Lost in the Darkness

Bill knew that he needed to report the theft of the Urn immediately, the Goblins would decide what to do from there. If the Egyptian Mages had had so much trouble imprisoning whatever resided in that Urn, the world would be in a lot of trouble if that thing was released. Bill quickly memorized the warning and left the storage room. Bill had no ideas as to who the thief was, but he could tell that it was probably not a good person. The other thing he worried about is how they knew to steal the urn. Nothing else had been taken, indicating that the thief was only after the urn. That made him even more concerned. How could the thief have known about the urns contents and locations when the tomb had only been uncovered less the 48 hours ago? Not even the curse breakers had managed to log everything the tomb had contained.

Though calling it a tomb was somewhat erroneous since there was no body to be found. The contents hadn't seen the outside world since the high reign of the Egyptian Pharaohs, so who the hell was this thief? Bill arrived at the apparition point and vanished with a faint crack. When the world had come into focus he was standing in the Egyptian Magical Bazaar. It was bustling and filled with people and vendors selling many different kinds of merchandise. Bill pushed through the crowds and made his way towards the Egyptian Branch of Gringotts. He walked calmly up the steps as he knew that storming into the bank could see him becoming a head shorter if the goblins saw him as a threat, employee or no.

Bill approached the desk of the Goblin fielding meeting requests. As he waited in line, Bill wondered as to why the thief had taken the Urn but had left the tablet behind. The tablet had been only a meter away, so why leave it behind?

"Excuse me, my name is curse breaker Weasley. I need to speak to Drafthook as soon as he is available about an incident with an item recovered from the tomb." Bill stated. The goblin nodded and pressed down on a faintly glowing ruby the was covered in runes on the counter. Bill nodded his thanks and stepped to the side to allow the next customer to proceed. It was nearly half an hour before Bill saw the ruby flash three times in rapid succession. The goblin waved bill onwards and Bill gave him a nod before heading down the hallway behind the desk. Bill made numerous twists and turns before he finally came to a door that had the name Drafthook written in Gobbledygook on it. Bill knocked once and entered knowing that goblins hated it when people cost them time just for niceties.

Drafthook was the goblin in charge of directing the curse breakers exploring the tombs. His office was large and filled with expensive furnishings, showing his rank amongst the goblins.

"Curse Breaker Weasley, what is the problem? Did some moronic newbie set off one of the tombs wards again?" Drafthook asked irritation in his tone. Bill shook his head instantly. Bill had a lot of respect for Drafthook as he had been trained many years ago at Phoenix Academy.

"Thankfully, no. We're still cleaning up the remains of the last idiot. No, the problem is that there was a theft from the items taken from the tomb while they were in storage. Nothing else has been taken showing that the item stolen was the intended target, though how the thief knew about it remains a mystery. The item is an Urn, specifically one used by the united Egyptian Mages to trap a demonic entity of some sort." Here Bill paused to rattle off the warning on the tablet. Drafthook's gaze was sharp and analytical as he listened to the information Bill presented.

"I will alert the director. Weasley I want you to return to camp and bring that tablet here to be secured. We cannot allow the thief to rectify his mistake and get his hands on it. Do not stop for anyone, Weasley. We don't know if someone in the camp is working with the thief. We have a little time, as it sounds as though the Urn needs keys to release the demonic entity, keys which have been hidden elsewhere. If nothing else, we can trust the Mages were cunning and crafty when it came to hiding those keys." Drafthook stated. Bill nodded his agreement. He had broken into enough tombs to have a very healthy respect for the Egyptian Mages. They would not have left the keys with meager protections.

Bill stood and folding his right hand into a fist, he thumped it against his sternum. Drafthook returned the gesture and Bill promptly exited the office to head back to camp post haste. Thankfully, the Bazaar had emptied a bit so getting back to the designated apparition point was much easier. When Bill arrived back at camp, the whole area had descended into chaos. One glance alone told Bill the reason – Bandits. Bill had a bad feeling and took off at a run for the storage room. The journey itself was a small distance, but the numerous bandits Bill was forced to fight slowed him down. He had just down the eighth one, when he finally arrived. The door was ajar and taking a deep breath Bill edged into the darkened space.

