Lost Control

Harry stood just before the Boundary that kept him within in his property and he couldn't help but feel a sense of irritation climb up his spine. No one could exactly say that this was a prison, it by now means was, but to Harry the feeling still held. He was stuck and he couldn't get out. That part was the one that grated him the most. The loss at freedom. But Harry calmed himself down—well he tried to in fact—and waited; within a few hours the Travellers would be here and they would strip the spells of the Boundary, and if that didn't happened, then Harry would try and use the eclipse in six.

He had tried coming up with a plan, tried being the operative word of course because in all honesty Harry hadn't succeeded. Being in a prison hampered his mind and made him think of one thing: Use Fiendfyre. In all his might Harry tried to push the thoughts back, but it was getting harder and harder with each passing second, especially since he was in the dark again. The last he'd heard was the town that had been destroyed. Elizabeth had stopped by—she came to visit thrice everyday—and told him that the local media were calling it an earthquake and the storms that had taken over the town were because of Global Warming, though it was gathering a lot of media attention, which was not too good in terms of the Masquerade.

Anna was Harry's worry though. The girl was powerful, hopped up on the power of her ancestors and descendants so that she could get their task done. What scared Harry though was that she wasn't afraid to kill innocents to get her task done. Then there were the Shanes, Harry didn't know much about them, but he still found a lot suspicious about them, as though they were planning something. For a few moments Harry had thought that they might belong to the Cult of Silas, but honestly he didn't understand where that fit in in the greater scheme of things. Perhaps they were here to help, Harry forced himself to think but he just couldn't shake the feeling that there was something untoward about them. But if Silas would be able to stop Anna while Harry was incapacitated, then the wizard didn't fault them for wanting to find the man.

Fifteen minutes had passed, but to Harry's mind it felt like a full five hours that he had been standing looking at the freedom on the other side. He flicked his wrist and his wand shot out. Insanity was doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result—the words might have resonated in his mind, but Harry had known long ago that he was crazy.

Harry slashed his wand and continued in this vein hoping that the Boundary would come apart.

Harry knew the spell. Gregory had told it to him, though the man doubted that Harry would be able to perform it and survive on his own. But Harry knew the power of the eclipse and it somewhat scared him. Harry had tried thinking about the phenomena but as far as he could tell it was just so much power that his body couldn't take it, that he couldn't control it. Harry hated an eclipse because of this reason, the loss of control of the only thing he had gone out of his way to learn about, to experiment with. In those time he couldn't hope to hold his wand without causing himself grievous harm, but today would be the day—someone interrupted his thoughts and Harry was sure it was the Travellers.

They came with a surge of magic being wrenched from the ground. Then there came the chanting in that odd language that Harry would soon learn.

"I hear chanting," said Gregory.

"That would be the Travellers," said Harry and Gregory scrunched his nose in disgust. "You know about them?" Harry asked.

"I've heard about them," the man said. "They were cursed a long time ago because of their power. Disgusting," he said with a shake of the head. "The moment a particularly powerful coven comes along some other covens see fit to put them down. Jealous fools. How much better the world would be if we all worked together for the progression of magic."

"I didn't know about this," said Harry.

"I doubt you would," said Gregory. "From what I've noticed you like a more enchantment-based magic."

Harry hummed, but stilled as power started climbing, moving like a slow current trying to cover the boundary. "I should probably check this out," said Harry. "You'll tell me more about Travellers when I come back, yeah?"

"Will it mean a decrease on my sentence?"

Harry shrugged. "How about this. If I die, I'll let the collar break."

"I'll take it," said Gregory with a nod. Harry disappeared with a rush of wind.

Since the assimilation Harry remembered memories he hadn't lived through before, much of Remus and Sirius' lives and what they had done, and what he remembered—though did not understand—about the Travellers, was why they had needed Stefan's blood as payment when they had been working for Niklaus. Harry didn't like that there were this many uncertainties at this point, especially as the queer yet familiar presence hung over him.

