Not My Magical World
Chapter 16
Harry flew over the rolling hills of the Scottish Highlands, the wind causing the edges of his jacket to beat against his hips as he scanned the grassy plains in the moonlight.
It'd been two days since he had gone to the Black Estate, and Andromeda wanted to know everything about his conversation with her husband before she told him where to find Amelia Bones.
She was distressed to learn he had given up hope of being rescued but happy that he was still sane. Right now, she was working with Nam, divine, Kreature, and Nadira on combining his cauldron of creation with his runic forge. They seemed to think together that the two devices could be the medium they needed to create bodies for the souls.
Harry shifted across as he drifted over another section of hills, pointing his feet towards the ground; he took in the scene as he came in for a landing.
Over a hundred gravestones sat in a perfect circle around a narrow mausoleum.
Fog drifted through the graveyard, and it may have just been a trick of the light, but Harry could swear he saw faces in it.
Walking forward, a shiver ran down his spine as he entered the fog. Goosebumps rose across his skin as the mist seemed to leach the heat from his body.
With a flick of his hand, the fog dispersed. However, even as it blew away, it shifted like it was being pulled back toward the graves. Twisting his wrist, Harry condensed the strange phenomenon into a ball, purple power flickering into his eyes when it was contained.
To his sight, tendrils of gray energy fought to escape his hold, pressing against the invisible force holding them.
He moved closer, "This is not normal fog." He had never seen anything quite like it, but the energy the fog gave off was similar to what he had seen from ghosts. He didn't understand why it was so interested in leaching heat. He shook his head, "Not heat, life."
Staring at the fog, he watched another screaming face morph out of the mist. Gazing into its black eye sockets, he reached out with his mind. Only to stumble backward as he was overwhelmed by an all-consuming insatiable hunger that drove away rational thought and became a need that was forever growing.
Shaking his head, Harry looked at the condensed sphere with narrowed eyes. "Definitely some kind of spirit, or a mass of spirits, but unlike anything I've seen before, what could turn a soul into something like this?"
The iron door to the mausoleum slammed open, echoing as it bounced off the stone.
The darkness in the doorway seemed almost physical as footsteps echoed from it, "I don't get many visitors," a female voice said from the darkness, "those I do get usually run away when they feel the effects of the mist."
Harry shoved his hands into his pockets as the fog was ripped out of his control and spiraled into the darkness.
"I imagine the people that come here don't have an important enough reason to brave the ambiance you've created, the leaching effect of your," he trailed off, glancing up slightly as he tried to think of the right word, "security is a little unnerving."
A woman emerged from the darkness, her long red hair cascading down her back as she stared at him with interest-filled gray eyes, "And what reason could you have for coming here that would cause you to brave such," she pursed her lips, "discomforts?"
Harry eyed the staff that seemed to be made up of femur bones clutched in her left hand. It was topped with a skeletal hand whose fingers were positioned in a claw. Within the curled fingers swirled the fog.
"I came here to see if you would be interested in helping me free some trapped souls, but after seeing that," he nodded at the swirling mass topping her staff, "I think I may have come to the wrong place."
The woman rolled her gray eyes, "Typical; you've been here for five minutes, and already you're judging me."
Harry shrugged, "To be fair, you're not making a very good first impression."
The redhead moved closer, stepping into a shaft of moonlight that allowed Harry to take in more of her features.
She stood 5'9" and had a beautiful face, clear of blemishes. Her red hair seemed to glow with vitality. Her dark robes were cinched tight enough to show off her narrow waist and large bust.
"Would you welcome someone with open arms that arrived at your home unannounced and poked at your defenses?"
Harry inclined his head, "Fair enough, so let me introduce myself," he stepped forward. "my name is Harry James Potter," he offered her his hand, "and you are?"
"Amelia Bones," she placed her fingers in his hand, and Harry brushed his lips against her knuckles.
"Charmed."
"I'm sure," removing her hand from Harry's, Amelia took a step back, "now that that's out of the way, why have you come here?"
"Straight to business, I like that. I'm not much for formalities. As for why I have come here, the black family is using souls to power the wards around their estate; I need to get in the estate and take exception to them using souls against their will."