He ducked and thanked every deity for his instincts or his head would have been taken off clean at the neck by a bandit that had been lying in wait by the door. A quick reveal spell showed Bill that there were 7 bandits in the room and Bill was on his own, in a room filled with cursed artifacts. This was going to be a challenge. Bill rolled behind a Tapestry to avoid the blood boiling hex the bandit had aimed at him. He sent a curse at the feet of the bandit and smirked when he saw it hit. The bandit was a dead man and didn't even know it. That curse was a petrifaction curse developed by the Mages. It slowly petrified the victim from the outside in and was beyond painful and it would take the target quiet a lot of time to die. Bill moved forward staying low and flipped into a handstand/cartwheel to avoid the dual spells shot at him from two bandits on either side. Bill flung a quick warding spell at the door to keep all the bandits in, and conjured numerous snakes that immediately attacked the bandits. One of the two managed to incinerate the snakes, but the other fell victim to the poisonous bite of a black mamba.

Bill began trading spells with the other bandit and finally nailed him with a strangulation curse. He moved on, not thinking about the dead and dying men behind him. This was something that he had never told his parents, though he knew his dad knew. His mom thought that his job was dangerous enough without having to know that her eldest was regularly required to kill the bandits attacking the high profile camps. Bill knew that there were four bandits left and after casting silencing charms on his shoes Bill managed to sneak up on two standing side by side facing the door. Bill used a piercing hex on both and the pair dropped to the dusty floor, dead the instant the spikes went through their skulls. Two left.

The last two were going to be more difficult, was they were both standing in opposite corners with their backs to the wall. Bill stared at the first and noticed the numerous artifacts laying around him. The one directly to his left, had been the hardest to remove from the tomb simply because any who touched it had their souls sucked out in into the statue as their body crumbled to ashes. Bill lunged and fired a tripping hex, sending the bandit sprawling backwards – right into the statue beside him. The man let out an agonizing scream that faded very quickly as his body crumbled. Bill ducked and watched the spell bounce off the wall. Spinning, Bill began to fight the last of the Bandits, now feeling the exhaustion he had been pushing back. After all, he had been working in the tomb all day breaking down wards.

The fight felt like it lasted forever before Bill finally got close enough pull one of his daggers free and imbed it in the man's. Bill honestly hated killing, but if someone came at him with the intent to do him harm or kill him, Bill reserved the right to kill them first. Panting, Bill looked for the tablet and was worried when he saw it was gone.

"Please, dear merlin. Tell me they didn't already make off with the damn thing." Bill muttered as he began searching the Bandits. He finally found it on the bandit that had died due to the Mamba and tucked it into a pouch on his belt. He took down his ward on the door and stepped out into the darkening night air. The camp seemed to be calming as the bandits were disposed of and Bill waved at a few as he headed back to the apparition point. The walked to Gringotts felt as though it had taken an age. Bill was waved past the desk and he knocked before entering Drafthook's office.

"Ah Weasley, judging from your appearance either bandits or the thief." Drafthook stated calmly as he linked his hands together on his desk.

"Both, Bandits hired by the thief. I found the tablet on one of the ones I killed." Bill told him while handing over the tablet. Drafthook held it, reading what was written before placing it to the side.

"Very good, Weasley. You may return to camp to assist with the clean-up." Drafthook stated and nodding Bill left the office. Gods, he hated clean-up.