There were nine Travellers in all, eight standing in perfect line outside the property so that they drew a square and the last Traveller stood on her own. Sloan, Harry remembered, and she looked to be leading the spell. Harry shivered for a moment, his mind taken away from the sight that stood before him, the sight he had yet to understand and yet to think about, and instead it was pulled to the feelings that surrounded him. Being so close to how the Travellers operated was somehow strange. Magic was magic, yes, but this type of magic felt different. It was by no means bad, but there was a certain warped quality to it that Harry found strange he hadn't noticed before—then again the last time he had met the Travellers he had been flooded by adrenaline. He took a moment trying to figure it out, but he knew something like this would need time to think, something Harry didn't have at the moment. Instead he turned to the present, something he didn't like.

The Travellers were exactly how Harry remembered them, people with large humanoid shapes clinging to their heads. It was intimidating when taken in all at once, eight people, all having the same shapes standing over them doing Merlin knew what. But Harry tried not to think about it. For the moment it didn't concern him. He was going to get out of his prison and that was all that mattered.

Minutes passed with Harry watching and listening. The spell they used was different to the one Gregory had taught him, spoken in that language Harry would make a point of learning sometime in the future. They didn't exactly chant in a rhythm, to Harry it sounded more like a cacophony of voices, but it was oddly beautiful, especially as Harry felt the effects which were entirely different to the choppy incantation. When the boundary started giving way Harry could feel it. He felt it chip and crack, lines drawing across it as though it was made of glass before it shattered and a massive weight left Harry's shoulders.

The wizard let out a breath of relief, feeling suddenly more at calm just by knowing that if he so wanted he could be gone and halfway around the world.

"Hello, love," said Harry with a broad grin that wasn't entirely his own. Sloan scowled and folder her hands in a way that made Harry think she wasn't too happy to see him. "Long time no see."

"Not long enough," said Sloan.

"Come now. Can't we let bygones be bygones? I mean, I've totally forgiven that you and your coven—who are entirely different I might add—for helping my enemy and causing my capture."

"You killed three of my people," the woman said. "I don't think I could forgive you for that."

Harry shrugged. "You haven't left so I assume you want something," said Harry.

"Payment," she said.

"How much?"

Sloan shook her head. "We have no need for money. It's more certain events that we want to happened."

"Certain events?" said Harry. "I'm telling you now, I'm not all too good at playing chess master."

"This is something you can do," said Sloan. Harry gestured for her to go on. "You know of Silas, yes?" Harry nodded. "He and another have committed crimes against our coven. We want him."

Realisation hit Harry square in the face. "You know about my pull with certain hunters don't you?" Sloan didn't answer, but that was answer enough. "Okay then, you'll get Silas."

Sloan nodded and then they were suddenly gone—well they weren't suddenly gone, Harry could feel the enchantments they had layered over themselves for hiding and there was also the sight ghostly humanoid figures standing in mid-air clutching nothing.

Harry flicked his hand and put it to his throat. "I don't like being watched," he said, his voice carrying throughout the property. "I'd thank you to leave my property."

The wizard saw the figures shift and then they started floating off accompanied by the sound of footsteps. Harry waited until they were gone before he pointed to the sky and focussed, hoping that this was dire need enough for him to perform an extraordinary—by his standards—feat of magic. He started with the first charm, it left his wand and hurtled towards the sky, breaking apart as it hit something before melting into a perfect semi-dome shape; another charm and it too followed the criteria that Harry set firmly in his mind. He continued in this vein until he felt sure enough that he would be able to feel it if anyone tried to break into his house, though he hoped that no one did.

Harry walked back into the house and saw Gregory standing watching the window.

"I would have thought at the first chance that they dropped the Boundary you would leave and go off somewhere," said Gregory.

"It's more the idea of not being able to move that gets at me," said Harry. "Not the physicality of it. Anyway I need to learn more about these Travellers. Tell me everything you know."

