A/N: Hello people and thank you so much for your support!
A big thanks to my Betas and Discord Staff - Alec, Fox, Metzger, BaptismByFire and Zevoros!
Special thanks to Discord users: 5Firehawk, Guiding Moonlights, Kovacs, Dr Maou-Senpai, Post Mortem, Denduck, Wumjumba, Ac, R3, Shirokama, TrustTube, Zachary, JDH, Avatar, CJ07, Echoh, Elizabeth Wilbrooke, Jacks_, Kappe, Kryn_Womble, Mr. E, Pat, Plut0, Presno, Shawnjohn120 and Trop C'est Trop for supporting my writing and commissioning works!
Feel free to join my Discord for updates, giveaways (for those who actively chat), early access, information and now, commissions/free one-shot giveaways, link on my profile. Without any more rambling from me, I hope you enjoy the story!
(Sorry if you don't like the work!)
THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR THE KIND REVIEWS. We now get so many that it's impossible to respond to all of them, but each and every one of you taking the time to speak your support mean the world to me. Please, by all means, speak with me in Discord!
"We're not near them, you needn't be so worried," Elaine said with a roll of her eyes as she brushed past him, down the hall. She didn't seem worried, not even remotely. Harry wasn't either, or rather, he was, but for those he'd brought with them rather than himself.
He knew he was well beyond Inferi, for they were subject to burning much like most of the world, and if he could cast a firestorm well, and control it, whole hordes would break by the might of his wand. The only trouble was ensuring his Aurors remained alive and Elaine didn't activate a trap with her self-assuredness that Muggle mechanisms weren't down there with them.
In a way, he supposed it made sense on account of the Inferi seemingly having overrun the place. At least, they both figured as much based on the door's battered state.
"Mist, right?"
Elaine smiled over her shoulder at him. "There'd be a fine, grey mist if they were near, and you'd hear the snarling. Unlike us, they're unable to control themselves when it comes to the noises they make," she threw her hand aside and the room that was before her, was awash with light bright enough that it shone through the hall a good way. She frowned, nearly sneering. "I had thought Grindelwald enjoyed the Magical world. If that were true, he wouldn't have relied on Muggle structures, security means and machinery. Repulsive."
Harry would let her intricate knowledge of Inferi go — for now — as he took the few steps needed to stand by her side. If whatever was in the room before her, had bothered her, he imagined it might be of some importance. When he took notice of all sorts of radios and other such machinery, as she'd described, he blinked.
It was Muggle. It was damaged. That was the extent of the knowledge he possessed when it came to what lay before him. There wasn't a chance in the world that he'd be able to identify any of it beyond what he had, much less use it if it hadn't already appeared damaged as it did.
"Inferi?" he asked with a nod towards a few pools of blood that were aged a good deal by this point in time.
"More than likely," Elaine said with a shrug as she stepped over the pool of blood near the entrance, her feet pristine still despite the mess of the complex they found themselves in and the snow and muck outside. "If I hadn't already known what a failure Grindelwald was, I'd be disappointed in him — how inept does one have to be for their Inferi to get out?" she finished with a disapproving tut, not that Grindelwald would ever hear it.
As for Harry? He wasn't sure if she was more bothered by the conditions of this mountainous base, the lack of control Grindelwald had exhibited over the creatures, or simply disappointed in Grindelwald as a whole; the two had assumed him to be the grandest challenge they'd ever faced, and early on when first they fought him, he had been.
Since then, well, the times in which they'd crossed wands spoke for themselves. He meant to catch Harry by himself, for he feared the strength of the two when they were together, especially on account of how much weaker he seemed to be.
"Come, lover," Elaine said without so much as a look over her shoulder as she brushed past him, leaving the room she'd only just entered with nary a touch of interest in it. "I'd enjoy returning home for dinner and a bath this evening. Our last venture took much too long, and this one shan't be half as enjoyable with chaperones."
He nearly snorted when she'd called their Auror friends 'chaperones'. Then again, he imagined his calling them Auror friends would likely make her snort in much the same way.