"Why do you need in the estate?"
"Business."
Amelia's fingers flexed around her staff, "You can't just walk through the front door?"
"Not that kind of business."
Amelia moved over to sit on a nearby gravestone, "Are you an assassin?"
"I am many things."
"How are the souls being bound, and what will you do with them afterward?"
"Blood and bone of the victim are used to bind them to their current location. As for what I will do with them afterward, I hope to have your help to resurrect them."
Amelia's eyes flashed with power, turning them a silver color. An eerie wind swept the graveyard, filling it with a cold static charge, "it is unwise to metal in the affairs of life and death," her voice was cold and full of warning.
"The cycle has already been disturbed. I don't see what the harm would be in trying, besides," Harry looked pointedly at her staff.
The charge in the air grew thicker, and Harry felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise.
"You know nothing about what I do," Amelia snapped, "using magic to resurrect the dead always comes with a cost and unintended consequences."
"You're right; I shouldn't judge you because I don't know you, so for that, I apologize," Harry bowed his head, "but I'm not going to use magic to resurrect the dead. I will use alchemy to re-create their bodies, and hopefully, you will put their souls inside."
Rising to her feet, Amelia stepped forward, "Why would you go to so much trouble to resurrect people you don't know? What do you get out of it?"
'People for the island, knowledge lost to time without having to search through the plane and loyalty.' Harry thought while staring into her glowing eyes, "I don't think we know each other well enough for me to get into that; I've already said more than I should."
Harry folded his arms behind his back, "Will you help me?"
"What will I get out of helping you?"
"What do you want?"
Amelia's gaze panned over the graveyard, sorrow, longing, and a bit of hope shining in her eyes.
–XX –
Harry stood in a large stone warehouse built on the island of what they were temporarily calling Juru. Circular glass tanks held by stone were set in neat rows before him. Each tank's stone top and bottom had curved circular runes in a circuit-like pattern.
Raising a hand, Harry rubbed the stubble along his jaw. It'd taken him working with Andromeda, Nadira, divine, Nam, Gideon, Fabian, and Kreature almost around the clock to build this facility and the tanks inside, but it had to be done.
Before she even went near the black estate, Amelia Bones wanted proof that they weren't creating zombies, so they had to finalize how they would resurrect people.
To accomplish this quickly, Nadira, who had become quite skilled in runes, created a remarkable runic array that allowed the group to form a Gestalt mind, using their combined intelligence to solve problems with the speed of a quantum computer.
They then used his ability to manipulate matter and energy to create portals in outer space. Using the portals, they pulled in discarded satellites and asteroids.
By reworking a matter converter into a long cubelike shape, they would allow the material from the portal to fall into it before it was converted to be what they needed to build the structure around him. Though they accomplished what they set out to do, it came with a price. The others had fallen into a coma from extreme exhaustion.
He was only awake because he drew energy from the Juru. Raising a hand, he used his pointer and middle finger to rub his temples. Too bad it didn't get rid of headaches.
Harry stared at what the group had decided to call Lazarus tanks. Walking forward, he tapped on the glass, watching the pale green liquid within the tanks ripple slightly. Using transmutation and advanced science, the liquid inside was supposed to convert to organic matter to reconstitute and strengthen any organic organism as long as there was enough material to work off of.
He only hoped it worked the way they intended. Otherwise, the attack on the black estate would be much more noticeable, and he wasn't quite ready to bring the island into public view.
The clicking of heels drew his attention. He turned, watching Amelia Bones stride across the obsidian floor towards him, shafts of light from the skylights above letting him see her hardened features.
Behind her floated a body wrapped in a red shroud.
She stopped beside him, the shroud moving to float on her left.
She didn't look at him; her eyes were locked on the tanks before them, "Are these the devices you will use to violate nature?"
Part of Harry wanted to tell her that she wanted to bring someone back as well; that was why she was here, but at the moment, he still needed her help. "Yes, this machine can re-create the body for the soul. However, it cannot restore the soul," he looked at her, "but given why I contacted you, I'm guessing, or at least hoping, you can solve that issue."