And so Gregory began, "The Travellers were a breed of very powerful witches in times before vampires. They were geniuses. Able to do things that have become unimaginable in this day and age. For a very long time these witches were bringers of knowledge to other covens. They travelled the then known world dispensing this knowledge. Until they settled over Greece where everything changed. The details at this point aren't clear. But there was an altercation. A spell that many deemed forbidden and as punishment, their entire people were cursed so that the earth would not fuel the magic they now thought of as an abomination."

"Typical," Harry muttered.

"That's why they named themselves Travellers, or so the story goes."

Harry sat for a very long time in silence, thoughts toiling over in his head. "How do you think they did it?" Harry asked. "The cursing I mean. How would they have cursed an entire coven?"

Gregory shrugged. "Came together under a common cause," the man said with a somewhat musing voice. "Or they might have used another source. Something that would put them on even grounds with the Travellers."

"Expression," Harry muttered in a low voice. But Gregory hadn't heard, instead he continued wording his thoughts.

"I'm not sure what," he said. "But the story goes that the magic was so powerful that it had to stripped from those who had used it. I hear it was very violent. But all this might have been embellishing from the witch I heard it from."

Harry took a moment to take in all the information trying to piece together what this meant and he found that he saw the link. Sloan had said she wanted Silas because of a crime he had committed against their people, the only crime Silas could have committed would have been being the catalyst to the creation of the Immortality Spell. Then if this was true, the second person they were looking for was Qetsiyah. Only she was dead and maybe that was retribution enough. But, Harry found himself thinking, if Travellers could keep a grudge against Silas for so long, then why hadn't they attacked the covens that had cursed them to this warped version of magic.

It was something to think about. But not now. Harry had wasted enough time already by not looking for the others or thinking of a way to deal with Anna, or worrying about the Shanes—which Harry still thought were up to no good.

Harry started waving his wand in complicated gestures, the very air hissed and there was a ringing of mechanisms in the air before a click settled it.

"The magic will come undone when I die," said Harry as he got to his feet. "Now, I have a particularly powerful witch to deal with and I have no idea how."

"I might try the tried and tested method of Binding and Entombing," said Gregory.

Harry hummed. "It seems the most effective way to stop her, but what's going to stop from just stripping the barrier free? The Travellers didn't seem to have much trouble breaking it down."

"Not if you strip her source of power," said Gregory. "Take away the spirits that give her power."

"Not the easiest task, what you're talking about," said Harry. "Especially since they're bound to someone. But thank you for the help," the wizard went on. "It's a start."

The man gave a curt nod. "I'd best be off and get back to my work."

Harry stood for a while. Rolling the thoughts over in his mind, trying to figure out something that might work. All of him said that a full on charge would be most effective, it was what he knew best and considering there would be three witches—two witches and a wizard, Harry amended—they had a higher chance at winning. But would Harry survive? These three fighting had destroyed an entire town, something Harry hadn't come close to doing ever—then again he wouldn't have let the possibility pass.

The wizard shrugged. He would think on it later, now he needed to offer support. It might not have been intentional, but it was still his fault all of this was happening; his experiment and his accident. With the possibilities open, Harry shuddered to think who else might have slipped out.

Harry went up to his vault, he didn't know what to expect and therefore he went for the heavy stuff. He grabbed armour so layered with protective enchantments he was in danger of it bursting into flames he tried another. Unstable though it was, it would still protect him. He checked that his holsters both worked; he wore protected gloves and shoes that did nothing to hamper mobility; and lastly he prepared himself. If it came to a fight he knew it would be large and many would die. He just hoped it wasn't people on his side.

Why Stefan? Because Harry thought, if a Cloaking Spell was being used, he wouldn't be under his protection. Not to mention that the man had made it possible for Harry to Apparate in the first place. He appeared in mid-air. He stopped for a second, briefly surprised before he started plummeting to the ground. There wasn't much hesitation in the wizard's mind; he concentrated, willing his body to changed shape and form. He began to shrink, arms coming into the body and glossy black feathers starting to grow.