With the two reemerging into the hallway at large, he beckoned for the Aurors to follow after them with Frank at the end of the group. They would need to keep close lest they get separated. Thenceforth, they did; the group delved deeper and deeper, taking their time to move slowly lest traps by way of magical means activate or the Inferi inside with them — they suspected they were still present — ambush them.
As he suspected, the deeper into the mountain complex they grew, the more signs of struggle they saw. From pools of blood to pieces of bone, cloth or rotted flesh unremoved from the wall or floor it'd been cursed or shot on. It grew more evident that the reason the place had been kept shut and locked, and likely behind traps of a type that they'd bypassed, was for the safety of the surrounding land.
Harry swallowed. They hadn't locked the exit, but when they'd brought up doing so, it hadn't made sense to. If they needed to escape, what point was there in locking the only path out that they knew of?
There were more than enough Aurors from the other countries that were nearby now that the war was over, and Muggles too… and there probably weren't that many Inferi in here with them. Probably.
"And so we've reached the first crossroads. How tedious," Elaine reached his side and upon doing so, ran a hand down his arm until she grasped his free hand with hers. "Would you think it necessary to split up — no, of course, you wouldn't. I needn't ask when I know the answer. I'll transfigure the path to the right."
Harry nodded, smiling as he did. He'd been a good influence on her, that, or she'd figured it wasn't worth disagreeing over. He wouldn't be changing his mind on ensuring the safety of those accompanying them anytime soon.
"I love you," he whispered, earning himself that look from her; coquettish, confident, dark, wanton. It was his way of saying thanks, and maybe he enjoyed on occasion being the one to initiate the words. "I'll lead the way down the stairs, you stay by my side and make sure there aren't any wards. I'd say look beautiful whilst doing so, but you don't need to give that one moment's thought or effort."
Harry, Elaine and the Aurors they'd brought with them moved down the path before them, the one they hadn't blocked off with transfiguration magic. Wisely, or so Harry assumed wisely would fit the bill, he'd had Elaine ensure that the thickness of the wall in which she'd transfigured couldn't possibly be destroyed by way of fists. It would require magic, strong and able enough to overcome hers, and that was something that Inferi were incapable of.
If they were beyond that point, something that he assumed was true, they would find it impossible to move past the wall she'd made as he led her, and the rest of the group, onward. That would, hopefully, prove a wise decision. They didn't need the Inferi that were undoubtedly in the mountain facility with them to be free roaming.
"Should we handle the doors by way of transfiguration? Checking them will probably take up too much time, you know. It'll probably be dangerous too," Harry said as his eyes focused on the path ahead. If there was anything at all, he'd notice it regardless of what it might be. Thus far, it'd only been remnants of cloth or people that had manned the area previously.
He didn't need to say it, but based on the lack of living people, things hadn't ended well for those that had come before them. Whatever containing they'd done had failed, and the lack of greetings by way of traps or wizards was relatively indicative of doom. Grindelwald, if this was his last place to restore himself to life, would have a challenge… Harry doubted this was the man's final Horcruxe. It'd be far too easy if it were, and life was anything but easy.
It was always challenging beyond belief. Since the time he'd been born, to the time he'd come here to the time in which he travelled currently, nothing had ever been a walk in the park, and it never would be.
Elaine, briefly looking over at him rather than the way ahead, shook her head. "I doubt there's anything of interest in the rooms that we're passing. When we reach the end of this labyrinth, only then will the objects we desire, be made available," she looked away from Harry, returning her attention to the path ahead, dark as it might be; they'd only kept a dimly cast Lumos as their source of light so as to avoid drawing undesired attention. "You aren't able to claim that our ventures are boring after this and that of the past, are you?"
He shook his head with a grin on his face. "No. No, I can't say any of what we've done in recent times has been boring or without its own fun. That doesn't mean we can't enjoy a normal date every now and again."
"Normal," Elaine said, clearly unimpressed. "How overrated for ones such as ourselves."
Harry nearly responded, but he allowed that grin of his to slowly devolve into a smirk as they pushed ever onward into the dark expanse that lay before them. There wasn't anything worthwhile to say, not to that, and so they continued on the path ahead.