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Hadrian was a mixture of confused emotions when he received a meeting request from Ragnok the new director who had long since been involved with Hadrian and his past. Godric and Salazar, as they insisted he call them were indeed very persistent. He was constantly invited on walks where the discussions ranged from favorite foods to personal values. Hadrian knew that this was part of the courting process, but they made it so difficult to focus! They had only been in this time for two weeks and already they were changing Hadrian's life around. Dear gods, he had only pulled three all nighter's in those two weeks and had been scolded up one side and down the other. And the teachers were supposed to be on his side! Instead, they seemed to find the whole thing quite humorous. In fact, just four days ago he had been working in his office going over possible sources for the evil the Phoenix's sensed and had skipped lunch. Hey – cut him some slack he had a lot to focus on alright? It was only an hour or so after lunch that his office door had swung open to reveal Godric and Salazar, both having displeased frowns on their faces.

They had literally dragged, dragged him from his office to the kitchens. Apparently, Nicholas had tattled to the pair about his eating habits or lack thereof. They had then decided to help him build better habits. Now he had one or both of them coming to find him and escort him to every meal. They seemed to also be setting themselves up to do the same in dragging him out of his office at night. It was maddening! Sure, he had a few bad habits – everybody did. But it wasn't hurting anyone so what was the problem? Hadrian shook his head trying to prepare himself for the meeting. He knew he needed to bring the founders as well inform the Flemels so that they could keep an eye on the school while they were gone. He sent out a mental call to Hedwig and asked her to ask them to come to his office. Hadrian also knew that this would be a good time to also give the four their vaults, and explain his past. They did deserve to know.

He had just finished cleaning up his desk when his door opened to show the founders. All four had stayed in their usual attire and had been exceedingly grateful that Hadrian had uniforms in similar styles so they didn't seem out of place as they would have anywhere else. Changing times was hard enough, it was a small comfort to not have to change their clothing styles as well. All four had loved Phoenix Academy and after hearing about the poor state that Hogwarts was in were studying everything about the academy so that they could improve their own school. Granted, some of the knowledge and classes wouldn't be offered as Hogwarts accepted all students, not just the pure of heart. Heck, the founders themselves were sitting in on many of the classes and were enjoying themselves immensely. All four loved learning, Godric found that he loved Elemental Magic and Runes. He also was a guest speaker in the Battle Magic class and he enjoyed that as well.

Salazar loved Alchemy and had spent many hours discussing the topic with Nicholas, to the mans delight. Salazar also loved blood magic as that had been a rarely used magic even back in the founder original time. Salazar, much like Godric, sat in on the Potions classes as well and enjoyed passing on tricks and ideas with the students, all of whom were overjoyed to be learning from the man. Helga sat in on Soul Magic, much to Hadrian's shock and seemed to enjoy creatures and Herbology on the side. She also spent some time discussing healing with Professor LeBau. Rowena loved Arithmancy and the Mind Magics. She spent quite a lot of time talking with Perenelle over transfiguration. All told, the four had been exceedingly glad that they had chosen to come to the academy instead of returning to England.

"Hadrian what did you need us for?" Helga asked as the four entered the room.

"It seems that Ragnok, the new director has asked for a meeting to discuss what the Phoenix's told us. I also need to hand some things over to you four and explain them as well." Hadrian stated. Godric laid his hand on Hadrian's shoulder sending a shiver through the smaller man.

"We would be happy to come with you, Hadrian." Godric stated and Hadrian saw the others nod. He gave them a small smile as the each linked together and Hedwig landed on his shoulder. With a flash of white, blizzard like snow the five of them vanished from Hadrian's office and reappeared in the office of Director Ragnok. Hadrian thumped his right fist over his chest in greeting, which was copied by the four beside him. Ragnok nodded his head in return.

"Greetings Hadrian, and welcome you four. I imagine things have come as a slight shock to you, but we shall have to return to that later. Hadrian, just over 24 hours ago an Urn was stolen from the camp that just recently opened a tomb in Egypt. No one on the team though much of it, not when compared to the other finds. However, after it was stolen it was discovered that it had been used by the Egyptian Council of Mages to seal away a demonic entity." Ragnok stated. Hadrian's eyes widened and he pulled the piece of parchments towards him that held the warning that Ragnok stated came with the tablet.