He held his focus as he hurtled below clouds and the ground below made itself evident. Harry pushed back that he was over the sea and instead focus on changing; his arms had been spread, which meant as soon as his wings were fully formed they caught the wind. He gave them a few flaps and his momentum started to wean, a few flaps later and Harry was over the clouds again, large green eyes looking in the direction the had been looking towards before he fell.

Of course he could see nothing, but Harry had something else. He pushed his sense out in all directions and felt a familiar ping. He started flying towards it. There was time to wonder why he was over the flying over the ocean, but for the life of him Harry couldn't care. He was just exhilarated that he was flying, and of his own volition on top of it all.

An hour must have passed and as healthy as Harry was, this form wasn't. He was already starting to feel the strain of having to fly such a distance, and to top it all of he still hadn't caught hide nor hair of that which he was chasing, and with each passing second he could feel it slowly edging away from his sense. Harry continued to fly, having no idea where he was other than the fact that he was going in the right direction. It was then that he saw the little smudge of land and he felt a sense of relief. His flight became fervent, no longer racing for the familiar pulse of magic—which was steadily getting closer—but for the island where he would have the change at catching his breath.

He began his descent and it was then that he spotted the black car that was too descending towards the island. Harry followed, skirting the air so that he didn't have to flap his wings. The ground came closer, trees clustered closely together and a large cavern at the bottom of which was a body of water. Harry followed the Cobra until he saw that it landed in a clearing beside a house that looked have been abandoned a long time ago. Harry chose a cluster of trees to hide behind before he changed to his panting human form.

A few minutes were spent trying to calm down his breath, dry his sweaty self and then put on the façade of nonchalance. Before he began forward and walked into the clearing.

There were three people in the clearing; Lee, Lexi and Stefan, all of whom were shifting looking around as though waiting for something. Harry walked into the clearing and the three vampires were instantly looking in his direction with their fangs bared. The wizard pushed back the impulse to attack.

"Harry," said Lexi with a cheery voice. She rushed over and had her arms around the wizard giving him a bone crushing hug.

"Hey, Lex, long time no see."

"How are you here?" she asked. "This entire place is Cloaked."

"I'll tell you later," said Harry, pulling back and giving the other two vampires a curt nod. "Now I just want to know why we're here."

"This is supposedly the island that Silas is buried in," said Stefan. "The others should be here."

"Which they're not," said Lee. "Has me worried a little seeing as we made really good time."

Stefan was frowning, still looking around. Harry focused, the call of Expression would be so clear that he wouldn't be able to miss it. But there was nothing he could sense of the addictive magic now. Which meant there were no enchantments put around the place.

"They're not here," said Harry. "Or close at any rate." Harry pulled out his wand and summoned Prongs but when he told stag to find any of those that had gone on this expedition, but the Patronus didn't move. It only stood looking with what Harry could describe as confusion drawn across its features.

"I'll try and track them," said Lee and he started looking at the ground.

"I'll take the sky," said Harry and started towards the Cobra. It opened its door when he got close enough and the engine thrummed. "Missed you too," Harry said as he got in. He pressed a button and the hood opened; Lexi was in the seat next to him before he could take off.

"I'll signal if we find something," said Harry. "Stay safe." The Cobra started forward then took to the air and it wasn't long before Harry and Lexi were high enough that they couldn't be heard below. "This my fault," he said.

"Guessed as much," said Lexi. "The explosion?" Harry gave a small nod. "Then there might be others. Spirits who were close to the blast radius."

"And being that I had lost my powers to see through to the Other Side I have no idea who that may have been."

"But I do," said Lexi. "At least, I remember seeing a few ghosts. But I sent them away. Both Bree and I used to do it when they slipped past your wards."

