Chapter 15
Episode - Into the Deep
The Netherworld
Snow White was in the Red Room with no doors or Windows. She was surrounded by fire. She could feel the heat. She looked around. She couldn't see anyone.
"Henry!" she called out. "Henry!"
She looked through the flames that obscured her sight but she couldn't see anyone.
Harry was in a black void. There was enough light that he could see himself when he held up his hand as he looked around. He had his clothes, his glasses, Henry's necklace and everything that he had on him when he fell asleep. There was gravity, a breathable atmosphere, and a solid floor to stand on.
He pulled out his wand.
"Lumos!"
The tip of his wand lit up. Apparently he had his magic in the Netherworld.
He walked through the black void. The light of his wand tip did not illuminate anything. He felt a sense of despair. All alone. No one to talk to. Never to wake up.
No! He thought to himself. Ginny will wake me up.
He thought about Ginny Weasley. He remembered when he first saw her. He was 11 years old, and she was 10. It was at Kings Cross station. She was the little girl that Mrs. Weasley had her hand around her shoulder. The girl didn't know who he was at the time. And he never gave the girl a second thought.
The girl however was completely taken with him the moment she realized who he was. And then when he stayed at the Weasley's home the following summer she was so shy around him that she couldn't even speak in his presence.
And then whenever he saw her in Gryffindor Tower during his second year, her first year, it was the same. She did stand up for him when Malfoy made fun of him at Flourish and Blotts. He of course appreciated it.
And then he saved her life in the Chamber of Secrets.
Again, he never really even cared one way or another for her aside from the idea of being like an elder brother to her. At least not until his 6th year. All of a sudden he looked at her in a whole new light. She was no longer just the little sister. Though he then realized at the time that she never was his little sister. Just Ron's little sister. All of a sudden she was a woman, and she was beautiful. He loved the smell of her. She was gorgeous. And he gave her up in order to protect her from Voldemort because he believed that if he was dating her then Voldemort could use her against him.
Truth be told, even after he broke up with her Voldemort could still have used her against him had he been so inclined. But that was the point. Voldemort never knew that they were dating to begin with.
And then once the threat of Voldemort was gone, there was nothing standing between the two of them being together.
And now they are going to be married. And he couldn't imagine his life without her.
"Mary Margaret?! Aurora?!" he called out, "Where are you?!"
It was then that the necklace that he had around his neck was glowing.
He held it in his hand and it started to emit a whistling sound as well as a brighter glow depending on which direction he walked in.
"Henry!" Mary Margaret called out. "Henry!"
The Flames were all around her.
The brightness of the necklace continued to increase as well as the volume of the whistling sound.
He also noticed that the necklace was getting hot. Almost too hot to hold.
He kept following its lead as it got hotter, brighter, and louder.
All of a sudden he couldn't take it anymore. He dropped it because it started to burn his hand. But then he had a feeling. A sort of Sixth Sense. He got down on one knee and touched the floor. The floor was hot.
"Homenum Revelio!" he cast from his wand.
The spell was then revealing to him that there was one humanoid life sign underneath the floor.
"Reducto."
A jet of blue light hit the floor and the floor collapsed. He fell.
"Arresto momentum!" he cast from his wand.
He landed on the floor with so little impact that he was not injured. Though he was curious on whether or not one could be injured in the Netherworld.
The first thing he realized once he hit the floor was that he was surrounded by flames. The room was red with no doors or windows.
He got to his feet.
Non-verbally he cast the extinguishing charm that was supposed to put out fire. Unfortunately it did not work.
He picked up the hot necklace off of the floor and enduring the pain in his hand he focused and concentrated on the flames in the room being put out.
The flames in the room then went down a little. And the temperature was reduced significantly.
And that's when he saw her. Mary Margaret Blanchard.
Her fairy tale story said that she was 'the fairest of them all'. And she was attractive by normal standards, though she had nothing on Ginny. Of course that was just personal bias. She was a beautiful woman and married to Prince Charming who loved her.
"Mary Margaret!" Harry called out.
At this point she had seen him.
"Harry Potter?" she said in curiosity, as she clearly never expected to see him.
"You're here. David expected you to be here."
"Harry Potter?" she said one more time. "How are you here?"