Turning her back to him, Amelia withdrew a small glass orb from her pocket. She stroked it lovingly, and Harry watched the orb pulse as the luminescent smoke inside churned in a tight spiral.
She pulled back part of the shroud, and Harry caught sight of a weathered rib cage. Sitting the orb where the heart would be, she gently tucked the red fabric back in place before turning to Harry and giving a stiff nod.
Raising his right hand, Harry wrapped the shroud in a layer of power. Amelia tensed as Harry lifted the skeleton and gently floated it toward one of the tanks before him.
Pressing the wrapped body against the tank, the glass became soft as the shrouded figure slipped inside. Once it was floating in the center of the tank, Harry released his power and stepped forward. An obsidian pedestal with a raised top rose from the floor.
Pressing his hand against the pedestal, Harry stilled as his mind was pulled into a dark blue void. Stars twinkled in the void as Harry raised his hands.
The skeleton appeared before him. Stars zoomed into the wrapped body before thin beams of light projected out of the skeleton's chest and formed a DNA strand.
"All right, it looks like most of the DNA is viable," he flicked his fingers, isolating a section that looked frayed, reaching out with his mind; Harry's eyes flared purple as he peered at Amelia's DNA, specifically the section that was frayed on the skeletons.
"Just as I thought, this is her daughter. Luckily, the damaged DNA seems to be genes she inherited from Amelia."
Slowly, Harry transformed a minute amount of the liquid into the cells he needed to repair the DNA. Once restored, the DNA changed, showing an idealized representation of the young girl's appearance when she was alive.
She was around 12 years old, with long red hair and gray eyes that had flex of brown.
Harry focused on the words beside the body and snorted, "I should've known Andromeda would want to optimize the bodies."
Resurrection: Pending.
Soul: Detected.
Changes Post Resurrection: The subject's cells will absorb solar energy and convert it into magical power for enhanced attributes.
There was a more specific list of the changes, going into detail about the bones, nervous system, muscle structure, and organs, but Harry ignored them for the moment. Right now, he just wanted to know if it would work.
Flicking his hands, he overlaid the image of the girl over the bones.
–XX –
Amelia tensed as the liquid within the tank began to glow, casting a pale green light on the dark marble floor, highlighting its silver flecks. Bubbles rose as the consistency of the liquid changed into a thick gel and began to shoot toward the skeleton.
Amelia watched as the liquid dissolved the shroud. When it came in contact with the bones, it sank in, revitalizing. When the bones were restored to pristine condition, nerves began to grow over the bones interweaving with muscle and fat.
Eyes grew from the sockets, and flame-colored hair sprouted from the scalp. Skin grew and patches as organs bloomed in the proper places.
Amelia gasped as the remaining liquid in the tank transformed into blood, seeping into the body through its pores. She staggered backward as she felt the orb containing Susan's soul shatter. The eyes of her daughter's body flew open, shining with an inner light.
A gasp exploded from her throat as she fell to her knees in the tank.
Amelia sprinted forward as Harry vanished the glass with a wave. She flung herself at her daughter, wrapping her arms around her.
"Mum," the girl rasped, "what happened?"
Amelia ignored her words, rocking back and forth as tears streamed down her face to fall on the crown of her daughter's head.
"Susie, my Susie, your back."
She could tell within a moment of seeing her daughter take her first breath that this was a different type of resurrection than anything she'd seen before. Her soul had settled in her body and accepted the flesh instead of rapidly decaying.
She looked up as a dark purple blanket fell across her and her daughter's shoulders.
Harry lowered his hand, their eyes locked.
She stared at him for a long moment before a voice spoke in her mind.
Before going through all this, they had had Clarice draw up a contract. If they successfully brought back Amelia's daughter, she would train a small amount of Juru in her magic. Now that the job was done, he wondered if she would keep her word. He didn't want to kill the woman, especially with her daughter just returning to life, but secrets had to be maintained.
'Do we have a deal? Will you help me free the trapped souls at the black estate?'
'We can go tomorrow night.' Amelia sent back as she shifted, wrapping the blanket around her daughter.