"But I'm guessing there was still room for error," said Harry. Harry thought on it for a long time, eyes scanning through the trees in an effort to see even the slightest bit of motion beyond the occasional animal.

"How are we going to deal with this?" Lexi asked. "We can't exactly know who was around you when the explosion happened."

"Honestly I have no idea," said Harry. "But the Other Side is riddled with people far more powerful than me. On a knowledge based standpoint, even Anna outranks me."

Harry glanced the look on Lexi and he found he didn't like it one bit. It had a sense of pity to it that Harry found he didn't like. He didn't deserve pity.

He went on to scanning the terrain.

It wasn't long at all before Lexi spotted motion. Unfortunately it wasn't the friendly kind. A spell hit the Cobra and it started to plummet. Harry tried with all his might to pull it up, but the ground continued to came ever closer, a chill coming over them and the wind becoming fervent. Harry heard a shout from Lexi and a quick glance showed that the vampire was thinking of jumping.

Harry pulled out his wand, a Momentum Stopping Charm at his lip when he was pulled out of his seat and thrown into the air. Harry was forced to watch as the Cobra plummeted and slammed into the ground. For a minute Harry thought it might be okay, that the Cobra was fine, but the explosion wiped such thoughts from his mind.

The wand was still whipping around him, he came to notice and the ground hurtling towards him, but he also found that he was in the embrace of Lexi who was trying with all her might to land feet first and breaking Harry concentration because they were really hurtling.

"Aresto," but the wand work was shoddy as they spun. Harry muttered an oath, especially as a tree limb barred their way. He shot a fiery curse that made a clear path. Lexi dove in the direction and finally managed to force her feet ground ward. She landed with a small thud and a breath of relief.

When Lexi put Harry on the ground the wizard's legs were a little on the shaky side. His eyes moved of their own volition towards the flames and he felt anger. "Did you see who got us?" Harry asked.

"A girl on the short side," she said. "Long hair, wild and, this is going to piss you off, Alexander was with her."

"Alexander the Hunter?"

"Yep," said Lexi. "The very same."

Harry sighed. "How much do you want to bet this means all five hunters have united?"

"In all honesty, I'm not surprised by anything at this point," said Lexi. She looked in the direction she must have seen Anna and Alexander, but then her gaze shifted towards where the house had been.

"Let's find Lee and Stefan," said Harry. "Power in numbers and all that."

Lexi had a small smile as she took Harry's shoulder. The wizard turned on the spot and appeared in the clearing with the house in front of them.

"I'll track them," said Lexi as she knelt to the ground. Harry watched and followed when she started moving with rapid speed. Appearing and disappearing with rushes of wind when she moved too fast for Harry to follow on foot.

It didn't take even fifteen minutes before they found them between trees and at first glance Harry had the strong feeling that something was wrong; firstly they were laying on the ground, both their necks snapped and imprints of hand marks burnt into their necks. Lexi unfortunately did not have such feeling because at a blur of vampire motion she was kneeling beside Lee and she looked pissed.

"Lexi," said Harry walking closer, his wand was in his hand and his eyes were roving around the forest looking for any traps. "Is it me or does this seem like a trap?"

"It is," said a male voice. Harry pointed his wand in the direction, letting a spell loose just as the disembodied voice said another word. Harry didn't feel the effect for some reason, but his wand hit something akin to an invisible pane of glass.

Two people appeared, and invisible though they had been, Harry didn't understand why he hadn't sensed them. Maybe this island was messing with his magic and his sense. He pushed that back, but kept the knowledge that he could no longer depend on his sense anymore. The two were entirely different, one was large and buff, his skin pale and his hair almost a sunny blond while the other was dark-skinned, dark haired and dark eyed.

Both worse smirks though, that much was the same in both of them.

"You know, Anna said you were a force to be reckoned with. You seemed to fall into this too easily," said the dark-skinned man.

"What makes you think I can't get out of this?" Harry asked.