Thus far, there hadn't been so much as one tripwire, piece of Muggle explosives or anything of the sort. It had been, by and large, without concern. That in and of itself was strange, but not unwelcome. If he could, he'd prefer every venture to be as easy as the current one had been thus far. It would make their time hunting down Grindelwald's errant bits of soul very easy; it was for that exact reason that he reckoned it wouldn't be easy.
The man had desperately wanted to cling to his life, going so far as to use rituals and magic that most considered beyond taboo. If he was willing to break so many laws as he had been, if he'd been willing to slaughter whole communities, there was nothing that Harry would put past him when it came to defending what remained of his soul.
And so his eyes, ever watchful, returned to their venture. He noticed not so much as a piece of rubble, cloth or ruin that stood out. Everything was normal, or normal enough, and without incident, as they progressed ever deeper, and in silence. Well, until it wasn't, but that was how everything went.
Alright until it wasn't.
One might be able, to sum up the entirety of his life with such a quote 'alright until it wasn't.'
"Stop," Harry said suddenly, and after Merlin only knew how long of travelling in halls that would be dark were it nought for the Lumos they'd cast to illuminate the area ahead. "There's something strange ahead."
"Shall I have the others stay back, lover?" Elaine asked, one hand pressing against his back and going so far as to draw nonsensical shapes on it.
He nodded at her question before he spoke an answer. "Yes," he said. "Keep them back in case it's something Muggle. I don't want them accidentally activating it. Not if it's what I think it is."
At that, Harry moved forward, not concerned and certainly not intimidated by the small, circular item ahead. He'd quite forgotten the name of it. He remembered, of course, that it started with the letter 'g' and the effects thereof were explosive and deadly, but, he couldn't be bothered.
All that mattered was the danger the item presented. If that could be avoided in any way, he would ensure that it was… he just had to figure out how. That wasn't impossible, it was only minorly difficult. Possibly beyond that. He didn't know, not remotely. How could he know about Muggle explosives beyond the quality of explosives?
The answer was; he didn't, and he couldn't.
Slowly, with much trepidation, Harry went ahead until he was near the small object that lay on the ground and near a pool of blood that had long since dried up into what it was today. Whoever had fallen had done so a good deal of time ago, but when they'd passed, they'd left behind the problematic object that was currently the root of Harry's trouble.
Would it go off when he grew nearer to it? Was it dysfunctional, hence the state of it? There were a myriad of questions that he might ask, and none therein had the answer. Only Muggles or those who knew a great deal about them might know the answer.
Thus, Harry did what he could. He transfigured — quietly — a fortification before himself in the event that the object was still alive and well so that he wasn't blown to pieces, and after doing so, and with a great amount of caution, sent the object slowly further down the hall. He watched it roll with a baited breath, and he could hear the others behind him breathing heavily as they watched him meddle with the Muggle-made object.
Nothing happened. There was no explosive, no army of Inferi or trap that activated upon the object moving. It made him think that the object was destroyed or useful, or otherwise not functional sans an activation that he knew not. Whatever it was, the small object that was longer than he'd initially thought did nought but roll slowly down the hall in which he'd pushed it.
As for the wall he'd transfigured, it remained where it'd been, useless, or so he thought as he watched the object move ever onwards. Without an explosive, what was its usage? It didn't have one. Still, he supposed it was better that he'd figured it out by way of caution and wariness than recklessness and arrogance.
"Alright," Harry said as he threw a look over his shoulder at Elaine, and beyond her, the Aurors that were facing their rear. "I'll continue keeping it ahead of us, but we should be alright. If any of you see anything that you're unsure of, tell me, please."
He received a collective nod from the group, and then they continued. This time, they moved slower, for Harry himself did as much. Elaine seemed as if she were frustrated, quite openly too, at the slowness of their pace, but she knew little and less than he did when it came to Muggles and their items of destruction.
That was his domain, inept as he was when it came to it.
"What do you reckon this place was used for beyond the storage of Grindelwald and his… items?" Harry asked quietly, low enough that he thought the Aurors a dozen or so steps behind him and Elaine wouldn't hear.