"They put me under a sleeping curse so that I could come here."
"Where's Henry?" she asked.
"The nightmares of the fiery Red Room were physically harming his body, David and Regina wouldn't let him come back here. It was David's idea that someone go under a sleeping curse in order to deliver you a message."
"David and Henry?" asked Mary Margaret. "How are they?"
"They are safe, and in good health." said Harry.
He didn't know what else to tell her.
"You understand you can never wake up?" said Mary Margaret.
"That's not true. I'm engaged to be married to a woman who loves me. She's coming to Storybrooke to give me a kiss. So don't worry about me. Rumpelstiltskin says that there's a way to defeat Cora. You need to go to his cell where he was kept. There's a jar of squid ink in there. Use the squid ink against Cora. It will immobilize and incapacitate any magical being."
"Okay." said Mary Margaret.
It was then that Mary Margaret's body became semi-transparent.
"I think you're waking up." said Harry.
"Tell Henry and David that I love them." said Mary Margaret as she then disappeared, leaving Harry alone in the Red Room.
"You can tell them yourself when you get back." said Harry encouragingly.
The Enchanted Forest
Mary Margaret woke up. She gasped, a little out of breath from waking of the nightmare.
"Did you do it?" asked Hermione. "Did you talk to Henry?"
"Yes, I made it to the Red Room." Mary Margaret confirmed. "Except it wasn't Henry. It was Harry."
"Harry Potter?" asked Emma with confusion.
"You saw Harry?" said Hermione with excitement.
"But how?" said Emma with disappointment as she clearly wanted to hear about Henry. "What happened to Henry?"
"Harry said that the repeated nightmare exposure to the fiery Red Room was physically harming Henry's body, so Regina and David refused to let him go back in."
"That was probably a good idea." said Emma.
"So how was Harry there?" asked Hermione.
"Harry volunteered to go under a sleeping curse so that he could communicate with me or Aurora." said Mary Margaret.
"And most likely Ginny will be able to awaken him." said Hermione.
"Did Mr. Gold give Harry instructions on defeating Cora?" asked Emma.
"Yes, we need to go to Rumpelstiltskin's jail cell where there's a jar of squid ink."
"The substance that Rumpelstiltskin used on Harry and me. It will temporarily incapacitate any magical being."
"Then let's go." said Gandalf the gray. "Let's find Aurora and obtain these ashes from Cora."
"Okay so let me get this straight." said Hermione.
Mary Margaret had been explaining about the different types of magic that exist in the Enchanted Forest but not in the Wizarding world.
"A person in this land who practices dark magic can rip out a person's heart without hurting the body or killing the person?"
"Yes." said Mary Margaret.
"But then the heart becomes Enchanted, stronger than a regular heart, and then can be used to control the person?" said Hermione.
"Just for the record, it's not the literal physical biological heart." explained Mary Margaret. "No. The enchanted heart is more like a figurative heart. Without it the person feels no emotion. Well, granted they can feel some emotion just not fully."
"Interesting." said Gandalf. "I have never seen such a thing in Middle-Earth."
"So what are your plans once you get back to Storybrooke?" asked Mulan.
"Well, as much as I love nature, I miss hot water and 21st century indoor plumbing, so I will have to say a nice hot shower." said Hermione. "Though I could crudely do it with magic."
"After 28 years under the curse," said Mary Margaret, "I'm going to have sex with my husband."
"Ew, Mary Margaret, your daughter's present, TMI." said Emma in disgust. "But, me personally, I'm going to give Henry a giant hug and kiss, and then get a change of clean clothes, and then a grilled cheese sandwich and beer at Granny's."
"You didn't mention Ron." said Mary Margaret.
"Well if you insist on knowing the details, he'll probably shower with me." said Hermione with a giggle.
Hermione was thinking while she was walking with the rest of the group. And then she had an idea.
"I think I know how I might be able to get Aurora back and get the Ashes from Cora."
"How?" asked Prince Phillip.
"We give her the compass." said Hermione. "Or at least we make her think that we're giving it. Plus a way to perhaps stop her once and for all."
"I also think that we should split up. Call it a failsafe. We need to both obtain the squid ink and rescue Aurora at the same time. Whatever promises Cora makes in exchange for the compass, I imagine she's very very treacherous."