The man's smirk grew even larger. He waved a hand and three large circles of salt appeared. "This is a three barrier shield," the man said, with each shield a lot more powerful than the last and a little surprise if you break through the second shield."

"You know," said Harry, "usually I would use one of my baser curses to begin things, but you and your lot destroyed my car so I'm going go all out Unforgiveable. Imperio." The spell shot straight through the shield and hit the witch. The larger man pulled out a gun and shot, but as soon as the bullet got close to Harry it was destroyed. Harry saw markings start to draw themselves on the ground. Harry knew them and guessed their effect.

"Break them," he told the witch as he shot a spell at his companion. He dodged and before the markings could take effect they broke. "Lex," said Harry and the vampire rushed to the man, took him by the shoulder and threw him at a tree, letting out a scream when she noticed that her hands had started to burn.

The man shrugged of the hit and quickly got to his feet, grabbing a stake with the Hunter's Mark carved into it; it quickly flew out of his hand as a red spell slammed into him. The man tried to run but Lexi quickly intercepted, grabbing hold of him and throwing him in Harry's direction.

"Imperio," the spell hit but Harry could feel that there was no effect, not even the slightest connection between them. He shot a Full Body-Bind and it stuck, the man didn't move, falling to the ground, his arms and legs together.

Harry looked at the witch under his spell. "Tell me how you got here."

The man began in a monotone. "Galen and Alexander found us, told us the Hunter should gather to find Silas. Four hunters managed to come together before we had to go to a place called Mystic Falls to find a Hunter named Connor. We were intercepted by a witch Alexander knew though she wouldn't reveal her name. She told us that Connor had died and that a new Hunter, Jeremy, was on the trail towards Silas. She told us to find Anna and tell her the Bennett witch would be here. She said Anna could do whatever she liked with the Bennett witch so long as Silas died and the body was brought back to her."

"As of now, you work for me," said Harry. "You protect me and mine with your life. You do everything I say, understand?" The witch nodded. Harry looked at Lexi. "We'll wait for Lee and Stefan to wake up then we find the others."

Lexi nodded, but her eyes were stuck on Harry before she spoke. "Harry, you can Compel."

"It's one of those things that no one should know about," said Harry and Lexi nodded in understanding.

Ten minutes passed and Stefan was the first to awake. He groaned, rubbing his neck and looking around with confusion. Lee woke up a few minutes later.

"Okay," the man said. "That was embarrassing." He climbed to his feet, still rubbing his neck. "Killed by kids."

"What happened," asked Lexi, her voice soft and soothing.

"They jumped us while we were tracking the others," said Stefan.

"Made easy work of us in fact," said Lee. "Makes me sort of wonder why they aren't both on the ground not moving."

"He, what's your name?" Harry asked.

"Stanley," the witch replied.

"Stanley has changed sides now. He works for us."

"Why would he do that?" asked Stefan.

Harry didn't answer, instead he walked to the Hunter and tapped him three times. Harry waited a moment, two, but nothing happened. He let out a sigh. "This place is seriously messing with my enchantments," Harry muttered. "Tracking, sense and Portkey." Harry stood and decided to try something. He focused on his home and decided that he was there.

Nothing happened.

He turned on the spot.

Nothing happened.

"Apparition too," he said. "I'm thinking an enchantment laid out across this land so that I can't find it at all, can't Apparate or Disapparate."

"Are you thinking Anna?" asked Lexi.

Harry shrugged. "I don't know."

"We have to find the others," said Harry. He waved his wand and the hunter began to levitate in the air. Lee began the tracking. They moved through the forest and passed it, climbed a rocky hill until they could see a large body of water below.

"They jumped," said Lee. "Most likely they're on the other side of the lake, but where exactly I'm not sure. Finding them will be a little harder."

Stefan looked at the sky. "We have a few hours before night falls. We'd best hurry."