"Mayhaps it was where he went to complete rituals or brew potions. One could assume he utilised the place for experimental magic based on the Inferi and the strength thereof. When we reach the end of the labyrinth, however long that'll take, I assume the answers will be quite readily available to us," Elaine sighed, her eyes rolling as she lazily turned to regard him. "This trip hasn't been remotely enjoyable. You'll need to make it up to me."
"Yeah? How's that?"
Elaine looked at him as if he were the fool rather than her. "Not one ward or spell that would prove itself problematic has presented itself. Beyond the few Muggle items that you've been cautious of, there hasn't been so much as one event that might be a trial for us to overcome. I would consider that not only boring but upsetting, for Grindelwald was meant to be one of the wisest, most dangerous wizards of our time. Thus, as I said, you'll need to entertain me once we return home."
"I doubt we're remotely close to the end. The Inferi, you know, those murderous creatures that're roaming the area down here with us — they probably set off whatever traps he'd laid for errant people such as ourselves," Harry nearly stopped, but avoided doing so when he noticed nought but another pool of blood ahead of them. "I imagine you'll have more than enough to do when we reach the end, you know."
"As I did previously? As you can recall, it was nary a problem for one as gifted as I to overcome the ancient, archaic magic he'd used. Any wizard or witch worthy of their wand is able to overcome magic as old as he'd used."
"Think of it like this, then," Harry said, only just resisting the urge to slap her shapely rear. "You can claim you've overcome two places Grindelwald has trapped and stored knowledge worthwhile to all magicals with ease. Doesn't that sound like a worthy boast and one that would see many think twice before they questioned us?"
When he finished, she was looking at him oddly. It wasn't until he thought back to what he'd said, that he realised why that might be.
He'd used the word 'us' and to Elaine, that meant far more than he could ever know.
"You raise a fair point," she conceded with a love-stricken look on her face as she regarded him for a scant few seconds. "I'll be sure to publish as much in our memoirs when we're certain he's finished."
Harry very nearly asked her what she meant, what memoirs and the like; he had a cacophony of questions, but he didn't. There wasn't any point in doing so. It was Elaine, and he'd come to realise that she'd planned everything they did — sans this trip — very well in advance. If she wanted to write some sort of tell-all in the future to win the masses over beyond what they currently were, he didn't care.
They'd not be the Minister and Deputy Minister forever. That wasn't where her goals would end and the spotlight and scrutiny they'd be under wasn't something that she'd fancy for too long a time.
"It's surprising, isn't it?" Harry asked as they walked onward, for what felt like it'd been an hour already. In reality, it'd more than likely been thirty minutes at the most, with the likeliness of it being less time incredibly high.
Mayhaps it was the suspense or urgency in which they'd given the task at hand, mayhaps not. They'd know the truth of things when they were well and truly done with the madness that was hunting down Grindelwald and the broken pieces of his soul. That much was true.
"The lack of eventfulness this far in? Most certainly," Elaine kicked aside an arm, one that was grey, aged, and decayed; Harry assumed it had at one time belonged to an Inferi. If it hadn't, the owner thereof hadn't faired well in the slightest… he supposed that went without saying, all things given as they were. "If only the locations Grindelwald had picked to hide away his treasures weren't half as annoying as they've proven to be thus far. It's not as if any of what he's left behind has been difficult, only tedious and time-consuming."
Arrogant as such a remark was, Harry couldn't help but agree with it. Elaine wasn't wrong, not remotely. There had barely been a challenge thus far that wasn't overcome easily or without all that much trouble. Maybe they were simply that gifted, or maybe, Grindelwald in his later stages had been less stable than they'd thought.
Whatever the case, tedious was most certainly the correct word when it came to describing what he'd achieved in terms of hiding away the errant pieces of his soul. There was little in the way of difficulty, little whatsoever, and they'd long since overcome what might set them back on the search for the pieces he'd hidden away.
Mayhaps if he'd been a better wizard, more stable, less evil and more for the future of the Magical world at large, he'd have assured the safety of his life; longevity could never be granted. They weren't meant to be immortal, not so much as one soul. What hope was there in splitting yourself three or seven times over?