"So it is still locked away. The thief knows that, but doesn't yet know how to unlock it. However, neither do we. If the Egyptians sealed it away, they would have used nothing less than their best to protect the keys. Most likely the keys had too much magic in them to be destroyed, leaving them no choice but to hide them away. The problem is that we don't know what the keys are or where they might be hidden. We could probably have some clues but since the Valley of the Mages has been lost since it was hidden, we will have to start from scratch. Ragnok, who on the curse breaking team knew what the Urn contained?" Hadrian asked as his mind was rapidly forming several ideas and thoughts in multiple directions.

"No, that is part of the problem we have in identifying the thief. No one on the team knew what the Urn was until after it had been stolen. It was stolen 48 hours after being removed from the tomb." Ragnok said.

"Ragnok, who was sealed into the tomb?" Salazar asked. Hadrian looked at him and could see his mind was moving even faster than Hadrian's.

"No one. It merely held many cursed artifacts." Ragnok stated.

"The Egyptian people believe that whatever is around your grave, is taken with you into the afterlife. It makes sense that no one would want a demonic entity possible following them into the realm of the dead." Godric stated. Hadrian and Salazar both nodded in agreement.

"We need to find out when this battle took place and who was involved. Only then will we possibly find clues as to the keys locations. The other thing that makes me wonder…" Hadrian trailed off. Surely that couldn't be right?

"Hadrian what is it?" Rowena asked as the group stared and the thoughtful hybrid.

"Well, think for a minute. No one knew what the urn was. It has been locked away since the height of the Egyptian Empire. If no one on the team knew what that urn was, and told no one… Someone knew that urn was in there and what it contained – long before that tomb was ever opened. There are only two possible options and with the warning by the council that narrows it down to just one." Even the founders looked puzzled at his train of thought but nodded to show that they were following along.

"The only way for someone to know about the urn, its contents and location was for them to be there when it was sealed." Hadrian stated and saw all of their eyes widen.

"The phoenix council said that this evil had been developing for over a thousand years, meaning it was concentrated solely on one figure, and one figure alone. The only one that I could imagine wanting to free this demonic entity is the figure the tablet mentions with it. The one it served." Hadrian finished. All of the group looked worried but they all nodded to show their agreement with Hadrian's analysis.

"I don't however, understand how this being survived for so long. We now know that it was completely active during Egypt's rule, but how long had it been active before it was locked away and when did it break free of its bonds?" Helga asked thoughtfully. Hadrian tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling in thought. Why now? Why did this figure wait until they had opened the tomb before stealing the urn…

"What if it's not fully free yet?" Hadrian muttered. Seeing their looks he explained.

"This thing knew the location of the urn, but waited until the curse breaking team broke through to the tomb before stealing it. If this thing is as powerful as the mages warn – why wait? I think it is still partially locked away. It can moved and use its abilities to some extent but not even close to all of them, otherwise it would have just snuck through the wards and taken the urn and tablet with no one the wiser." Hadrian stated. Salazar nodded.

"I think you're correct. That explains why the evil has taken so long to build, it is not just cunning but the thing it still weak and partially bound." Salazar said. The whole group nodded.

"So in summary, we have an unknown figure that is extremely powerful and of unknown origin that is thousands of years old. It is slowly but sure breaking free of the binds the Egyptian Mages placed on it and with its prior knowledge already has a head start in knowing what it might need to unlock the urn as well as possible locations." Rowena said drily. The whole group groaned.

"We are in soooo much trouble." Godric muttered as the man pinched the bridge of his nose. The group nodded.

"Right, we need to move on. Depressing thoughts later. Hadrian has something to tell you and give you." Ragnok stated. Hadrian sweatdropped as the founders focused intently on him.