Harry himself looked at the sky and noticed the dark tinge that was starting to creep along at the side of the sun. It would be a few minutes till the eclipse. Stefan took a few steps then ran forward, jumping and diving towards the lake. Lee followed with a large grin plastered across his face, doing a few twists and flips before entering the water with a small splash. Lexi shook her head.

"Boys," she muttered and she took Harry's shoulder. Harry grabbed hold of the floating man and Stanley, looked at the other side of the lake and turned on the spot. They appeared with not a sound, Lexi had already found the trail before Stefan and Lee were out of the water and was guiding them towards a cave.

They entered but all of them stopped as they heard the sound; Harry quickly drew a line and the shield materialized, the bullet rebounded and the shield held.

"One heartbeat," said Stefan. "But I can't see him."

Harry pointed his wand at Stefan. "Homo Varius," he said and tapped the man on the head. He disappeared and then there was the sound of fleeting footsteps. They waited and then a body hurtled in their direction and landed with a sickly crack. The man, dark skinned groaned but a curse from Harry knocked him out. He levitated the man and, along with the other hunter, drew an age line around them that none could go beyond once they had moved through. Then the wizard disenchanted Stefan.

"Let's go," said Harry when they had begun walking into the cave. Stanley hesitated. The witch turned around and for the first time Harry saw the fight in his eyes. He cared for the man. "Your friend will be safe," said the wizard. "So long as I come out of this alive I can break the spell around him. If I died however," Harry left the statement hanging.

The moment they were in the cave, jumped down into an abandoned well—even Lexi and Harry jumped this time—the magic of Expression pierced even whatever spell had taken away Harry's sense. The wizard smiled a little and started guiding his crew, all of them on alert though; they moved into deeper parts of the cave, wading left and right, then left twice more so much so that Harry was sure he wouldn't be able to find his way back.

Harry was close. The magic of Expression almost grated at Harry's skin when power began to boil into Harry's body; in a moment everything was clearer, his eyesight, his hearing, his taste—for in that moment he could taste the very air itself—and his touch. The ring became a heavy burden on his finger and it shifted his hearing to the point that he could hear all the spirits everywhere on the earth. He could hear the screams of the many that had grown tired of the Other Side, their please to move on, for even oblivion to claim them. Harry's arm began to burn fiercely, so much so that his hand opened of its own volition and the Elder Wand fell to the ground.

"What's wrong, Harry?" the wizard heard Lexi say.

Harry couldn't answer though. His breathing was getting harder because he could detect every particle in the very air and it was overwhelming. The sense of Expression Magic grated even harder against Harry's skin and the wizard was left reeling.

"Can't you help him?" asked Stefan.

"No," was Stanley's reply. "I don't even know what's going on much less how to deal with it."

"I'll get him out," said Lexi. "You find the others, tell them about the hunters and Anna working together."

Harry felt it when Lexi touched him and it sent his body into sensory overload. The wizard retreated into the darkness of his mind.

There were three things Harry hated; being manipulated, being caged and the loss of control. Which was why he abhorred the eclipse. Magic was something he had been working on for close to three hundred years. It was his tool to use however he saw fit. But the eclipse took all of that away from him. He could no longer control the power that he had. He had thought that with close to three hundred years of knowledge, with all his practise in control, that this time he would come close in taming the power of the eclipse. But he had been wrong.

Whatever powered he had gained from the explosion was biting in the butt.

Harry woke with a jerk and was on his feet, eyes looking around. He was in a circle of salt he noticed, he would have been worried had Lexi not been standing on the Other Side looking worried.

"What's going on?" Harry asked; he rubbed his pounding head and groaned. "Merlin that hurts."

"I think it had something to do with the eclipse," said Lexi. "When it cleared you returned to normal."

"And by normal you mean?" Her eyes shifted to the ground and Harry's followed. The ground was charred. "I did this?"

Lexi nodded. "The same happened to me when I tried to touch your wand." Lexi pulled up her sleeves and burn marks were marred across them. "I had to leave it in the cave."