Harry was midway through another step when Elaine's arm grabbed ahold of him, stopping him before he could do so. He'd nearly asked why until he saw what lay before them. There was smoke, light and missable had they not been paying attention, that blocked the way ahead. No, not blocked, that wasn't quite right; it was before them and had they not been perceptive, they would have entered it without so much as a thought; it wasn't as if the thing could be problematic or troublesome. Not remotely.
"You're aware of what this means?" Elaine asked him, her eyes staring pointedly ahead as if the root of their problems might jump out at them suddenly and without warning.
Harry nodded at her question. He knew very clearly what that meant, and whilst he wasn't a fan, it would more than likely appease her well enough for the remainder of the trip. Inferi were often considered to be problematic and dangerous, but should one know how to handle the creatures, they weren't remotely troublesome. They could be classified as pests with a strong fire spell, for they would be destroyed quickly and efficiently should one know the firestorm spell or any that mirrored it.
When Elaine crept forward, her wand at her side whilst she remained silent, Harry took that time to give Frank, the most experienced of their Aurors and the commander thereof, a brief rundown of what they'd soon be in for. It was enough information for the man to understand and relay orders to those he commanded, and in doing as he did, Harry assured that he could advance as Elaine had, until he was a few steps behind her.
Even if he'd wished to, he knew she'd not allow him beyond her. For whatever reason, she was certain in the fact that nothing could harm her all the while she wasn't remotely certain in his safety. They were together, and as such, with their wands combined, nothing should be able to harm them. She knew it, she'd called him her equal a hundred times over and lover, in recent times, more oft than not — where had her confidence gone in the face of trouble?
Elaine looked over at him then. "This is the only way forward."
"It is. Well, unless we head back whence we'd come. We could seal this one off and go down the opposite side we'd blocked off," Harry said. When Elaine did nought but raise a brow, he sighed, and then he continued speaking. "You have something else in mind, don't you?"
"Why backtrack if we needn't do so? Do we know with absolute certainty that the way ahead isn't the way in which we need to go?" When Harry failed to respond to her words, she raised her nose, confident as ever as she raised her wand to point down the path ahead. "I will lead the way, you will be by my side ensuring no traps have been laid for us and that this whole happening thus far wasn't planned, and our Aurors will cover the rear. If need be, we'll destroy whatsoever we come across so that we might continue with this journey."
"If there's anything else down here, or any other wizards or witches, they'll know we're here."
Elaine smiled at his words, a lust for blood on her face as she did so; it was a look he'd not seen since the end of the battle they'd fought at Hogwarts. One in which they'd felled Grindelwald for the first time, been proclaimed as heroes and when the world had mourned for the fallen, Dumbledore included in their number.
"I would certainly hope so," she said, and that was it.
The conversation was ended, and she continued onward once more. Harry cast a look over his shoulders, at the Aurors that followed after them, ever-faithful as they'd been thus far, and then he followed after her. This could very well be a problem she was unable to solve herself, and who was he to back down in the face of trials?
As he suspected would happen, their slow pace continued as they moved ahead, and into the thick layer of mist. It was especially eerie, for he knew as well as all the others that ahead of them, and near, were the Inferi that had 'taken over' the mountains fortification. They were dangerous, especially if they managed to get the jump on the group.
Harry looked around, noticing the distinct lack of doors — rather, as many doors as there had previously been. It was like this portion of the hall they'd gone down was purposefully without much in the way of rooms. He could make a few guesses as to the reasoning, but he doubted it was necessary.
Least of all while that troublesome mist continued to grow in thickness. They would know they were very close when the mist alone was thick enough that their vision was truly obscured, and the stench of death and rot reached their noses. Thus far, thankfully, that hadn't happened, but they continue onwards.
"Door ahead," Harry heard one of the two Auror brothers say, Nick or Thomas, he couldn't be sure as to who had spoken. Whoever it had been, was right, however, for there was a door ahead of the group. It was metallic as the one at the entrance had been, and slightly ajar.
Harry didn't like that latter quality whatsoever.
