish I wasn't an only child. One of the reasons I had as many children as I did. I love children. Watching them grow, teaching them, learning from them. Harry and Hermione are taking an excellent step in their lives. I don't think we would've found a more suitable parent to Voldemort's reborn soul. They will do well. When you're ready, however long it takes, I know you will be a wonderful husband and father, after all, my cute descendant, you are my reincarnation.'
KC
"We can't tell Hagrid if we want to keep this a secret. He couldn't keep a secret if his life depended on in." Severus said to Minevera.
Everyone who knew Hagrid nodding in agreement.
Bill, who was more familiar with the type of magic, investigated every section thoroughly with his curse breaker wife's help.
"This isn't going to cause us any issues. I've strengthened the wards and enchantments in place. They've been fine for the past several hundred or so years. They will be okay for a couple of more months without interference."
"In that case, tomorrow we will begin preparing for the ritual."