"Right well to put in plainly, you are not the only time travelers. I came from a future parallel world that is now so different from this one as to be unrecognizable." Hadrian blurted. Their eyes widened and he could see the acceptance and puzzlement on their faces.

"Did magic pull you here as well Hadrian?" Rowena asked. Hadrian paused but shook his head.

"No I don't believe so. See in my world, the year was nearly thirty years ahead of this one. I was a child of prophesy and spent my entire non-existent childhood fighting Voldemort." Here Hadrian saw recognition, as the four had been informed of recent events.

"I attended Hogwarts and was nearly killed every year in the castle due the manipulations of the Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. The man thought that he alone should be the leader of the light, and as such he wanted me easily moldable and easy to eventually kill off. Needless to say I won the war, despite his wishes. However, then man had been slowly destroying the balance of magic and it had long since passed its tipping point. Fewer and fewer magicals were being born and creatures were dying off rapidly. The entire magical world was only decades from fading away completely. So, I decided to travel back in time to fix the stupid man's errors, but doing so would create a paradox so I split into an alternate time line. I came alone, except for Hedwig and Fawkes as everyone else I cared about died in the war. That is why I created Phoenix Academy was to preserve the Balance of Magic." Hadrian rattled off and fell silent. He knew there was much more to it, but they didn't have the time to go the in detail. He still needed to tell them about their vaults. All four had looks of horror on their faces due to the fate of the magical world and the suffering Hadrian went through.

"Anyway, I had several very dear friends that passed on their titles to me when they died. Neville Longbottom had been Lord Longbottom and" Here Hadrian paused for slight effect, "Lord Hufflepuff." He finished. Helga gasped and he saw the other three founders eyes look at him in shock.

"Luna Lovegood was another friend and sister to me. She became Lady Lovegood and Lady Ravenclaw." Hadrian stated. Rowena's jaw dropped as she joined Helga in staring at him.

"I was originally born as Harry James Potter, I was Lord Potter, Lord Black, Lord Peverell and…Lord Gryffindor through birthright and Lord Slytherin by right of Conquest." Hadrian finished privately enjoying the gob smacked look the four had. Ragnok also seemed gleeful at seeing the four so stunned.

"You – you became our heir?!" Helga stuttered. Hadrian grinned unrepentantly at her.

"I was yes, I am not anymore due to the potion I used to anchor my new identity. However all of your heirs are alive in this world, well except for Salazar's whose last descendent was Voldemort." Here Salazar snorted in derision.

"Descendent maybe, but the murdering mongrel is no heir of mine." Salazar said forcefully. The others nodded in agreement.

"Anyway, You guys can claim your titles as your current heirs are unaware of their lineage, but the money that has to stay with them. So, since I took the remnants of your remaining fortunes with me when I came, I have placed them into four high security family vaults along with the belongings that go with each. You won't need to worry about money for a long while." Hadrian said and broke into laughter at the looks on their faces. Oh how he loved shocking them.

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Those blasted mages just wouldn't give up. He finally possessed the urn trapping his servant but now he needed three keys to unlock it. He didn't know where the keys were or who had them; the interfering mages had sealed him before his servant after all. By the time he began to gain awareness of the outside world once more, the keys had already been long hidden and forgotten. Not that he knew about the keys. He only knew about the location of the urn due to them moving it constantly. He gained awareness thirty years after his imprisonment, but his servant hadn't been locked in that tomb until 50 years after.

No matter, he would find those three keys even if he had to tear the world apart. The magical world would once again know his name - Sonneillon, the Demon embodiment of Hate. Then they would fall at the knees of his master, Abaddon. Magic users had long ago sealed the breach between the demon realm and earth, but if magic became weak – if the magic users that protected Gaia fell, the Demon Realm would triumph and darkness would reign once more. After all, humans were so easy to manipulate. In the Darkness of his hideout, the demon's eyes flashed a gleeful hellfire red.