If it were ajar as it was, that meant the source of the mist that only seemed to grow in thickness was likely ahead of them. The Inferi, he presumed, were only separated by the door, the open door, only fifteen or so meters away.
Elaine looked over at him, potentially picking up on the emotions that were going through him. As before, he wasn't truly nervous, not for himself. He worried only for those that had come with him and Elaine, for they were new and without the experience he possessed, hence his reason for bringing them along.
'Well?' he mouthed to Elaine, lest the creatures that were potentially ahead of them heard the words he wished to speak aloud.
Elaine, in response, rolled her eyes and with a wave of her hand, sent the metallic door forward, shutting it with an audible 'click' that echoed through the hall. If that hadn't been enough to placate him, she'd gone so far as to transfigure the wall around the door so that it was nigh impossible for the creatures to come bursting through it as the stone overlapped the boundaries of the door.
"If we hear angry Inferi, as I suspect we might soon hear, it will mean the path ahead is likely the correct one," Elaine said aloud casually, without so much as a care as she huffed and brought a hand up to her face for review. She frowned, and Harry couldn't begin to fathom why. "Aurors, watch our rear. The Deputy Minister and I shall handle whatsoever issues arrive from the front."
Harry very nearly raised his brows at such words. It was the first time she'd directly addressed their escort since they'd entered the facility. Maybe that was for the best since she didn't exactly appreciate their company.
Frank, nonetheless, went about setting the Aurors up whilst they waited for whatever was ahead of them to react to her actions.
Thus far, nothing had happened.
"There aren't any other doors, so why aren't they doing anything?" Harry asked as he beckoned ahead of where he and Elaine were standing. As he'd said, between the pair of them and the door in which she'd shut, there was nary a door, for the area was nought but concrete walls.
Elaine seemed as if the matter was without consequence as she took a few steps forward, and, raising her wand, sent a spell at the door ahead that caused a great, echoing noise to return whence she'd cast.
"Perhaps they needed to be roused as guard dogs might in the Muggle world," she mused, the thought more than amusing to her as she let lose a girlish fit of giggles before she reigned herself in at a moment's notice, perhaps remembering their company. "Leave it to Grindelwald to rely on Inferi as protectors."
No sooner than those words were out of her mouth, did the door ahead begin to receive a multitude of thuds against it. Unlike the door at the entrance, it didn't buckle or dent outwards, in their direction. Instead, all that came from the thuds were the noises thereof.
Harry shook his head. "I don't believe that's all of them."
"It very well could be, and mayhaps it isn't," Elaine answered as she started towards the door. "It won't matter in a few minutes more. They'll all be burnt husks when we're finished."
"You saw the dents earlier on. There could be an Inferi troll or something of that nature — what if there are more in the rest of the place, down paths we've not gone?" Harry, nonetheless, followed after her as she advanced onwards. He wasn't sure if this was the best course of action, but she'd already roused the Inferi on account of her actions.
"If there are, then we'll handle them as we'll soon handle those before us. Fire will melt away all that there might be before us. You know that love, so why concern yourself with their presence?" Elaine patted him placatingly on the cheek, and then, a strong and steady stream of fire poured itself from the tip of her wand.
He needn't hear her say the incantation to understand the spell in which she cast. Fyndfire, he recognised it readily, and he knew how problematic it could be.
He hoped she could keep it under control.
Elaine sent it towards the door, transfigured as it'd been, and with intricate wand work that didn't remain remotely still as the vast majority of her spells, he watched as she kept the 'living' fire moving back and forth. It seemed impossible to control, he knew it had to be exceedingly difficult from what he'd read and the little that he knew of it, but she managed as she'd always done in the past.
It was impressive, as magic always was when it came to her usage of it. He squinted his eyes as he watched her wand motions continue, keeping the fire at bay as it formed into something long, slender, and eerily familiar; a Basilisk, or some other form of serpentine creature. If only for the size, Harry would compare it to the first thought that'd struck his mind, the Basilisk. It was so very reminiscent of the creature he'd fought, slain and been poisoned by. His left hand, errant as it was with Elaine focused on the fire that illuminated the path before them, did a little jolt of its own volition.