"It's okay," said Harry. "I just have to get it before it lands in the wrong hands. Can you get me out of this circle."

Stanley closed his eyes and began an enchantment; the circle parted. Harry took a step but stopped as Jeremy appeared in front of him, his colour off and looking out of touch with the world.

"Jeremy? Who?"

"Caitlin and Atticus Shane," said Jeremy. "They fed me to Silas. You have to save Caroline."

Harry disappeared with a rush of wind and appeared in the cave. He could feel the power of Expression, but opposite that he could hear gunfire. Harry looked at the ground and noticed that the Elder Wand was gone. He flicked out his left hand, the stone wand shooting out and quickly changing hands. Harry started following the magic of Expression.

He moved through the maze and finally entered a wide open cave. Jeremy's body on the floor was the first thing Harry saw and Caroline squelching as the life was sucked from her the second. A spell left Harry's wand but it hit a barrier, a thud echoing in the cave. Atticus and the woman who Harry assumed was Caitlin—Harry knew her, had seen her before, had been saved by her—turned and looked at Harry.

"Mr Potter," said Atticus his voice a tad shaky.

"Crucio!" The spell tore through the shield. Caitlin was quick pushing her husband aside and both falling to the ground. Harry pointed his wand at the tomb and the stone man Caroline was kneeling toward not trying to free herself. "Relashio." The spell hit and rebounded.

Caitlin was back to her feet and slashing her hand; Harry reflected the motion and their spells met, breaking apart with a fury of fireworks. Harry's wand work was fast. He sent a spell that missed Caitlin by the barest inches, it slammed into a wall and broke it apart; the stone didn't even have time to fall to the ground before it was redirected towards Harry. The wizard disappeared with a rush of wind, but he found he appeared on the other side of the cave and not within.

"Incendios," but he was cut off as Caroline went limp, her body a grey colour that showed she no longer had any blood left. Harry froze even as he sensed the spell coming—it hit his barriers and made the wizard flinch a little—it was a bit before Caroline looked around confused. She looked at her body and then turned to look at Harry.

"I'm dead," she said with shock and anxiety.

Harry's eyes turned and glared towards the Shanes, A look of fear came from them both and it was almost palpable. Caitlin muttered a curse under her breath and in a quick motion shielded her husband with her body.

"Avada Kedavra!" The green curse sailed through the air but Caitlin clapped her hands together, bringing the roof of the cave down and cutting Harry off from view. The wizard disappeared with a rush of wind, appearing on the other side. He caught motion of the Shane taking an alternate exit; he fired another Killing Curse but the two were too quick. The curse missed as slammed into the exit and closing it. Harry disappeared with another rush of wind, appearing where he had lost the Elder Wand. He closed his eyes in search of the magic of Expression; he quickly found it and followed in a dead run.

He saw motion and he fired before he thought but the vampire dodged with ease. It was Damon, Harry noticed, and not too soon after Elena appeared.

"You're here," said Elena but something in Harry's eyes must have resonated with her because she instantly knew something was wrong.

"How did you get here?" Harry asked.

"Boat," Elena said, quick to answer. "What's going on?"

"The Shanes betrayed us. Search the coast. Destroy everything that looks like it could help anyone get out of this island. No one gets out before I find them." No further explanation was given as Harry started moving again, searching out the magic that was swiftly moving in the maze-like cave. The next person he found was a man of Asian descent chained to a wall and straining to get free. Harry paid him no mind and continued forward.

He continued walking, searching until he found himself at the top levels of the cave, close to the exit if Harry hadn't been turned around beyond recognition. He closed his eyes, searching for Expression and found it, unfortunately it was the wrong Expressionist.

"Harry," said Bonnie. There was blood on her shirt and she was limping. She looked shaken and scared, her dark skin a few shades lighter. "Galen."

"Bloody hell," Harry muttered under his breath and he caught the girl as she fell from exhaustion.

He Apparated to the abandoned house. The girl needed to be healed.