"Wait!" they heard a voice call out.
And then coming across their path was Aurora herself.
"Aurora!" said Phillip as he embraced her and then locked lips with her. "But how did you escape?" he asked.
"It was the pirate, Hook. He broke into my cell when Cora wasn't around and released me."
She turned to Emma.
"And he wanted me to give you a message. He said that he still wishes to honor his side of the deal. If you will still grant him passage to Storybrooke."
"Well, we have a plan. We were going to try and Rescue you, as well as make her think that we're giving her the compass when we're not. And we also have a means to stop her. We need to get to Rumpelstiltskin's cell to find a jar of squid ink."
"Then let us begin."
Cora placed Aurora's magical heart in her bag. The heart had been taken from her by Hook, by use of an enchantment that the Evil Queen had put on his hook a long time ago. They were going to lure the group to Rumpelstiltskin's cell and then lock them in there and then take the compass, however she heard their entire conversation through the heart as she used it to control Aurora.
It was then that a glowing silver otter flew through the air and then landed on the ground in front of her. The silver otter then spoke in Hermione Granger's voice.
"We agree to your terms." said the otter. "We will exchange Aurora for the compass. We will come to the island to make the trade."
The otter's body then dissolved into silver mist.
"Well, what do you think your majesty?" said Hook.
"Let's set a trap for them." said Cora.
Episode- The Queen of Hearts
Emma, Hermione, and Gandalf broke off from the rest of the group to go find Cora. Mary Margaret, Phillip, Mulan, and Aurora went to Rumpelstiltskin's cell with the real compass.
Emma, Hermione, and Gandalf approached the old Sanctuary encampment on the island. Hermione had taken out of her beaded handbag The Medallion of The Wraith. She held it in the thick double layered handkerchief so that the metal wouldn't touch her bare skin. She then waved her wand over it to transfigure it. Not turn it into something else, it's enchantment prevented that, but she was able to find a small loophole she could alter its appearance so that it looked like the compass.
"You are planning to mark Cora with the medallion." said Gandalf.
"She will think that Aurora hasn't found us yet and that we're willing to hand over the compass for her. She'll pretend that she still has her until we make the handoff. Once she touches The Medallion it will mark her. She'll be taken by surprise. And then she'll be so busy fighting off the demon that we can incapacitate her and confiscate the ashes."
They entered the village. All the people were there though dead on the ground. Though she imagined that they could be reanimated to be her army again.
And speak of the devil it happened. All the people got up, and they stood in defense of postures but did not attack.
"Cora? We have what you want." said Emma.
With a whirl of purple smoke she materialized out of thin air in front of them.
"Well, I will say that this is a surprise." said Cora with a devious smile.
Hermione held up the fake compass still holding it in the handkerchief.
"Release the girl." said Gandalf.
"I'm afraid I can't do that, wizard." said Cora.
She then pulled out Aurora's heart.
"Because she's not here," she said with a maniacal smile as she pulled out the real compass, "because you don't have it to trade."
"Where are our friends?" demanded Emma.
"Alive and safe, at least until they starve to death. They are apprehended in Rumpelstiltskin's cell. And then I took the compass for myself. Me and Hook are going to Storybrooke. He'll get his skinned crocodile, and I will be with my daughter. And as for you, all I needed was for you to get here so that I could have my army of reanimated corpses kill you."
Realizing that The Jig was up, Hermione and Gandalf were ready to fight with their magic, but Emma then pulled a handful of black powder out of her pocket and then threw it.
They were all then engulfed by a shroud of Blackness that they could not see through. Emma grabbed Gandalf and Hermione and they started running.
"The Peruvian instant Darkness powder that I gave you." said Hermione after they had made their escape. "I thought you used it on the Giant."
"No," said Emma, "I managed to not have to. So I still had it when I got back."
"Where is the cell of The Dark One?" asked Gandalf.
They made their way back to Snow White's Palace where they went into the cave dungeons underneath.
They had just walked up to the cage when Mary Margaret blew some black dust off of a piece of paper and it then dissolved the bars.
"Emma." said Mary Margaret with relief as the two of them then embraced.
"We were set up." said Mulan.