His body seemed to remember well what happened when last he saw a creature similar to the one before him. It hadn't ended remotely well for the Basilisk… it wouldn't have ended well for him either, was it nought for Fawkes, Dumbledore's Phoenix. Harry briefly wondered what would become of the mythical and majestic creature sans Dumbledore. Only briefly. He couldn't continue to allow himself to get distracted.
"Are you waiting for them to beat the door down to incinerate them?" he asked Elaine as he began waving his wand before them.
He didn't wish to distract her, but he did find it necessary to ensure the area ahead, was secure should the Fyndfire not accomplish what it needed to. Hence the action that he took, that being to transfigure the rudimentary concrete around them into an archway. It allowed her to maintain her visibility readily and with nary a loss, but at the same time, it prevented a myriad of Inferi from overwhelming them by way of a chokepoint should it be needed.
He hoped it was an action that would be pointless.
"Unless you'd like to aid me," Elaine said with her voice light, her face flush and the exertion of maintaining control over the spell that danced before them, very apparent. The heat and suffocating feeling that slowly began to grow in intensity alerted him that this wasn't something they should muck around with for too long a time either.
"You're certain?"
Elaine nodded, one errant bead of sweat rolling down the left side of her glistening, flushed face. When he noticed that, he reckoned it would be the wiser move, and so he raised his wand once more, only this time, in the direction of the door rather than the archway he'd previously moulded.
Slowly, the stone transfiguration that she'd made around the path to better secure it, began to move back to whence it'd come from. It was slow-moving, perhaps on account of his magic battling hers, but it moved nonetheless until the metal door was all that remained as a barrier between the Inferi, and those that had come to slay them and continue onward.
With her fortifications gone, Harry cast one last look over at Elaine and receiving a nod in response he did as she'd bidden him to do. Harry did nought but wave his wand and the door opened, and at once, her fiery beast surged forward at the same time thicker mist and decaying flesh jolted out to meet them.
It was a sight Harry could barely stand thanks to the intensity of the light her fire gave off, but that wasn't the worst of what occurred. No, that was most assuredly the stench that followed the destruction of the Inferi. The smell of burned, rotten corpses filled the entirety of the hallway, and all the while, Harry could barely take a breath. Coughing from behind him alerted him to the fact that the Aurors accompanying them also found the scent disturbing and repulsive.
Mayhaps a word of warning for them would have been wise.
It would be pointless now, as Elaine's fire surged ever onwards and the smell reached the pinnacle of intensity that it could. Were it nought for the sounds of scraping, running and burning that seemed the only thing to grow in the depths of the facility they found themselves in, Harry would have urged Elaine to finish the spell as quickly as she could.
But that couldn't be done as more and more Inferi seemed to pour out from the door in which they'd previously been trapped. Elaine dared not to extend her spell too far into the room before them either, for she feared that whatsoever they were guarding, had been the area or treasure in which they'd come for. With how many Inferi continuously made to kill them, he imagined that caution was wise.
Harry, eventually and seeing no end in sight to the steady stream of Inferi, cast a bubble charm. It was a modified variant of the bubblehead spell that many would use to venture into the depths of the Black Lake or other underwater locations. One that could be useful, but one that was also considered… unreliable, at times. Regardless of the conditions it was meant for, it did well to keep out the growing amount of smoke and unending stench as a result of the burnt corpses. He was grateful, very grateful, for the latter part especially.
It was too bad he hadn't thought to do so earlier before she'd started burning everything ahead of them.
If only, he thought.
But, eventually and as all things must, even hordes of Inferi, the sounds and other indications of their hordes came to an end. He was grateful for that, for it meant they could finally press on, into the area ahead that the creatures had been guarding. Now that they'd found them as well, he wasn't so naive as to think that those they'd fought, had been everything that they might need to battle.
If some had been present, that meant others might be present as well, but with different 'orders' or commands. Harry knew precious little about Inferi, zombies, vampires and the like, but he knew the previous two types of undead could be ordered around with absolute loyalty to their creator… vampires less so, far less so, for they maintained a sort of agency that most undead lacked.