"And Cora has Aurora's heart."
"We know, our trap for Cora was countered by a trap of her own. And she has the compass."
"Meaning that she should be on her way to Storybrooke right now."
"How is she even going to open a portal with the ashes anyway even if the wardrobe's enchantment is on it?"
"My best guess," said Mulan, "is Lake Nostos."
"I know of lake Nastos." said Mary Margaret. "It's waters are supposed to have regenerative properties to restore something to the way it once was. It's possible that if she mixes the ashes with the Waters of Lake Nostos then it would open a portal the same way a magic bean would."
"But the portal wouldn't be 100% identical to the portal of a magic bean. It would just be a portal to anywhere, unless you had the compass."
"Then let's go fast. Let's catch up to them. Hook and Cora are probably almost there."
Storybrooke
Harry was still laying on the bed in Mr. Gold's office. He hadn't moved. It had been more than 18 hours.
Ron and David and Henry kept constant vigil together. Only briefly leaving to go to the bathroom or to eat. They slept in shifts.
Henry was reading the book 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' out loud to Harry. Being the Eternal optimist and believing that Harry could hear every word they say, he thought that a recounting of Harry's Adventures from the book would be comforting to him while he was in the Netherworld.
It was then that Ruby and the dwarves came in.
"Where are they?" asked Grumpy.
"Who?" asked Ron.
"Rumpelstiltskin and the Evil Queen?"
"I'm not entirely sure." said David.
It was then at that moment that Kreacher and a red-headed woman holding a broomstick and wearing quidditch robes materialized out of thin air.
"Ginny." said Ron.
"Ron." Ginny replied back.
"Kreacher has brought the Master's fiance as he said he would." said the house elf.
"Harry." said Ginny as she looked at Harry laying there on the bed completely unconscious.
Kreacher had explained everything to her. And then he assisted her in Long Distance apparation.
She handed her broomstick to Ron and knelt down beside the bed. She took him by the shoulders. And she leaned in and she touched her lips to his.
The moment her lips made contact with his, just like every other time a sleeping curse was broken, a semi-transparent rainbow colored pulse wave of pure love rippled out in all directions engulfing the entire town disturbing everything that it came in contact with like a blast of wind.
Lord Voldemort, Delphi Lestrange, Nathan McAllister, and Euphemia Rowle were driving down the highway in the state of Maine towards Storybrooke. They then passed the sign saying, 'You Are Now Entering Storybrooke'.
This was not Lord Voldemort's first time here. He had been here once before. He remembered it like it was yesterday.
Flashback -
The Enchanted Forest, 28 years earlier, the day of the Dark Curse -
The dwarf Grumpy was on guard watch from one of the towers in Snow White and Prince Charming's Palace. He pulled out a flask and took a swig of an alcoholic beverage. But then he saw it. A massive cloud of thick purple smoke with green thunder and lightning moving at more than a hundred miles an hour covering over the mountains and all of the land.
"The Queen's curse!" he called out. "IT'S HERE!"
Minutes later. Inside the palace, Geppetto had just finished carving the enchanted tree into a wardrobe. Prince Charming had placed baby Emma inside.
"Find us!" he said to her as he stroked his hand across her cheek in a caress and then kissed her on the forehead.
He closed the doors of the wardrobe and she was transported to another land, confident that the prophecy will manipulate her fate and destiny to find her way back to them and lift the curse.
He had fought with some of the Queen's Black Knights and received a mortal wound, but was still alive. Snow White, having just given birth, made her way into the room and fell upon her husband.
It was then that Snow White's stepmother, Regina the Evil Queen walked into the room and looked down at her stepdaughter and son-in-law.
Snow White looked up at her stepmother with a look of despair.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked with the feeling of all hope lost.
"Because everyone deserves what they've earned. And I've earned this. My happy ending!" she answered.
She then turned to one of the Black Knights that was standing by the door.
"Where's the baby?" she asked.
"There's no sign of the child, Your Majesty. the Black Knight answered.
Then the dark purple smoke began to fill the room as the curse was then upon them.
"Where are we going?" asked Snow White.
Regina smiled with a malevolent diabolical look.
"Someplace horrible." she answered.
And then she let out a maniacal laugh.
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