"Alright," Harry said as he took a few steps forward, disregarding the Fyndfire as it began to sway to and from in a manner that seemed distinctly impatient for nought but a smell. He looked over at Elaine, her brow furrowed and face flushed and laden with sweat, and after a further few seconds in which he remained still, the spell eventually stopped with the fire dropping slowly, almost in a fashion that was hesitant or angry to be gone.
"We are ready and clear to move ahead," Elaine said with a look at Harry. She smiled at him, her eyes more alight and alive than they'd been since a few months past, after a particularly nice victory in which they'd celebrated in a fashion that saw them closer than anything; he would never forget the bliss that she claimed and showed when they were one, one of her hands resting upon his face whilst the other rubbed at a ring she wore.
Harry raised a hand for the others to follow, but only after he did something that Elaine deserved. With the back of his sleeve, and after a cleaning charm that ensured that the aforementioned sleeve was alright, he wiped Elaine's face so that the sweat that poured off from her wouldn't burn her eyes or drench her clothing more than it had.
When he stepped back, satisfied that the majority of the sweat had been done away with, he didn't fail to see the look on her face. It was bright, still flushed, but more so now than it'd previously been, and awash with the affection of the most genuine sort.
"My thanks, lover," Elaine said as she darted forward, intent on stealing a kiss that he did so graciously allow. After receiving it, she positioned herself in such a way that her wand was in her left hand and her right was grasping his left.
They moved forward together, their hands joined and the pile of corpses before them, burnt and the vast majority nought but bone, were banished from their path. He wrinkled his nose as the group continued; the corpses had been people once, and whilst many if not all had been evil, the fate of being rendered as nothing more than a pile of moving flesh was disconcerting…disturbing, even.
"I'll go in first, I—" Harry paused, whispered an incantation that he'd learned from his time studying alongside Elaine, and after receiving the results, continued his sentence. "— I'm not feeling any wards ahead of us, and there won't be any traps in here. I'd reckon if there had been, the Inferi or the fire would have set them off."
Elaine patted his arm. "I was the epitome of cautious with my pet," she moved closer to him, so as to whisper words in his ear that were meant for him and him alone. "I've always been gentle and cautious when it comes to the working of a wand, have I not?"
He nearly stumbled, and in response, Elaine's look of victory and joy rose. It'd been some time since she'd joked in such a crude way — it was amongst her favourite things to do, he knew as much — and when a small giggle, girlish and cute-sounding eventually freed itself, he heard those behind them join in stifled laughter.
Harry allowed himself a smile as he rose on his feet, steady and with his blush for her eyes alone. She'd raised the morale of those who had gone with them, purposefully or not, though he assumed the former as she'd always known how to work a crowd over. That was wise of her, and with a look at Elaine, he moved beyond the scorched corridor and into the room the Inferi had been guarding.
It wasn't remotely what he'd expected to see.
It was a control room of sorts, filled with Muggle equipment that he hadn't the faintest clue how to work or read. The language wasn't English, he reckoned it was German or the like. As for the rest of the room, there were two more doors. One that continued straight on from the one he'd only just entered from and another to the left.
Maybe that left one was a storeroom or something. It could be, but it could be something else entirely. Based on the lack of mist that came as a result of Inferi's presence, he imagined the immediate area, at the very least, was safe from further incursions by the creatures.
Elaine made a noise of distaste, borderline disgust. "More Muggle components of the like we know not. I've begun to think that Grindelwald was fascinated with Muggles instead of filled with hatred for them," she waved her wand once, a look of disinterest replacing the disgruntled look that'd previously been in its place. "As I suspected. What we seek isn't here. We'll need to continue further."
"Which path are you thinking?" Harry asked, gesturing to the two doors ahead. "Fancy a left, or are you more of the — that's a pointless question with you, isn't it? We're going straight ahead."
"Correct. I'd expect nothing less from you, now join me for a stroll, won't you? This might well be our date for the evening, should this continue for too much longer," Elaine grabbed his hand, threw open the door, and they were greeted by heat, warmth and deafening noise.